3 Hours with Marshall

So, here we are. . . This must be what they call the climax, right?

"Yeah. . . the climax."

"Thanks, Robo-Dog," Marshall said breathlessly as the robot finished brushing up his fur, using its robotic arm to hold the brush.

Robo-Dog barked twice and set down the brush down, then it rolled off back to its charging station to power down for the night.

Rocky watched the robot obediently return to its proper place and said with a proud smile, "Robo-Dog sure is something, if I do say so myself."

Marshall smiled wryly at Rocky and said, "Didn't you just help Ryderbuild Robo-Dog?"

Rocky dodged that question with another, "Are you ready for your date, Marshall?"

Clean and well-groomed, thanks to the combined efforts of Rocky and Robo-Dog, Marshall stood steadily on all four paws, not trembling in the slightest. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"It's just so unreal," Marshall said, "I mean, she was just so happy that I asked her. I didn't expect it to go down like that. I mean, I'm glad she wanted me to date her, but I almost can't believe how-."

"Marshall, you gotta stop selling yourself short," Rocky as he shook his head.

Marshall grinned sheepishly and said, "Well, Skye said not to be arrogant. . ." He then nodded his head determinedly and said, "But she also said to be confident." Marshall smiled eagerly, "I know Everest likes me. . . now I just gotta see if she likes me as much as I like her."

"Don't worry," Rocky said with a wink, "I got a feeling that she will. Here she comes. Bye."

Rocky ran over to the elevator and rode it upwards, so he could exit via the slide, leaving Marshall wide eyed and nervous. He turned towards the front door, and he could see the Husky coming.

Marshall gulped loudly, and he quickly thought to himself, "Come on, you've been waiting for this! And Everest wants this too. We're gonna have the perfect date. Just focus on showing her a good time."

The doors opened, and Everest walked in, smiling brightly at him. "Hi, Marshall. I'm already. Are you ready?"

Everest's smile was infectious, and Marshall smiled back and said boldly, "I'm all fired up!"

Everest giggled and pointed at Marshall's face with her right forepaw. "You sure are!" she remarked.

It took Marshall a second to realize she was referring to his blushing. "Oh! Um, yeah. Heh-heh. You're just so pretty. . ." Marshall's blushing got as red as his uniform after he heard himself say that.

"Yeah. . ." Everest said bashfully, "Katie is really good at her job."

Marshall thought about leaving it at that, but then he realized that he had to his absolute best to get his feelings across tonight. So, he stepped close to Everest and said, "Actually, you always look pretty, Everest."

Everest's heart fluttered a bit at this, and she echoed softly, "Always?"

Marshall nodded as moved closer to her without realizing it, "Yeah. I've never met a pup like you before. Your fur has a really nice color, and it always looks soft. . ."

At that moment, the pups' noses touched.

Marshall's eyes widened, and he took a quick step back. "Umm. . . umm," was all he could manage to say.

Everest's eyes were a bit wide as well, but then she chuckled and said, "Oh, Marshall. I'm not gonna break like an icicle. You don't have to be so nervous around me." She then gave him a kind of sultry look with half-lidded eyes and said, "We're gonna have our nice, fun date now, aren't we?"

Marshall was amazed by how receptive Everest was being. He nodded and put on a nervous grin. "Heh. . . yeah. We sure are," he said. Then he stepped right next to Everest and gently put his left forepaw on her shoulder. "Well, the night's a wasting, heh-heh. Let's get to watching the movie I picked out for us."

"The one that you said is sweet and touching and sad and happy?" Everest asked as she let Marshall walk her over to the TV area.

"Uh-huh," Marshall said as he brought Everest to large, fluffed up cushion, "It's called A Dog's Purpose."

"Mm-hm, sounds like my kind of movie," Everest said with approval.

Marshall grinned and said, "Close your eyes."

"What?" Everest asked in confusion.

"Trust me."

"Well, okay."

Everest closed her eyes, and she could hear Marshall walk away. She was sure he hadn't been gone for long, but it felt longer to her. But right before he returned, she could detect the glorious scent of liver.

"Open them!" Marshall declared.

When Everest opened her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of a great big bowl of liver treats.

With her tail wagging fast and he heart filled with glee, Everest turned to Marshall and said happily, "I should've known you'd do this."

Marshall shrugged and said, "How could I not?"

Marshall sat down on the cushion next to Everest, and he pressed the button on the remote control to play the movie, which was already up on the screen and ready to go.

