Waking up to sounds around him, Fox slowly sat up and yawned, squeaking a tiny bit at the very end as he closed his mouth and twitched an ear. Evidently he'd shifted during the night.

Looking to his left, he saw Amos tug a shirt over his head. The fabric slid down over his chest easily. It wasn't too toned, but he had a decent body. Turning his attention to the other sounds in the room, Fox glanced to the right and his ears perked up. Owen had a tan towel wrapped around his waist as he dried his hair with a white one.

He was a bit scrawny, but foxes tended to be. They needed to be fast and nimble on their paws.

"Someone's enjoying their view. Well, two someones, but he's probably a bit more interested than me right now, since I know you won't bottom for me," Amos said, drawing Owen to lift his head and halt drying his hair to look at Fox.

He offered a half-grin, making Fox swish his tail and hop to the edge of the bed to get closer to the man. When Owen reached out and gently pat his head a few times, Fox felt like howling. He was just rolling over in the hopes of getting belly rubs when Amos walked over and reached down.

It wasn't Owen, but he didn't mind Amos, either, especially when he found his scratching spot and got his back foot kicking.

Almost as good as being cooked.

"We both have classes today, so we figured that you might want us to call Noah and Henry to pick you up? I think they both work too, though," Amos said as he finished getting dressed and then ran a bit of gel through his hair.

Fox rolled over, thinking about the situation. He didn't mind being alone, that was pretty much his life before Noah found him, but he also wanted to stay with Owen.

"Want to come with us to class? Can you behave?" Owen asked, a raised eyebrow added to the question.

He knows me so well already. I'm in love.

Fox nodded, then paused and tilted his head. After a moment, he nodded again, answering both questions while making Owen give a quiet laugh before he tugged on a nice white dress shirt. He left the top two buttons undone and Fox definitely didn't mind, though he preferred no shirt, of course.

Amos was already walking out the bedroom door with his backpack on his shoulder as Owen reached down for his own.

"Let's head out, my furry friend," Owen said as he headed for the kitchen.

They both added a few protein bars to their bags, then pulled on shoes by the door. Amos had his thick leather boots while Owen tugged on a pair of faded white sneakers.

Fox hurried after them, hopping into the backseat of the car the moment the door was opened for him. He wasn't really interested in being around other people, but Owen had invited him to spend the day together, so of course he was going to accept. He also might need to, kind of, maybe, learn to be a bit more human-like. They had mentioned that he needed to learn some things so that he didn't misunderstand situations, so he intended to observe today.

The car ride was quite fast, taking only about he didn't know how long, because Fox's don't care about time. He was soon hopping down from the car and onto hot asphalt. He immediately shifted from paw to paw, then darted for the shaded sidewalk nearby.

"Sorry bud, forgot to warn you that it gets pretty hot," Amos said as he locked up the car and stepped up onto the sidewalk with Owen.

I should have known, anyway. I've walked across plenty of streets.

He ended up following close on Owen's heels as they made their way across a huge campus. He'd hunted rats around the area a few times, but there were just too many people out and about, even after midnight. It hadn't been a good place to catch things.

"I've got physics first but Amos has English. You might want to tag along with him for the first class," Owen said, making Fox immediately stop walking and drop his ears in a pout.

He had no idea what physics was, but he'd wanted to spend his day with Owen.

"It won't be bad, Fox. We'll regroup after our class and see what the next match up will be, okay?" Owen said with a small smile.

Don't wanna.

The two young men looked at each other, then Amos smirked and Owen closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before looking back down at Fox.

"You said that you would behave. Now you're going to go with Amos and we will talk again after this class. If you misbehave for him I won't let you come with me for any of my other ones," he said, authority in his voice that Fox knew definitely came from his own animal.

He's mad at me.

Getting up, he quickly scrambled over to lie next to Amos' boot, getting a nod of approval from Owen for the action.

"Now be a good boy and go learn a little. I'll see you guys afterward."

Amos gave a slight wave as Owen turned and walked away.

He's mad at me. I don't want him to be mad at me, but I want to be around him more.

Before Fox could sulk more he was suddenly lifted up into Amos' arms and tucked against his side. He wasn't wearing his trademark trench coat, but he did have on a dark gray windbreaker that kept most of Fox covered from others' view.

At least people can't stare at me without me knowing.

They finally stepped inside a massive building a few moments later, the cold air drawing a shiver down Fox's spine that likely had more to do with nerves than actually being cold. He did have a nice fur coat on.

Another door was opened and Amos stepped into a large classroom with desks set up from front to back, with a large screen pulled down in the front. There were already too many people there, even though Fox could only count two. One was a student sitting in a desk while the other was likely the professor, since she was standing at the front of the room.

"Hello Mrs. Bright, I have a friend who would like to sit in on class today, if that's alright?" Amos asked, drawing her attention down to Fox.

He pinned his ears but bit back a growl, remembering that he had to behave.

"Is he potty trained? If so, that shouldn't be a problem," she said, getting a nod from Amos in response as Fox felt the man's finger tap his belly where he was holding him.

Got it, got it. No peeing on the floor. I can hold it if I need to.

"Well then, welcome, little guy. I hope you enjoy the class," she said as she continued setting up whatever she was doing.

Amos thanked her and quickly claimed a seat right up front, to Fox's dismay. He didn't like it when others were behind him, and as the huge room began to fill up, more and more people sat down behind them.

