A Silent Soul- Chapter 7
#7 of A Silent Soul
Chapter 7! :P
Hey furballs! Elijah back for the second part of the double upload today due to yesterday's absence! We get to see a bit more of Rachel this chapter as she needs a little bit of attention as well. I hope you guys enjoy the little fluff scene at the end, I got a little ahead of myself and wanted to add something cute. So what are you waiting for? Get reading! I'll see you at the bottom of the page! :D
My groan was muffled by my muzzle being stuffed into my pillow. I don't know why I slept like this, it was just really comfortable. I groaned again as I felt a wet spot on the pillow near my mouth. I must have slept pretty well if I drooled.
I rolled over trying to rub the remaining sleep from my eyes. Jasper's heavy snoring alerted me that he was still here. I had a bit of trouble sleeping initially due to Jasper's constant whining and growling in his sleep. He was very disturbed by something, and sooner or later I was going to get him to talk about it.
I was surprised he was still here though, I thought for sure he had class... Oh my god, my English paper! I never finished it! I jolted out of bed, causing Jasper to bolt awake as well.
"Who? What? When? Where? What's wrong?" He asked still half asleep.
"I never finished my English paper that's due today! I have to finish it before class!" I shouted digging through my papers.
"Oh yeah, that thing. I finished that over the weekend. It didn't take me that long, you should be able to finish it before OH MY GOSH I HAVE CLASS IN 10 MINUTES!" He leapt out of bed, getting tangled in his covers and falling to the floor.
I helped him scramble out of them as he ran to get dressed, as he was only wearing his boxers at the moment. Which I'll admit wasn't a terrible sight. The way they hugged his... No! Bad Elijah! Bad thoughts! Shaking the naughty thoughts from my mind I found the unfinished English paper at the bottom of the pile.
I only had the conclusion to go so I knew I could finish it in a few minutes. Jasper growled in frustration behind me.
"Grrr, why won't these pants fit right?!" I turned to watch him struggle slightly. I sighed at his predicament.
"Jasper, they're backwards." I informed him. He glanced down and grinned cheekily, blushing.
"Hehe, whoops." I just shook my head amusedly as he turned the pants around and pulled his long gray tail through the hole in the back. I noticed the long white stripe running all the way down his back, the only time I'd seen it was the night before in the shower room. Now that I looked at it enough, it suited his frame quite nicely.
I wonder if it goes past his waist... I wouldn't mind getting a peek... I'm getting distracted again! Flustered, I huffed before turning back to the paper.
"Alright I'm out of here, wish me luck!" he shouted walking out the door.
"Good luck!" I yelled back at him as the door closed. Turning back to the paper once again, I finally began putting words to paper.
P.O.V. Change: Rachel
Licking my muzzle clean of any extra food residue I walked out of the cafeteria into the warm September air. I was up nice and early to get a nice breakfast before I went to class.
It wasn't a long walk to the English building, but I was cutting it a little closer than I would have liked. Just some minor tweaks to make for next time I guess.
I walked inside and up to the second floor where my class was. I found the classroom easily and settled into an empty seat towards the back. The time came to start class as the teacher, an older owl named Mr. Quincy, began taking attendance.
He cycled through the names, "Mikazo Kimada." A lion in the back raised his hand, "Here, but I go by Mike." He explained. The owl noted it down before continuing.
"Jasper McHugh." My ears perked as I didn't remember seeing him when I came in, nor did I see him walk in. My doubts were nearly confirmed when the classroom door flew open and guess who it was! If you guessed Jasper... you were wrong.
A light brown coyote walked in the door, and quite the cutie he was I must say. To my surprise the light gray wolf I was originally looking for followed him in, ears down for fear of being late.
They both recited at the same time, "Am I late?" The owl sighed at both of them before marking them down.
"Yes but I won't count today being the first day of class, I know it can be confusing. But do not let it happen again." He said sternly. They both nodded and found seats. He locked eyes with me and made his way to the empty seat in front of me.
Hiya wolfy, glad you could make it." I smirked at him.
