Bill leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. "God, I'm stuffed."
Esther chuckled. "You already full? You're losing your touch, old man."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Not that overeating is a good thing."
Louis laughed. "I'm glad you liked it. If anyone is interested, we have a bar over in the rec room."
Jolene nodded. "I've been studying how to make mixed drinks for anyone interested." She gave Esther a stern look. "Anyone over twenty, obviously."
Esther crossed her arms and pouted.
Juno smiled. "We also recently got billiards."
Lee looked curious. "Pool, huh? I've never played."
Legosi chuckled awkwardly. "Grandpa had me play billiards with him before. I wasn't great at it."
Sebun got up and stretched. "I dunno about pool, but let's try out those drinks."
The rec room on the second floor was huge. It had a bar, darts, and three pool tables.
Lee ground the tip of his cue with a little square of blue chalk. All the women save for Esther were sitting at the bar, watching. Bill sat across from his wife. Jolene was smiling as she stood on a stool and prepared drinks.
Esther and Olivia sat on a nearby couch, chatting.
The wolf-rabbit bent over the table and lined up his shot.
Crack!
The balls bounced around the table, but not a single one went in the holes. Lee's ears drooped in disappointment.
Legosi chuckled and grabbed a pool cue, lining up his own shot. "So, how's school been going?"
Crack!
Lee shrugged. "Average as usual. But at least I'm not failing."
Esther grinned. "My grades have been great!"
Bill's wife, Sarah looked at her daughter with skepticism as she sipped a Bloody Mary. "You'll excuse me if I find that hard to believe."
The white tiger growled and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through it and got up, walking over to her parents. "See? These are my grades!"
Bill grabbed the phone, muttering as he looked through it. "B-minus, A, A-minus, B, B-plus…" He grinned. "Holy shit, Esther! I can't believe you did this good!"
Esther mumbled under her breath as she took back her phone. "...did this well."
Jack's wife, Elise looked surprised. "Huh. I guess that girl is smarter than I thought."
The white tiger blushed. "I only did so well because Liv was tutoring me."
Crack!
Jack turned his attention to his daughter after sinking three balls in a game against Louis. He smiled. "Really? That's super nice of you, Olive."
Olivia blushed. "Y-yeah. I've helped her a bit."
Elise looked surprised. "I thought you didn't like Esther."
The younger lab scratched the back of her head nervously. "N-not anymore. We get along pretty well."
Jolene tilted her head curiously. However, she didn't say anything and went back to mixing drinks.
Elise smiled. "Well, it's very kind of you to help out one of your more slow-witted friends."
Sarah scoffed. "My daughter is not 'slow-witted', Elise-san."
The older black lab snorted. "Sure."
Lee started to feel uncomfortable. This kind of tension between Esther's parents and Elise wasn't uncommon.
Olivia shifted uncomfortably. "M-Mom. Do you think you could be a little more polite to Esther and her parents?"
Elise raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "How have I been-"
Jack grimaced at his wife and waved a hand across his neck.
The older black lab sighed. "I'm sorry."
Bill grinned. "Well, anyway! Thanks for tutoring my kid, Liv-chan!"
Crack!
Louis sank two balls. "Dogs areknown for their intelligence. But it seems Jack-san's family is particularly so."
Jack scratched his neck and chuckled nervously. "Th-thanks."
Legosi laughed. "I would've failed all of my classes for sure without Jack's help."
Jolene made a martini and handed it off to her mother.
Sebun grinned. "Thanks, sweetie!"
Jolene turned her attention to Bill. "Anything you'd like to drink, Bill-san?"
The tiger smirked. "I don't really do mixed drinks. Got any beer?"
The sheep looked around the bar for the feline's desired drink before shaking her head. "I'm afraid we don't have anything like that."
Louis scoffed. "Good. Bill-kun is incredibly obnoxious while drunk."
Bill snorted, looking somewhat offended. "What? You think I need beer to get wasted? You think I can't handle the hard stuff?" The tiger tapped a finger on the bar and looked to Jolene. "I'll take whatever your strongest booze is."
Sarah rubbed the bridge between her eyes. "Oh, God…"
Jolene looked conflicted and glanced over at Louis.
The deer smirked at her and nodded.
The younger sheep still looked a little uncertain but grabbed a nearby ladder anyway, climbing to the top and grabbing a green bottle. Lee couldn't make out what the label said.
She grabbed a shot glass and poured something into it from the bottle.
The tiger grabbed the glass and downed it immediately. In an instant, it was clear that Bill quickly realized he had made a terrible mistake.
Every single strand of fur on his body stood up and his tail straightened out, bristling.
The feline violently spit the liquid out of his mouth, causing it to spray. He began coughing loudly and punching himself in the chest. "B-burns…"
The entire party laughed at him for his embarrassing display.
After the pool games were over, everyone talked about miscellaneous things going on in their lives. They decided to go to bed, and Louis informed everyone that there were several rooms on the next level down. The only people that won't be there would be Lee and his boyfriend, who would be staying in Ibuki's room.
Lee flopped down on Ibuki's bed, clothed only in his boxers. He sighed. "Man, adults blather on and on about the dumbest shit. Especially when they're drunk."
Ibuki, also only in boxers, moved aside the covers and crawled in. "Still, it's nice seeing our parents again."
