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The following is a fan-based

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Chapter 28: Of Parents and Mentors (4)

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

Today was not a good day.

That's how Hope classified the decline she had been suffering ever since she had to find a job for herself. Not because she couldn't find anything to work on since she had already received many offers, and she was considering two in particular tied to making a music career… but it connected to the overall situation she had been living in. It all started earlier that morning, with her tired face aimed at the mirror of the tiny inner bathroom to the dorm room she had been sleeping in for so long. Yawning, she soon got through her business clean up and ready for lessons today when she found herself … pausing at the mirror. Green eyes staring dully at her reflection, the Gazelle Prime knowing that something on her face told her she wasn't happy. It wasn't specifically about something tied to events and people around her. It was about her own inner feelings. Something felt… different within her mind, and partly unpleasant to her mind. Sleeping had been tough due to how many strange dreams and nightmares she had been dealing with. Not a novelty but… it was still upsetting.

Shin rejecting her was a classic, but the idea of helping around and getting none in return was a novelty. Hope was never the girl that considered herself entitled to anything when helping others, but the stinging sensation of getting 'ignored', or worse deprived of the satisfaction of having given a hand on a matter, just felt incredibly… wrong. So frustrating. Everyone had their limits, and Hope was slowly realizing she was poking at her own for some reasons. Looking back at recent events, she tried to trace back when things started to feel more complicated than they should be. She was doing more than alright at school, her parents were happy with her conduct and grades, her sister was still a pest but growing more out of her more childish manners... and then there was the fact she wasn't focusing on Shin as much now. Something had indeed changed and it must be tied to this very matter.

Naerie? She might be a rival- her first rival in love, but still someone that Hope should have the advantage over. The Gazelle Prime knew the blond more than the redhead, and she knew that was essential to know what kind of reaction the young man was supposed to have as naturally as possible. The fellow woman shouldn't feel threatened, and yet somehow she felt deterred… but not by her. Not by Naerie... but by something else. She dug through her memories to find what could be missing in her current self-investigation, but there was so little she could find that felt good enough to solve her confusion. What was she missing? Could it be that she was trying to look too hard onto Shin and less about what indirectly caused this phenomenon?

Let's backtrack a moment. Just a moment. I need to… remember, what could potentially put me on the edge so much?

Miles? He was living the life from the way he finally started to flirt around and get responses from girls. They weren't always positive, but he was getting attention and some girls did return his advances. It was clear that his effort to build up his own experience on the matter was paying off instead of his past attempts to try and force a degree of coolness that just felt more cringeworthy than anything else. The Cat Prime was making mistakes, but none that hurt him in the long-run and definitely nothing that truly damaged her attempts.

Tiggs? The girl was a sweetheart and she never gave her much teasing regarding Shin. Something about 'understanding' Hope's plight due to her own romantic interest, and the Gazelle Prime knew she was referring to her situation with Vixy. And she knew Vixy was going to be a difficult element to bring up to the matter itself. Did the Fox Prime love her best friend beyond her current boyfriend? Yes. Despite both Traci and Frankie failing to grasp at some other hints, Hope saw the kind of attention coming from the shorter girl towards the Tiger Prime. It wasn't love or lust- no, it was a degree of concern at times that came right from the deepest corner from one's heart. The capacity to be worried could be shared between friends, but the way Vixy looked at Traci? The Gazelle Prime might be slowly learning Love isn't that easy with hormones raging everywhere now more than ever, but she could see the pure affection dripping from the gazes aimed by the leader of the cheerleaders to her closest friend.

She knew Frankie was aware of this, she knew both Frankie and Tiggs had agreed to slowly make sure the human 'ended his relationship' with him without anyone getting hurt but… the concern was there. Her concern is born by the chance of things just going so bad and come crashing down ferociously on everyone's head. Yet it was mostly trained at Frankie. And it was almost ironic how she just thought of worry as a good way to determine romance now that she was realizing how much worried she really was for the young man. Frankie was a target. Just like her, Shin, and Vixy were from those that wanted to hurt them from the shadows. While he was training, getting ready to not be an easy prey, that didn't stop the concerns from building up inside her brain. And at times… those concerns manifested some horrible nightmare. She blamed watching good Horror Movies at night, trying to get the whole 'experience' down for good. Way too good, Hope admitted while cringing at that. Still, that couldn't be love. Sure, she might have been watching him more, worrying over his well being and trying to set up plans to spare him from trouble but… surely that was just friendship-based worry. Nothing more and nothing else.

