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A heavy barge sent me staggering forward down the entrance slope. The will of my shoe rubber alone stopped me tumbling completely. I missed the culprit; too busy preventing myself from ploughing through the crowd and onto the walkway like some arctic fox-shaped wrecking ball. As if juggling textbooks and what I'd picked up for dinner wasn't a challenge enough. I'd have been smart to take a bag along to class today. That, of course, would have required me to think ahead. Exactly like I should have done around about this time last year.

I decided not to beat myself up about it for too long. What good would it have done anyway? Besides, things weren't all bad. Not really... Not for the most part.

I made it down the entry slope and onto the rolling walkway in one upright piece, joining the other students making their own ways home along the path from the campus bus stop. Above us, through the protective glass, I watched one of my other, larger neighbours stride closer into view. Swinging a shoe as long as I stood tall, the big panther stamped down onto the bottom step of their apartment building. He sent a firm thump down to our walkway, dampened yet still noticeable. The faint juddering persisted as our walkway tunnelled below the brickwork, informing me and the dozens down here about every onwards step he took.

I'd been in Vodaskal for a shade more than a month, but watching, feeling the larger world above play out still proved compelling. Maybe not to the extent that I'd walk headlong into something... like that pillar at the airport, ten minutes after arriving in the country.

I only had a few seconds more before I could step off from the walkway, leaving the others my size to carry on further into the apartment complex. A short walk around the corner, back to the surface, took me to my own apartment building, built solid and impressively seamless into the side of its far bigger counterpart.

I balanced my textbooks on top of my fast-thawing, store-brand casserole, delving into my pocket for my door key. It was roughly the moment I wished for paw scanners to be as common here as back in Polcia that I realised my mistake.

The damp packaging gave from the weight, collapsing one side and starting my books sliding along with it. Instinctively I grabbed at it all. That only hurried everything way out of my grasp.

My books tumbled down to the porch, each strike of the concrete drawing an ear-twitching thud. I'm sure fate did it on purpose. Just to make sure the whole damn complex heard it.

On the plus side, the I did manage to keep claws on my dinner. I much preferred staring down to see books scattering the ground as opposed to the alternative.

Two pairs of footsteps hurried from behind, joined by fast, helpful sounds that I struggled to keep up with.

"Hey... me help you," called the otter as she brushed on by, bending down to help gather up my books. She went on to say something else, but her fast-spoken Velikan just flew even higher over my head.

"Thanks," I managed, accepting her pile of books onto mine. The marten she was with waited for me to stand, offering a smile as he opened the door of our building. I thanked him as well, and also my luck that they didn't push me to test any more of my patchy Velikan.

Stepping inside, they soon went their way and left me to go mine. I headed into an elevator to ride up to my fifth floor apartment. Another group of students joined me late on, barging past the closing doors with backpacks and jackets decked out in the University of Radno logo. They left me standing alone in the corner, Polcian-sized but barking away in their impenetrably rapid Velikan tongue. It seemed to be the done thing here in Radno, and Vodaskal in general. Everyone I'd encountered so far spoke both Polcian and Velikan fluently, but the latter very much took precedent for locals big and small. To make matters worse, the older folk here in town took great pride in still speaking Vodak... I couldn't complain. Visitors from abroad often commented and complained about how much we dip into Vitmaric back home in Vitmark... Again, when it came to the language barrier, I should've thought ahead...

Apartment 532. I headed inside to finally get space to relax and unwind. This place was small, kinda basic, but it had room enough for me and the other three guys that'd been assigned to it.

I tossed my books and my dinner onto the kitchen countertop, glad to have both handpaws free on my way over to the empty living area. I figured the others weren't back from class yet. That suited me. I'd take the chance to sprawl out.

The window of the far wall gave a perfect vantage to the main path outside. On the fifth floor, we were around about head height for most larger passersby.

Our tatty brown couch creaked as it caught me. The TV remote sat ready and waiting atop the torn up armrest, primed to start browsing the early evening offerings. Of course, most channels were all Velikan, all the time. If not for subtitles, I'd have been hopelessly lost.

Subtitles or not, nothing on show took my fancy. No matter. I cut my losses and settled on the sports news channel. If nothing else, it could serve as background noise. Maybe help my Velikan, too.

I left the host and his guest to their preview of the weekend's Polcian League handball fixtures, catching a few familiar words and team names on my way back to the tiny corner space kitchen. If I got my dinner cooked up now, I'd not have to fight for prep room once the others got home.

Outside of the box, bare to all the world, this bargain basement casserole struggled to appear more appetising than the countertop beneath it. Plastic-looking potato chunks swam in the thinnest of half-thawed faux-cream sauces, joined by the most anaemic slices of mushroom I'd ever borne witness to. Mushrooms. Again. Vodak food took some adjusting to. Maybe a tragic end on the outside porch would have done both me and this mess a favour. Gods, this'd be the first and _last_time I picked dinner up from the campus grocery store.

