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The Big Things

Chapter Five

By Roofles

“Or you could just drop your balls on him,” Riz finished with. The tiger next to him nearly spat out his coffee hearing that.

Pedro had no idea how he got to this point in his life where he was, willingly, asking this hyena for pointers and advice. Pedro had always been a bit of a loner growing up. Most kept their distance from the tiger due to his species and size. His natural gruff scowl of an appearance didn’t help. The tiger had never bothered trying to be the one to offer the olive branch of friendship first. Feeling that, if they had wanted to be his friend, they’d be the ones to make the effort.

Pedro had always been the one making the effort for others. Letting others go first in line. Standing at the back of the room. Not speaking up due to the volume of his voice. Compensating for something he couldn’t help be born with, or as in his case, born as. Tigers already were looked at with a negative light. Not only being predators, in the ancestral times, but also due to their size and what others called his “presence.”

“You’re off putting.” His last date had said to him at the end of their dinner date.

“You sort of just kill the vibe of the party.” Those he thought were his friends told him after, basically, forcing him to leave the party early that they had, basically, forced him to come to in the first place. “A wet blanket.”

“We speak Common tongue here.” One of his old bitch of a teachers had told him in front of the entire class. Singling him out, calling attention to a tiger cub who had wanted to vanish into the background instead of this. Forced to stand in front of the classroom and be reprimanded for something he couldn’t help with.

Just because he was born this way. A tiger, a Big, a predator. Whatever the reason was, a combination of all the above, it left him rather isolated throughout his life. Shutting himself away in his dorm room and trying to forget about everyone else on campus.

It was funny how the Smallest of things could change all that. That someone else’s very perspective of the world shifting down to a rodent’s level could help Pedro view things differently. Theo had opened so many doors that Pedro had closed off to protect himself. Talking to people again, interacting in class or even working on his side projects he used to love to tinker away with that had long since been forgotten and abandoned.

Until Theo showed up.

Pedro had thought that building some kind of contraption or device, that it would be something to show off to others. An ice breaker to a conversation. Only for their disdainful looks or fearful stares to put a damper on his enthusiasm…

Then there was Theo.

Not only did the rat take a quick liking to the tiger, he was more than enthusiastic about Pedro’s inventions and ideas. Theo was over the moon for them! The rat had shut himself off, at first, from Pedro as Pedro had from others. The fear from their height disparities making it difficult to converse.

Until Pedro had showed Theo his first gadget. A simple little thing that helped the rat overlook their differences. As many friendships formed or started at similar likes and interests, they too were able to connect because of that.

Thanks to Theo, Pedro was talking to others again outside his family.

The tiger, however, was regretting it now as Riz the hyena wouldn’t. Stop. TALKING!

“..then you take hold of his tail,” the hyena continued to ramble endlessly on after Pedro asked him a single question about the two of them. “Rats are great for that! Or at least, heh, I imagine they would be.” The hyena giggled a fit of laughter. A part of Pedro hoped the hyena would choke on that laughter and croak on the spot. Pedro would’ve just stood there watching without offering him aid. “Anyways, so, like, you grab them by the tail, right? Some people on the forums, the ones I told you to look into…?” Pedro had looked into them and had regretted it almost instantly after doing so.

While Pedro wanted to learn about Smalls and become familiar and more accustomed with their culture, being better at how he talked to, managed and helped Theo out in their life together, those forums were another thing all together. If Riz had a kink for this kind of stuff? Those people had a blatant fetish for Smalls.

A disturbing, extremely explicitly detailed fetish for them. The very thought made him shudder.

Pedro had never thought of it much. It wasn’t that “big” of a deal for the tiger who had so many other things to be concerned about with his day-to-day life. Until Theo. Not that Pedro saw much concern for that. His friend just happened to be a Small. Theo was smaller than him, most were. Even if the rodent could fit in the palm of his hand or lay down on Pedro’s chest as his bed…

The thoughts made Pedro’s tail tip flicker quickly, a heated flush filling his white furred cheeks as his golden ears burned hotly at the tinging thought. Recalling how Theo curled up into a small little white fuzzy ball on the tiger’s chest and would doze away, listening to Pedro’s lumbering breaths and strong heartbeat.

Theo had said it helped lull him to sleep.

Pedro wasn’t sure how to respond to that. What do you say to someone who fell asleep listening to your heartbeat?

“The guys, and gals, on the forums do all the math behind it all. I’m not going to bother with that,” Riz chuckled, holding his belly as he did so. Pedro figured it was because Riz couldn’t do what the tiger saw as simple math. “They said that because of their size, a Small body to weight ratio is a lot different than ours. Theo, for instance, could fall off the bed without getting hurt. Even if the height seems super high for someone of his size. Due to his mass and weight, him falling isn’t that big of a deal with air friction and all that jazz. It would dangerous for us at a similar height because of our size and weight, though! Math is so funny like that.” Riz nodded as if this was some big breakthrough that he himself had come up with. “Once I saw the numbers, it seemed to make sense. Most can’t do that kind of stuff.”

“Speak for yourself,” the feline said with a roll of his eyes, adding a few more choice words in his native tongue afterwards.

“You are so lucky. A rat! I mean, wow, just wow, wow, wowie, wow!” Riz beamed happily, seemingly not hearing what Pedro said as he talked. And talked. And talked. “Because of what he is, grabbing them by their tail or such isn’t harmful! I never want to harm Theo, or if I ever get one for myself.” The hyena said, still, every now and then, talking about a Small as if they were some kind of pet you picked up from a store.

Pedro would keep a weary eye on the hyena, making sure to remind Riz about this. The hyena always had good attention behind his actions, but it was clear to Pedro that, like his old self, the hyena didn’t always fully see Theo for Theo. Instead, seeing the rat for the rodent he was. A small but noticeable thing for the tiger who was used to experience such things on the other side of the playing field.

Knowing what it was like to be seen and treated differently because of your size.

People treated him differently due to his size, associating him with fear or ugliness as society dictated that only those in the middle were deemed beautiful due to mass appeal. Theo, on the other paw, was seen as harmless and cute being so Small. Most would associate that as positive things, but it was also, in their own way, degrading. Not seeing Theo as a person but rather a “cute little thing” to be played with and talked down to. Disconnecting him from a person and more as a thing.

Like a doll or toy or a pet.

“…then you dip them into the baby oil or lotion and rub them all over your beans!” Riz was still talking. At this point, Pedro had practically tuned him out like background white noise as the tiger continued to mull over these thoughts he’d been thinking about and dwelling on since Theo moved in.

The rat moving in and living with him made everything very real. For the both of them. It wasn’t just fun and games any longer. It was addressing not only their lives, their living situation but also their future.

He still couldn’t imagine a morning without waking up to the rodent snoozing nearby.

Pedro had been so depressed before all of this happened. Before Theo fell out of his chip bag and changed everything. The tiger used to look at himself in the mirror with a mixture of disgust and annoyance, swiping a paw over the foggy mirror to glare at the feline staring back at him. He had looked so tired and haggard back then. Planning on moving back home after this semester came to an end to be with his own kind.

If he’d just been smaller, maybe then people wouldn’t look at him like a deer caught in headlights.

It made dating… difficult. Let alone connecting to other people. It was why he was so close to his family, instead of others.

