Chapter Text
CHAPTER FIVE HUNDRED FOURTY THREE
Feeding Minami and putting him on a train back to Fukuoka Prefecture was the first task of the next morning, and he was a ball of energy the entire time. By the time he excitedly promised to win gold in Colorado, Yuri and Victor were ready for a mid-morning nap. But, there were chores to do yet, and they hopped back into their Audi to go back home and pick up the pups. Makkachin was quickly let into the back seat, and his harness was resized and fitted around Ghost's excessively fuzzy frame before she, too, was lead into the back of the car. Yuri kept Jiro on his lap in the front passenger seat, though at about 12 weeks old, he was easily twice the size he'd been when he'd been gifted after the Grand Prix Final...and Yuri's legs felt the difference.
Getting to the beach-head though, Jiro quickly hopped out on his lead, and snuffled around the parking lot as the other two canines were brought out of the back. Makkachin was well-trained and stayed close-by even without a leash or harness, but Ghost had developed a sort of gravitational paralysis since the harness had gone on. Victor had to lift her up to get her out.
"Whew...okay then." He huffed, straightening out his coat and scarf, looking down at the nervous Shepherd, "I'm gonna speak in English from now on cuz basically everyone around you will, too. I know you've never been on a leash before but we aren't in the deep woods anymore, so leashes are a necessity until you learn to stay close like Makkachin does. Right!?" He called, turning to shout the word at his poodle.
Makkachin lifted his head from the frozen sand, ears flopping from the inertia, "Boorf!"
"Exactly." Victor mused, looking back to the pup in front of him, whose tail was wagging slightly at the tip, "All right then, let's get moving. If you get used to the leash quick enough, we'll turn this into a morning jog."
Ghost felt the tug on the back of her harness, but looking up to see the humans and two other dogs moving away from her were what got her to rise up and follow. Like the night before, she kind of shambled along like an arthritic old boofer, tail sunken low and head held down. After a few minutes though, and with a few encouraging pats on her head and shoulders, started to let herself get curious about the beach.
"Oh, Yuri, look!"
"Eh?"
"Her tail's up!"
Yuri looked behind his spouse and saw that the words wrung true, and the Shepherd's tail revealed itself to be near as curly as Jiro's, swaying back and forth, dragging long thick hairs across her back with each wag. He looked down to Jiro then, "You ready for this? We're gonna go."
The pup tilted his head curiously, but caught on quickly when he saw his two humans pick up the pace. He chased after them until he caught up, galloping alongside them as well as he could with his comparatively-short legs. Makkachin barked when he spotted them starting their slow run, and seemed to lead the way down the beach, checking back now and then to make sure no one had gotten lost. After several minutes, Yuri had to stop and go back to pick up Jiro, but then rushed to keep going again, carrying the tired puppy like a sand-bag in his arms.
By the time they'd made it nearly back to where they'd parked the car, Ghost's curiosity about the area lead them into the Niji no Matsubura Pine Grove, a strange stretch of woods between the beach sand and the road going along the coast. Within, the narrow trunks of the trees were twisted and gnarled, as though they grew along paths set by oddly-bent wires. Yuri found one that grew at a diagonal with a twist that made it an easy seat to collapse into, and fought to catch his breath. Jiro had regained his stamina by then and was sniffing around the area.
"What a strange forest." Victor commented, looking around in every direction, "I know where we are but you can't see the road or the beach from in here. Kind of spooky."
"Y-Yu-chan and I...and Nishigori...used to come here...during the summer..." Yuri commented, still slumped against his tree-seat, "We'd...run all up and down...these woods."
"As little kids? You were allowed to do that?"
Yuri looked over, turning his beanie-covered head on the bark, "Y-Yeah...why not...?"
Victor shrugged and smiled, "Guess you guys weren't as worried about getting lost. I had my spot in the woods to go to and stayed there. I got lost one time back then, and my dog had to come find me, so I didn't wander far after that."
"Oh..."
Looking at his phone, Victor checked the time, "It's nearly 11am. We should head back to the car."
"Nearly 11am already? Yeesh...time flies..."
"Right?"
"Aright then..." Yuri huffed, throwing his arms forward to hoist himself back up again. He looked down at Jiro, "You're walking the rest of the way. You're heavier than you look."
Victor crouched down to Ghost's side and scritched one floppy ear, "Just as soon as you get to trusting us, we're about to betray it and take you to the vet. I assure you though, it's all for the best. They saved Makkachin's life once, and they've helped other dogs, too. I don't know how Mimi got you into the country without a rabies certificate but we'll be sure to fix you up properly."
"Don't say the V-word, she'll learn to know what it means." Yuri teased, stepping closer on the frost-crunchy sand.
