Competition and Conflict by Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work involves underaged characters. You have been warned.
The weekend came and passed rather quickly. Pent and his brother did not spend much time doing anything out of the ordinary. The older fox eventually confided in trying to get better at Smash Brothers but even when Samaliel wasn't giving his all, Pent wasn't able to beat him. Still, he put up with it because his brother at least gave him a chance to put up a fight so it felt like the whole ordeal was fair even if the older cub lost on all accounts.
When Monday rolled around and the alarm rang off, Pent popped out of bed ready to get to school. Weekends were great but he enjoyed the structure of the day. He peered over his bed and poked his brother on the top bunk to wake him. Samaliel was a much deeper sleeper than himself and seldom woke up when the alarm went off. The white fox shook his brother gently a few times before the salt and pepper cub began to rouse.
"Time for school, bucko." Pent said in a low-volume voice.
Samaliel yawned loudly. "Yeah, yeah. I'm getting up."
Pent stepped away from the bed and allowed his brother some space to climb down from the upper bunk. Samaliel slowly eased his way down the rails and stretched once he was next to the older boy. The white cub reached over and ruffled his fur before walking away. The smaller cub wasn't far behind as grumbling in his stomach reminded him that breakfast was soon. The two foxes soon arrived into the kitchen which was still somewhat dark from the sunlight being blocked from outside.
The older fox took a box of oatmeal out of one of the pantries and picked out two bowls for serving. He put some water inside it and delivered it into the microwave for cooking. Samaliel had already begun preparing the fruit by cutting it into pieces so both of them could share in the food. It didn't take long for the oatmeal to be ready. The microwave beeped when it was complete and Pent popped open the door.
The white fox wrapped a nearby rag over the bowls and set each of them down on the table to allow them to cool a bit. After pouring some juice for both of them, both cubs sat down and enjoyed the breakfast that had been prepared. They waited a few moments for the food to cool off before digging in. The two of them enjoyed the meal they had prepared together but not many words were shared between them. When they were done, they cleaned up and headed out to get ready for school.
Both cubs had different versions of the same uniform. The primary and secondary schools sourced their outfits from the same designer so the only thing different about them was the colors of the fabric. Samaliel's uniform was a dark green polo with tan khaki pants while Pent's was a light blue with black pants. Both of them had emblems of the school logo emblazoned on the front of them.
They each grabbed their bags, which were already set by the front door from where they left them last. Opening the door they were greeted by the brimming daylight of the sun. Both of the cubs shielded their eyes from the light despite much of it being shielded behind the clouds that hovered in a mostly clear sky. A breeze blew through the area, brushing past the two cubs who stood there for a few minutes.
Eventually, they pushed off from the front door with Pent locking the door behind them. As with every day they walked together to school. The wind continued to blow against them as they made their way down the street. It was still dark enough that some of the lights were on above them. By the time they to the school, most of the lights had turned off with the sun taking a more prominent position in the sky above them.
Once they were at the front of the schools, they weren't their separate ways. Pent rearranged the bag on his back and looked over to the tree he usually sat underneath. Sure enough, no one was there so he made his way over. Older Cubs and teenagers were hanging out all around the front of the school. Most of them paid Pent no attention as he made his way to the large tree in front of the building.
Pent sat down underneath and took a deep breath. Some of the nearby leaves swirled by as the wind carried them into the distance. He reached into his bag and took it out of his bag to begin reading. Even with all the chatter around him, it was easy enough for him to zone out and completely focus on the book, depending on what it was. He began reading and enjoying the content of the book as he attempted to block out all external noise.
"Another book, eh?" A voice beckoned to him though Pent didn't recognize it as being toward him.
A few moments of silence followed.
"Are you ignoring me?" The same voice spoke to him again.
Another few moments passed and the person on the other side of the book grew impatient and gently pushed the book down.
"Hiya, Pent. How was your weekend?" Santiago asked with a curious glint in his eyes.
