All things considered, this wasn't really a graduation party.

Martin drank his juice and looked over the living room. Andy's house was even more crowded tonight. He was throwing a party celebrating their graduation, but not his own. All the attendees knew that Andy was not going to graduate this year.

That made him laugh. Andy really was the personification of going-with-the-flow.

Besides, it was more like a… uh… well, people weren't going crazy tonight. The lion didn't serve any alcohol, and the music was calm and soothing. Ideal, he thought, since tomorrow was the graduation ceremony and it wasn't a good idea to be drunk tonight.

His eyes landed on Tom who was talking to Andy and Nathan with Max beside him. The wolf seemed happy, although Martin noticed that the wolf might be going into his “mood". That was one thing about the wolf that he learnt; Tom had depression.

Lately, the grey wolf had been even more silent and sulky. His eyes were even more faded, but at least there was an honest smile on his face right now. Tom told him about it, but he did not elaborate further. Martin respected him for that. Fortunately, although he helped the wolf through a session sometimes, Tom still knew how to keep himself safe… relatively.

He missed hanging out with the wolf. He was a great friend, really. They balance each other; he was the crazy one while Tom was the cautious one. Yet lately, he seemed to prefer spending time with the football guys plus Kevin instead of with him.

Leaning on the table, he drank his beverage again. “Hey, tigre, you think Tom's been hanging out too much with the big guys lately?" he asked James in front of him.

The tiger shrugged. “Yeah, but he's the main character anyway, so he gets to do whatever he wants."

Martin rolled his eyes. “You think we're in a story or something?"

“What I want to say is, whoever he chose to spend time with is none of our business."

“Thanks, Mr Grumpy Tiger." He then grinned. “Or should I say, Mr Jealous Tiger?"

James looked at him, furrowing his eyebrows. “What do you mean?"

“Well, considering you and Octo are close, and Octo's been spending time with Tom…" he trailed off, raising his eyebrows teasingly.

The tiger turned annoyed. “What the hell, I'm not jealous!"

“Pfft, sure. Your sharp response says no, right?"

James looked angry.

“Well, if Mr Jealous Tiger doesn't want to admit it, it's fine." He shrugged and looked back at the wolf.

“I'm not gay if that's what you're thinking."

The fox took a sip from his glass. “Mon pote, you don't need to be gay just to be close to a guy. Ever heard about 'friendship'?"

The tiger kicked his feet, making him laugh. Despite what people think about their interaction, he was actually good friends with the tiger. James had a sharp tongue, he knew, but pushing each other's buttons was their favourite pastime.

Also, really, the tiger was a nice guy behind his knives, not to mention he was smart. He was basically smarter than Tom, but only by a small margin. What the tiger lacked in theory he made up with practice, the opposite of Tom. Well, not total opposite since Tom also had a lot of experiences.

“I guess you have a point there." He heard James letting out a sigh. “Maybe I'm a bit jealous. But it's okay, I guess, as long as everyone's happy."

“Besides, you still got me, tigre. We can jab each other's throats."

James huffed and smiled. “Sure."

Tonight was more like a good-bye party. People were talking to each other about their feelings after being suppressed for four years in college. He even heard someone telling another that he had been in love with her but didn't want to confess because she had a boyfriend.

The fox wasn't graduating tomorrow, but it seemed he had been dragged into the mood, along with James. The tiger looked tired, his tail lazily swaying around on his seat.

Well, he guessed silence seemed to suit the scene better, so he drank his juice again and leant back on his seat. If there was one thing that rubbed off on him from being with the grey wolf all this time, it was his love of quietness, which was weird considering 'Martin' and 'quiet' never really belonged in one sentence except when one was negated, his classmates said.

The wolf's group laughed, and he found himself letting out a small chuckle. Maybe total silence wasn't really his thing after all.

He then turned to the tiger. “Tigre, remember when we first met? I took you as a total freak…"

The main hall was packed with people, even spilling to the adjacent buildings and the main plaza in front of it. It shouldn't be a bizarre sight, though, since today was graduation day. People were in high spirits, enjoying the fact that they were done with the first strata and now starting to venture out into society with all its complexities. The ceremony had been over since a few hours ago, but it was still packed. With the graduation festival just at the plaza outside the hall, people were taking their time. Many took photos, shared memories, and let go of this home in which they had stayed for four years.

As he walked towards the hall, Max scanned the crowd, looking for any of his guys. Tom was behind him. He held the wolf's hand since he didn't want to lose him in the crowd. If they were split up, it could be hard to find each other since their fur colour was nothing special.

Actually, he was here just to enjoy the festival. While Tom knew the football guys, he didn't know his 2015 guys, so he didn't plan to bring him along to congratulate them. Besides, he had a party later tonight with his old friends.