"V, E, T, that spells walk." Victor answered, rising back up again. He turned to find his poodle darting through the grove, and whistled as he reached for his husband's hand, "Makka! We're going!"
"Wu-worf!"
.
As a precaution, a cloth muzzle was put around Ghost's snout to keep her from biting or nipping. Having all the dogs with them at once made the room feel rather crowded, but between Yuri being the only one to know Japanese, and Victor being the only one to know what his father might've said about the Shepherd's past, there was little they could do; the tech who came for them spoke broken English.
The veterinarian that came in after was different than the man who'd saved Makkachin, seen Jiro at his first appointment, and helped Hana. To that end, there was no teasing about any new 'broken dogs' that the skaters were bringing in. When they started getting down onto the ground though, getting at eye level with the nervous canine, the air in the room seemed to change.
Yuri observed from standing, watching the two attempt to put the dog at ease. Every bit of anxiety that Ghost felt, and especially as the level started to go down, just seemed to fill Yuri more and more instead. When they went to remove the cloth muzzle, Yuri backed up a step.
The vet's keen, bright eyes noticed the shuffle, and turned to look, [Are you scared of her?]
Sitting casually with Makkachin, Victor turned his gaze upward. Not knowing what was said made it difficult to understand exactly what was going on, but he could read his husband like a book, and reached a hand out to press to Yuri's back for reassurance. He could feel the nervous flinch under his partner's layers, but kept his hand there anyway.
[...Uhm...yeah, a bit.] Yuri finally managed, [She hasn't done anything yet that I know of, but we only just got her yesterday, and I was reading about the breed online. You could...er...say...that she came from a rough place. I just don't know what she's learned up until now.]
[She's a bit nervous, but considering what she's been through in the last few days, that's to be expected. Just give her some space and meet her where she's at.]
Yuri's eyes widened briefly, "...Hai..."
The blue cloth muzzle came away, and Ghost licked her nose, keeping her ears back and eyes peeled. With a lot of encouragement, pets, a few snacks, and expert movements, the entire exam seemed over in a heartbeat. A few notes were dictated and written into a digital chart, and some vials with different-colored caps were pulled out from under a counter. A needle, a clear plastic vacutainer to attach to it, and a squirt-bottle of alcohol were gathered as well, set onto the end of the counter.
[We're going to draw some blood now.] The vet explained, as though in warning to keep a distance in case of resistance, or worse, fainting at the sight of that sanguine liquid.
Yuri nodded, and found himself swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. To his immense relief, he felt a pair of hands tug on his coat pockets to pull him backward, and he found himself sitting on his partner's lap, wrapped in warm arms to keep him calm as much as Ghost. They all watched intently as the tech crouched behind the massive canine, giving a few reassuring pats before gently reaching to pull Ghost's head up, fingers firm around the pup's snout, keeping her nose up. The vet squirted alcohol into the fur on one side of her neck, pressing it in to cleanse the skin as he searched for the pulse of a carotid beneath the surface. Poke, one, two, three vials, withdraw, pressure, done. Ghost barely noticed anything, beyond the odd positioning of people around her. She licked her nose again when she was let go, and was given one last treat for her cooperation. The vet and his assistant stood up to collect the vials and turned to complete the visit.
[So,] He started, having been entirely un-phased by the Shepherd's demeanor, [She does appear to be about six or seven months old; her teeth are all basically brand new and perfectly clean. Since not much is known about the kind of care she had before, I'm going to go ahead and just give her all the regular shots she should get at her first puppy visit, deworm her, and get her scheduled for a spay surgery. She'll need to be back in two weeks for booster shots. Sounds good?]
Yuri had stood up again while the vet was speaking, and bowed his head, [Yes, thank you.]
[Okay, then we'll be right back while we pull the right vaccines from the fridge. Hold tight.]
The door out the back of the room opened and closed, and the small square space fell to silence, save Makkachin's soft panting. Ghost stayed where she was, though the worry was as obvious on her face as it would be on any human's. She whined slightly, and her paws slid down on the tile floor until she was lying down, and put her chin on the floor.
Victor frowned slightly at the sight, and he pat his husband's side to get him to stand up, "We've got to try to integrate her into the family better..." He commented, "I know she was my father's dog, but she's ours now. We can't treat her like she's going to hurt us like he did. Confidence and good leadership will help her learn how to be a good girl, just like our good bois"
"I know..." Yuri said, though not very convincingly. He watched quietly as Victor crouched down beside the dark-furred pup, and gently stroked a hand down the length of her head and back.
"What did the vet say?" The silver asked, twisting around so he could sit with his back against the wall, and extended his legs alongside the Shepherd's long frame.
