FSE

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--Fen-

"Ugh," I moan, sitting up from my bed and looking around. I see Sy's bed and suddenly recall that I'm in college. The usual morning grogginess fades away and I perk up, grinning to myself a bit. Sian and Motley are off to their orientations and won't be back for a while. It'd been a long time coming and it's finally here. College. I jump out of my bed, wincing a bit as I hit the ground; going to have to be a bit more careful getting out of a bunked bed. As I slip out into the common room and head towards Naki's, I become painfully aware that my boxers are tented.

'Well, Sy and Motley are gone...' I think to myself, declining my head a bit to peer down at the rather obvious erection pressing from my hips. I adjust myself so that it presses against my lower belly, just to make it less obvious, then crack Naki's door open to see if Motley is gone. Once that's confirmed, I shift into the room and close the door behind me, smiling as I move to stand above my sleeping otter. He's so peaceful-- snoring a little but it's a gentle sound. To think its already been three and a half months since we met at the pools in high school. I can only hope that our relationship continues to grow the way it has. Even if he's a blockhead sometimes. I can't believe this has all come true; I remember talking with Sian about the boys we crushed on in high school-- Sy had more than me, but he'd always been more outgoing. I remember imagining I find out one of them is gay and having some corny romance. Well, here we are.

I grin a bit at the thought, shifting into the bed with Naki and slipping beneath the covers so that I can scoot up and lay on top of him. That wakes him up, of course.

"Gnnf... unng..." Naki groans, shifting beneath me and opening his eyes slowly. No doubt he knows who it is before they're even open.

"I caught a micro." He grins tiredly, wrapping his arms around my frame and pulling me to his body. I let myself settle down so that my head is level with his chest, which also forces our crotches together.

"You seem pretty happy about it." I grin, shifting my hips a bit and grinding my cock against his. I know it's a little sudden but... we're alone and what's a better way to deal with morning wood? I notice him swallow a bit. Maybe I'm being a little too forward.

"Y-yea..." He states, squirming beneath me a bit. I decide to try and get him into it a bit, grinding my hips against his gently while licking beneath his muzzle. He only seems to tense more, though.

"Relax, it's alright. Just a penis. You know I have one, right? No confusion about my gender?" I ask, bumping at his chin with my nose.

"It's not that," he says with an uncertain tone. "Just a little sudden is all."

I furrow my brow a bit at that, but try to shake it off. "Alright, then, want to try it over? I'll sneak in and wake you up then I'll ask you if you want to have sex?"

"That's not what I mean," he sighs a little, rubbing his paws down my back.

"What do you mean, then?" I ask, just a -little- irritated. We have at least an hour, we're alone...

"I mean..." he looks up at me for a bit, then lowers his ears and leans to kiss at the top of my head. I splay my ears out a little as I feel his muzzle-tip brush against my head-fur. "I'm still a bit new to this, y'know...?"

"I can help with that. You just have to let me," I insist, shifting upwards so that I straddle his crotch. I brings my hands down to rub at the bulge in his boxers. He watches for a while and even gives off a little moan when my fingers manage to clasp about his erection. I smile a little and start to tug them downwards to reveal his tip but before I get that far he reaches down and grabs my hands gently, shifting to sit up so that our torsos press together.

"Another time? I promise..." He asks, staring at me. I fight the irritation, trying to stay rational. He doesn't want to so we won't... and that's perfectly fine. He's just nervous. Calm down Fen.

"Another time," I nod a little, shifting to get off of him and his bed. I adjust myself again and look at him for a moment. He must see the annoyance in my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Fen, alright? I promise we'll uh... y'know. Just not now...?"

"Yea, I get it. It's..." I try to shake the frustration off. "I'm... gonna go shower and get ready for orientation," I state, both trying and not trying to sound frustrated while I walk out of his room.

"Sorry," I hear him say again. Part of me feels bad because this really isn't as big of a deal as I'm making it. At the same time, I worked myself up and now I've only yours truly to deal with it. I slip into the shower and start lathering my fur up with cleaner. I let myself stay angry at him for a while even if I soon lose my arousal. The shower helps a lot, though. By the end of it, most of the annoyance is gone. I only have about an hour before I have to be at orientation, and Naki is going to walk me there with him so I walk out to let him know the shower is free.

"Thanks, I'll be fast so we can take our time getting there. Are you okay?" He asks, likely still worried about earlier.

"It's alright," I assure him.

He nods slowly. I don't know if he believes me. He walks into the bathroom and gets showered while I grab my backpack and stuff my notebook and a few pencils and pens into it. I'd need to go to the bookstore later and buy my books. If I'd thought about it I would have just bought them online over the summer or something.

Naki is ready before too long and we leave to walk through campus together. Though there are students walking around, the campus still feels a little empty due to the bulk of students still having not moved in. Everyone on campus is a freshman, for now. The weather today is actually nice, and the breeze helps cool my already damp pelt while Naki and I walk along the path made up by a wide sidewalk leading from our dorm towards the center of campus.

We're not entirely over what happened earlier. Well, I'd like to think I am but I'm having trouble coming up with conversation topics. "I wonder how many micros are here?" I ask, looking around at the people we pass by while walking. Everything is a bit less busy today, but I imagine it'll pick up once all of the orientation sessions are finished.

"I bet they'll put it in the campus newspaper or something before long," Naki responds.

I nod softly, continuing to walk past mostly Neotrian students. There're still students that give me an eye but it's no more or less than the day before. I still can't tell whether I'm just being paranoid. I notice a couple holding hands as they walk past us and smile a bit at the idea. I reach to grab Naki's hand, wrapping my fingers around his as best I can while being careful of the webbing. He hesitates but, after a moment, I feel his hand wrap gently back around mine. I look up at his face but he keeps staring ahead.

"What? Afraid to hold hands now?" I ask with a little smirk.

"I'm not! Just... we've never done it in public before," he says gently. "It's a little weird..."

Maybe I am being just a bit forward today. I guess I'm excited that everything is working out. I admit I was hoping Naki would be kind of excited. At least, more excited than he is now. I let go of his hand and just take comfort in walking next to him. Part of me has to wonder if he's having second thoughts about this whole gay thing, but I suppose he'd have left already if it were a huge problem.

