Weighty Tome

The atmosphere in the huge university library was as silent and clam as ever. Limon and his husky friend Coal were roaming the tall shelves to find some material for their studies. A set of important exams would be coming up soon, and the two had decided to learn together.

The fennec was just looking for a book about radioactive decay to enhance his knowledge of the matter, when he heard Coal whispering around the corner of the long book shelf. "Pssst! Hey, Limon?"

Curious the fennec fox perked his big ears and turned to see his friend beckon him. "What is it?" he asked.

"I need your help."

Eager to help the husky out, Limon put the book he currently held back. It wasn't the right subject anyways. Rounding the corner and walking down the aisle Cola was in, the fox whispered, "What's the matter?"

The husky pointed up the shelf. "I can't reach the upper rack. Would you mind assisting me?"

"Sure thing!" Limon said and lifted his arms somewhat.

Coal looked at him confused, tilting his head. "Now what?"

"Lift me up, of course! I'll get you the books you need," said the fox. He was significantly shorter and much lighter than the heavy husky. He should have no trouble to lift him up. "Well?" he added, still standing on the ground.

Coal looked down at his small friend with an awkward smile. "Actually..." he said at length. "I thought you could go down on all fours so I can stand on you and reach the books myself."

The fennec snorted. "Pfff, yeah! That's not gonna happen!"

"Come on, little guy!" Coal pleaded. "It will only take a moment."

"Why don't you get yourself a ladder? Here are plenty!"

The big husky crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, Limon," he said. "Get on the floor."

Dropping his huge ears slightly, the fennec turned his head to look down the aisle. "What if someone sees?" he asked worried.

"The place is almost empty! No one's going to notice," answered the husky. And the library was indeed less frequented today than usual. Patting the fennec on the shoulder Coal added, "Now get down on your hands and knees."

A bit reluctantly, Limon kneeled down to do as he was told. "Okay, but hurry! I don't want someone to see me like this, and you know you're heavy!"

Smirking about getting his way with the small fox once more, Coal put one paw on his crouching friend's lower back, then he stepped up, putting his other one between his shoulders.

Limon gasped as he felt his friend mount him. The tall husky was trice his weight and the poor fox felt it in every bone! His arms were shaking, the elbows bowing to the side and his back was bent from the weight on top of it.

A bit further up, Coal was going through the row of books, taking his time to read every title twice. He could feel the weak fox's shaking under him, but he didn't seem to care. The comfort of having Limon's warm body against his soles, in contrast to the library's cold granite floor, was a welcoming sensation, though!

Limon's strength was fading. His knees got sore on the hard stone floor, and his back ached. The longer Coal stood on him, the farther his back bowed down and the weaker his thin arms got. "Gah! Coal... hurry and get your stupid book! You're heavy..." the fennec grunted.

Not paying much attention to his stool, Coal leaned a bit to the right to reach the end of the rack. While doing so, he shifted more of his weight onto Limon's trembling arms. "Psssst!" Made the husky and continued to brows the books. "This is a library, Limon. You're supposed to be quiet!"

Sighing in exhaustion the fox let his head drop and tensed his shoulders to support the heavy dog. He looked down onto the granite floor and could only imagine how much it would hurt if he collapsed here. "Could you move a bit to the right?" he suddenly heard Coal speak from above.

Reaching his limit, Limon wheezed, "H-how about no...! Get off, man..."

But the husky stood his ground. "Move!" he demanded and shifted his weight back, bending the fox's back uncomfortably far.

Grumbling and groaning, Limon toiled himself forward with tiny, painful steps. Coal wobbled back and forth on top of him, which made his task even harder. "You could at least go off while I'm moving..." he hissed through gritted teeth.

"But I'm already standing here, so why move?" Coal simply stated. A few long and painful seconds later, the fox arrived at the husky's desired destination. "Alright, stop!" he commanded and let his eyes wander over the next row of books. "Now lift me a bit up, so I can read the titles comfortably."

"Are y-you fucking c-crazy?!" Limon complained audibly. But Coal wouldn't listen to him.

"Up!" he merely said and expected from the poor fox to heave his 220 pounds up just like that.

With all his remaining power, Limon straightened his body and then arched his back up, lifting the dog like four or five inches. "P-please C-Coal... get off... I can't h-hold you any longer..." pleaded the fox.

"Almost there..." Coal said and reached up to the highest rack, where he had found his needed reading matter. To overcome the last missing inch, Coal moved up to stand on his tiptoes, making the poor fox underneath him whine in pain. Then, finally, he grabbed the book and, much to the fennec's relief, let himself down to his soles again. Though, he made no move to step down just yet! "Now let me down," he demanded.

Already on the edge of collapsing, Limon let his back slump down, feeling the dog's massive weight almost breaking it. Then he carefully dropped down to his elbows, lowering his body to the ground for Coal to step down, though of course the husky was not satisfied yet! "Lower!" he urged, pointing to the ground like a king issuing orders to his subject. "You wouldn't want me to stumble, would you? I could hurt myself!"

Snorting dismissively, Limon was more concerned with not getting hurt himself! Just wanting to finally have him off of him, the fox lowered his chest to the cold ground and then let his legs slide back on the smooth surface, until he was lying on his stomach, the husky still on his back.

"That's a good boy!" Coal said and eventually stepped off of his strained form.

Holding his so recklessly abused back, Limon slowly stood up. He sighed relieved as he could stretch himself. Then, suddenly, he noticed something with his giant ears. A second later they turned bright red. Two kudu girls stood down at the end of the aisle, giggling and snickering about what they just observed. When they noticed Limon looking at them, they blushed and quickly disappeared behind the bookshelves.

"Great!" the fox muttered. "They saw us! I'm gonna be the laughing stock of the whole university! Are you finally done now? I want to leave and begin studying."

"Eh, don't worry, little guy. I'm sure they won't tell anybody. Anyways!" Coal said and grabbed his wrist. "I'll need some other books as well. And I'm sure they all lie too high for me to reach alone!"

Limon wasn't keen to serve as stepladder again and wanted to pull away and leave, but of course the much bigger husky was the stronger one and effortlessly dragged the little fox with him...

The End

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This amazing piece of art was drawn by Darkanine121212 as a commission for me, and features Samt517's character Coal the husky, and my character Limon the fennec fox. I'm really in love with this piece! The colors are so nice and he nailed the facial expressions perfectly! My poor, little foxy looks so strained under Coal's heavy paws! He really has a hard life, but don't worry. he likes it!

Art (c) Darkanine121212
Coal the husky (c) Samt517
Story and Limon the fennec fox (c) Simplemind
Original submission can be found HERE