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Guys' Day Out

Jasper whistled a tune to himself as he strided his way back to his dorm room. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his shorts, the only article of clothing the Cubone donned (not counting his skull mask, if that could even be considered clothing). Going shirtless wasn't against the rules, after all, as the school's dress code was fairly lenient. Though many students here tended to be more liberal with their attire, many others felt more comfortable with less clothing. Jasper was among those morphs. He felt _far_more comfortable with letting his body breathe and be cooled by the occasional breeze. Even on particularly chilly days, he didn't feel the need to cover up (though he did have his limits). In fact, the only thing stopping him from walking around nude was the school's requirement to cover up any and all extremities.

Once he reached his door, he punched in his passcode and listened for the latch to unlock. He resumed his whistling after he pulled the door open, but he stopped as he took notice of the other occupant of the room. "Zara?" Jasper called, startling the Zoroark, "That you?" Zara just nodded in response, timidly curling back up on his bed. Jasper raised a brow as he closed the door behind him.

"I...I didn't know you'd be coming here..." mumbled Zara, nabbing his glasses off of the counter and slipping them on.

"I always come back here after class, dude," Jasper replied as he sat himself down on the edge of his bed. Zara nodded thoughtfully and nuzzled his pillow softly. "You doing alright? You're almost never here when I get here."

"I just...didn't feel like going out today," Zara squeaked behind his pillow, "You know how I am..."

"I guess," Jasper shrugged, "but even then, you usually wait until you turn in for the night to come back. Something's not going on, is there?" Zara shook his head, hiding his muzzle from the Cubone and biting his lip anxiously. "Well, sorry fer buggin ya, then. I'm just a bit surprised... It's not often that we talk, y'know?" Zara nodded and glanced to the side. It was true; even after a whole year of rooming with him, there had only ever been a few occasions when the two of them had ever conversed with each other outside of the usual time. And even then, those instances never lasted for very long. "Hey, Zara... Erm..." Jasper paused, seeming to contemplate whether or not to go on, "Sorry for bothering you again but...I just...figured that I'd ask; you maybe wanna...do anything later? Like with me?" Admittedly, this caught Zara off guard. He didn't think of himself as the type of person that went out, and he certainly_didn't think of himself as a person people would _invite to go out with. And the fact that Jasper was the one asking him made the situation all the more confusing. "I-I know that you're probably gonna wanna recharge on your own for a bit, but like, maybe afterwards we could go somewhere and do something? Heck, we don't even have to do it today. Just...whenever you feel like it? ...Yeah?"

Zara bit his lip; he didn't expect to be put on the spot today, least of all in his room. "Y...yeah...sure...maybe one day..."

"Awesome. I'm sorry again if it's bothersome. It's just... We've been roommates for at least a year now, and like...I still feel like we're about as distant as we were when we first met. And if I'm being honest...I kinda wanna change that. I'd like to be friends with you at least, and I'm not sure if we've reached that point yet..." Zara averted his gaze, still unsure of how to react. This was the first time that the Cubone had spilled his heart out in front of him like that. Sure, there had been times when he had asked if he wanted to hang out, but they had never been as...wordy as this. It almost made Zara think that this whole reveal had been rehearsed. Zara's heart began to pick up the pace as he realized that his pondering had left the room in complete silence. Before he could come up with a reply, Jasper turned away and laid across his bed. Zara flattened his ears, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously. He really wanted to be alone right now, but he didn't want to leave now out of fear of offending his roommate. The Zoroark already had a lot on his mind, and now he had to add "need to spend time with Jasper" to that list. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down with some deep breathing.

"...you wanna...go now?"

"Hm?"

Zara cleared his throat and tried to raise his voice. "Do you wanna go now?"

"Oh!" Jasper sat up, quite clearly caught off guard, "If you want to. I'm okay with letting you rest first."

Zara contemplated his options. On one hand, if he chose to leave now, it would show Jasper that he too wanted to be friends. The Cubone's sentiment wasn't entirely one-sided after all. Zara did want things to improve between the two of them. And if he chose not to go now, he doubted that he'd gather up the energy and courage to ask Jasper again. On the other hand, Zara did_want more time to himself. If anything, he _needed it. Truth be told, he was still rather torn up from learning about Elena's relationship status. It had been a couple of days already since he last saw any of the Eon sisters, and yet he still wasn't feeling any better. Additionally, he had just let jasper know that he really was okay with his idea, so he was aware at the very least that Zara did want to hang out with him at some point.

