Difference between revisions of "User:MatthiasRat/Not Quite Alone"

Revision as of 05:30, 5 February 2008

[[:Category:Paradise|Paradise]] story universe

[[Setting::Paradise| ]]

This story is a work in progress.

Works by MatthiasRat on Shifti

Not Quite Alone

Friday nights, the furry club of Virginia Tech, known as SOAP, met to play games, chat, and in general have a good time. Christopher loved the camaraderie, even if he still had to be careful. High-fiving his friends often ran the risk of severe laceration, or at least really sore palms. He chuckled under his breath as he remembered the way Rob had cradled his paw that first night a little over month ago.

SOAP met in Squires on campus, and most of the others would drive and park wherever they could find a spot. Not so Christopher, who walked from his apartment down Tom's Creek all the way to campus. Not only did he hate finding a parking spot on campus, but he hated having to squeeze his three-hundred pound ursine body into his Saturn. Besides, wearing a v-neck shirt with wide collar and shorts, the brisk evening air felt good. It would be even better when he walked home after the sun had set.

Despite his bulk, especially around his middle, his bear body seemed quite able to handle the hike without feeling any exhaustion. He panted some, but not enough to feel self-conscious. He hadn't even bothered with a bra. It was too nice to worry about his breasts jostling around.

So early in the academic year, the campus was still busy at that hour. Cars circled the Drillfield, and he saw a ROTC squad jogging in formation and identical clothes. Past the War Memorial Chapel he could see a group of students throwing frisbees and footballs. The leaves hadn't begun changing colors yet, but they would in a month. Christopher wove his way through several groups of students as he made his way down to the arch. As he passed beneath the most recent architectural addition to the campus, he saw Rob pulling up. Nick was with him.

"Hey Chris," Nick called, waving as he climbed out of the car. "Did you walk again?"

"I love walking," Christopher replied, smiling. "It's only twenty minutes, and it's good exercise."

Nick chuckled. "It doesn't appear to be helping."

The bear patted his belly and shrugged. "Winter hibernation, you know?"

"So you're serious about this bear thing?"

"Yeah, Chris is very serious about that," Rob said as he slammed his door shut, backpack hanging from one shoulder. The skunk grinned, short little fangs poking out from behind his lips. "You've seen the way sh... he's been eating lately."

Christopher glared at Rob. The skunk had barely caught himself this time. He was the only one who knew the bear was really female. Well, him and this bull character who'd contacted them two weeks ago. The initial excitement had worn off after a few days. Now it had settled into a vague impatience. The bull, who'd never identified himself by name, had not contacted them again after that first night. He'd instructed them to wait, promising them that he would bring them into the know, and now nothing. Christopher had tried calling three times the number he'd given Rob, but the line had gone dead.

"Yes I have!" Nick said. "We're going to have to start buying twice as much whenever you come over."

"Sorry about that," Christopher replied, even as the three of them turned towards the doors at the rear end of Squires. "I've just been so hungry lately. And Rob is a good cook. Hard to resist having thirds and fourths!"

Squires was the main student center at Virginia Tech. It had convention space, offices for various clubs, a few fast food joints, an eight lane bowling alley, pool tables and arcade games, music practice rooms, display cases featuring trophies or snatches of Tech history, and even a dance hall. The three of them climbed to the third floor. Here they found the small meeting room in which SOAP took place, far removed from the regular Squires activity.

Trevor and Brett were already there, as well as Patrick, Audrey, and two of the new members of SOAP. The room contained two long tables pressed together. Trevor sat at one end with a pile of Ironclaw books, character sheets, and some dice. The others sat nearby with character sheets of their. Patrick, thin and dark-haired, complained, "Why can't we play Jadeclaw? They have dragons in Jadeclaw."

"I don't have Jadeclaw," Trevor replied. He smiled when he saw the trio enter. "Greetings! We're making Ironclaw characters for this year's game. Here's character sheets." Trevor slid three sheets down the table.

Rob sat next to Audrey, who leaned over and kissed him on the nose. Nick settled in next to Patrick and Christopher took a seat where he would have plenty of room to stretch. He smiled to everyone, and waved to the two new members, trying desperately to remember their names. He'd met them all of once so far, and despite the fact that one was tall and the other short, he hadn't been able to keep them straight.

