"Okay. My turn." Milo said, already taking off his shirt. Daryl lifted his head just enough to peer over his shoulder. His body wasn't impressive as the other two young men in the room, but he didn't exactly have anything to be ashamed about either. A little muscle would look nice on there, who knew what the change would bring. Ollie was getting dressed as Milo angled his laptop towards him so he could see the pictures loading and adjust as needed.
Take off your damn pants already! Daryl screamed in his head, then scrunched up his nose at the thought. The completely foreign thought. Milo finished stripping as he posed in a chair, making sure his whole body was documented in the photo, but he wasn't being clinical about it either. As with Ollie he did a variety of poses and shots, getting the soon to be sheep to help him out.
There's nothing special about him, he's like the dictionary definition of average, so why do I keep looking? Daryl had rolled onto his back, trying to look bored and disinterested in what was going on. Milo was a lodestone that kept pulling his attention in his direction.
"Okay, that should be good. I'll select the best poses for both of us and we'll redo those each day, the next shots should be quicker." Milo said with a grin.
"Awesome. I'm not an art guy, but I could go for a calendar of hottie guys if you put it together." Ollie said with a laugh. His phone chimed and he pulled it out to glance at it. "Shit a brick. I forgot I have to see the academic advisor, still need to declare a major." He puffed out a sigh. "Stuck between Nutrition or Sports Medicine, was hoping I could put it off a couple semesters." He clapped Milo on the shoulder and waved to Daryl before heading off.
"I like him. He's fun." Milo said cheerily, then frowned as he looked over at Daryl's dour expression. "What's with you? You've been acting like you have a pole up your ass since lunch."
Daryl bit off what would have been his normal retort involving poles and asses and instead hopped off the bed. "My turn, then?" He peeled his shirt off over his head and tossed it on his bed.
Milo looked speechless for a moment but headed over to his camera as Daryl finished stripping and sat down in the chair. "Don't glare at the camera, try to relax. You're too stiff, it won't make a good shot."
Daryl ground his teeth but did as asked. Why was he even doing this? To prove he could? That he didn't mind? Because Milo wanted it? Hell, he didn't even know, all he knew was he was sitting naked, on a chair, in front of a roommate he had met yesterday. "Move your arm a little to the right, hand on your knee. Yeah. Just like that. So.. what's your story anyway? Were you really expelled from two schools?"
Daryl's eyes flicked to Milo. "None of your business."
"Hey, I told you my story. It's only fair." Milo peered from behind the camera. Did he even realize he was still naked? Both of them were. "Arms over your head, like you're stretching."
It's only fair. "Two colleges. There was also a high school and a boarding school so I guess four really. Mostly for starting fights and not going to classes." Daryl shifted his pose, maybe Milo was just trying to distract him from the fact he was sitting there completely exposed. By making his expose something else.
"And you still got in college?" Milo wondered.
"Money gets a lot of things, and my parents are loaded. My dad's not just an orthodontist, he owns like.. half the practices in the city, and my mom's family has some old fortune that no one quite wants to discuss where it came from. I've always gotten anything I wanted didn' even have to behave, just.." Daryl blinked as Milo stood and walked over to his desk, to peruse the photos on the laptop.
"Just what?" Milo prompted.
"So, I'm the middle of five kids. Third, actual middle. I'm not even the oldest or youngest boy, got a brother and sister on either side of me. I've just always kinda felt.." Daryl shook his head. "I dunno, it's a middle child thing, hard to explain."
"Lost. Invisible." Milo said, confidently. Daryl stood to look at the photos over Milo's shoulder, his eyes drawn to the nudes of his roommate rather than his own, or Ollies.
"Yeah, actually." Daryl's eyes stayed on that screen though. There was something about Milo he couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it wasn't his look, but the way he held himself.
"Dude, I grew up in foster care. The state house, sometimes there'd be more than a dozen of us all clamoring for the attention of people who were paid to look after us. We were jobs. A lot of us acted out just to get attention. I was always more afraid of getting in trouble." Milo said softly. Daryl turned a sharp glare in Milo's direction, but the other man held up a hand in a placating gesture. "I'm not trying to outdo you, I'm just saying I understand. Ever foster kid is a middle kid. Even an only kid like me."