"...Ten minutes?" Zara said softly. Seeing the lack of understanding in his roommate's eyes, he cleared his throat and spoke again. "Can I just nap for ten minutes, please? I'll...I think I'll be ready to go by then."

"Yeah, sure," Jasper smiled, "No problem."

"Thank you..." Zara replied before dozing off in a nap... Or at least tried to. As restless as his mind was, he couldn't get himself to go back to sleep. So instead, he kept his eyes closed and _pretended_to fall asleep. He didn't budge until he heard Jasper call out to him. Once he "got up," the two morphs headed out of their rooms and began to walk around campus.

"So..." Jasper began, "where do you wanna go first?" Zara shrugged and kept his gaze fixed on the sidewalk. "Um...got anywhere you wanna go?"

"It's up to you, really... I'm fine with whatever..."

"Um...okay..." Jasper nodded, mostly to stall for time, "Well...how 'bout we walk around campus until we think of something to do?"

"Sure."

"...Cool." The next five minutes was spent with them walking in uncomfortable silence. Every now and then, Jasper glanced over to Zara to see him stare off into the distance. Eventually, this got to the Cubone and got him to speak up. "Zara, y'know you don't have to force yourself to do this. It's fine if you don't wanna hang out right now. I won't be mad."

Zara looked over to him in an almost fearful manner. "W-what? What do you mean?"

Jasper scratched the back of his head awkwardly, questioning whether or not he could've approached the subject easier. "It's just...you seem really sad right now. Like something's bothering you. You sure you're okay? 'Cuz we can talk things out, if you want."

Zara shook his head and waves his paws around. "N-no, I'm okay. Just...didn't get much sleep last night."

"...You sure?" Zara nodded with more eagerness than he intended. "...Well...if that's the case, then we could just go back to our room and chill there. Sound good?"

"Mmhmm," Zara nodded again, still unable to keep himself from nodding too eagerly. He decided to fall back and let Jasper take the lead as they got moving again. Being honest with himself, he felt a little bad for being unable to conjure up any sort of conversation with the Cubone. Jasper was very clearly trying to make this work, but Zara felt like he was making it harder for the ground type to connect with him. With the Zoroark being so caught up in his own thoughts, he failed to notice a particular grass type walk by.

"'...Zara?'" But the grass type noticed him. The duo came to a stop and turned around to see a Grovyle morph catching up to them. "'Oh my gosh, it is you! Hi!"

"O-oh, h-hi, Gwen," Zara blushed and waved back to her as she walked up to him. She waved back with a pleasant smile on her face.

"'It's good to see you again! I feel like I haven't seen you in so long. How long ago do you think was the last time we met up with each other? One...maybe two semesters?'" Zara nodded nervously, shuffling his weight between his feet. Grovyle giggled as she noticed this. "'Well I'm glad to see that you haven't changed.'"

"Hi there," Jasper greeted Gwen pleasantly, getting a pleasant nod back soon after, "Are you a friend of Zara's?"

"'Mmhmm. We used to hang out with each other every now and then. Seems like he's still as shy as ever.'" The two morphs shared a laugh as a blush crept up Zara's cheeks. "'So I'll take it that you're a friend of his, too?'"

"Oh, we're roommates, actually."

"'Oh really?'" Gwen looked back and forth between the two of them, "'For how long?'"

"At least a whole year now, right?" Zara quickly nodded as Jasper looked over to him for confirmation. "Oh, my name's Jasper, by the way."

"'Nice to meet you, Jasper,'" Gwen nodded, "'My name's Gwen.'" She then tilted her head. "'Hmm, I'm guessing that he's not that open with you either?'"

"Well, we're working on it," Jasper laughed lightly, "We've been getting better over time. This is actually the first time we've went out to hang out with each other."

"'Oh, that sounds fun!'" Gwen smiled and looked over to Zara, "'So what've you guys been doing so far?'"

Zara lowered his gaze and stepped back a little. "...Not much so far... We've just been walking around..."

"Yeah...we were actually planning on heading back to our dorm room. Turns out that Zara needs more rest than he got last night."

"'Aww, really? That's a shame to hear. Well, I won't keep you here for any longer, then. It's the least I could do after how many times you helped me get to sleep.'" Zara's cheeks could've burst into flames from how hot they felt after she had said that. He tugged at his ponytail as Jasper's eyes widened. Seemingly oblivious to this, Grovyle smiled and waved to the Zoroark. "'I guess I'll see you around. Let's hang out too sometime, hmm? You've got my number, right?'" Zara just nodded, a little too flustered to be able to come up with something intelligible. "'Great! I'll catch you later then. Hope you guys have fun.'" As she left, Jasper slowly turned to the other morph.

