Octo put the last box down and let out a satisfied
sigh. He still had some more boxes in the student housing that he'd take later.
He looked over the bare room as he gasped with his tongue out. It was still
empty, but it was going to be his own home. What a nice way to start a new year.

It was rather hard to convince his parents that he wanted
to move to Barrowisle. They didn't accept his decision at first, but he told
them that he was an adult now and his decisions are his to make. He told them
he'd still visit every month or so, but he wasn't really looking forward to it
since his father… had been trying to get him involved with the drug operation
of the family. He did not want to do that, no matter how many times his father
urged him to at least take a look at the Barrowislander headquarter.

Octo undid the headband and wiped his face, shaking
the thoughts away. After lifting those boxes, he was smelly. He'd asked Kevin
to help him unpack his stuff and the wolf wouldn't arrive until later. He
knew it wasn't a very good idea since he didn't want to disturb the wolf with
his thesis, but the wolf didn't seem to mind.

The panther glanced at the wall… only to find that he
had not installed a clock.

Chuckling a bit to himself, he took his tank top off and sat down on the floor, taking his phone. It was almost one in the afternoon, apparently. He was getting hungry, too.

Kevin Huntington: “u want sumthing to eat? Im otw now"

Well, that would be nice. “Sounds good, thanks."
he typed back.

After spraying the room with some freshener to get rid
of his smelly musk, the panther stood up and walked to the bedroom. The bed had
already been installed, fortunately. Digging into his suitcase, he took a fresh
towel then went to the bathroom. He would put his clothes into the wardrobe
later.

As water rained down upon his body, the panther let
out an exhausted sigh and leant against the wall. This flat was half furnished,
which he didn't mind. He'd like to add a personal touch to it, though it wouldn't
really be a lot since he liked vanilla anyway. Grandiose wasn't really his
thing despite his family's wealth.

Although this flat was far from a bus and a tram stop,
he could walk to Hallestead metro station in just a few minutes. This flat was
close to the Ancient Town district. Despite the occasional flock of tourists,
he liked it here because it was less dense and quieter than the city centre.

He still remembered the first time he arrived at
Barrowisle. He'd taken a train back then. Wolvessye Station was big, as
befitting a central station, but sometimes it was not enough. In fact, there
were so many people using public transportation that they had to build
Legerville Station in the Legerville district next to Wolvessye. He appreciated
that Barrowisle kept a strict law about the building height, confining skyscrapers
to the Legerville district. That law made Legerville the de facto business district
of Barrowisle.

He took the shampoo and applied it to his body. His
biceps and triceps seemed to have gotten a bit bigger. Hmm, he didn't do any
weight training lately… well, those boxes could be considered weight training. Going
lower, he poked his chest and abs. His abs seemed to be a little less
pronounced now. Maybe because post-graduation stuff had really been stressing
him over, especially that family matter. He needed to get back in shape soon.

He heard someone opening the door, followed by a
familiar voice, “Octo, you here?"

Eh, just ignore him. The wolf could hear the shower
running anyway… wait, he didn't lock the door?!

At least it was just Kevin. “Kev, lock the door!" He
shouted, hoping that the wolf heard him.

He applied the shampoo to his tail. Kevin was nicer
now, certainly a lot nicer compared to the first time they met. His personality
appeared to have changed a bit. Whether that was just with him or with anyone,
he didn't know.

And really, he had to wonder, why were hot guys like
Kevin tend to be arseholes? He knew there were exceptions, and he definitely
knew that was a huge generalisation, but he couldn't help but wonder. Really,
many hot gay/bi guys he met were Kevin material. Could it be because many nice
hot gay/bi guys didn't like to come out?

The panther had wondered about this so many times, but
it seemed like he liked guys more than girls. He wouldn't turn down a girl, but
he didn't know, guys just seemed hotter.

Being in the football club left a pleasant taste in
him. Aside from the obvious Andy, they were all really hot. It had taken him a
lot of willpower not to confess to or ask anyone out or suggest a circle jerk
or something like that. Yet, he knew his limits. At first, he told Max that he
was bi. The dog was surprised, but he said he didn't mind. He said just go
ahead and tell the others, and after he did, they all still trusted him despite
his sexual orientation.

