A Growing Friendship - Part 3
#3 of A Growing Friendship
Two friends, a lean wolf and a heavy husky, work together to bring out the best in each other, and grow closer in the process.
A multi-part commission by wolfied91
Connor tossed and turned in his bed, growling softly in frustration as he tried ceaselessly to abandon his endless train of thoughts and let his exhaustion take over. He had tried every position, on his back, his sides, his belly, he even tried cuddling his pillow, which worked well for a few minutes before he woke up again due to a lack of neck support. Now, he stared at his clock with painfully wide eyes, watching each minute take a year to go by. It was 4 AM. The husky wanted to cry. It wasn't nightmares that forced him to stay awake, nor an unnecessary consumption of caffeine before bed; it wasn't even the constant shouting of the boys in the next room over who spent their time playing video games all night. It wasn't any of these things, nor had it ever been throughout his recent days of insomnia. It was absolutely nothing. Nothing had kept him awake for night after night, and nothing had made him want to claw at his eyes until he forced himself into the sleep-like dark world of blindness. Nothing had made him wake up, his bones aching and anxious, and pace the floor like a scientist with discovery on the tip of his tongue. Nothing made him hold his pillow tight in anger and desire, and nothing had rolled around in his mind screaming nothing until a thought came to occupy the nothing until it was all well and worn and left nothing but nothing.
What it really was, the thing that had kept his eyes wide open, was Connor's endless search to place something, someone, in the nothing that lay besides him in bed. He had placed many people there. A beautiful lioness slept in that spot, one that whose body he had seen so many times in his favorite magazine that he could practically trace her contours perfectly into his bed. She did not fit. Erica was there once, her long ears folded over as she brought herself close to Connor's embrace. She didn't fit well there either. His tigress professor had even filled the space, but that didn't last long, and Connor was extremely grateful for that. He flipped through the people in his life, the women he had dated, the movie stars, the ones in magazines, the ones who had sat next to him in calculus. None fit and soon enough his visions went away and he was left with nothing but nothingness.
It had been a strange year for Connor. After Jason's confession, everything spiraled. Not necessarily downwards, just twisting and turning in whichever direction it pleased. Connor tried his best to go with the flow, he continued his workout routine, passed his classes, and just lived, although he could hardly say that he did so to the fullest. For a good while after the incident, he and Jason had kept their distance. Jason moved three seats down and one row up, Connor kept to his apartment much more than usual, infuriating his dalmatian roommate to a degree as he often used Connor's bed to host his friends whenever the husky wasn't around. Connor was much more intimidating now with his new bulk, however, and so there wasn't much of a fuss to be had. Connor had missed a fair majority of highly acclaimed films, as he rarely went to the movie theater now that he lacked Jason's motivation to do so. Ryan had stopped bothering the husky though. Instead, his sights moved to Jason, who was steadily bulking up, yet rounding out in the process. It hardly helped that rumor of his sexuality had spread. The fox was vicious about that part, and Jason began to resent ever telling Connor that he had feelings for him, even though Connor was not the one who had started the rumor. Connor seldom found pleasure in going out anymore, and hardly found himself with the urge to start a relationship with anyone.
Connor got up and turned on the lights, covering his eyes as the brightness assaulted their waning lenses. If there was one good thing about this year, it was that he didn't have a roommate as juniors and seniors had priority singles dorms. He looked around his room and sighed. Well, it had seemed like a good thing at first, but instead of making the husky feel empowered and independent, it only further exacerbated his desire to have someone around close by. At least with a roommate he was never alone, there was always someone in the bed right across from him to talk to if he had problems, or hang out with if he was bored. It was forced camaraderie but it was camaraderie nonetheless. Now all that decorated his room was a computer, a shelf with a few books which he had never read but always planned to, and some ill fitting clothes strewn across the floor. Taking a look at said clothing reminded him that he needed to go shopping soon, something that he had been holding back on doing because he had no one to go with. Rubbing his eyes, he whimpered and walked over to his desk, flipping open a mathematics textbook to do some early studying.
While his lack of sleep would have done him in, the husky's random vote to study through his sleepless night paid off well the following morning when a pop quiz was being passed around the room. After hours of flipping through the textbook, chapter by chapter with only short breaks to pass out in between, Connor could firmly say that he knew the material like the back of his hand, though he knew that a part or two was just a fuzzy as the back of his hand too. Taking a quick glance at Jason, he knew that the wolf didn't have the same luck. His ears were folded, and he quickly snapped his pencil in half, reluctantly grabbing another from his bag. Things had been going on like this for a while, with Jason constantly receiving poor marks on his tests and frequently appearing beat or angry, often a combination of the two. Ryan never helped. Connor, on occasion, could hear the fox mocking Jason for his growing weight and sexuality, the latter of which Jason had openly admitted from time to time, explaining during his rare conversations with Connor that no matter how much he tried to deny it, he knew it was true. It only made Connor feel guilty.