"...Sooooooo..." he began, causing Zara's blush to brighten, "...You uh...you slept with her or...something?"

"Y-yeah, but, n-not like that. W-we just like...cuddled with-n-no wait, I-I-I mean we--"

"Hey, hey, easy there," Jasper chuckled, bringing Zara's flustered stutter to an end, "No need to be so worked up. It's not gonna matter if you did or not. I'm just a little curious is all." Zara couldn't help but whimper to himself as embarrassment riddled his body. Still wearing the same smile as before, he started walking and said, "C'mon, we can walk and talk. So take it slow, 'cuz I'm genuinely curious about this little story."

Zara twiddled his thumbs as he walked beside the Cubone, keeping his gaze low to the ground as per usual. "Well...it's a bit of a long story..."

"We've got the time."

Zara bit his lip, unable to ignore the sensation of his burning cheeks. "...Well...it started after she saved me from a panic attack. She--"

"Woah woah hold on," Zara turned to see concern written all over Jasper's face (at least...what he could see of his face). "What happened? It wasn't bad, was it?"

Zara looked back down and twiddled his thumbs. "...It...almost was..." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Can we...not go over the reason? Please?"

"Oh, uh...of course."

"The Zoroark took a deep breath before continuing. "So...after that, Gwen took me to her dorm room so that we could talk in private. A-and well...I-I kind of...ended up...falling asleep there..." Zara closed his eyes and curled his toes, his embarrassment seeming to physically affect his body. "Um...so when I woke up, and I was getting ready to leave, Gwen asked if I could help her out with something. It was really hot at the time-th-that time of year, I mean, so the air conditioners were going to be on. But since she's-but since Gwen is cold blooded, it was going to make her too cold. S-so she asked if I was okay with staying there for the night, b-because her roommate is the one who usually warms her up at night."

"Warm up? What do you mean?"

"O-oh right. Sorry," Zara's ears fluttered, further driving in how flustered this recollection was making him. "So...since Gwen's cold blooded, she needs to be near something warm to heat back up. Her roommate's a fire type, so she's usually fine. But sometimes, her roommate can't stay for the night. So...well...when I was there...f-fo0r the night...we...we um...got in bed together-I-I mean...w-went to bed to...to uh..."

"Say no more," Jasper cut him off, (much to his relief), "I think I can piece together the rest of the clues. Heh. So did this make you guys a thing or what?"

Zara shook his head, much to Jasper's surprise. "I just wanted to repay her for...what happened. B-besides, she's actually lesbian, so it was never going to happen."

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear..."

Zara shrugged. "It doesn't bother me, actually. I wouldn't have known how to handle a relationship anyways."

"Really? Why do you say that?"

Again, the dark type shrugged. "I dunno... I just...don't know what I'd do..."

"You just do what you're used to doing."

"...Quietly sit in the background?"

"No, no... Well... I mean I guess if you're that way with the person you're with. 'Cuz the thing about relationships is that nothing really changes. You're still good friends with that person, and if you guys want to, you can get...intimate and stuff." The mention of this made Zara's blush return. "It's kind of why I'm surprised you two weren't a couple, at least before you told me Gwen was lesbian. Not many morphs I know are okay with letting their friends get that close with each other."

Zara began to toy with his ponytail absentmindedly. "I guess..."

Jasper smiled and playfully nudged his side. "Seriously though; I think you're making relationships out to be harder than they really are. You don't really have to do anything different. Hence the friend part of 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend.' If you want to be romantic, then you can. But if you still wanna be chill and laid back, then you can do that too."

Zara glanced down at his ponytail (primarily to give himself an excuse to _not_look Jasper in the eyes). "I-I think I see your point..."

"Yeah, man. So like...if you're friends with someone you really like, you should try and see if they like you in the same way. You'd be surprised at how little of a difference it makes."

Zara nodded softly. "I'll think about it."

"Oh, you have someone in mind?" As he was nodding, Zara's mind caught back up to the conversation. He had realized too late that he had zoned out and had let that slip as a result. "Oh, neat. Do you wanna share who, or would you rather keep that to yourself?"

"I'd...rather keep that to myself..." Zara's ears flattened against this head.

"Alright. No worries," Jasper held his hands up reassuringly, "But yeah, I'd say go for it. I mean it's worth a shot, right?"

Zara shook his head. "It wouldn't work out..."