He panted lightly, "Yeah, my alarm didn't go off not to mention I didn't sleep well last night to begin with. I was lucky that Elijah just happened to wake up." He told me. My ears perked at the mention of Elijah, remembering he wasn't doing well when I'd left last night.
"How is he?" I asked concerned.
"He's doing well now, I went in last night and we talked for a while. We had a little incident in the bathroom that shook him up a little bit but nothing to be worried about." He informed me.
I wasn't exactly satisfied with the answer, so I pressed further.
"What happened?" I asked sternly. It was at that moment Mr. Quincy started the lecture.
"After class." I told him. The class seemed to drag for so long, Mr. Quincy's voice was just so dull and monotone that you just wanted to fall asleep... That's it! He's testing us! He wants to see who can stay awake.
Upon discovering this I looked around to some of the other kids in the class. Most everyone was struggling to stay awake, Jasper included. I kicked his seat to wake him up a bit, earning a tired glare from him.
It seemed to wake him up though, as he looked a bit more attentive. He even answered a question or two. He collected our papers that were due today as he dismissed the class, and I watched as many failed to yield a paper. He sighed every time a student walked by without one.
Jasper and I were the last ones to leave. I handed him my paper as did Jasper.
"Thank you Ms. Tanner, you look very nice today. Thank you for paying attention throughout the class." I nodded as he turned to Jasper. He seemed to look a bit apprehensive at what he was going to say.
"Thank you Mr. McHugh, I appreciate your effort of answering questions. Make sure you aren't late next time, I'll let it slide today." Mr. Q told him. Jasper seemed to relax immensely, nodding.
"Of course, it won't happen again." He said.
Mr. Quincy nodded back, "I'll see you two Wednesday. Have a good day." We said goodbye before leaving. As soon as we were out of the room I grabbed Jasper and pulled him to the side.
"Alright wolf boy, start talking. What happened in the bathroom last night? I swear if you-" He seemed to know where I was going with the statement as he shook his hands back and forth.
"No no nothing like that I promise. We were both taking showers when I heard Elijah start humming. I recognized the song so I started humming with him. Eventually we were singing our hearts out when this douchebag in another stall called us fags and told us to shut up. We did of course, but I wasn't very happy. So when I finished showering I called him out on it and we started arguing. Elijah grabbed me before I could go after him and dragged me out. Needing to release some of that anger I let a really bad growl out that scared Elijah pretty bad. I felt awful of course, I would never mean to hurt him or scare him in any way." He explained.
I was satisfied with the explanation and I let him off the hook, but not without a lecture on keeping his cool. I accompanied him to the dining hall so he could get something to eat.
We talked a bit more as he ate, and I learned that he was much closer with his father than his mother. His dad didn't work due to an injury to his back while he was working out that didn't let him do a lot of hard work, the thing he was best as.
His mom worked all the time so he didn't get to spend as much time with her. They didn't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things, such as politics.
He seemed to get really sensitive when it came to past relationships, so I did my best to stay away from them. I watched Jasper eat for a bit longer as I watched his eyes lighten a bit as he turned to focus on something behind me.
I was suddenly aware of a presence behind me as it rested its chin on top of my head in between my ears. My eyes were then covered by a set of soft white paws, and I grinned as I realized whom they belonged to.
P.O.V. Change: Elijah
I locked eyes with Jasper and put a finger up to my mouth to tell him to stay quiet as I snuck up behind Rachel. I rested my head on top of hers and covered up her eyes. "Hi there." I whispered in her ear.
She giggled before reaching back to tickle my sides I immediately released her and retreated to the other side of the table to sit beside Jasper.
"Well if it isn't my favorite furball!" Rachel said.
Jasper feigned hurt, "Hey! I thought I was your favorite!" He pouted.
I grinned, "Nope, I've known her for longer so I'm the favorite." I teased him.
Rachel seemed to ponder something before speaking, "Well I don't know Elijah... Jasper is very fluffy as well. It's a very tough choice." She said. It was my turn to feign hurt as I reached around to grab my tail.
