Once reaching the top of the stairs, Balto's demeanor relaxed a bit as he made his way down the upstairs hall. He huffed out a sigh to ensure he got out all his frustration and annoyance at the sled dog downstairs before facing his girlfriend who was probably not in the mood to continue discussions on Steele's presence. Once Balto was sure he relieved himself of his negative thoughts, he poked his head into Rosy's bedroom where he noticed Jenna curled up on the bed facing away from the door.
"Jenna?" The hybrid asked gently as he walked further into the room and to the base of the bed.
Jenna's ears lifted along with her head a moment later; turning to face her boyfriend. "Hi Balto." She whispered.
Balto smiled and leapt up onto the bed with the red husky and lowered himself onto his belly with his head resting on her shoulder. "C'mon Jen let's get outta here for the day. We can go take a walk or something, no use staying inside where he can bother us."
Jenna nuzzled into Balto. "Do you wanna talk about it? About him?" she asked curiously.
"Jen' I'm tired of him. We've spent years dealing with him and I'm done. I wanna enjoy some time with you for once especially now that we've got the freedom to actually move around town without being chased away. Of course I have plenty of questions about Steele now that I can actually ask other dogs about him but I don't wanna focus on that with you anymore. He's a constant source of stress for you and I'm not spending the majority of our relationship focusing on him." Balto said as he moved to nuzzle the husky's cheek.
Jenna smiled and nuzzled back. Balto was always able to improve her mood no matter how she was feeling and she couldn't thank him enough for that. Balto was right, she's been dealing with Steele for too long now and it was about time the two of them just had some time with one another where he wasn't part of the conversation or able to barge in on them. She knew Balto had many questions about Steele and she'd be more than happy to answer whatever she could but like he said, they need to focus on them right now not some pompous ex sled dog.
"Thank you Balto. I'd like very much to just have a day for you and I right now." Jenna said with a smile. She then stood up slowly, jumped down onto the floor, and looked back up towards the hybrid who was beginning to follow suit. "When you're ready to hear about him, let me know."
"Will do." Balto said as he joined his partner on the floor.
The two canines then began to make their way out of the bedroom and downstairs. Both of them remained silent as they lightly padded down the creaky steps; apprehensive that Steele would be there waiting for them. As the two made it the bottom, they held their breath as they walked past the entry into the living room where they saw the large tuxedo colored husky lying down on the dog bed Balto had last seen him on. The pair took small sighs of relief as they noticed his gentle snoring and were able to safely confirm that he was asleep. Once the two made it through the doggie door in the hallway onto the back porch they both chuckled.
"He knocks out fast, geez." Balto said with a giggle.
Jenna let out a quiet 'shh' though she was clearly holding back her own giggling. After a second however she was able to control her voice enough to speak without laughing. "Don't jinx us and wake him up." she said playfully.
Balto responded with a quick chuckle and the pair then walked out the second doggie door that lead into the backyard. Once outside, the pair made their way around the side of the house and began their leisurely walk down the block.
Back inside Jenna's home, Steele rolled over onto his back still snoring and fast asleep. It never took much to put the sled dog to sleep with him only requiring something soft to lay on, after which he would simply doze off almost instantly when he wanted to. The ex sled dog's chest rose and fell rhythmically and even though the husky was in a pretty deep sleep, he was suddenly awoken by the sound of hurried footsteps running down the stairs along with a small girl's excited laughter.
Rosy happily bounded into the living room and sat down on the couch with one of her dolls. Steele, now fully awake again, settled his blue gaze on the little girl across the room as she sat and carefully brushed the doll's blonde hair.
"Now our nails match Lizzy! Look! Mommy helped me paint mine a pretty red just like yours!" Rosy exclaimed.
Steele smiled slightly at Rosy's seemingly endless happiness. He had to admit, she was a cute kid. "I supposed having her as a human isn't so bad. She's not a little monster like some of the other brats in this town." The husky thought.
As Steele sat and watched her brade the doll's hair, Rosy looked up in his direction. "Steele! C'mere boy!" She asked happily.
Steele then slowly rose from his resting spot and walked over to the girl who patted the spot next to her. Steele complied and carefully hopped up with her being cautious that his nails wouldn't scratch the couch, that he wouldn't accidentally hit her with his tail, or upset his still sore body.
