Staying up wasn't hard for Lyman. As a midnight Lycanroc, he thrived during the night, and was often at his most productive when the moon was out. He sat in his room, sitting contently while taking in the night air. He smiled as he felt the brisk air on his fur, it was pleasantly cold, and his crescent shaped mane blew in the wind. It was moments like this that made the night so satisfying to him, he felt like he could stare at the moon all night, and not have to worry about anything.

His blissful state was interrupted when he heard the front door open. His roommate was back. He heard him failing trying to be silent, and snickered when he heard him trip up the stairs. He got up and opened his door, catching the Lucario opening his bedroom door.

"O-OH! Hey Lyman, I figured you were asleep and was trying not to wake you. I hope I didn't, sorry."

He waved it off.

"It's whatever. I wanted to talk to you anyway."

His roommate stopped and looked up to him, making Lyman sigh.

"We can...go exploring the campus tomorrow if you want. And...before, on our first day, and the day after that, I wasn't trying to be mean, I just get like that sometimes and...just...just don't take it personally okay?!"

He slammed his door closed, leaving the jackal confused. Lyman leaned back against his door. He felt himself blushing a little, his unfamiliarity with apologizing embarrassing him. He just hoped he at least got his message across.

Oh well. I'll see tomorrow.

He laid down, and effortlessly fell asleep.

...

Tomorrow came sooner than he thought. Almost in an instant, he found himself standing next to the giddy Lucario, who was bouncing on his feet as they walked through the campus. He couldn't help but smile at the innocent look he displayed whenever they came across something new. They came across the final spot, the main office building. The tour guide, a Roselia, spoke loudly.

"And this is our last stop! The Atmos University Main Office! Here is where the Council meetings are held, and where the Headmaster himself, Sora Atmos resides! Feel free to stop by for any reason at all, they're more than capable of helping you! This concludes our tour! I hope you all enjoyed it, and feel free to step inside with me if you have any further questions! Have a nice rest of the day!"

Lyman watched as the group dispersed. As usual, he towered over nearly everyone there. He looked down at his roommate.

"There. Are you happy now?"

The Lucario nodded and smiled.

"Yup! I got to see everything, and it's as amazing as I thought it would be!"

He continued to go on about how great the tour was and Lyman just rolled his eyes and started walking home. The Lucario quickly followed behind him, but kept talking. Lyman smiled at how carefree he seemed, but looked away when he looked up at him. After a while, they reached the housing district, and he noticed the Lucario had quieted down, and was giving him stares. He gave him a half glare.

"What is it? I can see you staring at me, it's creepy."

The Lucario blushed a little and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I've just been curious. Why are you being so nice all of a sudden? All this week you've been avoiding talking to me, and being a jackass whenever we did talk. Why the sudden change?"

Lyman stared down at his roommate.

"I just felt like it okay? Don't get used to it, I won't be so nice all the time. I just figured I might as well try to get along with you so won't ha- so we can at least enjoy this year. And besides, I'm not a dick 24/7. That's not who I am."

He looked up at the sky, and smiled a little. The Lucario looked up at him and then frowned, before pinching the Lycan on the arm. Lyman yipped in pain.

"What the hell was that for?!"

He glared down at the Lucario, who matched his glare with a look of suspicion.

"Are you really the same Lyman I've been living with? You must have swapped places with him at some point. Where is he? Are you his brother? Is this a prank?"

Lyman growled.

"NO! I'm the same I've always been you moron!"

The Lucario giggled, but yipped in pain when Lyman reached down and pinched one of his ears.

"OW! That hurt!"

He pouted, making Lyman cross his arms.

"Well now you know how it feels."

The Lucario looked up at him, a little teary eyed.

"Yeah but this hurts more! My ears are sensitive!"

He rubbed his ear softly.

"Whatever stimulation I get in my ears is intense, regardless."

Lyman smirked, his eye had a glint of mischief. He stood behind the Lucario, and leaned down, nibbling his other ear softly, chuckling to himself. The Lucario jumped before blushing madly and whining.

"H-HEY! You can't just do that!"

Lyman just laughed with the portion of ear in his mouth, and slapped away the black paws trying to push him away. With a full mouth, Lyman spoke.

"Nope, too late. I'm gonna take advantage of this now, dork."

The Lucario looked up at him with wide eyes, still blushing. In the midst of their struggles, they failed to notice 3 people walking in front of them. They stopped in confusion, staring at the two Pokemon before them. Lyman kept smirking, but went wide eyed when he noticed them. The ear was still in his mouth, but he spoke.

"H-Hey Lucy. Hey Cyrus."

The Lucario went even redder than he already was.

"Lucy? And Cyrus?"

Lucy blushed sheepishly, and the Cyrus, a Persian, waved. Lyman let go of his ear, and pushed his housemate away, before dusting himself off. Lucy smiled at the awkward situation.