Pent huffed as he slowly moved the book to his lap. "Fine."
"Oh? Did you end up going to your friends?" The older boy wanted to make sure it went alright.
The white fox nodded. "Indeed."
"And…how did it go?" The squirrel slowly knelt in front of the other cub.
Pent shrugged. "It went. We didn't do much."
"So I suppose you didn't have fun, eh?" The older boy arched an eyebrow curiously.
The white fox shook his head. "Nope."
"I see. How come?" The teen pushed back the fur off the wrong of his face.
Pent huffed. "He only wanted to play games and that's not my thing,"
"So you guys don't have anything in common?" The older cub was intent on figuring out what went wrong.
The younger boy nodded. "I suppose."
"That's too bad. Well, let me know if there's anything I can do to help." The squirrel stood back upright.
Pent didn't take much longer before he picked up the book again. The first bell rang and he got up from where he was sitting. Making his way inside he began the travel down the hall. As was with every day most of the kids paid him no attention. Pent preferred it that way since the fox figured attention would become more trouble than it was worth.
Just as he was making his way through the crossroads at the center of the school, one of the older students knocked into him.
"Watch where your going, cubby." The brash deep-voiced otter easily pushed the younger boy to the side.
Pent allowed himself to be shoved against the wall as he was far from the most aggressive kid. "Sorry."
"What? Cat got your tongue, foxy?" The otter moved directly in front of Pent as if to size him up.
The kit grunted deciding to give the bigger boy one more chance before defending himself.
"I said speak up, kid." The otter placed his hands aggressively on Pent's upper shoulders.
Pent huffed and in one fell swoop tripped the older kid with a quick swipe of his leg. The larger otter fell with a muffled thud. The other nearby students couldn't help but turn their heads at the commotion. The white fox was standing overtop the crestfallen otter who was beside himself. Rage and fury began to build themselves inside the older boy. Pent moved away to avoid any further drama.
The bigger boy grabbed his ankle. Pent stepped down and ground his paw into the otter's hand. The otter reeled back in pain, releasing his grasp. The younger fox wriggled away and walked right into the chest of a female teacher who had been attracted by the crowd who was gathering around.
"Just what is going on here?" The lanky panther crossed her arms expecting an answer.
Pent looked down as if disappointed. "Sorry, he gave me no choice. He tried to start something."
"No wait…that's not true." The otter was still on the floor reeling to baby his bruised hand.
"Then…out with it…what happened?" She wanted to hear both sides of the story.
The older boy sat up and cradled his injured hand. "He walked into me. He wasn't paying attention."
"Yeah, I did. But that's no reason to shove me against the wall. I apologized. What more are you expecting from me?" Pent crossed his arms defensively.
The otter stuttered. "I-I…"
"I've heard enough. Both of you get to class. I don't want to hear of this nonsense again." The woman pointed and pushed off the crowd that was still encircling the area.
Pent made his way past her. He was more than glad that the whole ordeal was over with. He made his way to his first class, down the hall. Most of the students in this area of the school had already filled the inside of the class. The white fox sighed as he entered the room and made his way to an empty seat. He was glad to be alone as it certainly wasn't a good start to the day. He tried to remain positive and put his best stiff upper lip on.
The teacher began their lesson before long. It wasn't hard for Pent to turn his attention to the matter at hand as he was overly concerned with his grades. He wasn't about to let his grades slip due to one bad incident. The lesson was another one in the book they had assigned. Pent had finished the novel a long time ago but his memory was good enough that he was able to answer the questions without much of an issue. The teacher even rewarded him with a small candy which he declined as he hated to incentivize his progress.
The teacher was a bit surprised that he turned it down. It wasn't often that they offered candy but she took it back all the same. She continued the rest of the lesson with naught but a discussion and a short video to carry them through the rest of the class. Pent tried to not lose interest but the story wasn't very engaging nor was the discussion. He was very happy when the bell rang and signaled the end of the class.
