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Ewron had come to America from Poland for a scholarship he somehow managed to get to a college. During his freshman year of college, he shared an apartment with the Polish Hussars. However, he eventually got a dorm because it was closer to all of his classes and it was cheaper. The only downside was getting a roommate he didn’t know, but that wasn’t much of a problem for him as he could make friends with anyone.
He soon got to meet his roommate a couple days before classes started. His name was Ash and he came from India. Of course they would put the exchange students in the same dorm. Ash was the more quiet one, or at least quieter than Ewron, which wasn’t a high bar to pass. Ash liked to mess with Ewron sometimes just to see him get mad, but in his defense, Ewron did the same.
As the first semester went by, they had grown closer. Their schedules were beginning to warp around each other. In the mornings, Ash made sure to actually wake up Ewron so he would stop being late to his first class. And whenever Ewron got food, he always brought something back for Ash to eat. They were really just co-existing, but sometimes Ewron would feel a little flutter in his stomach when Ash got too close to him. He always brushed it off though, insisting to himself that he can’t be gay. He never liked guys before, why would Ash be so special? He just felt that way when anyone got too close. So close to where he can feel their breath on his skin for a second. That had to be it.
✌️≧◡≦✌️
Ewron was currently sitting on the couch in the middle of his and Ash’s dorm. They agreed that the middle was a common space, even though it was just a small excuse of a living room. There was a window to the right of where he was sitting. Ash liked to keep it open so they didn’t have any curtains for it. Water rained down from the sky in fast pellets hitting the window in a hundred ways each second. Ewron was already anxious by the sight of rain, but there hadn’t been any lightning. Yet.
The light from his phone was more illuminating than the sky outside. The sky was a dark, gloomy gray that swirled like taunting smoke around him. He decided to distract himself from the rain by scrolling on Tiktok. His thumb brushed the screen a few times as he mindlessly watched a few videos.
He was forced out of his trance when a sharp lightning flashed in the window, followed by a crashing thunder. The dorm vibrated a bit with the force and Ewron felt every shake. Unfortunately, his panda ears also interpreted the thunder as much louder than Ash did. Involuntarily, he yelped at the loud thunder and dropped his phone on the couch. He heard Ash laugh from his room and call out,
“Damn Ewron! Didn’t know you had the voice of a girl!”
Ash’s taunt really meant nothing, but he couldn’t let Ash have any idea of the fact that thunderstorms scared him.
“I don’t, kurwa! It just caught me off guard asshole! Spierdalaj.”
Ewron yelled back in protest. Ash replied with another laugh before they both went back to what they were doing. Ewron picked his phone up from where it had landed about a meter away from him on the couch. He held it a bit tighter this time though and he couldn’t help himself from looking out the window every few seconds. He pulled up a weather app on his phone to see just how bad this storm was going to be. To his relief, it seemed like it would be a short storm. However, it wouldn’t be a light one. It seemed to be a pretty bad storm.
As if it could sense his thoughts, another thunder rolled across the campus. His ears pulled back tight to block out as much sound. Instinctively though, his body curled tighter to himself. He noticed and quickly stood up. He turned around and went to the kitchen only a few steps away. Maybe a nice glass of water would calm him down? He got a cup from the cabinet and set it on the counter. He heard Ash’s door open and his footsteps followed as he appeared into the kitchen.
He normally wouldn’t even look at Ewron in such a small interaction, but something was off. Ewron’s ears were tilted backwards and flicking every minute. His tail was also tucked in closer to him, like you would see in a hurt puppy. Before Ash could ask anything, another thunder rumbled in the air. He watched closely as Ewron flinched at the noise, his ears pinning back and his tail tucking in tighter for a moment until the thunder was over.
Ewron could feel Ash’s gaze on him, making him become too aware of how he looked. He forced his ears to subtly go back to how they normally are and tried to get his tail under control. Luckily his tail was very fluffy, so it was easy to hide how curled it really was. Ewron decided to escape to the bathroom before Ash could get any more information than he already had.
