Finley was accustomed, by this point, to the constant rattling and grinding sounds in his twenty-plus-year-old hatchback, Carla - as he affectionately called her. The whir of Carla’s engine, still original, was almost comforting. No radio – because that didn’t work. It had for the first few months he had the car, but hadn’t for the last six months. As he shifted lanes onto the upcoming exit ramp, he thought that in another six months, he wouldn’t be driving this car anymore. He’d have a new one (well, newer), courtesy of his father – a gift for getting into college on a scholarship. Finley took a moment as he sat at the red light waiting to turn off the exit ramp to look around the old hatchback. He smiled a bit, thinking part of him would miss this car.
A very small part.
As he turned right off of the exit ramp, following the signs that directed him to “Northwoods University”, he thought back briefly to the last time he made this drive. That visit last year, with his parents, before the whirlwind of applications and acceptances. Today, he was making the trip alone. No parental unit in tow. No big deal. He glanced down at the passenger seat, the crisp brochure and official-looking letter from the university nestled there, reminders of why he was driving here today.
“Campus Days,” the brochure advertised. A two-day event where the school brings in their future scholarship students (both athletic and academic), and future freshmen, to take them on some tours, introduce them to different staff (coaches and trainers, in his case), and generally get them ready for the coming year. Probably a few pep talks. He even had a meeting scheduled with an academic advisor to review his high school transcripts and map out a tentative course plan for his first year. Boring stuff.
But, he was going to have most of his financial burden taken care of, so it would be worth it.
His phone, mounted on his dashboard, pinged with a notification.
Are you there yet? Did the junk heap make it in one piece? The words came across the screen and he didn’t need to see the name to know who had sent it. Mark. Finley couldn’t help the smile that darted across his face.
He waited until he was at a red light before he took the phone into his hand and typed a quick message back, tapping on the yellow lab’s profile picture.
Only two lights away. And don’t insult Carla! She’s gotten you plenty of places relatively safely!
He tossed the phone onto the passenger seat as the light turned green again. He heard it ping one, two - three times in quick succession.
Despite his desire to look at the messages now, Finley knew better. Not in Carla. Distracted driving in his old hatchback was how she’d lost her front right blinker last year - it may have been a minor fender-bender, but it was a major lesson learned for him. The last two lights were green, and it was a short time before he was parked in front of the campus student center.
Finley sighed, shifting the transmission into park and turning off the ignition - Carla sputtering and groaning to a stop in a familiar way. Finley grabbed the phone off the passenger seat and read the messages that Mark had sent,
Why are you replying if you aren’t there yet?
You know better than text and drive!
Be safe, Finn! And have a good time. Make some friends! I’ll see you when you get back!
Finley shook his head and grinned at the messages from his ex-boyfriend, current best friend. He and Mark had been best friends since they were pre-teens, having met during soccer camp just before middle school. Everything since has been a blur. They had been through so much together - from the normal friend stuff to realizing that they each were attracted to boys, to sharing first… well, most things, it seemed.
Like Carla, Finley was going to miss Mark. Strike that - more than Carla. Mark was, in many ways, what centered Finley. The fact that the lab was going to be moving to some place in South America for two years - volunteering with some wonderful, people helping non-profit - was such a Mark move. Of course, that experience would help Mark in the future - they would be giving Mark credits for college and paying a portion of tuition for him in return. But that wasn’t why Mark was doing it. Because he was a great person.
Finley sighed before replying, a tinge of sadness in his thoughts.
You know I only text at red lights! And I’ll do my best to have a good time listening to someone tell me all about Biology 101. At least I can check out the athletic facilities during the off-season.
I’ll let you know how everything goes! Heading inside now!
Finley grabbed the brochure and the map that was included in the letter off the passenger seat before getting out of the car. He would head inside first, before grabbing his suitcase. No point lugging it around until he knew where he’d be sleeping.
__________
No. Nope. Nadda. Absolutely not. Maybe…?
