Burdens - Chapter 70: Day Off
#70 of Burdens
Yeah
Chapter 70: Day Off
The knock on the door came as a surprise, but it was not out of the ordinary. Packages being delivered was not something that should come across as abnormal, and it was about that time. He did not hear a mail truck, however. Was it so odd that someone could visit?
He thought about it in his head. Could it have been the wolf? He was fairly late if that were the case. Roger began to get a bit excited and his mood improved upon thinking of such a possibility. He quickened his pace, but his mind wandered into other possibilities.
Perhaps it was merely but the vixen, here to tell him that it was not a possibility between them. Perhaps he was to leave the wolf alone, and she could have said it to him at school but he had not been there. That was a scenario he did not look forward to. For some reason, it felt more likely than the last.
Was one of his friends there to visit? He rarely ever did miss school, but he did not believe any single one of them would be worried enough. It was only one day, after all, and they had their own lives to be concerned with.
His heart skipped a beat when another knock came. It was more forceful this time, the individual on the other side probably assuming he was unable to hear the knock from his room. He reached for the doorknob in one paw, and the lock in another. He unlatched it, and opened the door, his heart racing in anticipation.
There was a familiar face that greeted him, and once again he was surprised.
He backed away from the door and let Dan into the house. The dog was wearing a backpack which seemed to be a bit fuller than usual.
"I brought your homework," he explained. "Hunter asked me to. He got it from your teachers, and then brought it to me."
Roger nodded slowly. He sat down on the couch and took the folder of which was handed to him. It was a packet of work to do, but none of it looked like it would take very much time. However, he did not feel as if he could concentrate too well on it, though it might help distract him.
Dan walked over to him and crouched down, sitting on his legs. "So I heard you're not feeling well? What's up? You were fine this weekend."
The fox nodded. "Just uh... just feel pretty tired today. Maybe I'm coming down with something...." He looked away and set the folder on the table. Being asked about it only brought the feelings back.
"Come on, I know that look," the dog said. "Girl problems?"
Roger chewed on nothing for a moment. "You could say that."
The Labrador sat down fully on the floor and said, "It'll be alright, man. It feels like it sucks now, and I'm sure it does, but it'll be okay."
The fox stared at the table and his brows furrowed. The dog continued, "They come and go, but you're still here, and that's what matters. You can't worry about them. You have to live for yourself, you know?"
"That's easy to say," the fox remarked. The dog laughed and agreed.
"If anything, you have your friends. We might not always be around, but you can always text us or something. And you and that Hunter guy hang out a lot, right? That's something at least." The dog patted him on the shoulder and stood up.
He staggered a moment and laughed. "Stood up too quickly," he explained when the fox looked at him. He grabbed his back and headed for the door. "Gotta get going. Let me know if you need anything, alright?"
The fox nodded but did not look at him. When he heard the door shut, he walked over and locked it. He sat against the door and slid down, tears in his eyes. He wiped them away and stared at the ceiling for a moment, sitting.
He sighed and walked back to his homework. He figured he would at least finish it, hoping it would get his mind off things.
It was easy, of course, for him. He did not really need to show up to class, it seemed. He ran through it, the only thing taking time was writing out whatever needed to be written out.
It helped, if just a little. He yawned and continued working on it. When he got hungry, he grabbed some food in the kitchen.
It was getting late and he figured that would just be the end of the day. He had hoped that the wolf would come see him, at least to say hello, but no such luck, it would seem. The sun was beginning to set.
Just as he was heading back upstairs, after finishing his work, he heard a knock on the door. Perhaps Dan had forgotten something.
He opened the door. He had expected many things, and among them was the wolf, of which stood before him. He was breathing heavily, slightly damp, and a mist was coming from his mouth as he breathed.
"S-sorry, we had uh... we had practice, and it was going on pretty late," the wolf explained.
Roger nodded silently and stared at him, unable to actually bring out any words. He stepped back as he did with the dog and the wolf walked in, closing the door behind him, as he was now used to.
Immediately, the wolf embraced him. Roger could smell the effort that he had put into hastily grabbing a shower and then running over here. He stood motionless, though, unsure of what to do. He was on the verge of tears and at the same time he felt infinitely better now that Hunter was here.
They sat down and Roger's emotions kept seesawing between sad and happy. He looked over at the wolf, who smiled back at him.
He asked the question that was on his mind. "So, did... you two get together?"