Well, it was nigh-useless to look for them in a sea of furs like this. Probably they were enjoying the day with their family, too. Nathan even said his whole family was here and he'd got to take care of them.

He changed course and went to a beverage booth instead. It was cold, so he'd like something to warm himself up. Why the uni decided to hold the graduation ceremony this much later in autumn he had no idea.

“You want something, Tom?" he asked the wolf when they arrived at a booth. He looked behind and released the wolf's hand. The scarf he had given the wolf fit him perfectly. It really looked good on him.

The wolf looked flushed. Maybe it was colder than it actually was. “N-no, thanks. I-I'm still warm."

“I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping you warm, ain't I?" Max laughed.

Lately, the wolf had been... somewhat cute? Flirty? Whatever it was, the big dog thought it must be because of his “mood" as Martin had explained. Sometimes, Tom could seem down and even depressed. The fox wasn't sure why because the wolf never explained further, but he guessed it had something to do with college or high school since depression couldn't just appear from thin air.

This could correspond with what happened at the library back in semester 5, the one that freaked him out. If that were really because of depression, then he must have had it for a pretty long time. It seemed pretty severe back then and he had never seen it after that.

He gave his orders and waited. Aside from that, the wolf had been throwing some cutesy and downright hilarious things to him lately. Really, “You make me all warm inside" and “Let's be there for each other"? The wolf got some high flirt level there, cringy might they be. He knew he should be put off or even disgusted at that, but depression was something to be taken seriously, and if the wolf really were seeing him as someone he could depend on, then he'd do anything to help.

Also, because Thomas was his best friend, perhaps the cheesy replies the dog gave were not mere cheesy replies. That “I'll be there for you"? Yeah, he really meant that. But not in a romantic way. 'Cause that would be super gross. Yuck.

In addition, the wolf also seemed to be more touchy-feely lately, which was good, because in his opinion, Tom barely touched anyone as if he knew it wouldn't be welcome. Several semesters ago, Tom almost never touched him—not even a pat on the back. Now, he had learnt that Tom's touches were warm, respectful, and not predatory like Kevin's—gays would be gays. Tom could touch him all he wanted and he wouldn't be put off because if the wolf wanted someone to touch, to hold onto, he wouldn't mind being one.

He really wanted to help the wolf, to protect him. Tom was hurting, he knew that even though the wolf didn't tell him. He wanted to keep him safe, even from himself. Mental health was something important, and he wanted the wolf to know that he was here to help.

If the wolf wanted someone to think that he existed and that he mattered, and someone to depend on as a validation that all he'd done wasn't for nothing, then he wouldn't mind being one.

Thank you, Introduction to Psychology class.

And um, the time he cuddled with Tom during the power outage, let's not talk about it. Because apparently, Max wasn't going to deny it, he enjoyed that. He knew it was far too gay for him, and if Kevin heard about that, he was sure the red wolf would tease him to death about it—maybe even as far as throwing him into a bed for the sake of teasing—but really, because he liked cuddles in general, just not with guys, it felt nice.

This was unlike the previous time they slept together, in which Tom moved back to the other bed at some point in the night. This time, the next morning, instead of waking up with the grey wolf in his arms, he woke up in the grey wolf's arms, feeling safe and protected—though still gross since Tom's… um… protruding nether regions were pressed against his lower backside. He did not want this to be a repeat of that kissing incident, so he didn't deny it and admit that it felt good. He spent the next 5 minutes being freaked out, then the next 5 minutes calming down and listening to Tom's heartbeat, then the next 10 minutes being comfortable and enjoying the warmth with his tail softly wagging.

No sexual stimuli intended indeed.

“Hey, you ok? Here's your beverages."

Max was snapped away from his daydreaming. “Sorry, guess it's too cold. Thanks. How much?" He said as he took his phone out.

“That's 5,20 euros all."

“Sure." The dog scanned the QR code near the cash register using Owo, then paid for the beverages. He showed his phone to the clerk and smiled. “Thanks."

“You're welcome! Enjoy your beverage."

He sipped his drink and took the beverages, turning around. “Here, Tom, your tea." He said with a smile as he handed the tea to Tom.

“B-but I didn't order!"

“Wolf, it's fine. You look flushed, you know."

The wolf took the hot beverage and smiled rather embarrassedly. “T-thanks."

Tom looked so fluffy now, and it's not his winter fur yet. Maybe cuddling with him wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Wait, he wondered how fluffy would Kevin be in his winter fur.

Wait, no. He shouldn't let Tom and Kevin meet for a while. He didn't want Kevin to upset Tom in his current mental state. He also didn't want Kevin to try to pick up Tom again, no, he could not do that.

“Let's get to the main hall instead." He walked away from the booth, holding the wolf's hand again as they navigated their way to the building.