The white fox got up from his chair and proceeded out of the class. He panned his gaze back and forth to gauge if the troublemaker from earlier was anywhere to be seen. Sure enough, there was no sign of the otter, so Pent went about his day like normal. As he was making his way down the hall he was stopped by Arthur who tapped him on the shoulder
to stop him before he went by.
"How's it going? I heard about what happened. Everything alright?" The Eskimo dog was concerned his friend had gotten hurt.
Pent shrugged. "Uh, yeah. Why?"
"I just heard there was a conflict in the halls between you and an older kid. Just making sure nothing happened beyond that as the rumors were pretty crazy." Arthur scratched his head.
Pent shook his head. "Oh, nah. I can handle myself. Don't worry about it."
"Right, well. Glad to hear. Have a good day." The bigger cub began to walk away as he assumed the other boy didn't want to speak any further about it.
The white fox contemplated stopping him but decided to let the issue go as he wasn't sure how to readdress the issue of what happened over the weekend. He began to think about it, wanting to make amends. Arthur didn't seem like that bad of a person. The contemplation of how to address it began to swirl in his brain. He continued to walk to his next class as he thought about the issue and decided he would give himself until lunch to figure it out.
Pent made his way to his next class. The smell of chemicals as he neared the part of the building where the science labs were located. The white fox kit entered the classroom and donned a white lab coat, hopeful that they would be working on some matter of experiment. He sat down at the front of the class, waiting for his favorite teacher to arrive. Before long an unfamiliar face arrived into the room.
"Allo, Students. My name is Professor Steinwich and I will be your substitute for today." The large rodent walked across the room and placed a small briefcase on the desk so he could get set up.
He didn't even bother to open it before approaching the front whiteboard and began writing.
"Today we are going to have a bit of a geology lesson. One could say, I'm a bit of a rock star and know my way around pebbles and bits." The rat tried to make a joke out of it but no one laughed.
Pent laid back in his seat, not sure what to expect. He wasn't one to trust new teachers, especially for his favorite class. Soon enough the rat reached below the desk and took out a small wooden container.
"In this box, I have several stones from all over the world. I am going to show each of you how to identify rocks with very little information other than looks alone." The man grunted as he lifted the box, and a few stones fell from the top.
The young fox got up and picked up the rocks that had fallen from the container.
"Thanks, Can you help me hand them out as well? That way I don't have to take my hands out from underneath." The rodent suggested that he felt would help the situation.
Pent nodded and began helping hand out the stones, not putting much thought into the issue of who got what. The whole ordeal only took a few minutes before most of the box was emptied and it became much easier to handle.
"Thanks for your help. You can go ahead and sit down so we can get started." The rat motioned the cub back to his seat.
Pent returned to his chair and waited for the lesson to start. The man soon began his instruction going over composition, matter, and density. Of course, most of these things were not reliable without some form of machinery. Once he started going over-identification through looks alone, Pent perked his ears up.
"So by looks alone, you just have to rely on several distinguishing factors such as the surface of the rock, the weight, and if the rock is brittle or not."
Pent began examining the rock in front of him. It was a dark porous material that upon touch seemed to be somewhat smooth. Just from looks alone, it appeared to be something from a volcanic region. He tried scraping some of it onto the desk and it shaved off easily enough. Each student was given a small guide that they could use to determine what the rock was. Of course, the teacher had only included the rocks that he had provided.
Pent settled on what his rock identified as and submitted his answer on a small slip of paper. He proceeded to weigh as the rest of the class was collected. When everything was said and done the teacher called out the names of the students that were correct. Of course, Pent had gotten his right. The fox's sense of pride and accomplishment rose within him as he was always wanting to be right.
The substitute allowed the class to examine crystals and coral fragments for the remainder of the period. Before long the class came to a close and they were dismissed. The rodent stopped Pent to thank him before sending him on his way. The fox smiled and waved before making his way out of the room. The halls were once again full of students who were chattering about. Pent ignored them and made his way to his next class.
