Hilde pushed the front door open and stepped back into the kitchen of her family home. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead with sweat, the rest of her hair pinned up in a short ponytail. "I'm back, Mom."
The older wolf smiled at her from the stove, where she was mixing some eggs. "Welcome back, honey. How was this morning's run?"
"Good, ran an extra mile since we've had so little snow the last few weeks." Hilde panted the words and wiped her brow of sweat. She felt a shiver go down her spine, the chill from outside setting upon her, now that her heart rate was coming down.
"Well, I'm just getting started on breakfast. Go grab a warm shower before you set up with a cold." The mother wolf spoke the words out in a gentle but firm tone.
"Alright, thanks, Mom." The younger wolf quickly moved from the kitchen, heading to her bedroom. She quickly gathered some clothes and made for the shower.
Hilde pushed her forehead to the shower wall, still feeling a faint pant on her breath from the hard run. The hot water rushed down over her, the heat soothing and warming after the heavy exercise. She didn't bother with shampooing her hair, she knew she would take a more thorough shower this afternoon, once practice was done. Opting to just rinse her white locks out for now.
Humming to herself after stepping out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around her small body and used another to begin drying her wet hair. The young wolf was a little on the shorter side of things, like her mother. This was one of the reasons she looked up to the bodyguard so much. Tracey was also on the smaller side, but she was tough and a strong fighter.
The young woman pulled the towel from her body, moving it to more thoroughly dry and fluff out her tail. She continued to hum to herself and glanced at her own body in the mirror. It had only been two months since this all began, but she could already see the definition and tone starting to show in her limbs.
Her tail wagged while she turned to look her backside over in the mirror. Her butt and hips had taken on a little more curve, thanks to the definition of muscle there. These last two months had really started to show, it stood to reason though. Working out and training was essentially her full-time job now. She had been running five days a week and hitting three different martial arts academies twice per week. On top of regular visits to the gym she had joined.
Hilde quickly donned her panties and sports bra, the second article feeling a little tight. She frowned and tugged at the fit, seeing the muscles in her chest had made her go up another size or two. "Guess I better look into some new bras."
After brushing her hair out and pinning it back in a small ponytail, she donned the rest of her outfit for the day. Hilde gave herself a grin in the mirror and moved out of the bathroom, returning to the kitchen.
Her mother had just finished things and gave her a smile upon entry. "Have a seat, sweetie." The older wolf hummed the words and moved to place a large plate of eggs, meat, and vegetables down.
"Thanks, I'm starving." The younger dog spoke the words excitedly, moving to sit and go right to work on her breakfast.
The older wolf sat down across from her daughter, her own plate of food in one hand, a mug of coffee in the other. "So what's on your agenda today?"
Hilde lifted her ears and finished chewing before taking a sip of her own coffee. "I've got judo at ten this morning, then there's boxing later around three. I might sneak in a few hours at the gym between then."
"Don't injure yourself like you did a few weeks ago, dear." The older dog spoke out with concern.
"I will be okay, it was just a pulled muscle. Anyway, I've brought the tempo down a few degrees, just until I'm one hundred percent again." Hilde took a few more bites of food and saw the look her mother was giving her, like she wanted to say more. "What?"
"I'm still not happy about this." Her mother spoke out pointedly.
"Yes, I know." Hilde replied before taking another sip of coffee.
"And you're just going to do what you want, huh?" The older wolf gave her an annoyed frown.
"Yes, I am. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I plan to see it through." The younger wolf spoke confidently, her tail wagging behind her.
"It's such a dangerous job though." Her mother spoke out, the tone in her voice becoming more authoritative.
"Everything is dangerous, Mom. People die every day just driving to their perfectly safe jobs." Hilde growled the words and looked away. "Can we not have this argument at breakfast? I feel bad upsetting you after you cooked for me."
Her mother gave a sigh and relented. "Alright... just know I worry about you."
"I get that, but if anything this is making me a stronger woman, so you won't have to worry so much." The younger wolf gave her mother a grin, then returned to her breakfast.
"I'm still not sure how this all happened... it's all been moving so quickly." Her mother sighed the words and shook her head. She still had not received the full story, on how her daughter met Tracey to begin with.
Hilde snapped up the rest of her breakfast before giving a satisfied huff. "Damn, I love your eggs."
