"I hate frats. They're so stupid."
Matt thought about Ethan prancing back to some house on the other side of campus, gleefully showing off this otherwise pointless photo to a bunch of other jocks just to prove he had an 'in' towards Chris. These were the type of bullshit games he had hoped were left behind in high school. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted it.
'I wonder which frat he's actually in…'
He did a quick campus directory search through his phone and got his email contact info along with a list of clubs he was (supposedly) involved in -- including Kappa Psi Gamma.
Of course. The Kapsies were rambunctious, malevolent guys who ran amok downtown after sports games, cheated on exams, and hid it all under a veneer of manufactured volunteerism. The charge of fraternities always bothered Matt, because the special locker-room boys-will-be-boys masculine energy American fraternities brought into the world was the very thing Matt didn't have. But he was temporarily satiated in not having it when he saw how they composed themselves. Their real goals were, undoubtedly, to score the hottest women and drink themselves until they drown. Women didn’t deserve guys like that. For Ethan to claim legacy and come from a family line of guys like that… Well, it irked him to no end.
But it did get him started on his idea. Above the listing of the fraternity was their logo, featuring a ferocious but regal-looking Bengal tiger and the quote “Leadership Through Pride”.
Pride, huh? Yeah, right. It was time to teach him (and the fraternity) a lesson in karma. Being a young but influenced college freshman, Matt felt the impulse to do so through embarrassment: make Ethan gay for his frat bros. Now of course some of them may be closeted or open, but if the leader of the frat was the way Ethan described him, then there was no way he’d be gay. The plan should work, it’d be just the execution of the Chronivac.
The Greek god of wildness was Pan, so Matt originally spotted ‘satyr’ in the sea of mythological and creature options, and thought it was fitting of a fraternity to be ransacked by a wild satyr. But after seeing their fraternity mascot and motto… Why not combine the ideas? A flirtatious, flamboyant man with tiger legs and extra features would be the perfect solution. There was a popular RPG game he played with a feline race he could model the change after.
Maybe they’d finally leave Chris alone, if only because they’d be so preoccupied with more than one non-human guy on campus.
So he did what he knew how to do in the confined menus of the program, messing around and lifting his computer a couple times to cool off his laptop. The fan sure was getting hot… but he found the best options for the mental and physical changes he wanted to take place.
The only thing that sucked was he’d not be able to watch Ethan as the change took place. But Matt figured he’d hear about it eventually, if it worked, he would see the results on his screen as it ran. And if it didn’t work? Then maybe he should seek out some help…
He left the change at one minute to complete, because he really did need to get to studying. Clicking to proceed, the message he saw earlier displayed again: "Check emitter and confirm status. Y/N."
Oh, shit! The emitter! He didn’t have the emitter with him, but that didn’t matter… right? It wasn’t required to use the program. Why did it keep asking for a manual check? Whatever - he clicked Y.
And just like before, the timer started counting down: '0:59... 0:58...'
Matt waited… ‘0:51… 0:50…’
And waited… ‘0:45… 0:44…’
And sighed. He was tempted to just cancel it before it got to zero. Nothing was happening to Ethan’s image. Maybe by saving it he’d at least be able to show what he entered into the program and someone could help him out, so he let it count all the way.
By the time it got to zero, Matt stared frustratingly at Ethan’s stupid fur-covered chest and low-hanging boxer shorts. “You gave it the good ol’ college try,” Matt could hear his father say. He’d ask his online acquaintances later for help. But, for now, he had to hit the books - and even though he was in a secluded part of the library, he didn’t want to get caught looking at a shirtless image of the only tiger dude on their campus. He closed the program and whipped out his History textbook from his knapsack…
Meanwhile…
Ethan was nearly back to the house. Truth be told, he was freezing his ass off. It was embarrassing enough to be out and about in nothing but his boxers. But he was told not to come back until he had something good on the centaur dude that the senior could use to ‘his advantage’. He wouldn’t get his clothes or his guitar back until he did.
But he smiled and laughed, even as his feet cramped up a bit, because he got a photo with his roommate. They may not know who Matt was, outside of the rumors. But it’d buy him some time - and he’d get his stuff back. If they weren’t happy with that, well… he had his phone number now, too. He’d only give that to them if necessary, though.
He needed to stop for a moment to shake off his sandals, so he took his phone out to check the photo again. Truth be told, Matt was a bit small and wiry, but…
Handsome?
Yeah… that’s an okay word to use for a guy. Right? He pulled down the back of his boxers a bit to let his… tail… loose, and continued on back toward the frat house, leaving the sandals behind and… forgetting about them altogether.
The weather was starting to feel a bit better on the skin, actually. The punishment of going shirtless was hilarious in hindsight. But still… people would stare. Ethan wondered… hoped? Maybe a guy or two was curious…
He shook his head at the thought, feeling his ears and petting down his head-fur. These thoughts he was having felt… odd, but… good. With each passing second, his mind drifted around to the different guys he had met at the house. Danny, Ray, Micah, Felix, Jace… He arched his feet up so he could walk a bit more comfortably on his pads, and continued on.
As he rounded the final street corner, Ethan felt himself getting excited at the premise of satisfying his frat senior. He couldn’t wait to get his beanie back, too; it at least gave him some look of humanity to his fur and whiskers.
But heck, maybe he’d just keep going shirtless. It wasn’t doing his body any harm! And… the guys would be jealous. Maybe he'd catch a few of them staring. Ethan smiled, showing his sharp fangs, and blushed a bit as he approached the house. Maybe he’d need to rub one out…