"Good evening, gentleman," the tall one said.

"Hey, Randall," Rob replied. The skunk stared at his character sheet for a moment, and then turned to Trevor. "So why are we playing Ironclaw?"

"Chris said it was one of the best furry games out there, and I agree."

Christopher nodded. "It's very medieval. It won't have the unrealistic action and gothiness of Werewolf. Hey, Trevor, do you have any other books to pass around? It'll make character creation a lot easier."

"I have two extra books, so you'll need to share."

The other newcomer, Randall, and Brett shared a book, as did Audrey and Rob, and Nick and Patrick. Christopher knew the system well enough that he started adding a few details to his character sheet. He smiled and turned his head to one side and glanced down at his breasts. They were resting comfortably in his shirt. But it did give him an idea for his character. For race, he wrote in bear. Now all he needed was a female name.

If Rob thought he acted like a momma bear, then he would do so. In their game at least!

"Hello everyone!" a new voice said. Stepping through the doorway was a stout freshman dressed in a black kilt with combat boots. "Sorry I'm late. ROTC wanted to do an extra march around the Drillfield."

"Hey, Isaac," Chris said, waving him to a seat. "You're just in time to make an Ironclaw character. Well, once we have another free book."

"I'm sorry about that, I only have three copies," Trevor said. "Ironclaw character creation is easy."

"I have a few questions about making my character," Randall said. "If I make a bull alchemist, could I store my methane and make bombs? It's just a matter of simple science."

Everyone stared at Randall. Trevor grimaced and said, "No, I don't think you should be able to do that."

"Aww, but it's just science! An alchemist has to know some chemistry. And they'd really have to know about fire."

"Well, I'm not going to allow it."

"Aww," Randall whined, but he had a fiendish grin on his face. Christopher suspected that getting what he'd asked for hadn't bee the point.

Isaac chuckled next to Chris, "Oh Randall, stop trying to powergame."

"I'm not powergaming, I'm just using the rules to find the optimal character."

"That's powergaming!" Rob said, long tail twitching.

"You're no fun," Randall moped and returned to fiddling with his sheet.

Christopher finished writing down the stats that he knew by heart, and set his pencil down. He stretched his claws and glanced about the room. Almost everyone from SOAP was there already. "Does anybody know if Cindy and Van will show up?"

"They will not be making it," Trevor reported, still in that level cheery voice. "Van had to take a job that has him working Friday nights, so they've asked to be excused from our game."

"Oh, that sucks." Christopher had specifically asked for Friday night's off when he'd started working at Target. Much to his delight, he'd received it.

While waiting for one of the books to free up, he chatted with Isaac for a bit. Isaac, like most Virginia Tech students, had come from northern Virginia, and was escaping the hustle and bustle of the DC suburbs. When asked about the kilt, he admitted that he didn't actually have any Scottish heritage in him, he just liked kilts. Chris wondered if that might not be a good solution for some of his furry forms. It'd save him the trouble of sewing tail holes in his pants.

Rob's cell phone began ringing, and the skunk nearly bolted upright in his seat. "You okay?" Audrey asked.

The skunk glanced at the number on his phone, and his eyes flicked briefly to Christopher. The bear sat up straighter, his chair groaning beneath him. "Yeah, just caught me by surprise. I'll be back, gotta take this." He rushed out the door as he pulled the handset open.

"Rob has been pretty jumpy lately," Nick said after the skunk was gone.

"Heh... have you seen his room?" Brett asked. "He keeps it clean."

"Well, at least something in that apartment is," the other new member replied sarcastically.

"I try to keep my side clean!" Brett objected.

"I seem to recall seeing laundry lying on your side of the our room, Aaron," Randall pointed out. And there was the last one's name. Christopher tried to fix it in his memory.

"Whatever," Aaron grumped.

The door opened and the skunk stuck his head in. "Hey, Chris, can you come here for a minute?"

Christopher nodded, heart pounding. It had to be the bull. About time too!

 Work in Progress