“I wonder if it’d be comfortable him to sleep in a pair of underwear or maybe boxer briefs. You know, the ones with the little venting air holes in the side so your junk can breathe?” Riz continued on, voicing all his random thoughts and opinions on the subject matter.

The tiger continued to ignore him, pondering his own questions to his dilemmas.

Pedro had never thought himself as ugly or unattractive before. Far from it. With everything going on in his life, he never really took the time to sit down and think it over. His looks had never stopped people from approaching him before. There were still plenty who did… With ulterior motives.

Plenty of woman throughout the years had taken an interest in him. Usually older woman, and some men. The golden tiger had always looked older than he was an drew more mature people because of this. He’d never really thought about dating any of them before, however.

The dates he had gone on were set up by friends or family. All ending in a disaster.

Most were just interested in one thing, his body, and little else. While that played a crucial role in dating for sure, there were too many times where that was the only reason they talked to Pedro. Much as the tiger feared the hyena was and wanted to do with Theo.

Only interested in Theo for his size or body instead of who the rodent was. The other side of the spectrum. Where people approached Pedro wanting him to do things to them, Riz approached Theo wanting to do things to him.

It was a very unstable balance of power where one side clearly had it all, while the other had very little.

“…I’d have to get a condom big enough to fit him in it before we tried anything like that. How long can a Small hold their breath for? So many people ask that question on the forums, but we haven’t ever gotten a proper answer yet!” Riz burst into another fit of giggles as Pedro feared exactly what the hyena was talking about at this point.

With a shake of his head, a hand in the pocket of his sweater to touch and feel that Theo was still safely there, the tiger continued to mull over these intrusive thoughts that had been lurking in the back of his mind these past few months.

It was one thing to rub one out or take an evening alone after Theo left to head back to his little rat city. It was another to be around him twenty-four seven, with little to no breaks in between.

A part of the tiger had long since decided he’d just be alone in that area for the rest of his life. Single and alone. He’d have his family, maybe a handful of friends, a fuck buddy or two, and that’d be that. Pedro could take care of his needs more so than anyone else ever could. It was difficult being more mental in sexuality than physical. It was the thought behind the touch that counted as much if not more than the touch itself.

It was difficult if not impossible to find a partner who could do that for him. Keep his interest during the physical act was going on. If Pedro got distracted, it could ruin the entire mood. Boredom was the boner killer.

“…then he could sleep on my bean bags, and we’d pass out in glorious bliss.” Riz swooned, holding his muzzle with both his oversized hand-paws as he lost himself in the fantasy. Pedro could see the front of Riz’s oversized black pants tenting in the front. It was mostly hidden by the numerous straps and belts the hyena, for some reason, always wore.

He looked like a throwaway anime character at times.

“Right…” Pedro said, looking the other way. The feline had lost all interest in the hyena finding no appeal about the noisy creature following him around. Pedro hated when people rambled on like this. Talking and talking, as if he’d be interested in what they had to say. A laughable thought in itself.

That was the real boner killer for the tiger.

That hadn’t been the case with Theo, however. Maybe that was why Pedro was doing this, asking Riz for help, to begin with. Putting up with the hyenas incessant talking. Trying to get some value out of their forced friendship.

Theo was worth that. Theo had captured Pedro’s interest from the start where so many others hadn’t. Something different, and new, for sure, but it was more than just that. It was the way the rodent looked at him that no one else ever really had before. Listening to every word Pedro said and taking in all his ideas without dismissing or outright rejecting them.

A touch of that tiny hand against only a single finger of the tiger as Theo looked up at him, talking and talking and talking about something that Pedro couldn’t even recall… yet the tiger had been transfixed by it. By him. His words and thoughts and opinion.

How was it possible for something, someone, to be so much Smaller than him and have such grandiose thoughts and opinions? Have such gigantic views for the world and future. To want Pedro to be a part of that with him.

In a way, Theo made Pedro feel small for the first time in his life. A strangely stirring reaction to have as Theo stood on the tiger’s chest and talked with him about their next big project they could do together. The way the rodent would walk all over him, talking about the materials they’d need, the math behind it all and going into detail how it could help and benefit them in their daily lives together.

Theo would get so absorbed in his thoughts the rodent didn’t even seem to notice, or mind, that Pedro had been shirtless. The way Theo would walk around his nipples as if they were markers for him to turn back around and head towards the other side. He rose and fell with Pedro’s slow, careful breaths as the tiger rested his chin on his chest, watching as Theo moved back and forth, pink tail dragging behind him.

The feel of it. The weight of his body moving on him. His tiny feet sliding through his dense fur that rose up above Theo’s ankles. Looking like white strands of grass as the rodent took a seat, facing towards Pedro’s face, and would lay back. Legs open as he continued to talk about the project.

Pedro had to keep the rumble out of his chest for that stirring feeling again.

It made it difficult in the morning, that was for sure.

Everyone in a shared dorm would understand the horror and conflict of waking up with a stiffy in the morning with your roommate sleeping nearby. Pedro had to quickly, while covering himself, head to the bathroom to relieve such tension and empty more than just his bladder these days.

“I figured the heat and smell… I’d hate to toss and turn while they’re…. but what if they like that?” Riz was asking him questions now, not really expecting an answer to any of his dozen and half questions. The hyena saying so many lewd thoughts aloud without shame or care if they were overheard.

A part of Pedro was embarrassed for the hyena. Another part wanted to strangle the man until he shut up about stuffing Theo into his pants. That last part might’ve been another intrusive thought, however, and Pedro chose not to dwell on it after listening to Riz ramble on for the past fifteen minutes what the tiger could do with his rodent friend.

Thankfully, there were other ways to help with such things.

The internet had plenty of means to keep him sated in such department. From videos, to pictures, to toys he could buy…

“Oh, yeah, there are plenty of toys designed or shaped like Smalls!” Riz said at lunch time. Pedro chose to sit away from the crowd, not wanting others to know his private business. He already hated coming to Riz about this.

The only person who he could talk to about these intrusive thoughts with.

It wasn’t like he could talk to his brother, who would mostly just laugh about it. Or his parents. That was another form of hell. Pedro had no one in his life to sit down and talk with about this subject, other than Riz.

The hyena seemed to be in a similar position and was more than happy to talk to Pedro about these things with. Gushing about the subject matter with yips, squees and laughs. The hyena was practically shaking with joy able to finally talk to someone about these interests that kept him up into all hours of the night.

It seemed similar to a favorite anime show Riz had watched or a hobby the hyena was into that others weren’t. It was something he could relate to the tiger about, even if they saw it different from one another. A similar interest was a way for the two to bond.

Much as it had with Theo. That was until other issues quickly came up. Dots connecting, lines forming between things that Pedro had never really thought as sexual or alluring before until it was shaking it’s tiny booty in his face.

Was that how kinks formed to begin with? Sexual fantasies that connect certain, specific, things together until it’s too late after you rubbed one out to realize what, or who, you were fantasizing about?

“Oh man, I could tell you all the times I had the same thoughts.” Riz had replied with. An awkward thing to state after Pedro confessed some extremely embarrassing and personal things to the hyena about. The tiger gave him a stern look. “What? No! Not with you… well, sometimes.” The hyena jumped at the flash of fangs he received. “I-I mean not at first. But like I was thinking, then I realized that he’s yours, and then you came into the picture, and I was thinking of you as well, but I was in the middle of you know,” Riz made a jerking motion with a hand, “and it wasn’t like I could just STOP, right?” Riz asked with a sheepish grin as his ears wiggled.

