At the end of the first week, Shion knocked on Nezumi and Inukashi's door. The bathroom door. Inukashi let him in. Nezumi was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, hey you," Shion said, peering around. "Where'd the guy go?"
"Nezumi?"
"Yeah, that one."
Inukashi sighed. "He's at a party probably. He has an in with the theater kids."
Shion's brow wrinkled. "What?"
"He's an English and Theater double major. The theater kids love his ass. They think he's a god."
"Oh. What're you studying?"
Inukashi flinched slightly. "Um. I'm going to be a vet."
"Oh really?" Shion laughed with delight. "I'm a bio major, we should totally study together! I saw you in O Chem."
"Ohkem? Oh, organic chemistry with Professor Rou? Yeah, I donno about that…"
Shion's face fell. "Oh, why not?"
"Because, um, you're kind of a stoner."
Shion waved a hand, grinning again. "Don't worry about that, I'm one of those savant things. An idiot one. I'm really good at studying, never fear."
Inukashi raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Right."
"Plus, I hear you can make acid if you take O Chem!" Shion giggled. "That's like, super mega pot!"
"Yeah, and it can cause flashbacks years later— You know what, I don't care. I don't. I'm not getting involved in this. Holy shit, what's wrong?"
Shion was staring at Inukashi's side of the room, his jaw slack and his eyes brimming with tears. "I love your puppy posters."
Inukashi whipped around and glared at their posters, a faint blush rising. "Um. Yeah. I like dogs."
"They're so fluffy," Shion whispered, still looking as if cosmically cute glory had just jizzed all over his face.
"And loyal," Inukashi said, smiling for the first time. "Man's best friend. I mean, a person's best friend."
Shion wiped his eyes absently, still gazing upon the beauty of the puppies. "So fluffy."
Inukashi's smile drained away and they sighed. "Yes, Shion, and they're very fluffy."
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Nezumi said, throwing the door open dramatically.
"Nothing—"
"Puppies," Shion interrupted, sighing happily. Inukashi glared.
"Fucking things scare my mice," Nezumi said, digging in his closet and popping open a bottle of red wine.
"You have mice?" Shion gasped, staring at Nezumi with the same wonder in his eyes.
"Yeah. They're on the top shelf." Nezumi gestured at the closet, then started drinking directly from the bottle.
Shion darted over and scrambled to peer at the top shelf, then fell on his ass with a gasp of delight. "There are mice!"
"That's what he said," Inukashi grumbled. "Why are you in here, anyway?"
"What?" Shion looked at Inukashi upside-down, then spun to face them. "Oh yeah! I wanted to see if you'd like to go to dinner with me!"
"Go with your roommate," Nezumi said, taking a breath. The bottle was almost half empty.
"I haven't actually ever seen him," Shion admitted. "He sleeps at his girlfriend's dorm a lot. Sometimes I come home and there's a sock on the door so I leave for a few hours and he's gone when I come back."
Inukashi winced. "Well, I mean, it's like you're living in an inconvenient single, so that's cool?"
Shion shrugged. "Gets lonely," he said frankly. "I've watched all the seasons of Adventure Time I could find."
"I wasn't planning on eating dinner," Nezumi said.
"I mean, I have to," Inukashi admitted after a long silence. They looked at Nezumi. "You should come. You paid for a meal plan that wasn't just alcohol."
"That's why I bought the cheapest meal plan," Nezumi replied, beginning his chugging anew. The wine was vanishing rapidly. He paused for air and added, "I have a party to attend and some people to fuck, and I don't need any food in me for that."
"Oh wow, a party!" Shion clapped his hands under his chin and looked rapturous. "Is it a theme party? Are there costumes? How much weed will there be?"
Nezumi stared at him blankly, then took another swig of wine. "It's a choir party. No one smokes there, they have to keep their lungs pristine."
"You're in choir too?" Inukashi groaned. "Jeez, you have to be center stage all the time don't you?"
Nezumi grinned. "I deserve to be. I'm the talent."
A phone started playing "Come Sail Away" by Styx and it took Shion a moment before he yelled, "Oh man, that's me!" He dug in the pocket of his loose khakies and held an ancient flip phone up to his ear. "Hello?"
"Popular," Nezumi murmured against the rim of his bottle.
"Oh hey Safu!" Shion covered the mouthpiece. "She went to high school with me, she's a psych major." He returned to his conversation. "I dunno, my neighbor has a party he's going to so I might go to that."
Nezumi almost choked on his wine. Inukashi snickered.
Shion continued, oblivious. "I dunno, it's a Friday night and we studied all week. Do you really want to have another session tonight?"
"You aren't invited!" Nezumi hissed, standing in front of Shion and stabbing him in the shoulder with the hand that still held the bottle. "You hear me? It's a choir party!"
Shion waved his hand, then covered his ear so he could focus on his phone. "What was that? Um, I dunno." He tugged at the waist of his pants, stared into the depths for a moment, then replied, "Boxer briefs. Mom got me black ones, I dunno why. Why'd you ask?"
"Oh god," Inukashi gasped, lapsing into a severe case of the giggles.
"Sorry, Safu, I gotta go eat with Inukashi, we need food. I'll talk to you later, okay?" He blinked for a few moments, said, "That's nice. They sound kinda impractical, though. You should just wear regular underwear. Bye!' He snapped his phone shut.
Nezumi slammed back the last of his wine, then aimed the bottle directly at Shion's heart. "It's a choir party. It's not for any random loser, okay?"
Shion nodded. "I know. I felt bad I couldn't invite Safu."
"No Shion, I mean you're not invited."
Shion blinked. He looked at Inukashi, who shrugged, still smirking. He looked back into Nezumi's glare. "Oh."
"Yeah." Nezumi dropped the bottle into the recycling bin and made his way to the door. He turned back. "Don't wait up, Inukashi. I'm getting lucky tonight."
Inukashi stabbed a finger into their mouth and mimed throwing up. Nezumi waved goodbye with his middle finger and Shion stared after him like one of the lost puppies tacked on Inukashi's wall. The door clicked shut.
"C'mon," Inukashi sighed after a moment. "Let's go get dinner."
"Awesome!" Shion said, going from depressed to ecstatic in seconds. "I hope they have Doritos, I love Doritos."
