Silence dragged on. Tommy just kept staring. Kyle had always been unnerved by the way predator species could just… stare. Unblinking. Even if he was easily twice the cat’s weight, it made Kyle’s heart beat faster in his chest.

Kyle forced himself to breath, chuffing, “Yeah… I am gay. You ask every dude you meet if they’re gay?” 

Tommy blinked, finally seeming to catch on that the question wasn’t particularly welcomed. He quickly lifted both his paws, like he needed to defend himself from Kyle. 

“Dude, no, nothing like… bad. A few weeks ago, when they were assigning rooms, I got a call. They asked if I’d be down to live in the large dorm, and I’d be with a herbivore if I did. Then they asked me if it’d be okay to live with a gay guy, and I said yeah.” Tommy raced to say it all, like he feared Kyle was about to trounce him. 

Kyle felt relief hit, but only briefly. Then he realized what the school had done. How they had divulged private information, in a way that couldn’t be legal. 

“They said like… the student requested to be roomed with someone who was LGBTQ friendly. They didn’t like… say who you are or that you were gay, just…” Tommy’s paws lowered, holding his knees. “I guess I assumed that meant you were gay, but they said LGBTQ friendly. I had to be cool with it. And I don’t care. I think all that homophobe shit is stupid.”

Thinking back, Kyle realized he had put in that request. After having to deal with Brent’s homophobia all freshman year, Kyle made certain he put explicitly that he wanted to be in the LGBTQ dorm, or with someone who’d tolerate a gay roommate. 

He hadn’t ever expected them to just… tell his new roommate, though. 

“That’s… wow. Yeah, I’m gay… you’re cool with that?” Kyle finally chuffed, Tommy visibly relaxing. 

“Yeah dude. Whatever toots your horn.” Tommy smiled, then looked back down into the box he was unpacking. 

“How about you?” Kyle asked, half-curious if he was rooming with another gay guy. He moved to his desk, taking a seat and started to open up the box of books. He looked up, but Tommy didn’t look over as he responded. 

“I’m straight. For better or worse.” He pulled out a rolled up poster. “Haven’t had much luck with women yet. Someday” Tommy stood up on the bed, walking over it to the wall. He apparently had some adhesive in his other paw, as he put the poster up over his bed. 

Kyle watched the poster uncoil. He had to hold back a laugh when the top of it was revealed. It was a solid orange cat- or where clothes didn’t hide was orange, at least- and from its mouth descended two huge, gold, saber teeth. The poster revealed more as it rolled down, until, at the bottom, was “SAYBR” in gold and diamonds. 

“Big fan of Saybr, huh?” Kyle asked, piling books into stacks on his desk so he could figure out how he’d organize everything. 

“Hell yeah. Saybr is incredible. I can’t wait until people recognize him for how good he is.” Tommy looked over his shoulder, smiling at Kyle, before he stroked over the poster to make sure it was flat. 

Kyle let it be. He thought Saybr was ridiculous, and the muffled garble he sang even worse. But, different species, different ears. And he had little intent to antagonize the guy he would be living with for a year. 

Unpacking was otherwise uneventful. There was plenty free space, as Rupert had pointed out, with half the room containing joey-sized furniture for Tommy. The only exception was the closet, which obviously couldn’t be swapped out. Tommy had a step ladder with him, and could reach up to hang his clothes without too much of a hassle. 

Kyle was just starting to unpack his computer when his phone lit up. “JIFFY” showed on the screen, and a preview of the text. Luckily, the message was short enough to read with just the preview- “Food!” and an acorn emoji. Kyle lifted his phone, turning to face Tommy. 

“Hey dude. I’m going to meet some friends for lunch, you want in?” Kyle chuffed while he unlocked his phone. He exited Jiffy’s message, noticing he had another text, from Margaret, his step sister. 

“Nah dude.” Tommy answered, still rummaging around the box on his bed. “Mom and dad took me out for a huge breakfast. Couldn’t fit another bite. I want to get my games set up anyway.”

Kyle was distracted by his phone. Margaret’s message read, “You doing okay? Drive with Ru survivable? At college yet?”

“Bummer. I’m sure you’ll meet my friends eventually.” Kyle chuffed, looking back up to Tommy. Then it clicked. “… Games? What systems do you have?” Kyle sat his phone on the desk, suddenly far more interested in what Tommy was up to. 

