Chapter 2
Getting back to his room, James noticed Maverick had his shirt off, changing into a more comfortable looking shirt. James took notice of some scars on Maverick's back, "Maverick, are those scars from the orphanage you lived in?" he asked.
Maverick turned around when he heard James talk, startled by his roommate. "Dude, we need to get you a bell or something, you're way too quiet" Maverick chuckled.
"Don't try to change the subject" James stated, walking up to the wolf "are those scars on your back from the orphanage?"
"They are" Maverick answered, "the man who was the 'father' of the orphanage did that to me after he had learned that I had gotten Lana pregnant."
"Why would the man care that much?" James asked.
"Because Lana is the man's daughter" Maverick replied, "like his real, biological daughter."
"And he didn't get upset at her?" he asked.
"No, he was mad at her" Maverick explained, "in fact, he was going to beat her, which is why I got the scars." James just looked at his roommate confused. "You see, he had found the positive pregnancy test in her trash can and confronted her. I was in my room when I heard him shouting at her, so I went to go see what was going on and as soon as I saw him hold up his belt, I jumped in front of her as it was about to strike her."
"Did he know that you were the one who had gotten her pregnant?" James asked.
"Not at that moment, she hadn't told him who the father was" Maverick continued, "though I guess he must have figured it out seeing me protecting his daughter."
"Why do you say that?"
"I guess me being there and protecting her tipped him off to the possibility of me being the father" Maverick explained, "I'll never forget seeing his face turn into the darkest shade of red I've ever seen someone get. He immediately ripped off my shirt and started striking me with his belt."
"What happened after that?" James asked.
"Lana's father tried to force her to get an abortion, but she refused telling him that she wasn't going to do that because even though she knew it was going to be hard to be one of those pregnant teens, she'd rather actually have the kid than have an abortion" Maverick explained.
"At least she stood up for herself and the baby" James stated.
"Of course, I was glad she had refused, because I had found out it was my child she was carrying, but because she didn't have the abortion, her dad never spoke to her and was extra aggressive towards me" he stated.
"What about when she was giving birth?" James asked.
"I remember that day so well" Maverick stated, smiling "it was the middle of the day in mid-April. The two of us were at the orphanage and I was trying to keep her as comfortable as I could, when she started to scream. Her dad rushed in, seeing her in pain asking what was wrong."
"Oh, now that she was in pain, he was willing to talk to her?" James asked.
"Not exactly" he frowned, "at first I thought he was going to start to take an interest in what was happening in his daughter's life, but when she told me that she could tell the baby was coming, he just walked out of the room uninterested." James sat there shocked at what he had just heard. "Without a second's hesitation, I grabbed the closest phone I could and called an ambulance to come get us and started helping her get outside for when they got there."
"So, it was just the two of you that went to the hospital that day?" James asked.
"Well, yeah, because her father never told Lana's grandparents or even her mother about her being pregnant" Maverick stated, "but that didn't matter to me. That day became my most favorite day of my life."
"I can imagine it was" James smiled, "What happened when you guys came back home with your baby boy?"
"Lana's mom was obviously pissed that she didn't know her baby girl was pregnant" he pointed out, "but she was way more supportive than her dad. She would volunteer to babysit Wolf when we were at school, especially in that first year of his life. Her mom also suggested that I get some kind of job, which I did, because I knew that having a kid was super expensive."
"What is Lana doing now that she's eighteen with a two-year old and you being here?" James asked.
"She found a college that she can go to that has a little daycare for when she has classes" he replied, "She did that knowing how much I wanted to come here, which is why I want to make sure I don't mess up my chances being here."
"Don't worry, Mav" James replied, "Don't forget the two of us said that we were going to help each other and if we do, I know there's nothing that can get in our way."
"That's what I like to hear, James" Maverick said, standing up "Speaking of which, I was getting changed into some clothes to go get in a quick workout before bed, want to join me?"
James took one look at his shirtless wolf roommate, with his toned body structure saying, "If I can look like that, then I'd gladly join you for a workout."
Maverick blushed from the complement, "I may have a few upper body muscles" he stated.
