Lifting Spirits

Maisy sighed with relief as she tossed her backpack full of books into her locker, clicking the lock closed before grabbing the bright red swimsuit she had pulled out, the ten year old spaniel smiling happily as she skipped towards the bathrooms of the school locker room, slipping into an empty stall and closing the door behind her. Though the girl wasn't phased by much, she still preferred changing into her swimming gear in some privacy, the canine humming quietly as she undressed and neatly folded up her clothes, laying them down on the lid of the toilet before pulling the one piece bathing suit over her cream coloured fur. She gently snapped one of the straps running over her shoulder, giggling before picking up her clothes and stepping out of the stall, seeing herself in the bathroom mirror, the white markings on her red swimsuit signaling her as a lifeguard. The spaniel had always loved water and swimming, taking many courses and classes with her hobby, going far enough to even qualify as a junior lifeguard after a good amount of swimming tests and first aid training. Maisy turned around, curving her back slightly as she looked back at her reflection, smirking as the tight fitting swimsuit clung to her flank. The cub didn't like to brag, but she couldn't deny that the red piece really did bring out her good side. She giggled and looked around, her cheeks blushing slightly as she made sure that none of her classmates were around to see her messing around, her tail gently wagging as she stuffed her clothes into her locker before turning to head outside, a nice river running only a few minutes away from the school, the girl often taking a swim there at the end of her school day. She could have done her swimming in a pool as well, but she had always preferred natural waters when it came to training, a man made swimming pool never quite capturing the feel of the real thing in her opinion. The halls of the school were nearly totally empty, only a few stray students and teachers milling around, everyone else having already left for their homes. The girl turned a corner to catch a glimpse of dark fur, the spaniel quickly jumping back with a nearly silent yelp, pressing her back against the wall as her heart skipped a beat, hoping that she wasn't spotted by the wolf. 

Maisy peeked her head around the corner again, confirming that she saw correctly, a black-furred wolf sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, a sullen look on his face, both of his feet replaced with prosthetics from the knee down due to an accident he'd had when he was younger. The boy's name was Concorde, the two not meeting too often due to him being a few years older than her, but the small amount of conversations that she'd had with him was enough to make her cheeks blush gently at the sight of him, the spaniel having to confess that she had a crush on him. The wolf was sitting nearly motionless, his muzzle down in a book, not having noticed the girl. She spied on him, debating about whether to walk in front of him or go the long way around to get outside, her belly twisting gently at the thought of having to show herself to the boy she fancied while she was practically in the nude. She usually wasn't very shy about showing off her swimwear, but the situation was quite different when it came to him. She studied his face, finding his expression even more dour than usual, one hand idly twisting and folding the corners of the page while he read his book. Maisy sighed at the sight of the lonely wolf, pushing her self-consciousness out of her mind as she walked out from behind the corner, a warm smile on her face, intent on curing his glum mood. Concorde looked up from his book as he spotted something red walking towards him from the edge of his vision, his mouth open but no words coming out as he saw the girl standing in front of him, stopping to lean on the wall, 
"What'cha reading?" 
"Oh… just… I dunno. Nothing really."
He quickly closed the book, getting up on his feet, taking a few seconds due to the prosthetics, his eyes struggling to meet the ginger spaniel's as he coughed awkwardly, 
"Can I… help you with something, or…?" 
"No… well actually yeah. I was thinking of taking a swim in the river, but it's real boring to do it alone. You wanna come with?" 
"Oh, uhh… I don't have any swim gear with me."
"Well it's a river, no one's gonna be around to judge. You can just swim in your trunks."
Concorde looked down at his legs, his tail drooping slightly, 
"Are you sure? I'm not… really a good swimmer…"
"I don't need a good swimmer, I just need some good company." 
"I mean, I'm not sure that I really can… swim. What if I… I just, I don-" 
The cub cut him off as she put one hand on his shoulder, pointing at the text on her swimsuit with the other hand, smiling, 
"I'll be right there next to you the whole time, ain't nothing bad gonna happen. Now c'mon, are you really gonna let me go swim all by myself, force me to be really, really bored~?" 
The boy cracked a tiny smile, sighing and nodding his head before sliding his book into his bag and throwing it over his shoulder, the pair slowly walking down the hall and towards the exit, both sharing sly glances at each other. 

As soon as the river was within sight, Maisy sprinted ahead, giggling as she jumped into the water with a splash, 
"Cannonball!"
The wolf chuckled as he watched the dog's shimmering form spinning and twirling around under the water, her breath lasting for an impressive amount before she finally breached the surface with a gasp, laughing as she gently kicked to keep herself up. Concorde pulled his pants and his shirt off, setting them down onto a nearby rock, the girl blushing gently as she peeked at his boxers, trying to not make her probing too noticeable. The boy sat down on the edge of the river, slipping his legs into the water as he sighed quietly, slowly kicking his feet around, too nervous to properly get into the water. Maisy noticed his hesitation, swimming up next to him and grabbing onto the side with her hands, gently smiling as she floated in place, 
"Come on in, the water is nice and warm! Or are you gonna just sit there in your undies the whole time~?" 
"I… think I'm fine here, at least for a little bit."
"Suit yourself, but I'm definitely gonna make you take a dip before we leave~" 
The spaniel kicked off of the bank, gliding through the water on her back before twirling around, speeding across the waves. Concorde enjoyed watching the cub swimming around, smirking as she dove in and out of the river like a dolphin. Her enthusiasm reminded the wolf of himself, having also been a big fan of swimming when he was younger, his interest having to take a back seat after the unfortunate accident that resulted in his prosthetics. He felt his replacement feet dragging along as he kicked idly, the weight of them making him feel sluggish, the feel of warm water rushing through his toes missing completely. He sighed and closed his eyes, the outing leaving him slightly bitter, giving him just enough of a taste of something he used to love to remind him that he won't have that ever again. 

