Studies with wolves
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Pursuit of knowledge by halfpastmonsoon
Fandoms: ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon
03 Mar 2026
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Kabru sat sideways in his chair and leaned back slightly, allowing him to watch the door from the corner of his eye. More and more people poured into the classroom, chatting with their friends, giggling, stretching and yawning. Kabru's heart skipped a beat when he spotted the mysterious man. He slipped in, slightly hunched over, as if trying to draw as little attention to himself as was possible for someone of his height and posture, and instinctively headed towards his usual seat. When he spotted Kabru's bag on the chair, his body instantly froze, his hands closing around the straps of his backpack. He took a deep breath, took a step back, and frantically looked around the classroom, furrowing his brow in an expression of confusion and fear.
“Here!” Kabru blurted out, quickly removing his bag from the chair. “I saved you a seat,” he added, sending the man his sunniest smile as he gestured at him to come closer.
Series
- Part 1 of Studies with wolves
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Finally, Kabru swallowed his food, and took another bite, which he proceeded to chew on while he looked around the table at his friends. By now, everyone had claimed their portion of the food. Was this the right moment to share the news? He couldn't keep putting it off forever, especially since he genuinely wanted to hear what everyone had to say about it. There was no better time to do it. Kabru swallowed his food and cleared his throat. “By the way, do you remember the guy I told you about two weeks ago? The one who was scribbling in his notebook the entire time and ignored me when I showed him the attendance list?” he prompted, glancing between their faces. “Well, I finally managed to talk to him the other day. It was a very brief conversation, but quite informative. Just like I thought, there is something strange going on here.” Kabru paused to take a sip of water before he went on. He took self-indulgent pleasure in slowly building up to the reveal. “For one, according to what he told me, he's not enrolled at our university at all, nor does he have any other authority to attend that class. As far as I understand, he just...” Kabru made a vague gesture, “walked in.”
Series
- Part 2 of Studies with wolves
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“By the way,” Kabru prompted as soon as he sat down, “my next class has been cancelled.”
“Huh, really? How do you know?” Laios asked, settling into his seat.
“I passed by the bulletin board on my way here and saw a notice about it,” Kabru explained, taking his notebook out of his bag. “In any case, that means that there is now going to be a two-hour window between this class and the next. That's a lot of time to have on my hands all of a sudden. I've been trying to come up with the optimal way to spend it, preferably while staying within a reasonable distance from the campus.” He made a meaningful pause, playing with a pen between his index and middle finger. “There's a cosy cafe on the other side of the street that I've been meaning to check out. I think I'm going to head there first. Now, if you don't have any other plans,” he said, watching Laios from the corner of his eye, “I would be delighted if you would join me.”
Series
- Part 3 of Studies with wolves
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Laios walked around the room, murmuring under his breath as he looked for his phone. It felt quite like playing a one-person game of warmer-colder, which turned out to be pretty difficult to pull off when one didn't know the right answer. Finally he found it in his desk drawer, hidden under a bunch of papers. It barely had any battery left, but it should be enough to put Kabru's phone number in. He didn't feel like looking for the charger right now. With the phone in hand, he climbed into bed and sat cross-legged in front of the open notebook. He needed a moment to remember how to add a new contact – it had been about a year since the last time he had to do it – and once he found the right menu, he just stared at the screen, unable to proceed from there. He glanced at the number written on the page, and then back at the screen, and finally squeezed his eyes shut, breathing heavily, and put the phone down on top of the page. Without opening his eyes, he reached to his left and patted around until his fingers touched something fluffy. He picked it up and put it over his head.
Series
- Part 4 of Studies with wolves
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Kabru checked his phone as he sat down at the table. Laios hadn't responded to his last message, which presumably meant that he was already on his way and didn't feel like responding, or, which seemed equally possible, that he neglected to bring his phone with him. Laios wasn't much of a texter, either way. Most of his responses consisted of two or three letters, those letters usually being simply: OK. Usually, this approach to communication may have bothered Kabru, but in this particular case, he was largely fine with it, mostly because he knew that the curtness of Laios' messages was caused by an aversion to using his phone keyboard rather than a lack of interest in the conversation. When they called on the phone or spoke in person, Laios was much more talkative, which was quite reassuring. He would probably do most of the talking tonight, too.