The rest of the day until lunch went like normal. Math wasn't challenging today and so Pent found himself bored in the class and struggled to maintain attention. He did not enjoy busy work and it was one of those days where busy work was a given. It wasn't until lunch that things changed. Pent had been considering his options on how to confront the issue with Arthur and had figured out a way that made the most sense to him.
Pent made his way to the cafeteria and proceeded to wait in line. As was normal the line was around the walls, filing along to the door. He fixed his bag and filtered along with the crowd through the queue. The chatter in the room was loud enough that he couldn't think. The fox kit looked around and determined that he couldn't see Arthur anywhere. He saw Santiago sitting in his usual spot and decided to sit there until the other cub walked in.
The white fox proceeded to the front of the line. He grabbed himself a tray and selected some of the greens, vegetables, and fruits from the salad bar. After he scooped up some salad dressing and poured it over his salad, he was done. Pent grabbed himself a small carton of milk and exited the line. The fox waited as the crowd in front of him dispersed. Once it was thin enough, he walked forward and headed over to where Santiago was sitting.
The squirrel waved to him as he noticed the white fox was walking toward him. Pent smiled and began to walk a bit faster than before. He sat down next to the older boy and placed down his food tray. The plastic dish made a reverberating sound but was easily muffled out by the noise around them. Pent didn't wait to get eaten as he knew they didn't have very long to have lunch. He began speaking between bites as he wanted to see if Santiago had any input on his issue.
"So, I wanted to take up your offer. This weekend didn't go great." The fox confronted his issue aloud.
Santiago turned his eyes but continued to focus on the food in front of him. "So you said? Go on, please."
"I am not much of a gamer. I think he wants to be my friend. I just don't know how." Pent turned his gaze downward.
The older boy hesitated a moment before responding. "I think it's different for everyone. I mean I consider you my friend, so you can't be that bad at it."
"Oh, well thanks. I like to consider you a friend too. I just feel like I have a hard time relating with other cubs." The white fox scratched the back of his head.
The squirrel thought about it for a moment. "Everyone is different. You just need to find someone that you have something in common with."
"I mean…I just like to read and experiment and stuff." Pent shrugged as he didn't put much thought into his answer.
Santiago perked an ear as it wasn't a frequent hobby he overheard. "That's interesting. Perhaps you should join the Science club or Literacy club or something like that."
"Those are a thing here? I didn't know that. Where do they meet?" Pent smiled a bit at the thought of being with like-minded kids.
The older boy shrugged. "I'm not sure, sorry. Maybe ask the front office and they will know? They usually have a directory from my experience."
"Alright sounds good." Pent felt better about his predicament and had almost forgotten about Arthur until he saw the other cub walk into the lunch room.
Arthur had already decided to hang out with other cubs he didn't bother to look around for his new friend. Once Santiago had departed, Pent sat by himself and didn't worry too much about occupying himself since the end of lunch was close anyways. The rest of lunch went by rather quickly with the remainder of the cubs and older students vacating with the swarm of the crowd.
Pent made his way into the halls and down the corridor to the gym as his next class was physical education. The sound of the squeaking of shoe soles against the floor could be heard as he made his approach to the ajar doors. The fox could hear a whistle being blown from inside. He assumed there had to be some sort of sporting session going on, which was normally the case. Once he was inside the gym area, he could see that cubs and teens were squaring off against each other in a game of dodgeball.
Pent's tail swished behind him as the thought of competition always sparked his interest. He began to pick up the pace and kept to the sidelines of the area so he wasn't accidentally hit. Of course, more than a few balls made their way towards him and the fox did his best to keep in front of them. Once he was inside the locker room, Pent didn't have to worry about them except for the occasional ball that made its way inside but usually faltered off from hitting the walls along the entrance.
