Amongst Their Kind: Beginning
Hello there! After many years of being on this site and reading these amazing stories that are brought forth, I figured that I would go ahead, take the plunge, and see what I would be able to add and contribute. So, here is just a small section of an on-going story that I am going to be working on. Feel free to tell me what you think.
(tags will come later when I add more to it.)
Shining. That would be the one word that Laurence would use as he stared off of his terrace of his apartment. Against the night sky, the lights of the city seemed to fluctuate and undulate as the electricity passed through them. The headlights and taillights of the city traffic was an endless ebb and flow of the tide of what can otherwise be called progress. However, there would be another reason as to why Laurence had taken residence here. One that can be emphasized by his current roommate. The idea of not being segregated, not having to worry about fitting in. That is what drove the human to this city, a city where the locals are, in more of a sense, less than human.
“Hey, Laurence! You have mail!” came a thundering boom of a voice as heavy footsteps echoed through the small apartment living room. Laurence turned his head just a bit, looking at the figure behind him who was busy putting the mail onto the coffee tray, sorting it out.
This was Shal, an 8’ 7” tiger, and quite a workout fanatic. He took his hand towel out of his pocket, huffing a bit as he wiped his forehead with it. “Looks like…..a few pieces of junk mail….and a letter.”
Laurence turned around, shutting the bypass door behind him, temporarily cutting him off from the near freedom of the outside. “A letter? Probably from my parents.” he said as he walked over near the table where the tiger stood, still shifting through some of his own mail.
“Thought you never talked to them.” the tiger remarked, throwing most of his stack in the trash as he went to the fridge. “As usual, nothing but junk.”
“It’s not that I don’t ever talk to them. It’s just………….you know.” the human said as he opened the envelope, scanning the contents of the message.
Shal and Laurence, despite being roomates, have never really shared much about their history. Yet, the tiger probably knew the human’s upbringing by his own guesses. And he would have been right. Laurence’s family grew up in the Eastern part of the continent Territory, known as Velacia. This Territory is broken up into many different country states, and his family was from the southwestern part, almost near the western border of Velacia. Humans and Anthros, for a very long time, stayed separated from each other. There were even vigorous beliefs, on both sides of the equation, that the two should never mix or interact.
Yet, despite these differences, in the Western Territory known as T’aria, townships and cities started flourishing, with humans and anthros alike starting to mingle. Of course, for most the mindset of segregation sat deep in the minds and hearts, and it took a while for anyone to really venture out to the West to experience this new cultural shift for themselves.
Laurence’s family was no exception. Told by his parents at a young age that there was no reason to talk with or even interact with anthros, he just assumed that it was just the course of nature, that both humans and anthros were destined to hate each other. It wasn’t until he applied for collages after his senior year of high school did he find one that he like. And it just happened to be a mixed college in T’aria, in a metropolis-like city known as Maroon. His parents were not very pleased with the transition their son was about to take. Even tried to talk him out of it. But the boy was persistent, and in the end followed forth with his academic career.
“So, what’s it say?” a large form suddenly found itself sitting down beside the human, nearly causing him to fall off the sofa.
“Well, just the same old. Telling me how much they miss me, that sort of thing. It’s weird. We have e-mail, and they still do paper letters.”
“Eh. It’s supposed to be more sentimental that way. At least that’s what my mom told me.” The tiger opened up a bottle of ale, gulping it down. “You know, one of these days you are hitting the gym with me. It’s not good to stay indoors all day.”
Laurence placed the letter back on the table, looking at the tiger. “It’s not like I’m doing nothing. I have to study.”
Shal took another gulp of his ale. “Yeah. But you’re…what. 19? 20? You’re too young to be stuck indoors. Neru…nerrr…….whatever that subject is can wait, at least once and a while.”
The human looked at himself. Shal wasn’t exactly lying. He was definitely a bit scrawnier that what he should have been, at least compared to other humans his age.
“19.” Laurence corrected. “And the subject is neurobiology. And aren’t you only two years older than me?”
Grinning, the tiger stuck his tongue out a bit. “Hey, I’m just trying to help. Gotta help the helpwess wittle hooman.” Shal teased making a cooing noise, grabbing one of Laurence’s arms and shaking it a bit.