"A few?" James replied, "Look at you, you're a beast!"
"Oh, I'm a beast? How about you, Mr. muscular legs?" Maverick pointed out, "I'd kill to have those legs!"
James looked at his legs, shocked from the complement, "I guess that means I can help you with strengthening your lower body, while you help me strengthen my upper body."
"Sounds like a fair trade to me" Maverick winked, "now let's go see if we can find a gym to workout in."
After they got changed into their clothes for working out, they started wandering the halls, looking for a place to work out and ran into the same hound dog who told James about Andross. "Well, well, well looks like I ran into the 'little runt' as Andross called you" he winked.
"I guess you could say that" James shrugged.
"What are you two youngins up to?" he asked.
"We were trying to find a place to get a quick workout in, but it seems like we've gotten ourselves lost" Maverick explained.
"Luckily for you boys, I was also heading to the gym for a workout" the hound smiled, "if you'd like I can bring you with me."
"That would be great" Maverick replied, having James and himself follow the older cadet. "I don't think we've had the honor of introducing ourselves. I'm Maverick O'Donnell."
"And I'm James McCloud" James added, as the three of them were walking.
"Nice to meet the two of you, I'm Theo Pepper" the hound dog replied.
"Pepper? As in General Pepper?" Maverick asked.
"Yep, that's dad" he answered.
"That must be tough to live up to his expectations" James stated.
"Extremely, he expects me to take over for him as General soon after I get done here" Theo explained.
When they got to the gym, James realized they weren't the only ones there. To his misfortune, Andross was already there doing his own workout. The monkey noticed the three canines, so he put down his weights and walked over to them. "Pepper, what are you doing hanging out with the riffraff?" he asked.
"Back off Bowman" Pepper said, stepping in front of James and Maverick "I ran into these two who were also coming for a workout."
"Typical Pepper, always looking out for the wellbeing of others no matter how unworthy they are of it" he stated, looking directly at James.
James seeing this started growling. Maverick noticed this and he grabbed James by the arm to make sure James didn't do anything stupid. "James, don't retaliate" Maverick whispered, "you're not ready to fight someone who's clearly been here for a long time."
"Good doggie" Andross grinned, "while you're at it, why don't you convince your little friend to drop out?"
Irritated, Maverick lifted up his claws to Andross, "I was just telling him not to go after you, but there's nothing stopping me from kicking your ass."
"Make a move, I dare you" Andross smirked.
"Don't do it, Mav" James requested, walking past Andross, who grabbed James by his tail and drug him back.
"Where do you think you're going, fox?" Andross confronted, "I'm not done with you!"
"Get your grimy, bug-eating paws off me, you darn dirty ape!" James demanded, slapping Andross' paw away from him.
"So, you do have some feistiness in you" Andross chuckled.
"If you keep pushing me, you'll find out real quick how feisty I can get" James said, glaring at the monkey.
"Knock it off, both of you!" Theo shouted, stepping between James and Andross. "Andross, we're going to do a workout, so either continue with your work out and leave us alone or get out. I'm not going to put up with anymore of your bullshit tonight!"
Andross scoffed, "Whatever, Pepper, if you want your reputation to be tarnished by working out with these losers, be my guest."
Andross walked away, leaving the three canines "Sorry about that, Theo" James apologized.
"Why are you apologizing?" Pepper asked, "He's the one who initiated everything, especially when he grabbed your tail."
"Yeah, as soon as he did that, I was ready to show him why he should never grab a fox's tail" James replied.
"Don't worry, James" Maverick stated, placing his paw on James' shoulder "I promise you'll have your chance to take him down a peg or two. But before you do that, let's see if we can put some muscles on those noodles you call arms."
Pepper shifted his gaze between the two males, "It's refreshing to see two animals supporting each other to survive the academy life."
"You know what's crazy about that? James asked, "We only met each other today."
"So, what kind of workout are the two of you doing tonight?" Pepper asked.
"I'm not sure" Maverick answered, "James, do you want us to work on arms or legs tonight?"
"Whatever you think is best, Mav" James replied, "That's our dilemma for having different muscular strengths."