Over the months the pair had had their offs and ons. At times, things would seem like they were getting better. Connor would offer to head out into town with Jason, who would, with surprise and renewed vigor, agree and drive there with him. It was times like these, when Connor sat in class with nobody to his right, that he wished they could go out more frequently, to find a way to rekindle their friendship. The husky sighed as he picked up his pencil and started taking the test. It wasn't a hard test, especially because he had studied all of the material, but he knew that if he were to turn around he would see Jason struggling. That move, Jason's transition away from the seat next to Connor, had hurt him too. Had the wolf stayed, he probably would've been able to keep up with the class, as Connor kept him well informed. It could've been just like their American Literature class last year had he not moved his seat. All three of them, Ryan, Connor, and Jason had skipped out on taking their math courses earlier in their college careers, Jason and Connor hoping to work together to pass the class easily while Ryan was just downright lazy.
The strangest thing was, in Connor's mind, Ryan's shift in focus to Jason, and the wolf's unwillingness to provide a retort to any of his comments. Every week Jason was growing larger in ways that the husky never expected. He looked different each time Connor turned his head to take a glance at him in class. Sometimes it would be the wolf's muscles, his biceps bulging and his shoulders broadening. Often, before Ryan had caught on to Jason's other changes, the wolf would wear tight shirts, displaying his new, muscular pecs with pride. That same pride, however, only exacerbated the growing mass in his midsection. Jason was a peculiar case, while he gained muscle mass on a majority of his body, his stomach steadily grew rounded and wider, though Connor could tell that this growth was definitely intentional. It was hard to see it at first, but these days Connor could easily notice it with a quick glance. Jason had begun to look more and more like Connor had in the beginning of the school year last year, albeit he had much more muscle than the husky had back then, and wasn't quite there yet. No matter the situation, Jason's stomach seemed to have an unbreaking firmness, something that Connor had yet to achieve being that he seldom did work on his core. The husky had noticed that, on occasion, the wolf would find himself struggling somewhat to fit just right into his desk, forcing his chair back further than he was comfortable with. He would suck in his gut to squeeze behind his peers, and breath a deep sigh of relief when he was able to sit down. He looked... good. Connor shook his head and returned his focus back to his test. He pushed the thoughts away like he had for months now.
It was troubling, having these thoughts about Jason. They had started just a few months back, around the same time that Ryan had finally taken notice of the wolf's bulging midsection. At first, Connor had pushed them off easily, recalling that it had been over a year since he had been with someone. That had only stopped it for a few days, but the thoughts returned quickly the moment he saw Jason again. Connor had stared at the wolf for too long, and he was quick to notice, causing the husky to blush deeply with embarrassment. He didn't understand why. Things had been amping up in the past few months though, and Jason was constantly on Connor's mind. He couldn't stop thinking about their times at the movie theater, or in town, or grabbing dinner, or just hanging around in their rooms. Even worse, when Connor was in the mood, Jason continued to permeate his thoughts. He thought of Jason, his new, larger body lying next to him, their muzzles meeting, their arms crossing as their paws reached for one another's... Connor shivered at the thought, feeling his excitement grow and then ever so slowly dissipate as he resumed his focus on the test.
Connor sighed loudly, garnering the attention of a zebra two seats down who quickly went back to the quiz. He knew how he felt, or at least he thought he knew how he felt. He felt the same way that he had felt about Erica when they were still together, but this was stronger, much stronger. He knew that he didn't want it though, or at least he thought that he didn't want it. It would be social suicide, at least with Ryan around. And what would his parents think if he brought a guy home? Would they even like Jason? Connor growled lowly to himself, Why am I even thinking about bringing him home? The test was done. Connor went to hand it in and leave, he knew that there were no other plans today. He had almost reached the door when Ryan barged past him, pushing Connor to the side and throwing open the door, rushing outside. Connor scoffed and walked outside, turning his head back to the classroom one last time only to see Jason looking at him, ears still folded and head tilted downwards in shame. Connor offered up a smile, the wolf's ears perking in an instant, a smile spread across his face as his tail wagged wildly. The door closed softly behind him. Connor looked towards the pavement and smiled to himself as he made his way back to the dorms.
The husky stared at himself in the mirror, slowly calculating how much he had grown in the past year. He knew what the scale said, he had gained 22 pounds since he had started working out, putting him at a solid 322. He had worked constantly throughout the year, and even though he often lacked motivation without Jason by his side, he kept going. Jason did too, but he was sure to come to the gym at different times so he wouldn't upset Connor. No matter how hard he tried, the husky didn't look thinner, but he was alright with that. As he had been told many times by others at the gym, muscle weighs more than fat, and so his gain was not a bad thing, in fact, it was far from it. Now, instead of a rotund, soft husky, he was a rotund, firmer husky. His belly hadn't gone away from his workouts, if anything it grew firm and stable, holding its shape well as his core got a nice workout. His arms were much larger now, full of strong muscle instead of wobbly fat, and his legs were working towards the same conclusion. His biceps bulged largely, and his face had become much more cut than it had been in the past. He was truly an intimidating husky.
