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"Stop staring at me!"

Nathan mumbled "Sorry," and turned his head to look out the window instead of at the freckled face. The large equine in the seat facing the aisle glared at him. He'd gotten on the bus at the mall just after Nathan had seated himself in one of the front most forward facing seats. Nathan had been enjoying the view for almost twenty minutes.

"I may be the only splice in town, but that doesn't give you the right to keep staring at me."

The other riders were carefully ignoring the exchange.

Nathan looked back in surprise. Didn't he know? He must have just arrived in town, but still....

"But you're not."

His accuser was somewhat taken aback.

"I'm not?"

"No, there's at least one other here. He's not like you, though. He's smaller and, well, hairier." Except for the gold mane, tail, eyebrows and lashes, what little Nathan could see of the equine's skin was almost hairless. It was a pearly, translucent white with a scattering of freckles. Like vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. Why did they both have to remind him of food? And that he'd like to.... No. Stop. That thought was inappropriate in so many ways.

"Do you know his name? Maybe I know him."

"It's Luke. He goes to school here," Nathan waved his hand toward the passing buildings and street lights. The information was public knowledge, anyhow. Very public. The bus had almost left the central campus and his stop was coming up soon.

"Luke..." The horse frowned. "An otter, maybe? It's been a long time." At least he wasn't scowling at Nathan any more.

"Yeah. That'd be him."

"I don't suppose you know how I could get ahold of him? There must be a lot of Lukes in the campus directory. I haven't seen any of the others for so long." He sounded a bit wistful.

Shit. Now what? Take him home? It's not as if he wouldn't find out soon enough, especially if he were here for an entry interview. The administration was sure to be thinking that getting two splices to attend the university would be a real accomplishment. Think of the advertising opportunities!

What about his foster parents, though? What would they think? For that matter, where were they? They'd be sure to worry if he didn't show up for dinner, whatever he told them. Nathan didn't particularly relish the idea of meeting them, either. Oh, well.

"You can probably see him in about fifteen minutes, if you want. He's staying at my place for now."

"Your place?" The equine looked at him suspiciously. What could he be thinking? It's not as if he couldn't squash Nathan like a bug. He must weigh almost twice as much, all muscle. He'd make a great addition to the football team. Although just about anybody could do that, considering their recent games.

"Yeah, well, it's a long story. Why don't I give him a call and ask if he'll be there? He might be at one of the libraries studying, though. Or do you have to be somewhere?"

"I'm supposed to meet my parents at the hotel downtown. For dinner." Implying that's all they were getting together for? That they had separate plans for the evening?

"Well, maybe you could get together tomorrow. He'll probably have some free time between classes. Will you still be in town?"

"Yeah. My interview's tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be on campus."

So he'd guessed right. Maybe Luke already knew and hadn't mentioned it? Surely the administration would have wanted him to give the equine a tour of the campus, praising its virtues and how good it was to splices. Well, to the one attending already, anyhow. Or maybe they knew his dorm experience hadn't been the best and didn't want to scare the new guy away.

"OK, why don't we exchange phone numbers? I'll make sure he gets yours and he can give you a call or tm. It might be late, though. I don't know when he'll have a break."

The freckle-faced horse still looked a little dubious, but then made up his mind.

"Sure."

Sasha did one of his new dances when Nathan came in the door. Then paused and sniffed in surprise.

" 'Orse?"