“You need to stop thinking of me while you touch yourself.” Pedro said just as a couple of college students were walking by. The woman stopped, looking at the two before bursting into a fit of giggles and moving away quickly, glancing back at them.

They mostly shot Pedro looks, clearly wanting to fantasize about him as well. Wanting all the fun and none of the baggage the tiger was caring.

That was why people enjoyed fantasies. They weren’t real. They weren’t baggage you would carry with you after the deed had been done. They were safe, wish fulfilling and went exactly as you wanted them to.

If only life could be as simple.

“It wasn’t like that!” Riz whined loudly, covering his face with both hand-paws. Looking between his fingers, he continued. “It was just, and it felt so good, and then you were there too, and it was like… what if?” The hyena clamped him muzzle shut.

“Stop putting your foot into your mouth.” Pedro growled and Riz visibly shuddered from the sound, whimper slightly. It took Pedro a second. “You’re into that aren’t you?” The tiger let out a gruff breath and shook his head. “You are so…” Pedro was trying to be nice, for Theo’s sake.

“Not… my foot, per say.” Riz offered with a meek smile as he offered an even meeker shrug. Pedro just looked at him. “No, no. It’s not like that! I don’t want your foot, I want to rub mine on-,” that was about the time Pedro stood up and walked away. Abandoning the rest of his lunch after losing his appetite.

The hyena quickly trailing after him, trying to explain himself and somehow only making it worse.

“Not you. That only happened like three times,” Riz counted out on his fingers. “Theo and I were doing stuff then you walked in and made sure to put your foot down… on my face,” the hyena just shrugged, again, as if it was an everyday conversation one would have with a friend. “Then there was the time where you both were small.” The tiger growled and Riz skipped past that one. “Then Theo and I were small, and you were big…” Riz thought about that again, clearly enjoying whatever happened in said fantasy.

Pedro growled. That usually got people to leave him alone. A warning growl accompanied the sound. It went clear over Riz’s head as the hyena continued to follow him.

“Usually, it’s just like me and Theo,” Pedro face palmed, “I mean! A Small… any Small. Not your Small!” Riz said quickly. “Me and any Small…”

“Theo isn’t mine,” Pedro sighed, needing to one day sit down and hammer that point into the hyena’s thick skull. “He is his own person, Riz.”

“Well, like, anyways. It was just me and, uh, a squirrel.” Riz said watching a group of squirrels run along the fence nearby. There were five of them from various shades of browns, grays, and blacks. Riz seemed to be one of the very few students to notice the Smalls right there! In their midst! Everyone else kept their head down, looking at their phones, instead of what was right in front of their faces.

“A squirrel, huh?” Pedro let out an amused chuff. “What? Was he after your nuts?”

Riz blushed something fierce and he fussed with one of his belt straps, looking down at his big awkward paws walking over the cold cement. Like Pedro, neither of the two wore sandals even with the fact that Fall had come.

Despite Pedro’s paws being bigger than Riz, the two couldn’t be any different from each other. The tiger’s were a creamy golden pale with white markings that covered his toes. Something Riz had noted and remembered a long time ago. Every step Pedro took was so fluid, like water, yet powerful as the feline strode with such a strong presence. It always looked like Pedro knew exactly where he belonged and where he was going.

Riz on the other paw was big and clumsy. He stumbled and stepped on almost every crack, or acorn, from the nearby trees that he was sure the squirrels were collecting for winter. The thought had come to mind that he could gather a bunch of acorns and strategically lay them out for a squirrel friend to be led back to his dorm room.

Except for the fact that, out of all the Smalls Riz had seen, the squirrels seemed to be the most vicious and angry little buggers he’d ever had the fortune of meeting.

“Where was I?” Riz asked, clearly losing his track of mind.

“Squirrels.” Pedro frowned, unable to believe he was going along with this.

“Oh! Yeah, heh, yeah, I’ve totally never thought of that… ever. Squirrels. After my nuts…” Riz didn’t meet Pedro’s eyes. “A squirrel gobbling up my sack, his cheek pouches stretching out as he-,”

“I get it.” Pedro held up a hand, stopping Riz from continuing that thought.

“Right, well, uh, where was I? Oh, right!” Riz jumped, catching back up to the tiger who didn’t stop his striding steps for the hyena who had to reboot. “It was me and my, uh, squirrel friend who fooling around when you came into the room and-,” Riz let out a nervous chuckle. “It wasn’t on purpose!”

“Right.” Pedro let out an exhausting breath as he continued to head back to their dorm as the hyena tried to keep up with his pace. “Not sure why I even bother.”

The tiger held such little interest or arousal for the hyena, Pedro feared he’d never get hard again in his life.

Pedro, at one point, had even thought of himself as asexual because of strange situations like this. Or at least, someone with a lower sexual desire than was average. People just didn’t arouse his interest, let alone other parts of his body. He’d heard stories about his older brothers exploits from his friends, but never thought about it all that much. Never finding others all that stimulating.

The tiger grew bored of most things rather quickly. A feline’s fickleness was legendary for a reason.

Then there was Theo…

“I’m telling you. Just pick him up and put him in your underwear. Problem solved.” The hyena next to him nodded several times at this, rubbing his chin after as he thought about it. “You could always set up a couple accidental moments.”

“What…?” Pedro had barely been paying attention to Riz. The feline nearly jumping when Riz began talking again, forgetting he was still there. The hyena talked so much that it all went in one ear and out the other half the time like a drone buzzing endlessly, you just sort of learned to tune it out.

“Well, there are several scenarios where the Big ends up accidentally doing something to the Small. We called this ‘unaware’ online.” Riz shrugged. “I didn’t make the names up. Just found the stuff, randomly, online.” It was painfully obvious that Riz had been searching for such things.

“Where’s the joy in doing something and not being aware of it?” Pedro’s frown deepened. “It just sounds like abuse.”

“No, no!” Riz tried to explain, shaking his hands back and forth. “We’re just unaware of the Small being there. Like if we take a seat on the sofa, or put a foot into a shoe-,”

“You’re into crushing, then?” Pedro quirked an eyebrow at that. The hyena fumbled to the point he nearly fell over.

“Not painful, stuff, just like… compressing.” Riz tried to explain himself. His ears folded back, wincing himself at the look Pedro gave him. One full of feline judgement. “I would never hurt Theo!” Riz would always come back around to as if worried Pedro wouldn’t let him borrow Theo if he thought otherwise. Riz seemed to miss the point why that annoyed Pedro so much. “I’m just saying like, it feels good, doesn’t it? Touching one.”

Pedro couldn’t refute that.

“Having their presence close to you? Pushed up against you? Squished between your toes and,” Riz was getting worked up again and Pedro had to stop him.

“I think I get it. You were saying,” Pedro asked as it was far easier to deal with Riz than it was to ever go back to that horrifying website, again. Some of those posts still haunted Pedro’s nightmares.