I banished it to the warming oven, turning to spend me time between the news and the window to the world outside. The passing of distant people continued, carrying on with their own days. Their own lives. I took the chance to think over my own.

It was all well and good coming here to Radno. On paper, who wouldn't_take up the chance to attend one of the best universities in Vodaskal? Who wouldn't pay a fraction of the price of a Polcian institute, all while receiving a relocation stipend thrown in to help overseas students settle. Then there was the promise of Polcian-language classes running alongside the standard Velikan versions, all topped off with the opportunity to live and study in a place that wasn't Vitmark, or Polcia full stop. So, what _was the problem someone might ask? The problem, I'd tell them, is that life isn't lived out on paper.

I missed home. I missed my friends and my family way more than I expected. The four hour time difference did a lot to keep me disconnected. I didn't think I'd end up being this lonely...

Into the fridge I went, grabbing one of my sodas. The full six-pack were all still present and accounted for. Not always the case in communal living. I cracked it open, took a sip, and studied the Velikan characters printed twice as large as their Polcian counterparts underneath. The language was tough, but I had the basics down. I could say my pleases and thank yous. I could get around town and generally keep myself out of trouble, but no question I'd planned on picking up more during the month building up to the new school year. Yeah, most folk here were bi, sometimes even trilingual, but when Velikan always served as the default, it didn't make socialising easy.

My ears perked to the rattle of the front door knob. Voices from outside grew louder as the door swung open. One after the other, my three roommates entered, talking and hollering away. I made an effort to focus. It still sounded like a garbled stream of noise.

"Hey, Max." Tomas raised a paw. I threw the wolf one back. He'd already dipped back into his conversation with Micha and Robert. Standard.

He followed the collie and caleco over into our living section. The others did acknowledge me, eventually, giving their own variations of Tomas' greeting.

They filled the couch, not missing a beat in their discussion. The TV channel changed to some show involving space guys with laser guns. I didn't care. Not much.

"Late class?" I asked from the kitchen. There was a lag, but they turned to me one by one.

"Kinda," Tomas confirmed. "I had lectures all the way up until five."

"Not me," added Micha. "I was finished up by two. Did some work in the library until these guys got free for something to eat."

Tomas glanced over. It took a moment for his eyes to find mine. "We would've called up to ask you along, but--"

"It's cool--"

"It was a last minute thing and I knew you were in class until six, so--"

"Until four."

"Huh?"

"I was done by four today."

"Right. Yeah." His mouth contorted. A paw brushed under his chin. "Sorry, I didn't--"

"I said it's cool," I insisted, yanking open the oven door to check on my casserole. It still sucked. I closed rather than slammed the door, much as I had the urge to. "Where did you eat at?"

Too late. The three of them had already dipped back into their conversation. Their Velikan conversation. Maybe Tomas sensed my thoughts on the matter.

"Hey, Max," he called, leaning over the couch arm towards me. "Settle an argument."

"Alright."

"If you absolutely had to choose just _one_character to play as in Mercenaries for the rest of time, who would you choose?"

All eyes turned to me. This was way more pressure than it should've been. "I don't play it all that much, but... Garris is pretty fun."

"Garris?" Micha hollered. "He's so cheap. That fucking anti-gravity gun."

"What, and Solomon isn't?" Tomas snapped back. "Rubber grenades bouncing all over the damn control point whenever he's on defence."

Micha shot back something. Not sure if he meant to switch it up to Velikan. Either way, all three of them laughed.

Robert sat forward to catch my attention. The cat was the hardest to talk to. His accent was thick, with words somehow spoken at full speed and in slow motion all at once. A trait of northern Vodaks, apparently. "Yo. Max."

"Yeah?"

"You still play Mercenaries?"

"Sometimes. Probably not as much since I moved here."

"Maybe you could join us tonight," Tomas called, eyes wide and with triumph in his voice. He got shot down before I could answer.

"We've got a full squad already," Micha reminded him.

"We do?"

"Vin and Andi, from comp physics class. They wanted to join us." He turned his attention to me. "Sorry."

I didn't hear much remorse in his apology. "No problem."

"Maybe we can do something tomorrow night?" Tomas posed. "If you're free?"

"Could do... Maybe."

Robert piped up with something. More Velikan. Micha didn't waste the chance to follow suit. Whatever they'd said was amusing, apparently. To his credit, Tomas did try to pull them back.

"He's not any worse than you, Rob."

"Yeah, but we give Rob a pass since even holding the mouse right is an achievement for a northerner."