We get closer to the building and he bumps into me a little bit, hard enough that I stumble just a little. I blink a few times, then bump back at him. He doesn't really move. In fact, it's more like ramming into a warm, fuzzy wall. I mutter and he walks over to a more secluded area along the side of the physics building before he grabs me into a hug.

"Sorry, Fen. I know I'm a bit hard to deal with sometimes."

"I don't want a sorry," I say. "I just want to understand. I know it was probably a surprise this morning but we've been together for a few months now. You're not... having second thoughts about it are you?"

"No, of course not." Naki shakes his head. "It's not that, I'm just... can we talk about it later? I promise I'll explain, alright?"

I feel a bit better, so I nod a little. "Alright, well, I guess I'll get to class, then. Can I hug you or will you be embarrassed?" I tease and he sighs, lowering his ears before reaching to wrap his arms around me. I squeeze into his frame and flick my tail.

"I love you," I state.

"I love you, too, Fen. Have a good day at orientation. Text me when you're done."

--Naki--

I walk back towards my college quickly, already feeling tired despite having just woke up. I'm going to have to explain to Fen what happened earlier today and I really don't have a good explanation. I mean, it was just... fast. I wanted it but I didn't. The feeling reminds me of being back in highschool, the same week Motley and Samson found out I'm gay. The same week -I- found out that I'm gay. I'm just not sure, and it felt like having sex with Fen would've just sealed the deal. Like there's no going back if I take that final step. I know better, of course, but the feeling is still there. I love Fen, I've really enjoyed being with him these last few months-- so what's wrong with me? Why am I hesitant? I lower my ears a little as I walk, slowing my pace a bit since I'm getting close.

"I can't just tell him that I wanted but didn't want to," I mutter to myself, staring down at the ground now and only looking up for long enough to make sure I don't run into anyone. As I walk, I recall a conversation with my mom a long time ago. We'd just gotten out of church and the sermon that day was about homosexuality. I'd never met a gay couple before I got with Fen, but my mom still made certain to remind us as kids that it's unnatural whenever our pastor would bring it up. It wasn't a worry of mine, I never gave it any thought except for when she felt it worth mentioning and even that was only every few years.

I guess I never thought it'd ever come to something like this. Fen is a great guy and I've enjoyed my time with him-- I want it to last for so much longer but my parents are going to have to find out at some point... And what about it being a sin? Do I care? I suppose I've never been too religious besides going to church with my family but-- I look up when I see something large barreling towards me. A bear easily a hundred pounds heavier than me nearly rams into me but I jump to the side just in time to avoid it.

"Watch it, man!" He growls as he walks off. I watch him for a while, aggravated that he took me out of my train of thought. I try to shake it off, but I'm at the college now. I'd have to talk to myself more later. I walk through the building towards a cube-spiral of stairs ahead, walking up towards the second floor. It's beautiful up here-- the glass wall that faces campus begins on this floor and, before it, tables and lounging chairs aplenty line the floor. I take a moment to enjoy the view before looking at my cellphone. Only five minutes to get there. I turn to walk towards the room.

Inside, most of the students are already sat down. There's only about a minute before things start so I'm assuming this is about the whole class; looks like fifteen people or so. I move to sit towards the center of the room, settling down so that I'm a seat away from another otter student. It's only when I take a glance at him that I notice that he's a Requoran. I stare for a moment, only looking away when I notice him return my gaze. Great, now I can't look back without feeling awkward. Instead, I turn to look around the classroom, noticing three other Requorans in the room but they're all sitting apart. I guess they don't know one another.

"Welcome to orientation, my name is Mr. Beign," a large tiger in a business suit rumbles from the front of the classroom. I'll admit, his voice demands attention. "We'll be going over college and university policy, transitioning from your old life as high school students, and how to succeed here at Phalance. A degree in business is one of the easiest to receive, some of you will be happy to hear. Unfortunately for those of you who are, it's also of the hardest fields to be successful in so I expect all of you to both study the material you'll be taught -and- understand how to apply it in your everyday lives. The business world takes far more than booksmarts."

He gives us a speech about our responsibilities as businessmen and how we should all strive to achieve high goals-- how we're the type of people who drive innovation and economic prosperity. I have to admit, he's pretty good speaking. By the time he's done, he's not even out of breath. The tiger walks around at the front of the room and rumbles, "Questions?"

The entire class is silent, I don't think I could blame them if they feel like me: A little daunted by the tiger's presence. They say there are no bad questions-- I don't think that saying applies with this guy.

"Just want to go home, eh?" he chuckles. "We've only just begun so get settled in. Beneath your seats you'll find the Pad Street journal. We're going to have some fun with stock markets today."

And have fun we do. It's orientation-- not even a real class but he has us talking about market predictions after he teaches us about how to read the endless strings of numerals on the stocks page. Granted, he doesn't expect us to get the right answer but does encourage us to give reasoning behind our logic. We get into it, actually. A fox on the other side of the class back and forths with a mouse about Gae Corp's stock and even the Requorans seem fairly vocal-- not that I have any reason to expect any less.

After that's finished, we get around to introductions. They're pretty brief; everyone talks about why they're in business and their hobbies. I listen to them while idly tapping a pen gently against the fold-out desk mounted on the side of my chair. The person before me finishes up and I move to stand so I can take my turn.

"I'm Naki Pelwisk. My hobbies are a bit typical, I guess; movies, video games, swimming," I state, looking up while I think. "I suppose I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do later on." Beign just stares at me with those slitted eyes of his. Despite his calm demeanor, he's still intimidating. I swear he might burn a hole through my face if he were looking any harder. It dawns on me that I don't have a great answer. I kind of figured business is good for a wide variety of things so I'd be able to stick my nose into just about anything.

"I guess I figure business is where everything begins. People dream about what they want and guys like us-- businessmen-- create the means to make it happen." I'm here to make dreams a reality? Can't take it back now, I suppose. The tiger seems satisfied though.

"Good answer, Pelwisk. Business is about opportunity," he compliments. I nod quickly with a little smile and sit down to try and get the attention off of me.

