It's over. You can hardly believe it, but it's finally over.
You've just spent the last several years in school doing labs, conducting experiments, and studying your brains out. Every exam you've written, every report handed in, all of them were now accomplishments you could look back upon. You hard work culminated in your graduation earlier in the week, and you don't remember ever being happier as you graduated from Biochemistry with top marks in the program. Though, that isn't to say that you did it alone.
You were best friends with an otter named Darren who you met back in freshman year. To an outsider, you two seemed like quite the odd couple; you were a diminutive border collie at 5' 8" and 170 lbs., while Darren was an absolute tank at 6' 6" and 350 lbs of pure muscle. You were certain that he was the biggest otter you've ever seen.
You two were absolutely inseparable, and would do almost everything, including group work in class, together. The major difference between you two would have to have been your sexual orientations. You were the straight man, with you trying your luck with several women over the course of university, though, every relationship would end disappointingly. Darren, however, was openly homosexual. Many nights of his would end with him bringing home some guy from one of the bars or clubs nearby. You'd always make sure that he left time for studying on major test nights.
It was the weekend after grad, and you two were back at his apartment. You had thought that it might be best to take it easy that weekend. After grad, you and Darren had been approached by a scientist working at a nearby pharmaceutical company who, with the recommendation of one of your professors, offered both of you research positions. You immediately accepted the offer, however, Darren was a little was a little nervous by the sudden proposition. The skunk assured him that the two of you would be working together in the same lab, to which the otter happily agreed.
You both were relaxing on his couch watching a baseball game. You were never that interested in the sport to begin with, so it only served to bore you. To pass the time, you begin to talk with Darren. "So Dare, can you believe it?" You turn to look at him. "After all that, we're done."
The otter chuckles. "Yeah, that's something alright." His eyes were glued to the TV screen, so it became obvious you weren't going to get a conversation out of him. Your eyes wander the room, eventually gazing out the sliding door that led to the balcony. Somehow, that seemed to get his attention. "Something on your mind, Colin?"
You turn back to him and smirk. "You know me, something's always on my mind."
"Well, do you care to share?"
"My, we're impatient today." you snort. "Well, off the top of my head: what the draft will look like this year, what song is playing on the radio in the kitchen, if I'll ever get back into a relationship again..." You begin to trail off at the end.
"Well, th-wait you care about the draft? I thought you didn't want anything to do with football!" He playfully accuses you, arms crossed over his chest.
You begin to laugh. "No, not NFL. NHL, man!"
Darren pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs in pseudo-annoyance. "That's right, I forgot you Canadians have no taste in entertainment." He says sarcastically.
"Yes, because yours is so much better." You retort as you point at the TV. "I'd hardly consider baseball a sport. Nothing has happened in five minutes."
Darren smiles as he shakes his head. "Alright, I don't think we'll get much further on this topic. What about the last one? That sounded interesting."
Uneasiness started creeping up throughout your body. As Interesting as the topic may be, it was the one you wanted to talk about the least. A string of failed relationships left you afraid to start one up again, afraid that it might fail like the previous ones. Granted, three of them ended because your partner dropped out of school, however that left the two that you didn't want to dwell on.
You remember the first very vividly. She was a beautiful brunette human named Amber, a few inches taller than you, though everyone seemed to be taller than you. You had met through a mutual acquaintance and hit it off fairly quickly. You got to talking and found out that she was in school for nursing; you felt like the luckiest pup in the world, having found someone as academically inclined as you were. After your first couple of dates you discovered that she had expensive tastes, but you didn't care. You wanted to spoil her, to show that you did care for her. However, things came to a screeching halt one day as you tried to explain to her about some debt you had to pay back to the bank, and how your dates would have to be more spaced out. You figured that she'd be a little upset at the news, but what you heard next was something you never expected. She started going off on how she knew that everything you did was just an act, and how you always got her 'low quality gifts'; you knew damn well that was a lie. The final nail in the coffin came when she called you 'broke fleabag'. The comment felt like it came out of nowhere, and it hit you like a truck. At that point you had had enough and ended the relationship. You never wanted to see her again.
