Illustration for a story commissioned from DaLolf - seen here.

Finally, as the last students left, Yves sighed deeply, brushing back his thick, curly hair, and collected his things, only to be stopped by the older ram, who was taking up the entire doorway.

“Mr. Luprand, is there any particular reason you let those idiots walk all over you?”

“I-I dunno, it’s not hurting me… much…” Luprand sighed, adjusting his glasses.

The Professor sighed. “I don’t understand it. You’re my most diligent student, probably my smartest, so how did you let this happen to you? If you worked half as hard as you did at your studies, you could easily outclass any of them in terms of strength.” To emphasize his point, the ram rolled back his sleeve and flexed his arm, his bicep rising up dramatically. “This is what separates the West from the rest of the world, Mr. Luprand. Every Western nation since the Palamani has sought to ape it, and it’s made us strong without Jidou. It’s in our blood. I understand, and support, multiculturalism, but the fact of the matter is, when in Remera, do as the Remerans do. Or things aren’t going to get much better for you here.”

The dog shrugged nervously, trying not to linger too long at his teacher’s meaty arm. “It’s just never been for me, Dr. Albert, sir…” He was visibly shrinking now, trying to suck in his gut and puff up his soft chest.

“Mr. Luprand, I’m prepared to make a deal with you. There’s a remedial weightlifting class that Professor Fredrickson teaches for free, out of the kindness of her heart. You promise to take that class, toughen up, and…” Professor Albert presented a key. “I will let you use my collection of Palamani artifacts being housed in the Student Center for your paper. You can have personal access to some of the most valuable pieces for research.”

Yves blinked his eyes, his jaw slack. Access to Professor Albert’s collection was something only given to his star pupils; it was a treasure trove for students serious about their academic careers. “You… you mean it, Dr. Albert?”

“Mr. Luprand, have you ever known me to make a joke?” He smirked, and jutted out his hand. “Do we have a deal?”

He hesitated, but Luprand gladly shook the ram’s hand, even as it dwarfed his own.

I'll see how many more illustrations I can scribble up.