"Hi Lyman, hi Lucien. Y-You guys sure are lively today *giggle*"

Lyman looked at Lucien.

"You know each other?"

The Lucario nodded.

"Mmhm. I met while shopping, she's the friend whose house I was for dinner yesterday, her and Cyrus are terrific hosts."

Lucy waved him off while blushing and giggling.

"Oh stop. You were a terrific guest. I'd love to have you, and Lyman, over for dinner some other time."

Suddenly Lyman noticed the third person they were with. A Torracat.

"You've been silent. What's your name?"

The Torracat shrugged.

"Monty. Monty Sabre. It's a pleasure."

He walked over and shook Lyman's paw, then winked as he shook the Lucario's paw too.

"Especially you, cuteness."

The Lucario looked at him in confusion, and hastily took his paw away. Cyrus moved forward.

"He's our neighbor, we ran into him on the way back home from the city, and decided to walk back together. What are you guys up to?"

Lyman looked down at him.

"We're on our way back from the campus tour. Giddy here wanted to go, and I figured it was better than sitting at home alone."

Lucy smiled.

"The campus tour! It's always so great to exlpore the campus. It's so big, it's like everything's different each time you walk around it!"

Lucien's eyes lit up, and he started engaging in a conversation with Lucy about the campus and how beautiful it is. Monty walked back behind Lucy and Cyrus, occasionally looking the Lucario up and down. The Lucario was very aware of this, and stood closer to Lyman. He was visibly uncomfortable, but ignored it to continue his conversation with Lucy. Lyman watched him closely, and gave him a look of suspicion. He snapped out of this thoughts when Lucien went starry eyed.

"Yeah! You guys should totally come over for dinner today! I'd love to cook for you all!"

Lucy grabbed Cyrus' hand, and giggled. Making Lyman look at them in shock. Before he had the chance to object:

"That'd be great! Cyrus and I don't have any plans today, and it'd be nice to spend some time with you guys before classes start in a couple days!"

She and Cyrus started walking, with the Torracat following behind them. He shot Lucien a wink as he walked by, making the Lucario shudder. She waved as they passed by.

"We'll be over later! Can't wait to stop by! And Lyman, I'll call you."

The Lucario waved happily as they walked away, and Lyman gave a half wave, but stopped when his housemate elbowed him in the side. Lyman recoiled a little, glaring down at him.

"Wha-"

"That's for embarrassing me."

His face went red again, and he turned his nose up while pouting. Lyman's glare died, and he gave the Lucario a half smile, before pulling his ear, and walking home.

"Whatever, let's go get the house ready for dinner."

He walked slowly, pulling the wailing and flustered Lucario behind him.

...

Later that night Lyman had just exited the shower, drying his hair. He was in his boxers, and had a towel over his head, wiping his crescent shaped mane softly. He made his way downstairs to see the Lucario finishing up in the kitchen.

"What did you end up making dork?"

The Lucario looked up at him, and smiled.

"I made roast chicken, steamed vegetables, fried rice, with tiramisu and ice cream for dessert! It's being chilled in the refrigerator now."

Lyman looked over the spread, and his stomach growled when he took in the delightful smells. He gave the Lucario another half smile, throwing the towel over his shoulder.

"You've really outdone yourself this time dork. I'm sure everyone will love it."

The Lucario lightly blushed and giggled.

"Thanks! I'm excited to have them over!"

The Lucario then gave him a stern look, while pushing him upstairs.

"Now go put some clothes on! They'll be here any minute!"

Lyman looked at him, as he was surprisingly matched in strength. He was pushed to the stairs, dumbfounded. He shook away his thoughts, and feigned annoyance.

"Alright alright! Just stop pushing me already!"

He walked upstairs and got dressed. As if on cue, he heard a knock at the door right as he finished and was walking back downstairs. His housemate was already opening it. He happily greeted their friends Lucy and Cyrus, and half greeted their unexpected guest, the Torracat from before.

"Oh hey Monty! What a surprise!"

He walked in, giving the Lucario a sly smirk.

"Pardon the intrusion. I hope you don't mind."

The Lucario just smiled at him, and closed the door as he walked by.

"Not at all! The more the merrier, and I made plenty of food. Enjoy your stay!"

Lyman greeted them as well, albeit with less enthusiasm as his housemate, but was polite in the end. He walked and took a seat in the dining room. Lucy sat to his left, with Cyrus and Monty sitting in the seats across from him, and Lucien sat next to him, on his right. He'd taken the time to slice up the chicken as they engaged in lighthearted conversation about which classes they'd be taking, and how excited they were. Lyman took notice of how often Monty would smirk and stare at Lucien, who was visibly uncomfortable, but was too polite to ask him to stop. His housemate had thought ahead and put the food on the table while Lyman was getting dressed, so everyone could take what they pleased.

