Burdens [Furry BxB]

Chapter 139 - Price

Hunter had stayed home for the fox's adventure with Matt. He said he wanted to help with chores, though Roger knew he wanted more praise from his mother. The fox thought it was cute, in a way.

They had wandered off toward a local superstore that the fox had not even known about. He wondered how the small wolf even knew about it, but he guessed it was because it was not very expensive and they were a little low on money. He probably remembered heading that way with his mother.

It was not far away. Roger kept glancing over at the wolf, still a bit nervous about what had just happened. He wondered if the wolf really would keep it a secret. If he did not deem it that important, then perhaps he would not feel the need to tell anyone. At the same time, he might let it slip, or might use it as leverage at some point in time.

Roger wondered if that was really the correct action to be talking about the whole situation. He wondered if it was the situation that was the problem, or his attitude about it. Hunter did not seem too worried, but perhaps he was a bit trusting. One slip up, and...

And what? Nothing would really happen, he figured. What was the worst-case scenario in this situation?

His heart sank a little the more he thought about it. The worst-case scenario he could think of was them killing Hunter off to regain the family's honour. He knew that was out of the question, though. Something more likely, if his mother chose not to accept it, would be to forbid them from seeing each other again. He would not be able to go to the wolf's house, and the wolf would not be able to go to his house. They would see each other at school, though they might make the wolf swap to a different one.

She would tell his parents, and then they would know. If they did not accept it, then they would be disappointed in him. Everyone at school would find out. He would be ridiculed and mocked, and possibly be physically assaulted whenever it was convenient for the other students. The teachers might even turn a blind eye to such a thing.

He bit his lip. It was unlikely, but it was always possible, and he had to address that in his head before making any decisions about the future. He did not know how anyone would react to it, since it was not really a topic that was brought up too often. Perhaps he was just overthinking it.

He then thought about how Hunter might handle that situation. If he were the target of ridicule, Roger did not know if the wolf would be able to take it as well as he would. The wolf was already pretty fragile, and losing his best friend in that instance would be devastating to add onto it. He would become a social pariah.

Roger grew anxious. His tail was rigid as he walked, and his paws clenched in fists. It was an awkward way to walk, but no one noticed, luckily for him.

He thought about how the lion and cat treated them. What the weasel had said reverberated in his mind. There was no judgment from them, and even though the weasel had mentioned that he lost some friends along the way, it was true what he had said: they were not really friends in the end. It comforted the fox a little.

They made it to the store and walked in. The fox looked around and was surprised at how large it was. He looked down the signs, all hanging by the ceiling, reading each one as he searched for arts and crafts supplies. They looked like they were somewhere near the end of the store.

He had noticed that the parking lot was fairly full, and yet he did not see very many wandering about. He wondered where they all were. However, the further they went into the store, the more and more that he saw, and the question seemed to answer itself.

They had to squeeze through several crowds to get to where they were going. Whenever there was a deal, it attracted the store, it seemed. It was not their purpose in the store, though.

The arts and crafts section was fairly empty. He saw what he was looking for, which was a bunch of Styrofoam balls of various sizes, markers, sticks, and some other miscellaneous items that he thought might help. He gave some of them for the small wolf to hold, who protested and said that they should just get a cart. While he was right, they were not getting that many things, so this was fine.

They headed to the cashier and Roger took out his wallet. He had enough money, he assumed, for everything that they were going to buy. When the cashier gave him the total, it was confirmed. He could have bought three times the amount he had done. It was a lot cheaper than he thought it would have been, and indeed, it might have been more expensive at any other store.

They made their way back to the wolf's house, but Roger carried the bags this time. The closer they got, the more anxious he felt. It only needed a couple of words from the small wolf to shed light on the secret Roger had kept so well.

He had thought about the worst-case scenario, but not the best. He wondered what it might have been.

Within the realm of reason, he figured that everyone would be accepting of their relationship, but he thought it might have been a bit unlikely. Not everyone was accepting of such things, or even of very many things. Some could not even handle a different species being around them, or different fur colour. It was a strange world, the fox thought.

He thought that perhaps somewhere in the middle would be right. Only time would tell, but if possible, he would at least like to have a bit longer with their forbidden love if it came down to chance. If it did end up being the worst-case scenario, at least he wanted to delay it.

They made it back to the house and they were told that dinner would be soon. The original plan was to have gone home by now, maybe even with Hunter, but it was not seeming like it would be possible at this point. He would just have to go home by himself when it came down to it.

They spent the rest of the time helping the little wolf with his project, using the sticks and balls to make the planets and their orbits, all generalized, but pretty. They used the markers to colour them in when they needed to differentiate them, and they attacked small pieces of paper with a needle to give the names of the planets. The moons were even smaller, but they only did it for the planets that were nearest their own.

Hunter seemed to be enjoying himself, so perhaps it was not a waste of an evening. Though the fox had wanted other things, perhaps this was acceptable.

Even after dinner, they worked on it. By the time Roger had left, it had not been complete yet, but he promised or was made to promise, that he would come back the next day and help. If he said no, he was afraid that the small wolf might say something to his mother, so he felt very encouraged to help.

It felt like he was losing control of his time, but it was the price to pay, and for Hunter, he was willing to pay it.