Reaching for the Stars - Chapter 17: Social Statistics Homework

Story by hashtse_apxan on SoFurry

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#18 of Reaching for the Stars

Another long chapter, yeay

Warning: This chapter contains some light dub-consensual groping, aka Kevin's gotten horny and poor Tom has to be on its receiving end.

Also I just realised the emojis in the last chapter get turned into question marks. I'll see what I can do.


Tom walked out of Andy's car, bags of groceries in hand. There weren't many, just the supplies he needed this month. He needed a new towel, though, since his old one was ripped when he tripped over it.

When he was going home from the supermarket, he met Andy and Nathan who were shopping too. They offered him to go home together--and he helped them carry their groceries--and afterwards they had some food. Andy bought him a lasagne too because he helped him do another homework.

"Thanks a lot, ya, Di!" he said as he closed the door.

Andy waved his hand at him. "No probs, dude. Just call if you need a ride!"

Tom waved back at them as they drove away.

He glanced at the darkening sky. It was early spring; the deadly cold was no longer there to destroy everything. His winter fur was slowly shedding and he was looking forward to going back to a less puffy version of himself who didn't shed everywhere. He walked towards his dorm and took his phone out. It was almost 20.

Nothing like a cup of hot green tea latte to enjoy the night. He had finished his assignments and papers for the next week, so he had some free time.

Oh wait, he still had one. He hadn't done his Social Statistics homework.

Oh well, nothing like a cup of green tea latte to accompany him doing his homework.

He unlocked the door to his dorm room and walked inside, turning the lamp on and taking his jacket off. It was a bit messy since he hadn't had the time to clean it properly after doing his assignments earlier this afternoon. There were plastic bags and paper cups on his nightstand and several more on his bed. His desk was in chaos and books were everywhere.

Sometimes, he was glad that he lived alone. His roommate had moved out during the second semester and he hadn't had a replacement since. He had asked the dorm manager about it, though he didn't know who could be assigned. New students tended to be placed at the newly built north dormitory, so the ones who lived here were mostly old students.

The thought of asking Max or Martin or Kevin--okay, maybe not Kevin--to move here appeared in his mind now and then, but it would be too much work. Besides, living alone meant he could do anything. And no one was there to witness him having one of his breakdowns.

As for now, he put the second bed close to the corner and covered it with a large piece of wood he'd found, making an impromptu kitchen counter where he put his supplies. The other bed was similarly sized. He and Kevin could sleep next to each other on it... er, while cuddling, that was.

He put the plastic bags on the counter and took their contents out, arranging them with the others. The new towel was put in the hanger section of the closet. He also took a clean t-shirt and pants and took his shirt and trousers off.

He took the brush and gave his fur a quick combing. Early spring meant he'd need more time cleaning excess fur from his room. Sometimes, he cursed his rather fluffy fur. It sure made him a lot nicer, and according to Lucy, a lot hotter, especially around his neck, but it was a chore to maintain. He envied Max for having short fur.

Sitting on the bed, he combed through his tail, making sure to give it a little more force. Again, according to Lucy, his tail made him look more graceful. It could be handy as a third hand sometimes. After he was done combing his fur, he made a furball and put it away, then put a fresh t-shirt and pants on.

Okay, now to some cleaning first.

The wolf took a rubbish bag and began putting the rubbish in it. First went the furball. There were several clean paper cups, so he put them back on the counter. He put the bag next to the door and continued by putting the books on his table. He'd done his Advanced Writing paper, so he discarded that book from the rest and put it on another pile to return to the library. When he was done, he began picking the shed fur that he could from the bed and floor. He would borrow Martin's vacuum and clean his room more thoroughly tomorrow.

Right, he had to clean his wooden staff. It looked a bit faded. However, he had an assignment to do, so he'd clean it another time.

He took his laptop and put it on the bed, plugging it in after hours of typing before. It was an endurance champ but he wanted to watch some Furflix later tonight. He'd even bought the popcorn. Smiling to himself at the idea of chilling around, he discarded the sheets of paper from the table and put it on the rubbish bag.

After he was done, he walked to the counter and poured the green tea latte sachet into a cup, then filled it with hot water. He gave it a few stirs and put it on the corner of the desk. He had an assignment to do.

Okay.

He turned his phone on and opened notes. The assignment had lots of numbers and formulae, which were his weakest points. Maths was literally fixed logic; there could only be one answer if one uses the correct formula, but he was pants at it. He took a folio paper and a pencil and put them in front of him in preparation for what was to come.

