William knocked on the door to Milo's dorm, to see his brother furiously cleaning himself up with a towel and some dry fur shampoo. He looked up at William then back down again with an expression the older brother read as embarrassment.
"Saw Dare bolting out of here like his tail was on fire." He said as he stepped into the dorm. The two had shared room so long in his new memories it hardly felt awkward to be walking in on his brother in such a private moment, or right into his personal space. They had never begrudged the other's presence. It still felt strange having those memories nestled in his brain along side his own. He felt nothing but love for the other boar sitting there on the bed, and pain for seeing him distressed.
William stepped over and sat next to his little brother. He remembered it had been a bit rough on him the moment he realized his little brother was going to wind up the bigger of the two of them, but he didn't begrudge him that now. HIs little bro just buried his face into William's shoulder, crying. With one arm he pulled Milo in close for a hug.
"I like him, Will. I really do. But every time we seem to get close he freaks out and runs off." Milo sobbed softly.
William just sighed. "He's probably dealing with some of his own problems back there. Maybe you guys need some space while he works those out. Having you here being a constant temptation probably doesn't help."
"Why are you defending him?" Milo muttered, wiping a few tears from his face.
"I'm not. I just want what's best do you. I do think he cares for you, just the few times I've seen him look at you. But this whole situation is.. a lot. And not everyone is going to deal with it well." He rubbed Milo's shoulder, resting a chin on his brother's head. "How about I ask Guy if you can crash in our dorm a few nights. You can use my bed, I'm not really using it anymore."
"Are you sure? I mean, having me there... you and Guy." Milo broke away looking at him.
"It's only for a few days, we'll manage. And if he actually cares for me he'll know this is important to me." William grinned a little as Milo nodded.
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Dare dropped on to the bench over looking the lake with a sigh. It was the same one he had run to that first day, too. It seemed right. Why was this place messing with him so hard. It felt like it was digging into him and pulling out every little dark secret and vice he had tried to keep hidden. Ever since that one and only rejection.
Milo wasn't rejecting him though, quite the opposite, and yet, he just couldn't bring himself to open up to his roommate. Did he really care for him, or was it just this place making him?
"This is getting to be a habit, skunk." Dare looked up as he felt a weight settle next to him on the bench. It was that body builder beaver with the mohawk again, though now it was a brilliant shade of electric blue.
"You know it's me?" Dare asked, a bit surprised.
Liam just tapped his nose. "You still smell like you. Sure you smell like skunk you, but there's still the you smell. You'll figure it out soon. Still having trouble with that boar of yours?" Dare squinted at Liam. "I live in the same building, skunk, and the RAs talk about who's having trouble so we can keep an eye on everyone. I'm not stalking you."
"My name's Dare." He said, a bit annoyed at being called skunk.
"I thought it was Daryl." Liam responded with a smirk.
Dare growled softly under his breath, but the beaver was right. He had accepted that change, so why not others? "How do you know if you're really falling for someone or it's just... this place making you?"
At that, Liam actually burst out into laughter and Dare almost got up to go, until the beaver put a very strong grip on his shoulder and sat him back down. "You ask that like we actually pick who we care about. You pick your parents out of a catalogue? Your siblings? What about your first crush. Researched him online before making that purchase? Listen, Dare." And Liam emphasized the name. "There are things in this world we can pick for ourselves. Who we care about and even fall in love with is not one of them. We can only choose how we act on those. What does it matter where the feelings came from? It doesn't make them any less valid. I didn't pick my otter, but there's no one I'd rather have."
"What you need to do, is figure out is how you're going to act on your feelings." A thick finger prodded him right in the middle of his chest. "And try not to hurt that pig too badly, he seems like a nice kid. Cut him loose if you're going to be a dick about things." Liam got to his feet and headed off back in the direction of the dorm, muttering under his breath about fourteen year-old puppy crushes being easier to deal with.
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Dare made his way back to the dorm, Liam's words thick in his skull as he made his way slowly up to the third floor to face the proverbial music. Not the real music, though he might owe Curt and Ollie a general 'Sorry I was a dick' apology later. Hands shoved in his pockets he stepped up to his dorm room surprised to see the door open, and more so to see Milo packing a bag with a few changes of clothes and his toiletries. The apology dies on his lips. "Milo? What are you doing?"
"I'm going to crash with William and Guy for a few days." He said matter of fact and a little harshly. He even had his laptop and camera packed up.
"Can we talk this out?" Dare felt something clenching inside of his chest, a twisting pain he didn't quite have a word for.
"Later. I need space right now." Milo's voice turned flat, as if he was having to shut off his emotions to keep from giving in to he pained tone Dare could hear in his own voice. He shoved a few rolled up boxers into the bag.
"Three in one dorm doesn't sound like space." Dare tried to quip, but withered under Milo's stare. He had never seen the boar angry. Upset, yes, out of sorts, sad, loving, comforting, all yes. Never angry. He was angry now, and for once Dare was able to take a step back and knew, it was all his fault. "What about your photo project?"
"This is more important. Maybe come to me for the photos, maybe it'll show you actually give a damn about something." Milo grabbed his overnight bag and his electronics and shoved past Dare.
"Milo.. wait.. I." But the boar was gone, the door slamming behind him.
Dare crawled up onto Milo's bed and buried his face in the pillow just to get a whiff of Milo's scent. It was Daryl. It had to be. He was the one that was always fucking everything up, whether he meant to or not. He felt the tears running down his cheeks. Daryl was the one that couldn't let himself be happy. Dare was from this side, Daryl was the stupid human messing everything up.
Except that wasn't true either, was it? It was just him, the eternal fuck up. He pulled Milo's blanket over himself and burrowed into the mixing aromas of boar musk and cedar shampoo that was Milo, trying to remember that night where they just slept in each other's arms like there was nothing else between them.