Daryl looked at Milo and saw it. An air earnest eagerness to be liked, that was what was pulling him to this guy. Like a magnet. Sometimes you'd push everything away, but soon you'd run into the one who matched you just right and the pull would be all the stronger. He felt something inside of him break, irrevocably. A wall, a barrier, it didn't matter, it had come crashing down at that realization.
He leaned in and kissed Milo. He felt a hand on the back of his head as his tongue explored the other man's mouth, running along those growing tusks. Making out with someone with tusks. That'd be different. As if he had ever made out with another guy before right now. That was different, too. And it felt so good. He could feel himself responding, his cock hardening between his legs. Then he felt a hand on it, and found another wall, walls rarely came alone.
He pulled back and out of Milo's hand, slamming every mental block he had between him and the warm gloriousness of a few moments ago.
"Sorry.." Milo said, sounding a little pathetic. "I didn't.."
Daryl got dressed quickly. "I need to go for a walk."
"Dare." Milo murmured. "Let's talk, please."
The nickname only drove him out the door faster. He thought he heard something hit a desk softly and repeatedly as he shut the door behind him, with a soft muttering of, "Stupid, stupid." He couldn't look at Milo right now or he knew he'd give in. He just let his feet take him where they would. The sun was starting to go down and most of the students were filtering towards the cafeteria for dinner. Daryl made his way to the lakeshore and dropped down on the bench. With the sun setting, swimming time would be done with and he should be able to get some privacy.
"What the fuck did I just do?" He muttered to himself as he buried his face in his hands. What you wanted.
"I've never wanted that." He growled. Connection?
"To be with a guy." He said softly, as if saying it out loud would make it more true. You never wanted connection with anyone, who cares if it's a guy? You just can't be a coward and run off like you always do. You're stuck with this one for months. You have to live with him. He's going to wear you down and destroy you, and then there's just going to be Dare. He'll change you more than this place will. Daryl smacked the side of his head. He had promised himself years ago he'd never open up to anyone. Ever since. Nope.. not that memory.
"If I ever saw anyone who needed a stranger to talk to, it's you." Came a voice, the bench shifting a little as someone settled down into it. Daryl lifted his face out of his hands and looked over at the buffest beaver he had ever seen. Not that he had seen many, but this one looked like some sort of bodybuilder, despite being shorter than Daryl. And he sported a mohawk dyed the most obnoxious orange color he had ever seen. He had a stick in his mouth he was just sort of gnawing on. And the whole image was just something so ridiculous Daryl couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"What's it like? Becoming someone else?" Daryl asked as he looked out towards the lake.
"Jarring. It was easier for me. Happened all at once, not slow like it does here. Went to sleep one me, woke up the other." The beaver shrugged. "It's odd at first, but these places, these thin spots. They seem to know something. See something. I haven't really met anyone who wasn't pleased with their changes after a while. Some hated it at first, but then they found something. A new family, friends, someone." The beaver's words drifted off.
"Do you remember who you were?" Daryl leaned back, feeling calmer.
"Yes. And no." The beaver shifted his stick in his mouth. "I have to think about it, and I don't want to most days. Fighting for who you are is good, don't get me wrong. But there's an odd sort of peace to giving in to who you're supposed to be." The beaver looked over at Daryl, grinning around his buck teeth. "This place doesn't want to make you miserable, it wants to make you happy. We just make ourselves miserable along the way."
"Liam!" Came a voice from off towards the building that served as showers and a changing room for the lake. An otter in shorts and a tank top was jogging their way. He looked familiar, one of the dorm RAs? Gary? Grayson? The beaver stood up and greeted the otter with a light peck of their muzzles. "Ready for date night?" Liam grinned at Daryl. "You're Daryl right? 315? How's Stripes treating you."
"Better than I treated him." Daryl muttered under his breath. He gripped his knees tighter in his hands then hissed as he felt the pain of something digging into his skin. He pulled his hands back and looked at them. His nails were no longer wide and blunt, instead the narrowed to sharp points. He stared at them in disbelief.
"Mazel tov." The beaver, Liam, said with a smile. "Whatever it is. You're probably making a bigger deal of it than it needs to be. One thing being with an otter teaches you is to go with the flow. Try it, it's not a bad way to live."
"Better than damming everything up. Beavers have to plan everything." Grayson joked, wrapping his arm through Liam's as they waved farewell and headed off in the direction of town rather than the cafeteria. "See you around, Daryl."
Dare. He thought.