They all laughed. I resisted. Turned out I'd not get another chance to join in. Robert shot something back in his own tongue. Then Micha. Even Tomas slipped. Screw it. I think my dinner had been cooking long enough. Plastic and anaemic or not, it'd offer better company than this...

I swept an area of my desk clear, knocking aside a couple of Architecture textbooks, and my Velikan language exercise book. My casserole took its place. Even less appealing outside of the oven.

A sharp creak came from my chair as it caught my collapse. The ceiling above as good a place as any to bounce my thoughts off of. I didn't want to be spending all my time here, stuck in a room barely big enough to fit the essentials and me along with them. But what else could I do? I fit even worse out there in the living room. Other than a tenuous overlap in barely a handful of video games, I had little if anything in common with those guys. They didn't like handball, or any sport for that matter, while I didn't delve too much or too deep into the sci-fi or gaming scenes. No wonder they'd all gravitated towards each other.

Of course, it didn't stop there. I might have had a chance if not for the language issue. Those guys weren't unfriendly... except Micha, maybe. He seemed more and more of a dick the longer I spent around him. Tomas was cool at least. Robert, too. Whenever I could get a Polcian word out of him. That was the big issue; their constant, almost natural tendency to fall back into Velikan at the drop of a hat. I didn't blame them for it. Would I be all that different around someone speaking Polcian as a second language? Probably not, but for sure I'd be conscious if they were struggling.

Gods, this casserole looked less and less appetising the longer it waited in front of me. A push sent the plate clunking against the wall. I needed to do something to climb out of this rut. I didn't fly quarter of the way around the world, cross the Sovereign Ocean, to live out my life alone in a glorified closet. I needed to do something different, because trying to work my way into my roommates' group sure as hell wasn't working. But what? How could I meet new people?

There were plenty of bars around the area. Those were good for socialising... but alone? When I barely spoke the language? The thought alone had me cringing from the awkwardness of it all.

How about one of the student clubs? They had a club for almost anything you could imagine, judging by the number of flyers that went up around campus. Clubs weren't usually my kind of thing... although the LGBT group they had running did appeal. I really needed to find my way there at least once. Not that it would solve my problem in the near term.

There was no solution. None that I'd be happy and comfortable with. I bolted up from the chair and flopped onto my bed beside it. Why didn't I choose to go into the dorm halls? Yeah, they weren't as nice as these apartments, but there'd have been more people around to mingle with. Damn, even one of those 'mixed-scale' dorms would have been a better option. Yet another thing to add to the 'wish I'd thought ahead' collection.

My copy of the university calendar called out from the wall opposite. Only a month to go until the mid-semester break. With each passing day, the need to find a cheap flight back to Vitmark reinforced itself. At least this living stipend helped my bank balance stay healthy. I probably wouldn't be so lucky next year...

Thoughts turned to Ebbestorp, my hometown. It'd be good to see it again. Not to mention my family. My friends... assuming they were around and not busy with work, or their own studies. At the least, I'd feel more in place there, whatever the circumstances.

Laughter murmured through my bedroom door, followed by a dull, persistent rumble of chatter. I pulled myself up to sit, nose catching my mushroom and plastic casserole sat upon the desk. Screw the wastage. Screw the two tolars I'd spent on it. That needed to go in the bin, and I needed to get myself out of here. Go find some better food, then some better company, even if that ended up as more alone time with my thoughts. On the bright side; all these evening walks around the campus were sure keeping me active...

Friday afternoon. Another week almost over and another weekend free of plans fast approaching. Ugh, I had to stop all this self-pitying. It said something when it had begun to get on my nerves, even. Never mind anyone else I might have whined to.

Time to focus on the positives. This single 2pm Environmental Design lecture was all I had on my timetable for today. The day would be done before it even started.

I'd decided to get here early, intent on grabbing a seat at the back of our scaled down, upper section of the lecture hall. Two reasons for the most part. Firstly, Professor Zajic enjoyed getting his students involved in the class, asking questions and looking for opinions. That wasn't for me, nor for most others, judging by how many people were already seated as far back as possible. That led on nicely to my second reason: what better way of trying to meet people than throwing myself headfirst into the crowd?

Surely it'd be a matter of time before I met some other students from Vitmark, or even just Polcia in general. Hell, anyone that'd meet me halfway and not dip back into speaking Velikan at the first opportunity would be a start. They had to be here. No way was I alone. No way was the the sole Architecture student from Polcia in this whole university.

The hall kept on filling. More and more people settled around me. A couple of guys, a stoat and a bat, took seats just along from me. On the row ahead, a mouse and her two squirrel friends arrived. All were busy talking, keeping themselves to themselves. I pondered on a way to make myself visible, but how would that even work? I couldn't just creep into group conversations, acting all 'Hi, I'm Max, please be my friend.' Gods, I was overthinking this and then some. I just had to act normal and keep being me... Even if that'd brought me nothing but six weeks of solitude so far.