The Statistics book next to the paper was like a pillow, and for some moments he laid his head atop it, contemplating what would happen if eggplants didn't have eggs in them.

He sipped his drink. Tea was both his strength and his weakness. It helped him calm down but also acted like a drug. It wasn't really an addiction, he just naturally wanted it when he was stressed.

Tea had taught him a lot of things, especially patience, hopefulness, and hard work. If one wanted to drink some tea, they had to do some work. One had to harvest the tea, then put it under the sun for several days to dry out. Then, one had to pour some hot water and wait some more, hoping it would taste good. It wouldn't taste good without sugar, of course, but there came the beauty, there were things to appreciate behind the bitterness of tea. The same can be applied to coffee, albeit with some differences.

Even behind the bitterness of life, there were things to appreciate.

Yet... there was something he noticed. Since that day in Octo's dorm, he noticed that Max was... well, kind of shy? They didn't hang out as often, nor greet each other as often. Maybe it was just because Max was a bit upset because he kissed him that day?

He hoped that was the case.

Ugh, it was always alcohol. Behind every bad decision there was alcohol. He wanted to properly apologise to Max but he couldn't do it when the dog didn't even answer his texts.

Hopefully, Max could get over it soon.

The wolf took a deep breath and leant forward. The assignment wasn't going to finish itself, so it'd be better if he did it now. He quickly skimmed the book, going to the current chapter. There was a formula he had to use to do the first question, and he wasn't sure where was it.

Some questions later, he finished the cup. He leant back on the chair tiredly and glanced at the clock; it was almost 22.

Had it been that long?

The paper was almost full. There were lots of diagrams and tables on it, most of them he couldn't really understand despite having written them. Maybe he should call Ellie and ask for her help to do this assignment.

His ear unconsciously swivelled when he heard a knock on the door, followed by a weak groan. He looked at the door. There was another knock, this time more impatient than before.

The wolf tilted his head a bit. Who could come at this time of night? Max never came to his dorm, while Martin always marched right in like nobody's business and gave him some snacks.

"Come on, door, open!" he heard someone yelling.

He stood up and walked towards the door. Probably just someone knocked at the wrong door.

When he opened the door, he immediately took a step back as his visitor almost knocked at his head. He looked up; it was Kevin.

He wanted to ask why was he here, but the very strong smell of alcohol gave him the answer.

"Heeey, Tom." Kevin said with a drunken smile. "You don't mind me visiting you, right?"

Tom stared at him, frowning. "Kev, what're you doing?"

The other wolf scratched his nape. "Um, having a good time?"

He crossed his arms. "How much have you had?"

"Um," Kevin looked away, still scratching his nape. "I remember taking 3 cans... then I lost count."

"Did you break to the second package?"

Kevin burped. "Er, yeah, I think."

Tom facepalmed.

"That shit tastes so good, how could I don't drink it? 'Sides, my friends are enjoying it."

He jabbed Kevin's side, earning a surprised yelp. "Get back to your bloody dorm sana."

"It's on the other side of the campus." The bigger wolf said, rubbing his abused side.

"So?"

"So,"

Tom's tail waved as he stared at him, then he shook his head in disapproval. "You're just... terserah lah." He moved aside to let the red wolf come in.

Kevin instantly crashed on the bed, whining something about the bed being soft or things close to that. Tom gave him a look, did he really go to a pub? He was only wearing a loose t-shirt and pants, too casual to go to a pub. Did he even go here through the cold in just all that?

Letting out a sigh, Tom sat back on his chair and continued doing his assignment. "Has anybody ever told you that you are the most insufferable person in existence?"

Kevin sat up. "Um, wat?"

"Nothing."

They went quiet. The smaller wolf thought Kevin was sleeping as he worked out the formula for the next question. He heard some shuffling sound and thought that Kevin was just taking his shirt off. No matter, he had to concentrate on the assignment.

Everything was silent until he was done with the question. When he felt something brushed against his nape, he realised Kevin was looking at what he was doing all along.

"What's that?" he asked.

"This--get off!" Tom said, pushing the bigger wolf's muzzle away. "You reek of alcohol."

Kevin kept looking at him curiously. "You doing your homework?"

"Yes. Now sit down and don't disturb me."

The larger wolf did so, sitting on the bed quietly, still in his t-shirt. Tom moved to the next question, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make out the last piece of the formula. His calculations were always wrong.