“Well, there were several discussions about this on the forums. We have really heated debates!” Riz grinned as if hoping Pedro would ask to join him sometime. Pedro’s silence was enough of an answer but never deterred the hyena. “Some say it’s a power play. The fact you are just so much bigger and stronger than they are. Others say it’s the act of not knowing in itself.” The hyena was more than happy to talk about this. “It’s the fact that when…”

Most people just ignored Riz. Chalking him up to being a quirky, if very strange anime-fan that spent far too much time online. He wore all black with metal chains, far too many buckles with oversized shoes during winter time. He looked as if he were trying to be an anime protagonist with his wavy mohawk of black fur overgrown. The mohawk, when it wasn’t gelled, draped over one side of his neck, falling in front of his eyes slightly. His fur was a lighter shade of gray with a mixture of dark tones and black spots. Except for his black furred hand and feet paws.

He was so painfully average at times, most forgot he was even there. Until he talked or laughed. Hyenas had a very strong set of lungs on them.

“I don’t want to hurt him. Ever.” Pedro made sure to say, again, just so the record was clear. “That’s just…”

“No! No, no. That’s not my point at all! I would never hurt one. I’m not into that. I stay far, far, FAR away from those sites! I even block those users. It’s really messed up but a lot of the more BDSM side of things like that kind of stuff. Even normal sized folk,” Riz quickly waved his hands in the air, making sure Pedro, or rather, Theo didn’t think he was into that.

The hyena was never sure if Theo was listening in on them or not when he was in Pedro’s sweater.

Riz hadn’t really been talking so much to Pedro, as he was to Pedro’s belly. Or rather, to the front pocket of the hoodie where Theo was tucked safely inside. The hyena was blatantly staring at the spot. Anyone else would think the hyena was a belly slut or something at this rate.

Just another kink to add to his ever-growing list, Pedro thought rolling his eyes.

“Stop staring. He can’t hear you.” Pedro said, glaring at the hyena. He kept one hand tucked into the pocket. Able to feel where the rodent had curled up at. There was a small mp3 player inside the pocket with music softly playing for Theo to listen to.

The small device had been modified and combined with a tablet. Allowing Theo to not only listen to music on the go, but also watch shows if he liked. The volume was also edited so it wouldn’t be so loud or harsh on the small rodent’s ears. The vibrations of a speaker alone could’ve hurt him. Pedro made sure to take all these things into consideration before even asking if Theo wanted something like this during, what they were beginning to call, “ride alongs.”

It was another reason why it was so hard to push forward with any ideas of developing a relationship with the rat. Pedro didn’t want to risk accidentally hurting his much smaller friend if they were to try anything. Most days, Pedro would just stand, sit, or lay there and let Theo do as he pleased around or on top of the tiger. It was safer that way.

If Pedro moved? He would first locate where the rodent had gotten off to. Then he’d pick Theo up or hold onto him, to make sure he didn’t slip or fall as the massive giant of a tiger shifted his weight or got up. Even the smallest of movement for Pedro was a massive shift and change for someone of Theo’s height and size.

The rodent often teased that Pedro was like those old cartoon shows. “You should be saying fi fy fo fum when you enter a room!” The rodent had teased him, squeaking after as he covered the end of his muzzle with both hands. Trying to hold back laughter.

“Every time?” The tiger chuffed in amusement. It wasn’t his fault that his very steps shook the ground around him. If Theo had been on the ground, the rodent might’ve bounced up into the air from his heavy, stomping steps.

Step, bounce, step, bounce. It would’ve been an amusing sight to see.

It was far easier for the two when Pedro wasn’t wearing shoes. His massive tiger paws could at least somewhat displace his weight, allowing the feline to stay true to his name as a silent hunter. It came with other issues. Such as being able to sneak up on Theo when he was distracted, nearly giving the rodent a heart attack when he turned around to see the tiger’s face directly behind him. A wall of golden fur and bright mossy green eyes watching him work.

“I just want to make sure if, or when, I try something…” Pedro scratched the back of his neck, hating needing to talk about this in the first place. Riz really was the only one he could talk to about this. His brother would just laugh and his parents…?

Pedro would be six feet under before he ever told them.

“Wait, so all the stuff we’ve been talking about?” Riz asked, thinking about it as Pedro reminded him for the third time that Theo couldn’t hear them.

“No. Why do you think we’re talking about it? Estúpido.” Pedro rolled his eyes. It was tiring talking to anyone as it was. Let alone this man.

“That does make sense. But, if he were to accidentally hear about it.” Riz nudged Pedro’s side. The tiger had to physically stop himself from hitting the hyena for touching him. Pedro did not like to be touched unannounced, if ever. “Huh? Huh? Think about it. What if you accidentally said or did something to plant the idea into Theo’s head about it?”

“You’ve met Theo. Even if you directly asked him, he’d think you meant something different.” Although Pedro liked that quality about Theo, it was a pain to deal with at times like this.

“I don’t know. If it was me? I’m sure I’d have gotten my intentions through to him by now. Made sure everything was nice and clear.” Riz snickered, giggling like an idiot for almost a minute after that.

The fur on the hyena’s cheeks and within his ears turned a darker shade as he blushed at the naughty thoughts he was having. Riz knew they were all fantasies. Things that he could think about harmlessly while he touched himself late in the middle of the night under the covers.

These thoughts had always been with him ever since he was a child, and he’d first discovered what a Small was from old cartoon shows. His grandparents made it very clear to call them Small people, rather than anything else. It was far more civilized to refer to them as such. Instead of pests as if they were some kind of foreign invasive species.

With his developing mind watching such shows and his grandparents going into detail lengths about them, it was no wonder the hyena took such a fascinating interest in them. Riz had expected to see them outside their old home everywhere. He had run outside, searching through the grass and trees as if trying to find some mythical fairy like creature instead of a Small friend to talk with.

Riz quickly learned three things. One, Bigs ignored Smalls to the point they might as well be mythical creatures. Two, Smalls did not like when you invaded their space with or without warning and were more than happy to show you that. And three, there wasn’t anyone else who wanted to talk about these things with.

If it wasn’t for the internet, Riz probably wouldn’t even be able to talk to Pedro about these things.

“They had been here as long as we have. They deserve to be on this planet as much as we do.” His grandma would tell Riz as she knitted him, yet another, ugly sweater. Riz hated those sweaters but loved the stories she’d tell him. “We used to have some in this very house. Years and years ago. They were the tiniest, cutest things. A small family that would borrow things. Such as my sewing thimbles or threads. They were so creative, having to work so much harder to get done what we take for granted. They really helped me appreciate life itself. The Smallest of things can show you the biggest of truths.”

In a way, they had helped Riz appreciate the life he’d been given as well.

As a hyena, he was somewhere in the middle of the size chart. Below a tiger, but far taller than a rat. He was pudgy but strong. His endurance was second to none in class and Riz was more than happy to jog laps around others.

Chester the cheetah in class for instance had great initial speed. Able to outrun anyone else in it but had terrible stamina. Riz had even read that cheetahs didn’t sweat like other large cats did. He’d have asked Pedro about it if he thought the grumpy tiger would’ve bothered answering him or not.

Pedro was a hard guy to get along with. The tiger grunted a lot in reply or said something in Spanish when he didn’t want to deal with other person. Which was more often than not. If it weren’t for their common interest in Theo, Riz knew that he and Pedro wouldn’t even be talking like this as they walked down the sidewalk between the campus buildings on this brisk Fall afternoon.