Once most of the seats were full, the teacher called for everyone's attention. Already near panic mode, Fox felt his heart drop into his stomach when the teacher introduced him to the class as a guest, drawing all eyes to him and Amos.

"Sorry, bud," Amos whispered under his breath.

The apology didn't help. Fox was shaking and trying to get farther into Amos' jacket, even though the man had already wrapped him up in it tightly.

"He's a bit shy, if we could just have everyone ignore him. He's not used to people yet," Amos said.

After a few minutes Fox felt most of the pressure of eyes on him dissipate, allowing him to hesitantly poke his nose out from beneath Amos' jacket. Only one or two people out of thirty-something were sneaking glances at him.

Thank god. That was terrible.

Fox was about to turn his attention to the teacher when Amos' hand settled against the side of his head and gently guided it to rest against his chest. He then began to massage his fingers through his fur, paying special attention to his available ear.

He was still on edge, but the gentle attention was at least calming him down a little more.

Instead of trying to figure out what the woman was talking about on the changing screen, Fox let his eyes wander as he listened. He wasn't willing to look over Amos shoulder right away, but there were plenty of people in view to take in. He didn't need to add twenty to that. Most of them were focused because the woman was talking quite fast. Amos even had to take out some paper and a pencil and start writing a couple things down as the class went on.

After about an hour the woman called for a break, making most of the students get up from their desks while those that remained stretched and groaned. Fox hunched back down against Amos as several people walked over to them with wide eyes.

Fox mirrored their wide-eyed stare, but his wouldn't end well if they tried to pet him.

"Sorry guys, but he's not used to people and definitely doesn't want to be pet," Amos said as he tucked Fox a little farther back against his right side to keep him away from everyone.

One of the girls standing at the front of his desk leaned in a little, but then caught herself and leaned back.

"Is he a reaver, by chance? You said that he isn't used to people. Does he not want to be in his human form, or is he just too young?" she asked.

Amos was surprised that the girl even knew what that was, but slowly nodded in response.

"Yeah. He just doesn't like to be in his human form, but we're trying to get him a little more used to it."

The teacher returned with a small cup of coffee as she set it down on the desk by the projecting device and address the class.

"Break is over. Let's get through the last of this chapter, then I might let you guys go early," she said, earning a cheer from the students as they all quickly took their seats.

Fox gave a sigh of relief as they all dissipated. He didn't dare move from Amos' side until the woman dismissed the class.

"Good job, bud," Amos said as he put his stuff away, then carefully lifted Fox while still keeping the jacket covering most of him.

To Fox's delight and surprise Owen was standing right outside the door to the building when they stepped out into the harsh sun.

He had his arms open, and Fox didn't hesitate to jump right into them. There was no jacket to hide in, but he was more than content to just be hugged up against Owen's chest. Fox was just hopping down to relieve himself quickly before the next class when something caught his attention a good distance away. He glanced over to it, then pinned his ears and started to growl quietly.

His reaction drew Owen and Amos' attention. The second Amos seemed to realize who it was, he stepped in front of Fox and straightened up.

Fox's brother slowly walked up to them as he tucked his phone into his back pocket, shaking his head. "Of course you would be here with him. He couldn't attach himself to someone else yet, could he?"

It didn't really seem like a question to him, but before Fox could even take a step backward he was being scooped back up into Owen's arms.

I'm okay with this.

"Why the hell are you here, dude? You aren't going to talk with him and he wants nothing to do with you," Amos said as he took a step forward, making Fox's brother take a quick step back.

The guy seemed to pause at that question as he tried to look over Amos' shoulder, but wasn't quite tall enough. Eventually, he huffed and walked around them, but Amos made sure to stay on the outside of their little group while Owen rotated with him to keep Fox farthest away.

"Have a class," his brother eventually growled out as he stalked into the building.

Once he was completely out of sight Owen relaxed and gently set Fox down, who immediately ran over to a bush and peed like a race horse.

Nothing empties the bladder like a good bit of unforeseen circumstances.

"That's a surprising sentence for you, bud," Amos said, making Fox slowly lower his raised leg and tilt his head.

What?

"He said that he has a class, yet he didn't have a backpack or even a notebook or pencil on him from what I could see," Amos mumbled as Fox hurried back over and pawed at his pant leg, clearly wanting clarification on what the hell just happened between them.

He didn't pick him back up, but Owen did lean over and scratch at his ear for a moment before straightening back up.

"He was putting his phone away when he got here, too," Owen said, making Amos gasp.

Don't you ignore me after you possibly heard me, you turd!

"Shit. It was probably that girl who asked if he was a reiver. Maybe she had known about him from when he was a kid. Possibly even known his brother and texted him that he was here."

Owen sighed and shook his head as he looked back at the building, then hefted his backpack a little higher up on his shoulders.

"Let's just go to class for now, Fox. We won't let him bother you," he said as he headed toward a different part of the campus.

Fox hurried after him, but was a tiny bit hesitant to part ways with Amos.

He definitely trusted that Owen would protect him, but Amos had a good bit of weight and height on him, and he also looked quite a bit more intimating when he wanted to.

Not to mention, I swear he had commented on what I had said earlier.

"Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt," Owen said as he nodded toward a large building way down the concrete path they were on.

Reassured and excited that he would be spending some time with Owen, even in a class full of people, Fox hurried to catch up, deciding to bother with the Amos issue later. He only glanced backward once toward the building him and Amos had recently left.

His brother was standing there, leaning against the side of the structure with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes locked on him.