By ten minutes to two, the lecture hall had filled with noise and conversation... A good deal of it Velikan conversation, gauging by those immediately around me. Had it always been this way? I'd not noticed. Maybe I'd just got unlucky with today's crowd...

This made no sense. I expected more Polcians, or at least those _speaking_Polcian as a first language to be here in a Polcian-language class. Maybe everyone here was. Maybe they'd been better at learning and integrating than me. Fuck, this was unbelievable. I wanted to jump up and call out, asking if anyone else here was struggling as bad as me. I needed a new plan. On reflection, meeting new people, potential friends in a lecture hall probably wasn't the best idea.

My ears lifted and perked, tracing speech rolling in from someplace distant. Away from all the other chatter here. It grew louder, closer. One voice became two, became three. Velikan. All coming from beyond the guardrail beside me.

I scooted over, shifting up to kneel on the empty seat beside mine. From here, I could peer down from the raised section set up for us Polcian-sized, 'Maleni' students, right onto the main seating area.

A faint tickle came from my Normaliser kicking into gear, reacting to the three guys settling into seats below, still roaring with conversation. I could track a word or two here and there, but it proved equally as unintelligible as the Velikan of those sat up here with me.

I hadn't seen many 'Visoka' students sitting in on the Polcian-language classes so far. The main hall was barely half-full, but that was double the usual attendance. I wondered what had prompted the change.

None of them had noticed me so far, perched just above standing reach height for the average Visoka. The hyena there was by far the most vocal, neatly dressed with a green-dyed mane styled up between his ears. On his left, closest to me, sat a coyote in a black and purple university jacket. To his right meanwhile, a broad brown bear completed the group, decked out in what I'd have to call plus, plus-sized sportswear.

All were heavily engaged in whatever they were discussing. Halfway to an argument in fact, what with all their raised paws and gesticulating... I'm sure I heard a few Vodak place names in there. Slaska... Koprovice. Then 'The Blues' caught my ears. The bear's tight-fitting azure shirt sealed it for me. The Blues. The Koprovice Blues, a pro handball team from here in Vodaskal. Every part of me lifted, lured in by foreign yet familiar voices. Truth be told, one good tug would have seen me fully balancing up on the guardrail.

"Woah." I pushed away, settling my weight back fully on the seat. From my vantage, I saw their ears flick and prick. All three glanced up in near unison, apparently surprised by the arctic fox peering back, watching them watching him. I wasn't sure what to make of this... and I imagine that made four of us.

The hyena said something, directed up at me now. Then came the coyote. The bear in his handball shirt kept on staring. Everything came so fast. I struggled to pick out a single word from the jumble of syllables bombarding me. It had me squirming almost as much as their continued watching and waiting.

"Sorry," I said, unable to raise my voice above a gravelled whisper. A hack, then another at the dryness in my throat helped me to speak easier. "I'm new here... kinda. My Velikan isn't so good."

"For real?" answered the yeen, barely missing a step in his change to Polcian. He and his friends looked to each other, then back to me. "I was asking if we could help you at all."

"Then I asked if you were going to throw up or something," the yote added.

"Throw up?"

"You were staring like we all had sprouted an extra head," the bear said with a snicker.

"Sorry," I repeated. "I didn't mean to creep to out or anything..." A point of my finger got the other two following my eyeline. "I just noticed your shirt is all. Koprovice."

That brought out an instant smile. He looked down at himself, tugging the club badge and the fabric around it away from his chest. "Yeah, I had a season ticket with my Dad and my brother. Before I left to come here."

"Fake fan," spat the yeen, grinning.

"_Me_fake? How can a Slaska fan from Radno call anyone fake?" He snorted through his fake outrage. "Glory hunter."

"He's gotcha there, Kuba," chimed the yote.

"Ah, whatever." Kuba waved them both away. "You're just pissed because we beat you guys last season."

"As if."

"Home_and_ away."

I found myself pulled in all over again, enjoying the ongoing banter bouncing around between them. It's then I realised... They were still talking Polcian. They hadn't slipped back to their natural habits. As much as the tinge of guilt over not speaking their language remained, I appreciated their efforts, conscious or not. It sure made a change to the conversations I'd become accustomed to being involved in of late.

"So hey, man." The yeen poked a finger to his chest. "I'm Jakub. Kuba's fine." He pointed towards the coyote. "This here is Dusan." Then came a thumb back at the bear. "And the masochist Blues fan there is Ludo."

"Push off." Ludo nudged him in the back. Still smiles all round.

"Nice to meet you guys," I replied. "I'm Max."

"Hey, what accent is that?" Dusan sat up straighter, his skinny white muzzle creeping towards the shelf while words flowed out softly. "Where are you from?"

