Octo sipped the hot chocolate in front of him quietly.
He gazed over the street, people were walking and chatting with each other. The
weather was cloudy and the temperature was not too hot, not too cold.

What a nice early autumn day.

He leant into the seat. He was done with college; he
already defended his thesis yesterday and did his revisions. Technically, he has
already graduated, but the graduation ceremony will be held next month. The
storm had passed, and now, he was at peace.

College was exhausting, both physically and mentally.
He appreciated his seniors whom he saw still laughing and joking around even
when they failed their thesis. Or maybe they weren't really bothered with
college and just want the title.

This was just the first strata; he wondered how would
the second or even the third be like. If the first was this exhausting, then
the second could be dangerous and the third could be hellish.

Okay, enough about college.

Where was James? He was doing his internship at the
building just across the road from this café. It was past 15, his shift should've
been over an hour ago.

He watched the television on the wall a bit far from
his seat. It was broadcasting the result of the last two week's National
Conference. Even though Tom was the third-place winner, the wolf was still
happy with that. Some reporters even came to their uni to interview the wolf.

They celebrated it the night after Tom received the letter.
It was a wild night, as wild as when they won the National College Football
Championship. It was nice to see Tom happy and letting out all his emotions. He
was so reserved most of the time and the panther was sure he needed to go for a
while, well, Octo himself was reserved too but that was just him.

He even saw Tom being drunk for the first time. The
wolf had to chug down three bottles of beer and rice wine to get drunk, which
impressed all of them. Though, even when drunk, Tom was still cautious.

Oh, and he and Kevin almost fucked on the sofa. Well, while
they had fucked thrice, they shouldn't really have snogged that night. However,
that petrified but flustered look on Max's face that night was well worth it.

The following day, Max couldn't see him or Kevin in
the eye.

Octo took a sip from his drink and chuckled. That
night, they were all really letting out of their lesser animalistic side.
Besides, despite how masculine and handsome was Max, he was cute when he was
flustered.

“Sorry I'm late." James came to his table and put down
a chocolate smoothie. “I had more reports to check."

He just flashed the tiger a smile. “Nah, that's fine."

“You really are taking your time, aren't you?"

The panther chuckled a bit.

James took his jacket off and sat down. “I won't be
long, though. Gotta run some errands with my co-worker. She should call me any
minute."

“Grocery shopping?"

“Worse. Market analysis." The tiger groaned. “It's the
worst part of this internship, aside from the distance."

“Your office is that building." He said, pointing at
the office building across the street.

“Hey, I'm used to walking to my classroom in, like, 5
mins."

Octo rolled his eyes and chuckled.

“You still promised me that chocolate cake when you
said you're graduated."

“I'm not graduated yet."

“You've defended your thesis, so technically you're
graduated."

“Aren't you supposed to buy me something as a gift for
my graduation?"

“You're my senior, you know."

“Okay, here, I'll pay for your drink. Chocolate
smoothie?"

“I've already paid for it."

“No buying you something then."

“You can give me back my money, you know."

“That doesn't count as buying you something."

They laughed a little.

Well, maybe it was official now, he had two
pseudo-little brothers: James and Tom… or maybe just Tom because James was like
his close friend. Probably they were analogous to Tom and Max or even him and
Max, but without the sharp personality differences, past issues, and seemingly
opposite sexual orientation.

Speaking of Tom and Max.

He gazed over James; he wanted to talk about them, but
he probably shouldn't. While he trusted James to keep secrets, he didn't think
Tom or Max would appreciate it if he told him that.

If only their seemingly mutual pining could go through
their past insecurities and thick skulls.

“Oct, do you think maybe Tom and Max… kind of like
each other?"

The panther's ears straightened in surprise at that.
James knew?

But that shouldn't surprise him. Like him, the tiger had
a strong sixth sense of reading people. Or maybe Tom and Max's feelings for
each other were more visible than he thought. Could other people know too?
Could Kevin know?

No, Kevin was too thick-headed to be able to read
that.

“What do you mean?" he instead asked the tiger.

“Not that I'm against them or anything, I mean, they look
like they like each other." James drank his beverage. “I'm a little surprised
you didn't know about it."

“No, no, I do know but… honestly I wouldn't put it at
mutual liking, at least, not yet, maybe. To me, it's…" he made gestures with
his hands.

The tiger watched him curiously.

“…it's… more or less like a one-sided crush. Tom has a
crush on Max, but Max only thinks of him as his friend." he leant forward.
“That's a terrible thing."

“Why's it terrible?"

