Dare slammed his textbook closed and raised his fists triumphantly. “Finished! Only took all fucking night and probably gave me an ulcer, but I finally got all caught up on my homework!” Dare said, hopping up from the bed and dancing around the dorm room.
“Congrats. Do you usually study naked, Dare?” Milo asked sleepily, having been awoken by the skunk’s celebration. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, having slept poorly the night before; his skunk had been up all night reading instead of coming to bed, and of course everyone was still concerned about Curtis.
“I’m naked whenever I get the chance, you know that. Try it sometime, for my sake at least,” Dare shot back, continuing to give Milo a little bit of a show by shaking his ass in the boar’s direction. In spite of everything that had been happening over the past few days, once Dare got a chance to be alone with Milo he was almost uncharacteristically outgoing, especially with his body. Dare strutted over to the mirror on their room and glanced over himself from all sides, taking in his body and checking for any new changes.
“Nothing. It’s been slowing down for you too, right?” Dare said quietly. By now, he was almost entirely skunk, except for a few spotty patches of fur along his chest, arms, and legs. And, of course, he was missing the big, fluffy black-and-white tail that was the hallmark of any true skunk. But he hadn’t noticed any real changes for a few days, not since Ollie had run away from the college and left them all behind.
“I guess so. Does that worry you, Dare?” Milo asked quietly, getting out of bed and wandering over to where Dare was standing. He ran his hands through the thick fur along Dare’s back, tracking the white stripes with one finger from the top of Dare’s head all the way down to the crack of his ass. Dare felt a cold, smooth, hoof-like fingernail brush against the pucker of his asshole and let out a sudden squeak of surprise, turning to glare at Milo with a mix of irritation, embarrassment, and arousal on his face.
“What worries me is having a pervy pig living with me and feelin’ like he can touch me whenever and wherever he wants!” Dare snapped, covering up his crotch with one paw and hoping Milo didn’t notice the stiffening red cock peeking out from his fluffy sheath. “Anyway, it’s your turn to babysit the dog today, so you’d better get going! Shoo!”
Milo nodded and began to get dressed, favoring a light pair of shorts and a tanktop to keep cool. It had been two days since Ollie had disappeared, and Milo, Dare, Todd, and Sam had all agreed to watch over Curtis until they were sure he was feeling better, which unfortunately seemed a quite a while off. The crying had stopped (at least when the dog was around his friends), but Curtis had barely spoken a word for the past few days and in general he just seemed to have no idea where he was. Sam had suggested bringing Curtis to a party and letting him get wasted, but Dare had shot that idea, knowing it would just make things worse. Todd, of course, thought a game of fetch was the solution to everyone’s problems, and Milo actually agreed that a bit of physical activity might take their friend’s mind off of Ollie…
----------------------------------------------
“I dunno, Milo, I’m not really feeling up to it…” Curtis sighed, looking over at the pickup game of frisbee going on in the quad after Milo had picked him up from class. He spotted Jackson, the yellow lab anthro who had introduced him to the game, and he just couldn’t keep his eyes off his fellow dog making a flawless catch with his mouth before sending the frisbee off to the next player.
“You sure about that, dog?” Milo laughed, noticing Curtis’s tail wagging in excitement. “Come on, you need to do something other than mope around. I get that you’re upset, but you don’t need to be upset all the time…”
“I’m gonna be upset my whole life. I miss Ollie so much…” Curtis whined, immediately cringing at how pathetic he just sounded.
Milo frowned, holding back a few choice words for Curtis’s sake. To be honest, he was quite ticked off at Ollie, and that was putting it mildly. Instead of talking to anyone about the problems he was having, Ollie had just put on a big smile and pretended he was fine, only to run out without any notice and leave Curtis heartbroken. Nobody treated Milo’s friends like that, not even his friends.
“Fine. You can miss the sheep all you want, but you’re acting ridiculous,” Milo said sternly. “Here’s the deal; you go play frisbee for a little bit, then come back and tell me how you feel. If you still feel like total shit, I’ll buy you that candy drink you like.”
“Iced chai with strawberry.”
“Yeah, the candy drink. Do we have a deal?” Milo replied, getting out his camera and adjusting the settings. Curtis tried to stop his tail from wagging, to make it clear to Milo that he was in no mood to play around. But deep down, he did want to; he liked having a chance to let loose and meet new people, to feel the sun shining on his fur and to take in the scents of his fellow dogs (it was a dog thing, don’t ask).