"Stop wagging your tail, it sounds annoying." He said to the other.

He tried again. This time, he could find that he put the wrong variable. He corrected it, but his calculation still came out wrong.

He felt like Kevin was still watching him curiously.

Leaning on the chair, he let out a tired sigh. "Okay, what do you want dah?" he said while looking at the ceiling.

Kevin burped. "What's that?"

"My homework." He glanced at the red wolf in annoyance. Admittedly, Kevin looked very cute like that, but he was too annoyed to care right now. "Any more question?"

"Yeah, er," Kevin scratched his nape. "what's that? I mean, what's your homework?"

"Social Statistics. I don't suppose you can help me with this." Tom said, sipping his drink only to find that his cup was empty.

"Uh, maybe I can?"

"I don't reckon you can do that while being drunk."

"Just explain it to me." Again with the tail wagging.

Tom sighed again but did that, nonetheless. "I'm stuck on the fourth question. It tells me to calculate the average and standard deviation and percent frequency distribution of the given data. The problem is, my formula doesn't work, or somehow it doesn't work." The wolf looked at his paper and flipped it to see his previous answers.

Kevin hummed.

"I'm pretty sure it's the same with the previous questions but... my calculation results just don't make any sense." He ran his hand through his head fur, then looked at Kevin. The other wolf was looking at him, but his eyes were half-open, a bit hazy. "Are you even listening?"

Kevin closed his eyes. "God, don't stop talking."

Tom looked below and found a pretty sizable bulge in the red wolf's pants.

He instantly kicked it. Kevin groaned and tensed up, holding his nether region with his face in pain. "The fuck did you do that for?!"

"The fuck did you do that for?!" he bit him back despite being slightly excited at the bulge. It looked nice.

Ehem. Okay.

He extended his arm, wanting to flick Kevin's ear for having used his voice for excitement. However, it kind of... turned him on. He didn't know that he could really do that.

Instead, Kevin took his arm and threw him into the bed, then flipped them so that he was on top of the grey wolf. The movement caught Tom off guard. Kevin planted his hands on either side of his head while looking down at Tom with a wolfish grin.

Tom gulped; somehow, this excited and scared him at the same time. Maybe because he had imagined being in this position a few times. As much as he liked it, though, he had never imagined him to be drunk. He could still take him despite Kevin being one and a half time larger and a lot more muscular than him. He wanted to push the other wolf away, but then Kevin growled low, making his ears flatten.

"You know, that turns me on so much." He said, still with that grin.

He struggled, holding Kevin's thick arms as leverages. "Kevin, wait--"

"Now, you're gonna be responsible of that." Then Kevin bit him softly on the neck, and Tom's eyes widened as he thought he was being attacked.

It stung a bit. The big wolf then licked the spot which he bit.

"K-Kev..."

"Feels good, huh?"

Kevin bit him again, making Tom grip his sides. Fuck, Kevin was hard all over.

"You want me to take him?" Lain asked him inside his head.

Tom's eyes widened a bit, then he relaxed. "Uh, you don't need to."

Lain answered. "Really? You're gonna let him rape you?"

"I don't know..."

He did not answer, but he could feel Lain watching him with a grin. Since when had Lain been up and watching him anyway?

He then froze when he felt Kevin's hand going under his t-shirt. His grip hardened as it groped him all over.

"You feel nice. Fuck, you smell nice." The other wolf said, smelling and licking his neck. Tom closed his eyes and pushed him slowly. "Fuck, Tom, you drive me crazy."

"Suit yourself."

"Mmm." Kevin nipped his ear, then licked it. "Tastes good."

"Hnn." Too bad you reek of alcohol, Kev.

Kevin grunted in approval and pulled Tom's t-shirt up, revealing his light grey chest. He then went down to lick it.

"F-fuck, Tom."

He then leant down to lie on him, taking in his scent. Suddenly, he stopped.

A few moments later, Tom could hear his soft snores.

Fuck. That was close. Too close.

He just lay there with Kevin on top of him. His dick was rock hard inside his pants, rubbing against the red wolf's pecs in a sweet way.

The room was dead silent. He looked at the ceiling. The pattern there was delicate, thin black lines weaving against the white background. Kevin was heavy, yet this position was what he wanted all along. Tom closed his eyes. His hands were now gripping the other wolf's upper arms and shoulders. He ran his hands on them, feeling their firmness and the soft fur. Kevin's fur was surprisingly soft.

