I don't own Eureka Seven, its characters or technology, I'm just borrowing them so please don't sue me. I promise that I will return them in the same condition I took them in.
This may seem a little out of character for Holland, but I think that there is a side of him that the viewers don't get to see during the series and I wanted to explore that.
I like reviews, but please no flames, I haven't been able to find Spunge Bob band aids that will stick on my ego yet.
A Dog?
Holland Novak leader of the Gekkostate slumped in the Captain's chair. Across from him, seated on the back of the helmsman's chair Hap the Second Officer glared at his best friend. "Holland I know that this isn't your favourite type of job, but our funds are low and she is willing to pay us well. Plus it's not taking us out of our way or impacting our regular operations."
"I know Hap, I just really hate having strangers on board. It always goes wrong. Talho and I end up screaming at each other, usually because I've said something that I shouldn't, but I can't help it."
"So because you don't play well with others, we should all go hungry. The LFOs should go with out repairs. The kids should go without shoes?"
"Hey Link doesn't want to wear shoes." Holland crossed his arms indignantly on his chest.
"No Link doesn't but Maters shoes are so tight right now she can barley walk." Hap stood up and crossed his arms much the same as Holland had a moment previous.
"She's little, we'll just carry her."
"HOLLAND!"
"All right you win, but if Talho ends up kicking me out of our cabin because I say something rude to this passenger than I'm sleeping in your room." Holland stood and stretched. "Make the arrangements, will ya Hap."
"Way ahead of you. Mathieu is getting ready to launch 606 to go pick her up."
"And why is this woman contracting a renegade ship instead of using a normal mode of transportation?" Holland asked.
"I didn't ask. I think that she's just eccentric." Hap smiled, "I don't think that it has anything to do with her running from the government or the military or anything."
"I'm not sure which I would rather an eccentric old woman or someone the military is actively chasing after." Holland's shoulders slumped and he turned to leave the bridge. "I'll be in my cabin."
"Sure." Hap watched as Holland left the bridge, he than turned and spoke into the communications link. "Launch 606 Mathieu, I'm sending the rendezvous point to your nav system now."
"Right" Mathieu's voice crackled across the comm. Link.
90 minutes later TypeR606 landed in the hanger of the Gekko. Hap was waiting to greet their paying customer and Holland was no where to be scene.
"Welcome to the Gekko, Mrs. Tane, I'm Hap the Second Officer." Hap walked toward the LFOs open cockpit and held out his had to help the woman down from the craft. He was not expecting the piercing pain that shot through his hand. "WHAT the hell?" He stepped back from the LFO in shock.
"Oh please excuse my little Muffin, he didn't mean to bite you, he's just not much for flying." A middle aged woman holding a small black dog stood up in the cockpit of 606. "Its nice to meet you Mr. Hap, would you mind taking Muffin for me?" She held out the dog toward Hap.
"Uhhhh, ya alright." Hap reached up and took the snarling dog from the woman. "Muffin, hun, I don't remember you mentioning that you were bringing a dog."
"Oh didn't I, I'm sorry, I bring my little Muffin with me everywhere." She climbed down from the LFO and took the dog back from Hap. "Don't I Muffin, woffin." She nuzzled the dog's face. "Well Mr. Hap, why don't you show me around the magnificent ship?"
"Ya, ummm, right this way Mrs. Tane." He began to lead her through the ship. "Mathieu, could you please go and report to Ken-Goh on the bridge." He called over his shoulder as he and the woman left the hanger.
"Ken-Goh" Mathieu entered the bridge.
"Yes? How did the pick up go?" Ken-Goh looked over his shoulder from the weapons officer seat.
"Well the actual act of picking up the woman went fine, but."
"But what Mathieu?" Ken-Goh began to stand up.
"Well there's actually two passengers, Mrs Tane and Muffin."
All traces of amusement slipped from Ken-Goh's face. "And what exactly is Muffin?"
"A little Dog." Mathieu began to back away from the owner of the Gekko.
"A dog on my ship?" His voice was low and dangerous and he began to stalk toward Mathieu. "Where is Hap, he didn't say anything about a dog on my ship when he told me about this job."
"I don't, I don't think that he, he knew." Mathieu stuttered.
