FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

For a sled team and heir leader, there was actually quite a bit of downtime to be had. Missions weren't always bountiful, and when there were some to pick from they were often fought over. Even missions that were tough and didn't pay very well were taken by even the best and most professional teams.

For Tuska, the downtime was a nice thing to have. She was often picked first for the particularly dangerous or hard going assignments, ones that would make the other teams flinch. That's how she and her team earned such a reputation as being the best the airport had to offer. But lately there hasn't even been those. For the first couple of weeks she had thought things were going all right, but two weeks after that she began to get worried.

Through the year there were normal lulls in traffic to and from the airport, but this one was particularly bad. Tuska was becoming anxious, funds were dwindling and her mother's health condition was always in the back of her mind. While the airport always provided room and board free of charge, she wanted to pay more of her mother's bills in the case that she wasn't able to do it herself.

These worries persisted through Tuska's mind as she was in the middle of working out. It was becoming late in the evening and she had been on one of the airport's industrial strength treadmills for about three hours. She had been pushing herself the hardest that she had been in a long while, imaging the last mission she and her team had been on, how they had almost gotten lost and caught their death in the unforgiving, white desert.

She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hardly notice that Arthur had walked up to her from the side and was watching her progress. The large husky leaned over and looked down at the control panel in front of her, seeing her heart rate and the distance that she had traveled. He smirked and reached his paw over, right beneath her chest and began to press the button that increased the speed of the treadmill.

Tuska was staring forward with a determined, yet glossed over, look in her eyes like she often got when doing any activity that involved extended running. She didn't notice it at first, but the treadmill began to get steadily faster as Arthur toyed with it. She seemed to subconsciously realize that she was drifting away from the front and increased her own speed to compensate. Arthur saw this and his grin grew wider, his finger holding down the button that increased speed.

Her running turned from a moderate run to a much quicker pace, to finally sprinting as fast as she could go. Her feet were a blur of motion when she suddenly snapped out of her hypnotic daze and looked down at the control panel to see her teammate's paw depressing the speed button. This was the fastest she could possibly run, the sound of her feet pounding the treadmill belt was like listening to machine gun fire.

The husky woman turned her attention to the muscular dog at her side and saw the amused expression he had on his face. She became instantly angry and scowled. "Arthur, what-!" was all she could get out before she suddenly lost her balance and stumbled. Running at such a high rate required absolute concentration, and as soon as her friend forced her to lose it there was no returning. Both feet went out from under her at the same time and she flopped on her belly on the lightning fast belt. In that same instant she was catapulted backwards like a clay pigeon at a skeet range and went rolling across the weight room floor.

She was sent sprawling three meters away, eventually stopping before she hit the rack of free weights near the wall. The treadmill key that was attached to her wrist was tugged on through the whole endeavor, and so the treadmill whirred to a stop.

"Arthur, you bastard!" she snapped angrily at him as she got up to her knees. His booming laughter only made her fury rise. She tried to stand but she collapsed back to the floor, her legs having lost all motivation to carry her. "Fuck!"

"Oh calm down," he chuckled as he stepped over to her and helped her to sit on a bench not too far away. When she was situated she drew her fist back and punched him in he shoulder as hard as she could. The male gave a yelp and cradled where she had hit, his ears going back as his entire arm went numb.

"Okay okay! I'm sorry!" he said and rubbed over the inevitable bruise that was going to grow there.

"I could have gotten hurt, you dick!" she snapped, her own ears back and her eyes glaring.

"Oh come on, we both know you wouldn't have," he countered and a semblance of a smile grew over his face. She didn't stop glaring at him but she didn't hit him either, so that was at least a step in the right direction. "You're beating yourself over something," he stated.

"No I'm not," she growled and narrowed her eyes at him again. He held her gaze and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes you are, you're terrible at lying," he said and stepped around to be in front of her. Arthur was only wearing a pair of shorts, his muscular torso and arms were bare to see. Tuska was in a similar dressed tate, however a pair of tight fitting spandex shorts and shirt held her otherwise large breasts from bouncing around too much while she ran.

Tuska couldn't hold his strong stare and she had to look away, a clear sign that she was inf act lying. "Well...so what if I was?" she spat.

"What could you possibly be beating yourself up over? Nothing bad has happened."

"You're wrong," she mumbled and hung her head. "We haven't had any new assignments in a whole month."

"Yeah, it's been really nice," he chuckled.

"No, it's terrible!" she groaned. "No assignments means no money! No money means no treatment coverage for my mom," she explained.

Arthur tilted his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "How has your mom been lately?" he asked softly.

Tuska shrugged her shoulders feebly. "Things have kind of been getting worse. The treatments haven't been working quite as well as they were supposed to and her insurance is threatening to drop her if she isn't able to pay in the future." She was looking down at her paws that were folded in her lap.

"I'm certain things will work out in the end," he mumbled and reached out to pat her shoulder. "We're bound to get an assignment soon."

Tuska sighed and nodded her head. "I know, but that doesn't make me worry any less."

"Maybe not, but worrying doesn't do anyone any good."

"I know...and you're right," she mumbled and turned her eyes up to the other husky. "I don't mean to let it get to me."

Arthur tilted his head a bit. "You know, you can always come to me if you need to talk. My door is always open."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed and stroked a paw through her long hair. "Thank you for that."

"It's what I'm here for," he said and winked at her. She smirked but then she came to realize something.

"Hey wait, why are you here?" she asked with a raised eye brow.

"Oh, I come here all the time to weight lift. Obviously," he laughed and stuck out his tongue. Tuska blinked and an embarrassed blush crossed the bridge of her nose.

"Oh...right," she half laughed. "Duh."

"But that does raise a good question about why you're here," he asked and tilted his head to the other side. "I don't think I've ever seen you in here before."

"I do...it's just rare," she confessed.

"Yeah, but why?" he pressed.

"I've been having some trouble getting sleep," she sighed and crossed her arms under her breasts, her eyes turning up to her friends.

Read the full chapter here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/warmth-in-arctic-16775950