Even Andy, who he thought might be a bit bigoted at
first, continued to act like nothing was wrong. They kept hung out to do
homework, although understandably he was curious. Good thing he told them after
the locker incident, so explaining some homosexual things to the lion didn't make
him feel funny.

He heard some noises from the bedroom, and his ears
went up. What was Kevin doing?

“Taking shower all by yourself?" The wolf then said as
he opened the bathroom door.

Octo didn't turn around; he just shrugged. “I'm
smelly."

“Good kind of smelly." Kevin said, stepping under the water.
He put his hands on his waist and hugged him from behind, sniffing his neck.
“Good kind of smelly."

The panther rolled his eyes. “Get out, I'm taking
shower. You're gonna get all wet."

“So what? Tell me to stop and I'll stop."

If there were one thing the red wolf learnt from him,
it would be his preference for directness.

He just grunted and washed the shampoo away. Kevin
kept hugging him, this time rubbing his chest and abs. This actually felt nice,
until his hands went lower and groped his equipment.

However, they went up again as Kevin pulled himself away.
“Give me the shampoo." Kevin said. “I'm gonna wash your back."

“Oh? Decided to be useful?"

“I gotta be useful if we wanna keep fucking, right?"

Octo snorted at that, while Kevin laughed.

As silly as that sounded, that raised a red flag for
him. Were they now… something? Certainly there was something between them, but
they seemed to put that aside.

Was the feeling mutual? He was not going to deny that
he might have developed feelings for the wolf. However, did the same happen
with the wolf?

Octo just pushed those questions aside and sighed. It
had been a long time since he dated someone, so maybe this was just his
horniness talking. He did have some one-night stands, but properly dating
someone? The last time he had a date was way back in the first semester. After
that, he did not want to date again for a while. Instead, he focused more on
his studies.

“Kev," he said as he handed the shampoo to the red
wolf.

“That's
me." The wolf said as he put some shampoo into his hands and began cleaning his
back.

He washed
his face. “What did you buy for me?"

“Just
some roasted ducks. You like 'em, right?"

“Yeah."
He stared blankly at the shower knob as Kevin washed his back.

The
wolf's hands were actually pretty reflexing. The panther found himself closing
his eyes and enjoying the massage. His paws were gently massaging the sore
muscles on his back, making him let out a pleasant sigh as the wolf used his
thumbs to press on his wing muscles.

Of
course, Kevin had to ruin everything. After a while, the wolf's hands moved
lower and lower until they cupped his arse in a definitely not-safe-for-work
way.

“I wonder."
Octo said as Kevin rubbed the base of his tail. “You came here just to be able
to grope me in private, didn't you?"

“Definitely."
was the wolf's answer.

The
panther didn't answer, but he did feel something. “Is this your dick I'm
feeling between my legs?"

“Maybe?" The
wolf laughed.

Octo
turned around and saw that stupid horny grin plastered all over the other's
face. He then washed his back and shook his body, taking the towel afterwards.
“Go fuck yourself."

“Oh, come
on! That didn't even turn you on?" asked Kevin, trying to sound like he was the
victim.

The
panther exited the shower area and turned the blower on—good thing his fur was
short so he got dry quickly. “I called you here to help me unpack, not to get
horny." He said while putting the towel around his waist, leaving the
apparently naked wolf in the shower.

“Octo,
get back here! Let's fuck in the
shower!"

“Not a chance." He said as he turned the blower off
and left the bathroom. “Where's the food?"

“Right here, along with some cream~"

“I'm gonna go to the nearest restaurant, then."

“Fuck no!" Kevin's head popped out from the bathroom
door. “Um, towel?"

Octo just stared at him, then shook his head amusedly
and threw him the towel, but not before he turned around.

Whatever was between them, maybe it was better this
way for now. He'd ponder about their relationship some other time. He had boxes
to be unpacked, but before that, food to be eaten.

“This towel smells like you. And it's all wet! Where's
the blower?!"

And apparently, a wolf to be annoyed of. How
troublesome.

A scream echoed in the dark, secluded alleyway,
piercing through the silence of the night.

Tom grinned wide as he tossed the clothing piece from
his claws. The snow around them was red, painted by blood. The wolf's eyes were
fixed at Rodrigo, who was wise for staying out of the bloody fight. They then
fixed back at Rodrigo's boss, a horse.