“Fine. Extra strawberry, though.”
----------------------------------------------
An hour flew by without Curtis even realizing. With a running leap, he flew through the air and caught the frisbee in his mouth, landing with a somersault before flinging it to Jackson to score. All the other members of Curtis’s team, everyone on the opposing team, and everyone spectating let out a collective gasp before going completely wild cheering such an impressive play. Curtis felt… amazing. Being here at Claw Valley, enjoying his new body and the improved agility it gave him, and getting to know so many new people was exactly where he needed to be.
“Curt, you’re a fucking beast! Incredible, dude!” Jackson exclaimed, lifting Curtis right off his feet and pulling the shepherd into a tight hug. Both of them were damp with sweat, with their tongues lolling out as they panted to cool down in the hot sun. “You sure you’ve never played before coming here? You’re a natural!”
“Actually, I think I remember playing a bit with my brother. At least, in my new memories…” Curtis started to say, but Jackson frowned slightly before cutting him off.
“Curt… I know you freshman are still getting used to all this, but can I give you a little tip?” Jackson said quietly. “For the rest of us, the ones that decided to leave our old lives and stay here… A lot of us don’t like it when you talk about ‘old memories’ and ‘new memories’. It makes it sound like they’re not real, like it’s just… I dunno, like it’s all fake. It’s not fake, it’s the life that I decided to accept. Besides, it weirds out all the people who were born on this side, you know?”
They two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment, with Curtis regretting his choice of words despite not knowing any better. “S-sorry about that, Jackson,” Curtis mumbled, avoiding the other dog’s eye. “I didn’t mean to-“
Jackson chuckled and reached over to scratch Curtis behind the ear to calm the younger man’s nerves. “It’s cool, I know you didn’t mean anything about it,” the yellow lab said soothingly. “Hey, I just noticed… You’re all done changing right? You look good, buddy. Really great fur, nice and thick!”
“Thanks… I got it from my mom’s side. My new… I-I’m sorry, almost did it again,” Curtis laughed, leaning into Jackson’s paw as he continued to stroke and scratch his ear.
Hard to forget, hard to go on
When you fall asleep, you're out on your own
Let go of your life, grab on to my hand
“You’ll get it eventually, trust me. You’re gonna stay, right? I know it’s a big decision, but it seems like most freshman have a good idea one way or the other by now,” Jackson said, reaching out and taking Curtis’s paw in his own and starting to walk back toward the other players to start up a new round.
I have decided. I’m gonna stay. And he decided that he wasn’t going to stay. He let me stay, and I let him go. It’s over, and I need to… I need to…
“Curt? You okay?” Jackson said quietly, noticing the tears starting to dampen the fur around Curtis’s eyes. Curtis looked down and saw his paw being held tight by Jackson’s larger, blond-furred paw, feeling the soft skin of their paw-pads rub against each other. He looked up and saw Jackson’s handsome face, blurred slightly by the tears in his eyes but still shining gold in the sunlight.
I could do it, couldn’t I? Move on from Ollie, go out with someone else… I’ve got four years at this place to meet new people… I could do it, couldn’t I?
Curtis gently pulled his paw free from Jackson’s, letting it fall slack at his side.
“Sorry, Jackson. I’m… I can’t,” Curtis muttered. “I can’t keep playing, not today. Text me when you’re playing again, okay? I just need a little more time.”
Blood was pounding in Curtis’s ear, making everything sound tinny and far-away. Jackson was calling after him, trying to convince him to stay and play frisbee just a little longer, but Curtis just kept on moving. He made it back to Milo, who had been taking photos from the sidelines and practicing some of the techniques he had been learning from Prof. Quillson’s class.
“Hey, Curtis! You were great out there! I got a perfect shot of that last play you made! Might even get it blown up and printed off for my portfolio…” Milo said cheerfully, then he noticed the look on Curtis’s face once he got closer. “Yikes… Do I even wanna ask how you’re feeling, dog?”
“…You owe me that chai, Milo. Maybe even two of them,” Curtis sighed, grabbing his backpack before stuffing his paws into his pockets. “Thanks for trying, though.”