Over the course of the next several days it became very apparent that Ken-Goh was not a fan of dogs. Every time he saw the animal he cussed under his breath and was frequently found picking dog hair off the furniture and ranting about disgusting beasts. As for Muffin, the feeling was mutual and every time he crossed paths with Ken-Goh he growled at the man.
The real interesting part of the whole two week trip with Mrs. Tane was that Holland became quite social with the woman. The other members of Gekkostate were worried as it was very un characteristic of their leader, especial as this woman had nothing in common with any of anti culture misfits that lived aboard the Gekko. She knew nothing about fighting, the military or Lifting. What became even more baffling for Talho and the others was that when Mrs. Tane disembarked the Gekko, Holland seemed upset to see her go.
But as always life continued. There were waves to catch and LFOs to fly and with in a few days of her departure Mrs. Tane was a distant memory for all but Holland Novak.
"Hap do you know what's wrong with Holland? Ever since that woman left he's been, been, well I guess that he's depressed." Talho sat down next to Hap on the couch. "He's just not himself. He's not yelling and slamming stuff around. In fact he's been really quiet. And he's been really cuddly with me. It's weird"
"He misses her."
"Holland missed Mrs. Tane?" Disbelief was evident in Talho's voice.
"Not Mrs. Tane." Hap took a drink from his soda.
"What do you mean Hap?" Talho shifted in her seat so that she was looking directly at him.
"He misses Muffin."
"That mean, yappy, little pain in the ass dog? That's what's got him all moppey?" Talho couldn't believe her ears.
"Yep." Hap took another sip of soda.
"Would you like to expand on this topic a little Hap?"
Hap sighed, "Holland has wanted a dog since he was three years old. Dewey was allergic to them so he was never allowed to have one. While Tane and Muffin were here Holland got to spend time with the dog. I think even though Muffin wasn't a particularly social dog, Holland became attached. I guess its like a kid that has never had chocolate, than when that kid is ten you give it a chocolate bar. After that he can't go back to a life without chocolate.
"Wow, he's really always wanted a dog? Do you think that he'll be ok?"
"He'll probably get over it. But Holland does have a long memory."
It was almost midnight when Holland entered the cabin he shared with Talho. She lay in bed reading a book. The room was dark save the small reading light that Talho used to illuminate the pages of King Solomand Mines. Holland slipped out of his cloths and into his favourite pair of shorts. He crawled onto the bed and lay crossways so that he could rest his head on Talho's stomach. She began idly playing with his hair.
"You really want a dog hun?" She put her book down and looked at the man she loved. Holland just shrugged.
"Well lets get one." Talho smiled at him as she spoke. Holland's head snapped up and he looked at her, shock on his face. "Well having Muffin on board for two weeks showed that it isn't really a problem to have a dog on the ship."
"Really?" A smile began to spread across Holland's face. "Could I?"
Talho was taken back by how venerable he seemed at that moment. "I don't see why not. You have to take of it, but I think it would be kind of fun. Plus it would probably be good for the kids."
Holland's smile abruptly faded and he lay his head back on Talho's stomach. "Ken-Goh would never go for it. He'd be launching the dog off the ship five minutes after I brought it aboard." His voice rang of defeat.
"Give me a couple days, I'll deal with Ken-Goh for you." She went back to playing with his hair.
"How, he hates animals?"
"Trust me." She smiled a devious smile. "Just keep mopping around like you have been. Especially when he's in the room."
"Yah, I don't think that he'll cave in though."
Three days later Talho went running to the hanger to find Hilda. "Hilda, HILDA!"
"Talho, what is it?" Hilda poked her head up from inside of the 808's cockpit.
"I need your help with something." Talho stopped just beside the LFO.
"Sure, can it wait until I'm done calibrating the 808?"
"No, I need you now, come on."
Hilda climbed out of the 808 and fell in line behind Talho. "Where are we going?"
"It's a long story, but it's time to begin phase two of Fix Holland." Talho continued running down the corridors of the Gekko.
"What are you talking about? Fix Holland, you mean his mopping?" Hilda was glad that she had long legs and could easily keep up with Talho.
"Yes." Talho abruptly stopped running and grabbed Hilda. Hilda's momentum and the sudden stop forced both girls into a wall. "Ken-Goh is the lounge down the hall by himself. You and I need to walk by having a conversation about how depressed Holland is and how worried we are about him."
"Ummm ok, why?"