Okay, he could do the assignment tomorrow. Now, he wished he could fall asleep peacefully. He had no intention to move Kevin, not when he was within his arm's reach, although he knew he should move him.

"Feels good?"

"Shut up."

Lain laughed. "Whatever you say."


Kevin woke up to a terrible headache. He gripped his head and groaned, then his stomach gurgled.

He tried to open his eyes, but the light was too much. There was an urge to throw up, and he sat up holding his mouth.

"Here."

He took the offered plastic bag and threw up immediately.

When he was done, he put it away, only to have it pushed back at him. He pushed it away again, and this time it was put away.

The wolf lay back on the bed and gripped his head. What happened? Did he drink too much again last night? His memories were fuzzy, but he could remember going out with Geoffrey, Spencer, and some other guys to... somewhere. One can led to another, and he lost count.

He lost count.

"Tom?" he meekly said. His voice was hoarse as he spoke. He put his arm over his head to cover his eyes.

"You really are fucked up, ya kan Kev?" replied Tom beside him.

"Yeah..."

He felt a hand lifting the back of his head while another holding a drink over his muzzle. Weakly, he just let himself be manipulated.

The water helped his burning throat ease up. He coughed a bit, then continued drinking until the glass was empty.

He then dared open his eyes fully. The sunlight from the window blinded him a little, then his eyes adjusted the input and took a glance over the room. The room he was in didn't seem like his place, so he guessed he was at Tom's.

...why was he at Tom's?

"What happened last night, Kev? With the alcohol, I mean."

"Dunno." He let out a sigh. "I was just having a good time with my buddies."

"Whatever you did, just please make sure not to drink too much. And please don't make going to my dorm when you're drunk a habit."

He looked beside him. Tom was sitting on a chair in front of the desk, eyes on him. The smaller wolf didn't look impressed, but there was sympathy in his gaze.

Kevin let out another sigh. As Tom spoke, his mind calmed. Why was to him his speech really... good? Maybe it was his voice, maybe it was his speech style; whenever Tom spoke, he felt like he was at the right place with the right person.

"Did you break up or something?"

He wiped his face. "No. Didn't even have a boyfriend."

"I don't suppose you remember what exactly happened after you were drunk and afterwards?"

"No... nothing." He looked at the ceilings and thought about it. What did he do last night? "I remember going somewhere to get drunk... Vilkas was being an ass, then..." he wiped his face again. "I remember walking here."

He remembered walking beside Spencer to a house... Mark's house. There were snacks there, some video games, straight porn vids, lots of beer cans. He remembered Mark offered him to stay the night, but he stubbornly refused and went ahead instead. He remembered walking to Tom's dorm and being questioned by the dorm manager. There was no one that night. He remembered looking at Tom writing something, then pinning him down, then licking him...

Wait.

Abruptly, he sat up. He fought the urge to cringe at his grogginess and looked at Tom instead. The grey wolf looked surprised. What the _fuck_did he do last night?!

"Tom!" He said. "Fuck! Dude! I-I'm sorry about last night! Really, I-I was drunk! I didn't know what I was doing! I swear I didn't mean to do that!" He made gestures with his hands. "I-I'll do anything for you!"

"Kev, you don't need t--"

Panicking, he continued. "I'll fucking do anything! Really! If you want to fuck me just say so! If you want me to be your servant, your sidekick, anything! I swear I won't m--"

"Kev!" said Tom, stopping his blabber. He sighed and looked at the ceilings, then back at Kevin. "Really, that was... as terrible as that was, that wasn't your fault. I know you were drunk and I'm not holding it against you. Now I know how forward are you in bed, sih."

Kevin looked down. He couldn't remember anything else from last night, which was best in his opinion. That had been seriously terrible for him.

Tom let out a sigh. "It's kind of surprising, you know, I always thought you fuck a lot."

"I may fuck a lot, but I'm not a rapist." He replied in a low voice, still looking down. "I'm not gonna do anything if the other one doesn't want it."

He was lucky this time. Tom wasn't one to hold grudges and spread stories around. He also didn't seem to be the type to use what he had against him. Kevin knew if one word went out, his reputation, his entire college and basketball carrier would be over. He could even be kicked out of college.

If last night he ran into someone else instead, then he might as well count his days.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, if you're concerned." Tom said, making him turn to him.