There were as many people here as outside. There was no empty chair for them to sit, but at least it was warmer here.

He was a bit envious and nervous to go here. He wasn't graduating this year, and he was sure when he bumped into his friends, they were not going to let him forget that they'd graduated. Arseholes, they were.

“Hey, Max. Hey, Tom."

At the mention of his name, he turned around and saw Octo and John. He then smiled brightly, “Oh, 'sup! Nice diploma you get."

They two laughed.

“It smells so good, you know, the smell of a fresh diploma." The panther teased with a grin.

The Doberman added. “Oct, don't tell him! He's not worthy!"

He just smiled crookedly. “Haha, whoa I envy you already." Well, it wasn't really a lie.

They four laughed.

“Anyway, Max, Tom, I want you to meet my parents." Octo then stepped aside, revealing two equally imposing pantherines behind him. “Mom, dad, here's Max. He's the captain of our football team. Max, these are my parents."

Max shook their hands with a smile. Now he knew where Octo's intimidating tendency came from. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Zoccarato."

The overly imposing panther with a soft smile replied. “The pleasure is ours, Max."

“Our son is not hard to handle, is he?" his mother asked, a bit teasing. She had a typical leopard colour, a contrast to her husband and Octo.

Shrugging away, the dog scratched his nape and smiled. “He's not, actually he's my vice-captain. Well, he's not hard to handle when he's not burying himself in books."

His parents chuckled, while Octo was a bit red. “You don't have to tell them that."

“It's kinda hard to take him away from books." John chimed in.

“Yeah, Oct. It's not a bad thing anyway." Tom added.

Octo chuckled along, then turned to the wolf. “And here's Thomas. He's my junior."

The wolf smiled and shook hands with them. “Nice to meet you, Mr and Ms Zoccarato."

Before his father could ask the wolf something, Octo cut in. “Mom, please don't ask anything ridiculous."

His mother laughed. Instead his father asked Tom. “Octo isn't a terrible senior, is he? I heard he likes to make you do his homework."

They all laughed.

“Mom, dad, how about you get something to eat over there." The panther said, a bit exasperated.

“Oh, come on, Octaviano. You know you're not supposed to bully your friends." His father said, then turned to Max and Tom with a smile. “Octaviano told us a lot of things about you two. I'd like to thank you for taking care of our son."

“The gratitude is returned." Tom said with a soft smile. “Actually, I want to say thanks to Octo since he's been such a very nice and helpful senior for me."

The panther smiled back at him.

“I'm glad you get along well." The leopard said, then turned to Octo. “Where's the food? I'm getting hungry."

“Just over there, Ma'am, the dining hall is just past the VIP section." John pointed.

“Thank you, John. Let's have something to eat, Octaviano."

“I'll catch up later. I want to talk with them first."

His father hummed a yes, then looked at the group and smiled. “Max, Thomas, John, please excuse us."

Octo's parents excused themselves and walked away, leaving Octo with them. The panther sighed a bit and pinched the base of his muzzle, his ears going down. “You two owe me some food."

Max chuckled and sipped his coffee. “Yeah, right. Anyway, I didn't think your parents would be that strict." he asked.

“No, they're really not. But maybe that's just me."

“But really, now I see where your imposing tendency came from." he said. “Right, John?"

The Doberman crossed his arms. “Yeah, Oct. And you're Italian."

The panther rolled his eyes. Then, his gaze met Tom's.

Max sipped his coffee. “Tom, don't tell me you speak Italian." He said teasingly.

“Well, a little, but… uh…" he scratched his nape sheepishly. “Can you speak Italian, Oct?"

Smiling, Octo put his hand on the wolf's shoulder. “Yeah, my family speaks to each other in Italian."

“Oh, that's interesting."

Max just let them bicker away. He turned to the Doberman and asked him, “Where're your parents?"

“In the dining hall. I brought my sister and she brought her kids." John crossed his arms and huffed. “Maybe I want to hold off on getting married for a while."

He laughed. John was the oldest one in the team, even older than his own brother. He was also the most mature, earning him the nickname the dad of the team. “Just get yourself married, but still use condoms, okay?"

“Why the hell do I still need to use condoms when I'm married?"

“At least you can hold the kids off for a while."

John nudged him with a grin. “So, what're your plans after graduation?"

“I'm not graduating yet, you prick." Max sighed. “I should be asking you, you know."

“Well, you know, gonna get a job and slave away for a year or two again, then get married. Or at least that was the plan before I see my sister's hell spawns."

“Your parents keep asking for grandkids or your sister keeps teasing you about it?" asked Max, sipping his drink.

“Not really, that's just my plan. I'm 26, Max. Gotta start working my ass off."

The shepherd shrugged.

“How about you, Max? Still can't get a stable relationship?"