Octo sighed and ran his fingers through his head fur.
“I had my fair share of crushing on straight guys, even homophobic ones, and
I'm telling you it's a special kind of hell to last even a day with your crush,
especially when he's your best friend. Having him as your best friend is kinda a
double-edged sword."

“Sorry, I'm straight so I couldn't see it the way you
see it." James said, a bit apologetic.

“Well, it's kind of like… like having a crush on
someone else's girlfriend, but multiply the pain by tenfold. Seriously, I'm really
worried at Tom when Max went missing two months ago."

“He's the one who has a crush on Max, isn't he? How
about Max? I also see him as liking Tom, though maybe that was putting it too
far since I don't know him much personally."

He sipped his drink. “Max isn't gay, bi, or homophobic.
He had gays as his friend, see Kevin, but he never messed around. We never did
a circle jerk or things like that. Max knows that I'm bi and he's cool with it,
he was even the one who made me get along well with Andy."

James chuckled. “What was with you and Andy?"

“We didn't have a good start. We often fought in the
field or even in the changing room. I was stubborn, I know, but Andy could
sometimes be even more stubborn than me." He shrugged. “I didn't like the way
he handled problems, or rather ran away from them, while Andy didn't like the
way I acted. It was Max who literally put us in a locker and forced us to make
peace."

“Seriously? Did you do him?" the tiger leant closer in
interest.

“I wish I did. He's got some big muscles."

James slapped the table with a grin. “I knew you had a
crush on Andy!"

“Hell no!"

“You said he's hot, didn't you?"

“Well... yeah. Saying he's hot doesn't mean I have a
crush on him, you know." Octo rolled his eyes. “How bothersome."

The tiger drank his beverage with a grin.

“What about you and Lucy? Care to explain that to me?"

“I told you I like her. That's not something I'm
ashamed of." James laughed a bit. “Okay, okay, fine. What's next?"

He leant on the seat, a bit embarrassed. “Well... we
made peace inside the locker. No, it didn't involve groping. We made a
temporary truce there, but then we made a ceasefire and it made us forget our
dislike for each other."

“And now Andy follows your orders… kinda."

“He already knew I don't mess around. When I look
angry, I really am angry, or that's what Yohan told me anyway." He sipped his
chocolate. It was warm now.

James chuckled.

His phone suddenly rang. The tiger took it out from
his jacket and groaned. “Shit, it's her. I gotta go." He stood up and tidied up
his jacket. “Sorry we only get 5 mins."

“No problem. Today's gonna be over soon anyway." He
smiled at James.

The tiger chuckled and took his cup. “Thanks, panther.
Catch ya later."

“Later."

Octo watched the tiger's tail waving around as he
left. “Yeah? I'm going. I'm in the café in front of the building..."

Yep, heavens knew he had a crush on Andy ever since he
saw him in the first days of the football club. The lion looked handsome, hot,
and irresistible, not to mention his mane made him look regal.

However, as he got to know him, his opinion on him
turned the other way around. He was loud, brash, liked to joke, and dumb. Like,
really dumb. Octo even caught him “asking" his classmate to do his homework.

That had been the last straw. The fabled rivalry
between Octo the Panther and Andy the Lion in the football club began at that
very moment.

He had confronted the lion right there and told him to
leave the poor zebra alone. Andy just rolled his eyes and said it was none of
his business. The urge to punch him for having made the football club's name
bad had been very strong in his gut, but he reeled himself. It wouldn't have
made the situation better.

After that, the lion just walked away ignorantly and
dismissed them as if nothing happened. Octo never heard of the zebra again
aside from him enrolling in Business Administration class 1 the next semester,
away from Andy in class 3.

Some said rivalry would make them closer. Both sides
would realise that they had each other, and only each other. The rivalry would
be fuel for their relationship. But for him, it only made his crush dissipate.

He was glad that it went away since as he knew the
lion more, he discovered more bad traits about him. Sure, the lion was getting
better and nicer with people, but his bad traits were a major obstacle for him.
By the time Max shoved them into a locker, the locker accident, his crush was
already gone. Not even being in intimate proximity with him made him happy.

Afterwards, while he no longer disliked the lion, he
still held him as someone annoying, someone to whom he'd better not get too
close. Aside from his excellence at football, he was really getting all the
attention only from his good looks. His performance in classes was poor, his
scores could be better, he even had several subjects to be retaken.

Then, his opinion changed after he heard about someone
who actually managed to make Andy do
his homework.

That was nigh-impossible. He couldn't do that after a
year of trying. Max, who was the lion's close friend, couldn't even do that. Not
even the coach could do that. So when he heard someone managed to tell Andy to
do his homework and have him actually do it, he was more than intrigued.

