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Chapter 15: Recreation

They retreated to the wolf's room after breakfast. It was a quiet morning, somewhat dull to start out, at least after the initial excitement.

Roger checked on his phone to see of things near them while the wolf pondered what activities they could do, but both of them already knew what he wanted. He was merely being polite and let the fox decide.

He was still a bit hungry, but would manage to stave it off. He look around for local parks, found a few, and decided that maybe it would be best to head to one, instead of staying cooped up in the same area the whole time. He also saw a local mall, in case they wished to browse the stores or watch a movie. There was nothing good on at the moment, but the fox figured it would kill some time, and in the darkness, the wolf might not notice him so much. He could hide his embarrassment, and perhaps distract himself.

He offered the idea to the wolf, who looked slightly disappointed, but agreed to both cases. Roger noticed this and mentioned for the wolf to bring a football with him, and that seemed to fix the problem. It was a compromise, as the fox did not really want to be injured again, but it seemed to be the only thing the wolf enjoyed.

There was a lot of time in the day left, and he figured that much of it could go by easily enough if they were distracted. He would attempt to use some of the time to help the wolf study, but he was unsure if they would ever get to do any studying if they were consistently performing other activities. He figured he would try.

They embarked on their journey to the park. It was only a couple blocks over, and the mall but a few after that. They had to come to an intersection to get there, though. The wolf had brought a ball along and juggled it in his paws idly as they walked.

"Thank you for coming over," the wolf said. He smiled at Roger and his tail waved behind him.

The fox smiled back awkwardly. "It's no problem."

Hunter frowned. "I'm sorry I fell on you. Sometimes I fall off."

Roger shrugged. "It's okay, I'm not hurt." In truth, he was somewhat sore, but he thought better to make any mention of it. He was not bruised, nothing was broken, but it felt like he had been punched a few times in the chest, possibly from the pressure on his lungs. His mind wandered back to the event to make sense of it, and a certain part of him swelled slightly.

He blushed and cast off the thought. He walked a bit faster, hoping for it to go away, and it did, but they were nearing the park.

The park consisted of a large grassy field, flat with a couple of ornaments spread off to the side as decoration. To the side of it was a sectioned off area that looked like a sort of forest area, with trees spread thickly throughout it, and next to that was a desert-like area. To the far end was a pond. It seemed they tried to encompass many preferences, as opposed to just one type of park.

They made their way to the flatland. The wolf tossed a ball to Roger, who barely caught it. "Let's practice some throws," he told him. The fox nodded.

So they did, passing the ball between them. It was a simple thing, but the wolf seemed to be enjoying it, and that was what mattered to the fox. He figured, so long as he could distract him with something, the time would go faster. Or at least it could pass without incident.

He got better at throwing. The technique was much better than when he first threw the ball, but it lacked power. His arm was getting tired from never having to do such things. He had lost count of how many times he threw it.

Finally, the wolf caught it and did not return the throw. He walked to the fox and said, "Thank you."

Roger nodded. He panted a few times and his arm felt dead.

Hunter sniffed the air, and then looked at him. "You smell like fox."

The fox smelled himself and clenched his jaw. He did smell a bit, and he figured the wolf had made note of it as a hint that it was offensive in a fashion. He quickly apologized and said he would take a shower when they returned.

Hunter shook his head. "I like it."

The fox took a step back and blushed furiously. The wolf continued, however, "It means you put out some work."

Roger did not know how to respond, so he just nodded meekly. He still blushed, possibly from the odd thoughts that had passed through his mind, or the confirmation of his efforts. Perhaps it was both.

They walked around, the wolf showing him how to stretch his arm out so it did not cramp or become tight. He spoke of different techniques to improve the strength of his throws and how to improve upon his spiral, though he mentioned that it seemed to be pretty fair as far as it currently was. Roger attempted to listen to as much as he could, but it was not his really interest. Still, he remained polite enough to catch what he could.

He reflected that the monologue of instruction might have been similar to how the wolf saw things as they were explained to him. He simply was not too interested in it, but attempted to grasp the concepts that were thrown at him. He understood now that it was not for lack of ability or effort, but that it was just not for him. He imagined that the wolf would eventually play professionally one day, if he so desired.

The practice was done and they still had several hours in the day. Time crept slowly, to the fox's dismay. He thought much more time had passed, but it really just made him notice how poorly he performed; it had been so that a minute seemed an hour, and he knew it. He would attempted to have fun next time, he resolved.

He wondered what they were to do now that he no longer had too much use of his arm. He looked at Hunter who returned the gaze. They spoke and figured they would explore the area.

They headed to the forest section.