"Tom, seriously, lemme make it up to you. I'll fucking do anything! Free tickets, a fuck, sidekick, hell, even being your bitch! I'll--"

"That's not going to help, you know." The other interrupted him, then facepalmed. "How about this, if you really want to do anything, then don't drink too much, okay? Just keep it... somewhat above what you can handle."

Kevin stared at him, then looked back down in defeat. "Y-yeah..."

"Besides, I didn't get my feelings on it, you know. I know you're the type to... to put it mildly, to look for fucks whenever you can, but I'm surprised you're so horrified when you realised what you did." Tom shrugged.

"I'm not..." He said, letting out a sigh. He knew a limit when he saw one, which was why he almost always left his one-night standers satisfied. "True that, I look for fucks whenever I can, but I always make sure the other's into it, y'know. I only go all the way in if they say yes."

"Consent, I like that."

"Yeah, consent." Kevin put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. "I mean, I know you're not interested, but you always look like you're at least curious. Maybe that was what my drunk mind picked up, or I don't know, maybe I was so goddamn fucked up last night."

He looked at Tom. The smaller wolf looked thoughtful. He was staring at his desk, as if he were talking to himself in his mind. He then looked up at the stack of books. He was staring at it, but his gaze was not there.

Eventually, he let out a sigh and said. "I know. Sometimes I do seem like curious, but I'm not going to do it." He then looked at Kevin. "Sorry, Kev. Sorry."

Considering his fading crush, that wasn't a big deal anymore. "'S not a big deal."

"So, no hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings." Kevin let out a small dry chuckle.

"Heh, that's Kevin for you, alright." Tom then stood up and took the glass. "You want me to boop you?"

He chuckled again, this time more genuine. "Well if you want you--"

He was cut when he felt a paw on his nose. "Boop."

Tom pulled his hand away and laughed loudly, taking the empty glass and walking away.

"Let's... not do that again." Kevin said but chuckled along. He leant on the wall behind the bed, looking away and blushing a bit.

"One thing makes me wonder, though, how can you talk so clearly now after being so thoroughly rekt last night?"

"Ehh... magic, maybe."

"Right, and you'll grow wings in a few moments." Tom chuckled and gave him another glass of water.

He accepted the glass and drank the water. "What time is it?"

"Almost half to ten. Good thing it's Saturday."

His stomach rumbled. "Shit, I'm hungry."

"I prepared some instant soup, but I'm still boiling the water." A ding could be heard. "There it is."

"Boiling?"

"You know, electric water heater." Shrugging, Tom poured the water into a bowl and gave it a few stirs. "It's not the best, but I hope it's enough anyway. I usually eat this whenever I woke up after being drunk."

"You get drunk?"

"Not usually, and I have high alcohol tolerance, so I hope that's not saying something." He sat on the chair and gave Kevin the bowl.

Kevin took a spoonful of the soup, then almost put it back.

Tom laughed. "It's hot. I think you could tell by the steam."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me." Kevin looked down. "It doesn't really taste that bad."

"You know, I'm actually pretty glad you're sober not only when you're drunk."

He turned his head at the smaller wolf; Tom was looking at him with a fond smile.

"Well, you're still a lot easier to deal with when you're a little drunk, but after dealing with your arseholery all this time, seems I picked up one thing or two to handle you. But seriously don't just go to my dorm when you're drunk."

"Glad to hear that... I think." Trying to eat the soup again, Kevin shrugged. "So, we're now friends?"

Tom laughed. "I think one can speak for oneself."

The door suddenly opened, revealing a certain red fox who was currently carrying something in his hand. "Saluuuut, loup fou ! Est-ce qu'on est prê--" Martin stopped when he saw Kevin on Tom's bed.

Tom crossed his arms with another smile on his face. "You're not doing your entrance dance?"

"Qu'est-ce qu'il fait là ?!"

Kevin grinned at him.

"Long story. Now, where's that bread you bloody promised me three days ago?"

Martin closed the door behind him. "Oh, oui." He scratched his head. "I forgot."

The red wolf snickered. Maybe today was going to be fun.


_Remember guys, consent is fun.

Fun fact: I wanted to name this chapter "Sexual Statistics" but it just sounds so nope._

Notes

Terserah lah = Whatever

Saluuuut, loup fou ! Est-ce qu'on est prê--= Helloooo, crazy wolf! Are we re--

Qu'est-ce qu'il fait là ?! = What's he doing here?!