The first time he saw Tom, he had already seen him in
high regard. This was the wolf whose insightful and outstanding presentation won
second place in the provincial conference. He had been there, watching
him—maybe if he had done his own essay in time, he could've also been on the
stage. The wolf might be small, not muscled like them or tall like them, but he
knew not to judge people by their looks. And when Tom made that pick-up line
flawlessly, he knew they were going to be close.

No, it wasn't that he had a crush on Tom—how cheap was
he, getting crushes on everyone he met? It was just… Tom was almost everything
he could wish from a little brother.

He hadn't always been a single child. When he was six,
his little brother was born. He was very small, fragile, and Octo wanted to
protect him with everything he could do. His parents were very happy that he
got along well with his new little brother. They went everywhere together. He
loved his little brother with all his life and swore to protect him from
whatever happened.

Yet, he could not.

When Octo was twelve, his brother was diagnosed with brain
cancer. Though it could be suppressed, it wasn't curable. His parents had done
everything they could to save him. But, nothing was enough. He remembered
spending the nights in his brother's bedroom with his brother slowly shedding
more and more fur each day, trying to make him forget his cancer, reliving
their good times.

After almost a year of fighting cancer, his brother
passed away at the age of seven.

His family had been utterly devastated. He locked
himself in his room the next day after the funeral. His parents never planned
to have a baby after that, and he had come to terms with the fact that he was
going to be a single child.

Sometimes, he missed his brother. It was natural,
after all. However, he let him go. His brother was not in this world anymore,
so he stopped crying for him in order not to make him even more miserable. He
still reminisced about him, but he had accepted the fact that his brother was
no longer here.

Tom wasn't a pantherine, but aside from that, he
thought the wolf was what his little brother could be. Smart, cunning, sharp,
cautious, but also friendly and nice at the same time, precisely like him. They
had so many similarities in personality which made them get along very well. He
had also come to realise that Tom saw him as his big brother, which made him
happy.

That was why he wanted to help him in every way he
could. True, they knew that they weren't family, but he tried to be there
whenever the wolf needed him. Octo didn't want to admit this loudly, but his
inner desire to be a good big brother was still there.

Getting closer to Tom also turned out to make him get
closer to Andy since Andy saw him as his “mentor". He wanted to know how was
this “new-and-improved" Andy like. And what he discovered pleased him. Andy was
more diligent, smarter, and nicer to people. He might still brag around about
how awesome he was, but it was nice to wake up to a call from him asking for some
help to do his homework.

Octo was more than happy to help, even though he did
not understand most of the materials.

They ended up hanging out more and more. It started
with the lion asking him to get something to eat while doing his homework, and
as time progressed, they kept going out even when he had no homework. The other
members of the football club had joked about them having made peace and
“rekindled old friendship".

He could just go and hope that the lion started to
“like" him, but heh, the panther only thought of him as his friend, nothing
more. Besides, he had Kevin now. While they weren't boyfriends, they were
certainly… something…ish.

What were they? Friends with benefits? Fuckmates?
Wait, they didn't fuck every other day. They only did it when Octo was in the
mood, which wasn't very often.

He let out a small chuckle and drank his drink empty.
As he looked out the window, he wondered why did his thought delve so deeply.
Maybe it was the chocolate; he really liked hot chocolate from his café.

He turned around to call the waiter, but he saw
someone. He saw Tom was walking into the café. Surprised a bit at seeing the
wolf here, he furrowed his brows in curiosity. Their eyes then met, and the
wolf was visibly surprised as well. He smiled, beckoning him to come to his
table.

Tom smiled at him as he sat down in front of him.
“Hey, Oct." He said, starting a conversation.

“Hey, Tom. Didn't think you'd be here."

“This is the closest café I can find." Tom shrugged.
“Besides, I want to explore the area a bit more. Who knew the food and drinks
here could be delicious."

He chuckled. “They are, trust me. Though, you might
want to stay away from the chocolate cakes since to me they don't taste very
good."

Tom chuckled along.

“You here long?"

“Long enough. James was here earlier but he left early
to do some work stuff." He leant into the seat. “You just got off from work?"

“Ya, a while
ago. I wanted to get something to drink before going home."

A waitress came into their table and greeted them,
putting down the menu.

“I'll just have another cup of hot chocolate." He said
as Tom looked over the menu.

“Okay, one more cup of hot chocolate. You, sweetie?"

Tom gave her the menu. “I'll have hot green tea latte
and a baguette, please. Oh, also some butter for the baguette."

“A cup of hot chocolate, a cup of hot green tea latte,
and a baguette serving with butter, got it. Is there anything else you need?"