Pent made his way to an open locker. No one had assigned lockers. It was more or less first come first serve when it came to lockers. The young fox kept his eyes peeled for any open locker. It was gym policy to leave the locker doors open so they could be easily located. The cub knew better than to count on that so usually he had to tap on a few lockers to see if they popped open or not. Eventually, he came upon one that pried open after knocking it a single time.
The
boy hauled his bag over his shoulder and placed it on the small bench that was nearby.
"Hey, Pent. Arthur's voice called to him from behind.
Pent turned around and waved casually at his friend. "Hiya."
"I didn't see you at lunch." The bigger cub commented on the observation he had made earlier.
The white fox shrugged. " I was with Santiago."
"Ah, that's good. I thought maybe you were avoiding me because of what happened over the weekend."
Pent shook his head. "Nah."
"Cool, well if you want we could hang out again." The Eskimo scratched the back of his head, ruffling his fur a bit.
The smaller cub hesitated a second before answering. "I wouldn't mind that."
"Alright, we can try planning on it for the weekend again. What do you want to do?" Arthur wanted to make the other boy feel more comfortable than before.
Pent hummed. "I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it."
"Sounds good. Let's get dressed for dodgeball." Arthur set his stuff down right next to Pent.
The smaller boy began undressing without much thought. It wasn't the first time he'd dressed down in front of other boys and Arthur was no different to him than any other kid. The fox changed into his gym clothes and his friend wasn't far behind. Pent waited a moment while the other boy finished dressing in the other clothes. The fox noticed his friend's clothes were a bit tight on him but said nothing about it.
"Ready then?" Arthur straightened out his shirt but it still showed a bit of the fluff from his stomach.
Pent nodded and the two began walking out into the arena where the boy's gym coach was situated. The lithe puma woman crossed her arms as she patiently waited for the remainder of her students to arrive. It didn't take much longer before the long file of kids was standing in the queue in front of her. She blew her whistle so she got their attention, causing the sharp sound to echo through the poor room and into the gym itself.
"Alright kiddos, I hope you are in the mood for smacking the ball around. Today is dodgeball day. You all have played this plenty so I don't need to go over the rules. However, let me remind you anyone that who hits another player in the head with a ball will get sat out and possibly suspended. Is that clear?"
The students all around her began to chatter and chirp. Many of them responded but one of them snarkily answered a muttered "No". She took the kid by the ear and held him off to the side.
"The rest of you can go play. I will deal with this one and be began shortly."
The crowd of students began to make their way into the makeshift arena. The moment they stepped foot onto the wooden floor, their shoes began squeaking on the floor. Pent kept to the rear of the line despite Arthur taking more initiative and moving further up into the crowd of people. After moving near the center of the court, the other coach who has nearby split up the students into two groups.
Pent and Arthur found themselves on the same team, this time. Several balls were set in the middle of the arena. The puma coach reappeared before long and ran towards center court with her whistle in her paw. Seconds later she blew it. Cubs and teens from both sides began running toward the balls. The fastest of them scooping them up before running back. The coach removed herself from the center and blew her whistle again.
With that signal, the students from both sides of the arena threw the ball at one another. The coach watched to see any signs of foul play. A few students were pegged out, running to the side and a few others caught the ball. Each time the ball was caught the coach threw up one of her arms signaling that the pitcher had gotten themselves out in the process. One by one the crowd thinned out as the students got knocked out.
Pent eventually picked up one of the balls, hurling it to the other side with all of his boyish might. The cub was plenty athletic though baseball or the like wasn't his forte. He managed to get out a person who couldn't quite manage to get out of the way of the ball that he threw. The fox smiled as he watched the other cub trot off to the side. Only seconds later he felt something hit his leg and found himself getting called off as well. By this point, the game had thinned down to its last few stragglers.