The otter next to me, apparently named Khole, probably has the cutest answer.

"There's a massive lack in goods and services aimed at Requorans. I'm here to find a way to fill that void not only to help solidify our place in this society but to help encourage others like myself."

I can't help but smile a bit at it, and I can't really read Mr. Beign's expression. It's this predatory, tiger-like smile that ends with a firm nod in affirmation of Khole's goal. I guess he liked it. Somewhere in the middle of it I get a text from Fen. His orientation, apparently, let out a bit early. I look at the time and realize mine is supposed to be over in about ten minutes. Somehow, I doubt we'll be done that quickly. Indeed, it's at least fifteen minutes before he looks at the time.

"Alright, guys, I guess that's it for today. I'll see some of you in class and, for those of you not in my class, I'll see you at next week's orientation class.

I get up to leave, grabbing my phone to try and text Fen and see where he is. I admit I'm a bit nervous that he started walking on his own but I suppose I shouldn't be. He's been taking care of himself for a long time now. Even so, I text to see where he is. As I'm exiting the classroom, Khole walks up next to me.

"Pretty weird professor, huh?" He asks, peering upwards. He's just a bit taller than Fen, and instead of brown and black fur he has a nice mixture of tan and charcoal-grey. Seems like tan at the tips of his fur-strands and grey at the lower-half.

"You can say that again," I state, slowing down a bit to walk next to him while I wait for Fen to text me back.

"Naki, right?" He asks and I nod. "Yep. And you're Khole?"

"Right on."

"So you're not... er, nervous? I mean, I have a few Requoran friends and they always tell me that you guys prefer to avoid being alone with normals."

He grins a bit at that, yellow eyes remaining confidently fixed ahead of him. "I'm not gonna put myself into danger unnecessarily, but I'm not gonna come to college just to hide from the boogey-man either. I'm here to make friends and learn. That's what I'm gonna do."

I nod a little and we walk down the stairs. "Makes sense to me. I like what you said in class, too. I think it's good that someone tries to get micro-oriented stuff on the market."

"We need it, and I think if all goes well with this registration thing then maybe the time's right, y'know?"

"Yea. So where are you bunking?"

"Fletch Hall, the Requoran dorms. I lived out west before I came here. Figured if any school was going to be micro-friendly it'd be one of the schools in this state so I applied here. Good thing, too. Unfortunately, I'm kinda new and a bit far from home so I figured it'd be safest to have a room mate kinda like me."

"You're pretty brave."

"We have to be. If I stayed home there'd be nothing for me now. The schools out west aren't going to tolerate us."

"That bad? I guess that makes sense considering the war..."

"Enough about that stuff, though," he waves a paw as we exit the building. "Wanna grab a bite to eat? I have about half an hour before I have to be somewhere else." I feel my phone vibrate and check the message. Apparently, Fen is eating with Ian and Sam.

"Yea, I could get something to eat. There's a smaller student-cafe nearby, wanna try that?"

"Sure."

--Fen--

I look at my schedule to find my room number and then walk into the college of physics. It's busy on the inside; likely all of the students trying to find their rooms. I'm a bit early so I take my time trotting down the hallways, almost forgetting that I'm a bit of an odd-man-out with my collar on. My eyes focus, instead, on decorum lining the walls of the hallway; physical depictions of various standard models, pictures of great physicists, and television screens displaying data about events happening in the college. The hall leads me to a larger hub-like room that contains chairs, tables, and various strangely-shaped places for students to sit or lay and study or chat. My pace picks up a bit, not necessarily because I'm worried-- but it is a bit unnerving when I realize I haven't seen anyone else with a collar on since I entered the building.

I make it to the classroom with no trouble. It's a lecture-style hall with seats cascading along a declining slope towards the front of the room. I settle into a seat in the back, away from most of the other students settled about the room, figuring a seat here will at least allow me keep an eye on everyone else. At the front of the class, facing us, is a rat wearing glasses and a lab coat. Beneath the coat is a sweater, and beneath that is a white-collared shirt with a tie. His greying fur and bountiful set of whiskers gives away his age. I watch him stare about the room with a jovial expression until his eyes meet mine for a second-- at least I think they do. I look down a half second later and pretend to shuffle through my backpack. I pull my notebook out along with a pen and take another look towards the front of the room to see him still peering at me. A smile appears on his muzzle before he looks away and begins to greet some of the students closer to the front of the room.

I keep my eyes down as students continue to shuffle in and settle around the room. Groups of them begin to talk amongst one another and I don't look around for long enough to figure out if there're any other micros in the room.

"Alright! My name is Dr. Fennikan, and this is your orientation hour. This class is primarily for helping you get settled here at the university and within the college. There aren't many of you so I'll go ahead and ask you all to take turns standing up to tell the rest of us about yourself and why you decided to try physics," he states before pointing at a squirrel at the front-right side of the class; opposite side from where I sit.

The squirrel stands and smiles a little. His name is Chip, he's here for astrophysics and is minoring computer science in hopes of making some sort of simulation. Apparently he's from the midwest. The next is a tall, lanky ringtail named Marvin. He adjusts the glasses on his muzzle a whole lot while he speaks. I'm not sure if it's a nervous twitch or something else. He's here for theoretical physics and plans to stay until he gets his PhD. My attention begins to falter but I do catch enough of the next few to hear their names; an average-sized rabbit named Mel, a skinny raccoon named Ryan, a wolf named Orin, a Labrador named Frank...

I begin to daydream about what I'll do later. I want to talk to Naki, maybe apologize for being so forward earlier. Even if it's partially my fault I still want to hear what he has to say, too. I mean, he was obviously enjoying it so why did we have to stop?

"Mr. Requoran?" I hear the professor's gentle tone reverberate about the classroom. I snap out of my daze to peer around for a moment, realizing that almost every student in the class is now staring at me.

"Oh! I... sorry," I state, looking around and noticing a few of the students snickering. I guess I kind of deserved it even if the attention unnerves me a bit.

"I'm... Fen. I'm focusing on applied physics. Particle physics and the science around mass conversion in particular," I say, standing up.

"Why?" The rat asks. I get the feeling he realizes, but there's no way to tell.