"What do you suggest, Pepper?" Maverick asked.
"I think it would be more beneficial for the two of you to work on the upper body before worrying about the lower body" he suggested, "especially since James doesn't need to work on his leg muscles as much."
Maverick and James looked at each other, nodding their heads in agreement, "Okay, how about we do this" Maverick suggested, "Mondays and Wednesdays we work on our upper bodies then Tuesdays and Thursdays we can work on our lower bodies."
"That seems like a good compromise" James stated, "what would we do for weekends?"
"I normally take Fridays and Sundays off and go running on Saturdays" Maverick replied.
"Sounds like a plan" James smiled, "especially since we don't know what we'll be getting ourselves into with that advanced schedule."
"Wait, the two of you are actually going to attempt to complete the faster program?" Pepper asked, surprised.
"Oh, that's right, no one has actually done it, have they" James stated.
"Some have tried, but it just gets so complex that they just give up on the attempt and settle for the long road" Pepper explained.
James and Maverick looked at each other, a little worried, "Well, did any of them have someone to push them?" Maverick asked, "Because it seems like having that kind of support would help a lot."
"Now that I think about it, anytime a new group of cadets has come through, only one of them would think about doing it, but then looking at the daunting schedule made them second guess everything" Pepper stated.
"Well, maybe since there's two of us it'll make things less intimidating" James suggested.
"If the two of you can take a look at the schedule and complete it, then I'll be very impressed" Pepper replied.
"Alright, well James, we're not going to complete it by just standing around. Let's get this workout going" Maverick stated.
"You want to join us, Theo?" James asked.
"No thanks, I'll just stick to my own workout routine" he replied.
James and Maverick went to the opposite side of the gym, "Um, Mav, don't we need to use weights?" James asked.
"The only kind of weight I use for my upper body workout is my body weight" he explained.
"Oh" James replied, shocked "maybe this won't be as bad as I originally thought."
"Not this time around. I always wait till the second workout to bring the pain to my victims" Maverick stated, sternly. James looked slightly more worried, until the lupine started laughing "James, I was just kidding."
"Oh, the big bad wolf thinks he's got jokes does he?" James smiled.
"But seriously, you'll be fine" Maverick smiled, "anyway I'll typically do ten different exercises, but since it's late I suggest we just do five of them."
"I'm up for whatever you suggest, Mav" James smiled, crossing his arms.
Maverick was stalling a bit, trying to determine the best exercises for James to start out with. "Okay tonight, I want us to do Plank Ups, Triceps Dips, Plank Jacks, Burpees, which no one likes to do, and your classic Push Ups" Maverick stated.
James cringed a bit, "Of course we're going to be doing Push Ups."
"What I like to do is see how many repetitions I can do in thirty seconds and do five sets with a twenty second rest between sets" Maverick explained.
"Sounds a bit intense but makes sense" James stated.
"However, since I'm not sure how many of these five exercises you've seen or done, I can start out by showing you the proper forms for them and make sure you're doing them in a way that doesn't hurt you" Maverick suggested.
"Of the five exercises you've listed, the ones I've heard of are Burpees and obviously Push Ups" James stated, "So, I'd be fine with that. I should be able to get the forms down fast, so I'd be down for doing five sets."
"Okay, how about we start with something easy, the Triceps Dips" Maverick suggested, walking over to some parallel bars.
"So, what you want to do with these is to grab the parallel bars, jump up, and straighten your arms" Maverick explained, as he was demonstrating "then you lower your body, while bending your arms. Make sure when you're lowering your body, you want to be leaning forward ever so slightly. Also, make sure your shoulders are a bit below your elbows. And finish by just lifting your body back up and straightening your arms."
James was watching from the side, to get the best picture of what he's supposed to do, "Doesn't look too hard" he stated.
"Alright, now that you've seen how it's supposed to look, I want you to hop on there and I'll make sure you have the proper form" Maverick instructed.