His footsteps were light but quick, a small reminder of his stealth as an assassin. He scrambled into the bathroom, which luckily had no windows. He pushed the door shut behind him as soon as he entered the small room. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and he felt his body relax after the sudden tension in his muscles. He basked in the moment of calm before the next thunder.
It started to feel like fate was teasing or playing with him because as soon as he relaxed, another thunder rolled across to ruin it. His body tensed right back up and his hands came up to cover his ears. He crawled down onto the space beside the sink and the lip of their shower. His knees came up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His tail curled neatly around his feet and his head bent down to find shelter in the space between his knees. He could feel his heart beating quickly and his breathing even quicker. He was shaking a bit but he didn’t really notice. Luckily, the bathroom had nice dim lighting, not too bright to where he didn’t feel safe, and not too dark to where he couldn’t see his surroundings.
As the storm passed, the thunder didn’t slow. They kept coming and each time he flinched and curled in tighter on himself. He had started to whimper slightly with each rolling thunder as well, even though he always cut it off. That was too pathetic. The storm had finally gotten close to ending but it didn’t go without a bang. A loud crash of thunder sounded right outside their building, shaking the dorm. Ewron couldn’t hold back the whimper this time and he immediately covered his mouth, silently praying that Ash didn’t hear. Unfortunately for him, he could see a pair of shoes outside the bathroom door.
“Ewron?”
He heard Ash’s voice call from behind the door. Ewron didn’t dare make a noise. He knew Ash knew he was in there, but part of him hoped he would just let it go if he didn’t respond. His heart dropped when he heard the doorknob turn. Shit. He didn’t lock it? The kurwa thunder distracted him. His thoughts were cut off by the sight of Ash staring at him from the doorway.
Ash tested the doorknob, and to his surprise, it wasn’t locked. He honestly expected Ewron to have locked himself in there, but at least now he wouldn’t have to convince him to come out. He didn’t want to admit that he felt anything for Ewron, but he was concerned about him at the moment. He pushed the door open slightly, just enough for him to look inside.
Had it not been for Ewron’s eyes staring at him he wouldn’t have seen where. His eyes reflected in the dark of the room, exposing his hiding spot. His eyes were wide and his pupils were blown wide. His ears were completely pinned back and his tail was bushed out to be somehow even fluffier to cover as much of his body. He looked surprisingly… cute. No. Forget that.
Ash stood still for a while, just taking in the situation he had now put himself into and trying to come up with something to say.
“Uhm. Ewron? You uh.. You good?”
Ash internally cringed at how that sounded, a small pathetic question. Ewron didn’t move in the slightest, it seemed like he still couldn’t decide whether to say something or to just stay frozen. Ash assumed he had chosen the latter after half a minute of waiting in awkward silence. Another thunder rumbled like an echo in the silence, it was quieter for Ash but it still affected Ewron. He flinched and tensed even tighter, proving Ash’s theory right. Ash spoke again, more sure of his words.
“Are you scared of thunderstorms?”
It was blunt, but that’s how Ash was. Ash’s head tilted a bit to try and see Ewron better. Ewron didn’t dare to respond. He kept staring at Ash, hoping to death that he wouldn’t piece things together. Ash was smarter than that though. He could see Ewron’s chest rising and falling quickly, his limbs trembling and the way his hybrid features acted. It was similar to his panic attacks.
Ash knelt down beside Ewron and sat down on the floor with him. Of course, he didn’t really know how to comfort him. He always was awkward as hell. They sat in awkward silence until another thunder rumbled faintly. Ash caught Ewron’s flinch and spoke softly.
“You are scared of the thunder.”
Though Ash felt slightly accomplished in proving his theory, Ewron was not as enthusiastic about it. The red panda hybrid tucked his head down before Ash could the embarrassed blush creeping up his neck and cheeks. Ash felt a little guilty as he did that and didn’t speak for a moment longer. He knew Ewron did like touch, a lot. He had learned that over the past semester.