The “no”s were pulling ahead, and Silus didn’t like that. He would not stand for it! Not on Hottie Scouting Day!
Being the son of one of the most tenured professors had some downfalls for 17-year-old Silus. Pressure to become a genius bunny himself? Yep. Check. Father practically MIA during the school year? Yup. (though that one could be good, too) But there were a few great things about being his son, too. And one of them had started today!
Silus loved Campus Days. He’d made an event out of Campus Days the last few years, practically turning “Campus Days Hottie Scouting” into an art form. Solid and time-tested note-taking (mentally, of course - discretion was paramount), laser-focused gaze… all in the pursuit of identifying the cream of the crop. The cute ones. The hot ones. Those willing to share… notes from their biology course…
Why was Campus Days important to scouting? Why was it the Super Bowl Hottie-Hunting? Scholarship students, my dear Catson! Chances of finding a cute hottie under normal circumstances? Maybe 3/10, generously. 50/50 on a lucky day. 7/10 if you are desperate and lower your standards to “breathing and kind of okay looking”. But when a good half of the students arriving today were going to be athletic scholarship students? Silus’s odds of finding hotties skyrocketed!
Sure, there was plenty of eye candy on campus already. But the same old eye candy was like eating the same flavor of ice cream every day - it just gets old after a while (okay, ice cream never gets old, but you get the point!).
Silus needed to find some new hotties. He had already… sampled his way through this year's batch of hottie freshmen (and freshwomen, of course - Silus believed in equal opportunity).
His eyes caught sight of a tall, lanky doe, a cased tennis racket sticking out of the top of her suitcase. He examined her as she bent down to pull something out of her bag. Legs - Check. Ass - Check. General Figure - Check! He mentally filed her away under, “Doe. Tennis. Possible.” and moved on.
The campus grounds were immaculate today. Silus took note of the smell of freshly trimmed grass as he sat on a bench in front of the student center. A hand came up to fiddle with one of his velvety ears - an action his father hated with a passion that could eclipse the sun (something about “undignified rabbit habits”). The other held a cup of once-iced-coffee from the best shop on campus (which wasn’t saying much). The ice was mostly melted at this point, but that was fine. They made it super strong, and the melted ice helped it go down.
This year, Campus Days felt different. A bit more meaningful.
Likely because next year would be when he was attending the school. These would be his classmates. A voice, deep in the back of his head, whispered, “Maybe you should try to actually make friends this year, instead of just compiling a “hot or not” list?” Friends. Right. Study buddies, maybe. Roommates? Hrmph. What about friends with benefits? He could swing that.
It had taken him the better part of the school year to convince his father to let him get a dorm room, instead of staying home through college. Sure, that would make sense for some - but Silus needed space. He wanted to experience college life the way others do. He wanted to sleep in an uncomfortable dorm bed. Attend parties. Stay up late talking to a roommate.
Something… different. His father had finally relented last week, after a strategically timed outburst complete with tears. Bless his heart, but Silus’s father couldn’t resist the waterworks.
Just in time to sign Silus up for this event. Sure, it should be for scholarship students. But Silus wasn’t paying tuition due to his father’s tenure. That’s basically a scholarship, right?
Silus, giving his best puppy dog eyes, taught to him by a very friendly and… gifted husky he met in his high school drama club (long story, moving on), had convinced his father to sign him up for the event. Lectures and orientation? He’d get through it. He’d skip the financial and academic advisor, thanks. But two nights in a dorm room, getting a feel for dorm life? No parents? Possibility of a roommate on the “yes” list? Worth. Every. Fake. Tears.
Silus took a sip of his surprisingly mostly-full iced coffee, the subtle tones of hazelnut and nutmeg dancing on his taste buds, as his eyes wandered around the area again, eyes scanning for new targets when…
Oh, and that horse - whose build made Silus assume he would be playing for the football team - was just who Silus was waiting for. Built like a brick outhouse. Silus zeroed in on the large, chestnut specimen weaving through the thickening crowds! Silus needed a better vantage point.