Well, he would be intimidating if he hadn't had a massive grin spread across his face. He may have grown larger, but he loved it. He felt strong, strong enough to hold his own in a fight, yet cute and fairly cuddly, though he would never admit that to anyone other than himself. That was a conclusion that his peers would have to draw on their own. He wrapped a paw around one of his biceps, loving how it was always there, even when he wasn't flexing. His chest was just as powerful, firm and muscular, and warm to the touch. He could see his pecs flex when he willed them to, and loved the sheer power behind them. His belly was somewhat disappointing at first, but it slowly became a source of pride. It was hardly what it had been when he started working out. Its firmness was evident by its self-supported roundness, and it didn't jiggle nearly as much as it had when he first started, although there was still a fair amount of fat in that area. What he loved most about it was how big it made him feel. The sheer power behind his new muscle was only exacerbated by the largeness of his gut, and as he ran his paws over it, he knew that it was something he intended to keep. It was funny, now that he was looking himself in the mirror, it was as though he and Jason were on the same track, both growing stronger and rounder. He wondered who would be the biggest when the school year comes to a close.
It was thoughts like these, ones about Jason, that always wiggled their way into his mind no matter what he did. Once more Connor questioned why he was even thinking about Jason, especially in this particular regard. Sure it was for comparison sake, but still it was Jason. It was always Jason. Ever since the husky had left the wolf's apartment it had always been Jason. It was Jason when he was in class, and when they, on rare occasions, hung out. It was Jason when he was at the gym, and Jason when he was out in town. No matter what he was doing, no matter where he was, even when he was alone, looking at his changing body in the mirror, thoughts of the wolf pierced his mind. It was quite the conundrum, and Connor didn't take such confusion very lightly, considering his options as often as he could. There weren't many. He could, if he so chose, avoid the wolf all together, riding out this last year and making sure to pick different classes next year, maybe even find a new gym. He would miss him in the beginning, but he could always find someone new. He could keep things going as they were now, staying away from Jason, but still maintaining a fair proximity. At least then he could always change his mind. But then there was a third option. If he really wanted to, he could try to get his friend back, try to rekindle what was once a great bond between himself and Jason. In the furthest reaches of his mind, he knew that there was even a fourth option, to test the waters with the wolf by his side.
Connor groaned at the thought, both embarrassed and confused. Slowly, he dragged himself over to his bed and plopped down. He closed his eyes for a moment, just long enough to finally pass out from exhaustion. An image of someone next to him in bed flashed before him before he was overtaken by slumber. He could not remember who.
Connor watched the clock on the wall as his professor droned on about finding derivatives of some equation that the husky had studied time and time again, yet had always forgotten by the end of class. Only a minute was left, and then he would be free. His tail wagged behind him in excitement, and he couldn't help but tap his feet to the rhythm of the clock as the seconds ticked by. He groped around in the insides of his pockets to make sure that the slips of paper that he needed for tonight were there. Connor's plan was certainly nerve wracking. He had thought it up a week ago after he woke up from his nap, and finally decided to put it into action just a few hours before class. Now, after already spending his money with no chance of a refund, to not follow through would just be a complete waste. The husky was not as privileged as Jason, so to be so wasteful was not something that he could afford.
The professor's alarm rang, shattering the anticipation that had built up around the classroom as the session neared its final moments. Connor sprung to his feet, spying Jason already at the door. The husky moved as quickly as possible past his peers and ran up the steps as Jason left, pushing Ryan aside by accident, the fox not daring to comment due to Connor's infinitely more powerful build; instead, he watched what the rush was about from afar. The husky rushed up behind Jason, tapping him excitedly on the shoulder. "Jason," Connor said, panting slightly, "I wanted to ask you something."
"Oh," the wolf replied, shocked that Connor was talking to him, "what's up?"
"One second," Connor said, his embarrassment becoming evident on his cheeks as he rummaged through his pockets, pulling out two movie tickets and handing one to Jason, "tonight sound good?"
"Uhhh..." Jason looked up at Connor, flabbergasted at the husky's uncharacteristic invitation. Jason stopped in his tracks, looking down at the ticket. He certainly could be there. His tail began to wag ever so slightly, something it hadn't done in months. "Sure," Jason said with nod, not entirely sure what the context for the event was. Connor grinned wildly, glad that the plan had worked after recalling that it was Jason whom he had seen next to him before he slipped into unconsciousness just a few days ago.
The two marched on in silence, neither really knowing what to say. Connor held out his paw. Jason stared at it. Option four it is.