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_ Subtlety _

"Right." I burst into the front room. "I'm just gonna go ahead and do this."

My housemates gawked at me from our couch.

"Do what?" asked Dylan, the lanky stoat in the seat closest.

"Watch."

"Dude," groaned the mouse beside him, Kris, sprawled out in his bright red Riflemen jersey. "If this is gonna be another of your party tricks, can it wait until after the game?"

"This'll be the best damn trick any of you'll have ever seen." I stormed around to the coffee table. Kris' ongoing grumbling didn't stop me standing there in front of the TV.

"C'mon, man," Dylan grunted. "I can't see through your big ass."

"Look, just gimme a second, won't ya?" I caught the whine in my voice, but couldn't stop it. "Please?"

Kris sat up. Dylan's arms unfolded. Neither had anything else to protest about, until the table started creaking under my paw.

"Hey, Bruce..." Kris trailed off.

Dylan shared a quick glare with him. "I don't think that's built to support a bear, y'know?"

"It won't need to for long." With one leg raised, I reached for the silver band on my ring finger. The wood started crackling under my weight. I pushed upwards, slipping off my ring in unison.

No more complaints from the coffee table. It found supporting me a lot easier at my natural height; just shy of the shoulder of Kris' beer bottle beside me. I expected shock. Gasps of disbelief. Maybe even some disgust. These guys had been living with a Requoran since I moved in a couple months back. I felt it only fair they know. For all of us.

"Well that's saved the table," Kris said, sinking back into the couch.

"Thank God," Dylan added. "Furniture shopping wasn't on my list of things to do tomorrow."

"Wait..." I took a step forward. "You guys..."

Kris kicked a leg up over the other, crossing them. "You guys, what?"

"You're not... surprised."

"Surprised by what?"

I held out my arms. "By this."

"Yeah, I can't speak for Dyl, but I know what a Requoran is."

"No, you can." Dylan mumbled, attention more on the game than either of us. "Same here."

"I figured that much, guys." I glanced over my shoulder. Our TV looked like a wall from this height. "I guess... I expected more."

"What, like a party?" Kris shifted forward again, grabbing his beer from beside me. "Fireworks?"

"Balloons and a banner and shit," Dylan said. "Big bear, actually small bear."

This was weird, and not just a little. My roommates were way more concerned with the game going on behind me. "So you knew about this?"

"Course I knew," Kris scoffed. "You've been here weeks, and this ain't a big place we got here."

"What's that gotta do with anything?"

"That walls ain't too thick, either."

Shit. My heart jumped, realisation dropping on me like a ton of bricks.

"Ooh, oh," Dylan cried, way more high-pitched than usual. "Step on me."

Kris snickered, not trying too hard to hide it behind a hand paw. "That guy you had around a couple weeks back. That otter..."

"I didn't know anyone was here..." I nursed my cloaker closer to my finger. Just in case. "But what about him?"

"He doesn't do subtlety, does he?"

"'Bet you want your cloaker back'." The bass Kris added to his voice put my fur on end. That, and his near-perfect imitation of my boyfriend's playing from that evening. Along with his 'step on me' quip, he'd got us both down to a T. "'Give my pads a kiss first--'"

"Ok, ok!" I shuddered, throwing on my cloaker. A burst of lightheadedness and a groan of the table later, I stood just shy of the ceiling. I hoped having the conversation to come as the _biggest_guy in the apartment might help. "I thought you guys were out that night."

"Plans fell through," said Kris, grinning.

"Were you here, too--? Goddamn it!"

"Dude, don't get twisted up."

"Huh?"

"I don't care that you're Requoran. Or if you wanna do whatever in your room."

"Maybe keep it down a bit," Dylan said, offering a smirk of his own. "Or maybe check we're not in to hear you at least."

My cheeks went warm. The table below did my whining for me. This really wasn't going how I'd planned it.

Kris lifted his leg, wriggling his toes and flashing his pink pads. "Do mouse paws interest you my friend?"

"Man," I hurled a hand to my face. "Shut up--"

Everything shot upwards, my stomach included. A huge crack came before a thundering slam.

"Bruce!"

"Watch it!"

I only half heard the guys' screaming as I stumbled back, falling further onto my butt with another room-filling thump. The crunching of wood made me wince. I'd flattened our table completely. Left snacks, beer and all sorts all over the carpet.

"Ok, that I do mind!" Dylan jumped up from the couch, arms raised, not knowing where to look first. "Man..."

"Sorry!"

"Hot damn," Kris called, still lazing in his seat. "You lucky you didn't end up with the downstairs neighbours."

I struggled up from the aftermath, staggering towards the kitchen. "I'll clean it up, guys!"

"Yeah..." Dylan marched after me. "I'll help."

Having the skinnier, shorter stoat behind me left me wary. Not from anything physical. I just couldn't read how pissed he was over the table.

"No more standing on anything." He jabbed me on the arm. "Okay?"

I smiled, jabbing back. "Okay--"

We heard Kris cry out from the living room, finishing with a loud, "Goal!"

"Ahh, man!" Dylan nudged me harder. "Goddamn it, Bruce."

"Sorry. Again."

"Think I'm glad you're Requoran?"

"What... For real?"

"Yeah." He snorted up at me. "You do a fuckload less damage at your real size."