“Come on! Fight me! We haven't gotten all bloody
here!" he said as he walked towards them, ignoring the blood dripping from his
own fur. “You're just a bunch of fucking dogs or not sih?"

The horse gritted his teeth. One of his underlings
said, “He's dangerous!"

Tom heaved, stepping on a not-dead-yet cheetah from
the group.

Too bad Lain was not here. He'd be happy to fight.

He sensed Rodrigo staring at him, but he ignored it. The
bison had nothing to do with this, that he knew. This was all purely his boss'
doing. For what purpose, he didn't know, but he guessed his popularity gained
more traction these past few months.

Tom took his wooden staff, almost red with blood. Good
thing it hadn't broken into two yet, or he'd have a more powerful weapon. He played
with it as he walked even closer towards them. “A wooden staff versus knives, daggers,
guns. You sure you didn't sleep in the fight class?"

The horse growled.

“What the fuck are you?! Five-fucking-year olds? Come
and fight me! It's what you want, kan?"

His ear twitched a bit as he heard snow crushing
several metres behind him.

How many people was he fighting? Ten? Twelve? He
didn't really count, but it was just a small party. A bit larger than Rodrigo's
but certainly had pushed him almost to his limits. His legs almost gave up, as
did his heart. He earned new slash marks; his right eye was even kicked so hard
it almost went blind. If this last show of strength didn't scare them, then…
well, hell would be a better place for him.

If Hell even accepted him, anyway.

He stopped, then quickly turned around and ran as
quickly as he could when he heard a crack. Someone tried to ambush him from
behind, heh, funny.

Rule four: do not hurt people without valid reason/s.

That someone, a rabbit, went wide-eyed as the wolf
kicked the gun away, almost lightning fast. He punched his chest, it sent him
flying several metres. Tom launched his staff, and it landed on that someone's
chest as he landed on the snow.

“Fuck!"

“Boss, he's crazy!"

Before the rabbit could sit up, Tom was already on top
of him. He pulled him up and pushed him to Rodrigo's boss. Size really was a
chore sometimes. He was smaller than them, which made him very agile, but he'd
like to be able to toss someone like they weighed nothing.

The rabbit landed on the horse's arms. “Rodrigo, get
your ass here and help Miguel!"

The bison quickly did what he was told, not without
averting his gaze from Tom.

Tom stopped and gasped for air. His legs should give
up anytime soon. He then took the staff and put it on the snow next to him.

The horse roared, but he didn't attack. “We will kill
you for this! Fucking son of a bitch!" he then turned around. “Retreat! We
can't lose any more of our men!"

Tom bit his tongue hard to prevent himself from saying
anything that might rile them up again. Maybe he bit too hard, but his mouth
was already full of blood anyway so he couldn't tell. He leant on the staff as
he watched them retreat with cautious and loathing stares directed at him.

When they were out of sight and he heard cars heading
out, he allowed himself to sigh tiredly. He walked to a wall and threw himself
onto it, sitting down almost topless in the snow. Those bastards nearly ripped
his shirt apart.

Fuck Rodrigo's boss. Horse kicks were powerful. He
held his head, trying to refocus his vision from his right eye.

When he couldn't do anything, he howled into the
night. He tried to make it sound scary, but it came out hurtful, sorrowful.

Fuck it, his throat burned.

“Tom."

He stopped howling. There was Rodrigo in front of him,
face pensive.

Tom just smiled at him, but it came out as a pained
smile. “If this weren't the best time to kill me, then I didn't know what was."

“I'm not here to kill you."

“Glad to hear." He turned his head away and looked at
the cheetah. “You should probably help that cheetah; he lost a lot of blood.
Don't leave him to freeze to death here."

The bison didn't say anything, but then he picked the
cheetah up and carefully put him in his arms. “Stay with me, Charlie."

Tom saw the cheetah's heaving chest, and a feeling of
relief washed over him. He hadn't killed him.

He had hurt too many people; he did not want to add
more.

The wolf looked away from the scene. The pristine
white snow was now red. If someone walked here, they might think that a
massacre had just taken place. That wouldn't be wrong, considering.

Someone dumped something next to him, and he looked
up.

“Don't you dare die here." Rodrigo said, eyes full of
anger.

Tom stared at him.

They stared at each other until Tom looked away.
“Thanks." He said, really meaning the word.

That took the bison by surprise judging by his slight
gasp. The bison then walked away from the scene, his admiration and respect for
the wolf radiating in the air.