“That's all." The wolf smiled at the waitress.
“Thanks."

“You're welcome! Please wait for your drinks." She
then took the empty cup and left.

He looked at Tom watching the waitress intently as she
went away. Tom's eyes were mesmerising.

How quaint were those eyes.

What was it with Tom's eyes? Max said his eyes were
beautiful—yeah, those were his exact words—and his friends said his eyes were
unusual. The eyes really were
unusual. They had a distinctive colouration, one that he was sure he'd never
seen before. A half-finished mix between brown and red. One couldn't see it
from afar, but face-to-face like this, it was easily visible.

“You know, I actually wanted to call you to hang out."
The wolf said, making him look away from his eyes.

“What do you mean?"

“Well, I, uh…" Tom scratched his nape and looked away.
“I need some advice."

Octo smiled sweetly. “Anything for my clueless, honest
'lil brother."

“Dih!"

He laughed a bit.

“Well… um… don't laugh, okay."

“I won't laugh."

“I need advice to…" Tom was still looking away. “chat
someone up. I-I mean, to hit on someone."

Octo wasn't laughing, but he was close to doing so.
Tom was growing up.

When Tom turned to look at him, he chuckled a little,
trying not to laugh. Fortunately, the waitress came and put their orders on the
table, saving him the awkward moment of laughing at Tom and his innocent
request.

“So," he started, leaning on the table and took a
small sip from the cup. “you wanna get closer to someone."

“I-iya, okay?! I just…" Tom took one of the
baguette pieces and ate it unenthusiastically. He was really cute like this.
“I… want to get closer to someone. Well we are
close, but I want to… properly g-get closer rom-romantically to him—her."

Octo noticed the slip in his pronoun usage, and it could
be a confirmation to his observations. Tom was
crushing on Max. He smiled in understanding at the wolf and ignored the slip in
order not to make the wolf realise he knew. Probably also to let him know that
he had no problems with whomever the wolf had a crush on.

Wait, Tom knew he was bi, didn't he?

“So, you wanna flirt with someone, don't you?" asked the
panther.

The wolf was red. “Not flirt! I want to get closer, to
properly court someone, not just flirt with someone!"

“Court?" Octo chuckled. “What species is this someone?"

Tom looked away. “Um… a dog."

The panther smiled as another validation to his
observation was unfurling. “And what breed?"

“Uh… I can't tell you."

He almost laughed. His sixth sense was still working.

“You're growing up." He petted Tom's head
affectionately. “Well, that's fair enough. So, I need to know this someone's
personality first." While he genuinely wanted to help him, he also would like
to see how Tom handled his pronoun usage.

“Well... uh... um..." Tom took a sip from his cup.
“This someone is… she's easy-going and nice to people."

The way Tom said “she" was peculiar, hesitant, as if
he didn't want to say it. Octo just looked at him with a friendly expression.

“B-but I'm worried because I know that she's… she's
not really fond of relationships. Not because she doesn't want it, but because
she has a… history."

My heart
goes to you, Tom, Octo
thought. This was Max, he was sure of it. Max had a history with homosexual
relationships, so Tom was worried. Wait,

Now that he thought about it, Tom was between a rock
and a hard place. He was going through a fire. It was almost impossible that
Max would accept him in case he confessed. Sure, Max wouldn't hate him, but
what happened before was something they should consider. That would be the worst-case
scenario, the best would be Max just turned him down and their relationship
continued as best friends like him and Lucas. He saw no way would Max accept
him.

He now saw Tom in a different light.

How could
I not realize it?! Tom is in the exact same position as me when I had a crush
on William!

Yet, when he saw Max with Tom, the shepherd was all
friendly and touchy-feely. He often hugged, embraced, or even piggybacked Tom.
Max even told him he snuggled with the wolf when he was staying over.

Could Tom have a chance with him?

Even if he could, he needed to be careful. “Well, you
can start by being clear about what you want."

Tom, who was about to eat a baguette slice, put it
back down on the table in surprise. “Being
clear about what I want?!"

“Not by telling her that you want to get closer,
that's ridiculous." Octo rolled his eyes. “I mean, you drop a few hints, like
touching her more, or be there when she wants, small things like that."

The wolf seemed uncomfortable.

“I notice you don't usually touch people, Tom. Does
that make you uncomfortable?"

“No, not uncomfortable, just… not really used to
casually touching people." He looked away.

The panther smiled. “That's okay, you can start by
simple gestures, like… well, touch
her. Give a handshake or high-five when you meet her, pat her shoulder to
stress a point, or embrace her if you dare. She's not opposed to being touched,
does she?"