Pent turned around and watched the remaining players. Arthur was one of the last few remaining and seemed to be doing quite well despite his side having fewer students left than the others. Each ball that came his way, he either avoided or caught without issue. The crowd began to cheer both sides on and continued watching as it whittled down to just Arthur and one other student. Both students held a ball in their paws as they stared down at one another. Seconds later they threw the ball at each other, spiraling in the direction of the opponent.
The crowd roared as the final call was made. Arthur was declared the winner and the entirety of those who were watching scattered toward where he was standing. Soon he was lifted on the other student's shoulders. The coach yelled at them and after a few seconds of delay, the Eskimo dog was let down from his pedestal of glory. The celebration lasted almost a minute before finally dying down once she signaled the start of another round.
The rest of the rounds for the remainder of the day didn't go quite as well as Arthur's. Neither he nor was able to come on top again. Still, Arthur couldn't help but be proud of his accomplishment. When the final whistle was blown thrice, signaling the end of class, the students galloped towards the locker room to prepare to go home. It had been a long day and every single one of them was looking forward to getting home sooner rather than later.
Back in the locker room, Pent toweled himself off of the sweat that had accumulated on his body. His thick fur didn't handle sweat well but he did what he could to wipe most of it off. He looked over at Arthur who trailed in behind him. The other boy was still being celebrated by some of the other cubs but the fox didn't make as big of a deal about it. Pent pulled off his shirt in an attempt to cool down a bit.
Arthur was blushing pretty intensely at all the attention he was getting. The fox wasn't sure what to make of it. Eventually, the crowd of fanboys panned off and the Eskimo dog made his way toward where Pent was sitting down.
"That was fun." Arthur announced after a short sigh.
Pent huffed. "Yeah, you did well."
"Thanks, I guess." The bigger boy shrugged as it was no big deal to him.
The fox wiped his head again and eased back on the bench. Arthur soon walked up closer to him.
"You did well too." Arthur tried to chime in on the other boy's success.
Pent shook his head. "Not as good as you but it doesn't matter."
The Eskimo dog patted the other boy on the back. Pent could smell something different about him but wasn't sure what it was. Arthur pulled away after a second and began changing out of his gym clothes as well. Pent returned his attention to the matter at hand. He knew Samaliel would be waiting at home for him and he didn't want to be later than normal. He picked up the pace and began stripping out of the remaining clothes he was wearing until he was in naught but his boxers.
Arthur snapped his towel at the other cub's butt. Pent jumped in response to the sudden assault.
"Stop, please." Pent wasn't much of a fan of horseplay.
Arthur snorted. "I'm just having a bit of fun."
Pent stood up and finished changing. "I'll see you later.:
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry." Arthur said, already regretting his choice.
The smaller boy grabbed his bag. "It's alright, see you tomorrow."
Pent made his departure from the room and began his walk toward the front office to inquire about the Science club. Once he arrived at the front office he found a few informational posters that showed when the club was being held. He found it would be later in the week and decided to see if he could make it in time for the bus. He quickened his pace as he rushed towards the front of the school. By this time of the day, most of the students had exited so he had an easier time making good time.
Once he was outside of the school, he saw his brother hanging out by the bus stop. It was apparent he made it in time to catch the bus. The younger boy waved him over.
"School, go alright?" Pent asked the other boy.
Samaliel nodded. "Yep, you?"
"Mostly." The white fox deferred from sharing the issue that occurred.
The bus showed up before long and they made waited in line until they were able to ascend the stairs into the walkway leading to the vehicle itself. They found an empty row of seats and Samaliel pushed his way to the side to allow his brother the aisle seat. Pent put his bag on his lap and proceeded to wait until the bus went underway.
"You smell." The younger fox remarked.
The bigger boy shrugged. "Sorry, we played dodgeball today."
The ride home didn't take long before it was the two cubs stopped. Pent and Samaliel were the only ones who got off at the stop so they made their way off the bus when it was their turn. Pent thanked the bus driver, as he always did, to make sure they felt appreciated. They continued their way off the bus and into the front yard of the complex. They proceeded to the second floor and Pent let them in with their house key. As normal there was no sign of their foster mother.