There were several buildings on campus. Most were dorms. Each built for the difference sizes for mainlanders. Mainlanders varied far more in size and species than anywhere else in the world. It made it difficult for them all to go to the same school together, but the city itself was built with that in mind. Trying to provide for everyone there.

Riz got off easy being in that medium size of species group. Pedro was on one spectrum, being one of the largest. While Theo would be on the other side of the scale if they ever allowed a Small onto campus. For obvious safety reasons, that wasn’t the case, and most would be heckled or barked at by the security dogs on staff until they left or were carried off the property grounds.

Like the trio of squirrels throwing acorns at the security dogs from a nearby oak tree. It was amusing to watch. The squirrels had impeccable aim. Like Theo, they had built devices to help their diminutive size. One had a sling shot strapped to his back, while the other loaded it up from his woven basket of collected acorns. The final, biggest, squirrel would pull it back before chittering an evil laugh and fired at the golden retriever down below.

The security dog let out a startled yelp as the acorn smacked into his muzzle. Whining softly, the canine growled up at the squirrels laughing down at him as he rubbed the spot.

“You want those pequeñas mierdas, uh, little shits gobbling on your nuts?” The tiger smirked down at the hyena, wanting to see Riz try to explain that one away.

“I’m sure they’ve just had a very hard life…” Riz’s defense for the nut gobblers died on his lips as the squirrels all turned around to moon the security dog below. One of them even slapping their ass at the pitiful canine whining below them.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Pedro chuffed.

“I will, thank you very much!” And Riz did, for he wasn’t one to give up.

The main reason why Riz had come to this campus on the mainland was in hopes of meeting and talking to a Small classmate. He’d even fantasized having them all up on his desk, sitting at their much smaller desk on top of the hyena’s own. The lot of them talking together as Riz watched over them protectively as they all did a group assignment together.

He was very disappointed to learn that wasn’t the case here or anywhere else on the mainland.

The fox was the smallest species Riz had seen in class or on campus so far. No one smaller than a fox seemed to be acknowledged or allowed on school grounds. There were strict rules to prevent nonstudents from entering school grounds. This included parents of students. Other than security and the faculty, Riz hadn’t seen anyone else here that wasn’t supervised by someone else. Usually someone larger than they were, just in case something were to happen.

There were always numerous reports and news articles and stories about it. Someone Big picking on someone Small. The law was very strict on the mainland and nine times out of ten, the bigger party was always to blame and was punished accordingly. Even if they were the innocent party in the dispute.

Riz had never seen anything about rodents though, making him wonder if his grandmother stories were just that. Stories.

Then he met Theo in the hallway, and it was life changing. At the same time, it was just a giant cock tease. Riz unable to possibly have something that belonged to another. He hated to think of Theo as such, though. Even if it were basically true… he didn’t like to think of them as pets.

He’d just been so nervous and anxious and excited to finally meet one! Riz hadn’t meant to put Theo in a jar as if he were some kind of specimen. Things had just happened so fast that the hyena feared he’d lose him if he didn’t do something. Inadvertently, he lost Theo because he hadn’t treated the rat as a person but a thing.

Riz would make sure never to make that mistake again. If he ever was given another opportunity.

“Let me come over.” Riz said as they came to the divide in the sidewalk. Riz would normally head left to where the medium sized species lived, while Pedro would continue straight towards the largest building on campus, yet also the one with the least number of rooms. The dorms divided according to size.

“What?” Pedro lip twitched, trying to resist the urge to flash his fangs at such an idea. One of the few luxuries Pedro got on campus was being able to retreat to his room, alone, and spend some quality time with Theo, alone.

“I can help you!” Riz grinned, tail wagging as if he were a dog. “I know you’ve been struggling with Theo. Pushing past that friend barrier into something more. Like friends with benefits.” The hyena wink at the tiger, nudging his side several times. “If you know what I mean.”

“Everyone. Always. Knows what you mean.” Pedro sighed, shaking his head. Unable to understand why he was considering the idea to begin with.

Pedro had been the one to ask Riz about these things after the hyena forcibly joined their small little group.

“It’s not like I’ll sleep in your bed,” Riz giggled loudly. More of a cackling sound than Theo soft, cute squeaky laughter. “I just mean, let me hang out with him. Open a few doors for you. Get Theo thinking about the idea. Hey, we don’t even know if Theo really likes guys or not! I can get all the juicy details for you.”

“Why would you… help me?” Pedro fumbled a bit with his words, going from English to Spanish and back again as he tried to keep his cool.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Riz asked, needing to look up to face toward Pedro’s face. Otherwise, he was looking at the tiger’s chest and stomach. “Besides, it gives me a chance to, you know, hang out with Theo… in case I ever get a Small as well. Good practice, and, well, Theo is really cool… Theo is really smart and friendly a-and despite me, being, well, me… He seems to like me as a friend.” Riz was embarrassed for a different reason altogether.

It was genuine and Pedro let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. His fingers relaxed, nails sheathing themselves where they had sprung out from, and the tiger shook one of his hands as if trying to shake the tension from it.

“I just want to hang out with friends.” Riz mumbled.

“What about those other two hyena? I’ve seen you around campus with them.” Pedro asked.

“Well, they, Harlin and Carlos, aren’t exactly into this kind of stuff. Carlos just wants to eat and smoke all the time and Harlin just wants to get laid.” Riz rolled his eyes. “Don’t we all.” He added, a smile pulling up along the corner of his muzzle as he glanced at the tiger.

Who let out an amused chuff.

Pedro was, in many ways, glad Riz had mentioned that. Riz had always been very direct and truthful about things with Pedro. Sometimes telling the tiger too much information at times, sure, but there was never a question of where Riz’s intentions were at. It was far more understanding for the hyena to want to hang out with the tiger if there was an ulterior motive for Riz.

And, who knows, maybe Riz could help him with this kind of thing. Help Pedro step over that line between friendship and something more with Theo. Even the tiger wasn’t really sure where he wanted things to go.

“Fine. But the second you step out of line.” Pedro warned, flashing his fangs and snapping his teeth. “I’ll end you.”

“Owo, vore me daddy.” Riz wiggled at the idea. Pedro would’ve strangled the hyena if he didn’t think that Riz would also enjoy that.

“I hate you. So much.” Pedro was already regretting his choice as he let the hyena tag along back to their dorm room. He was sure at least Theo would be happy to have the hyena around. The two were far closer friends than he and Riz were.

….

A half hour later the three of them were back in Pedro’s dorm. It was the first time the tiger had so many people over outside of family.

Theo was on the work desk, getting things organized for the project they had been working on previously. It wasn’t anything complicated, but the rodent had never experienced Halloween before, and the idea of free candy and carving pumpkins had instantly won Theo over to the idea of such a holiday.

“We could make a pumpkin mansion!” Theo ran all around the desk. Collecting and moving things like some kind of pack rat. Everything was perfectly organized, and Theo slapped Riz’s hand with his tail when the hyena tried to grab something. “Don’t move anything! I’m just getting it finally organized.” He squeaked before running off to collect more things.

Theo was gathering far more supplies than they needed from the clear plastic drawers Pedro kept on the far side of the desk for pens, stencils, a protractor, erasers and various other art supplies. Theo even opened a larger set of drawers and was scrambling inside to get a piece of parchment paper to write on.

