Author's note: It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Yah, finally, Roommates is back. Shorter chapter, I know, but bear with me. And I PROMISE that the next chapter won't be as short! Promise. May even have funky stuff, I dunno yet. BUT! Here it is!

Also, check out my new FA at www.furaffinity.net/user/pyrostinger

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, parents, watch your kids.

Roommates 11: Progress

Croy-----------------------------

Bio was bio. I think I'm fairly good at this class... but bio is suddenly not as easy when you have a difficult time sitting. Through a lecture. In a class that was an hour and a half long. Not fun. I kinda had to shift a bit, and was definitely squirmy. Mercifully, the professor didn't call much attention to it. I am eternally grateful to her. When class ended, I near zipped out of there, trying not to hold my ass in a futile gesture of keeping it together. It was sore, though... a bit more manageable than how it was when I first sat down.

Sarah caught me as I came out of the building. The only way I really noticed her presence was when she encircled my arm with hers, pulling close to me. One might mistake us for a couple by that gesture alone. "Sarah..." I began, smiling a little despite myself. She removed her arm but stayed close, and I could feel the embarrassment radiating off her.

"...sorry..." she mumbled. I had guessed that she felt fairly lonely, what with her basically being dropped off by her parents here and told she had to fend for herself, them not being able to afford making any sort of regular trips. I threw my arm around her shoulder, and she smiled up at me, still blushing a little.

I don't think I could date Sarah, really. She's really submissive, pretty much bowing and scraping to every wish I may or may not have. I get the feeling that she may have had not the best track record in terms of dating, since she seems to be so clingy. When we did couple, I went out of my way to please her. Though she wasn't virgin, she said that was the first time anybody had ever done that for her. I thought that would make her a bit more independent, but it sorta backfired, her wanting to be with me more. I think all I really did was lead her on, which kinda conflicts with my own crush with Sem...

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, heh. Or something like that. I think I'm getting my literary references confused...

I ended up walking Sarah to her next class, since I had a free period next. We talked sports a bit. She's kinda loyal to her hometown baseball team, one of the few things that sparked her passion. Showed she was more than just a quiet, shy furson. We separated with a hug, me heading off to my dorm, and almost running into Sem, who neatly veered around me with a sort of feline grace. "Whoa! Hey there, Sem... didn't see ya there." I smiled.

He had a bit of a peculiar... scratch that. He smelled DAMN good. However, when I looked up at his face from the near collision, he was blushing (I could tell by his furtive glances than by looking at his face), looking extremely self-conscious. I felt as if a compliment of any kind might just make him worse. So, I simply waited as the panther collected himself, looking at me with his big blue eyes.

Sem------------------------------

Morti did not stop giggling. It seemed like every time she just glanced at me while I struggled to pull on some clothes put her in stitches. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "It wasn't that funny..."

She stopped, but on her face seemed the living embodiment of mischief. It wasn't helping. "Yeah, it was..." she said, bouncing a little bit on the bed as I struggled into a shirt. She had her paws on the headboard, on her knees and bouncing, still clad in the pajama pants and shirt that she threw on earlier. The pants had little, cartoonish feline faces all over it in various expressions. They just... made sense on her.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts from how well her PJ's suited her and just pulled on my shirt, then zipping my pants up. All the while, I tried to suppress yet another blush from what she was referring to.

"I mean, how could ya not see the humor in it, mm? That face you pulled was just so cyooote!" she enthused. I wanted to throw something at her.

"Look, will you just go take your shower already? Please?" I asked her with some heat, then stopped. Why was I getting angry at her? Well, because she was being kinda annoying, but still... I'm better than this. So, I closed my eyes, took a breath, and started over. "Sorry, I'm... it was embarrassing... what you said and all. AND I'm not exactly happy that you did that deliberately." Frowning, I started to search for my bag, then resigned myself to the fact that I would have to make a quick run to my dorm. By that time, though, I wouldn't have time for a shower, anyway... not even a really fast one. I don't know why, but I'm not sure I was bummed about this.

