Chapter Two!
Side note: this story is gonna be a little more serious than other chapters. Nothing too crazy happens, but it's a bit of a downer.
Character focus of this story: Ryder and Rocky
"Ryder! Ryder!"
Ryder forced his tired eyes open to see Rubble standing on his chest, pawing at his nose. He shielded his eyes from the light. "What time is it?"
Rubble paid no attention to this question. "We found this really cool rock in the yard, you gotta come see it!"
Ryder groaned as he sat up. He did not want to get out of bed. His head was aching and he felt like the whole room was spinning. Still, he didn't want to worry/disappoint his pups, so he hauled him out of bed (not bothering to change clothing) and followed Rubble outside.
Once outside, Skye nosed the rock, a smooth round stone with a sapphire blue stripe, towards them. "See, this is the cool rock. It's got a big stripe in it, see? Can we keep it?"
"Hold on," said Rocky. "I have some room in my truck. Why trash it when you can stash it?"
Before Rocky walked away, he noticed that Ryder was looking a bit dizzy. "You okay, Ry?"
Ryder forced a smile. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired." He went back inside to his bedroom and lay back down.
Later that day…
The pups were crowded around the big screen, watching Skye and Zuma have a Pup Pup Boogie dance-off. Although they were all enjoying themselves, Rocky was starting to wonder where Ryder was. He went to his bedroom and pawed the door open. Ryder was lying in bed, quietly groaning, with his back turned towards the door. Rocky was immediately concerned to see his owner like this.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Rocky jumped up next to him.
Ryder turned to look at him. His eyes were tired and he had a faint feverish hue on his face. He grimaced and sat up. "I'm not feeling the best."
"You want me to go get Marshall? I'm gonna go get Marshall." Rocky jumped down and went to retrieve the Dalmatian.
One retrieval of Marshall later…
"Alright, let me have a look at him."
Marshall had brought his MT gear into the room, ready to give his fearless leader a check-up. He stuck a thermometer in his mouth and waited for it to beep. "How long have you felt like this?"
Ryder's response was muffled and incoherent. "Y'know, maybe you should have asked that before you stuck the thermometer in his mouth," said Rocky.
Eventually the thermometer did beep, and Marshall read Ryder's temperature as 39.7 degrees Celsius. "Okay, now that that's done, can you answer me clearly?"
"I started feeling unwell in the middle of the night last night. My head was aching, and I was all sweaty." Ryder pulled his knees to his chest. "I took some fever medicine and went back to bed."
"Hmm…" Marshall continued his check-up. "He doesn't have a sore throat or a stuffy nose, so he doesn't have a cold."
"I think he's been overworking himself," said Rocky.
The two other boys looked at him. "How so?" Marshall queried.
"He's out on every mission. We pups only go if we're needed. He also takes care of us, works on his ATV constantly, and it doesn't look like he ever has a break."
"Really?" Ryder was confused. "I thought I wasn't doing enough, especially since it's been rather quiet after Danny broke his wrist."
"Don't be like that, you are doing enough!" Rocky looked sheepish. "If you ask me, I think I'm the one who doesn't do enough. I mean, I'm a recycling dog. How can being a recycling dog be hard?"
Marshall shrugged. "I dunno." He turned to Ryder. "You relax and get some sleep." He hopped off the bed and left the room. Rocky went to follow him.
"Rocky? Can you come here?"
Rocky turned back. Ryder was gesturing for him to come back. Rocky jumped back onto the bed and curled up on his lap. "What is it?"
"I want you to talk to me. What do you mean, you're not doing enough?" Ryder asked as he scratched behind Rocky's ears.
"Well…I feel like I don't help as much as the other pups. No one's gonna get hurt in an accident if a recycling pup doesn't come. I can't say the same for all the other pups."
Ryder went quiet for a moment before responding. "You help out a lot. Remember when you fixed up the Flounder that time Robo-Dog went haywire?"
"Oh yeah…" Rocky laid his head on his paws. "That was a long time ago. Like, three years."
Ryder giggled. "And the time you found Chase when Sweetie locked him in a dungeon?"
"Oh yeah!" Rocky giggled. "That was an amazing mission."
"See, Rocky? You help out just as much as the other pups." Ryder pet Rocky's head. "And either way, you're still a good pup."
"You're my best friend," said Rocky as he snuggled up to Ryder. Ryder smiled, laid back, and quickly fell asleep.
I have nothing to say at the end so duck meow.