“Oh, uh… Brought my Wii and PlayStation. Tons of games too. Left the other consoles at home. My dad plays a ton too, and he’d have a fit if I took them all the college.” As he spoke, Tommy lifted a PS4 out of the box he was rummaging in, smiling. “You a gamer too?” 

“Hell yeah I am! My mom didn’t want me wasting my time at college, so they’re all locked up back home… but I brought my 3DS and have a bunch of games on my PC. I don’t think mom even understands you can play games on computers.” Kyle laughed, reaching over and patting atop his PC tower. 

“Sweeeeeet.” Tommy crooned, the excitement evident in his flicking tail and jubilant expression. “This’s going to be a real fun school year. You a sophomore too? What’s your major?” Tommy prattled, excitement making him speak almost unintelligibly fast. 

“Ah, uh…” Kyle lifted a paw, scratching at the back of his head. “Undeclared. No idea what I’m gonna go with. How about you?”

Tommy had set the PlayStation on the bed, pulling out the Wii and each console’s components. “Went for education. I’m on the history and sociology education track. Which is like… hardly a point to it. There’s like, two classes different between me and any other education major.” Tommy lifted the box, upended it, and let the rest of the cables spill free on his bed. “My dad wanted me to major in criminal justice, but I have… like… negative interest in being a cop. Watching the crap he puts up with, I wouldn’t survive it.”

Kyle’s ears twitched backwards, a soft chuff escaping his lips. A cop’s son. That was great. 

“Don’t like… worry or anything. I don’t tell dad a thing about college, and I’m not the angel he thinks I am.” Tommy mewled, leaning back and lounging against the wall, below his Saybr poster. “You’d think being a cop he’d figure out if I did anything bad, but… Just meant I had to learn how to get away with stuff a lot better.” Tommy smiled, like it was a mark of pride. 

“Sweet. So you’re not gonna care when me and my buds have a coke party in the room?”  Kyle got distracted as his phone vibrated noisily against his desk. He picked it up, the preview showing the whole text again. Jiffy: FOOD!!! Followed by an acorn and a skull and crossbones emoji. He unlocked his phone, sending back a hopping kangaroo emoji; Kyle’s ‘on my way’ standard. 

When Kyle looked up, Tommy was staring at him incredulously. “That was a joke, right? Like… Dad would skin me if there’s like, drugs in the room.” 

Kyle couldn’t help but react to the panic evident in Tommy. He chuckled and lifted his paws, waving them, “I’m not the party type. I don’t even like… know drug stuff, at all. I was just messing with you.” Kyle pocketed his phone, jerking his head to the door. “I’m gonna bounce. We can talk games more when I get back.”

Tommy didn’t look entirely relieved, but nodded and waved a paw, “Yeah, have fun. I’ll have everything set up by the time you’re back.” He paused, then sat forward, forearms on his knees. “Uh… You think you’ll still do dinner? Mom and dad bought me a little microwave and dorm food just in case. I… think I’ll skip on the cafeteria. At least, until I head down a few times with a large fur.”

That caused Kyle pause. It suddenly hit him that, even if he was a marsupial, and Tommy’s dad was a cop… Kyle was much safer in that building than Tommy. Aggression between larger species was more expected, and more tolerated. And most the dorm could probably snap Tommy in two. Kyle hadn’t even picked up on that edge of nervousness or fear. 

“Yeah dude. I’ll be doing dinner still.” He patted his chest and chuffed, “Takes a lotta fuel to run something this big.” He smiled his best reassuring smile, then nodded, “Don’t you worry. I got you until you feel comfortable here.”

Tommy visibly relaxed, his shoulders lowering. He looked back down to his consoles, sorting them into a pile of PlayStation and Wii. “It’s cool. Isn’t your problem or anything, I just wanted to check. Feel free to use it too. The microwave.” He looked back up, smiling. “And thanks. I’m… actually looking forward to this year. My last roommate sucked.” 

Kyle paced over to the door, nodding. “Sure thing.” He chuffed, trying to play it cool. The last bit gave him pause again, right as he was opening the door. He turned, his tail holding the door open while he responded. “And yeah… dude… same. I had this homophobe dude… last year sucked. Real happy I got a cool dude this time.” 

Tommy perked up at that, smiling wide as he could, showing off all those fangs. He went back to the consoles and Kyle left the room. Days ago, this knowledge would have given Kyle such peace of mind. Knowing that this year wouldn’t be the awful crap that Brent put him through. But in the day Kyle’s worries and preoccupations had shifted so drastically. He had entirely forgotten his fear of an awful roommate. 

