Suitable Wereiness (Hetalia)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: An otherwise routine day working as a wildlife vet is interrupted by the arrival of the most unusual wolf captured by a poacher's trap. The oddities of the whole scenario just don't add up, especially when more and more odd occurrences start happening around the building, and Alfred's determined to get to the bottom of things.

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Warning: 1pAme2pCan, werewolf!Alex, human AU

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"I don't think it's wild."

Alfred looked up to Yao, who was frowning as he looked into the room where the wolf was currently resting on the old mattress they'd put in. "You mean the wolf?"

"What else would I be talking about?" The Chinese-American man asked, glancing over to his coworker with a frown. "I'm fairly certain even you've noticed how domestic it's behavior is."

"Well, yeah, but I figured that was just the meds." The vet looked glanced into the room briefly. "But yeah, it's a bit weird that I haven't had to replace any stitches so far, considering how bad they have to itch at this point."

Yao nodded, looking back to the wolf as well. "In addition, it's bigger than any other wolf on the reserve by a good degree, even accounting for good genetics, and its body structure is just different enough that I doubt whatever this guy is is even the same species."

"So he's not from the reserve?"

"If he was, one of the rangers would have found records of him by now." The ecologist tapped his fingers against the table, frowning. "If I had to guess, he's some sort of wolfdog. Couldn't tell you how many generations, but definitely at least two."

Alfred leaned back to stare at his friend, unmasked surprise on his face. "You think he's someone's pet that wandered onto the reserve?"

"It's the most likely thing I can think of, unless you have a better idea."

"Nah, just saying it's weird." The blond shook his head. "You think the owner's put out a missing ad for them yet?"

Yao snorted. "It's illegal to own or breed them in most of the country, and even here you'd need a license just to own it. I doubt anyone wants to get fined for allowing their potentially wild pet to wander off and breed, so I doubt you'd find anything even if you asked around."

"That's a shame," Alfred admitted, frowning a bit. "Bucky seems friendly enough, though I get why the regulations are there."

"Bucky?" Yao asked, a tinge of amusement in his voice as he looked back to the other man.

"Hey, it fits him," The blond defended. "And no one else came up with a name for him."

"Fair enough," The ecologist conceded, though Alfred could still see the grin linger for a bit before he turned back to the wolf, his frown returning with the gesture.

"So what're we gonna do with him? We obviously can't release him into the wild, and I don't really want to see him put down." Alfred stopped with an embarrassed expression, quickly continuing. "I mean, we already put a lot into helping him recover, and it'd really suck if that all went to waste-"

"Alfred," Yao interrupted. "Don't try to pretend this is about anything other than your soft spot for animals."

The veterinarian just shrugged helplessly, grinning weakly at how easily he'd been read. "Just saying."

The older man huffed. "I wasn't planning on suggesting euthanization anyways; if he'd displayed any sort of aggressive behavior I'd consider it, but frankly I've met family pets that are more likely to attack someone than him."

Alfred sighed a bit in relief. "What were you thinking then?"

Yao hummed in thought, looking back to the newly dubbed Bucky. "We have that tour group coming in a few weeks, right? If he's still proven to be unaggressive around people we could probably get away with using him during the talk about the wolves on the reserve."

"Wow, that'd be actually pretty neat." Alfred grinned. "Obviously we can't let anyone near him just in case, maybe train him to a leash or something? But if it went well-"

"We could probably get legal ground to get a licence to keep him around." Yao grinned as well. "Of course, we'd need to chip him so he can be found if he tries to wander off."

"Psh, that's like five minutes work tops, Bucky won't notice a thing." The vet laughed quietly. "Ya know, I already wanted a dog, though this isn't quite what I was expecting."

"Don't get too attached," Yao warned. "I'd hate to see him go as much as you, but if he's more wild than he's shown-"

"I know, I know, the risk wouldn't be worth it." Alfred looked away with a frown. "We should probably talk to the others before we finalize anything, since they're going to have to get used to him being around if he stays."

"Just what I was thinking. Bucky will need to get used to them as well, since you're the only person whose scent and presence he's been exposed to in any significant amount so far."

"Man, I hope Toris'll be alright; I think he might've said something about big dogs before, but I don't know if it was something serious or not."

"Guess we'll be finding out soon, hmm?"

"Definitely." Alfred paused, grinning. "Never pegged you for a guy with a soft spot for cute things."

Yao flushed, giving the other a fierce look that was laughed off as he snapped back, "Aiyaa, don't you dare tell anyone!"

"Sure thing," The younger promised, crossing his fingers behind his back and wondering what he could bribe out of Erzsebet for the tidbit.

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AN: Got this out just in time, ahaha. Actually spent most of today wondering how the fuck I was gonna keep Alex around, then a stray thought about Yao questioning Alex's lineage suddenly gave my the out and information I needed to go 'I have a freaking plot hoorah!'

So yeah, I have a plot, hoorah! Let's celebrate with another chapter. Also, for information on wolfdogs, I just sorta wiki'd it. I can't say it's 100% accurate, but, well, werewolves. Forget complete accuracy of any sort.