“No. She… she touches me a lot."

Octo took a piece of bread and dipped it into the milk,
silently laughing at his own mock-cluelessness. “That's good, then. You
shouldn't have much difficulties here." He ate the piece. “When you feel like
she's already used to your touches, you can invite her to hang out more, just
the two of you. Do you hang out with her often?"

“Um… ya, we
hang out often."

“Nice. What do you talk about when you hang out?"

“Uh… lots of stuff…" Tom sipped his drink. “Lots of
useless stuff but sometimes deep questions like what to do after graduation,
those things."

“Heh, you're already close to her, aren't you?" Octo laughed
a bit, more at his own roleplaying than at Tom's words. He then sipped his
drink. “Well, the next step is to make her comfortable being with you. Go to
intimate moments together, like watching movies, going to her house—but don't
fuck her, I know it's not really your thing. Drop some hints as you talk, shits
like 'you brighten up my day' or 'today's been awesome with you around', but
don't drop too much or you'll sound cringy. Don't forget to appreciate her."

Tom was watching him intently, but he could feel the
unease around him. Octo just took another piece and ate it, leaning on the
seat.

“You can judge her reaction, if she seems to be okay
with that, you can go to the next step. If she doesn't seem to be okay, I'd
recommend going with another route. Assuming she's okay with that, then you
must strengthen your bond. When you feel she's all okay, you can then ask her
out."

The wolf ate a piece and sipped his drink. They went
quiet; Tom looked like he was processing what he said.

Eventually, he spoke up. “You make it seem easy."

“Believe me, it depends. It can be easy if she's
receptive, and based on what you told me of her, she seems to be okay with
that. But be careful, don't misinterpret the signs. You said she's not fond of
relationships, then you must convince her that it's okay, it's harmless. You
don't pose a threat to her." His gaze turned serious. What he said was just an overly
oversimplified guide. He wanted Tom to be careful of hitting on Max.
“Seriously, be careful. I don't want you to end up hurting yourself."

Tom looked to the road outside, his ears going down.
He then took a deep breath and smiled at Octo. “I will. Thanks a lot, mate.
That really means a lot to me. I'll be careful." He ate one piece. “The
relationship we have now it's fragile. I know if I said something or acted
wrong, it could mean the end of us. I'll be very careful."

Octo smiled fondly at him. “That's my wolf. If you
need any help, just tell me."

“Thanks, ya."
Tom laughed a little.

While Octo got the impression that the laugh might be
a little forced, at least Tom understood the danger. If he played his cards
right, maybe possibly chances were perhaps probably he could make Max his boyfriend.

The sheer impossibility of that sentence was
overwhelming.

Heh, he would take that fact and slap the German
Shepherd in the face if Tom did it.

“So, you with anyone now? Never seen you with a
girlfriend."

The panther shrugged. “Nah. I was focusing on my
internship and thesis last year, so I didn't really think about it. I had
girlfriends before, though."

Tom laughed again, but this time it sounded more
genuine. Octo just sipped his drink with a fond smile.

Did Tom know he was bi? Or did he just ask him about
his girlfriends in particular? He remembered telling them when they were in his
dorm, that day when Tom kissed Max.

“You want to order something else?" the wolf said
instead, taking a menu from the table next to them. “I'll pay."

“I think I'll have more baguette. You don't need to
pay, though, that's fine."

“It's okay. Just think of it as me buying you
something because I won the Natcom." Tom leant on the table and finished his
drink. “Also as a present for your graduation. Besides, I just got my last pay
from my previous part-time job."

Okay, then. That must not be spent alone. “Last pay
you say? How about going to my place and get us some dinner? My wallet is kinda
empty." He grinned.

Tom just chuckled. “Anything for Mr Broke Panther."

Octo laughed at that.

“You don't have to do that, though, I was just kidding."

“But that's fine! We have to celebrate your graduation
and my Natcom!"

“How about you celebrate your Natcom with her?"

“Already did, now let's get to your dorm! I want to
play PS."

Octo just chuckled fondly and petted Tom's head again.
“You really are a nice kid." He then finished his drink and ate the last piece
of the baguette, then stood up.

Tom followed him and took his folded jacket. They went
to the cashier and Tom paid for their snack and drinks. He also bought a
cheesecake for them to snack as they wait for dinner later tonight.

The tram back to the uni was quiet, so Tom fell
asleep. Octo just let him lean against him.

He really was a nice kid. Tom and Max, they deserved
each other.

END This
went somewhat sad .-. I swear I didn't really plan to write Octo's past.
Also I'm
single so please don't at me for that trashy advice Octo gave xD