{"sf1_id":2034652,"sf2_id":"rm8PY8qm","title":"Chapter 10: Group Work","author":"HeatherOBunn","words":3278,"posted_at":"2023-08-07T15:37:00.000Z","tags":["Buck","College","Fear","Feud","Fox","Group","Hug","Mountain Goat","Mouse","Novel","Rabbit","Romance","Tod","Vixen","project","studying"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2034652-chapter-10-group-work","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/rm8PY8qm","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/58/95/58956621-a457-4637-ae4f-7852314fd42e","description":"#10 of Flora: A Tale from Vulpineva\n\nFlora and friends meet to work on a project. Pete studies with Flora in her room.","content":"Chapter 10: Group Work\n\nPete joined Flora and Cynthia for breakfast on Tuesday and then at every meal\n\nfollowing. Flora thought he was still more timid when her predator friends were present, but he\n\nseemed to be gradually becoming more comfortable with them. Strange predators were another\n\nmatter, and Flora noticed that Pete stayed as close to her as possible when they walked past\n\nthem, as if seeking her protection. For her part, Flora began to feel a complementary protective\n\ninstinct toward the rabbit as her affection for him grew. She knew Ellie, in particular, but also\n\nOlivia and Samantha would have been embarrassed by Pete's timidity, but when combined with\n\nthe obvious trust he placed in her, Flora found his sensitivity poignantly endearing.\n\nWednesday afternoon at 2:00, they met with the other members of their group to work\n\non their presentation for organic chemistry. Cynthia had reserved a mixed-size study room in\n\nthe library, and she, Flora, and Pete arrived to find Alex already seated at the first of four two-\n\nperson tables. Flora sat at the third table, placing Cynthia on the table across from her before\n\ncollecting an appropriate desk for the mouse from the shelf on the left wall, and Pete sat on\n\nFlora's right. After a couple minutes, Trevor arrived, the silver fox sitting at the second table on\n\nthe left side, opposite from Alex, Flora, and Pete.\n\nThey got to work going through the rubric and delegating portions of the research to\n\ndifferent group members. The information was quite easy to find online, and within a couple\n\nhours, they had prepared an outline for their presentation with the information they'd found.\n\n\"Let's meet to run through it this weekend,\" Trevor suggested when the outline was\n\ncomplete. \"Does this time on Saturday work?\"\n\nFlora and the others affirmed that it did. Flora put her things away, preparing to return to\n\nher room with Cynthia to finish her calculus problems before dinner; however, the silver fox\n\nturned toward her as she was preparing to rise.\n\n\"Flora, would you stay and talk with me a minute?\" they requested cryptically.\n\nFlora considered him hesitantly for a moment then nodded. She turned to Pete, \"Pete,\n\ncan you take Cynthia and wait by the door?\"\n\n\"O-okay,\" Pete squeaked nervously. He delicately scooped up Cynthia in his hands.\n\nAlex held the door for them then exited xemself. Flora glanced back toward Trevor\n\nuncomfortably. They stood and moved to the seat across from her, resting their elbows on the\n\ntable with their fingers meshed. The foxes studied each other: Flora hesitant and nervous and\n\nTrevor placidly curious.\n\n\"You're a very intriguing vixen,\" Trevor remarked after a few seconds of silence.\n\n\"I-I am?\" Flora chirped nervously.\n\nTrevor lowered his hands onto the table without separating his fingers and cocked his\n\nhead to one side, \"Do you enjoy conflict?\"\n\nFlora eyed the silver fox irritatedly, \"I didn't start it!\"\n\n\"You haven't done anything to end it,\" they countered mildly.\n\n\"How would I? Isabelle can decide to leave me alone any time she wants to!\" Flora\n\nreturned testily.\n\n\"I'm sure if you apologized profusely, she'd forgive you,\" he suggested calmly.\n\n\"I won't apologize for her nastiness, and I don't care whether she forgives me! I won't\n\nstop helping my friends to win the approval of some speciesist snob!\"\n\nTrevor's stoic features cracked into an amused smirk, \"It's a matter of principle then.