Yuri sat where Victor had risen from, and pulled Jiro close to his hip where the pup sat on the bench next to him. Makkachin got up and started sniffing around the room, nails tapping on the hard floor. "He said that she's as old as we believed, and that he'll be right back with her shots. She'll need to come back for boosters when we get back from the States."
"It sounded like he asked you something."
"Oh..." Yuri said, quietly, looking slightly aside. He felt Jiro lick his fingers, and he let the small distraction assuage his nerves, "He...asked me if I was afraid of her. When I backed up."
"Are you?" Victor wondered, a bit surprised.
Brows furrowed, but Yuri nodded, "I can't get the images of those pictures I saw online out of my head. I'm...scared that my fear of her will make her want to do something to me. A dog her size could..."
"She's just as scared as you are." Victor attempted, massaging the scruff of Ghost's neck soothingly, "But she hasn't even bared her teeth or growled or anything. I think you're scaring yourself over something that isn't meant to be."
"What do you mean...?"
"Those scary pictures of dogs like her were meant to be shocking. These kinds of dogs are used in Russian prisons. But...even poodles can be terrifying, given the right circumstances." He explained, using his free hand to find his phone, and poked around on it to find a picture, "Can you imagine being afraid of Makkachin?"
Eyes went to the silly-looking boofer, and that brown fuzzy tail swayed back and forth with added enthusiasm at the sound of his name.
"Afraid of Makkachin?" Yuri echoed, and thumbed at the doggo, "Him?"
"What if he looked like this?" Victor asked, turning his phone around to show a picture on its screen.
Yuri squinted as he leaned forward, and beheld the startling image of a photo...of a brown standard poodle snarling viciously, teeth on full display, lips curled back like it would jump out of the phone and go for his throat if it could. He sat back and held Jiro a bit closer, rubbing the front of his neck nervously, "...I...bet that's what Makkachin looked like when those guys came to the camper."
"Ghost could protect you like that, too." Victor suggested, and put his phone back into his jacket. He smiled and went back to his soothing pets, "Imagine having a Russian Prison dog defending you against those guys."
Yuri swallowed again, but then steeled himself, and rose up from the bench to join his husband on the floor.
"No fear. Just warmth."
With a nod, Yuri offered his hand forward, fingers relaxed. He reached carefully towards Ghost's nose, and she lifted her head as she spotted the shadow of it out the corner of her eye. A quick sniff, but she turned away then, and to the surprise of both, got up entirely. She walked out of reach, heading towards Makkachin at first, sniffing the baseboards and looking around. They could see that she didn't hold her tail between her legs like she had the night before; it was held neutrally, not wagging, just relaxed. Just as quickly as she'd gotten up though, she turned back around, seemed to sniff the air in Jiro's direction, and then made a B-line straight for Yuri. To his shock - and Victor's amusement - the massive fluff-beast tucked her legs under herself...and flopped against Yuri's side.
Victor huffed a laugh and smiled, "Looks like you've just been adopted."
Yuri was half-paralyzed at first, but feeling the dog seem to relax where she'd slumped made him feel better about the whole thing, and he dared to run his fingers through the fur on the side of her neck. That just made the pup lift her head, pressing her noggin against Yuri's ribs before he lifted his arm over her, and she looked up at him, cheek against the front of his coat. Those dark brown eyes were penetrating, but unlike before, Yuri couldn't see the whites at the edges anymore. It was like her anxiety had all gone away...and so, too - finally - had his own.
"I...guess I was jumping to conclusions." He admitted sullenly, feeling the butterflies in his stomach fluttering away into calm, "All this worrying about her being mean and it turns out she just wants to cuddle."
"More specifically, she wants to cuddle with you." Victor teased, getting a look for it, but he smiled anyway, "I can't blame her. You're a Master Cuddler, in my humble opinion."
"I wonder, why me though? It was you who had been trying to connect with her before." Yuri wondered, gently stroking his fingers up and down the dog's neck and chin.
"I’ve been speaking at her in Russian until now though; maybe she got the wrong idea. Or..." Victor's thoughts trailed, a finger coming up over his lips, "Maybe she sensed your vulnerability and felt a kindred spirit."
Yuri huffed a breath and shook his head, "You still think I'm vulnerable?"
"You’re dealing with some things right now." He answered, but then pointed forward with the finger that had been on his lip, "And you’re still a skater, and possess the heart of glass that comes with the profession. People haven’t been too careful with your feelings."
"Sounds like you're projecting," Yuri teased.
Victor leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about." He mused, "I've always walked as delicately as a deer, stepping carefully to avoid damaging the undergrowth."
Yuri made quite the face, "Like a deer, huh?"