Kyle bounced down the stairs again, stopping on the first floor landing as he saw someone entering the dorm. From above, Kyle wasn’t sure what it was. A lion, maybe… only to notice it was a dog when it headed to the stairs. A huge dog, but a dog. He was pretty sure. It didn’t look like a wolf to him. 

“Yo.” Kyle chuffed as the canine got halfway up the stairs. Then he bounced over the railing, landing on the ground floor. 

“Hey!” the dog puffed back. Male, based on the voice. And out of breath. Kyle didn’t want to interrupt anyone moving, so he slipped out the door with that. Always time to meet others over the next few days, and Kyle knew Jiffy would chew his ears if he didn’t get to the meetup soon. 

~~~~

Kyle enjoyed many advantages at Woodfall University. As a newer university, it was designed after the shared dream. That all species, of all sizes, can coexist in harmony, and prosper under such diversity. Despite that goal, the college had been nearly exclusive to medium and small furs for a couple decades, despite their attempts to enroll larger furs. At that point, a good decade before Kyle enrolled, the college created a special board of species relevant to the task. 

The improvements since that point had been incredible. The university rearranged the campus to be more species and size friendly. Major changes had been made to the housing system. Protections were made for those with higher risk. The diverse board had actually come up with some incredible ideas, once different species and sizes talked openly with one another. 

But, far more important than any of the rest… the school’s transport system had an overhaul. Balancing the needs of such diverse locomotion couldn’t have been easy, but the result was masterful. For the slowest and smallest, there was ample transport around campus. That was where most progressive, inclusive, campuses stopped. 

Woodfall had factored in for the speedy types as well. Each of the main walkways, from dorms to the campus center, had wide-open, one-way lanes clearly marked for fast species only. They were in the center of the walkway, with great visibility in all directions. Branches connected the walkways, not too unlike a spider’s web. With good visibility in every direction, Kyle was free to bound the way his father had told him never to. He reached the campus center and just past it before he slowed and left the walkway. There were three major food spots on campus. One focused on medium and larger furs near the larger dorms, one for medium and smaller furs near the smaller dorms, and the all-inclusive food court off the campus center. A mishmash of seating, perching, and hanging spots with foods offered in all sizes. The only place all Kyle’s friends could meet and still be, mostly, comfortable. 

“Finally!” squeaked a tiny, high-pitched voice. Before Kyle could turn, he felt his tail grabbed. Paws scampered up along it and Kyle’s back, and arms latched around Kyle’s neck. 

Kyle laughed, “Hey Jiffy. I missed you too.” While lifting his hands to his neck and resting them atop Jiffy’s. The squirrel, standing just under three feet on a good day, was basically weightless compared to the power of Kyle’s body. Meaning Jiffy could use Kyle like his personal climbing tree. And he did. 

“Hell yeah you did!” The squeaky voice declared proudly, climbing up further. Soon Jiffy’s legs were on either side of Kyle’s neck, hanging down to his chest. The squirrel rest his arms atop Kyle’s head, leaning forward to look at the roo upside-down. “And I missed being tall!” he squeaked, then sat up proper. “I can see all the way back home from up here!”

Kyle snorted in amusement, hearing someone else approaching from the direction Jiffy had. Kyle turned, pulling his tail close so he didn’t sweep any furs with it. All the habits of being among a diverse student body returning to him. 

“Hey Kyle.” A sweet voice spoke, Kyle at first looking down at horns. 

“Angel! I thought you weren’t getting in until tomorrow!” Kyle squatted down, hugging around the booted goat. She hugged back, her head turned up to keep her horns away from Kyle. 

“Ended up taking the bus early. Mom had a last minute work emergency and…” she shrugged, smiling. “I’m here now. Though, I’m sorry to say you only get us. The Pats are busy today, and Aadi’s move-in was delayed to Wednesday. No idea on Kevin, he’s been MIA.” 

Kyle did his best to keep smiling. Sure, he’d love to see all his friends. But Kyle was just as happy to see these two, and Angel never gave herself enough credit. “Pff, only you two. Sounds like a good group to me. I take up too much of the table for a big group anyway.” He chuffed, smiling even bigger, taking pride in his size. “No surprise on the Pats really… Why was Aadi moved back?” 