"Well... our-um... cloakers work somehow. As far as I know, no one has come up with a way to explain it. I want to try and figure it out."

"That's quite a goal for a Requoran. From test subjects to scientists, hmm?" he says with a gentle chuckle. I can't figure out if he's being rude or if that was just a bad joke. I try to ignore it and smile, instead.

"Thanks," I reply.

"So you're likely going for a PhD, yes?" He asks.

"Yea, I figured that's what it might take."

"Interesting," he says, staring at me for a moment longer before he turns to the rest of the class. I sit back down and heave a sigh of relief. The rest of the class is pretty general. He talks about the rules and how we should study for college, compares expectations of a highschool student to that of a college student, tells us which classes we should be taking and a few other particularly boring topics.

"That's all for today," he says after going over everything, folding his hands behind his back. "I'll see you all next week or, if you have general physics one with me, I'll see you in a few days." We all get our stuff together and begin to shuffle out of the classroom. We're out a bit early so I don't suspect Naki is free yet. I pull my phone out to text him after I'm in the hallway again, and upon sending it off I realize that there's a couple students standing in front of me.

I pocket my phone and look at the wolf and squirrel staring at me. The squirrel I can handle, but the other wolf is at least Naki's height and built better than I am. Far better. "Never seen one of you up close before," the wolf states before holding his hand out towards me. I look at it for a moment, then reach to grasp his. He squeezes a bit as we shake and he brings his muzzle a bit too close for comfort, sniffing at me a bit. I shift my head to the side nervously.

"Yea, uh... Orin, right?" I ask. He nods and backs off, letting go of my hand and grinning a little to himself.

"Huh... even with those things on you're pretty short," Chip states, shifting to stand next to me for a moment. He's not -that- much taller but he does have a few inches on me. "I could get used to wolves if they were all this height." He chuckles to himself and nudges Orin.

"Dream on, the micros are as close as you'll get to being taller than a wolf, shortstuff," Orin states with a smirk.

"Very funny," I say. "Teasing a micro about his height? Very original," I mutter.

"Ehh, you guys aren't common where I'm from. You're only the second or third I've met and the only one I've met that has one of those MMDs. Wonder if I'll find one I can keep," he says while giving me a little grin. That's enough to make me start to move away.

"Oh calm down," Orin chuckles, reaching to grab my shoulder gently. "We're only playin' with you, Chip is just a bit mouthy. No one is here to cause trouble, alright? Hey, why not come grab a bite with us?"

I manage to shrug Orin's hand off while holding my hands up in front of me, palms facing the two. "Not to be rude, guys, but maybe toda--"

"Is that it right there?" Chip asks, pointing to my cloaker.

The interruption annoys me but I nod, shifting so my hands are palms up and staring at my cloaker. "Yea, that's my cloaker," I state right before I notice his hands reach towards mine. I tug back rather quickly and glare at him, letting a soft growl rise from my throat.

"Alright alright, sorry," Chip says with just a hint of nervousness, holding his hands up just as I had been a moment ago. "Didn't realize y'all were so defensive about'em. I get it, no touching. I only wanted to see it up close."

I look between the two, uncertain of how I should handle this. They're taking this way too lightly for comfort, though Orin's expression implies that he may not think much of Chip's behavior either. I calm down enough to answer Orin's question, "I'm waiting," I state, looking to him for a moment. "So I can't go, sorry." I hope that's the end of it.

"Fair enough, fair enough. Maybe another day or something. Let's go, Chip," he says. The squirrel nods and follows.

"That was pretty cute, huh?" I hear Chip say to Orin. I continue to settle, but I don't like those two. Eventually, I recall texting Naki earlier and reach to grab my cellphone so I can see if he answered.

'Sorry, Fen, we might be late getting out... this guy could talk forever.' I sigh and consider simply going back alone. What trouble could I get into walking half a mile? I try not to think about it, especially after what just happened.

I decide there's no point in waiting here so I start walking across campus. I keep my ears perked and try not to seem overly suspicious. It's really not that hard, but with my brain on high alert I feel like I stand out like a sore claw. The food court catches my nose as I walk into the center of campus so I decide I'll get a quick bite to eat before I head to the dorm.

"Fen!" I hear, turning my head to the left as I walk into the food court. Settled next to one of the large windows is Ian and Samantha.

"Hey!" I grin, walking over and hugging them both. "Its been awhile! Er-- let me get something to eat and I'll sit with you guys?"

"Sure! Go get something," Sam nods and I walk off to get something from B&W. The line is a bit long due to other students but I'm back at their table, settled parallel to the window while they sit perpendicular.

"How've you two been? How was your trip? We were wondering why you were moved to today for move-in..."

"It was great, we went out west with Sam's parents to visit her family in Zealoway. Saw part of the mountain range, went camping, hiked, there was a beach party..." Ian grins a little at that last one.

"Hot chicks?" I ask with a smirk.

"What? Never. No. I didn't notice if there were any."

"Really? I saw plenty," Sam says, coiling her tail around her chair's back-right leg. "Remember that lioness with the hips and boobs?"

Ian blushes a little and looks down at his food. "I was going to leave her alone, -you- insisted we drink with her"

"What? I'm saying she was hot. You didn't think so?" Sam grins.

Ian stares at Samantha for a while, mock-glaring. "Is there a right answer to this question?" That brings a little grin to my muzzle.

"Sounds like a good time. No drama then? Just relaxation?"

"Not a lot of it. We did keep getting sick on the boat. All I can say is at least the food was good; got to try everything twice," he chuckles and Sam rolls her eyes.

"Maybe mice aren't meant for the water or something," she frowns. "Ugh, my stomach is curling just thinking about it. So... how about you guys, Fen? Things alright?"

"Well, yea, just the normal stuff. We're keeping our eyes on the news, it's not really clear what's going to happen with registration ending. We made a plan for how Sy and I can get around campus safely. I'll tell you guys about it a bit later, we haven't really figured out how it'll work yet. It's basically to have norms escort us around to stave off any potential issues. Naki's dad and mine had a little run-in yesterday but it turned out alright. All in all things have been fine. Looking forward to getting settled in and starting classes. I just hope no one causes too much trouble for us. I'd be happy even if most norms just ignore us."