Steele, because he was sleeping, hadn't noticed that Jenna and Balto left and assumed they were upstairs. Since Steele was trying to keep up appearances among Jenna's family and Jenna, he decided that for his plan to work he would have to take no risks and would have to play the part of the lovable family pet whether or not the other two were around to see it.
"Appearances are everything right now Steele. Just be a big goofy puppy for now and try to enjoy it, it'll pay off soon enough." The ex sled dog thought.
Rosy reached over and happily hugged the big husky around his neck. She leaned on his body a bit to give the hug which did cause Steele some discomfort he didn't want to show it and possibly make her uncomfortable about being around him. So, Steele simply nuzzled his head into hers slightly and bit his tongue to keep from letting out a small whimper. He really didn't mind dealing with this kind of treatment from the small girl because he knew she didn't mean it and genuinely thought of him as her hero.
Then suddenly; Rosy abruptly pulled away and presented her doll to the large dog. "Steele this is Lizzy! Balto and Jenna already know about her so it's only fair I tell you too! She's my favorite baby doll and she loves riding on the new sled mommy and daddy got me! She knows all about you and she's gonna want a ride from you on the sled cuz you're the fastest dog ever!" She said happily, holding the doll in front of the husky's face so he could see her.
Steele reached out his head a little in order to sniff at the young girl's toy. The doll was very well kept and resembled a young girl around seven or eight years old. She had long blonde hair and a little baby blue dress and matching hat on with little black shoes. Steele had seen many little girls carry their dolls around with them but this one was clearly something special as it was extremely clean and seemed a bit older and more expensive looking than most other dolls he saw young girls with.
"Alright Steele now you know how much she loves her little doll here. Maybe finding it somewhere safe and sound after it's been lost would be a good idea?" Steele thought. Steele then let out a low 'awoo' type sound for the small girl to hear along with a gentle nuzzle of the toy to show his appreciation for her doll.
Rosy giggled and placed the doll in her lap sitting up as she petted Steele's head. "I'm glad you like her, boy!"
The young girl then took the doll in her right arm; holding it against her body and stood up from the couch. Steele sat up and looked to the girl expecting instructions.
"C'mon with me upstairs boy!" Rosy said as she walked over to the staircase.
Steele hopped down from the couch carefully and trotted behind the girl as she lead him upstairs and into her bedroom where he was shocked to see that Balto and Jenna were not. "I would've expected them to be in here. I guess they're in another room? It smells like wolf dog in here though… Whatever, I'll worry about that later." he thought to himself as he sat on his haunches in the center of the room and watched the excited little girl go into her closet.
Rosy sifted through the closet for a few moments before stepping out with a questioning expression. "Alright don't tell daddy what I'm about to do. Stay here boy." she stated as she exited the room.
Steele watched her exit the room and disappear down the hall. With the opportunity presented to him, Steele began sniffing around the young girl's room, examining the various dolls and other toys she had scattered around. Like her doll Lizzy, Rosy's other toys were all in very nice condition and were all placed in their individual locations very purposefully and carefully; definitely not something the other little girls in town seemed to do as he had seen a number of child's bedrooms on the nights he would decide to sleep with another dog in their house while their owner was out of town.
"Damn. She's got respect for the most basic shit." Steele thought.
Suddenly Rosy ran back into the room and shut the door behind her quickly; startling Steele for a moment. Steele then took notice of Rosy holding a dark green wool blazer and scarf; waiting for what he knew was coming next.
"Ok don't tell mommy and daddy but I needed to get you something to wear! All I have are girly clothes so I had to borrow daddy's jacket for you." Rosy stated as she walked over to the large dog.
Steele sat motionless on his haunches looking at the girl and jacket. "Well at least she isn't putting makeup in my fur." he thought.
Rosy then knelt down and took Steele's front paws one at a time and placed the blazer on the dog, and then wrapped the scarf around his bare neck. It felt weird having something on his neck again since his collar had been ripped off of him by his old musher. Once she was done, Steele then glanced into a mirror the girl had on the back of her bedroom door and took in the humiliating sight.
