Burdens [Furry BxB]

Chapter 135 - The First Hour

Roger woke up panting and dehydrated. He attempted to shift around without waking the two wolves on either side of him, but he was deeply embedded in his dire situation. He moved an arm back and poked at Hunter, hoping to wake him up.

He checked the time. It was still an hour before he had to wake up, but he felt like he was dying from the heat. He poked the wolf a little harder.

Hunter stirred but was not awake. He turned onto his back, and Roger finally found his freedom. The air in the room was actually cold, mixing with his sweat to make him shiver. He slowly got out of the middle of the trio and moved the little brother over to his larger counterpart.

Roger went to use the restroom, now having woken up and needing to utilize it. He had a headache from the dehydration, so he figured he would try to find some water somewhere. If anything, tap water was acceptable to him.

He noticed a bag by the front door that he recognized as from his parents. He walked over before heading to the bathroom to inspect it. It was a change of clothes and a note from his parents wishing him well, as well as a mention of a bagged lunch that they had requested to be put in the fridge so it did not go bad. Since it was not in the bag, he assumed that was where it was. He would have to remember to retrieve it.

He grabbed his clothes and walked over to the bathroom. He looked at his face and nearly choked on his saliva, whatever was left of it. He had sweated so much that he looked like he had just come out of the rain. He turned on the water and undressed, utilized the toilet, and then hopped in.

The water was warm, and he immediately was displeased. He tried to make it a little cooler, but accidentally went too far and nearly leapt out of his fur. When he found a healthy medium, he went back under the water, closing his eyes and trying to forget about his pounding headache.

They would be getting back their results from everything but the essay that day. It was the moment of truth, the fruits of his labour would finally manifest. He felt a little nervous, though he knew Hunter had improved substantially. He knew he still had some work, but he had the utmost confidence in the wolf, but he was still nervous, not about if he would pass, but if he somehow got lower than he expected, and how he would react to it.

He prepared himself mentally for such a scenario. He went over the soothing things that he would say, the pats on the back, the petting and shushing, and everything he thought might help. He even considered pulling the wolf off to the side, away from prying eyes, and hugging and kissing him, just to distract him from the situation. It could work, he thought to himself.

It was going to be a normal day, though. He would only see him in the first hour, and with the exception of one class, the grades corresponding to that specific subject would be passed out in that hour. He would only get to know the wolf's math grade immediately, for the others he would have to wait.

He washed quickly and turned the water off after rinsing off the soap from his fur. He put on his change of clothes which had been neatly folded and pressed. It was a collared shirt, which he did not like very much, but it was better than a dirty, sweat-soaked shirt. He shrugged and put it on. The shorts had fewer pockets than he was used to. Did he even own these?

When he was dressed, he put his dirty clothes in the bag and went to the kitchen to drink some water. When finished, he went back to the wolf's room and considered lying back down, but now that he was in new clothes, it was probably not the best idea. He sat down in the chair as quietly as he could and looked at the two brothers, sleeping soundly. He thought it was a very heartwarming scenario.

Besides the furnace he would have found himself in, he would not have been able to fall back asleep because of the headache that still hung around. He wondered if cancer had come back, and he hoped not, but after a little, once the water had been absorbed, he felt significantly better. He confirmed that that was not the case, as the doctors had confirmed when he went back for check-ups.

He just waited for the wolves to wake up.

-

Half an hour later Hunter's alarm went off, waking everyone in the room. Roger had somehow dozed off sitting down, though he did not remember doing so. It just felt so comfortable to be at a normal temperature, he thought.

Hunter went to turn the alarm off and smiled at the fox, waving his tail behind him, though his smile was still hiding the anxiety that still plagued him.

The smaller wolf groaned and rolled off the futon and complained about having to wake up, and then complained that it was a school day, and then complained that they were not playing video games.

Eventually, they all had to head their own way to prepare for the school day. Hunter went to the restroom to take a shower, stripping in front of the two others in the room, grabbing a towel from the drawer, and then heading off. Roger had blushed and put his tail on his lap, and he noticed that the younger wolf had not even noticed, still arguing without anyone to argue with.

Perhaps it was just a common thing that he saw. Lucky wolf, Roger thought.

Eventually, Matt went to his room and disappeared for the morning. Hunter came back, dripping a little with water though he had mostly dried himself off. He closed the door behind him and put the towel behind it to dry.

Roger blushed once more, watching the wolf put his clothes on, and lascivious thoughts flooded his mind. He thought to himself, perhaps the weekend might grant him an opportunity to truly make use of their time together. Perhaps, he thought, they could just be at his house where siblings were nowhere to be found, interrupting their special moment.

The rest of the morning was spent preparing for school.

-

At school, they sat in the same spot that they had the previous day. There were not any assigned seats, but everyone usually settled for what was familiar to them. The wolf thought that the fox was more familiar to him than any seat, and no one wanted to argue with him.

They slowly walked up, one by one, to get their grades on a slip of paper from the skunk. He had them folded so that they could carry the good or bad news back to their seat, and if they decided to, show others in secret or not.

Since it was in alphabetical order by last name, Roger's came fairly quickly. He walked up to the skunk and took the piece of paper, and the skunk smiled at him, indicating that it was good news. Roger suspected as much. He took the paperback to his seat.

He opened it up. One hundred per cent. He got every question on the test correct, as he knew he would. He put the piece of paper down on his desk and waved it off as if it were nothing he did not already know.

He watched everyone else's reactions when they looked at their scores, but he did not turn and stare. He simply glanced at them and got all the information he needed, about who did well, who did alright, and who did not do as they expected.

Hunter was second to last when it came to the names called. He went up, grabbed his piece of paper nervously, and sat back down with trembling paws. He held the paper, hesitating, wondering whether or not he should open it.

He looked over at Roger, worried. The fox simply nodded back at him. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then opened the paper. He opened his eyes slowly, one at a time.

He stared at the number for a moment, not really comprehending. On the piece of paper was a ninety-five, something he had never seen on a paper that belonged to him.

Roger looked over and said, "I guess you missed a couple. Still, good job."

The next thing the fox knew, he was torn from his seat, lifted into the air, and embraced by the wolf. Suddenly, he was very aware of all the voices in the room, all of the judgment, and the vicious comments that circulated. He patted the wolf on the side and gulped.

He thought to himself: Ah shit.