“Oh, he got moved into the XL dorm. Begged and pleaded and… he’s in. He’s been freaking out in the group text.” Angel giggled. Aadi being energetic was a very rare occurrence. Kyle had missed so much in the past day, it seemed. 

“Have a lazy summer?” Angel teased, looking over her shoulder and pointing her thumb back to the high speed walkway. “You weren’t flying near as far as last year.”

Kyle stood back up, chuffing and laughing, “The hoppers are sore. Third floor, and dad made me high hop the way up when we moved in. But yeah, didn’t do much this summer… Suppose I could have gone faster. My new roommate held me up. Shouldn’t have risked someone getting all kinds of hangry.” 

Paws pattered atop Kyle’s head, “Hey, that’s been like… three times! And you don’t get it. My metabolism is craaaaaaaazy. When I get hungry I have to eat. And I’m hungry! What’re we getting?” 

Kyle and Angel smiled at one another. Kyle looked down, to Jiffy’s feet. Pressing his luck by making Jiffy wait longer. “Woah, these are new! They look way better than what you were wearing last year. I thought you climbing up felt different.” Kyle raised his hand, holding and wiggling Jiffy’s foot. The squirrel was sporting something between a glove and a shoe. Each of the long toes seemed to be free of the others, an opening allowing the toe tips and claws and claws to extend out the end. The thumb toe even looked more mobile, sort of like a baseball glove. A vast improvement from the shoe shape with just claws poking free Jiffy had before. 

“Do your weird feet thing laaaaaaater! Fooooood!” Jiffy whined, which got both Angel and Kyle laughing. Their eyes met again, each waiting for some sort of indication from the other.

Angel shrugged. “You know me. I’ll eat anything. Make the ancestors proud.” 

Kyle nodded, “Hmm… how about we split a”

“Pizza! Yes yes yesss pizza. With peanut butter right?” squeaked from above Kyle. 

“Spicy peanut butter pie?” Kyle chuffed upward. 

“Yesssssss!” Jiffy squeaked, wiggling with excitement. “Food back home sucks! I’m going to eat half it myself!” he proudly declared. 

Angel gave a thumbs up, a smile faint on her lips. Probably the least emotive in Kyle’s circle of friends. Even after the last school year, Kyle could only read her some of the time, but she seemed happy enough. 

“I’ll get it.” Kyle chuffed, peering upward. “You gonna stay up there?” 

Small arms folded atop Kyle’s head, Jiffy resting atop them. “Hell yeah I am. I haven’t been tall in forever. And you make a great ride.”

“Pff, you’d pop before you could ride me.” Kyle teased. Jiffy gasped and gently swatted Kyle’s face with his puffy tail, Angel rolling her eyes. She jerked her thumb to the seating area and walked away to claim a space. Kyle turned, heading to the pizza-themed counter. “You’re welcome to try.” Kyle chuffed as he walked, “So long as you let me do my weird foot thing.” 

Kyle heard a distinct ‘puff’ from Jiffy, then felt a few blunt-toothed, and playfully gentle, bites along one of his ears. “You sure got more forward over summer break.” Jiffy squeaked quietly. “What changed?” 

That caused Kyle pause. He settled in line behind a number of smaller furs. Smaller than Kyle was, at least. He tucked tail close behind him and ensuring he gave enough space, while simultaneously doing his best to not tower over them. 

“I… uh.” ‘I blew my dad’ wasn’t something he could say in that setting. Or maybe ever. The thought alone made Kyle’s ears hot. “Just uh… missed it a lot. I mean, we only got to a couple times before the semester ended.” Kyle felt a weight in his chest. Now he was lying to his best friend at college.

“Mmmhmm… But…” paws traced up and down along the backs of Kyle’s ears, rubbing them. “You’re still like… want the nuts, but don’t want to buy the tree?” 

The weight grew, Kyle’s chest feeling heavy at the words. The ‘relationship’ or ‘friends with benefits’ conversation hadn’t been fun. He still felt guilty about it. 

“… For now, yeah… but if you ever want to talk about it, or just… stop, we can.” Kyle chuffed quietly, guilt and fear of prying ears keeping his voice low. 

“I’m not upset or anything. Extreme size relationships are crazy and hard. But… yeah, let’s talk later. For now… pizza. Tasty tasty peanut butter pizza…” Jiffy cooed longingly, impatiently willing the line to go faster. 

“You got it… Just don’t drool in my fur.”

“It was ONE time!” Jiffy squeaked defensively. 

