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Chapter 50: Close

The passing of the days had been relatively uneventful. Roger had not seen much of Mary and the skunk had not requested anymore meetings. The change of location for their study session was nice, he thought, but after reviewing the study guide with Hunter, he realized that they had a lot more work to do.

The disadvantages to the park, however, were that they were away from either of their homes, and thus adequate sustenance, and that wind would often blow through. The pages in their books would flip rapidly if they did not hold it down, and even when they did, the corners would bend. Any loose papers would be caught and tossed elsewhere and they would have to run to retrieve it.

Perhaps the park was more of a leisurely location, the fox thought. He figured that they could head there on the weekend at some point.

No word had been given on the wolf's situation on the team. It felt as if they were waiting to see how he would do on his tests, and may very well be the case.

When Friday did come, the wolf had arrived with an extra bag. Roger inquired as to what he carried, and he explained that he included some clothes with him, so that they could go to Roger's house immediately after school instead of having to return and bring stuff back. It made sense, and the fox praised his foresight.

Still, school was uneventful. After it, they met where they usually did, and proceeded to walk to Roger's house. Having gone there a few times, Hunter was familiar with its location, and was in front as they walked.

There was little conversation between the two, the fox feeling a bit tired from the school day. It was not that anything in it was difficult for him, he merely stayed up late at night. It was not so much by choice, but he could not fall asleep lately. His body had been urging him to stay awake, much to his dismay. He felt restless.

Finally, they sat down in Roger's room. The more he looked at it, the smaller it seemed to be, at least with an extra body in it. They sat close together as per usual and decided that now was the best time to get their homework done, as they could study at another point.

Hunter seemed nervous. His paws were restless and he would often lose focus.

"What's wrong?" Roger asked him.

"I... I just, never slept over somewhere before. It feels weird," he responded.

Roger shrugged. "Well, I mean... just pretend you're here like any other day. When the time comes for sleep, we'll deal with it as need be. You're not going to get hurt or anything, at least you shouldn't. Just relax."

The wolf nodded and seemed to calm down a little, but his paws were still active. At least now he could focus, it seemed.

It took a couple hours, but finally they managed to complete the homework. It was not usually the amount that was given to them, but it was a weekend, and tests were on approach. Now all that was left was to study, but Roger figured they would leave that for another day. Now they could sit and just enjoy that they had no school the next day.

He remembered that they were to meet Mary and her friends. What time did she say? He tried to remember, and realized that there was no time given. He asked the wolf.

Hunter said, "I think she said... two.... Yeah, two. That sounds right."

Any designated portion was better than none, the fox figured. They could arrive early and find them when needed. He assumed it was at the theater at the mall they had previously gone to.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked the wolf.

The wolf shrugged.

"Hm... well, there's a TV downstairs, would you want to watch something? I think we have some movies somewhere, or could just find something..." the fox suggested.

Hunter nodded and waved his tail behind him. "Yeah, that sounds good."

They headed downstairs to the living room. There were a couple couches, one of them long enough for them to both sit on, though they squeezed up close together anyhow. He turned on the TV, flipped the channel around a few times, and realized that nothing good was on.

Eventually they picked out a movie that he had on the shelf. It was just a comedy, something light and different, as opposed to the horror that the fox had exposed the wolf to prior. He made sure to avoid even mentioning any such movies to him.

As they watched it, it seemed as if they got close. At first they merely sat next to each other, and then the wolf's arm was around the fox's shoulders. The movie progressed and the fox found himself with his head resting on the wolf's chest, his own arm around Hunter's abdomen.

Hunter seemed transfixed with the movie, however. Roger had seen it already, so he knew what was going to happen, so he paid little mind to it. He managed to nestle the bridge of his muzzle under Hunter's, his face pressed against his neck.

He could feel the vibrations when the wolf laughed. He would feel the arm around him squeeze and bring him closer, but it would loosen. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. The movie was ending.

The credits rolled and the music faded. The title screen returned and he figured it was time to move away from Hunter. He waited, but there was no movement suggesting that they had to separate.

He moved his head slightly to signal that he was awake. His face brushed against the wolf's neck.

The response he got was merely another squeeze, the wolf acknowledging his presence. It was an acceptable response.