He let out a sigh. “Yeah. Well, Priscilla's been nice, I liked her, but… I dunno, maybe I'm not ready to get married yet. My parents never asked about it, though. My big bro's not in a rush to get married either."

John patted him on the back. “Don't worry, we're just going with our own time. You'll get there eventually, even with the unlikeliest of choice."

“Yeah." He said to the Doberman with a smile. “One day."

Martin tapped the book in front of him absent-mindedly. It had been more than ten minutes and neither Tom nor James nor Lucy nor Ellie had texted him. They were supposed to go half an hour ago yet here he was, still in his room, fully dressed and ready to spend the day.

“Ugh, qu'est-ce qu'ils font là ?" the fox groaned and leant into his chair. His phone was still on, displaying no new messages. He tried to call them but there was no answer.

Probably today was the worst day to go out because it was the last week of autumn, but they were due for some quality time. Besides, this weekend was a long one because next Monday and Tuesday were red dates. He planned to go home for three days but it turned out the weather in France near his hometown had been unstable since Wednesday. So here he was.

Knock knock knock. “Mart, ayo."

Finally! He leapt from his chair, grabbed his phone, and opened the door with straight ears to find the grey wolf on the other side. “Merci de m'avoir fait attendre."

Said grey wolf dared chuckle and smile innocently. “I couldn't decide whether to wear blue or grey scarf today."

“And I see you wear blue, now allons-y!"

They exited the dorm building and headed to the library. Good thing it stopped raining an hour ago, so now they were only going to be bothered by the puddles. He rearranged his scarf and checked his phone. “Les gars texted you?"

Tightening his scarf, Tom replied. “Nope. Probably still deciding what to wear today, or in James' case deciding which scarf is thicker to wear."

That made him chuckle a little. “Why does James really hate the cold anyway?"

“Kan tigers don't have thick winter fur like us… I think, or maybe that's just him."

“Right." The fox put his phone back in his pocket.

Not long after they reached the library, James came. The tiger looked like his coat was too big. Martin almost laughed at him as the tiger stepped into the entrance of the library.

Martin wanted to pull his whiskers, but James already shook his head. “Ugh, why is there such a thing as autumn?"

“Probably because nature knew you'd look cute in it." the fox said. “And you'll look even cuter in winter with extra thick floof."

The tiger rolled his eyes.

“So," Tom started and beckoned them to get closer. They still need to wait for Lucy and Ellie, so a conversation was welcome. “how're you and Lucy going?"

“Yeah? Have you confessed?"

Letting out a sigh, the tiger leant on the wall next to Tom. “Not yet. I dunno, it's just… I dunno."

Tom crossed his arms and looked at him in sympathy. “Lucy seems like she's into you. Besides, she's not the type to say no in a bad way. You know, like making sure you wouldn't forget it."

“But that's the problem, Tom. No matter how she's gonna say no, I'm still going to remember it."

“Tigre, take this from a Frenchie who's dated several girls." Martin said, making the two look at him curiously. “The moment you think the girl is into you after you've made a move, c'est le moment! Act quickly! Who knows how long she's gonna be thinking if you're a good fit or not, just confess to her!"

Tom added. “Besides, no matter what's the answer, at least you'll be at ease knowing the fact that you've confessed to her."

James sighed. This really made the fox curious and happy. Curious because no one knew how would this play out. It also made him happy because one of his friends was getting a girlfriend, and they were in this together.

It felt really nice being together like this again.

Like usual, Tom said some calming but critical stuff, while he said some encouraging stuff. James took everything into consideration. They'd do their best to keep each other happy.

“Don't rush anything, but I see things've been pretty smooth with you two."

“Ouais, use that feline instinct to attract another feline!"

“Taxonomically he's a pantherine while Lucy is a feline."

“C'mon, Tom! They're both cats!"

“That's the same thing as saying you and Tom are both dogs, Mart."

“Yeah okay but that aside, what's the catch?"

“I dunno… I just feel pretty happy with the current situation."

“Hey! What're you talking about?!"

Ellie's booming voice made them turn around. She was smiling at them with Lucy beside her.

“Nothing important." Tom dismissed her. “Let's just get going."

“No! I know it's gonna be interesting if Tom's the one who's changing the subject!"

“Ellie's right! You three were talking about girls, kan, kan?" Lucy said, making James turn red.

“Oh, come on, Lucy. We're dudes, we talk about girls all the time, ouais James?"

“Er, yeah."

Martin laughed at the two girl's pouting. Tom just chuckled and walked ahead of the group. James was trying to get away from them as stealthily as he could, walking away beside the wolf.

This triad really liked to talk about stuff, didn't it?

Notes:

Merci de m'avoir fait attendre = Thanks for making me wait
Allons-y = Let's go
Le gars = The guys (Martin calls their group as les gars)