Her musings were soon interrupted by someone knocking on her door. She rushed up to get decent since she had really gotten too accustomed to sleeping without clothes on ever since she learned her roommate came by quite late and never checked on her. It made for something refreshing in most cases… but tremendously awkward to deal with in those very times she had to appear decent to someone else. Still, she managed to get her bra, shirt and pants on before going to check the door. She didn't ask who it was, merely looking at the peep hole and opening it once she recognized the familiar face.

"Oh Randal, hi."

"Hope. Am I disturbing you? I know it's quite early and-"

"I-It's alright. I was almost done," The girl blurted out, thinking but swiftly pushing away the little line of thoughts she had been having for a while now. "So, how may I help you?"

"I'm just here to tell you that… you might have to be moved to another dorm room since your roommate… well, she got expelled."

The news hit her pretty hard as, while she didn't have the chances of even talking with the fellow girl, she didn't know how it actually came to be. Sounded so sudden, especially now that's getting close to the end of the first semester.

"W-What?"

"It's not tied to you, but the headmistress had decided to expel her because she was arrested during a skirmish between the police and some gangs here in Prism. She had joined one that specialized in selling drugs so-"

"I… I didn't know-"

"As I've said, you weren't tied to it," The Collie Prime interjected kindly and calmly. "In fact, I'm here to tell you that I will approach you after lessons so we can get you set to someplace else instead of letting you use this room alone."

A slow nod, the confusion had yet to settle despite how simple the matter was. It just felt so… unexpected. Almost like something she should have noticed but… maybe there wasn't exactly much to notice. Nobody managed to sneak drugs in this campus, not with how terrifying some of the rules can be about that very matter. Randal left shortly after, leaving a perplexed Hope to try and pick up what felt to be a really bad day. New dorm room meant she would have to move out from this one with her things- and that meant she had to pack her things up and get those moved on her own. Probably on her own.

With a sigh pending on her lips, the young woman went back to the bathroom and got the last touches of preparation before going to lessons. She had already so much to deal with now, that the last thing she needed was to skip a lecture early on in the morning.

If only she knew things would just end up getting 'worse' for her.

The opportunity to strike was finally hers. Angel felt moronic for even coming up with this thought and yet it generalized the entire trail of thoughts that had finally brought her to this very moment. The human was here, the room was going to remain unused for roughly four hours since Davin and Toby were out for longer practices for the upcoming big games before Christmas, and because Tiare was out to get some more books memorized digitally so she could read them during the holidays. It was still a long time before that, but the girl sure was really hungry for new stuff to read. The situation was just perfect for the Bunny Prime to finally strike and, as expected after that conversation with the smart woman, she was hesitating.

Maybe it was because she didn't want to ruin the paint she had applied so diligently on his body, maybe it was because she wasn't feeling any sexual attention aimed at her despite the fact Angel had decided to paint without a shirt of bras on, or… maybe she really didn't want to. Getting cold feet already, that was what the annoyed side of her mind snorted without hesitation. It didn't feel easy at all. Holding onto her breath, her pink eyes shone an upset look over the spot she was painting on. So unblemished... and so smooth. It felt sturdy, yet soft. Even a single touch at those parts of him- his shoulders and his upper back just… left her awed. There was so much that a human had compared to a Prime, yet the truth lied in the opposite direction. It felt silly to be awed by a being that had been for long considered 'inferior' to her own kind. Not out of cruelty, but out of cynical biology. But did that make Frankie any less in her eyes? Maybe just for the fur situation. She really wondered what he would look like if he had been a Prime. A wolf? A fox? Maybe something exotic like a Coyote or a Lizard…

A bunny?

Angel almost had to choke an amused wheeze at that, the noise dying as soon as it came to her mind. It felt so irrationally wrong to be enticed by the mere idea of someone just appearing similar to her but… he would make for a funny Bunny for sure. Maybe his fur would be a shade of dark-brown, similar to hers but lighter, to show how much warmer he was compared to her. She wasn't a cold-hearted bitch, but that didn't exactly mean she was any sympathetic to others when they were facing trouble. A difference from the guy, but still not something bad. It made more sense as to why this was hitting her so weirdly. The human was caring for those that showed him even a hint of kindness. Some would foolishly assume it's naivety in its purest form, but the truth was more tied to the fact he was just that kind of 'good man' that wanted to help others when they needed help. And as much as it pained her to admit after that little 'lynching' she endured from Tiare, Angel knew well enough she was really in need to vent when needed. Not outright ranting and lashing out, but speaking, talking- she didn't want to be a detail in the background. She knew she was more than just that. And talking with Frankie seemed to put her in a good mood.