Giggling still, she clambered off the bed, taking her towel and change of clothes with her. "Hee hee.. well, I thought it was funny. But I'm sorry to make ya feel all embarrassed and stuff. Sorta." Grinning again at me while I just shook my head, she rustled through her things, finding some fur shampoo, then finally heading off for her shower. "See ya later!" she said, again in a bit of a sing-song and padding off with a bounce in her step. I breathed a slight sigh of relief. Morticunata... was a pawful. Didn't help that her roomie was my girlfriend...

I looked at the time, freaked, and promptly sped out of the room, heading to Lit class. I was almost running late. Pulling up my mental map, I thought that I could make it in time... it would just be pretty close, including the trip to my dorm to get my stuff. I could definitely make it with time to spare if I continued running, so I wasted no time in doing so. I seem to be running a lot, of late...

By the time I had gotten around to near my classroom, I was tired, my backpack jostling around filled with the books I'd be needing, so I slowed down, even stopping and resting my paws on my knees, taking a moment to catch my breath. As I stood and went on my way to class, I started to notice the attention.

Others were giving me glances, looks. Some smiled at me, giving me a look that seemed like they were undressing me. Others, wrinkling they're noses, gave me condescending looks, as if I had committed some grievous wrongdoing. I had no idea why I was getting these looks, and my face started to burn from it. I heard little giggle-squeaks from some rodents, and then there were some downright scary lecherous glances from a cougar. What were they all-- ?

Oh, shit. I didn't take a shower yet. And combined with the way my body had heated up from running... and.... This pretty much topped getting caught pawing by my mother as the most embarrassing moment in my entire life. With stamina born of mortification, I ran forward, trying to ignore the stares, giggles, whispers.

And almost ran smack into Croy.

Croy-----------------------------

"Hi, um, Croy," he said, backing a little away from me. His chest was heaving, obviously in a hurry.

"Where you off to?" I asked him, trying to keep my mind on the conversation and not on the randy-smelling panther. Good gods, he was starting to set me off... and I didn't know if I wanted him to look down or not.

He started to drift away, in the direction of wherever he needed to go. "Literature class. Runnin' a little late, heh, so I have to go. I'll see ya later, okay?" He started to go... and I didn't want him to. Not just that he smelled... fantastic... (and I made a mental note to ask Kiyara how he did get to be like that... I had a feeling it was her doing), but I just... wanted to be around him. Sorta just.. hug him... or... something... murr... I needed an excuse...

As a random snippet of a song ran through my head, I remembered something else. Idea!

"Well, alright then. When you get back from class or have some free time, how about we have that study session I promised you, oh, so long ago, hm?" I smiled, my ears tilted forward, trying to be as welcoming and non-threatening as possible. Please, please, please...

"Uh... yeah, sure," he said, and I bounced on the balls of my footpaws a little, inwardly a-whoopin' and a-hollerin'. "After class, though."

"Of course."

"Yeah, so... see ya." I nodded eagerly, my teeth showing in my smile.

He looked at me a little funny, and then ran off. Oh... damn. But! I can help him out later... still be close to him! Taking that to heart, I scampered off to my dorm room, starting to plan out what I was going to teach him, do with him. Chances are it'd be scrapped anyway, but oh well!

I think I'm making progress.

I hope I'm making progress.

Sem------------------------------

The only thought running through my mind after my little encounter with Croy was "What the hell was that?"

It was followed fairly quickly by a glance at my watch and "Oh, shit, I'm gonna be late!"

Kiyara---------------------------

Anybody who knows me knows I'm a scent-oriented person. Smells... really drive me wild. Often, just sniffing a fragrant flower or something pleasant can brighten my day if it's not going so well, or just add another positive note. If I had the opportunity, I'd bring some incense in to burn, and fill my room with that... but I was forced to leave that at home, due to the campus fire hazard restrictions. Yeah, I know about the candle used during the Treatment; I bought that specifically for such an occasion, and made sure that there was somebody that knew I had it, so that I would take the fall should something disastrous happen. But I'm careful, and only used one, very fragrant candle. I made a mental note to go find that candle shop again, since Lavender Seduction was running low.