Lyman couldn't help but enjoy the company. He relished having people over and engaging in lighthearted banter. He hadn't done this since he was a kid, and Lucy hadn't invited anyone over for dinner when she was his roommate. She only rarely invited Cyrus over, and even then he just took his food to his room. He didn't feel like being a third wheel, especially with how gushy the two of them got. He smiled as he noticed Lucien was enjoying it too, the discomfort courtesy of the flirty Torracat not bothering him much at all anymore, or at least that's how it seemed.

Maybe this is what it felt like to have some friends. He'd never gone to any group events, and when Lucy and Alex were busy, he was usually on his own. He never let it get him down, but he could admit that this was a pleasant change. He could do this more often. He perked up at the thought of Alex. He hadn't really kept contact with the Dusk Lycanroc lately, and he hadn't seen him since he got here.

"Lucy, by the way, where's Alex? I haven't seen much of him lately."

Lucien looked at him in confusion.

"Alex?"

Lucy cut and but into a piece of tiramisu.

"He's my brother. He's a few years older than us, and a junior here. He's been busy doing stuff for his fraternity, he had officially been dubbed a member over the summer. He'd been trying to get in for months before he finally got accepted, and he's been their errand boy ever since he got in. He still calls, but he probably won't have much free time for a while. He says he wants to hang out again, so I'm sure we'll see him soon. Maybe we could get him over for dinner next time!"

Lucien smiled, and took a spoonful of ice cream.

"That'd be great! He sounds so ambitious, I'd love to meet him!"

The night continued peacefully, with Lyman being noticeably more cheerful than usual, even when they played a few rounds of UNO, with Lucy and Lyman being hilariously competitive. Everyone else had folded, and it was the last game of the night. Lucy laughed smugly with her last three cards, and Lyman growled with four.

"Just give up Lyman! You'll never be able to win, you have terrible luck with games like this! It'll be a little less shameful if you give up early!"

Lyman threw down a blue seven, and snarled.

"Quiet you! Don't get cocky just because you have one less card than me, the game isn't over yet!"

Lucy placed a red seven over his card, and Lyman slammed a Wild Card on top of it. His brow furrowed.

"Yellow."

This made Lucy smirk mischievously, as she threw down a yellow Skip card, making Lyman grow wide eyed, exclaimed 'UNO' and then growled in defeat as she threw down a yellow nine.

"Game. Over."

She laughed cutely, as Lyman ruffled his hair, dropping his cards in frustration.

"Every time! You've managed to win EVERY TIME!"

Lucien howled with laughter from the kitchen, having gotten an early start on dishes, and Cyrus barreled over in laughter, as Monty and Lucy got up, getting ready to leave for the night. Lucy helped Cyrus up, and sighed, catching their breaths as they stood. Cyrus patted him on the shoulder.

"It's what happens when you challenge your luck Ly. Or when you challenge Lucy haha!"

He noticed them all snickering, much to the dismay and embarrassment of the Midnight Lycanroc. He deflated completely and sighed, smiling. Sure he lost every game to Lucy, but it was still fun. He walked behind the trio as they gathered their things and prepared to leave. Lucien had finished the dishes, and walked up to the door while drying his paws with a small towel.

"Thanks for coming over you guys! I really enjoyed cooking for you all!"

Lucy and Cyrus happily waved as they said their goodbyes as they stepped out. Monty, who had gone quiet after dinner, causing Lyman to forget he was there occasionally, winked at the Lucario as he left.

"See you guys. I'd love to come over again sometime. Maybe we could have some more fun."

His tongue slid against his fangs as he said that, and the Lucario gave a wobbly smile.

"Y-yeah. We'd love to have the three of you over again soon. Have a goodnight."

The Lucario closed the door behind him, and sighed.

"That guy is something else."

Lyman smirked and laughed.

"What? Not liking your new boyfriend's advances? You must really struggle with the game of love."

The Lucario blushed and punched his arm lightly. He looked up at him before giving him a smug look.

"Oh Ha ha. I can only imagine how good you'd be at said game if you can't even handle a game of UNO."

He laughed at how read Lyman's face got, ignoring his growl.

"You're gonna get it now you dork!"

Lyman tackled him playfully, biting the Lucario's ear again. The Lucario started whining and flailing, pushing against him.

"HEY! You ass! Let go! Let GO!"

He laughed with the ear in his mouth, a small blush forming on his face. He felt like he was starting to enjoy his new acquaintance, and grew a little excited at the idea of creating an even more joyful atmosphere with his roommate.

He could get used to this.

And there you have it! I'm feeling a lot better about this story after this chapter, it came out a lot more fluent than the others. Hopefully the flow will remain with the rest of it, and I hope you all are as excited as I am to see where it goes. Thanks for reading!