"So, anything new?" The girl finally spoke, taking a moment away from focusing on drawing as she had lightly lost her notion of what she was going for. She had the paper nearby, so she could look at it by turning around and catching the design back on without damaging her current progress.

"Uh? I… I guess it's been relatively calm," The human seemingly got a grasp of the kind of curt questions she tended to ask out of nowhere. He was a little surprised the first time around, but now he really seemed to have grown attached to those well enough to know what she was really asking for. "I mean, training is tough, but not the worst and I got my first check already."

She blinked, almost forgetting the young man did have a job. And he was making money on his own. "Are you keeping it all with yourself or are you planning to spend at least some of it?"

A bit of a push, but one that Frankie ignored the suddenness and replied to her. "I was planning to use a little part of it. Trying to buy stuff for someone."

"Your girlfriend?" Wording that one out surely felt weird to Angel, especially with what her pride was telling her to do ever since Frankie came here.

"Y-Yes," He replied a little flustered, his reaction just made her smile at how innocent it felt just for that moment. "But I was… also planning to buy things for others. You know, Christmas break is around the corner-"

"And you plan to buy things for others? Oh my, I never thought of you as Saint Nick's little avatar."

"I just want to make something nice about it. I'm not planning to waste money anyway and I'm planning to save up the rest for the flat by next year."

"Moving out from Campus at Year 2 sounds actually… smart. Kind of forward too," The Bunny Prime added with a nod. "Still, you would have to work hard to keep up with the pay."

"I plan to share it with Miles and Shin. Next year, we will have our own place to live and be able to have our own rooms too."

That made Angel quite jealous. Sure, the dorm room was spacious, but the idea of having her own big bed to nap on herself sounded like the laziest but most endearing goal in a long while. Davin would never think of moving out of his own turf, especially since his parents would notice if he decided to live on his own with their money. College stuff? Sure. But buying a flat without having a solid job to rely on would be perceived badly by them.

"I didn't know Miles found a job."

"It's a small one. Assistant Photographer to a Model Studio," He replied calmly. "Of course, he has been bragging about it since… well."

"There are chicks."

"Yep," Frankie confirmed and the Bunny Prime shook her head at how simple it was to define the man that was Miles Lionheart. Give him something even remotely hot about a woman, and he would sell a limb to get the rest. Maybe it was a harsh assessment, but then again Angel didn't like that kind of person. Too much into beauty, never into the overall substance of people. Quite shallow, if she had to be honest but… Still, this idea left the young woman to have a single thought about it.

"By the way, if I asked, would you let me sleep there if I wanted?" The girl asked without any shame about showing her interest on the matter regarding the sleeping spot away from school.

"Only if you manage to handle Miles' flirting," The human argued. "But I doubt that would be a problem."

"I'm not planning to live there permanently. I can handle it if it's just a few times… a month."

He blinked. "So you're already planning to spend several times there each month."

"Just a couple," She curtly addressed. "Of course, I wouldn't mind sharing the bed if there is any other option."

…

"What?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you mean… sharing the bed? I would probably offer it to you and I would sleep on the floor if that is the issue."

She snorted. "That sounds incredibly stupid. I'm the guest-"

"But you are a friend."

"So? Do you mean we can't share the bed because we're friends?"

"I-It's not that-"

"I wouldn't mind sharing the bed if I was just sleeping. Would you?"

"No?" Frankie replied with the most confused tone possible.

"So by that logic, you would touch me if I gave you consent to do so, right?"

… "W-What?"

"Right now, I want you to touch me, Frankie. I'm offering, as a friend, so by your own logic you should do that."

"I don't think that's-"

"Are we not friends? Do it."

He moved, his hand started to move. Her eyes widened in surprise as it reached back, clearly going up and… then down. A blink, then two, then she felt a squeeze and grew… annoyed.

"Why are you holding my hand?" Angel asked with the dullest tone she could muster in that very moment.

"You said you wanted me to touch you."

"Frankie, I consider you a good friend, but I know you aren't brain-dead. You know well enough I didn't mean that kind of touch," She replied angrily. "So next time, just touch me and-"

"And then what?"

His interruption came out of nowhere and left the woman baffled at it.

"W-Well you could-"

"Angel, I can tell you don't want this, so why are you asking me this?" The human inquired with a serious, but concerned voice.