"Yea, I bet it's a little unnerving walking about on your own here," Sam says, shifting her ears down a bit. "We'll help, though, if we can."

"Yea, you know we will. If someone tries something then Sam'll beat'em up."

She grins and makes a muscle.

"Thanks guys," I chuckle and take a few bites of my sandwich. We're silent for a moment, which gives me a chance to get about half my food down.

"They don't belong here, they aren't even citizens. How is allowing micros on campus even legal?" My ears perk but I don't turn. A group of students speaking loudly enough for half the room to hear settles behind me. I look to Ian and Sam who both have their ears down now, taking tentative glances as the group settles at a table to their left.

"I heard Bridget is going to write a column about them in the school newspaper, bet it'll be good. She's never been afraid to say what needs to be said even at a progressive breeding-ground like this."

"Yea, I can't wait to read what she thinks. Did you hear the university can't even defend them? Pretty foolish to come to a place where you can't even be legally protected. I wonder how many decided to come? And how many are gonna end up disappearing before the end of the semester, "

"Who knows. Didn't we let them keep some of those underground cities of theirs after the war? Wonder why they can't just keep to those. The government doesn't touch the land, we pretty much let them do whatever they want with it. Makes you wonder why they're always stealing from us and trespassing on our property." My ears lower and my heart begins to race a little. One of those voices is familiar. It sounds like that cat from yesterday night. The scent certainly matches.

"Probably still mad about losing the war. Every micro I run into always has the same sob story about being hungry or unable to support themselves or whatever. Maybe they aren't as smart as we think... I mean, if you can't make a living somewhere then why stay? It's pretty pathetic. Don't even get me started on those rings they use. If you ask me, we should force'em back underground and if they don't want to go? Get rid of them."

Who do they think they are? How could they -ever- pretend that this is our fault or that we should get 'over' what happened to us? I growl a little just thinking about it, apparently a little too loudly.

"Fen!" Ian whispers sharply, winning my attention. I look at him with a glare before I fix my expression and look down again.

"Sorry," I say, but he shakes his head.

"Nah, let's just get out of here, right?" He says and I nod. Hadn't even finished my food yet, but I start to stand with Ian and Sam, pushing my chair in and moving to stand next to Ian. I get a look at the group. There're four students; the feline I'd met in my dorm, a skunk, a weasel and a kangaroo. Our movements attract attention and my eyes meet the feline's for a moment. He stares at me, then looks down to see my collar.

"Oh.. hey, I know you... Fen, right? We're in the same dorm." The feline smiles a little, peering back into my eyes again. I frown, especially since the rest of them look at me now. Sam and Ian close in a bit, standing behind me but close enough that I can feel them. I'm glad they're there.

"Don't act pleasant because I heard you. I know what you think of us," I mutter, wanting to wipe that smile off of his face. If there's anything worse than a jerk it's a smug jerk.

"What should I do, then? Yell? I don't care that you know what I think about your kind. I'll repeat it whether you're standing there or not."

"Comeon, Fen. These assholes aren't worth our time," Ian says, tugging at me. I resist, though. Where does this guy get off talking about us that way?

"We have just as much right to be here as you do," I say defensively. Part of me just wants to understand how someone could think something like that. "I worked hard to get here! I didn't steal or cheat my way into college or through any other part of my life. Where do norms like you get off talking down to us that way?"

That wins a chuckle from him. "I don't think we have much of a choice. Even with your-- what do you call them? Cloakers? You're a little on the short side."

My fist clenches and I take a step forward but Sam grabs my hand.

"Fen..." she says, but I ignore her at first. She then moves to stand in front of me and lowers herself a bit so that her eyes meet mine and block my view of the cat. "Fen, let's go okay? It's not worth it, it won't change anything... please? For me?"

I'm reminded of Naki's words from summer break... about picking our fights. I take a deep breath and nod a little, winning a relieved look from her

"Thank you, Fen."

"Seeya later, Fen," the feline says, still grinning.

I start to say something else but Sam wraps her arm around my shoulder and tugs at me a little. I huff at him and let Sam lead me towards the exit. Ian walks out behind us.

"You alright, man?" Ian asks.

"I'll be okay," I respond, sighing. The frustration begins to fade into a slight depression. My hackles lower and my ears press flat to my skull.

"We knew there'd be jerks like that. You have to ignore them, Fen. I know it's hard, but it's dangerous to stick your neck out. You know that," Sam states.

"You belong here just like me and Sam, alright?" Ian states, rubbing my back.

"Yea," I say, smiling a little or trying, at least. My tail tucks and I sigh, "Thanks guys." My heart still beats quickly from the adrenaline and I still want to take a swing at that cat but I'm happy Ian and Sam were here. If I were alone in there and they'd walked in I might've been in trouble.

"Let's get to your dorm. Why don't you have Naki meet us there?"

I perk a bit at the mention of Naki. It -would- be nice to see him right about now. I could use a hug from that blockhead-- my blockhead. I reach to grab my cell phone, texting Naki.

--Naki--

"It's not a big deal, man," Motley says, feet kicked up on the table in front of us. We're sat in front of the television for now but Sian is the only one watching. I know why Motley won't open up; he's always been the type to try and pretend nothing is wrong. Always bottling his problems up. If we were alone I'd be able to get him to talk but with Sian here it'll be impossible. Nothing I can do about that, I suppose.

I sigh a little and sit back, staring forward. I'd have to wait until later tonight to continue my conversation with him from the night before. After Fen and Sian went to bed, we stayed up and talked to one another about his parents. I recall that they'd leave for days at a time when we were kids, leaving Motley home alone. Mom would have him come over until they returned so that he wouldn't get into any trouble. I don't know what's wrong with them or why they do what they do-- that much I've never been able to get out of Motley. Last night he mostly dodged the question while we looked at the stats for Phalance's football team. I did encourage him to try walking onto the team. He needs it, all he used to talk about was the team-- or girls, but mostly the team. Even if he doesn't end up starting I bet he'd like it.

I lean back a little and try to put it out of my mind, I've already got enough to think about from this morning. I'll have to try talking with him later, maybe after the pizza thing tonight.