"I haven't seen this movie yet," Marshall admitted as the lights dimmed.

"Oh," Everest replied.

"I wanted to see it with you," he said shyly.

Everest simply nuzzled him in response.

The movie turned out to be everything Marshall said it was, and more. The film really did speak to them. It even touched their very hearts at times. The pups would often cheer for the on-screen canine protagonist at times, and often found themselves inspired by the hero's tenacity.

Marshall knew he had kind of a soft heart, not that he was ashamed of it. But, he told himself beforehand that he would only let out a few tears and not fall apart into a sobbing mess. He feared that an experience like that would turn Everest off immediately. However, that turned out to not be an issue at all, because much to Marshall's surprise, Everest was quite the emotional pup when it came to movies. She sobbed quite a bit at the sadder moments of the film, her tears moistening the soft fur on her face. The first time this happened, Marshall blinked back his own tears and snuggled next to her, assuring her that the sad events would all lead up to a good ending. Then he had lead her in whispering words of encouragement to the characters on screen. Every time after that, Everest was lean into him, and when he stole a glance at her, he could see her smiling through her tears and sobs, clearly comforted by Marshall's presence.

After two hours of smiles, laughs, liver treats, sniffling and sobbing, more liver treats, cheers of triumph, and tears of joy; the film finally reached its end, and gave its final message:

"Life is about having fun; saving others; not getting caught in the past or regrets; finding someone to be with; and living for today."

"That sounds kinda like what the PAW Patrol is all about," Everest remarked as the credits rolled.

Marshall nodded silently, suddenly very aware of how close he and Everest were.

"I'm so happy I ran into Jake," Everest said as she stared at the screen without really looking at it, "Not only do I have him in my life, but I also have the PAW Patrol," Everest then turned to Marshall, and straight up bumped noses with him. "And you," she added sweetly.

Marshall closed his eyes and kept his nose in contact with Everest's. "We're all so lucky to have you, Everest," he said, "I mean it. You are so important to all of us. To Adventure Bay. To everyone," Marshall opened his eyes and looked directly into Everest's eyes, "To be honest, I was actually surprised that an amazing pup like you actually wanted to go on a date with me."

"You're brave, happy, kind, loyal, and always fully of life and energy. Of course, I'd want to be with you," Everest said with certainty and without hesitation.

That was the tipping point for Marshall. He had to know everything, right then and there.

He pulled his nose away from Everest' and asked with all the kindness her could muster, "But, do you like me as much as I like you?"

The pupils in Everest's eyes shrank, and they looked so big and shiny and pretty to Marshall. It filled him with hope, and with courage.

"H- How much do you. . . like me?" Everest said in tone so soft and filled with shaky anticipation.

"This much," Marshall said, and he kissed her.

All of Marshall's shyness and insecurities were like a cork in the neck of a bottle filled with his feelings of adoration, desire, and love for the Husky. This mixture had grown from a low simmer to a rolling boil, and the cork could no longer hold the feelings back. The cork was blown out, and now Marshall was kissing Everest with everything he had.

As for Everest, this was something she had occasionally thought about and occasionally wished for when no one else was around. She had chosen not to act too soon and to just wait for the Dalmatian to show interest. She was sure she and Marshall had enough time to get together eventually. As a pup who lived all by herself in an igloo in the Antarctic, she was very good at being patient. But now it seemed her wait had ended a lot sooner than she had expected, and she loved it.

However, as she kissed back and surrendered more and more to the kiss, the strength and power of the emotions quickly overwhelmed her. Her very thoughts were being scrambled by this moment. "Brave. . . happy. . .hero. . .smiling. . .so cute. . .all mine!" rattled off her brain. Then her mind began to drift towards their future, and at that point, it was all too much.

The kiss, her thoughts, and all of her life changing, not to mention slightly exhausting, moments with the other pups that day caused Everest's stamina to give out, and she passed out in a swoon, the cushion she was sitting on breaking her fall.

The kiss was broken far too soon, and Marshall stood frozen solid as he stared down at the limp and motionless Husky before him.

Then, he took a few shaky steps back, laid himself down, and sobbed for a whole hour straight.

". . . That's right! The Medic Pup can't tell the difference between a dead pup and a fainted pup!"

Hey! I was, uh, just, uh, really emotional and stuff at the time! I didn't think and, uh. . . uh-.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't fair. I know you love me."

Yeah. . . I just want us to stay together forever.

"Don't worry. . . We will."