\n\nMost foxes would relish the opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the heiress-apparent of the\n\nBouillier estate. She'll certainly have money enough and influence to reward friends.\"\n\n\"Is there a point to this conversation?\" Flora asked irritatedly, trying to hide her\n\ndiscomfort at learning that Isabelle was daughter and heiress to some powerful member of\n\nVulpineva's ruling class.\n\nTrevor shrugged, \"I was simply curious. I'm not interested in petty squabbles, but I would\n\nbe interested in making the acquaintance of a person with intriguing convictions.\"\n\n\"If you think standing up for your friends is unusual, then I doubt we'd have much in\n\ncommon,\" Flora returned dryly.\n\nTrevor smirked again, \"I can understand loyalty, certainly, but loyalty to whom? Whose\n\nesteem do you value? Certainly not Isabelle's nor seemingly mine. Do you value the respect of\n\nprey above all else?\"\n\n\"I value the respect and trust of my friends, whether they're predators or prey!\" Flora\n\ndeclared ardently. \"I don't care about the respect of random snobs.\"\n\n\"Perhaps I'm offering my friendship. Would you find that so distasteful as to reject it\n\noutright?\" he rejoined.\n\nFlora frowned uncomfortably, \"You have a funny way of offering it.\" She was finding the\n\nsilver fox's stilted manner rather annoying.\n\n\"I apologize. My parents didn't find it prudent to send their heirs to boarding school. I've\n\nhad to make do with my siblings and tutors for company, and the latter were nothing if not\n\nformal. More to the point, I needed to gauge your motives in this feud you have with Miss\n\nBouillier. I didn't wish to involve myself with someone petty and vindictive.\"\n\nFlora regarded the silver fox skeptically: he seemed like a pompous ass. However, as\n\nshe considered them further, she realized that their behavior, like Pete's, could be attributed to a\n\nlack of proper socialization. He'd been effectively homeschooled whether he called his teachers\n\ntutors or not. Still, timidity was one thing, and rudeness was another. Moreover, Flora had no\n\nway of knowing that they weren't actually one of Isabelle's cronies, trying to find new ways for\n\nthe spiteful vixen to smear her.\n\n\"Why do you want to be my friend?\" Flora inquired cautiously. \"All you know about me is\n\nthat Isabelle doesn't like me.\"\n\n\"That's not true!\" Trevor protested, anxiety suddenly cracking his voice. \"I've, ah, well,\n\nI've been observing you in chemistry class for a fortnight or more. You have a, a tenderness I\n\nfind intriguing.\"\n\n\"You've been ogling me in class, and you find me attractive,\" Flora interpreted. \"You\n\ncould have just started with that! I don't think I'm comfortable dating a future lord; I don't believe\n\nin hereditary power.\"\n\nTrevor blinked at her in surprise then shook his head in wry amusement, \"I never thought\n\nI'd hear that objection. You haven't anything to worry about there. Unless several of my siblings\n\ndie without heirs, I'll never be the Count of Gorse, and I'm happy to let them and their cursed\n\noffspring have the wretched title! I couldn't bear being shackled to that stodgy old estate!\"\n\nFlora didn't feel she owed the silver fox any more of her time; she didn't find him at all\n\nlikable whether he rejected his upbringing or not. Her only hesitation was that they were quite\n\nhandsome, but looks couldn't make up for such a pompous personality. \"I think you'll have\n\nbetter luck with someone else,\" Flora stated. \"I don't want to be the subversive love interest in\n\nsome tragic story about a rebellious aristocrat estranged from their wealthy family. Some might\n\nfind that idea romantic, but to me, it sounds like a nightmare.\"\n\n\"You'd hardly be 'subversive' just because you're a different species,\" Trevor countered.\n\n\"You're still a fox. I'm not trying to enact some absurd romance drama; I'd simply like to get\n\nacquainted with an engaging and attractive vixen from class. Surely, there's nothing unusual\n\nabout my request.