“Uh, should I help him?” Riz asked, reaching out to give Theo a hand. The rodent didn’t even notice as he scurried around the desk.

“Not unless you want to get your hand bitten off,” Pedro chuffed in amusement watching Theo work. He’d been asleep all afternoon, listening to some tunes in the sweater. It was incredible how relaxed Theo had been after being so excited for going out this morning.

Now, Theo was all wired up and energized from the chocolate covered coffee bean Pedro had gotten for him.

“Bitten by Theo?” Riz blinked several times, unable to believe Theo could be like that.

“Oh yeah, if you try and do things for him? Things he can do for himself? Well, he will not be appreciative, trust me.” Pedro shook his head, covering his mouth with a closed fist as he let out another amused chuff. “If it’s something too heavy, or big, that’s another story. Theo knows exactly what he can and can’t do though… It might seem strange for us, being that Small, but for him? He was born that way. To him, us being so big is strange.”

“Fascinating.” Riz nodded, thinking it over. He needed to tell the people on the forums about this. “Respect their independence,” Riz nodded, thinking about his previous class. He wanted to be a zoologist to help study these kind of things. The hyena was already taking notes on his phone, typing away with his big thumbs.

“My abuela is very old, si?” Pedro smiled at the warm thought as he reminiscence. “She’s a much smaller tiger than the rest of the family. She loves to cook though. She’ll make up an entire course for the holidays, fill one of those long tables from one side to the next! Salsas, home made chips and the best taquitos you’ve ever had in your life! You try to help her though? Tell her you’ll get something down from the upper cupboards? Expect to get hit.”

“Hit?” Riz jumped at the idea of being hit after trying to help.

“Si, her chancla was a well-honed weapon. Even my papi fears the chancla.” Pedro chuffed, smiling at the heartwarming memories of his abuela chasing his papi around the house after he stole a bite of food before dinner was ready.

“Is that why you’re asking me these things?” Riz took a seat at the desk, watching Theo running around over the surface of it as he worked. “Little guy really can move…”

“Mi familia?” Pedro asked and Riz nodded without looking away from Theo. “Well, yes. I’m not sure of the future, who is.” Pedro chuffed at the depressing thought. “I just want to make sure that he’s safe when I eventually…”

“Move back?” Riz asked and Theo stopped at that, looking between the two before focusing on Pedro in the back. The rodent’s round ears perking up to listen in.

“Well, maybe, someday. Mi familia, uh, my family is a very big part of my life. Moving away was one of the… the harder things for me to do,” Pedro walked over and rested his side against the desk. A heavy hand-paw landed on top as he leaned further against it to ease off his tired paws.

Theo jogged over to place a hand on top of Pedro’s. The tiger looked down at it. He could barely see the bright pink fingered hand on top of his own. He could feel Theo’s weight, just barely. A soft pressure that gently pushed down on his pinky to let him know that Theo was there for him.

“We’ve talked about it, uh, somewhat.” Pedro clicked his tongue. “Speaking mainlander all the time is tough.” The tiger smacked his lips, trying to untie his twisted tongue from speaking the different language so much.

“Take your time,” Theo spoke up. It wasn’t that loud, but the tiger’s ears perked at hearing the familiar voice and Pedro’s shoulders eased as the weight in his chest lifted, if only slightly.

“We aren’t just fooling around,” Pedro said before quickly adding on. “With this stuff. These… toys.” He struggled again with the right words to use. “Our devices and creations,” he nodded towards their projects pushed to the side so they could carve a pumpkin together on the desk. “We’re trying to plan for the future…”

“For you two?” Riz asked, looking between them, then focusing on Pedro for a change. “I didn’t realize how, uh… serious this was.” The hyena’s ears folded back, feeling guilty now.

Riz had always assumed Pedro would just get bored of Theo and then the hyena could swoop in and rescue the rodent. Riz had even set up a spot in his dorm room for when Theo moved in. He hadn’t ever thought that the two were talking about a lasting future together. Riz couldn’t imagine what that would be like.

Even in fantasies, they only lasted that night or until he finished rubbing one out. Those thoughts and ideas would be washed down the drain with his mess after cleaning up and heading off to bed. It wasn’t like Riz carried those thought into the morning, or next day… or weeks and months after as Pedro and Theo were now.

If he ever did get a Small boyfriend, that was a totally different scenario than his horny mind had ever come up with. They would still be there, after the fun was done. Their wants and needs would have to be met. They would want their own space, Riz was sure. It was easy to see all that, standing there, in Pedro’s and Theo’s dorm room. Looking around, one could easily see all the sacrifices and changes Pedro had made to have Theo staying and living with him now.

It made the hyena want to take another look at his own priorities.

“We’re still in college,” Theo said as if he truly attended the classes with them now. “Doesn’t mean we can’t talk and plan for after all this is over.” The rodent shrugged as he continued to pet over the back of Pedro’s hand. “What we’re going to do for a living. Where we will live…” Theo’s ears folded back. “It’ll be challenging. Especially dealing with other people, but, well…” Theo grinned. “That’s half the fun!”

The hyena looked between the two before admitting defeat.

“Alright, this is a lot more than I thought it was…” Riz rubbed his chin, thinking it over as he looked between them. “That’s why you were asking all those questions?” Riz looked at Pedro, who gave him a warning look.

“Questions?” Theo asked innocently.

“About you two.” Riz said without going into further detail. He liked his head attached to his shoulders and was sure Pedro would pop it off like a doll if the hyena were to ever tell Theo what the two actually talked about. “Nothing that interest. Just a generalization of life.”

“Ah, well, alright then. Let me know if you need anything!” Theo said as if he were the host as Riz visited. The hyena had half a mind to ask for soda, just so he could watch the rat try and bring him one.

Theo hopped over, going back to the oversized pumpkin on the desk and began tracing out an outline over the front and sides of it. Riz was impressed how detail and thorough Theo was with it and wondered if the rodent would be interested in painting figurines with him sometime.

Theo’s small ambidextrous fingers would be perfect at the time-consuming, meticulous task of painting figurines. He was almost the size of one! Riz’s toes curled, wondering if Theo would be interested in, maybe, sometime playing DnD with him… as one of the figures on the table.

“That’s the idea, in the end.” Pedro said, bringing Riz back to the moment with a couple snaps of his fingers. The hyena pulled his hungering gaze away from the rodent and shook his head, snapping out of the thoughts.

“I-I figured it was just you wanting to have some fun on the side,” Riz mumbled from the corner of his mouth as the two took a step away from where Theo was working. The white rat even had a step stool he could bring along with him. Able to reach the height of the pumpkin with its assistance. The small little ladder could extend, and it was neat watching Theo work so diligently on the project. His entire focus on it.

“Neat,” Riz commented on the device he was sure was something Pedro had built for Theo’s sake. “You two would be perfect as an alchemist and inventor class, I’m sure.”

“He needed a lift without… a lift,” Pedro shrugged. “It’s better if he has tools to help him. Even if I lose some space,” the tiger nodded towards the shelves filled with small tools that Theo could use. It was like dollmakers workshop with all the small tools, outfits and even houses set up for easy access.

“I didn’t realize you were planning on keeping him.” Riz said.