"If you want to take a shower, I can go ahead and start the food." Samaliel suggested saving some time and being helpful.
Pent shrugged. "I don't smell that bad do I?"
"No, but I. figured you'd want to take a shower." The salt and pepper fox didn't want to be outright with it but Pent was sometimes musky after sporting events.
The white fox crossed his arms, suspecting something more. "Are you certain? You don't normally bring up how I smell."
"Just go take a shower,
I promise you'll feel better." Samaliel still tried to avoid the issue.
Pent kicked off his shoes and set his bag near the door. "Fine."
The bigger boy still guessed there was something more to it but decided not to pursue the issue. Instead, he headed back to the bathroom to take a shower, not even bothering to get a change of clothes. He turned on the water and stripped himself before stepping inside. The cool water from the spicket above began to pour on him, relaxing his body a bit. He stood there a few moments before taking hold of the soap.
Pent began cleaning himself. The soapy suds began to spread over his fur as the water spilled over his body. After he felt like he was clean enough, he shampooed himself and worked it in with his hands. Within seconds he could smell the floral scent fill the room and tantalized his nostrils. He took a deep breath as he allowed the stress in his body to melt away, trying to forget about his worries and responsibilities.
The fox kit spent a few minutes more in the shower before finally stepping out to dry himself. It was then he realized that he had forgotten a change of clothes. He padded himself dry with a towel before wrapping himself around it. The air condition of the room brought a chill to his body but it wasn't enough to bother him. Pent grabbed his dirty clothes and made his exit from the bathroom and into the hallway.
The white fox made a stop at the laundry room before popping his head into the kitchen. He saw that Samaliel had already made a good amount of progress on the meal. The plates and silverware were already set and he could see the burner and oven were on.
"Better?" Pent said, smirking a bit.
Samaliel gave a thumbs up but said nothing. The food didn't take much longer before it was ready. Pent took the liberty of serving it up himself since the other boy had cooked it. The two joined each other at the table and sat for dinner together.
"Good job, bro." The older boy gave his brother a noogie.
Samaliel smiled before pulling away. They proceeded to eat, Samaliel sharing the details of his day when asked. Pent still kept away the details of what happened earlier to himself as he didn't want to worry the younger boy.
"And what about Arthur? Did you meet up with him again?" Samaliel decided to inquire about the question in the back of his mind the entire day.
The white fox nodded. "Yeah, we're going to hang out again. He doesn't seem bad."
"Cool, I hope it goes better this time." The salt and pepper fox didn't want to force it but he felt like he needed to do something more than he was.
The rest of the night went like normal. Pent helped Samaliel with his homework. The older boy taught the younger one some of the tricks he had learned to more efficiently do the math. When his homework was done, Samaliel hopped right in the shower to wash. Pent finally changed into his night clothes and prepared for bedtime.
By the time Samaliel returned, Pent was already in bed reading a new book. The younger boy smiled at him as he made his way to the bookshelf and grabbed the book he was supposed to be reading all those days past. Pent couldn't help but smile back at him. The smaller cub retreated to the upper bunk with a book in his hand.
About an hour passed with very little noise shared between the two. Pent had remained transfixed by his book, as was normal for him. Popping his head up he saw that Samaliel had fallen asleep with the book on his chest. Carefully he picked the book up and saw the boy hadn't made much progress in it. Tucking in the boy and kissing his forehead, Pent wished him goodnight and returned to his bunk.
Pent peered out the window towards the star. The sky was black with twinkling starlight speckling back at him. He yawned and stretched as the fatigue of the day had caught up with him. Retiring both books to the window shelf before getting in the sheets himself. The fox closed his eyes, looking forward once again to a new day and the prospect of the weekend. Hoping nothing more than to make a new friend.