"Phalance might have a decent squad in a couple years," Motley states while thumbing through the local newspaper's sports section. "Lots of seniors from teams we went up against in high school, all of them solid picks too."

"More reason for you to join, right?" I respond. "Couldn't hurt, and if you get behind on things then just leave. I bet you can do it, though."

"Maybe," he says, sitting back a bit more. "I haven't worked out all summer."

"Not like you need to. You're a brick wall," Sy states while he keeps his eyes on the television. "What were you anyway? What position...?"

"Offense-- center," Motley replies, holding back a grin of his own.

"You should do it," Sy concurs.

"Just think about it," I say before looking up at the television, happy the raccoon agrees. I feel my phone vibrate and take it out to peer at the message. It's Fen. He's on his way over.

We talk for awhile longer and I watch Duck Rogers, the superhero duck with Sy. It's actually a pretty good movie despite the name. I'm glad we have the extra chairs Sy brought since, with them, we have enough space for Ian and Samantha to sit once they arrive with Fen. Granted, it's a little cramped in the small common-room it's not at all uncomfortable. All three of them seem a little strained, especially Fen. He sits on the other side of me but I reach and tug him over so he'll sit on my lap. He cooperates and soon I have the little wolf pulled to my torso with his tail curled around and resting over mine on our left side. They explain what happened and I start to feel a little bad. Nothing could go right for Fen today, could it? I rub at his sides gently.

"You did the right thing, Fen," I state. "Wasn't worth getting into an argument there."

"Someone has to stand up to those guys, though," he mutters.

"That time'll come," Sy says, frowning a bit himself. "We have all year to shove their faces in it so don't let this get you down."

"Yea, and they can say whatever they want. You guys know it's not true," I say.

"I get the feeling we'll be seeing plenty of them, though," Ian says, leaning back in one of my dish-chairs and crossing his legs. "Some girl named Bridget is supposed to be posting an article in the school newspaper on the first day of classes. They made it sound like she was going to cry about how terrible it is that she has to share her campus with the same people who've probably been here all along"

"I think we just need to relax and wait for a while. We're not gonna let anything happen to our friends," Motley says. "No need t'rush into some sort of argument. They're not afraid of saying what's on their mind? Well, let's hear it from'em. It can only help us build a case."

"That'd make sense." Samantha tugs her legs up against her chest. "If we wait then we might be able to find more people that agree with us, too. After we know what the student population is like then we can figure out what we should do in response if anything."

"Yea, you guys are right. It just... it pissed me off is all. It was that feline from before, too! The one at the RA meeting yesterday? What an asshole," Fen growls. "Even after he saw me he just taunted and gave that stupid smug grin of his."

"It's alright, Fen." I nose against him a bit.

"Let's hope he doesn't show up at the party tonight," Sy mutters. "Maybe we should talk to Rory about it? Y'know, just so he knows what happened?"

"Maybe," Motley says. "His name's Valan, right? If nothin' else, Rory could help us keep an eye on him"

Everyone kind of nods at that and the room goes quiet for a moment. "We did run into that group again on the way to engineering," Sy states and Motley nods his head to confirm.

"The one that was by the student center fountain yesterday with the collars. Apparently they're part of that Requoran support group you guys wanna try going to."

"Oh yea, so did it go well with you two this morning?" Fen asks.

"Yea, got there on time and everything," Sy nods.

"Good. Orientation went well?"

"Mine was boring," Motley says. "We just talked about the importance of sociology and did a few get-to-know one another exercises. Almost fell asleep at one point," he chuckles.

"Yea, same here. Good number of Requorans in the engineering school, though. There were four in my class," Sy states.

"Only two in mine," Motley replies.

"I was the only one in my class," Fen sighs. "Maybe there'll be more in the others."

"I think ours is tomorrow," Ian says, looking to Sam who nods.

"Yea, we're both in the computer science building. Same class, too."

"Nice. Y'know, I bet it wouldn't be hard to make small keyboards for Requorans. That'd be a good major for you guys," I state.

"With the technology we have just about the only thing we can't do without cloakers is manual labor," Fen says.

I nod a little, thinking about it for a while. It's true, why can't we just make devices small enough for Requorans to work from?

With nothing else to do for the rest of the day and it only being about four in the afternoon we decide to sit there and chat for a while longer. Ian and Sam tell us about their vacation in Zealoway; one of the counties on the west coast. It's in a bit of a tropical climate and so is usually warm and it has a lot of beaches. It's also near to where the original skirmish between us and the Requorans began. They did notice a lot of anti-micro sentiment while there, even among their relatives. Fortunately, they don't have any in their family nor does their family really know any Requorans. Not Samantha's family, at least, which is who they were visiting.

The topic segways into another discussion about equality for Requorans which segways into the other micros we saw in our classes. I talk about Khole, the otter I met earlier and what he was like. He's from out west, too. I'll have to remember to ask him about what life over there was like after he got registered. Sy talks about how his orientation professor couldn't stop asking the Requorans in his class questions and pondering how their height could help solve engineering problems. Motley recalls his professor sympathizing with some of the Requorans in his class and offering her help if they ever needed it. Fen had the opposite experience. Apparently, he isn't quite certain about his orientation teacher. Came off as talking down to him. When he explains what the guy said I kind of understand. Part of me wonders if he might just be socially awkward or bad at expressing himself. I'm sure some norms are just unsure about what to say to Requorans, or how to say what they want to say. Ian and Sam seem pretty excited to see what their orientation teacher is going to say about the micro population after we tell our stories.

Before long we just get Fen's game console out and spend the last few hours complaining about how hungry we are and playing some weird fighting game. Fen's a damn cheater.

"Wave-sliding is part of the game," he responds when I accuse him of it.

"It's a glitch," I mutter, pushing him gently off of my lap.

"You're a sore loser." He grins.

I'll have to practice and beat him later. It hits about eight forty-five and we all start packing up to go to the pizza party. Sam and Ian don't live in our dorm but we tell them to come anyway. I don't think they'll care that much. People are already there when we arrive, and the pizza smells absolutely heavenly after having not eaten for eight or nine hours. I find Alex in the corner laughing with some of the girls on the other side of the hall but I don't see--

"Hey, guys, what's up? Come in, get some pizza!"