The second you also remembered very well. She was a cute ocelot girl named Rachel, also taller than you. You were worried that you might get a repeat of Amber, but you were relieved to find that she was more down to earth than your previous girlfriend. You went to the park instead of fancy restaurants, ate burgers instead of salad, and even went to a local bar to watch whatever sports game was on. You found out that she was a soccer fan, and you were more than okay with that. Sometimes you two needed some time alone, so you brought her back to your apartment. It was here that you two grew to be intimate with each other, some nights ending with a make-out session.
One of those nights you two had got to talking and the topic of sex came up, a conversation followed and you discovered that she wanted you as much as you wanted her. You grew excited at the prospect at first, but became anxious when you realized that you weren't 'excited' yet. You thought that the problem would fix itself soon, but your girl was more eager than you had anticipated. She grabbed a hold of you and began undressing you, caressing your body along the way. As soon as your shirt was off you started getting really nervous, but you did your best to hold your composure. She started unzipping your jeans slowly, and you were certain that now you'd feel your length rise, but you felt nothing. When she was done she had a bit of a confused look on her face, and you were certain you knew why. She moved her hand towards your boxers and pulled them downwards, and that's when her suspicions proved to be true; you were completely flaccid. She recoiled in shock. Your cheeks reddened quickly, but not as quickly as her eyes were misting up. You may have been embarrassed, but she was mortified. You weren't sure how many times you apologized, but you were sure she didn't hear you. She quickly left your apartment, fully crying as the door closed. You felt a deep pain in your chest, your breathing became laboured. Tears started forming and streaming down your face. You just ruined the best thing to ever happen to you.
You hadn't noticed, but you had been staring at a spot on the carpet for the last couple of minutes with Darren nudging you and asking you if you were okay. You snap back to reality and deliver your answer.
"I think", you start, your voice a little shaky from reopening old wounds, "that I'm probably going to still look, but I'm definitely not going to rush anything." You turn to face the otter. "The relationships I've had while studying at UC were a lot more painful than I would have preferred", you feel yourself begin to smile, "but that chapter of my life is over now, and I'm ready to move on".
Darren reciprocates your smile with a warm one of his own. "You've really matured since we first met, you know that? I'm glad to see that you're moving on." His smile turns into an evil grin. "Besides, now I might be able to coax you into joining 'The Dark Side'."
You sigh and lean your head back against the couch. "Why? So you can tell me that you're my father or something?"
"Oh yeah, you can call me 'Daddy' alright."
You bring your hand up into a face palm. "Oh you fuck..." You walked right into that one.
Darren bursts into laughter. You can tell that he's been waiting for that one for quite some time. "I'm just teasing ya man! You know I won't force anything on you." He starts to settle down a bit. "Heh, alright. Now you were talking something about a song?"
"Oh yeah, that's right. You mind turning down the volume on the TV?" Darren does one better and turns off the TV entirely. You perk your ears up and try to pick up on the song playing on the radio in the kitchen. Right away you can determine that it's by Green Day, but you can't make out the song yet, until... "Mmm, yep. That's 'Longview'." You begin to sing.
"I'm feeling like a dog in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street
I locked the door to my own cell
And I lost the key"
Darren leans back into the couch. "You still got it."
"I never lost it", you reply.
He turns to look at you. "So how come you won't sing in public?"
"The same reason you won't dance in public." You turn your head to face him. "You've told me about all the awards you've received in ballet, but you've yet to demonstrate anything."
Darren puts his hands up in defense. "Alright, fair enough. Just remember that my size limits a lot of the flexibility I used to have." He brings his hands down as he stands up. "Well, I'm going to assume that the game is over at this point. Do you wanna head out somewhere?"
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