James took his place where Maverick had been and jumped up as he had been shown. Maverick walked up right next to James, on the other side of the bars, keeping a keen eye on James' form. James proceeded to do the rest of the exercise as Maverick had demonstrated. Upon completing the first rep, James glanced at Maverick, as if he were asking if he was doing the exercise properly.
"Perfect form, James!" Maverick complemented, as if he had read James' mind "Now just give me four more to make sure you keep that same form."
James did four more reps of the Triceps Dips and when he finished the last one, he, gently, lowered himself to the ground. "How was that?" Maverick asked.
"That wasn't too bad" James admitted, "I could definitely feel it in my triceps."
"Great!" Maverick smiled, "Now on to Plank Ups."
Maverick continued showing James how to do Plank Ups and Plank Jacks, making sure that he had good form for each exercise. After getting through the first set of the five exercises, they were interrupted by Pepper. "What's up, Pepper?" James asked.
"Not much. I just finished my workout and came to see how things were going" the hound dog replied.
"Things are actually going pretty well" Maverick stated, "I was expecting to be correcting his form more, but James is real fast at picking up how to do things."
"I told you I'd be able to get the forms down quickly" James stated.
"How many sets do you have left?" Pepper asked.
"Four" Maverick stated, "but I'm sure now that James knows what he's doing, we can get them done a bit quicker."
"Are we going to be doing as many as we can in thirty seconds?" James asked.
"No, I'd rather take things slow tonight" Maverick answered, "Besides, animals can get out of the proper form if they start doing lots of reps at a fast pace. Maybe we can do that next week when we're sure that you won't accidentally slip into a wrong form."
"Okay. Would you like to join us, Pepper?" James asked.
"No thanks, I'm just here to enjoy the show" he said, sitting off to the side.
James and Maverick continued the rest of their workout and with Pepper around, Maverick felt more at ease having a second pair of eyes to make sure James was doing the exercises properly. After the final set was finished, James and Maverick were dripping in sweat. "Wow, you two look gross" Pepper laughed.
"That was awesome and awful at the same time!" James chuckled.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, James" Maverick smiled, trying to steady his breathing.
"What was that guys? I thought you were going to take things easy?" Pepper asked.
"I was going to, but James decided to pick up the tempo for that third set" Maverick stated.
"I couldn't help it!" James replied, "Something in my body just clicked as if it knew I could go faster without the fear that I'd waver from the good form."
"Boy, I'm tired now" Pepper smirked.
"I'm close to the point where I could crawl into bed without showering off tonight" James stated.
"Please don't" Maverick replied, "I'd rather not learn what wet fox smells like tonight."
"I wasn't actually going to do that" James laughed.
"Good! I would've thrown your ass into the shower myself if you did" Maverick chuckled.
Pepper stared at the two young canines, awkwardly, "Do you pups want me to leave the two of you, so you can continue your flirting in private?"
"What are you talking about, Pepper?" Maverick asked.
"Yeah, we're not flirting with each other" James stated, "he has a kid and a girlfriend."
"That doesn't matter" Pepper countered, "it seems pretty obvious to me that the two of you like each other."
"Is joking with each other all it takes to be considered gay these days?" Maverick asked.
"How about the fact that you guys stick up for each other, especially from what I saw when you were confronting Andross" Pepper pointed out, "like Maverick, you were about to throw claws with him when he was threatening James."
"I would say that my instincts to protect those I care about kicked in" Maverick stated, defending himself. "I did the same thing for my girlfriend when I was sixteen."
"It may sound crazy, but I can sense some kind of spark kindling between the two of you" Pepper insisted, "whether you're in love with each other or this is some kind of hardcore bromance, I'm here for it. I'd hate to be the sorry loser to piss either of you off."
"Well, I'm tired, so I'm gunna go grab a shower and hit the hay" James stated, trying to get out of the conversation.
"Right behind ya, James" Maverick said, following his roommate "we promised the General to stop by his office in the morning to get our calendars."
"If you're going to do that, I suggest waiting until after breakfast" Pepper offered, "as you can tell he's pretty old and he does not like to do anything before he's had his breakfast."
"I guess we can wait until after breakfast to see him" James stated, taking in the information.