Angel tensed up at the way this turned against her. The little plan, driven by personal dissatisfaction at her inability to push for more on that front, had backfired horribly as now she found herself in quite the hot spot.

"H-How do you know I don't want this? Maybe I'm just weirded out of asking it after so long and-"

"You wouldn't have asked," The young man interrupted again, leaving her even more confused.

"What? What does that even mean?"

"If there is one thing that I've learned when we talk, Angel, is that you… don't take your time on things. Especially those things that you can directly address on the spot and get through with this with actions rather than words," He explained calmly. "I… I know that you generally don't mind normal relationships, you already told me that, so you wouldn't have hesitated to make your move if you really wanted this. It's not something you just do."

…

"So you think you know me completely just from these interactions?" She half-snarled. "That sounds so stupid."

"I would never make that claim. I know that you have a lot you're keeping to yourself for your own reasons… but I know how you behave normally. That's all," He assured with a small smile. "You like to talk with someone that doesn't push you to tell more about yourself. You want to talk with people, and that can be tough when everyone labels you for a reason or another. From prejudice or rumor."

"And you don't," Angel admitted dryly. "You never ask for more."

"Because I think what you give is more than enough. I like talking with you because I appreciate your unique way of thinking," The human pointed out. "You might think I'm grasping for reasons here, but the truth is that you really have an amazing view of life despite how cynical it is."

"Flatterer," The young woman said while snorting, yet the human chuckled. "Still… what do you think it is then? Why do you think I want this to be more… and not?"

…

"I don't know," Frankie finally confessed. "I can tell it's not what you were asking for, and it is still friendship but… we can sort this out together if you want? Only if you want."

Her lips twitched at this proposal, feeling like it was the best way to handle things out. Quietly, discreetly… and privately. Between just him and her. It sounded like a brilliant plan.

"Maybe," She muttered, and Frankie didn't press about it.

For some reason, even though she didn't gain anything mindblowing out of this matter, no answers or even a refusal to her inability to go through her 'inner desires', Angel didn't bring up this matter again during the remainder of his visit. In fact, she felt a sense of resolve forming to actually understand what got her into this kind of loop. Soon she was done with the drawing and helped Frankie up once the ink had dried up as he carefully put his shirt on and… she decided to at least give him something to still think about it. Something that meant one thing he surely understood.

"So, we can talk more whenever you need and- Mphh?"

'He sure looks cute when surprised', Angel thought as she quietly went close to him and landed a small kiss on his lips. It wasn't an intense one, but she was almost tempted to just tease him with one. Yet… she restrained herself. There was so much that a mistaken sign would give and that was it.

"Thank you. This is… a thank you," She proceeded to say once the kiss ended. "For being my friend, Frankie."

The Bunny Prime sure felt a need to giggle at the highly-amusing blush on the human's face, but even more when he stammered while leaving and getting her to wonder if he was going to react all the time like this whenever she wanted to give him a 'bye' through that gesture. It was so chaste, but it surprised him so much. For a moment Angel thought if that was what some chicks used to squabble about when they were discussing this kind of guy with one another.

They are the cutest, but also keepers if one ended up falling in love with them.

Today was truly an interesting day.

I hadn't expected for Angel to let me go back to my dorm room with that kiss, but it was clear that she had done that to tease me. Either that, or I tremendously failed to pick up the atmosphere I had ended up facing out of nowhere. Did I know Angel was surprised by how 'deep' our conversations tended to get? No. Did I know those were getting that deep? Yes. In fact, it was kind of refreshing considering the frequency and the hours invested during those times. I had already dealt with work and, with the painting job done, I was well on my way for a lovely nap back at the dorm room. I was just walking inside the room and rushed up to my bed when I stopped at the vibration coming from my phone. New message, I wonder who it was from.

A quick look saw me give a surprised glance at the tiny screen as I recognized the number and… then I read the content. Vixy was asking for me to pass by her dorm room, she mentioned it was something important. I didn't hesitate to just take a detour and reach my newest destination. When I arrived by the dorm room's door, I noticed it was half-open. For a brief moment, I was nervous as this could mean so many bad things. The urgency within the way the message was phrased left me particularly tense and… I entered inside quickly, expecting to find something bad- only to pause at something incredibly… good. Like really good.

Tiggs wasn't in the room, which was odd, but I found Vixy there, laying by the bed with her clothes set down by the floor.