"Huh? Wait, how would you even know that? Is it another sexuality issue or--"

"She's...already got someone in her life..."

"...Oh..." Jasper scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "...That's a shame... I'm sorry for bringing that up..."

"...It's okay..."

"...Is that why you've been quieter than usual lately?" Though Zara himself didn't answer, his silence answered the question for him. "Oh... That would explain a lot..." An awkward silence passed between them as they walked. "Well, for what it's worth, I think this girl would've wanted to be with you too if it weren't for that."

Zara slowly looked over to him. "...Really?"

"Well...yeah," Jasper nodded firmly, "I-I mean, I don't wanna rub in the fact that things didn't work out. I just mean...that you're a really nice guy, y'know? Like...I feel like most morphs you're friends with wouldn't be against the idea of hooking up with you if you asked."

As soon as he felt himself smiling, Zara bashfully tried to hide his face behind a paw. "Th...thanks..."

"Heh, no problem, man," Jasper smiled, "Oh, wow, we got back faster than I expected. Well, I can leave you to it if you want. I think I can find somewhere to chill--"

"A-actually," Zara stammered, playing with his ponytail, "I-I think I'm okay, now."

Jasper raised a brow. "Really? You're sure?" Zara nodded in response. "Well...if you insist. Is there anywhere you wanna go?"

"Um...I'm not sure, actually..."

Jasper chuckled. "Tell ya what; if you're up for it, how 'bout you call up Gwen? She seemed to wanna join us, and maybe she'll have an idea on what to do. Sound good?" With a nod, Zara pulled out his phone and dialed Gwen's number.

***

"'Yeah, he was telling the truth,'" Gwen laughed, "'It was so sweet of him to do, and I knew that I could trust him not to take advantage of me because he's just so nice and polite... Oh you should've seen the face he made when he saw what I was wearing at the time-oh he's doing it now!'" Zara whimpered slightly as he hid his burning cheeks behind his ponytail.

"Why? Was it really revealing or something?"

"'I won't lie; I wasn't hiding much from him.'" The two of them laughed more as Zara became increasingly flustered. "'But like, I couldn't help it since I take heat in better through skin contact, so I needed to expose a lot of myself to him.'"

"So wait, when you're with your roommate, do you also..."

A sly smile crossed the Grovyle's face. "'A girl never tells~'" They shared another laugh, with Zara seeming to be stuck in his current position. "'Yeah, my roommate and I are in a pretty serious relationship with each other. Heck, she got really paranoid when she found Zara and I in bed together.'"

"Oh, did she think that you two..."

"'Well, yes and no. You know how Zara's...a little more femmy than most guys? Well--'"

"She thought you were sleeping with another girl, didn't she?"

"'Bingo!'" They broke into laughter again, and Gwen leaned over to hug the madly blushing Zoroark. "'Aww, don't be embarrassed over it, Zara. There are plenty of morphs out there that'd find you attractive because of that.'"

"Heh, it reminds me of when I first met him. When he came to our room, I thought that there had been a mix up with the dorm rooms. There was even a professor that came by to try and direct him to the girl's dorm."

"'Really?'" Gwen gasped and turned to Zara.

"Yeah..." he nodded, "I had to show him my ID card to prove that I was telling the truth..."

"It was kinda funny, actually," said Jasper, "even the professor was embarrassed about it. He played it off, though. He's a nice guy too. Have you met him? Mr. Rowf?"

"'Oh I think so. He's an Absol, right?'" Jasper nodded in response. "'Yeah, yeah, I took one of his classes before. I liked him. He made sure we were learning what we needed to learn. He's pretty laid back, too.'"

"Oh definitely," Jasper nodded, "I've even seen him hanging out with students from time to time."

"'That certainly sounds like something he'd do,'" Gwen laughed, "'I wouldn't even be surprised if he started flirting with them.'"

The two morphs shared another laugh until Jasper replied, "Well, to be fair, he used to be a student here. It's probably why he's younger than most of the other professors."

"'True, I guess old habits would die hard... Zara, have you had Mr. Rowf before?'"

"Um, yeah, actually. I had him during my first semester."

"'Oh, neat. How'd you like him?'"

"Um..." Zara scratched his head, "He was nice. He could tell that I preferred my space. He was really easy to talk to, too, which made the class more fun."

"Sounds like him, too~" chimed Jasper, prompting a giggle from the grass type.

"'So, Zara, what've you been up to lately? I haven't been able to catch up with you in so long.'"

Zara blushed and twiddled his thumbs. "Um...well...I haven't really been doing much. Just been taking care of classes and such."