Lee sat up and looked around Ibuki's room. It wasn't very different from the last time the wolf-rabbit had been in it. It was gigantic, had its own bathroom, and the bed was very large despite the room only being for just one kid.
The TV stand was unusually bare. Ibuki must've had his TV moved to his dorm.
The wolf-rabbit got under the covers and crawled his way over to his boyfriend, cuddling with him. He smiled. "At least we get to do thismore often."
Ibuki nodded and put a hand on Lee's right cheek. "I'm really lucky to have a guy like you as a boyfriend." He sighed. "Although, maybe we always had limited options. I think very few people would be interested in a couple of carnivore-herbivore hybrids."
Lee shrugged. "You can find people into all kinds of things. But, yeah, it seems most people don't like us."
The deer-wolf nestled in closer, nuzzling his boyfriend's neck before yawning. "Who even cares about them? Let's just enjoy this moment, huh?"
Lee nodded and held Ibuki tightly, enjoying the warmth of his beloved deer-wolf's body. The winter season had come, so the two of them had become incredibly fluffy, making this situation that much more comfortable.
The wolf-rabbit smiled. He wanted this moment to last forever.
Esther undressed herself. Olivia was already sitting on the bed in just her bra and panties.
Olivia giggled. "Have you ever noticed my underwear is white and yours is black?"
The white tiger looked at herself curiously. She picked black because she had white fur and wanted them to stand out. She supposed it'd make sense for Olivia to do the opposite.
Esther's eyes scanned her girlfriend's body. It had been a long time since she had seen her undressed like this. The rare exception being the occasional lewd picture the lab would send her at night.
She sighed and sat down next to her on the bed. "I missed sharing a bed with you." She smiled and embraced her girlfriend tightly. Olivia blushed and hugged back resting her muzzle on the tiger's left shoulder and nuzzling up against her neck.
The lab's tail wagged. "I missed this too." She tightened her hug and was able to feel the tiger's heartbeat and the warmth of her body. Then, a memory crossed her mind and her tail drooped. "I'm sorry my mother was so rude to you."
The tiger chuckled. "It didn't hurt my feelings that bad if I'm being honest. I'm kinda used to being called an idiot."
Olivia pulled away with a concerned face. "What if our parents don't approve of our relationship? I had my concerns before, but what happened during the party… I feel like they hate each other."
Esther nodded. "Then they're gonna have to get the hell over it." She hugged her again. "Nobody can tell us who we get to be with."
The lab sighed. "I… I'm scared. I wanted to wait until my birthday to tell them in case we broke up. I thought I was just being realistic. But I don't think us breaking up was ever going to happen. But I don't want our parents to hate us."
The tiger hugged her tighter. "If we're not breaking up, then let's just tell them tomorrow. Our folks are good people. They'll get it."
Olivia nodded. "I hope you're right."
Esther looked at her girlfriend in the eye and grinned before giving her another kiss.
Olivia giggled and pulled away. "Let's just go to bed for now."
Lee felt something cold and hard beneath him. He opened his eyes to see familiar surroundings, but in another light.
He was in the school at night with a full moon in the sky shining down, illuminating the hallway.
For some reason, he was in his uniform.
He got to his feet and looked around. Immediately, he spotted a familiar sight. Two caved-in doors covered in police tape and a framed photo on the ground. Next to it was a bouquet of wilted flowers.
Lee tilted his head as he looked at the framed photo. He could see the background, but the subject, Tem was absent.
He heard footsteps behind him and an unfamiliar voice. "Do you know what's on the other side of that door?"
The wolf-rabbit turned to see a familiar male alpaca in a school uniform looking at him. Lee nodded. "It's where you died."
The alpaca walked past him and looked the door over. "There's something else though. Something new, but still old."
Lee looked confused.
THUD!
The chimera jumped as he heard a loud noise and saw the double doors shake.
The alpaca sneered. "You know who that is right?"
Lee gulped. "Riz?"
The alpaca snorted. "Close. But you can stop fooling yourself." He glared at Lee. "You need to realize the truth. He was nevera nice guy. He's his father's son."
The wolf-rabbit scowled. "That's not true! He's not like him at all!"
The camelid shook his head. "A bear in Drama Club that acted nice and friendly but was secretly dangerous? Oh, please."
THUD!
The alpaca walked closer to Lee. "Did you know your father was Riz's friend? He was just as much as Iwas."
He stopped walking as he found himself within arms-reach of the chimera. "Are you the next Tem? An herbivore that thought he found a friend, only to be nothing but another meal? Or…"
The alpaca extended three fingers and dragged them down Lee's right eye.
The chimera winced as he felt a searing pain where the alpaca touched.
The camelid removed his hand and pointed behind Lee. "Are you yourfather's son?"
The wolf-rabbit turned to see a full-sized mirror behind him. Staring back at him was himself, but with a very familiar claw mark scar across his right eye.
Lee turned back around, only to find the alpaca had vanished, leaving behind nothing but torn, bloodstained clothes.
BANG!
The doors flew open, tearing apart the police tape. The large silhouette of a bear stared at Lee and growled. The ursine charged him.
Lee covered his face, but then felt something warm and soft under him, as well as someone's body in his arms.
He opened his eyes to find himself in Ibuki's room, still cuddling with the sleeping deer-wolf.
The wolf-rabbit sighed. He really wished he didn't have such cryptic dreams.