Nightshade Academy (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 4

First an arm wound its way out of the wadded cocoon of sheets, then a leg. I cocked my head to the side in fascination as more limbs emerged from the green and plaid masses until Dakota's head finally poked around a plethora of pillows. When he was fully visible I gasped and stared wide eyed up at him. He yawned and there the wailing sound was again. Well now I know where that came from. He rubbed sleep from his tired eyes and extended his arms in a great stretch. He glanced over at me and blinked. He blinked a few more times as if trying to remember who I was and then a spark of understanding flashed in his eyes.

"Oh, morning Ollie." He mumbled as he clambered out of bed. He half fell to the ground, his sheets still clinging to his body as his feet settled on the floor.

"Morning." I replied half dazed still staring in wonder at his head, or really what was on top of it. Dakota yawned again as if it were just too early to be awake and scratched the side of his face. His eyes drifted back over to mine and stopped. He glanced around for a second then back at me.

"Yes?" He finally said after realizing it was him I was staring at.

"Uh." I began, not really sure how to say it. He tilted his head to the side and so did the things on top of it.

"Uh." I started again. "Um, that." I pointed to his head and he furrowed his brows.

"What? Do I have bed head?" he seemed legitimately concerned now as he started flattening down his thick tangles. His hands passed right over it, uncaring, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to him, but I still couldn't get over it. He fussed with his hair a minute more before looking back over at me for approval.

"Well." I said slowly, crossing the room to where he stood. I stared up at his head curiously for a moment then back down to his eyes.

"What?" he whined. I hesitated as I lifted a wary hand to his head, and then my curiosity just couldn't be contained. I lightly poked at the rather large dog ears now protruding from my roommate's head. They flicked back in response and I smiled curiously up at them. I poked them again and then carefully held them in my hands, rubbing them lightly between my fingertips. I stared up at them with childlike fascination, wondering how they had gotten there. I felt around the base of his ears where they connected to his head and found them to be genuinely attached to his skull. How does that work? A million questions floated into my head as I thumbed Dakota's new werewolf style ears. I had never met a werewolf before so seeing someone with dog ears stuck to their head was a first for me. As I played with them like they were the most interesting thing in the world, Dakota slowly leaned in closer to me. I glanced down at his face and saw it to be the mirror image of pure bliss. For a moment he seemed to have forgotten his human form and barked at me. Barked at me. Not like an annoying yap from a Chihuahua or deep howl of a Great Dane. It was a playful yip and was actually pretty cute. He leaned in closer and rested his head on my shoulder, staring up at me expectantly with big, puppy dog eyes. I found myself captivated by his stare and curved my fingers around the back of his ears. He bobbed his head up into my hands and seemed to let out a small whimper. I cocked my head to the side and did it again. His head bounced up again and I smiled as I began to scratch behind his ears like he was a normal dog. He started panting and stared happily up at me through lidded eyes. I chuckled and rubbed the spot a little harder.

"Does that feel good?" I asked. At the sound of my voice he finally snapped out of it and jumped back. A deep blush blossomed across his face and he shuffled away from me. He coughed several times into his arm, trying to cover up his embarrassment. Then he straightened out and looked everywhere in the room besides me.

"Uh, sorry. I just uh..." He trailed off and coughed a few more times, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath. I smiled.

"It's fine. I thought it was cute." I answered truthfully. His head whipped around and a flurry of emotions crossed his face, starting from angry to touched and then settling into a childish pout like he didn't like being called cute. I laughed at his childish demeanor and he scowled back over at me.