"Yeah, it's not like we're that hard-pressed to push past all the new cadets" Maverick added, "after all it's only the first week."
"Oh, since you know so much about the General's advanced schedule, do you know how many years it would take to finish?" James asked.
"No, dad never told me and since no one's ever gone past day one with it there's no average timeframe to anybody's knowledge besides my dad's" Pepper explained.
"I guess that'll add to the fun of being the first ones to actually take it on" Maverick smiled.
"You read my mind, Mav" James said, glancing at the wolf.
Pepper walked with James and Maverick back to their room, to make sure they didn't get lost. "Alright, now you pups know how to get from your room to the gym. So, you can work out whenever you want to" he stated.
"Awesome! Thanks, Pepper" James smiled.
"No problem" he replied, "Sorry about assuming the two of you were flirting with each other. If you say you're just friends, I'll respect that."
"Don't worry about it" Maverick shook his head, "I guess we were acting kinda flirty after the workout, but like I said before, we just really care about each other."
"Good night, youngins" Pepper said, "I'll see you tomorrow. And do me a favor."
"What's that, Pepper?" James asked.
"Try to stay away from Andross as much as possible, he's just trying to get in your heads like he does for every new cadet he picks out as his victim" he instructed.
"In my defense, it seems like he's seeking me out" James pointed out, "except for us accidentally running into him in the gym tonight."
"Yeah, I know, like I said just do your best" he insisted, "at least you should be able to avoid him most of the day, since he should be busy with his own training."
"What year is he even in?" Maverick asked.
"Same as me, year six" Pepper replied.
"Wow, you're at the tail end of the program!" James exclaimed.
"Why do you bother helping us, in that case?" Maverick asked.
"Because unlike Andross, I make it a priority to help the new cadets navigate the first few days here" he replied, "and not because it's something my dad would think I should do. It just seems like the right thing to do."
"Well, thank you for your help tonight, Pepper" James stated, walking into their room "see you tomorrow."
After Theo had left, the two young canines were unpacking their bathroom supplies and something that happened earlier that evening entered Maverick's mind, "Hey, James, can I ask you something?" he requested.
"Sure, what about?" James asked, confused.
"Do you think I'm attractive?" he asked, blushing.
James hesitated, looking at the young wolf's body, "I mean, if you're asking me if I think you're good looking, then I won't lie to you. You're a very attractive wolf, belt scars and all."
The wolf chuckled, "Okay then, would you say that you're attracted to me?"
"Romantically, no. Platonically, yes" James answered, "Were you asking because of Pepper?"
"Ya, I guess it's been on my mind since he brought it up" Maverick admitted.
"Honestly, it's been on my mind too, but I didn't want to be the one to bring it up" James stated, "I don't know how you will take this, but after you opened up about what happened with you and Lana, I knew you'd be a great friend."
"When I first told you that I have a kid, I was worried you'd be one of those judgmental animals thinking that I screwed up my life by getting a girl pregnant at such a young age" Maverick stated, "but the fact you immediately accepted it, I knew I could be open about anything with you."
"I wasn't sure what to think when you told me about Wolf" James replied, "obviously I was shocked, but it's not my place to be judgmental about another animal's past if I don't want them to be judgmental about me."
Maverick smiled, "Thanks, James. We better hurry and get showered off before the sweat becomes harder to wash out."
"Right" James chuckled, grabbing his towel.
The two canines hurried to the communal shower room, which happened to have lockers. One brushed his teeth and did his nightly routines, while the other got showered off and then they switched, respecting each other's privacy. They got back to their room and crawled into their beds. Before James could fall asleep, Maverick asked, "Hey, James?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"I don't" James answered, "I haven't ran into the one girl that's sparked enough of an interest for me to ask her out. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious" the lupine replied, "I know it might not mean much coming from me, but you're a really handsome guy."
James sat up, looking at his roommate, "Are you saying you're attracted to me?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying" Maverick replied, sitting up "I'm just repaying the complement from earlier."
"Thanks, Mav" James smiled, laying back down "good night."
"Night, James" he replied, as he was slowly drifting off to sleep "sleep well."