Yes.
Silus shot upright, his ears twitching, eyes darting around the crowd. He began to maneuver, intent on acquiring a clearer view of the equine Adonis who certainly belonged on his shortlist. Maybe they could even be roommates tonight... But - DAMNIT THE HORSE IS MOVING! - Need. Better. View. Must. Move. Quick. Confirm. Top. List.
AND OF COURSE THERE IS A TOUR GOING BY!
The voice of the student volunteer, a calico RA, Sarah, who Silus knew thought way too highly of herself - droned on about the history of the college - her nasally, high-pitched voice causing Silus’s poor ears to twitch against his will as he made to move swiftly around the crowd.
Just as he was free of them and his eyes laid sight on the horse-of-his-dreams once more, his pursuit ended abruptly. Whatever beings looked down and laughed at us decided that clumsiness should win the day, and Silus wouldn’t get to examine that horse more closely.
Whumpf!
Silus took a confident step forward—only for his foot to meet nothing but air. When did that step get there!? Silus certainly did NOT remember there being a step there.
Oh no.
Oh shit.
Time seemed to stretch unbearably long in his mind.
For a split second, weightlessness overtook him. Silus’s stomach felt as if it was floating, he came to the point of no return. His arms shot out, scrambling for something—anything—to grab onto. The coffee cup slipped from his grasp, the lid popping off mid-air, but Silus paid that little heed and he squeezed his eyes shut, ready for the inevitable doom.
FALLING BUNNY, INCOMING!
He paid no heed to the feeling of liquid hitting his fur, the smell of hazelnut filling his nostrils. Time stretched unbearably long in his mind. He flailed. His ears flopped in the wind. This could be it. His tragic end.
And then—impact.
Not with the pavement. No, he crashed into something solid, warm, and very much alive.
His face squished against something warm and solid, as his mind registered the feeling of a foreign hand taking hold of his shirt just below his arm, even as his arms continued to flail to the sides. The flailing did nothing to help, and his momentum carried both him and his unknown and innocent victim to the ground.
THUD! UMPH!
For a moment, everything was still. For Silus, the landing wasn’t too bad. He had this nice, warm, solid, and SOFT body below him to cushion his fall. A cough from the body below him broke the brief stillness.
He found his upper body pressed against something warm, soft, and solid. Strong hands wrapped themselves under Silus’s arms - someone, smelling strongly of hazelnut, had caught Silus before he fell. Or rather, had been forced to, as it seemed Silus had dive-bombed into this innocent anthro.
“Uh. Ouch.” The voice of his unwitting savior, Silus could only presume - for what other voice would be so close? “You okay?” There was a slight hint of pain in those words.
Silus blinked - momentarily seeing stars as his vision swam back into focus. His eyes went towards that voice, and they met with something blue. Intense, vivid, impossibly blue. His gaze was captured by one of the most gorgeous sets of blue eyes he had ever seen. Ever imagined.
There was no real way to describe them. As deep as the sea. As bright as the sky on a clear day… Those eyes were contrasted by the striking black and white fur of the ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS border collie that Silus found himself pressed against.
Oh, this is nice.
It only took Silus’s mind another second to put the coffee smell together with the dripping fur on the face and chest of the boy who had, no exaggeration, saved his life.
Shit. I just assaulted the most beautiful prospect I’ve seen all day. I should be charged with a felony! Crime: 1 count of hottie caffeinating. Verdict: GUILTY. Punishment: 2 months probation from FurHub.
OH THE HORROR!
Okay, Silus. Calm down - he is looking at you like you are crazy. Likely because you ARE. But that’s okay. Just breathe and turn on the charm. You got this. Silus took a quick, almost imperceptible breath, forcing his racing thoughts into some semblance of order.
“I am so sorry!” Silus exclaimed, untangling one of his arms and moving it to the ground on one side of the collie - pushing himself up, regrettably moving his weight off of the boy below him as he got his legs under him and to the side of his hero/victim. He’s sure it was for the best, anyway. Much longer and the collie would have been getting a greeting of another sort.
