Forty-six…
Forty-seven…
Forty-eight…
Forty-nine…
“Fifty!”
Sam got up off the floor and dusted off his hands, feeling rather accomplished. Nothing like some push-ups to start your workout. He had intended to go to the gym that morning before class, but found it way too hard to leave the bed thanks to Todd nuzzling up against him. He only had the ability to reach over and turn off his alarm until 7 AM when Todd woke up. He didn’t dare wake his pup.
“Pup…” Sam thought to himself. “Think I’ve heard Ollie whisper that to Curtis before. Eh, still a cute pet name for Todd.”
“Hey bro?” Sam felt a tap on his right shoulder. Turning around, the tiger saw a snow leopard standing behind him. They had a thin layer of fur on their body, most likely because it hadn’t started to get cold outside. Judging by their lack of a shirt, Sam assumed that they were male.
The tiger turned to face the snow leopard. “Hey bro! What’s up?”
“You wouldn’t happen to be Sam, would you?”
Sam looked confused. “Uh…yeah? Do I know you?” The feline looked kind of familiar, but Sam wasn’t sure why.
The snow leopard’s face lit up. “Oh sweet, it is you! You probably don’t remember me since we only met that one time, but we threw a football together on your first day here!”
A look of recognition crossed Sam’s face. “Oh shit that’s right! I thought you looked kinda familiar! I don’t think I ever got your name though.”
“It’s Mark,” the snow leopard responded, extending his hand. Sam took Mark’s hand and shook it, while the snow leopard looked the tiger up and down. “God damn bro, you finished your transformation fast! It’s been like, what, three days? Most freshmen take at least a full week to transform!”
“What can I say? I was just ready to become a badass tiger!” The two felines laughed for a minute before recomposing themselves.
“Hey, I was gonna get a workout in before heading to football practice,” Mark said. “You want to join and chat some more?” Sam considered the other man’s offer for a second before nodding his head.
“Yeah dude, I’d love to!” he said with a grin. The snow leopard smiled. “That’s great! I was planning to start out on the bikes. That sounds good to you?”
Sam nodded, and the two felines walked over to where the bikes were. Mark got on the first open bike he saw, and Sam jumped on the one next to him.
Mark placed his paws on the pedals and began to push. “So what have you been up to these past few days?”
“Oh, nothing too crazy,” Sam responded, getting started on his bike. “Well, besides the whole ‘turning into an anthropomorphic tiger’ thing. Mainly been focusing on helping my roommate.”
“Helping him with what?”
“Being more social. When we first met on move in, he was quiet and fairly anti-social. I invited him to go out to a party with me later that night, but he didn’t want to go. After the whole orientation thing, meeting you and your friends, and my tail coming in, I went back to our room and asked him how he felt about everything. He said that he didn’t think he’d be any different than he was before, so I offered to help him become more social.”
“And how’s that turning out?”
“Honestly…better than I ever thought it would! I’m no teacher, so I was terrified I’d end up making things worse for him. But…he latched on to everything I taught him. Got him to go to a party later that night, and he was socializing with someone he met within minutes! Hell, I even got him to go out to a party and socialize by himself a few nights ago.”
“That’s great to hear! What kind of anthro is he becoming?”
“Wolf.”
Mark gave Sam a confused look. “He’s anti-social…and he’s becoming a wolf?”
“Well, he was anti-social,” Sam clarified. “He’s becoming the complete opposite now. He’s opening up to our friend group, getting to know more people, and he’s even talking to me a lot more. I’m honestly really damn proud of him.”
“Okay, that makes a little more sense, but I’m still confused as to why the valley would choose for him to be a wolf if he came here as an introvert. Wouldn’t he have just stayed that way?”
“Well, I’m not going to delve into Todd’s private life, but I could tell that he wasn’t happy with who he was. I guess the valley picked up on that and gave him a form and personality that would make him happy. Our RA, Stripes, chalked it up to Todd just being destined to become a wolf. I guess that as he transformed, the more wolf-like side of him began to come out.”
Mark silently nodded. “Yeah, I suppose that makes some sense. And he’s accepted all his changes so far?”
“100%” Sam replied. “After a certain point, he just let go of what was keeping him from fully embracing his transformation, and it just accelerated from there. Finished transforming the day after that, and I finished transforming a few hours later. I can still remember how happy he looked when he finished transforming.” He sighed and slowed his pedaling. “God I love that wolf…”
“Are you two dating now?” Mark asked, a smirk plastered on his face. The snow leopard saw a faint blush beneath Sam’s fur, and that was all the answer he needed. “Oh my God, you are! Nice man!”
Sam was a bit confused by Mark’s reaction. “You don’t think it’s weird that we’ve started dating this soon after we’ve met?” Mark shook his head, chuckling slightly.
“Nah man, I don’t think it’s weird,” he said. “You might think it does, but that’s because you’re coming from the Other Side. Relationships move a bit faster here due to the valley. It sort of sets things up for you to have a better life than the one you had in the human world, but you have to do the work if you want those things to come to fruition.”
“What do you mean ‘the valley sets things up?’” Sam asked curiously.
Mark stopped pedaling and scratched the back of his head. “To be honest, I’m not really sure,” the snow leopard said. “That's just what my RA told me in my freshman year. I never really questioned it too much, but my boyfriend is totally into that stuff. He’s definitely happy here, but he can go off on tangents about his theories and stuff. Still, he’s a real sweet guy. Always looking to help younger members of his pack.”
“Pack? He’s a wolf?”
“Yep.”
Sam hesitated for a second before continuing. “Do you…uh…have any advice for dating wolves?”
Mark chuckled. “Advice for dating wolves? Bro, you’re overthinking it. Dating a wolf is just like dating anyone else. Treat them well and show them you care. They’re ridiculously loyal and will stay by your side through thick and thin. You’ll get into fights here and there like every couple does, but it will never be hard to make up if you both truly love each other. And if you want to take a page out of my book, I recommend doing a little something ‘special’ every now and then.”
“Special? Like what?”
“You know, normal date stuff! Take him out to eat, watch a movie, wait naked on the bed for him to get back from class….”
Sam laughed. “I might use those sometimes, especially the third one. Might even use that tonight if I can.”
Mark laughed and gave Sam a pat on the back. “I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about when it comes to dating a wolf. It sounds like you know exactly what you’re doing.”