"Accent?"

"Yeah." One side of his mouth raised with a smirk. "I'm having to focus really hard on what you're saying."

"Oh." That had me real self-conscious all of a sudden. Their Polcian was faultless. Better than mine, even... "Uh... It's Vitmaric. I'm from Vitmark."

"Polcia?"

"No, the other Vitmark," Kuba quipped.

"I'm just asking!" He turned back to me unfazed. "That's cool. Never met anyone from Vitmark before."

"Yeah, I can believe that. I haven't met anyone else here from back home yet."

"Surprised?" His smirk crept wider, paws out and extended. "You're a long way from home."

"What brings you here?" Kuba's turn to jump in with the questions. Not that I minded! "You came just to study?"

"I wanted to try something new, I guess. Get out of my hometown... See someplace new." They all nodded and mumbled their appreciation. "Plus the fees here are a lot less steep compared to back home."

"Yeah, that'll do it," Dusan called, chuckling. "Welcome to Vodaskal, then."

"Thanks." My ears pricked and my tail flicked into a sway across the seat I'd left empty. Airport posters aside... I think his was the first welcome I'd had here.

The bear, Ludo, had been waiting patiently. I'd kept noticing him leaning closer, ears perked, one good shift away from steamrolling Kuba in the seat beside him. In the first hint of a gap, he didn't hesitate to fill it.

"You're into handball, right? You gotta be if you recognised my shirt."

"Yeah. Yeah, I am."

"Nice, nice." He clenched his fist in victory. "A lot of people are all about hockey or rushball here."

"I got that impression from how much air time they get here. Hockey's big back home. Rushball, not so much. Handball's definitely the number one sport, though."

"Hah, sounds like my kinda place!"

"You might have a tough time getting there," said Dusan.

"No shit," he shot back. "Alright... it'd be my kinda place _if_I'd be allowed in."

"You'd have a hell of a battle getting a seat for a game, too."

"Huh..." Ludo's eyes came back up towards me. "Guessing the arenas back in Vitmark don't have too many doors for... taller fans, am I right?"

"Afraid not." I chuckled at the thought of a bear his size confronted by a turnstile he could reach a paw around. "It'd be more than a tight squeeze for sure."

"Fuck it, I'd have them wheel me through the goods entrance or something."

"That... might work. But then there's the seating issue."

"What?" he cried, playing up the paw he threw to his hip. "No Visoka section?"

"Afraid not. I think the section of seats you'd need to buy yourself would cost a small fortune. Both to buy, and to fix up after."

"Hey!" The bellow caught me off guard, sending a wicked shudder from my head to my toes. "Making fun of my weight?"

A flash of anxiety. These guys had me so well at ease. At ease enough to make fun... of a Visoka. My face must have been a picture...

"Ahh!" he jabbed out a finger, laughing and jeering. "Gotcha."

"Man," Dusan sang at him. "Don't be a jerk."

"Yeah, don't go giving Max a hard time." Kuba called. "Plus he's not wrong. It'd probably take some kinda Polcian military operation trying to wheel your big ass around."

They carried on mocking and playing between themselves. Meanwhile, I let my heart sink back from my throat to my chest.

"Hey, hey." Ludo waved both paws out in front of him. "Sorry, Snowy." He stood up, climbed onto his creaking seat, and reached to extend a fist towards the shelf. "Only messing with ya."

I got the message. It took a stretch, but I returned the fist bump... to his middle knuckle.

"Can I call ya Snowy?"

"I guess... I mean, I've been called worse."

"Oh?" He creased up with a grin. "Like?"

"Y'know..." That should have been the moment for a great joke to really smash the ice. Too bad my mind went totally blank. "Never mind. Snowy's fine."

Ludo's brow furrowed in bemusement. I'd have Kuba to thank for saving me, knowingly or not.

"Wanna come join us down here?" he asked from Ludo's considerable shadow. I had to lean to get a better view past the bear's fist. "Don't know about these guys, but I'm getting a stiff neck from looking up there over and over."

"Down there?" I didn't know how to let that sit with me. "Where you're sitting?"

"Sure."

"How would that work?"

His head cocked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... Is it allowed?"

"Of course," he scoffed back. "You won't be the only one. Take a look around."

I obliged... and he wasn't wrong. There were a decent number of Maleni down there, chilling atop desks in seats sized for them, talking to friends big and small. Two weeks into the school year, and somehow I'd never seen this.

"Yeah," Ludo shifted back towards his seat. "No rules saying you _have_to be up there, y'know." He nudged a laptop bag aside, revealing a trio of smaller seats it had been blocking. "No-one will say a thing."

I managed a smile to match the ones they had on show. "Okay. Sure."