He heard the sound of a car driving away, leaving him
alone.

Now that he was alone, he allowed the tears he had
been holding. He allowed himself to cry at this joke of torture people called
life.

Death called him today for a dance, and he had no
choice but to provide.

It might have only been soft sobs, but his poor heart
almost gave up as he cried. He had enough, too much of this. He thought his university
life would be better, that they would stop hunting him. Instead, they fucked
him up right at the end of college.

He should be at his professor's room right now,
consulting about what kind of topics should he read. What books should he borrow.
What kind of pizza did he want to eat to accompany his night writing session.

Instead…

He looked down. His chest was smeared with red. Though
his torn shirt, he could tell that almost half of his upper body was covered in
blood, though many of it was not his. There was a pretty big slash mark on his
upper left arm. His right eye was blind.

Looking at what Rodrigo dumped, he saw his coat, his
scarf, his staff, and a bottle of water. He opened the bottle and washed his
hand and face from the blood. It wouldn't do much, but it should be enough for
him to get home. He then gargled with the water and spat it out.

Enough blood taste for one day.

When he was done, he took a grasp of snow and put it
on his scars. It hurt like fuck, but he was quite used to it. The coldness
stung, then stung some more, then all he could feel was a dull pain. It should
help stop the bleeding before he could wash it with clean water.

The wolf closed his eyes and took several deep
breaths. Letting the snow freeze the scars, he couldn't help but wonder. Life
was quite a gift, wasn't it? He sobbed, letting his emotions flow as the dull
pain throbbed.

Cleaning the snow away, Tom cringed. His fur was wet
now, but that would help mask the scent. Taking the staff, he then stood up and
leant on it, ignoring the screams for relief from his body as he put his coat
on. Its inner part was going to be dirty, but he had no choice if he did not
want people to see… see this.

The scarf…

The wolf hugged it dearly, still sobbing softly. He
wiped his tears, not wanting Max to see him in such a low state like this. The
scarf was Max, and the warmth it gave was Max.

Max was a warmth in this cold world he lived in.

“I'm sorry," he whispered to it.

He then put it around his neck, trying to appear as
normal as possible. He checked his trousers and shoes for blood streaks, and
when they were clean enough and the blood was no longer dripping, he walked
away from the scene, limping against his staff.

Go, lest die.

The wolf only managed to exit the dark, grim place to
a decently-lit intersection before his legs gave out and he collapsed. He
didn't stand right back up, mainly because his legs felt like they were not
attached anymore.

They were still attached, right?

“Are ye okay, young one?"

Tom looked up. An elderly tiger was looking down at
him, face filled with concern.

The wolf took the offered hand and leant on him to
walk to a bench nearby. “I'm okay, I just tripped." He sat down and looked at
his legs. “Well, probably also bruised my ankles." He added with a small
chuckle.

“Need ye me to call the doctor? I smell blood."

“Thank you, but I'm fine. Maybe just a bruise." The
wolf smiled at the tiger. “I'm just waiting for the bus; it should be fine by
then."

The tiger didn't appear convinced, but he let it go.
“Ye're welcome, young man. Please be more careful." Said the elderly tiger as
he gave him his staff, then walked away to the night.

“I shall. Thanks a lot."

He sat there on the bench, staring at the dark sky,
waiting for the bus or tram to arrive or for his legs to start responding again,
whichever came first.

Octo leant back on the driver's seat, humming a happy
tune. It turned out that spending a day with Kevin was not bad. The wolf was a
really social person; they never lost a topic to talk about. When they didn't
talk, he felt a comfortable silence.

Like now; he was driving Andy's car back to his new
flat. Kevin was in the passenger seat, looking slightly nervous in his opinion
but content. Maybe they had run out of topics, but to him, the silence was
comfortable.

He had picked up several more boxes from his housing.
When he left the housing for the last time, his remaining housemate bid him
farewell and a good luck wish. He was kind of glad Kevin did not try to flirt
with his friend since he knew his friend was hot. Probably the fact that Kevin
already had a name as the basketball ace meant that he couldn't simply just
flirt with other students… or he supposed that was the reason.

“What do you want for dinner? Some spaghetti maybe?"
he said, just blurting out.

The wolf said lazily. “Mhm."