Pedro rolled his eyes. “First,” the tiger pushed a finger against Riz’s front, making the hyena let out a startled yelp. “Stop treating him like some kind of toy. You wonder why you don’t have a friend who happens to be a Small?” Pedro didn’t even wait for his response as he leaned closer. “It’s because you keep seeing them and treating them as some kind of toy. Who would want to live their entire life as that?”

“I don’t-,” Riz tried to argue but Pedro’s close proximity wasn’t helping his faltering courage any.

“You do. All of you do. You either ignore them, see them as some kind of vermin or pest, or you see them as a cute little toy or doll you can play with an dress up.” Pedro let out a hot snort of a breath against Riz’s face before pulling back. “Who would want to hang out with you if you always looked at them that way?”

“Look at them… what way?” Riz shifted his weight uncomfortably from one paw to another.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Pedro huffed, rolling his eyes. “You look at him like he’s some kind of mint condition action figure that needs to be safely put into a box and placed on a shelf, never to be touched again.”

“I don’t-,” Riz’s face burned at being called out.

“Or!” Pedro growled, folding his arms over his chest. He could feel the pin prick of nails against his skin as he tried to keep his anger in check. “You look at him as if he’s some kind of adult toy you want to shove up your ass.”

Riz tightened his lips at that, refusing to comment.

“And I get it,” Pedro sighed, shaking his head now. “I’m beginning to get it,” he corrected himself. “But you can’t just start from zero to a hundred.” The tiger felt the need to remind the hyena, talking to him as if Riz were some kind of overgrown man child. “Do you know how long it took Theo to trust me?”

“I thought you said,” Riz fiddled with his fingers.

“Months.” Pedro said the word harshly. “It didn’t take days or weeks. It took months for Theo to trust me. Don’t forget, Theo is the exception. Not the rule.” Pedro sighed again. “Theo is a special case. Complicated, complex, with layers. Many, many layers… he’s not some toy to be played with, or something to be idolized and kept away. He, they, all of them are just… people. Much smaller people. That’s all…”

“Right…” Riz did know that. He always had known that. It was just so hard to have these ideas and fantasies and then to meet them in person! To be face to face with them. Or rather, snout to face. “I just…”

Riz knew exactly what he wanted, he just wasn’t sure how to go about it and thus came off awkward and needy.

“I know.” Pedro grumbled. Here he was wanting to ask Riz for help with this matter and here he was the one helping the hyena out. “It’s not easy. No relationship is. Family? Friendship? More…? Everything is… complicated.” Pedro continued to grumble over the matter as if it were a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I just… wish it was me.” Riz mumbled, rubbing his arm as he looked away from Pedro.

With a heavy sigh, Pedro clapped a hand over his shoulder and nearly made the hyena’s knees buckle. “I know. You have a fetish. It happens.” The tiger apologized for the hyena as if he had some kind of untreatable condition.

“It’s not a fetish!” Riz hissed the words out, trying to keep it down. He looked over at Theo, then glared at the smirking tiger.

“Sure, you don’t. Then what do you call it?” Pedro asked.

“It’s just a kink. Something that’s out of the norm that happens to be sexually stimulating for me.” Riz said as if he’d researched and memorized it specifically for conversations like this.

“That enhances a situation, sure, but for you? It’s any male Small I bet.” Pedro’s fang poked out as he smirked at the look Riz gave him. A blushing, embarrassed face that said a thousand words without uttering a single one. “See? That? Right there? Is a fetish. You are turned on by any scenario involving that subject matter. A kink just enhances a sexual experiencing, even if it’s out of the norm.” Pedro didn’t argue about that.

“I’m not! It doesn’t!” Riz couldn’t finish his sentences as he covered his face, whimpering as he lowered his head down. “I don’t…”

“Let’s say we are watching one of your ani moos, right?” Pedro purposefully said.

“Anime.” Riz sighed, rolling his eyes at Pedro butchering the word like that.

“If it’s an anime with normal size,” Pedro stopped to correct himself, “I mean average sized people in it? You’d enjoy it if it was good. However, it was an ani moogle,” Riz frowned at that one, glaring daggers at the tiger. “If it was with Smalls in it, you’d like it, despite it being good or bad.”

Riz rubbed an arm. “What if I enjoy the story?”

“That’s what people say about play kitten.” Pedro chuffed an amused laugh at that. “See. That right there is what we call a fetish. You enjoy it despite the context. Despite the situation or who it is.” Pedro looked over at Theo. “For me? Maybe it is a kind of kink… but that’s because it’s with Theo. No one else,” Pedro looked back at Riz. Looking the hyena directly in the eye. It was Riz who looked away first. “That’s why this is serious for me, for us, because he means… that much to me. It’s not because he’s a Small, that might just be a bonus in this aspect. Not the reason for me wanting to continue being with him.”

“What you’re trying to tell me is that… I want any micro instead of the right micro…” Riz shoulder’s deflated in defeat. “I know that. It’s just…”

“Desperation?” Pedro asked and the sullen hyena looked up at him with droopy eyelids, looking miserable. “Exactly… I’ve been there. I’ve been there. Wanting it so bad you are willing to ignore the facts and accept the first thing to land in your lap.”

Riz’s ears perked up at that. “Wait? Really? I thought, with you being born a tiger and all, and coming from money, you were like on top of the world.”

“First, it’s not my money. My parents have money, not me. You know how bad it is to ask for money from your parents? They want to know everything I use it for,” Pedro grumbled, rubbing two fingers on the top of his snout. “Sometimes they make me explain exactly what it is for and how are you supposed to tell your madre that you want to buy a miniaturized slide so that your roommate, that you want to do more stuff with, can safely slide down to the floor…”

“Where you keep your dirty laundry,” Riz noted looking at the plastic slide connected to the desk that went down to a small basket filled with Pedro’s used clothing. “Kinky.”

Pedro let out a snort hearing that. “Well, you try telling your parents that. Now times that by a hundred.” Pedro said pulling out his phone. He showed all his recent text messages and calls from. Every single one for the past three days had been his parents, two from his brother, and three from Theo. “Yeah.”

“Oof, that really blows.” Riz winced seeing that. “I am not that close with my family. At all!” Riz wasn’t sure if his life was any better for that or not. Where Pedro had almost helicopter parents, Riz could’ve bought a motorcycle, gotten a tattoo and joined a fish gang and his parents wouldn’t even bother to ask about it.

“Second,” Pedro didn’t let what Riz say drop. “Being a tiger has it’s own set of problems.” He left it at that, not about to go into explicit detail about his personal issues that he barely even told Theo about. “And finally, there is no problem knowing what you like.”

“There isn’t?” Riz asked, hopeful now.

“You need to know what you like or at least what you are into, sure. It doesn’t need to define yourself, or a relationship however. That’s what roleplaying is for.” Pedro added after lifting Riz’s spirits. The hyena shuddered as if Pedro had dropped an anvil on his head. “What kind of relationship is it if it’s founded on and only has that one leg to stand on?”

“I get it, I get it!” Riz grumbled, rubbing a hand through his mohawk. “I just…” Riz paused. “College is a time to figure yourself out, right? That’s one reason why we’re here, on top of an education I mean. Away from your parents and hometown even…” The hyena looked over at Theo again. “I was just hoping to figure things out before I started trying to, well, start my life. To figure out how I want to… do things. Who I want to do things with.”