"But, but my tail! It's way fluffier than his! And it curls!" I explained, fluffing it out for extra emphasis. She caved on that point.
"He has a point Jasper, his tail is way fluffier. It out-fluffs yours by a long shot." She laughed. Jasper seemed to grumble a bit as he finished his meal. I'd eaten earlier before going to my own English class.
I informed my teacher, a young weasel named Ms. Sanders that I would not be there because of the funeral. She offered her condolences and told me not to worry, and to take as much time as I needed. I appreciated it very much, knowing the days after would be rough.
Jasper's light growl interrupted my thoughts as I turned to see what had gotten him riled up. Following his line of vision, I spotted the horse from last night, whose name I'd learned to be Brian Bucknard, or more affectionately known as "Buck".
I jabbed Jasper with my elbow which seemed to work, but his hackles were still flared on his neck. Rachel seemed to notice as well as she too grew a bit tense.
"He's lucky I don't go give him a piece of my mind after his little stunt last night." She said threateningly.
I sighed, "I don't want you two getting involved. He's just a big bodied bully with a tiny brain. He's not worth it." I told them.
Rachel seemed to calm down a bit, "Elijah's right. We're all adults now, we can't afford to be trying anything stupid, as much as we might want to show him what we're really made of." Jasper still wasn't convinced, but seemed to drop the subject for the moment as he turned to me.
"So how was your class? Did you finish your paper in time?" He asked me. Happy to move on to a new subject, I responded.
"Yep, plenty of time to spare actually. I was almost done with it before... y'know. So it didn't take long to finish it." I told him. He nodded as he grabbed his plate to take it to the dish drop off. Rachel waited until he was out of earshot before turning to me, mischief lighting up her eyes.
"So, have you made a move yet?" She asked grinning.
I blushed madly, "Of course not, I don't even know if he's like that. I don't want to weird him out with my feelings on the second day. Although I did catch him staring last night when I stood up to stretch..." I trailed off, considering the possibility once again. She gasped but contained herself as Jasper approached.
"I'm gonna head back to the room, you coming?" He asked me. I exchanged glances with Rachel making sure she didn't want to keep talking. She shook her head and winked before standing up.
"I'm gonna head back too, wanna get some studying in." She said.
Jasper scoffed, "Nerd." She leaned over the table and flicked him on the nose. Jasper yelped more in surprise than pain, grabbing his now throbbing sniffer.
"That'll teach ya. See ya boys." She turned and left.
Jasper rubbed his sore nose, "She's definitely a feisty one, I'll give her that." He muttered. I chuckled before walking after her.
"Come on you." I told him. We all waved goodbye one last time before we went our separate ways. Jasper and I chatted about the essay that was due in a few weeks for English. He planned to write about working out and how it can be good and bad for you.
"I wouldn't know, I've never worked out before..." I told him.
He looked shocked, "I'll have to take you over there one day! I hear the gym here is great, we should go later!" He said.
"Not tonight, I was planning on going down to the pool later actually." I told him. His ears perked up at that.
"I've been wanting to go over there too, so I'll go with you!" He said excitedly. My tail wagged slightly behind me at the prospect of getting to see the wolf shirtless again.
"Sounds good, I have to find my bathing suit in my bag though." I said.
"Yeah same here, I hope I packed it." He replied. I nodded my head as we got back to the room. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, enjoying the cool A/C. I checked the time on my phone, reading 3:40 p.m.
"I'm gonna lay down for a quick nap before we go." I told him.
He nodded, "I'll just play some games on my phone until then. Do you want me to wake you up at any specific time?" He asked.
"If I'm not up by five wake me up if you don't mind." I replied. He nodded his head as I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes.
It only seemed like 5 minutes had passed when I felt a hand gently shaking me awake.
"Elijah. Elijah it's 5 o'clock." Jasper said gently. I rolled over to face him, yawned widely, and stretched. I sat up on the bed before completely acknowledging him.
"Thanks for waking me up, I was sleeping so good hehe." I told him groggily.