"Trust me. It would take to long to explane and I don't want to loose this opertunity to have Ken Goh alone"
Two more days passed for the Gekkostate. Holland really had given up on the prospect of getting a dog and had remained depressed and mopping.
Ken-Goh was the only person on the bridge. He sat in his usual place watching the auto nav and reading a book. Talho entered the bridge. Spying the older man she put the final phase of her plan into action.
Sighing loudly she slid into the helmsman's chair. "Hey Ken-Goh." She made her voice as sad as she could.
"Afternoon Talho, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing really, I'm just worried about Holland." She leaned side ways in her chair and looked at Ken-Goh.
"Yes, I've noticed that he hasn't been himself. What's wrong."
Talho let a few crocodile tears role down her cheeks. "He just so sad, and there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do for him." She increased the water works and began sobbing. Instantly Ken-Goh was out of his chair and patting her on the back.
"Don't cry Talho. I'm sure that he will be ok." He continued to akwardly pat the girl's back.
Talho could tell that her tears were killing Ken-Goh. He hated to see any of the crew upset, but a woman or child and tears were way more than he could handle. This was a weaknesses that could be exploited. She turned to face him directly and fell forward into his arms hugging him tightly and sobbing on his shoulder. "Oh Ken-Goh, it's terrible. I can't take seeing him this upset about something so small."
Ken-Goh reluctantly put his arms around her. "What do you mean Talho. What is bothering him?"
"An unfulfilled child hood dream." She went into another fit of sobs.
"What dream?" Ken-Goh was starting to panic. He was desperate to calm her down, but didn't know what to do. "Is there anything I can do?"
"No, he'd never ask you because he knows that you would say no, and he respects you to much to come to you with this sort of problem."
"Ask me what Talho, I'll do anything to help you and Holland." Ken-Goh was frantic now.
Talho pulled away from Ken-Goh. "Really?" She smiled a sad smile at the older man.
"Of course. Your family."
"OH Ken-Goh he'll be so happy when I tell him that you said he could have a dog." Before he could respond she bounced to her feet and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you so much." She turned and bounded from the bridge.
Ken-Goh stared after her, confused and wondering what had just happened. "How exactly did I just agree to getting a dog?" He muttered to himself.
Just outside the bridge Hilda was waiting. "Wow that was amazing Talho. He never had a chance."
Talho grinned "Not a snow ball's chance in hell!"
The next morning at 0600 Talho's alarm went off. She rolled over and began to shake her partner awake. "Holland wake up."
"Hmmmphfff." He tried to bury his head under the pillow.
"Holland get up I need your help." She shook him a little harder this time, simultaneously pulling the pillow away from his face.
One blue eye opened and focused on her. "What?"
"Do you trust me?" She smiled brightly at him.
Fully awakened by the strange question he sat up. "Yes, why?"
"I want you to get up, get dressed and meet me in the hanger in fifteen minutes." As she talked she slid out of bed and began dressing. She ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth and washed.
"Why what's going on Tal?" Holland swung his feet over the edge of the bed.
"Trust me." She ran over to the bed and kissed his forehead. Than she sprinted out of the room. Confused and somewhat worried, Holland did as she asked.
It took a little longer than the allocated fifteen minutes for him to meet her in the hanger. When he entered the largest space on the Gekko the first thing he noticed was the exterior hanger door was wide open. The second thing he saw was that the 606 was ready to launch and Talho was standing beside it smiling boldly. He than saw a less that impressed looking Moondoggie standing at the catapult controls.
"Talho what's going on?" He stopped a few feet from where she stood.
She handed him a map with the Gekko's current position and a small city marked on it. "Trust me ok? Fly us to this city, Hap figured that it would take a couple hours in the LFOs."
"Your not going to tell me what's going on are you?" She shook her head in response. "Hap knows about this Talho?"
"Yes" Hap answered from behind Holland as he walked up to join his friends.
"Oh hey, you know what this is?" Holland turned to address his best friend.
"Yep, just go, have fun, you'll see when you get there. Trust us Holland." Hap slapped Holland on the back and smiled.
"Ok, it doesn't look like I have much of a choice." Holland took one last look at his friend and turned to Talho. "Lets go."
It was almost 0900 when they landed on the out skirts of the city. Talho still hadn't told Holland where they were going. She led him through the city as if she had lived there all her life. They walked for almost an hour when she stopped them outside a run down looking cement building.