The line wasn’t too bad, with it still being early in move-in week. A lot of furs hadn’t made it to campus yet. Kyle ordered a half spicy peanut butter pie, half spicy herby plus pie and drinks for all, using his student ID. Another benefit to Woodfall was their food program. Equity pricing; students were all charged the same per meal, whether they were small and took little food, or large and ate a lot. Three meals off anyone’s account would cover any fur. Far preferable to Jiffy emptying his account just to treat Kyle to one meal. 

“Do you remember what Angel drinks?” Kyle chuffed, pushing his ice-filled cup to the soda dispenser, filling it with a sweet herbal soda. A signature blend for Woodfall that he had missed oh-so-much that summer. 

“I think… she always does something different. I know I’ve seen her drink that plant stuff you do.” Jiffy responded, finally deciding on what he’d get to fill his drink pouch. Once full, the squirrel slung it over his shoulder and leaped off the counter back onto Kyle’s shoulders. 

“Well… worst case she dumps it.” Kyle chuffed, and filled Angel’s cup with the same Kyle had gotten for himself. He carried the drinks and ticket over to the table Angel had found. 

The mixed size common area had, by far, the most chaotic of seating arrangements. Tables would have tall seating, medium seating, or half-and-half. The large table Angel had chosen had a three-foot platform to put medium fur chairs atop, so the medium and large furs could use the same tabletop. There were small stools for small furs to use directly atop the table. Or, as Jiffy preferred, each table had faux wood ‘growing’ up from the middle and branching. They all connected with horizontal branches far above the table, many of the smaller furs scurrying along them to get around, or dining at suspended platforms, well out of range for being accidentally stepped on or kicked. Kyle glanced up at them, still marveling at how natural it all felt. How Woodfall really showed the shared dream was possible. 

“Hey, you remembered. Thanks!” Angel smiled as she took her drink, draining some. Kyle felt a little swell of happiness he hadn’t messed it up. He sat down on his own tail at the tall side of the table. Jiffy hopped atop the table, up the wooden pole and nestled into the crotch of a truncated branch. He slung his drink pouch around front, sucking on the valve at the top. 

“So what’re your roommates like?” Kyle chuffed, folding his arms on the table. 

“Nonexistent. Mom sprung for a single for me.” Angel smiled, thrilled for the privacy. “My GPA was high enough at the end of last year… and she kept her word.”

“Lucky!” Jiffy squeaked, then waved his arm dismissively. “Eh, you won’t make friends and socialize enough like that!” The quick 180 in opinion a notorious trait of Jiffy’s. He looked to Kyle and smiled, showing his buck teeth. “My chem group all decided to room together. My Sciuridae team!” 

Kyle vaguely remembered them. He knew he had met them a couple times, at least. 

“Isn’t… one of them a mouse?” Angel questioned, an eyebrow arched, eyeing Jiffy. Of all the group, she would be the one to call it out. Angel was pursuing genetics and was obsessed with taxonomy and species relatedness. 

“He’s honorary! He really pulled us through, so we adopted him. Dude’s way too shy anyway, if we didn’t take him in he’d have no one.” Kyle would forever be impressed how quickly Jiffy could talk while still being intelligible. 

“What about that chipmunk dude? I thought you hated him?” Kyle probed, having had an earful and some about the guy last year. 

“Oh man I’ll never be in his group for a class again. But the dude’s cool. Besides, his parents and him are stoners, and he promised he’d keep our room stocked.” Jiffy leaned forward, toward Kyle, grinning mischievously. “I am going to get you stoned this semester, grass muncher.” 

Kyle sat back in his seat, rolling his eyes. “Dude, you’re not going to be able to convince your chipmunk dude to waste his entire stash getting one huge boomer high.” 

“It’s not like that! It doesn’t take that much more! We’d just roll a joint for someone your size, then we’d take real tiny puffs on it.” Jiffy disputed, adjusting in his seat. He laid down on the short branch stump, so he could simultaneously see Angel and Kyle to his left and right. 

“We’ll see.” Kyle chuffed, defeated. It was hard to stop Jiffy when he was determined or wanted something. Kyle had said he’d give it a go this year… maybe. 

“We’re up!” Jiffy squeaked.

“I’m on it. You paid.” Angel quickly cut in, hopping out of her seat and heading to the counter before Kyle could react. 

Kyle settled back onto his tail, looking back to Jiffy. The squirrel lived in fast forward, changing from one topic to another, moods showing and passing quickly. The mischievous grin was gone, a more serious, somber, look on his face. 