As for the subject of an after-yiff scent... well... I could very well be labeled a tease. If it was a good yiff, with somebody that I liked, then I'd want the scent of that furson on me, as well as what we had done. I didn't care if anybody else knew it. As a matter of fact, and this time in particular, I relished in the fact that others could tell what I had done. If they threw me lecherous glances, or even inquisitive one, all they got was the smile on my muzzle.

The one currently on my face was due to the panther now entering the classroom. He looked a little rattled and a little tired, and my guess as to the reason why wafted toward me faintly. My smile widened.

I called to him, patting the place next to me in the auditorium-style class. Apparently he was nervous, because he jumped about a foot into the air when he heard me call his name, then sheepishly came up to me. Heat came off his body in droves. I had to admit, he was cute when embarrassed... and it was part of the reason why I wanted him to smell like he did.

Leaning close to his neck, I took a deep whiff of him, Morti, and myself, as well as the yiffy consequences of our meeting last night, then looked at him, in his deep, flickering blue eyes. "You didn't shower," I said, smiling a secret little smile.

"Um... no, I, uh, didn't. I didn't have enough time to--"

"Otherwise you would have?" I asked, keeping my gaze level, looking right into his eyes.

I could see the indecision tear across his face. Part of me wanted to take that question back. He bit his lip in a cute gesture, and then I started to see his answer form.

He shook his head no, slowly and carefully. "Why not?" I asked. Again he blinked, struggling to find a reason. I couldn't put him through this again, as cute as it was. Softly, I placed a finger to his lips. "You know what? Don't answer that." I gave him a smile, and he smiled back, as though unsure of himself.

"Alright, class, let's settle down," said our professor. The squirrel walked in quickly, like she always does, and proceeded to write last night's reading on the whiteboard. "I hope everybody read that the chapters from last night, because we're having a pop quiz on them." There was a collective groan from the class, and, I gave Sem a quick peck on the cheek, whispering "Good luck". He blushed a bit, then concentrated on the test, seeming to shift away from me.

After the quiz, my paw found his, and held it. He blushed again, but didn't pull away.

Croy-----------------------------

I took a shower when I got back from class. It was probably smarter to not walk around, smelling of Ani and Iccy more than I needed to... luckily it hasn't been much of an issue in Bio. Or maybe it had been, and I had just not noticed. That's entirely possible, as Iccy... is pretty big, if you know what I mean. Even after about a year of off and on fooling around with the lion, there are times when he stretches me out back there that give me shivers...

And thanks to thoughts like that, I almost pawed in the shower. Well... almost finished in the shower, anyway. After spending about twenty, thirty minutes in there, I had decided that I'd better get out and get ready for my next class. I had been starting to run a little behind schedule as it was.

Inevitably, my thoughts turned back to Sem. I mean... it was kinda a natural progression. I mean... Icarus to class to Sem to... oh, shit. That study session. The one that I planned with Sem... as part of the deal from the party. Well... it was a chance to be close to him, something I haven't been able to do for a couple nights. Hell, I didn't even know how he and Kiyara made out. Or if they even made out. I smirked, that thought amusing me as I dried off my headfur, giving into the instinctual need to shake the water out of my fur.

Still... Sem had been so shy and cautious. I knew Kiyara yiffed him... but not sure if it changed him. I admit, I'm jealous of Kiyara... because she was his first. But if I managed to be his first male, then... that's almost the same thing. Or maybe I just liked the idea of taking some aspect of his virginity, showing him the ropes, how males know things about males because they have the same equipment.

Still, having a year's experience on Sem meant that there's gotta be something I could teach him. Even if it's not necessarily academic... heh.

Damn, I'm a dirty ol' wolf.