“Here, let me help you.” Silus’s hand reaches out to take one of the border collie’s arms and he helps pull the other until he is sitting up.
“Thanks,” Silus recognizes an almost sheepish tone in the collie’s voice - as if the collie is sorry. WHAT?
“Thanks? Why are you thanking me? It is I, Silus Fairview, who should be thanking you! You, the one who saved me from certain death. You, whose poor fur and clothing have been assaulted, without intent, by my hazelnut iced coffee!” Silus clutched at his chest dramatically, eyes closing and head tilting to the sky, “All due to my inherent bunny clumsiness! Big feet are hard to manage sometimes, you know.”
Silus’s eyes cracked open after a moment of holding the pose, eyes looking for a reaction.
The collie, for his part, chuckled. “It's no problem, man. Just coffee and a few bumps. I’m just glad you’re okay.” The collie’s lithe arms were on display as he rubbed the back of his head a bit, before shaking his head - drops of the ice coffee falling from his fur. “I’m Finley. Finley Barclay.”
_______
Finley had been tackled before - plenty of times, really. Impacts like this one were not uncommon on the soccer field - though when those happened, you would typically be expecting them. He had barely even had time to register the light brown fur of the bunny before the coffee was splashed all over his face and chest, and he was being propelled to the ground.
Now, sitting on the ground with Silus kneeling to his side, Finley was trying his best to process everything that had happened in the span of less than a minute. A small ache coming from the back of his head gave him the feeling that he’d have a decent headache later.
Hazelnut. Everything smelled like hazelnut.
His fur was damp. No - soaked.
Then Silus was standing, looking down at Finley with a smirk as a hand was offered, talking a mile a minute. “Well, Finley Barclay - a strong name if ever there was one - a solid, dependable, and dare I say, a heroic name!” Finley barely caught the small wink from the bunny as this line was delivered.
“I, Silus - must be allowed to make amends for the vicious attack on your person!” Finley could barely register the words, his head still spinning, but he accepted the offered hand, the bunny practically hauling him to his feet.
“First, I shall offer my full-fur cleaning and drying services!” Finley wasn’t sure if his eyebrow was actually raised, or if it was just the one in his head that was raising at Silus’s words.
Is this bunny for real?
Silus’s hands were suddenly everywhere - patting Finley’s shoulders, and chest, and even patting at the fur on his face, testing the dampness.
“Not the worst,” Silus tutted, “And you could do worse than hazelnut cologne, but you’ll likely need at least a change of shirt. Maybe some washing of this fur. Can’t have something so soft getting sticky.”
Finley barely held back a laugh. This guy is unreal.
“I think I should be fine-” Finley began, a smile coming to his face at the antics.
“--- Nonsense!” The bunny was having none of it, literally waving off Finley’s protest. “You can come to my place - it isn’t too far! Did I mention my father is a professor here? Doubt I did. We live close!”
Finley opened his mouth, ready to refuse, one hand rubbing the back of his neck, but–
“Or, we can just head to one of the locker rooms. None of them are being used today, I don’t think. Do you have a bag? I should have some shirts that will fit you if you need one. No problem at all. Not at all.”
Before Finley could properly agree to anything, he felt a tug at his wrist.
And just like that, he was being led somewhere.
He easily could have pulled away. Maybe he should have. But something about Silus caused him not to fight it, and he even found himself almost matching the bunny’s pace.
The sidewalk Silus led him down, wound away from the main student center, and to Finley’s right a large, green field spread out. It was dotted with trees, paths, and people. Students who were sitting on blankets, surrounded by laptops and books - obviously using the crisp, cool weather as a chance to study outside. Others were tossing frisbees or kicking soccer balls - their laughter blending and mixing with the ever-more distant sound of the campus tours.
Finley took it all in, a strange mix of excitement and unease settling in his chest.
“But Campus Days will be starting soon. Do we have the time?” Finley found himself asking, and the bunny’s smile was infectious as he looked over his shoulder to Finley.