\"\n\n\"I suppose not,\" Flora allowed. \"If you want to join us for lunch or dinner sometime, I'm\n\nsure we can offer you a seat. We sit on the prey side of the cafeteria.\"\n\n\"I take it that's a 'no' where going on a date is concerned.\"\n\n\"Until I get to know you better, it is.\"\n\n\"Very well, I'll make a point of looking for you at dinner. Good afternoon, Flora.\" He\n\nstood, collected his things, and left the study room.\n\nA few seconds later, Flora left as well and began scanning the library for Pete. She\n\nfound him idly inspecting a bookshelf near the West exit. \"Thank you for handling Cynthia,\"\n\nFlora chirped as she trotted up to the pair.\n\n\"N-no problem,\" Pete squeaked bashfully. He carefully held out Cynthia on his furless\n\npalms, and Flora accepted the little brown and white mouse.\n\n\"What did our gorgeous classmate want?\" Cynthia asked slyly. She glanced at Pete,\n\n\"They weren't trying to enchant you with their eloquent tongue, were they?\"\n\nFlora blushed, \"They did say they find me attractive, but it wasn't as romantic as all that.\n\nI found him a bit aggravating, honestly.\"\n\n\"That's too bad,\" Cynthia replied amusedly. \"I guess we won't be seeing much more of\n\nthem once our presentation is done.\"\n\n\"Erm, well, I did say they could join us for lunch or dinner, but I don't know whether they\n\nwill take me up on that.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" Cynthia squeaked with titillation. \"I guess we'll have to wait and see then.\"\n\nFlora thought Pete looked anxious, more anxious than usual, but he might have simply\n\nbeen nervous about another large predator joining their friend group. Trevor was only slightly\n\nsmaller than Lance, due to the fox's somewhat leaner figure, and Pete was less than\n\ncomfortable around the wolverine.\n\nTo Pete's probable relief as well as Flora's own, Trevor did not join them at dinner that\n\nevening. The table was full at any rate with Lance, Chester, Rosemary, and Becca also in\n\nattendance. Afterward, Flora, Cynthia, and Pete returned to their dorm, stopping outside of Flora\n\nand Cynthia's room.\n\n\"Do you still want to study together this evening, Pete?\" Flora inquired.\n\nPete nodded, \"Y-yeah, I'll go grab my notes!\" he answered with nervous excitement.\n\n\"Sh-should, um, should I bring a chair?\"\n\n\"I guess so. I can help you get that if your hands will be full.\"\n\n\"O-okay.\"\n\nFlora quickly got Cynthia settled in their room before following Pete to his. His room was\n\na double and smaller than theirs, almost filled with the two rabbit-sized beds and desks.\n\n\"What's your roommate like?\" Flora inquired curiously.\n\nmine.\"\n\n\"B-Bill is a hare,\" Pete murmured as he retrieved his notebook from his bag. \"We, um,\n\ndon't really get along.\" He nudged the cushioned wooden chair closest to the door, \"This one's\n\nThey stepped by each other, and Flora hefted the chair. \"That's too bad that you don't\n\nget along,\" she replied sympathetically. \"I guess you've heard that I didn't get along with my first\n\nroommate either. That's part of the reason I ended up with Cynthia.\"\n\nPete held the door for her, and they returned to the Northeast wing. Pete held the door\n\nagain as Flora carried the chair into her room and set it next to her desk in the empty back right\n\ncorner. Flora plopped down into her own desk chair and then turned to look at Pete, who was\n\nstill standing hesitantly in the doorway. Flora offered him a reassuring smile, and Pete carefully\n\nclosed the door behind him before hopping over to his seat and sitting down.\n\n\"I need to use the restroom,\" Cynthia declared loudly.\n\nShe hoisted herself onto her crutches and made her way to the door, punching the\n\nautomatic button to trigger the whiny motor. The mouse gave Flora and Pete a teasing look\n\nbefore proceeding through the open door and down the hall toward the elevator. The door\n\nclosed itself with a thump.\n\nFlora turned back to Pete, who was watching her intently, black pupils almost swallowing\n\nhis light blue eyes, whiskers quivering, and long ears erect.\n\n\"I'm sure she'll be back shortly,\" Flora spoke nonchalantly, trying to calm the anxious\n\nrabbit.