Series
- Part 5 of Studies with wolves
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As he approached the second floor, from the corner of his eye, Kabru noticed a familiar figure leaning over the railing at the top of the stairs. Laios stood bouncing on his feet, his twinkling gaze fixed on Kabru as he ascended the stairs. From how tightly his hands held on to the railing, one got the impression that he was physically restraining himself from rushing to meet him. A few feet behind him, a door was left ajar, allowing Kabru a glimpse into his apartment, but only to see a shoe rack and a line of jackets hanging on the wall immediately beside the doorway.
“Hey!” Laios exclaimed as soon as their eyes met. “I saw you through the window!” he blurted out excitedly. Kabru regretted resisting his earlier impulse to look at the windows, trying to figure out which one belonged to Laios' apartment. Granted, he probably wouldn't have seen much in the harsh sunlight, anyway. “I rushed to get the door and I almost tripped on the way, but I'm fine. I was gonna go all the way down to get you, but I figured it would be an issue if I fell and you had to carry me back up or something,” he explained frantically as Kabru approached him.
Series
- Part 6 of Studies with wolves
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Kabru perked up in his seat, his face instantly lighting up. “Oh, yes! I've made a lot of crucial discoveries since the last time we spoke about him. Let's see...” He hesitated for a moment, trying to decide which order to deliver the information in for best effect. Intuitively, he felt that he should save all the information pertaining to Laios' furry identity for last. He hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet, and he wasn't convinced that they would understand what he meant without a lengthy explanation. Perhaps it would be better not to bring it up at all... Well, that would remain to be seen. In any case, it was definitely a bombshell he would have to work towards, otherwise his friends might not be interested in the more mundane aspects of Laios' life. “One of my classes was cancelled, so the two of us went to grab a coffee. It was a pleasant time,” he said softly, “and I got his contact information out of it, as a bonus. Afterwards, I invited him out for a drink over the weekend, and then he invited me over to his house. I went there the next day, that is, last Sunday.”
Series
- Part 7 of Studies with wolves
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Blown-out Eggs by halfpastmonsoon
Fandoms: ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon
17 Mar 2026
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“Hey, Falin! What'cha gonna make? Any ideas?” Laios asked, tapping his cheek with the butt of his paintbrush. He wasn't fishing for ideas, per se. If anything, he'd always had too many of those. Big, ambitious ideas that simply could not be contained within the surface of one humble egg, or even five eggs. He would need a couple thousand eggs, maybe more, to come anywhere close to realising his vision. An egg sculpture of Godzilla... or maybe a dragon... or a hydra... There were a lot of options, really, and maybe one day he would be able to make one of them come true, but for now, he'd have to settle for a symbolic representation of the wonderful visions that lived in his head.
Series
- Part 8 of Studies with wolves
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“Hm?” Laios glanced at the object in his hand. “Ah, it's a water gun. It doesn't work too well, but it's better than nothing,” he said, and lightly nudged the trigger to demonstrate. A couple of droplets came out and dripped onto the floor below. Kabru felt somewhat relieved at the sight, but he remained on his guard, his gaze fixed on the gun as he approached the second floor. “I was gonna spray you as soon as I saw you down there, but then I realised that I should probably explain it first. I mean, it's no fun to get sprayed with water out of the blue, even if that's how it's supposed to work.” Laios mused. Kabru was inclined to agree with that conclusion.“ So, then... Today is Easter Monday, right? Where I'm from, we have a tradition where people spray each other with water first thing in the morning on this day. It's called, uh, a dyngus. You can use a bucket, a hose, a water gun, or whatever else,” Laios went on explaining, gesticulating with the gun in his hand. “Since you asked me about Easter traditions and stuff, I figured you might want to participate in this one.”
Series
- Part 9 of Studies with wolves
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“Shuro and Marcille don't really get along,” Laios explained as soon as he and Kabru were out of the apartment. Kabru had figured as much, of course, but their animosity must have been quite intense if it didn't even escape Laios' notice. He was typically pretty oblivious to other people's feelings, Kabru found. Granted, even if he was aware of the tension, he would likely not know what caused it. “At least, that's what he says. I haven't really noticed anything.” Ah. Right. “Things always seemed fine to me when we hung out as a group, but after a while I noticed that he stopped coming. When I asked about it, he told me that it's because Marcille didn't want him around. Honestly, I understand why he feels this way,” Laios noted, heading down the stairs, “because that's how I felt when I met Marcille for the first time, too. She can be pretty harsh sometimes. I don't think it's personal, though. I mean, we get along fine now, and she still talks to me this way.” He fell silent for a moment. “I offered to talk things out with her, but he told me not to bother.”
