The silence in the room was palpable.
Made all the more acute by the muffled, distant sounds of happy college students, the quartet in the dorm room looked at one another with a sense of dread. It was apparent in the very core of their situation that their lives had just changed with a simple roll of the dice. Now, staring eye-to-eye with the leonine form of their friend, they couldn't deny that the random event that had changed him into an anthropomorphic feline had -in truth- changed them all.
"I'll tell you what we do," said Dave, finally, clearing his throat. "We call the police, put that damn game in a lock-up somewhere and get you to a doctor!" He turned from where he stood and moved back towards the phone, intent on calling campus security.
"Are you nuts?" Chris looked at the back of Dave's head from where he stood behind Tyler. "Look, what'll the cops say? They'll see him, think he's some sorta werewolf and then BANG! shoot him in the back!"
Dave shook his head and paused with his hand on the receiver. "You've seen too many movies," he replied over his shoulder.
"Yeah, but I'm still right!"
"Dave, put the phone down," said Tyler, walking over next to his friend. The straight-acting Junior put his hand on Dave's shoulder for emphasis and glanced back at the other two. "Look, I'm not much for letting this ride, either, but -well- look at Sid..."
Dave and Tyler had been lovers for the longest out of the four of them. It was probably something between them that rose from their mutual interests in sports, unlike the more sedentary activities of the other two. Still, even that hadn't been enough to draw them together for any length of time. No, they'd been lovers and still occasionally screwed around but -like all of the four people in the room- a permanent relationship still eluded them both.
"Dave," Sid finally said, his deep voice rumbling with an unintentional menace. "Dave, I ... I think what Tyler's saying is that ... it's gotta be my choice." His heart still racing, Sid couldn't deny that he felt strange like this. His shirt was chafing against the mat of fur that had grown over his skin and the very concept of having a tail, now, made him feel uneasy and off-balance.
He took quick, shallow breaths; trying to remain calm, he was -nonetheless- starting to hyperventilate.
Dave shook his head, removing his hand from the phone. "It's not just you, though, Sid. I ... I mean, doesn't this effect all of us?"
"I don't see how," said Chris, sitting down in Tyler's chair. "I mean, it's not us that got changed into a walking, talking King of the Jungle, here..."
"But it does effect us," chimed in, Tyler, walking back to the table with Dave. "If nothing else, they're roommates." He looked from Dave to Sid and sighed. "And besides, he's our friend. We can't just do nothing..."
Sid groaned and sat down in his chair, jumping slightly as he accidentally sat on his tail. He swore under his breath and reached down to yank his new appendage free. "Guys, don't argue..." he said, breathing even more swiftly. "We've just gotta figure out what to do..."
Chris leaned forward, bracketing the table with his arms and staring at his transformed friend. "What's to figure out? The game's possessed!"
"Chris..."
"No, Tyler! I'm not going to shut up!" The slender student snapped back at his friend, a strained look on his face. "This is the worst thing that's ever happened to us! ...To Sid!"
Dave shrugged. "Oh, I dunno; he coulda changed into a little weasel like you, Chris."
The snide comment sank in and Chris leapt up, making a lunge for Sid's roommate.
"Stop it! Guys!" But Sid's shouts went unheard as Tyler tried to separate the two friends.
"Goddamnit," lisped Chris, "you guys are always doing that; always coming down on me!"
"This isn't about you, twink," Dave said, trying to reach past Tyler to push against his attacker's shoulders. "Now, just back off!"
"Better do it, Chris," Tyler said, his usual jocularity and position as "alpha" in their group fading to one more of a diplomat than enabler.
Meanwhile, Sid groaned, his heart racing faster and faster. He felt tight in his chest; his stomach ached with a knot that just felt like it kept growing...
Well, it wasn't quite like that; in fact, as he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, he realized that the stressful sensation wasn't all that bad. In fact, it almost could be described as "good" if it weren't also for the fact that he felt like a coward for letting Tyler fight his battles and break up his arguing friends.
"Oh, God, look at Sid...!"
The words struck the lion like a splash of cold water. His shirt, he realized, suddenly felt painfully tight on him and he opened his eyes to stare at his friends and -moreso- at himself.
His muzzle dropped open, an expression of shock lingering on his features as he took in the sight of a massively bowed and rounded chest and stomach."
"He ... he looks like some ... some kinda cartoon..." stammered Chris, his ire at being teased by Dave, swallowed up by the strange, new development. "He's ... he's just blowin' up...!"
Indeed, with each breath their furred friend took, his stomach expanded, tautly filling out and -more slowly- taking his chest with it. Sid looked up from his swelling problem to the others and gasped, "Gu...guys... It...it doesn't hurt but ... but..." He groaned, his swift, short breaths making his belly swell even faster with his fear and trepidation.
Tyler pushed the other two aside and went to Sid's side, putting his hands on the inflating lion's shoulders. "Look, Sid, just calm down... You've gotta stop breathing in so fast."
"It's the game," gasped Chris. "It...it said something about a swell time and ... and courage..."
Dave looked sidelong at Chris, no harsh comment this time, though. "What?"
Tyler ignored them both as he spoke calmly and soothingly to Sid. Chris continued. "It's the game... It said that ... that he'd have gained the courage of a lion or something but because someone else drew for him, he'd just have a swell time, instead!" He turned to Dave and pointed at the still face-up card on the game board. "Don't you see? It's making him full of 'hot air' ... the opposite of courage!"
Sid ignored the conversation between Dave and Chris, focusing on Tyler's hands, eyes and voice. He felt the fear, that was true, but he could control it. Forcing himself to calm down, he gradually stopped hyperventilating and -after about five minutes- got his inflation under control. With long, slow exhalations, he gradually let his body deform, the extra air he'd taking in seeping out in long, slow gasps of tension relief.
Eventually, Tyler stepped back and sighed a sigh of relief. Sid was no longer looking like an inflated, Warner Brothers cartoon while yet retaining the appearance of a lion.
Sid prodded his body, feeling a strange sponginess to it, now. "I ... I think I might inflate again," he said to the others after a moment. "I ... I think whenever I hyperventilate I'll ... I'll expand..."
Dave looked over at his friend and sat down in his old chair. "Look, Sid, I'm sorry but I really think we should still call a doctor."
Tyler looked at his friends and just crossed his arms stoically. "I don't know. If the game did this to him, that's magic. What could a doctor do?"
Chris nodded, still freaked out. "Yeah... We've gotta find out who manufactured this thing and call them..." He looked over Dave who, suddenly, was staring down at his own hand, a startled look on his face. "What's wrong, now?" he asked, a bit more acidly than he would have liked.
"The dice," came the shaky reply. Dave raised his closed hand and held it over the table. Slowly, he uncurled his fingers, revealing the game's two dice in his palm. "They ... they just appeared." Staring around at each of his friends, he gulped nervously.
Tyler put his hand on Dave's shoulder. "I guess it's your turn," he said.