\n\nFlora realized that Pete may have noticed that they were alone, alone in an enclosed\n\nspace like they had been in the shower, and that Flora was between him and the only exit. Pete\n\ncontinued to watch her carefully, and Flora noticed she could hear his heart pounding rapidly.\n\nShe slowly reached her left hand toward his arm, and he started and jerked away. Flora\n\nretracted her hand slightly.\n\n\"You don't think I lured you in here to eat you, do you, Pete?\" she asked softly, trying not\n\nto let hurt enter her tone. \"We're friends. I thought you trusted me.\"\n\nPete's ears drooped, and he looked down guiltily, \"I-I do trust you,\" he whined. \"It's just,\n\nthis is what they said would happen. You trust; you don't think. You find yourself alone, and\n\nthen,\" he swallowed. \"F-for a moment, I saw it flash in front of my eyes. I know you wouldn't do\n\nthat, but I c-couldn't help thinking about it.\"\n\nFlora reached out and touched his arm, \"It's not your fault, Pete,\" she told him firmly.\n\nFlora stood from her seat and stepped beside Pete's chair. She crouched down onto her\n\nhaunches and slowly reached out her right hand and placed it on top of his hands, which were\n\nfolded on his lap.\n\nuncertainly.\n\nHe glanced at her hand then raised his eyes to meet hers. He stared into her eyes\n\nFlora smiled softly, \"I'm your friend, Pete,\" she murmured. \"And I'm still your friend when\n\nyou get scared, even of me. You have the instincts you do, but we'll work through them.\"\n\nAfter a few more seconds, Flora took back her hand and slowly stood. To her surprise,\n\nPete stood too.\n\nHe gazed up at her shyly, \"C-can I give you a hug, Flora?\"\n\nFlora smiled warmly and nodded. Stepping forward, Pete wrapped his arms around her\n\nmiddle and hugged her tight. He pressed his nose into her fluffy, white chest fur.\n\n\"Thank you for being my friend, Flora,\" he murmured thickly.\n\nFlora wrapped her arms around him, her right squeezing him close and her left hand\n\npetting his head. \"I'm glad we're friends, Pete,\" she breathed.\n\nThey held each other silently for a few minutes until Flora could hear from Pete's\n\nbreathing and feel from the relaxation of his muscles that he had fully calmed.\n\n\"What did they say about finding yourself in a vixen's arms, Pete?\" Flora asked softly.\n\nPete shifted self-consciously, \"I, uh, I don't think they considered anything like this. You\n\nshould have eaten me ten minutes ago.\"\n\nFlora touched her nose between his ears, \"Maybe I just like to play with my food,\" she\n\nteased.\n\nPete stiffened momentarily before relaxing again as he realized her jesting tone. \"If that\n\nwere true, could I have a few more minutes?\" he murmured into her fur.\n\n\"Of life? I think I could allow you that; I just had dinner!\" Flora quipped.\n\nPete nuzzled her chest. \"Of this, holding you and being held.\"\n\nA wave of warm affection flowed through Flora, radiating out from her heart all the way\n\nto her clawed toes and the rounded tips of her triangular ears. \"We do have to get to studying,\"\n\nFlora noted softly. \"How about a compromise? If you sit on my lap, I can hold you even if you\n\ncan't hold me at the same time.\"\n\n\"I-if you want to. I think I'd like that,\" he murmured bashfully.\n\nFlora released him, and they broke apart. She returned to her seat and scooted back\n\nfrom the desk before smoothing her short, green and pink plaid, pleated skirt down her thighs.\n\nShe stretched out her arms, \"Come here, Pete.\"\n\nShyly, Pete stepped in front of her chair. Leaning forward, Flora turned him around, and\n\nwith a grunt of effort, lifted him under the arms. She sat back, pulling the rabbit in and then\n\nlowering him into her lap. His fuzzy little scut pressed ticklishly against her belly. She wrapped\n\nher arms around his waist under the buttoned, powder blue vest he was wearing and tucked his\n\nhead under her jaw, his long, black ears brushing against her cheeks. She could feel the\n\nmovement of his diaphragm as he breathed and smell his sweet herbal scent, like thyme and\n\nfresh, dry hay. Bunnies always smelled so nice. His body was warm next to her fur, and she\n\ncould feel her own tender affection radiating back from him. Why had she tried to convince\n\nherself this was impossible? There couldn't be anything more obvious or right.