Series
- Part 10 of Studies with wolves
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“Well...” Laios said, slightly tilting his head. “Kind of, but not really. I've got a bunch of ideas, and I even started working on some of them over the holidays so that I'd have something to show you, but I thought about it some more and... I decided to scrap all of them. Ah, well, not exactly scrap them,” he clarified. “I'm gonna use them for something else. But none of them can be your fursona.”
Huh. That was not quite what Kabru expected to hear. While he never shared the details with Kabru, presumably to maintain an element of surprise while he worked on the concept art, Laios seemed to be making good progress on the design. What could have happened to make him scrap everything he'd worked so hard on? Even if he was going to use it for something else, he would now have to start work on this project from scratch. Perhaps he'd found it impossible to envision Kabru as a humanoid animal, after all. Usually that would have been a good thing, but in this context, it made Kabru feel like there was something wrong with him. “Really? Why is that?” he asked.
Series
- Part 11 of Studies with wolves
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As soon as Kabru disappeared from view under the roof of the porch, Laios detached himself from the window and threw himself towards the hallway, tripping over his own feet in his mad sprint for the doorbell. He stood with his hands on the receiver, breathing heavily, and waited for his cue. Even though he knew to expect it, the mechanical ringing sound startled him every time, instinctively making him wince. Grimacing, he picked up the receiver to stop the ringing, pressed the button to unlock the door, and put the receiver back down as soon as he heard the sound of the door being opened. He hurriedly put his sneakers on so that his feet wouldn't get cold, pushed the door open and went outside to wait for Kabru at the top of the stairs. As always, he had to fight the urge to run all the way down to get him, just to not have to wait those few extra seconds.
Series
- Part 12 of Studies with wolves
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“I see. That's good, then,” Kabru said, though he still seemed a little worried. “Let me know if you run out of tissues. I don't suffer from allergies, myself, but I always carry some on my person, just in case somebody else needs them.” Laios gave a thumbs-up and a nod of gratitude. Typical Kabru, always prepared for any situation. How lucky he was not to have any allergies, though! At this point, Laios' reactions were still pretty mild, but sooner or later he would totally lose his ability to breathe through his nose as more and more things started to bloom all around him, and that was really going to suck. “By the way,” Kabru spoke in a casual tone, “I know this is a little sudden, but I've been meaning to ask… Would you care to join my friends and I for dinner sometime? I promise this isn't an early April Fool's Day prank, just to be clear!” he added, putting up his hands in a defensive motion. Right, Laios thought, it was April Fool's tomorrow. It was nice of Kabru to clarify that he wasn't trying to set him up for something, in any case.
Series
- Part 13 of Studies with wolves
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Laios took off his apron, revealing that he'd been wearing his wolf tail all along, and sat cross-legged in the middle of the mess, picked up the fursuit head and put it on. Kabru involuntarily shuddered at the sight. Despite his best effort, the wolf head still made him feel rather uneasy. “I had to fix some things up last minute,” Laios said, tapping the wolf's snout, “but it turned out okay, I think. Oh, and I finally figured out what to do about the breathing issue!” Well, that was a relief, Kabru thought. Ventilation had been a concern for both of them, though for slightly different reasons: while Laios was worried that he would have to take the head off every few minutes to avoid suffocation, Kabru was worried that he would neglect to do so even once he started to run out of oxygen, just to avoid breaking immersion. Granted, just because Laios claimed to have found a fix, it didn't necessarily mean that there was no cause for concern anymore, so Kabru was still inclined to keep a close eye on him, just in case. Better to be safe than sorry.
Series
- Part 14 of Studies with wolves
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Reliable source by halfpastmonsoon
Fandoms: ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon
30 Mar 2026
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“Hm? Oh, of course. I'm sure we'll get to that,” Kabru said, dismissively waving his hand, and swiftly changed the topic. “What I wanted to ask you about... Well, really, I just want to clarify some things for myself, and I believe that you're the only person who can help me. Marcille's ears perked up. Kabru sent her a crooked, sheepish smile. “You see,” he said, stroking his cheek with his index finger as he spoke, “Laios has told me a lot about you and Falin, as well as Toshiro, stories from the past and such, which I appreciate, but um, how do I put this delicately... I'm not sure if I can fully trust his account. That's not to say that I think he was purposely trying to mislead me,” he clarified, “but you know what he's like. There are certain details he's simply not going to pick up on, not to mention the things he might have totally misunderstood or misremembered... It's not his fault, of course, but I would like to consult a more reliable source if possible, and you, Miss Marcille, strike me as the right person for the job,” he finished, giving a slight bow.