Gwen nodded thoughtfully, "'What about outside of class? Have you been doing anything fun or interesting?'"

Zara shook his head. "Not really."

"'Are you sure?'" Gwen asked with a sly smile, "'Because I've been hearing that you put on a show a week or two ago.'"

"Huh?" Zara tilted his head, starting to feel somewhat worried over what she meant.

"Show?" asked Jasper, equally as confused as him, "What do you mean?"

"'Well, from what I've been hearing, there was a big show that someone put on in the middle of the food court. Apparently, someone was using their illusions_to make it seem like some big monsters were flying around the place.'" Gwen kept on her smile as she scooted closer to Zara. "'And it _just so happens that a certain purple-haired Zoroark was there in the middle of it. You wouldn't happen to _know_something about that, would you, Zara?'" Zara blushed madly and hid his face behind his ponytail.

"Wait, that was you?" Jasper exclaimed with shock, "Aw man, that's so cool. I didn't even know you could do that! Can you show us?"

"'Oh yes, please?'" asked Gwen with a slight pout, "'I really wanna see it.'"

Neither of the other morphs could see it, but Zara was ow hiding a smile behind his ponytail. "Um...alright...I'll...give it a shot..." Zara closed his eyes as he tried to think of an image. Once one came to mind, he opened his eyes back up, revealing a slight glow to them. A flash of light directed the other morphs' attention away from him. And when they turned, the sight of a blue-eyed white dragon towering over the group greeted them. They both gasped in awe before applauding the spectacle. Once the illusion vanished, they turned back to him.

"Dude, that was amazing!" Jasper exclaimed.

"'It was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" exclaimed Gwen.

Zara couldn't help but feel bashful over all of their praise. "Thank you," he squeaked.

"You ever thought of doing shows?" Jasper asked, "I bet a lot of people would be willing to pay to see stuff like that."

"'I know I would~'" chimed Gwen, "'Seriously though, is it hard for you to do that?'"

"A little," Zara shrugged, still wearing a crimson blush on his face, "It takes up a good amount of c-of my concentration. So if someone grabs me or touches me, I can't do it."

"Wow, it looked so effortless though," Jasper commented.

"Yeah, it gets easier with practice, especially if I have a clear image of what I wanna make."

"'Do your illusions work on cameras too?'" Gwen asked curiously. When Zara nodded, Gwen let out an excited squeal. "'No way, really?! Oh can we please take a picture with one? I know you don't like taking pictures that much, but like...it's just really cool!'"

Zara couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. "Sure, I'm okay with that."

Gwen smiled sweetly and cheered. "'Thank you, Zara. Don't worry, I'll make it quick. Now come on! Scoot in!'"

Zara blinked and stuttered. "Oh, y-you want me in the picture, too?"

"'Yeah, silly,'" Gwen laughed as she beckoned for him to get closer, "'I've _gotta_get a photo with the master of illusions himself!'" Blushing brightly, Zara scooted closer as Gwen pulled out her phone. "'You too, Jasper! I want a reason to get your number!'"

"Oh, cool, alright," Jasper said with a smile before he got up and took his place beside Gwen. Once everyone got settled, the large dragon from before appeared behind them. The other two morphs couldn't help but glance back at it.

"'Oooooh, it's so neat,'" Gwen giggled as she looked back at her phone, "'Okay, scoot in close, everyone. And that means you, Zara.'" Gwen giggled again as she noticed Zara's blush brighten from her statement. Once everyone was shoulder to shoulder, Gwen adjusted the aim of her camera to get everyone in shot. "'Okay, ready? Onnnne, twoooooo, thrrrrrr--'" Just before her thumb clicked the button, the dragon suddenly lurched forward and roared loudly. As a result, both Jasper and Gwen yelped and jolted from their seats in surprise. Soon afterwards, Zara broke into a laughing fit and leaned against the table they were sitting at. After realizing why he was laughing, Gwen playfully swatted Zara's shoulder. "'Don't DO that! I almost had a heart attack!'"

"Sorry, s-sorry," Zara gasped between breaths, "I just couldn't help it."

"Jeez, man," Jasper chuckled as he settled back down, "That really got me."

"Sorry," Zara laughed, covering his muzzle with a paw. Both morphs turned to Gwen as she suddenly started laughing as well. "What?"