“I missed you, big boomer.” Jiffy said, his voice betraying emotions he was trying to hide with a smile. The squirrel reached out his paw to Kyle, palm up. Kyle lifted his paw, resting a few fingers in Jiffy’s smaller hand. 

“I missed you too, you nut.” Kyle smiled in return, but he felt worse inside. He hadn’t thought about Jiffy over the summer quite as much as he said, lied, earlier. He loved the guy, but they were so far apart and different time zones… Worse, Jiffy hadn’t even existed in Kyle’s mind since … last night with Rupert. Not until the text.

“You don’t haaaaave to get high if you don’t want to. But I’d love to just… get stoned and cuddle with you. Feel your fur against mine.” Jiffy fantasized aloud, drawing his paw back. Kyle lowered his paw to the table again. 

“I promise cuddles. Maybe getting high.”

“Sold!” Jiffy squeaked. 

Kyle chuckled at Jiffy being so very… Jiffy. Kyle might have lied earlier, but at the same time… the affectionate look, holding paws, had brought a rush of nostalgia and emotions. Emotions forced into the maelstrom already within Kyle. That Kyle really did care for Jiffy, but the distance outside of college, the size difference… Kyle spotted Angel approaching with the pizza. Kyle smiled again, but he noticed Jiffy’s concerned look. That disappeared as Angel slid the pizza onto the table, then climbed back up to her chair. 

“The sauce!” Jiffy squeaked and zipped up along the faux wood pole. Kyle barked a laugh at that, shaking his head. 

Angel met Kyle’s eyes, then looked down at the table. Her paws clasped together and she teased her tough nails against each other. 

“I think Jiffy wishes I got here tomorrow. Pretty clear he’s still head over heels for you.” Her voice was low. When she looked back up, a guilty expression was on her face. 

In a way, it was true. Angel and Kyle weren’t the closest. But his overburdened mind couldn’t take up another task. 

“Dude… Don’t worry about it. All of you are my friends, and Jiffy can deal. We’ve got all semester to hang out.” Kyle gave his best encouraging tone. And oddly, it felt far more natural than trying to comfort Angel than it had last year. The best Kyle could figure, the conversations with Rupert must have leveled up Kyle’s conversational skills. Empathy?… something was different. 

“So are you two going to try…?” Angel questioned in a hushed tone, even though she could see Jiffy across the food court at the condiment counter. “You know.” She clasped her paws together, looking back to Kyle.

Fuck. 

“I… don’t think so. I don’t know? … I’m kinda messed up in that area right now. No idea, to be honest.” Worse than messed up. Any mention of relationship or sex immediately brought back blowing Rupert, the shower together… what it meant for their future, for Kyle’s ability to date others. The acts at the forefront of his mind. But he shouldn’t ever share that with another. Or maybe talking to someone might help… 

Kyle gave a non-committal shrug. Angel returned the shrug, nodding. Her eyes- those rectangular pupils still weird to Kyle- followed up to the intermeshed branches above, alerting Kyle that Jiffy was returning. 

By the time Jiffy reached the table, a sauce jar in one arm, Kyle and Angel had served themselves. A downside to sharing pizza was the cut of the pie. Even though it was a large, it was all cut into squares that were small sized. Kyle had slid a quarter of the pie, the herby side, onto his plate. He couldn’t pick up a slice proper, but at least each piece was now basically a one-bite serving. 

Jiffy settled down on the table, sitting cross legged next to the pizza and sauce container. He lifted a square, then spooned the sauce onto it. A vaguely clear-brown fluid with chili slices and onions floating in it. Jiffy devoured the piece in several bites, groaning, “Yesssss…” as he chewed up the last one. He looked between the two, swallowing and licking his lips clean. “Either of you want sauce?” 

Angel happily took the invitation, spooning the sauce over her pizza. Kyle eyed the jar and huffed out his nostrils, debating. 

“Come on Kyle, you looooved this stuff last year!” Jiffy encouraged, while pouring some of it onto his second piece of pizza. 

“Yeah, it’s delicious but like… It’s still weird. I hardly ever eat insects or bug protein, even.” Kyle rebuffed. 

“Don’t think of it as fish! Think of it as.” Spiffy started, but got cut off.

“Rotten fish juice?” Angel offered, helpful and sweet as always. 