There he is. Rory ushers us in-- not that I need anyone to lead me to the pizza. I line up to get some while Fen and the others pull Rory aside. I shrug a little, figuring they're going to talk about Valan. Motley bumps against me. "We should get to know this Valan guy, y'know?" He asks.

"We're not going to start something with him," I say, grabbing a few slices of pizza.

"Nah, we're not starting anything. The more you know, though, right?"

I look at Motley for a moment, furrowing my brow. What's he planning? I shrug a little and look back down to get another slice. "If he talks to us then fine, but I'm not approaching him," I say. "Besides, we're here to relax," I draw out the end of the word for a moment, "Rory can take care of Valan if he gets out of hand," I state, looking back at where Motley was standing only to find that he's gone. I stare around for awhile; I see Sy, Fen, Ian, and Sam still talking to Rory...

"Sure thing," Motley says on the other side of me. I twist my head, furrowing my brow a bit but realizing he'd just switched sides to get at a box I was blocking.

"Don't get us in trouble, Motts," I chuckle. "If you -have- to talk to him, try to figure out if they'd actually hurt Fen or something, alright? If we know that much then we'll at least know how to handle him if he does try anything," I say. Fen and Sy come back a few minutes later to tell us what happened. According to them, Rory agreed to keep an eye on Valan but assured them that nothing will happen in the dorms. After a time we split up again to mingle. Sy, Fen, Ian and Sam talk with Rory and a few of the other students on one side of the room while Motley and I get into a conversation about Phalance's football and swim teams with some skunk named Erin. He seems pretty nice.

"Calloway'll be the center of the team. Have you seen his throws? If Phalance had a decent receiver we'd be in the top ten," Motley says. He has a way of fixing his usual dialect when he wants to; apparently he wants to right now.

"You think? Yea, that's probably right. Our last QB was only good at being tackled," the skunk smirks. "What're you going to do, though? It was a fox, after all. Quick with the tongue and feet but brush them the wrong way and they fall right over." Motley chuckles a little at that.

"They need a new center," I say. I don't actually know that they do, but I'm guessing Erin might.

"Damn straight," he mutters. "Put some meat there instead of that cougar. He shouldn't be there anyway, he should be full back or something."

I nudge Motley a little with a grin. "See? They need ya."

"Hmm? You play?" Erin asks.

"Used to," Motley replies. "High School team but I quit to focus on studies."

"Ahh, too bad. You could probably do it better than that cat," the skunk grins before twisting his head and waving at a few people walking in. One of them is Valan and the other two are some weasel and kangaroo I don't recognize.

"Hey, guys," the skunk says. "This is Naki and Motley. Naki, Motley; this is Valan, Pierce, and Reggie," he points at them while he speaks going from cat to weasel.

"We met yesterday," Valan says, holding his paw out. Both Motley and I shake each of their hands.

"Yea, you're all in this dorm?" I ask.

"Pierce is my roommate," Valan says. "Erin and Reggie are in a different room but, yea, they live here too."

"Ahh, not at orientation yesterday or did I just miss you two?" Motley asks.

"Yea, we weren't there," Reggie admits. "Bit of trouble making it to campus last night."

"Sorry to hear, glad you made it though," Motley states.

"Thanks." Erin nods.

"You two are friends with the Requorans, aren't you?" Valan asks. Here we go.

"Kinda," Motley says. "We went to school with them, found out when they got registered and all that. Haven't known them for long but they're not too bad.

"Ahh, not mad about what I said yesterday then?" he asks.

"Well, you did piss Fen off but I think he just took it a bit hard, you know? Have to listen to both sides of the story if you ask me."

"I agree with that." Valan nods. "Too many people on this campus are eager to eat up all the hype about Requorans. Fact of that matter is that they're not citizens, they've shown violent tendencies in the past and especially after registration, and they're still complaining about this land being theirs or something like that. As if they claim some right to it for being here first."

I start to get uncomfortable but stick in there to hear what Valan will say. Seems like he's more than willing to jabber on about it, at least.

"They make great pets, though," Erin pipes up. "I have a couple at home. Once you teach them how to act they're perfect. I don't like everything about Les Gardiens but I think they have the right idea with that."

"Too bad that's about the only thing they have right," Pierce says with a grumble. "If they have their way then we'll be socialists by the end of the decade."

"Well, least we'll all get a micro, right?" Reggie chuckles.

"Where'd you get them from?" I ask Erin. "My dad hunts micros, he'd bring them home for dinner every now and then."

"Oh? Well, we found a few when I was in pup scouts. Discovered a family of them nearby during one of our hikes and our camp leader help us set up a trap. I've had the two at home for almost ten years now," Erin says.

"Neat," I respond, even if I don't mean it.

"You said you eat them? I'd heard that some people do that," Valan says, staring at me now. "Your little friends are okay with that?"

"They don't know," I reply.

"I guess you haven't?" Motley asks.

"Nah, I don't think they'd be appetizing," Valan responds to Motley with a slight chuckle. I can't tell if that was supposed to be a joke or not. He then looks to me. "That's quite a secret to keep. I wouldn't mind seeing what they had to say about it if you ever do tell them."

I chuckle a little at that but try to move away from the topic. "Have you ever owned one?" I ask.

"The few I've captured in the past ended up being shown the bottom of my boot. If there's anything I can't stand it's a little whiny thief."

"You can say that again," Pierce chuckles. "Remember the fox we caught with that baby tomato in your house?"

"Yea," Valan rolls his eyes. "A few minutes is all it took to find out there were at least four of them living in the walls, stealing our food an' electricity. Little pests is what they are. And now this?" He rolls his eyes. "I dunno how you live with them, but more power to you. Keep an eye on your things or they might just disappear overnight," he says to both Motley and I.

"I don't think Fen and Sy would do anything like that, but they didn't grow up small so maybe that changed things a bit," I say.

"Yea, maybe. I still don't like it. Just wait, one day they're going to reveal their hand if we don't do something about it. It'll be the Beryl-city massacre all over again," Reggie states. "You think they want to just integrate? Just listen to what they have to say. Only things they want is their land back and revenge."