"Cool!"

Grabbing up my books, I took pause. "What's the best way of getting down there? Is there a door for us somewhere?"

Dusan, closest to me, waved that away. "Don't worry about that. I'll help you down."

"You'll... What?"

"I'll help you." He stood and jumped onto his seat in one swift motion. How someone his size could move so fast... staggered me. I gathered my senses in time to see his cupped paws approached, coming to rest just short of the guardrail. "It's not far. Climb in."

I shuffled for a better view over the edge. It was less of a climb, more of a jump. A small one, perhaps... but a far bigger potential fall awaited beyond brown-flecked white paws.

"Come on, it's not far. I'll catch you." He peered up at me with earnest amber eyes, teeth happily on display. A look that cut through the fear and helped me be at ease.

"You guys better hurry before there's too much of an audience," Kuba called. "This part is less okay."

"I figured." Thankfully I'd brought a backpack today. Go me for thinking ahead for once. I shoved my books inside under the watchful collective eye of those two guys along the row. No idea how much of this whole encounter they'd picked up on so far.

I stood up, bag strap in hand. The obligation to explain this away to them grew strong. Even more so once I noticed the girls in the row in front glancing back my way.

"Max," Dusan beckoned. "Are you coming?"

"Uh." I reached for the rail. A shrug to those around me seemed best. "Bye?"

I'm sure the drop grew larger once I'd lifted a leg over the guard. Instincts tightened my grasp on the top rail. Dusan waited, still grinning, just like Kuba and Ludo in their seats beside him. We'd attracted an audience down in the main section, too. Some looked confused. Others more entertained. All subtlety had long since left.

My other leg followed, taking me to the very edge. One step more would leave me at gravity's mercy. Not to mention Dusan's paws. Of all the things I'd read up on about mixed-size living back at home, in the university brochures and online, nothing related to base jumping in a lecture hall had come up. At least it'd be a story to tell.

I let my bag go first. A practice run of sorts. I watched it fall maybe half a second, striking Dusan's palmpad and bouncing to rest in the crevice formed between his two big handpaws. They appeared solid enough. Large enough to fit me inside twice over, easily. My hold on the rail loosened.

Murmurs of anticipation rippled from a few of the students around us, growing louder the closer I convinced myself to step off the ledge. Dusan's smile grew to put creases in his eyes. Ears perked to their highest. Silent assistance.

My hands went free and my balance tipped forward. Suddenly I had nothing but his paws in view, exploding even larger in size as I made my descent.

I fell close to my full standing height. A half-second of weightlessness went on close to forever. Until modest cheers replaced the sound of anticipation.

Even with outstretched arms, I caught a stinging faceful of Dusan's rough palmpad. What give it had helped cushion the fall at least.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so."

"You're okay." His chuckle sent a breeze brushing over me, adding to the soft scent of his paws. "Hang on, I'm going to climb down."

I obeyed his command without hesitation, grabbing two firm handfuls of his pad. The seating area above rose even further away from us. Twice, maybe three times the height, just from his single step down from his seat... "Thanks for not making me jump this far."

"No problem." Another blast of air caught my fur. Warm and strangely reassuring. "I thought that might have been a little much."

I began to ease my hold, sharing in a laugh. That ended the instant he dropped down into his seat. Of course, I moved with him. At speed. Gravity weakened. Enough that I thought I'd float right out of his paws. No need for prompting this time. I grabbed onto his paw and squeezed for dear life.

Everything went bump. I shook along with what felt like the entire world around me. Gods, even my brain rattled the inside of my skull.

"Max?" Something prodded at my back. Still prone, I glanced up to find Dusan nudging me with a thumb. "You can let go now."

The three of them could barely contain their amusement, the odd snort escaping here and there. I turned back ahead to see me clinging to the midpoint of his middle finger.

My own fingers ached from how hard I'd been holding. Claws and all. None of it seemed to hurt or faze him. The mocking from above sure confirmed that.

Heat made itself known in my ears, my cheeks, my whole damn face. I did let go, but I didn't bother to sit up to turn and face them... Turned out I'd not get a choice in that last part, however.

Dusan shifted the paw I'd been clinging to, lifting and tipping me up and over onto the other.

I rolled with my backpack, landing butt-first on his other palmpad. I could see all three of them now, a bear, hyena and coyote all watching from above, grinning like idiots. I tried not to be pissed, but... maybe I'd made a mistake coming down here.

"H-Hey, guys," Dusan pushed through his ever-lurking laugh. "Stop. Stop. Don't be mean."

"It's fine," I snipped. "I can take a joke..." Mostly.

"Is this your first time being held?"

"What?"

He recoiled just a little. I guess I shot that harder than intended. "By someone our size I mean. A Visoka."