“Yeah! Rotten fish juice and vinegar and spicy delicious! It’s certified herby safe, and you were fine after you tried it last year!” Jiffy kept pushing. And it was fair, he spoke the truth. It was very different from anything Kyle had ever had. It was a mind-blowing experience to taste something so… unique. Atop vinegar and spicy, both of which Kyle loved. 

“Alright, alright…” Kyle gave in. He took the jar and drizzled spoonfuls of the sauce over his pizza. It disappeared among the vegetables, pizza sauce, and grasses on the pizza. The only evidence remaining the thin slices of chilies and onions. He lifted up a square and popped it in his mouth.

Several flavors danced on his tongue. Things he was tasting for only his second time, familiar flavors intermingled in alien ways. The only experience Kyle could compare was Rupert’s special lasagna, and he hadn’t had that in ages.  

“It’s really good, but… it stinks. And it’s super weird. Red kangaroos aren’t made to eat fish.” Kyle protested, despite loving the taste. The knowledge alone that he was defying his own nature was oddly upsetting, despite going ‘against his nature’ being right pawed… gay… being with his father… tasted wonderful, but the taboo… 

“But you can eat this! And heck, there’s all those processed proteins made specifically for herbys.” Jiffy proclaimed, blatantly proud he had broadened Kyle’s palate. 

“He’s right, and… Those huge muscle boomers eat them all the time.” Angel looked guilty for giving her support. “I wouldn’t like… push it, but… I can say that a lot of my favorites are insect, fish or egg dishes. And it’d be cool to like… make herby friendly versions for you to try.”

Kyle fought back the intrusive thoughts, the emotional rat-king in his chest. Just a quick breath, and… he was back.

“Jeeze, I’m already getting it this bad? Once the Pats and Aadi are here, someone’s going to force feed me a fish, I swear.” Kyle grumbled, putting another piece in his muzzle. He had to admit, at least to himself, that the bland crust was infinitely better with the sauce. 

Angel laughed louder. Kyle’s ears perked and he got a big smile. Angel had a really wonderful laugh, the kind that just made him feel happy. Most of the time, she was so quiet and stifled. A shame, with such a pretty voice. “Aadi’s the only one that maybe could hold you down, and that’s a pretty big maybe.” she countered, still giggling. 

“I’d pay to watch that.” Jiffy chimed in, grinning at Kyle. 

“So you could jerk off to it later?” Kyle shot back, pausing with a piece of pizza halfway to his muzzle, thinking back to Aadi last semester. The black caiman was the only fur in their group larger than Kyle, and he was bigger by a good foot and a half, and a whole lot more when it came to mass. Kyle hadn’t ever been too attracted to scales, preferring the soft allure of fur. But Kyle sure did want bigger guy to be with. Like Rupert. Aadi was even bigger than Rupert…

“He’s straight anyway.” Kyle followed up, popping the pizza in his muzzle. 

“Psh… I’d jerk off while I watched.” Jiffy mumbled, keeping that little grin across his snout. 

“Watch out Jiffy, you keep talking like that and you’ll be the thirsty one in the group.” Angel teased. She clearly had little qualms with the conversation, though. Both Jiffy and Kyle knew Angel was straight, but had a particular adoration of gay men. Probably thanks to too much yaoi manga in high school. 

Jiffy put a paw to his chest, faux offended. “Pfff! Yeah right! Kevin will jump anything his knot could get stuck in. I’m very selective with my thirst.” Jiffy squeaked indignantly, before pulling his drink pouch off and setting it on the table, drinking from it. 

Kyle snorted and smiled, feigning amusement at the conversation. But he was suddenly back in his head. Jiffy’s flirting, hot on Aadi, but Kyle couldn’t help but think of Rupert. Kyle pulled his phone free of his pocket, opening the maps app. After a moment of syncing, Kyle’s icon popped up on the map, and Rupert’s. His location a few minutes ago, already a good bit into his journey home. Kyle stared at the icon waiting for it to update. It flickered, reappearing further down the freeway. Rupert was making the drive just fine. 

The prolonged silence caught up with Kyle. He looked up, finding both Jiffy and Angel staring at him, bearing amused expressions. Before Kyle could respond, Jiffy asked, “Checking out Frottr already?”.

Kyle’s ears flushed and he choked, unsure what to say. He tucked his ears outward and narrowed his eyes, “Noooo. Jeeze! What you must think of me.” As his mind scrambled. He lifted his phone up, “I told Margs I’d text her when I got here safe, and I keep forgetting. And I was checking to see how my dad’s drive is going.” His eyes returned to the phone. An email popped up. “… And my advisor emailed me. Fun.” He chuffed, setting the phone face down on the table. 

