-A FEW MINUTES EARLIER-
Milo kept glancing over to Daryl during lunch. First, he wondered if he’d upset his roommate in some way, then he wondered why he cared? Daryl seemed to be like a human pinball, bouncing from one mood to the next; at first he was irritated and sarcastic, then he was laughing and teasing Milo, and now he was… sulking? Milo couldn’t even imagine what mood the other young man had up his sleeve next.
Meanwhile, Ollie was just chattering away without even realizing that anything was wrong. He seemed especially interested in posing for some photos for Milo, which Milo was all too happy to indulge in. After the chat earlier that morning with Professor Quillson, he was feeling like he might actually have a real talent for photography and wanted to get in as much practice as he could.
And to that end…
“Hey, Dare? Do you want to pose for a few, too? Just thought I’d ask…” Milo offered. A flurry of emotion’s passed over Daryl’s face; surprise, shyness, fright, and finally irritation.
“It’s ‘Daryl’, dude. When did I ever say you could give me a nickname?” Daryl spat out angrily, then he focused on finishing the last few bites of his lunch in sullen anger.
He avoided the question again. Must be a habit of his, Milo thought to himself. He sighed and put up his hands in a placating gesture.
“Fine. Daryl, can me and Ollie at least use our room to take the photos? We’ll want as much privacy as we can get, after all…”
“…Do whatever you want. It’s your room too,” Daryl sulked, his eyes looking back and forth between his plate and Ollie’s slim and leanly muscled body. “Just keep it down and don’t bother me.”
Milo blinked a few times, wondering if he’d heard correctly. ‘It’s your room, too’ seemed like such an obvious fact, but it was a full 180 from his attitude the night before when Daryl was insisting it was just ‘his room’. It was just a tiny slip of Daryl’s apathetic façade, but it was enough to bring a little smile to Milo’s face.
“Great. Thanks, ‘Dare’!"
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The walk back to the freshman boys’ dorm was quiet, with Daryl still sulking a few steps behind Milo and Ollie. Every once in a while, Milo looked back and caught his roommate staring off into the distance at one of the upperclassmen, taking in their furry bodies with odd curiosity in his eyes.
“Enjoying the ‘freak’ show, Dare?” Milo teased, making Daryl blush and glare at him. Milo definitely wasn’t about to let Daryl off the hook for being so rude to Stripes earlier.
“S-shut up, dude. I’m just looking around. You want me to walk around with my eyes closed or something?” Daryl stammered. “God, let’s just get back to the dorm already. I’m sick of seeing all these weirdos running around…”
However, on the way back to the dorms they took a detour past the Great Lawn, where not only were many of these so-called ‘weirdos’ socializing, but so were many of the freshmen. Some were showing off the tiny patches of grey, brown, and red fur springing up along their arms or the pointed tips of the animal ears that some had managed to grow already. Most of the freshmen that were still a bit leery of the changes at first were starting to calm down, curiously examining the new animal traits that their peers were gaining (and which would soon happen to them as well).
“Ollie! Hey, Ollie!!”
A huge figure came bounding down the path and nearly slammed into the much thinner Ollie, who only just managed to step out of the way in time to avoid being tackled.
“Sam? What’s up?” Ollie said good-naturedly, then he turned back to Milo and Daryl. “Guys, this is a friend of mine, he’s up on the second floor of our building. Met him at an orientation party last night… Nice guy, but I ain’t got no clue how much his family had to bribe the college to let a damn fool like him in!”
Ollie chuckled and lightly rapped his knuckles against Sam’s head while making a hollow-sounding noise with his mouth, getting a big laugh from the bigger fellow in response.
“Funny, very funny! Never thought I’d ever meet a good ‘ol Southern boy who thought he was smarter than me,” Sam laughed, pulling Ollie into a tight hug and not letting go while the other man struggled to get free. “Oh! Just thought of something… Hey, mind if I introduce you to someone?”
Without even waiting for an answer, Sam ran off while waving another man down, and soon enough he was introducing them to Todd and arranging a coffee date for them, much to Daryl’s annoyance.
Can’t we just get back to the dorm already? I’m fucking exhausted…, Daryl thought to himself, starting to get sick of being dragged all around campus. And yet, even though he knew he could ditch the others any time and go back to bed, he found himself tagging along, always lagging a few steps behind…
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“Yeah, it was nice meeting you, Sam. And Todd, you’ll think about that project, right?” Milo said cheerfully as they left the coffee shop about an hour later.
“S-sure, if you really think I could do it…” Todd said quietly, though a small smile flashed over his face and his ears flicked happily at the offer.
