Burdens [Furry BxB]

Chapter 12 - Incubus

It was dark outside, as far as he could tell. The window was not very large and was mostly facing another building, but he could still see that there was only black outside.

Roger yawned and stretched. They had worked on Hunter's homework for at least a few hours, almost all of which without breaks.

It was late, and somewhere in the house, he heard the door open, some shuffling, and then keys. There was a scampering of footfalls toward it, and then a somewhat loud, "I'm home!"

Hunter stood up and gestured for the fox to follow. They were done with the work and had been studying in the time after, too dark to head outside and throw the football around, and too late to go somewhere. "Come on, I'll go introduce you."

Roger agreed and followed. He saw an older female wolf putting down a purse and taking off her shoes, patting a younger wolf on the head. She spied him, smiled, and beckoned their approach.

"Mom, this is Roger, my friend at school," Hunter explained.

She nodded and held a paw out to shake the foxes. "It's nice to meet you, Hunter has told me about you. Thank you for helping my son with his school work."

Roger shook her paw gently. "Yeah, it's no problem. It's nothing outside of his ability, I'm sure."

"Well, are you two hungry?" she asked.

Hunter nodded with a wag and Roger gave a slight shrug. In truth, he was actually hungry but did not want to seem like a burden upon them, besides that their situation did not seem to be able to provide for more than themselves. He had no way of knowing that for sure, but he just assumed the worst, so that he did not offend.

The female wolf nodded over at Hunter and asked, "Can you make a bed for our guest? We have some padding in the closet somewhere, I'm sure, and extra blankets and pillows." She looked over to the fox and said, "If you can, would you help me with dinner?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Hunter left, taking his brother with him, and began his search and preparation. When they were mostly out of earshot, or as much as they could be while in a small space, his mother spoke, "Truly, thank you for taking care of my son."

Roger smiled a bit, happy to be acknowledged for his efforts. "It's really no problem, Ms Wright."

She chuckled softly. "That's what they call me at work. I'm home, just call me Jill." She grabbed some food from the fridge behind them and placed them on the counter. She unpacked what she thought would be needed, some meat and vegetables of which she intended to cook together.

Her face became grim. "He thinks a lot of you. He really likes you, and I think you're the first friend he's ever had. He's always kept to himself and never really let anyone in. He even took up painting." She gestured to the pictures on the wall. "He stopped, though, when his father left. He was devastated, and he couldn't bring himself to keep going with it, since that's who taught him.

"He's a sweet kid, and I love him, but I don't know how to fix what's broken. I want you to know the weight of my words when I tell you to thank you. Please keep being kind to him." She smiled at Roger and went to work on the food. Her voice had been low so that the others could not hear.

The fox was hesitant to move. He opened his mouth to speak, but there were no words. He learned more about the wolf than he had ever thought to have known. He felt even more guilty about how he treated him the first night, and he felt he had to mention it. "I... I haven't always been kind."

Jill nodded, now cutting vegetables. She had the same golden eyes, and they did not move off the food she was preparing. "He told me when he came home. I'm not going to lie, I was mad, but you seem to have made up for it."

Roger gulped nervously. "Well... okay. Is there anything I should be doing to help?" he asked, gesturing toward the food.

She shook her head and smiled. "No, dear, I'll be fine. I just wanted to talk to you. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, I'll come to get you when it's ready."

He nodded, turned, and left down the hall toward Hunter's room.

They made his bed, which was really just a futon with a sheet on it, a blanket to cover, and a couple of pillows so that the fox could adjust accordingly to his comfort.

He sat in it, ruining the effort the wolf had put into making it as neat as he could, but Hunter did not seem to mind. He just seemed to be happy that he finally had a friend and one that was spending the night. His tail did not seem to stop wagging whilst he looked upon the fox.

The situation, however, became awkward. Roger could not quite look at the wolf the same way as before, now that he understood more of him. He laughed nervously, but enough that the wolf accepted it as genuine joviality. He laughed along.

They spoke together, talking about odd things that they could find, up until his mother came to get them. They ate their dinner in silence, with the exception of a bit of complaining from the younger wolf that did not want to go to sleep just yet.

Their dinner was finished and they returned to his room. Lights were dimmed, enough for them to get under their covers. They faced the same direction, and the wolf had every intention of chatting with the fox for the rest of the night, but sleep began to take hold. His mother came to them, whispered to them a good night, and turned off the light fully.

It was dark, but they could see it. There was still light somewhere, and it gave a soft glow in the room. In spite of this, the fox fell asleep readily.

-

Partway through the night, there was a shuffling as the wolf tossed and turned. The fox woke, unaccustomed to such noises while he slept. Still, his eyes were closed and he did not bother to look up, just merely gave a soft groan against the inconvenience. He turned fully on his back, having been on his side.

The room was warm, so he pushed his blanket away, and held a pillow with one arm to his side. He felt sleep coming upon him.

Suddenly he felt an overbearing weight upon him as the wolf had tumbled out of bed. The wind was knocked out of him, and he had some difficulty breathing.

He noticed the wolf had been facing him, but he only heard a soft snore. The wolf was still asleep. He had not the energy to move him, nor even try. He accepted his fate.

With the lack of oxygen, the sudden force, and shock upon him, he fell unconscious, in a dreamless torpor.