With another heavy shoulder slap, Pedro gave Riz a nod.

“I understand that.”

“It’s just hard, no pun intended.” Riz cackled a laugh after saying the poorly delivered pun. “Like, what if, you were really, REALLY into dog men, right? That don’t exist. They only exist in fictitious media. You can only read or see them in stories, movies, cartoons or heard about them online. No where else. Then, one day, out of the blue! You meet one! Like, for realsies,” the hyena grinned.

“Don’t say realsies.” Pedro warned.

“Sorry, you get where I’m coming from, right?” Riz asked and Pedro grumbled that he did. “Well, that’s just how it is for me. I read about micros, saw them in stories and books. I always thought about how cool that was! How neat and interesting it would be to see the world from that Small point of view. Then, as I uh… developed.” The hyena blushed.

“Got horny.” Pedro corrected and Riz blushed even more.

“Well, as I got into my teenage years those innocent thoughts began turning more, uh, let’s say… adult, in nature.” Riz couldn’t look at Pedro. “Graphically detailed…”

“Everyone understands, doesn’t mean we act on it.” Pedro grumbled.

“I know, I just… well, you get it. You like them small and plump, I get it.” Riz nods approvingly looking at Theo. The small plump white furred rodent had turned some music on, listening to it and moving to the beat as he worked. It was hard to look away from.

“Believe it or not the litter bugger can still jump like a frog.” Pedro chuffs in amusement, watching Theo go from the desk to the top of the pumpkin with a single springing leap.

“He could jump right into my-,” the hyena began but Pedro stops him.

“Careful.” Pedro warned, shutting the hyenas mouth with a single hand. The hyena whimpered and the tiger released him.

“Hey, you’re the one living up MY dream.” Riz rubs his snoot, after Pedro released it. “I can’t believe it, I mean seriously. Out of everyone here! The big gruff kitty man gets it,” Riz pouted as Pedro rolled his eyes in reply. “You don’t even know what to do with him.”

Pedro gave him a warning look.

“Consensually do with him, fuck man.” Riz was the one to roll his eyes, holding up a paw in apology. “I’m not into that BDSM shit or the, uh, other kind of stuff. I just want one to hang with, like you. To watch anime with and work on the figurines with. Maybe play some board games, with them as the pieces,” Riz chuckled. “It’s just, there is a lot of bad stuff out there as well.” The hyena shuddered having visited the dark web one too many times for a single lifetime. “Theo seriously trusts you, it’s amazing, man. I don’t even trust my friends as much as he does with you! And we’re the same size!”

“Theo is pretty special, ya?” Pedro smiled down at the small rat working on the desk. Theo had slung a seat over the side of the pumpkin with a rope attached to the top, creating a makeshift bosun's chair for him to use. “I just kind of want to pounce him, you know?”

“Trust me. I know.” Riz giggled loudly. “I’m just shocked there is actually proof and evidence in front of my big nose that a micro and macro can get along!” Riz wanted to drop to his knees and pray to the macro gods for such an opportunity as this. “He’s just so trusting.”

“Very.”

“Too trusting.”

“Too trusting…” Pedro frowned in agreement.

“He’s seriously lucky himself that he found you and me, huh?” Riz frowned at that. “There are, uh, others around campus that have wanted to talk to me about this thing. These kind of things. What if you find a micro? What then? I’m not exactly subtle about my interests… but their interests bothered even ME.” Riz shook his head, still watching Theo just in case. “Some really fucked up people are out there. Sure, I’ve fantasied about it,” Riz continued to ramble, rubbing an arm and tilting his head away from the small rat on the desk. “Thought about picking him up by that cute white tail after blowing my hot load over his tiny white body. Wouldn’t be able to see anything else under it all… just his bright pink nose and hands and tail… grab that tail. Lift it up and just suckle on Theo’s body like a wet tea bag. Suck and suck and suck…” Riz shifted his weight to his other leg. “Cover him so much in my drool I don’t even feel him go down when I swallow… I wonder if I’d feel him squirming deeper inside,” Riz rubbed his stomach right about the time Pedro shook his head, snapping out of the mental image Riz had put into his head and cuffing the hyena on the back of the head for putting those ideas in him.

“Limits.” Pedro warned again, claws out.

“I know, I know, ow…” Riz whined, rubbing the back of his sore head. “I’m just saying… what was my point again?” Pedro cuffed him again. “OW! Right, right… My point is that people need to learn to separate fantasies from reality. He, Theo, is a living being and I would rather DIE before I ever even risk hurting one of his small cute wittle whiskers.” Riz said making baby noises by the end.

Pedro rolled his eyes at the last remark but couldn’t agree more with him.

“What should I do then…?” Pedro asked, resigning himself to a life of celibacy at this point.

“Start by incorporating him into your life more. Little things,” Riz giggled at that. “Just like,” he needed a breath after such a hilarious joke that only the hyena had laughed at. “Like watching movies together.”

“Check.” Pedro said.

“No, I mean like have him on your chest or belly while you do so.” Riz explained.

“Check,” Pedro repeated himself. “Chest, belly, sometimes my inner thigh,” Pedro ticked off each one on a hand before going to the other as Riz’s jaw dropped in sheer envy for that, before glaring hatefully at the tiger.

“Well, you seem to be just doing fine then!” The hyena pouted, turning away as he huffed in a fit.

“I still haven’t gotten any closer.” Pedro mumbled. “We’re as close as two people can be without… being together, I guess.”

“It’s not like your showering together,” Riz teased, joking about it. The look on Pedro’s face made the hyena want to storm out of the room.

“Let me live your life!” Riz begged. “Let’s just trade places. Just for a single day, please!” The hyena continued to whine. Pedro peeled the crying hyena off him.

“What would you do different in a single day that I haven’t been able to accomplish in months?” Pedro asked, lifting Riz up to his height so he could look the other man in the eye.

“I’d blow him,” Riz shrugged as if it really was that simple.

“Huh…” Pedro dropped the startled hyena onto the ground as he thought that over.

“Well, you’re welcome.” Riz said, getting back up. “It’s not like-,”

“Get out.” Pedro interrupted.

“What?” Riz jumped at that. Pedro was already getting the door for him.

“Time for you to go. I have plans.” Pedro didn’t need to mention Theo to let Riz know what he was talking about.

“Oh! Are you going to fuck him inside the pumpkin?” Riz asked and Pedro slammed the door in the hyena’s face.

“Finally, silence.” Pedro said, knowing it was worth it’s own weight in gold.

The tiger turned around to look at the small man on his desk. Theo was well dressed as he usually was. It helped accentuate Theo’s curves and round little ass. It did the rat justice and Pedro picked at his fangs with a nail as he thought about tearing the clothing off his body with that same nail.

“Okay, how do I go about his without pouncing on him…?” Pedro asked himself as he took a hesitant step forward as Theo turned to greet him with that cute, pink button-nosed face that wiggled, whiskers waggling as the rodent stared up at the approaching feline.

“Riz left?” Theo asked innocently.

“Yup.” Pedro said, crouching down to be in front of Theo on the desk.

“Just the two of us again?”

“Just the two of us.” Pedro smiled with a wicked grin.