“Bye, Sam! You ever wanna toss that football around, you come find me, okay?”
After their goodbyes were said, Milo, Daryl, and Ollie were back on their way to the dormitory after their little detour with Sam and Todd.
Once they were out of earshot, Ollie rolled his eyes and said, “That guy’s such a character… Nice guy, but I’m glad he’s not on my floor. Talk about a high-energy roommate. I feel a little bad for Todd, y’know?”
“Man, though… A tiger? Talk about lucky! Can you imagine how he’s gonna look once he’s fully transformed! So cool!” Milo gushed as they got closer to the dorm building.
“…Don’t tigers eat pigs?” Daryl whispered snidely to Milo, getting an annoyed glare from his roommate. “Better watch out in the showers…”
Milo was starting to get fed up with this ‘pig’ business, but he let it slide this time, if only because he was starting to get so excited to begin his photography project. Once they got back, the common areas were much quieter since most people were out exploring the campus. With Daryl still trailing behind by a few feet, the three young men headed up to the third floor and down the hall to Milo and Daryl’s dorm room…
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“You’re really sure it’s okay? These pictures don’t actually have to be nude, you know...” Milo sighed as he set his tripod up in an unused corner of the room. He fiddled with a few settings in order to take his own self-portrait, making sure the timer and focus were correct. It wouldn’t be a particularly artistic shot, but he wanted to have a documentation of his own changes over the next couple of weeks. He hurried over and sat in a chair facing the camera, then he flashed big smile that showed off his nascent tusks as the camera snapped a quick series of photos.
“Yeah, I know. But who cares either way? Nothing wrong with the human body, naked or not!” Ollie said excitedly as he shucked off his shirt and tossed it onto Milo’s bed. He then got to work pulling off the rest of his clothes while Daryl sulked on his bed, pretending not to look over at Ollie’s body as he undressed.
“I bet Dare would agree with that! You know, he was falling asleep totally naked and on top of the sheets last night,” Milo said without thinking. Daryl shot his roommate a look of pure venom before turning to face the wall, grumbling under his breath the whole time. “Shit… Sorry, didn’t mean to say that Dare!”
“Whatever…”
Milo felt a pang of guilt for letting a personal detail like that slip, so he slowly walked over and sat on the edge of Daryl’s bed. He looked down at his roommate’s back, once again admiring his impressive, lean body, from his powerful legs to his back to his smooth and wavy blond hair…
Hmm? That’s odd, Milo thought to himself as he leaned in for a closer look. Daryl’s hair was a light blond, but when Milo looked closer he saw a brighter band of white hair running right down the center of his head, almost imperceptible against the other blond hair. And not a patch of white, more like a stripe. Was that always th-
“Milo! I’m ready for my close-up!” Ollie said from the other side of the room. By now, he was down to just his boxers, which he dramatically flipped off and tossed away, revealed his rather impressive cock with a cheeky wink. Milo blushed at seeing another man naked in his dorm room, but he tried to remain professional and went over to get his camera, forgetting all about the odd stripe in Daryl’s hair.
“R-right, of course… Ollie, mind if I get a few close-ups of your eyes? That’s the only thing that’s changed, right?” Milo said, adjusting the manual focus and preparing for the first few shots.
“Sure thing, bud. No flash, right? Don’t want to be seeing spots all day…”
“Come on, I’m a real photographer, Ollie. I don’t use flash…”
“Oh yeah? The more ‘ya know, I guess. Hey, you don’t see any wool or a tail or anything back there, do ‘ya?”
Daryl sighed and tried to block out the sounds of the other two blathering as Milo captured Ollie’s changing body from every angle. He peeked over and caught a few good glimpses of Ollie’s naked body, as well as of Milo getting down on his knees to get a few low-angle shots of the other man.
…Ollie’s got a nice body. Too bad it’ll get all wooly in a few weeks, Daryl thought to himself with amusement. And Milo’s a pretty cute guy, once you get to know him. Too bad he isn’t the one getting his photo taken. He’s actually-
Daryl stopped himself as he realized the thoughts running though his head. The image of Milo sprawled out on the bed without a stitch of clothing on him flashed in front of him. Milo with a cute pair of tusks starting to peek out from his lips and a bit of wiry brown fur starting to poke up from under his skin. The image was enough to get Daryl’s cock to start stiffening up in his pants, his pre leaving a tiny wet spot clinging to the front of his boxers. Once again, Daryl had to turn away from Milo and Ollie, rolling over in bed and staring straight at the wall with his cheeks burning…