I'd only heard of the Beryl city massacre in history class. It's about the only thing the micros did during the war that warranted the amount of force we used to beat them. We discovered a new compound after that massacre. We also discovered that it's deadly poisonous to us and harmless to them.

"We'll see what the gov does," Motley says, giving a little yawn. "I might go back to the room and get some rest, though. Orientation was too early this morning. Comin', Naki?" He asks.

"Yea, I'll come. Was good meeting you guys." I hold my paw out and we all shake.

"Yea, definitely. See you around sometime, yea?" Erin asks.

"I'm sure we will," I smile. After saying our goodbyes we walk out of the room instead of towards Fen. I send him a text to let him know where we're going. We still need to talk about this morning but I'm guessing we won't get a chance to until a bit later.

"See? Easy, and a bit fun," Motley chuckles. "I think we'll have to keep a close eye on him, though. I don't doubt he or any of his friends would grab Fen or Sy up given the chance. Especially if either get mouthy."

"Yea, we'll need to talk to them about Valan. He's definitely one to avoid," I respond. "And his friends. How did you know Erin was friends with Valan?"

"Just a good guess. Fen said he saw a skunk with'em earlier and Valan stays in our dorm so I figured he might be the same."

"Good guess, then."

Within the hour we're all back in the room. Ian and Sam go back to their dorm room to get some sleep since they have orientation tomorrow. Motley turns in not long after they're gone and Sy is next. Early day must've gotten to them.

"What were you guys doing over there?" Fen asks, peering at me once Sy is in his room. "If you were making friends with that guy then no thank you, don't even think about it," he mutters.

"Nah, we were getting friendly with him but only to figure out if he'd actually do something to you or Sy. Unfortunately, it seems like it's not a stretch for him. We're gonna talk about it more but I think it's best if you and Sy avoid him entirely. Don't even talk to him," I say, wrapping my arm around his shoulder.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Fen mutters.

"Don't I? You wanted to debate the guy."

"Yea, well... I do. I don't know that I'd have done it, though. As much as I want to stand up to anyone that disagrees with us being here..." He lowers his ears a little. "Well, I was afraid earlier today. Even with Sam and Ian there. How am I going to stand up to these guys if I'm afraid they'll just try and take my cloaker away?"

I frown a little and pull the little wolf in for a squeeze. "We'll find a way for you to do it that won't put you at risk, yea? Maybe an article in the paper or something. Something indirect."

"Yea," he says a little, rubbing his hand up and down my leg.

"Did you wanna talk about this morning?" I ask him.

"Nah, not now. I'm a little tired, I think I'm just gonna get into the bed. I have enough on my mind and I don't wanna risk us getting into an argument or something. We can talk about it later... unless you want to talk about it now?"

I think for a while, then shake my head. "It's okay, go get some sleep. We'll definitely talk about it, though, alright?" I ask.

"I know we will. I love you, Naki," he states, squeezing into my chest a bit. I kiss the top of his head and smile.

"I love you too, paws. Have a good night," I say while he stands up and drags himself into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I skip the evening rituals and just walk into my room to flop down on my bed. It'd been a busy day and the semester hasn't even started. I lie on my bed and stare up at the ceiling for a while, trying to imagine what would happen in the coming weeks. College courses are bound to take more time and be more stressful. On top of that, I don't doubt that there will be a lot of issues surrounding Requorans' presence on campus. Already today we got a taste of it, and I get the feeling Fen might've been right before: It's going to get worse before it gets better. I don't even really want to think about my feelings on what happened this morning.

Unfortunately, over the next few days we don't really get much of a chance to speak. We go out and get books for our classes. It costs way too much-- I find myself making a mental note to send Fen's parents a thank you someday for letting me have that job over the summer. After getting our books we walk around the city and get familiar with the streets. Everyone except for Motley nerds out at a video game store we find that has some good deals and we try a few of the restaurants around downtown. The tortilla soup at Mani's is -awesome-. The campus begins to fill as upper classmen begin to move in and the downtown area fills with parties. Some of them are Requoran themed, even. I have to wonder how many Requorans actually decided to go to them. I don't mention it to Fen or Sy and neither of them ask to go so we avoid them altogether. I do have to wonder if we'll get around to any parties or if it's too big of a risk. I don't know if I'd trust drunk college students around those two. It'd be too risky.

Fen is a bit less steamed about Valan by the time Sunday rolls around and Motley and I talk to him and Sy about simply staying out of Valan's way. There's nothing you can do about some people and I think Valan is one of them. He's going to say things that aren't fair and we should just expect that out of him and his friends. Fen doesn't like it even if he agrees, "If we just stay quiet about it then they're going to win. We can't let them walk over us," I remember him saying before he catches his own wording. "I... you know what I mean."

I understand that he grew up with a cloaker on so it makes sense that he might've gotten used to those phrases. It's kind of funny, actually. In that way he's more Neotrian than Requoran.

Sunday night comes and we still haven't spoken on what happened before orientation. I don't really want to talk about it with Motley and Sian around so I've been trying to wait until I can get Fen alone. I finally do, but he doesn't seem too keen to talk about it now. "I get it, you're uncomfortable. How about we get together for lunch tomorrow? I'm not in the mood today and I don't need the stress before bed," I recall him saying only about an hour ago before he went to sleep himself.

There's a bit of apprehensiveness in his voice that worries me but I don't push it. I agree to meet with him at lunch tomorrow and hope that we'll be able to come to some sort of understanding if we can't solve the problem altogether. 'Uncomfortable with it' may not quite grasp the issue, unfortunately. Maybe it won't be this year or next, but Mom and Dad will find out eventually. On top of that, am I really just going to toss my beliefs aside? What -are- my beliefs? I don't see anything wrong with Fen and I being together but can I still be religious and gay? I sigh a little to myself. Tomorrow is the first day of classes and I'm both anxious and excited. I can't solve our problems, and there're plenty for us to solve. I remind myself that nothing has to be solved tonight, and that I have class at nine in the morning. Despite my worries, I drift off to sleep recalling everything we've already overcome. College would be no different.