Series
- Part 15 of Studies with wolves
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Kabru settled into the driver's seat and put on his seatbelt. He adjusted the rear-view mirror so as to be able to keep an eye on Laios while he drove. Laios was currently curled up in his seat with his knees pulled up to his chest, looking out the window with unfocused, distant eyes, holding a thoroughly blood-soaked tissue up to his nose. Kabru's heart sank in his chest at the sight. He reached into his pocket and fished out an unopened pack of tissues. “Here, take these,” he said as he tossed it towards Laios, aiming for his lap. Laios acknowledged him with a nod before picking up the tissues. He replaced the blood-soaked tissue with a new one and, unsure what to do with it, he kept it balled up in his other hand. Kabru started the engine, all the while watching Laios from the corner of his eye. “Could you please tell me what happened?” he asked.
Series
- Part 16 of Studies with wolves
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Friends, and what they're for by halfpastmonsoon
Fandoms: ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon
04 Apr 2026
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“Mmm...” he hummed to himself in deep thought, tapping the edge of the table with his fingers. While Kabru was always quite dramatic and a little hyperbolic, something about the message struck him as particularly troubling. An emergency? What could he possibly mean by that? Wait, wasn't today the day he was supposed to take that other boy, Laios, to the convention? Did something happen there? Holm certainly hoped not, but he couldn't think of anything else that Kabru's message could be referring to. Did the two of them have a falling out? Holm subconsciously shook his head. “Uh-oh. That's no good. What has he gotten himself into this time, Marillier?” he asked rhetorically, directing the question to his pet marimo who remained still and silent in her tank, her lack of response doing nothing to ease his mind. Holm sighed hopelessly.
Series
- Part 17 of Studies with wolves
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Tending to wounds by halfpastmonsoon
Fandoms: ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon
06 Apr 2026
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“Wake up!” Falin barked, holding the wolf head up to his face, the muzzle pressing against his nose. “Wake up, Laios Touden! If you don't wake up now, I'm going to bite you!”
“Mmmh?” Laios moaned as he attempted to get up, squinting up at her. “Ah, Falin...? Is that really you? What are you doing here? Wha...” he mumbled sleepily before a yawn tore out of his mouth. He attempted to rub his eye with the back of his hand, but immediately winced in pain. “Oww, what the hell...?” He touched his eye again, more gently this time, and felt some swelling under his fingertips. The sensation seemed to have finally brought back his memories from last night. “Oh, right. The fight. I remember now,” he said soberly, now touching his wounded bottom lip. Finally, he managed to sit up on the bed, cross-legged and slightly hunched over.
Series
- Part 18 of Studies with wolves
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The Conversation by halfpastmonsoon
Fandoms: ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon
07 Apr 2026
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“Hello, stranger. Come here often?” a familiar voice, smooth and friendly and slightly amused, came from somewhere close, snapping him out of his daze.
Laios' heart pounded in his chest as he looked up from his phone, feeling a blush creeping up his face. “Kabru...!” he exclaimed breathlessly, staring up at the man with wide eyes. Indeed, it was Kabru, standing beside his table with one hand on his hip and the other reaching out towards Laios, his lips curled into a smile. Laios took his hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, resisting the urge to put it up to his face and rub it against his cheek, and kiss the knuckles, and allow the fingers into his mouth and suck on them. If he played this whole thing right – unlikely, but so was Kabru showing up at all, which raised his capacity to believe in miracles a fair bit – maybe Kabru would let him do some, or even all, of these things later, which was a nice enough thought.
Series
- Part 19 of Studies with wolves
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Laios, of course, was different from all of them. He was a lovely boy, sweet, gentle and respectful. Eccentric, to be sure, but in a way that was mostly harmless, as far as Kabru was aware. If he could pour even a fraction of the passion he felt towards his other interests into Kabru, he would no doubt turn out to be an excellent lover – with some practice. While Kabru was inclined to be cautious when it came to revealing anything about himself, he didn't sense any danger from Laios. One got the impression that, even if he were confused about something, he would make an effort to understand it, and even if he were curious about something, he would not press the matter if he realised that Kabru was uncomfortable with it, which was all that Kabru could ever ask for. Was it really possible that he stumbled upon the perfect partner entirely by accident? And managed not to drive him away despite continuously fumbling? All indications pointed to that being the case, but there were still many things that needed to be done before he could make that call.
Series
- Part 20 of Studies with wolves