He chuckled a little. “Kev,"

“Spaghetti is nice."

Octo looked at him, then flicked his ear softly.

“Hey!"

“Spaghetti is it?"

“Yeah, spaghetti." Kevin answered, looking at the
road, then at a restaurant on the side of the road. “Here's fine."

The panther just drove away.

“Wait, wait, dude, there was a restaurant!"

Octo just shrugged it off. “I'll cook for tonight."

“Wait, you can cook?"

“It's for you helping me unpacking." He said, smiling.
“And probably for holding back your lust this long?"

“So, that means we're gonna fuck later tonight?"

Octo's smile turned into a grin. “You think?"

The wolf grinned back and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Of course not." The panther laughed a little. “I just
moved in, I'm tired."

The wolf's grin faltered. “Aw."

They went quiet again after that.

A while later, Kevin asked him again with a low voice.
“Please?"

Octo laughed. “Did you just say please?"

“Pretty please?"

The panther looked at him, then rolled his eyes with a
chuckle. “Did you help me today expecting a fuck later?"

“No! Uh…" Kevin trailed off. “I thought you want one."

“One day without sex isn't gonna kill you, you know."
He said as he pulled the car over the parking space. “But we can cuddle later."

“Nope, no cuddles."

“Says the one who cuddles after sex."

“You are the one who cuddles me!"

They got off from the car with Octo staring at Kevin
with a grin on his face.

“What?"

“You just admitted that we cuddled." The panther said
simply.

Kevin opened the backdoor and took several boxes out.
“Fuck you, dude."

Octo laughed and took the other boxes, then locked the
car. “I think you mean, 'cuddle you, dude.'."

When they went inside, the panther dropped the boxes
in a corner of the room. He'd install the television tomorrow. The clothes and
books boxes should go to the bedroom, the laptop dock should just be here…

“Hey, where do I put this?"

Looking over his shoulder, Octo pointed at the bedroom
with his muzzle. “Books go to the bedroom."

Kevin went inside. “I'm gonna put this next to the shelf,
'kay?"

“Sure."

He took the plastic bag containing food supplies and
went to the kitchen. “Just watch some videos on my laptop or something, I'm
gonna make the spaghetti."

Taking the ingredients, he took the pasta, meat,
tomato sauce and put them next to the cooker. It had been a while since he
cooked for himself and he was very excited, even more so cooking for his
friend. He should probably invite them here soon—maybe he could host a
flat-warming party here.

When he was simmering the sauce, he heard Kevin walk
into the kitchen. The wolf didn't do anything, just watching him cooking.
Amused by the curious stare, he asked, “What are you doing?"

“You never told me you can cook." Kevin said instead,
not answering his question.

“We aren't allowed to cook in the dorms." He answered
simply. “Just sit there and don't disturb me."

Instead, Kevin walked behind him and hugged him from
behind, whispering into his ear. “And what if I don't?"

“You can cook by yourself." The panther batted the hands
away. He turned the cooker off, then put the sauce on top of the still-hot
pasta.

Kevin released his hug as Octo moved to take the plates.
“But you cooked for two."

“I could eat it."

“Ugh, fine."

With that done, the panther turned around and offered
the wolf the plate with a smile. Well, he tried to smile naturally, but he
guessed it came out more like a grin. “Kev, here's your food. Thanks for
helping me unpacking my stuff."

Kevin looked at him, then at the spaghetti, then back
at him again, then he grinned and opened his muzzle as if expecting to be fed.

The panther just pushed him away and put the food on
the table. “Eat."

“Yeah, yeah." Kevin snickered, but sat down,
nonetheless. He took a bite and immediately his eyes widened. “Whoa!"

Octo sat down with his own plate, amused by the wolf's
reaction. “I wasn't expecting such reaction."

“This stuff is so fucking delicious! What the hell,
this tastes way better than the ones I usually get." Kevin took another
bite and his tail wagged as he hummed happily. “How the heck did you make this?"

“Boil the pasta, make the sauce, and serve." answered
the panther simply, taking a bite from his own plate.

“Fuck, I'll die happy if you make this for me every
day!"

Octo just chuckled and took another bite, a bit red
from the implied confession. At least the food was delicious even without
cheese.

Oh right, he forgot to buy cheese. Damn horny wolf,
distracting him too much.

END *UwU intensifies… the last scene, not the previous
one