He smiled, "Yeah it looked like it, you were sleeping like a rock." He said. I stood up and began digging through my suitcase that I'd had yet to unpack looking for my bathing suit. Finding it at the bottom of the stack of clothes I pulled it out and held it up.
It was blue and white to match my fur, with some fancy floral designs on it. I noticed Jasper already had his on, a plain black bathing suit with some white stripes running down the sides.
"Oh you found yours after all?" I asked.
"Yeah, it was in a bad that I packed last minute for the stuff I'd almost forgotten." I was just about to put my bathing suit on when I realized I still had an admirer. I turned to look at Jasper, motioning for him to step out while I changed. He grinned embarrassingly and trotted out of the room.
Changing quickly I grabbed a towel and met him outside. He was hopping back and forth on his paws with the hot cement burning his pads.
"Where are your shoes?" I asked him.
"In the room, but it's fine. Once the sun goes down it'll cool off." He stated. I shrugged and led the way to the pool. It was a decently short walk, Jasper walked through the grass most of the time to avoid the hot sidewalk. I shook my head as we walked up to the gate to the pool.
I reached up to pull the lever to open the gate, but it wouldn't open. Jasper, being slightly taller, reached up to try as well.
"What gives?" He said. I turned to see the sign with the hours of operation posted on it. I groaned in frustration as I read the sign.
"They close at 5 during the week, figures." I said dejectedly.
"We can always head to the indoor pool at the gym?" Jasper suggested.
"No that's okay, it's not the same. We can try some other time now that we know the hours." I stated.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
I nodded, "Yep, not a big deal. We can just hang out at the room." I said. He shrugged.
"Alright then, off we go!" We turned back towards the way we came and made the short walk back to the room. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. We both just sat on our beds and talked about life, getting to know each other a bit better.
Once darkness had fallen and we'd run out of stuff to talk about, we started making suggestions of what to do for the rest of the night. It was he who suggested we watch a movie on his laptop.
"But we don't have any popcorn." I informed him.
"We don't need no stinking popcorn, we've got sodas and chips for snacks if you want." He said. I caved and agreed to watch a movie, and we decided on one of his favorites: The Longest Yard featuring Adam Sandler.
P.O.V. Change: Jasper
I can't believe he actually agreed to watch a movie with me! I was giddy with excitement, especially when he let me choose the movie. I picked one of my favorite sports movies of all time with Adam Sandler.
Elijah turned the lights off and laid down next to me where we'd settled in on the floor, with the beds being too small to fit the both of us. I had to explain somethings that were going on as he'd get periodically lost, and eventually he began to drift off.
Before I knew it he'd passed out leaned up against me, head resting on my shoulder. He was snoring lightly, letting me know that he was long gone. I didn't have the heart to move him so I watched the final 20 minutes of the movie before turning it off. Closing the laptop and setting in on my nightstand I gently shook Elijah awake.
"Hey Elijah. Movies over." I told him. He jarred awake and stretched, yawning cutely. Did I just say that?
"You know, you make a really good pillow." He told me groggily, smiling. The darkness concealed my blush as I laughed softly.
"Thanks, I've never been used as one so I wouldn't know." I replied. He slowly stood up before sitting on his bed. I got up and sat on mine as well.
"Thanks for the movie, I really enjoyed it." He said tiredly, yawning again. His yawning made me yawn as well as I nodded.
"Yeah, it was nice. Too bad you fell asleep during the best part." I told him.
He rubbed his head, "Yeah sorry, you were really comfortable and I was tired so I just kinda drifted off."
"No worries, you should get some sleep. I know you have a morning class tomorrow." I told him.
He nodded as he laid back on his bed, "Yeah, I'm gonna do that now. Good night." He said. "Night." I replied, laying on my own bed and falling asleep.
Aaaaaand scene! That's all the fluff you're getting out of me tonight! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and also hope you're enjoying the story as a whole. I've put a lot of effort into this for you guys and it makes me so happy that you guys are enjoying it. You can be sure to look forward to more exciting chapters to come, but for now I'm out of time. See you guys next chapter! :D