“Don’t you worry, Finley Barclay! We won’t miss anything important - like dinner or room sign ups. Just the painfully boring stuff. Droning speeches, awkward and weird icebreakers that are twenty years out of date. The cool stuff happens tomorrow. And tonight, of course.” He added that last part with a look at Finley, conveying… something.
Finley found himself taking the bait, “Tonight?”
“One of the frats is throwing a party. If we are lucky, my dear collie friend, I will be able to work some magic and get us in.” Silus was practically bouncing with energy now, pulling Finley along at a surprisingly brisk pace as the architecture of the buildings shifted, moving from modern glass and steel near the student center to older brick buildings.
“And if we don’t get in - not that I’d ever fail, mind you - we’ll just have to throw our own party in the dorms, roomie.”
Finley blinked. “Wait, we’re-”
“Until then,” Silus steamrolled on, “I’m a much better tour guide than any of the official guides they’ve got around here! After we get you cleaned up, I’ll take you around to all the good places.”
Finley found himself chuckling, “Oh yeah? Fur-cleaning and tour guiding?”
“The best place for food. Shortcuts to all the halls. The best coffee shop - you already had a bit of a taste of them, though, so maybe tomorrow.” Silus’s laugh was light, teasing, and despite himself, Finley grinned.
“I can even show you whatever court or field you’ll be playing on.” Silus gave him a once-over, then snapped his fingers. “I assume you’re here on an athletic scholarship with that build. Let me guess, I can do this! Swimmer? No, no - a bit too much bulk. Not too bulky, though, so not football. OH! I have it - soccer, right? Dogs chasing balls, huh?”
Finley rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “You had to go there, huh?”
Silus only grinned wider, ears flicking in amusement as they wove their way through the campus pathways.
“Come on, Finley, my place is just around that corner. We’ll get you cleaned up in no time. I warn you though; if my mother is home, she might assume some things about me bringing a cute boy home. She’s been asking when I would.”
_______________
It was thus that the friendship between the collie and the bunny began. They would spend most of their time over the next few days in each other’s company - Silus insisting on showing Finley everything around the campus - and even waiting patiently in the stands when Finley was spending time working with his future coaches the following day. It all became a blur for the border collie, whose plans to attend college at Northwoods University were even more cemented by the end of the weekend.
The whirlwind of their quick friendship surprised Finley, but he was happy about it. And the not-so-subtle flirting from the bunny was something that he found charming if he was being truthful - even if he himself didn’t really flirt back too much.
Silus, of course, took that to mean he needed to flirt more, and he decided he needed to play the long game with Finley who, through all of Silus’s prodding and suggestion, the bunny still could not solidly pat down as straight or gay. His gaydar usually functioned so well - but the collie was an enigma, and Silus had decided that it would be fun to learn more!
Silus and Finley would stay in contact over the months between the visit and their freshman year, Silus insisting that having established friends would be a great boon for both of them. Finley would be his 'in' to the athletic cliques that Silus wanted to observe/meet/scout. Silus would make sure Finley was never bored. A great trade-off!
Their video chats and phone calls would be highlights for each other, with Silus always doing most of the talking.
That was, up until the point about a week or two before the semester started. At that point, Finley no longer answered his phone. Or replied to messages, despite them being marked as read.
Silus had not expected to be ghosted by his future roommate (Silus didn’t have to pull too many strings to set that up). Had he come on too strong? Was Finley okay? He assumed the collie was alive, as the messages were being read. He honestly didn’t have too much time to think about it - he had to finish preparing for the school year. New clothes, new lists… but each time he would look at his phone and open his messages to Finley, he’d be disappointed, as there was no response.
There was not much he could truly do. He hoped Finley was still coming. He liked the border collie, and not just because it was fun flirting with the other boy. Finley was interesting. Kind. It did help that he was hot. But that was only a small part of it for Silus.
More than anything, he just hoped Finley was okay.