"Oh." My hackles went down. Muzzle, too. "I suppose. Yeah."

All trace of laughter had faded. Seemed like all four of us got to share in some kind of guilt.

"Makes sense," Dusan replied, his ears splayed. "That's my bad. I was a little rough with you there."

"It's okay." A smile prompted the starts of theirs. "It was... all so fast. Like a rollercoaster almost, y'know?"

"I wouldn't. Never had the chance."

"Of riding a rollercoaster?"

"No, silly." A finger poked at my back. "Of being held by someone bigger."

"I can help you out with that," called Ludo.

"_You_can stay sitting," he returned.

Kuba scoffed between them. "I don't think getting picked up by your overgrown self is what he had in mind."

"It'd be the same end result."

"Yeah, right." A flick of Dusan's fingers helped me up onto my feet. I grabbed my bag while he parted his paws, allowing me down onto the desk proper. "You're good, Max?"

"I'm good... But I think getting handled and carried around by taller people is gonna take some getting used to."

"And that there is the first and last time anyone's gonna call you tall," Ludo crowed.

"Whatever. Just move your junk and let him get to his seat."

"This is Kuba's junk, not mine."

"Hey, my stuff's not junk!"

"If it's yours, it's junk..."

I let them have their moment to taunt one another above. Way more snappy and cutting than I'd been used to with friends back home, but it all came in good humour.

Down here on the desk meanwhile, I swerved and sidestepped past Visoka-sized books and stationery. Pens with lids the size of traffic cones. Notebooks thick enough to reach halfway up my shins. This was all a first for me. This is was what it meant to be at a mixed-size university, living in a mixed-sized city. The finger tingling, tail twitching excitement I had over the idea back at home had gained a second wind.

I took one of the sturdy-looking seats set atop the desk to Ludo's right, leaving all three of them to my left. We had a little space between us, as well as a few guards intended I imagine to stop stray body parts from connecting with me. Still, I had to wonder what something aimed my way might cause.

I shoved that idea out of my head for the most part. Everyone here around me was... normal. Just like up on the ledge, people were occupied within their own bubbles. A few sat busy reading books and writing notes. Others spoke with their friends, large and small.

A check of my phone gave the time as a couple of minutes to two. Still no sign of Professor Zajic. Just an empty, dark stage at the front of the hall. Never mind. Him running late gave us all the chance to continue talking on an even level... Relatively speaking.

The subjects we ran through came to us as easy as the conversation itself. I found out that while Kuba was a local to Radno, both Dusan and Ludo had moved here from Koprovice. They'd all met for the first time this summer, over at the dorms they'd been assigned to at Penkava Row.

So enthralled, I didn't register until way after that the seats next to Ludo and me had been occupied. All one group of mixed-sized friends, speaking Velikan like most everyone else here. That prompted the question I'd held since the very start.

"Why are there so many people here for a Polcian-language class?" I kept my voice low, so as not to attract attention from the crowds around us.

"Easy," Kuba replied. "The Velikan version started at 8am this morning."

"No-one in their right mind is getting up for that unless they have to," Ludo added.

That made a whole lot of sense. "Guess that explains all the Velikan speakers up on the shelf, too."

Dusan leaned over from the far side towards me. "Can you really not speak that much Velikan?"

"Beyond the basics... No." I rubbed over my arms. The warmth in my cheeks returned. "I'm trying to learn, but it's been tough going. Dumb, right?"

"Not really." His head cocked gently. No taunting from anyone. "It's supposed to be real hard to learn Velikan as a non-native. Plus, it helps that we learn both Velikan and Polcian from the very start of school here in Vodaskal."

"Stick with us," Kuba boomed, nudging a firm finger over my shoulder. "We'll help you out."

My cheeks went from warming to lifting. I grabbed my desk to steady against his eager rubbing, peering up to say, "Thanks."

"I wouldn't learn from Kuba if I were you." Ludo cracked a smirk. "His Velikan is even worse than his Polcian."

"Says you!"

"Yeah, says me."

"Fatass."

"Beanpole..."

Those two got back into their ribbing, leaving me and Dusan to share a quiet snort and bold, bright, growing smiles.

His amber eyes stayed locked to mine. Each side of orange-brown fur, white ears that matched his cheerful muzzle glowed beneath the ceiling lights. Even with the size difference between us... he sure was easy to look at.

"So who do you follow, Snowy?" Ludo's question blindsided me. I spasmed in my seat. My heart skipped a beat or two. Nobody appeared to notice.

"Who do... Sorry?"

"Who's your team?" My face must have gone as blank as my mind. "Handball, man."

"Right!" I dragged my brain back up to speed. Cleared it of the glowing white haze. "Ebbestorp. My hometown Team."

"For real?"

"Yeah..." I didn't expect surprise. "For real."