"Hello~," The Fox Prime greeted sultrily, grinning mirthfully at my little entry. "Did you think someone got inside our room?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it. And then I confessed. "Yes."

She giggled at that response. "I suppose that would make sense with how tense things have been but… It's not that. Tiggs is going to sleep over in some of the cheerleaders' dorm rooms since they asked her help with some subjects they were falling behind."

"That's a good thing from Traci," I muttered and Vixy nodded in agreement at this comment.

"She is always the best about that. But now… it's just you and me right now," She reminded eagerly. "And you know how we talked about giving it a try to the next level?"

"I expected this after a date."

"Oh, mind you I wanted that too but… it would be a waste to just not take this opportunity for us."

"I… I guess," I admitted, still not completely sure if this was fine. Why didn't Tiggs mention anything about it? Had Traci truly not noticed anything about it and just thought Vixy wasn't going to use the circumstance to her favor- Actually, our favor?

"You don't seem that happy about it," The girl noticed and I held back a grimace at her perceptive nature.

"It's just the suddenness. But I really want this too," I quickly replied, approaching the bed. "So… how long have you been waiting?"

"Just a few minutes… plus how long you're taking to get there with me."

I could only chuckle and hope Tiggs was going to be at least neutral with this entire development. I was quick to get set for the big task at hand and I felt… incredibly nervous. Under the cover, there was lots of kissing and hugging as I slowly prepared for the big moment to finally happen. I was prepared for the predicament, certain I was ready for it and… then I felt our little moment that should have escalated into a new step within our relationship was interrupted by the familiar noise of the door unlocking. Which was strange since I locked it so nobody could enter inside and interrupt us. The only ones that could get in were those with a key and… I worried that it was Traci deciding to surprise Vixy by coming back this soon.

My shock wasn't matched by the Fox Prime. At least not for the same reason as I was. Instead of worrying about it being Traci, I could perceive a trace of unknown on the matter as she clearly didn't suspect it being Tiggs behind the door. A huff and the individual behind there finally entered inside the room with a box. Said individual had black hair, green eyes, horns and-

It was Hope.

…

"What?" I quietly asked, my brain lagging behind for a moment at this unexpected circumstance. Why was she here… and with a box of all things possible?

As soon as my voice reached her ears, she turned to stare right at me and… froze before the scene she had just stumbled upon. Her eyes widened, her jaw hung low and she dropped the box down without caring for what was inside it.

"I-I-I-I-" She stammered a lot, pausing over the subject as she couldn't just grasp on what was going on.

"W-Weren't you supposed to come with your things tomorrow?" Vixy asked particularly shaken herself, but still holding herself from stuttering too much.

"W-Wait, tomorrow?"

"What is going on?" I asked the Fox Prime, my thoughts losing cohesion over what I was looking at.

"Hope is going to join our dorm room since her former dorm mate got kicked out from the school. Tiggs and I offered," The young woman bluntly answered, trying to hold herself from exploding in anger at that wasted opportunity. I knew she was a few moments away from lashing out, and I couldn't exactly blame her for that line of thought. It would have been incredibly annoying if I didn't have some attraction at the Gazelle Prime and wasn't reluctant on these steps with Vixy.

"H-Hope, can you please… wait outside? Just for a moment," I offered and she merely nodded before jumping out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"Sh-She just-"

"I know," I tried to reason with the angry vixen, she aimed the glare at me, but the only thing she got was a kiss or two. Those seemed to mellow her just enough to listen to what I had to say on the matter. "I guess she misheard or something like that. It's not a big loss and… if you snapped, we might get too much attention in the room."

She seemed to mostly agree to what I was saying but… she wasn't fully convinced. "It was our night together."

Her pout was… really cute. And I didn't say no to that. After planting another kiss, I sighed. "How about by this weekend I try to get ourselves set for a lovely date and we try out of the school?"

Her ears perked at that. "Can we try that?"

"Do you want to?" I asked back and she sported the giddiest grin possible before letting out a pleased 'yes'. She was still a little mad once we were done getting dressed up and helping Hope inside with her things. We got her to sit in her own side of the room, which she quickly went to sleep in and… I remained to cuddle up with Vixy. The girl might be pleased with the alternative I had proposed, but I gave her the little cherry needed to sweeten up the deal as best as possible.

These were going to be some tense days for sure and… I sure as hell was going to make progress on Vixy now with the promise I made with her.

AN

A pseudo-lime? Really?

Sorry, not sorry. Maybe soon? xD