"'Lookit the picture I took,'" Gwen laughed, holding up her phone for the both of them to see, '" Oh, Arceus, it's golden.'" Looking at the photo, Zara couldn't help but laugh at the panic-stricken faces of the other two morphs. Jasper's laughter soon joined his as he too saw the photo. "'I'm amazed that it's as clear as it is. I swear I jumped a _mile_out of my seat!'"

Jasper suddenly laughed louder. "Oh my god! Look at the cheeky expression Zara's got on! He totally looks like an evil genius from the way he's smiling!" The group shared a laugh after he pointed that out. Just like he said, Zara was wearing a sly smile on his muzzle. Even his paws were clasped together and close to his chest, much like a stereotypical supervillain pose.

"'Okay, okay, I'm gonna send this to you guys now,'" Gwen sighed with contentment as she moved her phone away, "'Jasper, can I get your number so that I can send this to you?'"

"Oh yeah, sure." As Jasper sat up and pulled out his phone, Zara allowed his illusion to fade away.

"'Oh, shoot,'" said Gwen, catching his attention, "'Is it seriously 6 already?'" She pouted as she pocketed her phone. "'Sorry, guys, but it's about time for me to head out.'"

"No worries," said Jasper, "It was fun hanging out with you."

"'And same to you,'" Gwen replied with a smile, "'and of course you, Zara. I'm glad that we got caught up with each other. We should really do this again sometime. Zara couldn't help but blush as he nodded. "'Well, I'll catch you guys later, then.'"

"Alright, till next time, then," said Jasper, "Have a good night."

"'Thanks, have a good night you two.'" At that, she stood up and walked away waving. "'Bye, guys!'"

"Bye!" both of them replied as they waved back to her.

"Well, that was pretty fun," sighed Jasper, "but it is getting kinda late now. You wanna grab dinner together, or do you think we should call it a night here and split back up on our own again?"

"...Um..." Zara twiddled his thumbs and looked down at his lap.

"Hey, it's okay, I won't be offended with either choice. I'm just happy that you went ahead and spent your day with me."

Zara couldn't help but blush with Jasper speaking in such a caring and understanding tone. "Th...thanks. I think I wanna...split back up here."

"Alright," Jasper nodded, "That's fine with me. I'll see you tonight in our room, then?"

This time, Zara nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you there. OH, and...uh...th-thank you... Th-thanks for today, I mean. It...I...I needed this more than I realized..."

"Hey, it's no problem," Jasper replied cheerfully, "and I'm glad that I helped you get your mind off of your troubles." Zara tried to maintain his pleasant demeanor as he was reminded of them, but judging by the change of Jasper's expression, he guessed that he didn't do a very good job at it. "And...Zara, I want you to know that I think of us as friends. That means that I'm willing to listen if you want, or need to talk about something."

"Thanks," Zara nodded with the best smile he could manage. And with that, the two morphs shared their goodbyes before parting ways.

***

Despite the content he felt after today's meet-up, Zara couldn't help but be bothered by the thoughts lingering in his head. Even as he sat down with food on his tray, the knowledge that Elena was already in a relationship would NOT leave his mind. His only solace in this was that Elena herself was not there to drive the point in. He had been lucky over the past few days in managing to avoid her and her sister, but in the back of his mind, he knew that it was only a matter of time. He felt confident that he could manage another day or two of rain checking and dodging, but he doubted that he'd be over his internal battle by then. And he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep on a pleasant smile around them; his time with Jasper had already proven that much. He had no doubt in his mind that they (particularly Elena) would hound at him until he told them about what was bothering him. He already had a story in mind, but he was doubtful that they'd buy it. All in all, he wasn't feeling good about himself, or the situation.

He flattened his ears as he picked at his food. Even with his stomach grumbling at him, he was finding it difficult to bring himself to eat. His thoughts were just in that much turmoil. He constantly repeated his alibi to himself to make sure he didn't forget it; he went to his crush, he got rejected, and he's been feeling down ever since. But it sounded so obvious to him. It was just so stupidly simple and generic. He felt like he'd be telling them that he was just making this all up. Yet at the same time, he didn't know what else he could say. It was a complete story, and it gave the whole gist of the situation. What else could he add? And how would he know whether he was adding too much or too little? The amount of questions flooding his head was making him want to tear his hair out.

Thankfully, he had enough self-control to not do that. Instead, he shook his head firmly and began stuffing his muzzle with food. Even if he was just assaulting his mouth with flavor and texture, it was enough to keep his mind off of things. Unfortunately, this only led to him choking as he saw a familiar set of sisters step into the building. One of them took notice of him, and her eyes immediately lit up with recognition.

"Zara?!"

Oh boy...