"Oh man, I went to the World League game our Maleni team played against you in Koprovice. A couple years back."

We both heard Kuba's mumbled amusement. "The one time any Blues team qualified for world competition."

Ludo huffed, batting the words away. "Yeah... We did lose pretty badly."

"I remember..." Both the game, and the wild celebrations that came with it. "It was a closer game than the score suggested."

"Come off it. You don't lose 53-10 in a close game."

"I guess." He was having fun with this, clearly. I knew I'd not upset him, but his sheer scale demanded I try to be diplomatic. "You weren't that bad."

"You don't have to be gentle," Kuba shifted closer, pointing between the others. "We both know their team sucks."

"Hey," Ludo snapped, arms folded. "Our Maleni team might not be so great lately, but our Visoka team would have done a whole lot better."

"As if that'd be a fair contest."

"No--"

"Either you've got one team playing with a ball as big as them, or one team barely able to fit all seven players on court."

"I meant that our Visoka team is stronger!" "Still sucks."

Ludo's muzzle twitched. He looked past Kuba to Dusan. "Are you planning on backing me up here."

"Why? Who cares what a glory hunter has to say."

Whatever Velikan word Ludo gruffed out did not sound like a pleasant one. "All I'm saying is, it would be a different story if our best players could all play on one team. No size divisions."

"And what a mess of a game that'd be," Kuba sang. "A goalkeeper literally filling the goal while everyone else tries not to flatten or be flattened by their teammates."

"At least we wouldn't lose to any Polcian teams that way." Ludo's grin came as condescending. His height helped. "Scare them off court."

"We'd still beat you," I half-muttered. Size difference be damned, I could hold my own.

"You think so?"

"I do."

"Wow." A heavy puff blasted through my fur, almost carrying me along with it. "Big words for such a tiny guy."

"Maybe." I caught Kuba's and Dusan's ears perking from the corner of my eye. "There's a reason why Vitmaric teams have won the most world championships."

"Yeah, since our best players can't play." His grin twisted. "It's not a contest when we can kick you guys around, apparently."

"Well, you could try." My fur bristled at him sitting all high and mighty. "We'd duck... bite you guys in the fucking ankles, _then_win anyway."

"Oh, damn," Kuba cried, clapping paws together. "Get him, Snowy!"

Behind him, Dusan rose a fist to his muzzle, trying and failing to hide a silent chuckle. That had me smiling most of all.

"Fuckin' Polcians, man." Ludo snorted, glaring giant daggers at me. But only for a moment. A wink broke any fear of tension. Another fistbump offer shattered it completely.

I bumped a knuckle just in time for Professor Zajic's frantic entrance and hurried ascent onto the stage. It was strange to see him from down here. The greying hare looked a whole lot bigger at this angle, unsurprisingly.

"Oh!" Dusan's voice cut through the chatter around us. Whatever he said next sounded panicked. No need to speak Velikan to hear that much. Kuba offered a few words in reply. Ludo threw in a couple of his own, too. As ever, it all came and went far too fast to follow, but that didn't have to stop me. I had no reason to be shy. Not around these guys.

"What's up?"

They turned. Dusan the most shamefaced of all. "Sorry. Force of habit." His ears didn't stay dipped for long. "I just remembered that we're heading to the campus lounge tonight."

"Right." That warranted panic? "Sounds fun."

"Have you been?"

"I haven't. I've been planning to, but..." But I didn't want to go alone.

"Cool." Dusan's ears sprang all the way upright. "Do you want to come?"

"Come_with_ you?" I froze up solid, jaw left hanging half open.

"It's a fun place. Always a nice atmosphere."

"They show the Friday night handball, too," Ludo added. "A local game, then a Polcian League game a little while after."

"Space for students of all sizes, too." Dusan faltered. "Uh, unless you're busy."

"No, no..." This was mad. Everything was happening so fast! I'd only met them a matter of minutes before... but the last thing I wanted to do was turn Dusan or the others down. "That sounds great. Thanks."

"Nice," Kuba roared, ruffling up my head fur. "That makes us four then."

"Okay, alright." Professor Zajic banged at his podium. "Settle down now. Settle down. I know that it's Friday, but you're not rid of me just yet." A few jeers rose from the crowd. "Why am I not surprised to have such a big audience compared to this morning's class?"

Jeers turned to laughs and cheers. Kuba and the others joined in, too. Even I played along, appreciating every part of this high I'd been lifted to.

"Okay. Let's get started..."

I readied my notebook, hearing and feeling the others do the same beside me. Relaxing back, my face tightened into a happy, warming realisation. Sat perched here atop a desk, my small seat surrounded by three bigger guys... three bigger friends, I didn't feel so out of place any more. Maybe life in Vodaskal wouldn't be so lonely after all.