Maisy glanced at the boy, seeing his somber face, her attempt to cheer him up seemingly having had the exact opposite effect. She groaned and steeled herself, determined to get him to feel better. She slipped out from the water and sat next to him, wringing water out from her tail as his feet slowly paddled in the river, 
"Are you sure you don't wanna jump in?" 
"Yeah. I'm just… I don't wanna risk anything…" 
She thought about something for a moment, her eyes lighting up as she turned towards a small old shed near the pair, quickly getting up and running towards it. She knew that people used it as a storage shed of sorts, stuffing any gear that they might want or need while swimming so that they wouldn't need to constantly carry it to the river and back. She remembered seeing something in there that could help the wolf, her eyes bright as she opened the door and dug around for a few moments. Concorde watched with curiosity as she scavenged around, her head cocking slightly as she yelled victoriously, 
"Ahh, there they are!" 
She stepped out with a pair of green floaties in her hands, smiling as she waved them at him,
"Here, these'll make sure that you'll be fine in the water."
She knelt down and helped slip the pair onto his arms, the boy looking down at himself with a huff, 
"Oh c'mon, I look ridiculous. I can't swim like this!" 
"What, I think they make you look cute~" 
The joke stopped him in his tracks, his ears folding over as a shade of pink overtook his face for a second, the teen quickly turning away and shaking his head, 
"Alright, but not a word about this to anyone else!"
He slowly slipped down into the river, moaning quietly as the warm water rose up to his chest, the wolf needing to work harder than usual to keep his head up above the waves even with the floaties around his arms. 

Maisy slowly paddled next to the boy, staying close to make sure that he was doing fine as he adapted to the swimming, lending him a shoulder to grab onto whenever he felt like he was about to slip underneath the waves. Minute by minute, Concorde's confidence began rising, his look of concentration giving way to a big smile as he swam around, able to recapture some of the happy memories. Soon, the pair of canines were playing tag and racing across the river together, the wolf stopping to take a breather at the edge of the water after about fifteen minutes of swimming, the added weight and the awkwardness of his prosthetics making swimming more draining than usual. The spaniel joined him on the break, pulling herself to sit up before helping him up next to her, both grinning and huffing. Concorde leaned back and relaxed his head, enjoying the warm sunshine on his body as he squinted up at the sky, 
"So, why'd you invite me here, really? And don't tell me it's just because you don't wanna swim alone, I've seen you training here plenty of times by yourself."
She giggled, 
"Alright, I guess I kinda lied, but only a little bit."
"So what's the real reason?" 
She quickly looked away, her face nearly glowing red, 
"It's… really dumb, I don't wanna say it."
"Aw, c'mon! I'm here wearing floaties just for you, the least you could do is at least tell me the reason I'm doing it~" 
Maisy rubbed her neck, quickly blurting out her confession, her eyes glued down to the river, 
"Okay, okay. I… I'm kinda, you know… I like you."
The wolf stayed silent, trying to process her revelation and search for an appropriate response, stumbling over his words, 
"Oh… me too. I mean… I do you too. I mean, like, I also… I like you too…"
The pair finally looked at each other, both red from embarrassment, an awkward silence lingering between them as Concorde took the first step, gently placing his hand over hers. She giggled and quickly dove against him, hugging him while still holding hands, the duo staying in the embrace for several seconds. 

When Maisy finally broke the hug, he noticed the boy awkwardly leaning forwards with an odd look on his face, Concorde quickly slipping back into the water to hide the situation that the unexpected hug from her had created in his underwear, the spaniel laughing as she jumped down to join him. The two continued swimming and chatting as the minutes passed by, only noticing the passing of the time as hunger began gnawing away at them, the sun already on its way down. The canines scampered up from the river, Maisy lending the teen her towel to help him dry his fur, his face flushed as he dove behind a rock to change out from his wet underwear and back into the rest of the clothes, the girl chuckling at him the whole time, resisting the temptation to peek at him. After he had changed and the pair were slowly walking back towards the school, Maisy stepped in front of Concorde, grabbing both of his hands and pushing right up to his face, time seeming to slow down as his heart raced, his eyes closing as the new couple shared their first kiss. He wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her close to his chest as they both sighed happily, the moment of silence broken by the grumbling coming from his belly, the two both chuckling as he let her go, 
"I think I'm gonna need some grub before anything else."
"How about the burger place down the street? I'm buying~"
"Well, I can't say no to free food."
Walking side by side, laughing and smiling, the pair made their way back to the school, both excited about what the future might hold for them.