\n\n\"Comfy?\" she breathed.\n\n\"Yes,\" he murmured.\n\n\"Let's see about studying biology then.\"\n\nThey were busy quizzing each other from their notes with Pete still contentedly tucked in\n\nFlora's lap when Cynthia finally returned half an hour later. When they'd gone through\n\neverything, Pete set his paperboard-bound, heather gray notebook back on the desk then\n\nplaced his hands over Flora's, which were resting across his lap. Flora moved her right hand on\n\ntop of his and gave it a gentle squeeze.\n\n\"Will you come study with me tomorrow, Pete?\" she murmured affectionately.\n\n\"Yes,\" he breathed.\n\nFlora glanced at the clock on her phone, \"I suppose we should get ready for bed. Let me\n\ntake your chair back for you.\"\n\nFlora let Pete go, and he slipped off of her lap. He collected his notebook, and she\n\ngrabbed his chair. They returned to Pete's room, finding his roommate still absent. Flora set the\n\nchair at his desk.\n\n\"You can just bring your notebook tomorrow,\" she stated with warm amusement. Turning\n\nto face the rabbit, she bent down so that they were eye-to-eye, \"Can I give you a goodnight\n\nkiss?\" she asked tenderly.\n\nThe insides of Pete's ears turned from pink to red, \"O-okay,\" he stammered.\n\nFlora gave him a quick lick on his pink and white nose. \"Goodnight, Pete.\"\n\nShe stood upright and stepped around the partially stunned rabbit before exiting the\n\nroom and returning to her own.\n\n\"Well?!\" Cynthia squeaked impatiently as Flora entered. \"Are you two an item now?!\"\n\nFlora halted and stared at the mouse embarrassedly, \"Erm, I guess so, maybe,\" she\n\nmurmured hesitantly.\n\n\"What do you mean you 'guess'?!\"\n\n\"We, um, didn't really talk about it, but I think he likes me. He seemed to.\" Flora was\n\nsuddenly less certain they had shared the same feelings. He was the one who wanted to hug\n\nme, so that means he likes me, doesn't it? It occurred to her that Pete may have merely been\n\ntrying to thank her when he'd offered her a hug. But he said he wanted me to hold him longer,\n\nso that must mean he likes me too. But what if Pete's feelings were purely Platonic? Cuddling\n\ndidn't necessarily equate to romantic attraction.\n\n\"Hey!\" Cynthia squeaked loudly.\n\nFlora turned her attention back to the mouse.\n\n\"I said, instead of worrying about it, why don't you just run back down the hall and ask\n\nhim?!\"\n\n\"R-right!\" Flora turned, threw open the door, and dashed back down the hall. She rapped\n\non the door to his room urgently.\n\nThe door opened to reveal a brown hare with black-tipped ears. His hazel eyes widened\n\nas they fell on Flora. \"Akk!\" he shut the door to only a crack and peered out with one eye. \"What\n\ndo you want?!\"\n\n\"Is Pete there?\" Flora asked anxiously.\n\n\"No, he's in the shower! Eat him if that's who you want!\" He slammed the door shut.\n\nFlora frowned at the door then glanced toward the bathroom. She could go find Pete in\n\nthe shower, but she didn't want to remind him of their previous shower encounter. Disappointed\n\nand more anxious than before, she returned to her room.\n\n\"Well?\" Cynthia squeaked.\n\n\"He, um, was in the shower,\" Flora murmured bashfully. \"I'll ask him tomorrow.\"\n\nCynthia sighed exasperatedly, \"First thing! I'm sure he'll be waiting to go to breakfast, so\n\nask him first thing!\"\n\nFlora wondered whether Cynthia was trying to give her romantic advice or merely to\n\nsatisfy her own curiosity. What if she asked Pete, and he didn't feel the same? Would he be\n\nfrightened? He does feel the same! Flora reassured herself. I wasn't imagining it. Regardless,\n\nshe couldn't bear not to know. She'd ask him tomorrow!\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Flora: A Tale from Vulpineva","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2034650-chapter-9-new-understanding.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2035318-chapter-11-fox-and-rabbit.json"}}