Ash’s hand hesitantly moved up above Ewron’s head and tried something he never thought he’d do. He gently touched Ewron’s ears, like you would with a dog, and scratched lightly behind them.
He felt Ewron tense under his touch, but it was almost immediately replaced by him leaning into his touch and perking that ear up. Instinctually, Ewron squeaked like a red panda. He knew both himself and Ash heard it, but he was too far in to get embarrassed now. After a minute or two of Ash petting his ears, Ash started to question him lightly.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were scared of the thunder?”
Ash spoke softly to Ewron, not trying to force him into anything. Eventually, Ewron’s voice responded in a more tired tone.
“It’s embarrassing..”
Ash couldn’t help the small snicker that escaped him at that.
“It is embarrassing. But I think asking me for help would’ve been less embarrassing than me comforting you on the bathroom floor.”
Ewron smiled faintly at that, but his body didn’t know whether to relax under Ash’s watch, or keep tense in case another thunder came by. As if reading his mind, Ash pulled out his phone to check his weather app.
“The storm is past us. We may hear some of the thunder from the neighboring city as it goes but… are you okay now?”
Ash asked him gently, he bent his back forward a bit to try and see Ewron’s face. Ewron turned away from him with his ears back down. Ewron’s voice followed in a small reply,
“Yeah. You can go now.”
Ash didn’t buy it for a second. Even if he didn’t know hybrids very well, he knew Ewron and animals. Sure, he was basically stereotyping Ewron based off of what he’d seen in animals, but they should be similar, no? His ears were still down, his tail still fluffed out, and he wished he could see his eyes at the moment.
“I’m not gonna leave you alone here. I know you’re lying.”
Ash responded in his usual, slightly flat tone. After a few moments of Ewron staying in the same position, and an awkward silence filling the room, Ash decided to resort to his normal methods of social interactions.
“Come on. Get up.”
Ash’s hand grabbed onto Ewron’s upper arm and pulled him up. Ewron let out a surprised squeak at the sudden lift off the safe ground. Ash let the hybrid find his balance on the floor before he began to practically drag him into his bedroom.
Ewron never ventured far into Ash’s room, he figured that’d be a breach of his privacy. He wasn’t given much time to put the room into his memory before he was pushed onto Ash’s bed. Ewron quickly sat up and finally actually looked at Ash. He suddenly realized where exactly he was and his cheeks and neck were swiftly tinted red with blush. He spoke in a choked voice stuck in a weird mix of confusion, embarrassment, and excitement.
“Ash! What are you?... What are you doing? What is this?”
Ash simply smirked in response and got in the bed on the opposite side of Ewron. The poor red panda didn’t know what else to do other than to watch. Ash got under the black comforter and shifted closer to Ewron. He pulled a part of the comforter back before pulling the other boy down onto the bed. He tugged Ewron close to his chest and pulled the blanket over him.
“I’m making sure you don’t freak out in the night and cause me trouble in the morning. And this is my bed, stupid.”
Ash teased him lightly, while Ewron’s mind was already a whirling tornado of thoughts. Any memory of the thunderstorm a bit ago was pushed back in the overwhelming overload of new scents, sights and feelings.
Ash hadn’t spent much time outside of his room when he was in the dorm. He was usually either in his room, apparently in his bed the most, or in the real world outside. Because of that, Ewron never got to really find his scent. Humans didn’t leave much of a scent like hybrids do, so to find a human’s scent, you have to find a place they spend a lot of time in. Ewron had now learned that Ash smelled like lavender and fresh laundry. It was comforting, and fortunately surrounded him in the bed.
Ash’s bed also was the same two colors as everything Ash owned: purple and black. The pillows were a dark purple with a texture that felt like satin. There was also a purple blanket on top of the comforter, a fluffy throw blanket. Everything else was black. Black sheets were over the mattress, and a thick black comforter kept him warm, maybe a bit too much with the amount of warmth he felt from his own body.
