As night engulfed the forest, Felix paced at the entrance to the camp, his short reddish-brown tail flicking nervously back and forth. When he paused to sit on a log, his leg bounced with nervous energy. An irritated frown twisted his lips and he finally gave up, starting to pace again. The slight chill in the night air caressed his heated skin, pimpling his flesh. Biting his thumbnail, he rubbed at one arm, pacing the short width of the path between the first few buildings and the forest beyond.
“Felix, any sign of Nikki?” came the professor’s voice as the middle-aged tiger strode up from the center of camp. His striped orange tail swished behind him with each step, his rounded ears perked to catch every sound.
Ruddy black-tipped ears flattened as Felix turned to face the music. “No, sir… he hasn’t come back.”
The professor let out a long sigh and he took a seat on a nearby log, leaning his head back against a building. “You guys should have said he left something at the survey site… The paths around here are pretty dangerous at night and the forest isn’t a playground.”
“I tried going with him, but he yelled at me and ran off,” Felix grumbled, crossing his arms. “I know to back off when Nikki gets like that…”
“Still,” the professor insisted, reaching into one of the pockets on his extremely stereotypical utility mesh vest. He pulled out a flask and unscrewed the cap, tipping back the flask for a quick sip. “Ah… that’s better. Well, anyway, I’ll send the grad students to search for him in the morning if he hasn’t shown up by then. We’ll be at a different site tomorrow, closer to base camp, so they don’t need to tag along. You should go get dinner from the mess. Won’t be much left if you wait.”
“Right… and I need to take out my contacts…” Felix muttered. He glanced again at the dark forest. The noise of the night insects filled the brief silence as Felix tried to pierce the darkness between the trees with his eyes alone.
“You starving and chilled isn’t going to make him show up any faster,” the professor stated. He took another pull from the flask before he tipped the container towards the mess hall. “Go eat.”
With a nod, Felix rubbed his upper arms, taking another look at the forest. A moment passed and he turned, trudging back down the path to the mess. His tail curled against his rear as he walked, his shoulders hunched forward, his ears pinned to his hair.
Where the hell are ya, Nikki?
One of the women from the class called out to him as he got closer to the mess hall, the light from inside spilling out into the darkening night. She leaned on the railing, standing on the porch with a hand waving in the air, her fluffy black ears and sweeping tail perked. For the life of him, Felix couldn’t remember her name. But he remembered her face and tried to hide his grimace.
“Felix! Hey Felix! I saved you and Nikki a plate! Is he back yet?” she called, grinning.
Felix shook his head as he climbed the porch stairs to stand by her, his green eyes turning to look back at the dark forest once more. He could see the professor there, still sipping on his flask, keeping vigil.
“Nah,” he said after a moment, “no sign of him yet. I shouldn’t’ve let him go alone…”
His classmate shrugged and steered him through the door, her hands pressed against his back. “We all heard you try to go with him, he didn’t want you along. Don’t blame yourself. You want tea? You look like you could use some tea.”
“Any chance there’s cocoa left instead?” Felix asked as he allowed her to steer him to a space on a bench.
“Yup, plenty of packets left, I’ll make you a mug. Marshmallows?”
“Oh, gods, yes please!”
She laughed at that, walking into the kitchen space. Her chatter reached his sensitive ears as she spoke with the cooks who were cleaning up, letting them know to leave a plate for Nikki and that Felix was here for his dinner. She popped back out after a minute or two with a steaming plate of fish curry with fluffy white rice and a mug of hot cocoa.
“Nothing beats curry after a stressful day,” she said as she set the plate and mug down. Before Felix could ask for utensils, she disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a spoon, chopsticks, and a couple of napkins. “Forgot to ask if you wanted chopsticks or no, so I just kinda grabbed.”
Felix accepted both with a smile, plastering on his best customer service face. “I’m not really great with them, to be honest. Never had much reason to get good… but I do like fish.”
“Ever had curry?”
With a shake of his head, Felix set the chopsticks on the napkins and filled the spoon with a bit of curry, a large piece of white fish glistening in the red-brown sauce.
“Just a warning, it’s a bit spicy!” she piped up right as Felix put it in his mouth.
With a hiss of pain, Felix quickly swallowed the food, stuck his tongue out, and fanned his burning tongue. Wincing, the caracal whined, tears coming to his eyes.
His classmate covered her mouth and laughed before turning and dipping into the kitchen. She came back out with a cup of water and put it in front of him. “Guess you’re not a fan of spicy?”
Rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand, he gave her a slight glare. “I can deal with it if I know beforehand! Sudden spice isn’t fun unless you’re masochistic…” Felix grinned suddenly and laughed. “When Nikki gets back, don’t tell him it’s spicy. Serves him right for ditching everyone.”
The woman laughed and shook her head, sitting across from Felix. “If I’m still awake when he gets back to camp, I’ll be sure not to tell him.”
Nodding sagely, Felix eyed the curry again. He had to admit, it tasted fantastic - just the spice was going to eat through his taste buds. Taking a breath and steeling himself, he started in on the curry again, shoveling the food into his mouth quickly to cut down on the time that the spices touched his lips or tongue.
“Don’t choke, dude,” the woman said with a laugh. “Remember to breathe.”
Felix stuck out his burning tongue, set down the spoon on the plate, and reached for his hot cocoa. Fluffy marshmallows melted on the top of the milky chocolate liquid, taunting him with their sweetness. He downed half the mug in a greedy gulp, nearly moaning at the silky-smooth taste. Rejuvenated, Felix turned back to the curry.
“Time to finish this battle,” the caracal grinned as he picked up his spoon again. Like a starving orphan, Felix dove into his food, shoveling it down his gullet as quickly as possible. Out of his peripheral vision, Felix saw the woman across from him scrunch up her face and look away.
Good. He could tell when someone flirted with him and in her case, he wasn’t the least bit interested. He was bi, certainly, but she wasn’t his type. Sure, she had a great figure and a face that could inspire dead men to action. It was her personality that Felix couldn’t stand. She could be nice, on occasion, but it wasn’t universal. After Felix caught her bullying a few girls in the halls on campus, he always made sure to step in and stop it.
Bullying wasn’t okay. Full stop.
And this chick? She was a bully. Even if she was nice to almost everyone else and flirted with whoever she considered prime alpha material.
Felix gulped down the last of his dinner and downed the rest of his cocoa. Knowing he should, the feline begrudgingly drank the cup of water. As his classmate went to take the dishes, Felix waved her off.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, flashing her his best smile. “You go on to bed.”
She shrugged and stood, “Don’t stay up too late waiting for him.”
He smiled in agreement, nodded, as he stood. Picking up his dishes, Felix strode into the kitchen and went to the sink for dishes. He greeted the kitchen crew who had just finished their clean up. With quick strokes of the soapy sponge, he washed his dirty dishes, avoiding touching the grungy water as much as possible. One after the other, dripping dishes found their way onto the drying rack. One of the kitchen crew handed him a towel for his hands and told him to leave the dishes to dry. Happily, the feline dried his hands and hung up the towel.
With that taken care of, Felix waved his thanks to the kitchen crew, ducked out the back door, and quickly made his way to the cabin he shared with a few of the guys and Nikki.
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