“H-Hey! I’m not -that- frail!” Laurence tugged his arm back.
“Eh.” Shal shrugged his shoulders, rubbing Laurence’s hair a bit. Unbeknownst to the tiger though, Laurence blushed slightly at that, which is why he never got too angry at the tiger and his antics.
They both sat there, staring at a broken television across the room. Of course, as of now they couldn’t afford a new one. So they just settled for sitting there while the tiger drunk his ale, occasionally resting his large hand paw on top of the human’s head casually.
Although from the outside it may have looked a different story, the two were not together. The tiger never really showed anything more than just a casual friendship towards the human. Though he constantly never understood the whole ‘personal space’ bit. However, the human had a very different take on the matter.
He was attracted to the tiger. That much was evident. Of course, they never discussed anything like this. In fact, he didn’t even know if the tiger was straight or gay. Nor was he going to ruin his chance by asking him, at least now.
Currently, he was okay like this. Just having the large tiger’s hand paw on him, just that he could feel the tiger nearby. It was okay.
“Hey, it’s getting late, and I need to get to class early tomorrow. I think I am going to call in for the night.” Laurence said after a while, despite his wishes of wanting to sit there forever despite logic getting in the way.
“Hmm. Yeah, I suppose it is late.” the tiger bellowed out, finishing the last of his ale. “You know, the bed in my room can split into two. You don’t need to sleep on the couch.”
Laurence had the idea running through his head. Ever since they met each other and got acquainted, the tiger was willing to share pretty much whatever he had. And of course, Shal was the only of the two of them that brought something to sleep on. It was a fairly large mattress, definitely large within the context of the room. Of course, with Shal being nearly 9’, there was no way it couldn’t be any smaller.
“Nah. It’s fine. One of these days Im going to get a small bed. You know, unless we can decide which TV to get first.”
Shal huffed a bit as he stood up. “Sleep is better than entertainment.”
“Especially sleeping with you.” the human thought to himself as he went to grab a blanket.
“Well, make yourself comfortable then. I’m off to take a shower. I stink.” Shal threw his shirt and socks into a basket near his bed, revealing his muscular form before going into the bathroom that was two sizes too small for him.
As Laurence watched the tiger shut the door behind him, he laid down. The thoughts in his mind were not ones that he would ever want to share publically. Of course, it didn’t help that he kept staring at the tiger’s dirty clothes as well, wondering if he could………what would he do with them?
Either way, the human sighed as he turned over on the sofa, closing his eyes and within minutes he was fast asleep.
The alarm buzzed at 5:30 A.M.
Barely able to open an eye, the human slowly sat up, yawning largely.
He could smell the faint aroma of coffee from an old coffee maker that Laurence brought with him. It churned a bit before starting to fill the container.
From the other side of the room, he could hear the loud snoring of the feline, the door slightly ajar already.
“Damn it…” the human thought again, wondering if he could quietly sneak into the room without the tiger noticing, just to get a quick peek. The snoring sound definitely made it seem that it was not an impossible task.
However, he shook that from his mind. Class was starting soon, and he had to get ready.
After washing his hair and putting on his clothes for the day, he quickly grabbed his textbooks, stuffing them into his bag before pouring himself a cup of coffee.
5:56 A.M.
He still had four minutes before he really needed to leave. He already had everything ready to go, even a cup of coffee in his hand. But….
Looking quickly at the door ajar, he bit his lip. Taking a chance, he slowly put the cup of coffee near the maker, quietly setting his bag down on the ground.
Walking slowly over to the door, he could still hear the titan snoring away. He was a heavy sleeper, which was good in this case. Peeking his head into the door, he managed to catch an eyeful. The edge of the blanket was barely covering the tiger’s crotch, his large abdomen and chest in full view as the tiger had his arms sprawled out.
Laurence was in desperate need. Desperate to go over and to at least touch the tiger. However, he refrained from entertaining his fantasy for too long.
Quietly backing away from the door, he grabbed his backpack and his coffee.
Moving to the front door. 6:00 A.M.
Releasing a deep sigh, Laurence maneuvered his way out of the door and into the start of his new day, silently shutting the door behind.
Perhaps today will be the day……….