"It's just scrambled eggs, sweetie." Her mother gave her a smile.
"As to how it happened..." The younger wolf moved from the table, taking her dishes to the sink to quickly clean them. "Well sometimes you have to take chances in life, you know what I mean?"
"Would you like to elaborate upon that, dear?" The mother wolf asked while holding her mug of mostly drank coffee.
"Will you promise not to freak out?" Hilde grinned at her from the sink, her tail slowly wagging.
#
"Hello, my loves!" Electric Blue called out to the roaring crowd before him. He just stood there, basking in the adoration, listening to their cheers and screams for him. Several seconds passed, the idol just standing there, his arms spread and his palms open. It was as if he were feeding on their energy and excitement.
"Welcome to the last night of our tour!" The idol called out and placed his fingertips on his chin, trying his best to look introspective for the crowd. The whole building seemed to shake with the enthusiasm of the fans. Leo pointed a finger as if to talk, then just waited and rolled a hand, as if allowing them to continue cheering for him.
"Fucking showboating nerd." Tracey barked out from the sidelines. She had a grin on her face, her arms crossed over her stomach, her tail lazily wagging behind her.
"It's his last one for a while, he wants to drink it all in," Max called out to her with a smile and shoved his fist out towards the wolf.
Tracey snorted and knocked fists with him without even making eye contact. "It's good to see him so happy... it's all I want." The white wolf spoke the words with a smile.
The rat showed his teeth, lightly bumping the wolf with his hip. Tracey looked down at him questioningly. "You've changed a lot, Tracey. You seem much happier now."
She showed her sharp teeth and moved a hand to pat at the rat's completely shaved head. The wolf was careful not to muss the blue and white stars Trixie had given him before the show began. "Ha! I'm not the only one, Maximillian!"
Trixie came up behind the two of them and folded her arms. "Don't fuck up my work, I'm not fixing them."
The wolf gave the llama a grin and moved her hand from Max's head, before flipping her off. "Bite me, I was watching out for them."
"So! Before we begin the show, I want to do something a little special. Seeing as it's the last night of the tour and all." The idol spoke out to the fans, his small fluff of tail flicking about rapidly. He grinned at their cheers of interest.
"Oh fuck... here he goes again..." Trixie groaned the words aloud. Max frowned and stiffened his back. Tracey just rolled her eyes and growled at the ram.
"So this will take a few minutes..." Blue paced the stage as he spoke, looking out over the audience. "You see, I've been with all these people almost a year now. I've said it before and I will say it again. I'm nothing without them."
The crowd grew quieter as the idol continued to speak humbly before them. "So... I'm calling them up here by their jobs. I want you guys to show them all the love you would me. Can you do that for me?"
The building rumbled with cheers from the fans and Max pushed his palm to his forehead. "Damn it... you heard the ram..." The manager spoke out as he connected the mic, holding a finger to his earpiece. "Everyone group up by your positions and wa-"
"And since I love catching him flat-footed! The first one I want to introduce is my manager!" The idol called out over the feed and gave Max a grin from the stage.
The rat glared and shook his head. "I am not going out there, Leo ba-"
Max yelped out as Trixie grabbed his arm and started pulling him with her to the stage. "Come on, Max... don't slow the show down," The llama spoke out cheerfully.
Leo grinned as the two made their way out to the stage. Trixie gave a lazy look to the crowd and brushed her pink hair back. Max just fidgeted awkwardly. "So this is my manager Maximillian, none of this would be possible without him." The crowd roared and cheered while the small man gave them an awkward wave of his hand.
"And this... is my assistant manager, Trixie. She also does my makeup and hair. It's no exaggeration to say I wouldn't be Electric Blue without her." The idol gave the llama a grin while introducing her. The crowd applauded in appreciation for her and Max.
And so it went. It took several minutes, but every member of the staff got a moment in the limelight. From the technicians that worked on the sound equipment, to the drivers of the buses. Everyone but one particular individual.
"Well... I think that takes care of everyone." The idol cooed the words out to the audience. The crowd clapped but seemed restless. The ram smiled over the masses and perked his ears up. "Ah... did I forget someone?"
The white wolf scowled and folded her ears, her cheeks turning red. She could easily hear her name circulating through the crowd. The idol put a hand to his chest in a mock look of shock. "Oh, how silly of me... of course, I didn't forget. It's called building tension my loves."