He could feel Ash behind him, his arm was over Ewron’s waist which in itself felt embarrassing. Ash’s body felt much leaner than his, but Ash didn’t seem to care at all.
After a few seconds of Ewron seemingly ignoring his reply, Ash flipped Ewron to face him. Ewron squeaked again and his tail shuffled behind him, trying to find a new comfortable position. Ash could finally see Ewron’s face for a few seconds before Ewron could turn away. His eyes were wide open and staring at Ash with a face of many emotions: shame, embarrassment, confusion, surprise. Quite the range. Ash loved that he could tell what Ewron was feeling simply based on his body language and expressions.
Ewron quickly turned his head into the pillow to hide it from Ash. His ears which had perked up went back down but not in a frightened way, more shameful. The hybrid part of him was in heaven. In this moment of vulnerability, having someone to cuddle into to know he wasn’t alone was amazing. But the other part of him was screaming that they were only roommates. Either way, he knew Ash was too stubborn to let him leave and he was going to fight to leave an angel’s haven.
Ash didn’t exactly know how to comfort Ewron into sleeping. With him… that sounds worse than it is. He put his arms around Ewron and pulled him into a loose hug. At that moment he remembered the other boy’s tail. Did he like having his tail pet? Is that a thing? Might as well try. His left hand travelled further down Ewron’s back until he could guess he was close to his tail. He brushed past the base of the tail and petted the fluffy fur of the main part of his tail.
Ewron could feel Ash’s arms envelope him completely now, but one of his hands began to venture. It travelled further down, and before Ewron could realize or try to stop Ash, it was too late. A sharp wave of pleasuring pain shot up his spine. His body shivered and he couldn’t hold back a sharp whine at the touch. He felt Ash’s hand shoot away from his tail in an instant at Ewron’s reaction. He asked in a slightly panicked or worried voice.
“What? You okay? Did I hurt you? I’m sorry. I, uh, I assumed petting your tail would be comforting. I-”
“Nonono, Ash, it’s fine. It’s fine.”
Ewron interrupted his concerned string of words in a higher pitched voice. Ewron’s ears went fully down for a few moments while he calmed himself down and let the fur on his tail lay down instead of spiking up. The red panda spoke again in a softer voice.
“You don’t know much about hybrids do you?”
Ash slightly grimaced at that comment and looked away before mumbling,
“Maybe I don’t…”
Ewron couldn’t help the small giggle at Ash’s oblivion and unawareness.
“For future reference, don’t touch the base of a hybrid’s tail without asking.”
Ash nodded intently, this was a rare moment where he knew he actually would need that piece of information later. He then opted to try something else. Ewron’s body was already more relaxed than before but he wasn’t exactly very comfortable being so close to Ash yet.
He took the hand that was hovering a foot away from the hybrid’s body and put it up into his hair. His fingers made small paths in the red panda’s ginger hair. He found his ears shortly after and pet them cautiously, watching the boy’s face closely to see if this would cause any reaction. Luckily, Ewron leaned into the touch. Finally, he got something right. Noted.
Ash’s attempts at comforting him had become quite the entertaining game to play. He had a good guess where the other boy’s hand was going to travel next. As he felt said hand going up his back, he knew he was proven right. He felt new paths being traced across his scalp until they ended up at the tips of his right ear. He knew Ash was going to be more cautious after last time, so he leaned into the touch as a way of confirming that he chose a good spot.
Ash quickly became more confident knowing that Ewron was comfortable with the touch. His fingers slowly crept down to be more towards the base of Ewron’s ear. Ewron didn’t even notice his body moving closer to Ash. Ash shifted to lay on his back while Ewron stayed on his side facing the other man. Ash never stopped petting his ear, treating the soft inner fur like a calming fidget. The hybrid wasn’t complaining at all though.
They stayed like that until both their breathing went steady and their bodies went still. What happened that day was something neither of them expected, but neither would ever dare to complain about.