The jacket, surprisingly, didn't sit all that bad on the husky. Since Steele was a big dog, roughly 145 pounds, the jacket didn't swallow him up and only looked awkward because he was a dog wearing a human blazer. Steele was however able to at least observe himself in general to ensure he looked presentable for Jenna.
"Well Steele this certainly isn't how you thought today was gonna go but at least you still look good." Steele thought to himself.
Rosy then interrupted the husky's show of himself and beckoned him over to a small table she had set up with her toy tea set. "Ok Steele now I gotta teach you how to be a gentleman! Girls like it when you can take them on a really nice date!" Rosy said happily as she sat across from the sled dog.
Steele sat on his haunches, looking down and sniffing at the various things Rosy had placed in front of him. She had given him a tea cup, various saucers, a few pieces of cutlery, and a napkin all neatly arranged on the small table. "Right. Tea party. I've definitely never done this before but it can't be that unbearable, right?" He thought.
Rosy then reached for a teapot that was placed in the center of the table and proceeded to pretend pour drinks into hers and the sled dog's cups. "Remember Steele, girls like when guys look really nice when they go out cuz it makes a really good impression." Rosy said as she finished pretending to pour the drinks and place the teapot back in the center of the table.
"Oh trust me kid, it doesn't take much to impress with this pretty face and body." Steele thought arrogantly.
Rosy then picked up her own cup and pretended to take a sip. "We gotta get you a new collar boy. I'm glad that old one is gone though..."
"Huh?"
"...I think it kinda made you look fat."
"Fuck you."
Rosy giggled as she finished her statement with Steele internally seething with rage across from here being careful not to look angry in fear of frightening the small girl, though after that comment he wasn't so sure he cared anymore.
About twenty minutes passed with Rosy giving Steele lessons on how to properly court ladies and Steele internally fuming every time she gave him a criticism. By the time it was over it had felt like an eternity had gone by for the ex sled dog and he was beginning to disregard his past thoughts about how cute Rosy seemed to be.
"And this is why I merely tolerate human kids. At least puppies don't look at me as cute like human kids do so they end up just steering clear of the big scary dog leading the team." Steele thought causing him to smile slightly at the thought of other dogs fearing his very presence.
Across the room, Rosy finished putting away her tea set neatly back into a box and walked over to the large husky who after seeing that the tea party wrapping up moved to the center of the room and plopped down on his belly waiting for the jacket to be taken off of him. Rosy reached down and carefully but a bit clumsily removed the jacket and scarf from the dog's body and quickly ran them back to her parents bedroom, telling Steele he was a good boy on her way out.
Now free from the human clothes, Steele stood up and walked out of the room and started sniffing around. "Where are those two? I would've expected Rosy to force them in on this too." he thought as he entered the spare bedroom.
Steele looked around the spare room and then proceeded to check the other various rooms for any signs of the other two dogs while Rosy found herself occupied by another one of her doll's dresses; trying to smooth out the wrinkles in it. Once Steele had searched all the upstairs rooms, he was able to determine that neither dog was on the second floor so he decided to follow their scent back downstairs.
"I'm already getting sick of this game I'm bored! Honestly as annoying as that wolfdog is I'd even accept his company here right now just so I could annoy him." Steele thought as he followed the couple's scent onto the back patio and to the doggie door that lead outside.
"Shit. They must've left to get away from me for the day. How the hell am I supposed to carry out my plans if those two just run off?" Steele thought angrily as the severity of his situation began to sink in.
Steele sighed and walked over to the dog bed Jenna had on the porch and parked himself on it. "I guess the only thing to do around here then is sleep and get fat by the look of things." he thought as he lowered himself on his belly and rested his head on his front paws.
A few hours passed and Steele slept through all of them. Thought he was a champion racer, Steele loved sleeping in and if he didn't have training or a run to do he would gladly sleep in in the mornings and go out later at night to cruise around town with the other dogs. As the husky rolled over he was suddenly taken out of his deep sleep as a familiar scent hit his nostrils. The husky's eyes shot open and his ears tilted forward as he gaze settled on the figure in front of him.
"We need to talk Steele." Balto said as he stood over the ex sled dog.