"We're here" She beamed at him.
"Ok, where is here?" Holland looked around. "Talho are you and Hap selling me out to the military?"
"Idiot. Go inside." She pointed to the door.
"Are you coming?"
"Yes." She began pushing him toward the door from behind.
Holland opened the door and stepped inside. The room was darker than the sun light outside so it took a minute for his eyes to adjust. Instantly he could smell bleach and ammonia and could hear several barking dogs coming from further back in the building. He stood trying to figure out what was going on. Talho watched as his face lit up with the realization of where they were. "Talho?" He looked at her.
Talho saw the same vulnerability that she has scene during their first conversation about getting a dog. "Let's go pick out a dog." She smiled at him.
"What about Ken-Goh?" His voice was small as he asked.
"I told you that I would take care of it didn't I?"
"He said yes?" Holland's eyes began to twinkle and a smile began to spread across his features.
"Of course." She took his hand and began pulling him toward the kennel.
Holland walked down the row of kennels looking at each dog. He pet each of them as he passed. Talho stood back and watched glad that she could do this for him. She watched as he stopped in front of one particular kennel and knelt down. From her vantage point she couldn't see the dog, but Holland began to laugh. "Tal, come see!" His voice was so full of joy.
Talho neared the large cage and stopped. "Holland, no, any other dog, but this one." She put a hand on his shoulder and looked at the dog in question. It was obviously still a puppy, but it was huge. Easily three feet tall. It was a brindle colour with large black spots. Its fur was short and its ears and tail were long. It was bouncing around licking Holland's hand, and nipping his fingers. "Honey, he's already huge and look at the size of his feet that means that he'll get bigger. He's no where near full grown."
Holland stood up. "Your right." He was still smiling, but Talho could tell that this was the dog he really wanted. They continued walking down to the end of the row of kennels. Holland stopped at each dog and gave them all pats on the head. None of the other dogs made Holland laugh like the monster dog had. Talho though about all of the times she had heard him laugh that freely. She could count them on one hand.
As Holland looked at the last dog Talho walked back the monster's cage and stood in front of it. "Ken-Goh is going to kill me," she muttered. "Holland, your dog is waiting for you." She pointed into the cage next to her.
He looked at her. His face lit up and he ran to her and hugged her, lifting her feet from the ground. "You mean it?"
"Yes, apparently you two were made for each other." She hugged him back.
Ten minutes later Talho was paying for the dog and signing adoption papers. The dog and Holland were playing tug of war with Holland's shirt sleeve. Talho finished with the responsible stuff. "Let's go, there's a pet store a block away we can get him a leach and all the other stuff he'll need.
That night aboard the Gekko the gang watched a movie. Holland laid on the floor next to Freeman the dog who was exhausted after his first LFO ride, a tour of the Gekko and meeting 18 new people. The hundred or so games of fetch with the kids didn't help ether. Holland still had a case of perma grin. Talho spent more time watching him and the dog than the movie.
As the movie ended everyone headed off to their beds. Talho, Holland and Freeman walked down the corridor that led to their cabin. Holland raped his arm around Talho's waist and pulled her close to him.
Talho slid into bed. Holland was in the shower and Freeman was sniffing around the room. Before she got into bed Talho had laid down some blankets beside the bed for Freeman to sleep on.
As Holland exited the bathroom, Freeman instantly went to greet his master with a lick to his hand. Holland turned out the lights and got into bed. He cuddled up against Talho and held her tightly. "I love you." He whispered into her ear.
"I love you too." Her voice was heavy with sleep.
"Thank you Tal. This was the most amazing day."
"I'm glad, Good Night Holland."
They lay holding each other. Suddenly Talho felt something wet and rough slid over her hand. "Holland, the dog sleeps on the floor!"
"But.."
"HOLLAND"
"Alright."
Afterward
Talho had been right to worry about Ken-Goh's reaction to Freeman. When he first saw the dog the was ready to kill her. He had agreed to a dog but this was a monster. However he had to admit that he had never scene Holland laugh and smile the way he was with the dog. So he put up with Freeman. Most of the crew did their best to keep Freeman away from Ken-Goh, but late at night when Ken-Goh is alone on the bridge he's glad to have Freeman's company, and Freeman's glad to have a snack of Ken-Goh's sandwich.