“Margs… that’s the step sister you like right?” Angel ventured, pushing her plate away. She crossed her arms on the table and rest her heavy chest on the tabletop behind them. 

“Mmmhmm… the older one. The nice one.” Kyle looked back to his plate, well behind the other two in eating. He grabbed three pieces and popped the pizza into his mouth in a row. He chewed a few times, then covered his muzzle with his paw, “She promised we’d keep in touch when she moved across the country. We’ve been pretty good about it, so… I Have to respond to her when I get back to the dorm.”

Kyle finally swallowed, but the conversation seemed to be dead for the moment. He picked up another piece, then looked between the goat and squirrel. 

“You two all unpacked already?” he chuffed, before popping the piece into his mouth. 

“Yup!” Jiffy squeaked, “Don’t have that much stuff really. I checked in early yesterday.”

“Mm, what I can is. I came up with one suitcase. Mom’s going to drive up this weekend with the rest of my stuff. But she wanted me here for any like… orientation stuff or meeting my professors or whatever.” Angel sat up a little more, reached out, and took more of the pizza, pulling her plate in again. “I think she plans to do some… mother daughter BS so my weekend’s shot.” Angel puffed, eating the pizza she had snagged.

“Bummer.” Kyle and Jiffy chimed in unison. Jiffy looked over to Kyle, another piece of his side of the pizza halfway to his muzzle. “You just got here right? Want some help unpacking? I’m great with wiring things up.” He smiled a charming rodent way, then got to work decimating the piece he was holding. Kyle didn’t know how the tiny thing managed to fit so much food. 

“Sure, if you really don’t mind? I don’t want to like… use you for being small. But… I do hate crawling under a desk. I always hit my head at least once.” Kyle chuffed. “And they’re bolted in place. They hit hard.”

“Of course! Happy to. I don’t have any plans ‘til I meet team Sciuridae for dinner.” Jiffy chittered, all too eager. Leaving Kyle with the distinct feeling his small, and closest, friend had planned to spend the day with him. And Jiffy probably had hoped it would just Kyle and him for lunch. As messed up as Kyle was inside, he couldn’t say no to that sweet, hopeful, adoring face. 

“Well you two have fun on your unpacking date.” Angel goaded, upending her cup and finishing her drink. She set it down, wiping her muzzle with a napkin. “I have a meeting with my advisor to go over my CCAPP.”

Kyle furrowed his brows and questioned “Cap?”.

“’C’ ‘C’ ‘A’ ‘P’ ‘P’,” Angel spelled out. 

Jiffy stifled a giggle, “Pee pee.”, while Angel continued. 

“Course choice and academic performance plan. Once you choose your major, at the start of each year they make you map out every course you’ll take the next year, and make sure your courses this year will have you ready for it. And force you to like… take enrichment and all that stuff.”

“More like crap plan. SO annoying. I see my advisor Friday and I know she’s going to force me to take like… yoga or dance or weightlifting or something.” Jiffy grumbled. “Work your mind and body!” Jiffy mocked in a somehow higher-pitched, nasely tone. 

“I was actually thinking of adding a gym class or… at least hitting up the gym again. I really slacked last year.” Kyle mused, tapping at the table with his claws. He was going to say more when Angel pushed herself back and stood. Kyle had already lost track of the start of this conversation. 

“Sorry!” Kyle chuffed, rocking off his tail and onto his feet. He hugged Angel while she was still on higher ground, allowing him to stand in the hug as well. 

“No problem! I know everyone’s excited to see everyone.” she grunted, doing her best to hug back. She broke the embrace, then held a fist out to Jiffy. Jiffy fist-bumped and squeaked, “You still have to tell me about all the concerts you hit up!” he squeaked. 

“Sure thing. See you guys around!” 

Angel hopped off the raised floor and headed back towards her dorm. 

When Kyle made his way back around to the large fur side of the table, Jiffy plopped onto his back, spread eagle. 

“I ate too much.” He groaned. “But so worth it.”

“I’m so surprised.” Kyle teased, dragging more of the pizza onto his plate. He paused, then added the  sauce to it, before he resumed eating. “You gonna manage? Think you’ll be able to handle the ride back to my dorm?” Kyle pestered further, gently poking at the squirrel’s belly. 

“… Five minutes, then I will be.” Jiffy squeaked, head rolling to the side. Eyeing the remaining bits of his side of the pizza. “… and maybe once more slice.”