Chapter Forty Seven – The Perils of Excess Energy

Olivia's apartment was filled with the sound of claws clattering across tile. The sound dulled as Suvi crossed the carpet but returned again moments later. For the last five minutes the same pattern of noise had been occurring.

"Suvi!" Olivia called out in exasperation.

No matter what she tried he was still racing back and forth through her kitchen and living room. He was still recovering from his injuries and shouldn't be exerting himself this much. Unfortunately he'd been cooped up and restricted during his recovery, and his bottled up energy was ready to explode. That was clearly coming out in his racing around the apartment. She moved to grab his collar, but he dodged her and hunkered down like he was ready to play.

"Suvi, you're going to pull that leg open. Come on."

He wagged his tail and completely ignored her request. When she reached for him again he hopped three steps away to avoid her hand. Olivia sighed and rubbed at her forehead. She understood why he wanted to move, but she couldn't risk him getting hurt again. Quiet laughter drew her attention and she looked over to find Ben standing in the kitchen doorway where he'd retreated earlier to take a phone call. He was finding the whole situation amusing.

"Doesn't want to cooperate, huh?"

"No," she sighed.

"I might have a solution to that."

She stopped mid-attempt at grabbing Suvi again and glanced at him curiously.

"Cole's inviting all of us over for pizza and a movie."

"All of us?"

"You, me, and Ryan."

Olivia's eyes narrowed uneasily. Not only did that not sound like a fun evening in her opinion, she had no idea how it was a solution to Suvi's excess energy. Besides, they were already planning on meeting Clarissa and Kinsey tomorrow. That would be a lot of Ben's family in a very short period of time. Ben had anticipated her hesitation and quickly worked to remedy it.

"Suvi will have a lot of people to pet him. It should keep him occupied. If it doesn't then being in a new place should."

"Or being with Jerry could get him hyped up even more than he is now," she countered.

"It's up to you, Liv, but I think it could be helpful."

If she had known Ben's brothers really well it wouldn't have sounded so strange to her to be invited over with him. Maybe if it had just been Cole she would have been more okay with going. Since neither was the case she would rather have Ben go by himself.

"Even if it is helpful, me and three guys just doesn't sound like a particularly enjoyable evening to me. That's like you hanging out with a group of my friends when they aren't bringing anyone else."

"Sounds fine to me. Most of your friends are guys."

Olivia rolled her eyes and swatted at him. It wasn't what she'd meant even if his reply had been completely accurate. He knew that too.

"Come on," Ben pressed gently. "Suvi's itching to get out, and if Ryan doesn't behave himself I'll stick duct tape over his mouth."

She snorted back a laugh and offered Ben a wry smile.

"You would probably enjoy that."

"Yup. No probably about it."

Her eyes drifted to Suvi, and she followed his darting path for a little while. He really was being way too active for so soon after an injury. She sighed softly and made her decision. The need to keep Suvi at least slightly more immobile out ranked her desire to avoid an awkward situation, and there was definitely no chance of getting him to calm down here.

"Alright, you win. He gets too excited and we're going home though."

"Promise. Now go pack up so you two have what you need for tonight."

O . o . O . o . O

They hadn't even left Manhattan yet, and Olivia was already regretting her decision. It had nothing to do with Suvi though. He was happily watching the cars roll by from the backseat. For the first time that day he was almost completely still. Well, aside from his head which kept snapping back and forth as he followed each car's progress past him. That was good enough for her. The problem was completely unrelated. Her hands were trembling, and what was worse when she reached out to turn up the heat she nearly missed the control. She hated dealing with the trembling and minor lack of coordination. Now she was going to have to deal with Ben's brothers like this which definitely wasn't what she wanted. Somehow she was going to have to hide her condition. If she even could.

Thankfully it turned out to be easier than she thought. By the time she and Ben had gotten there the pizza had already arrived. One of the benefits of being with a group of guys was that the moment food was in play that was all that mattered. After the first few minutes they had blinders fully in place and she wasn't anything more important than an inanimate object in the room. That was perfectly fine with her. Instead of worrying about hiding her trembling she could focus on not dropping her slice of pizza and keeping an eye on Suvi. As Ben had expected Suvi was enjoying simply wandering Cole's apartment with Jerry in tow. It was at least one thing that was reassuring about the trip so far.

"Hey, Olivia? Do you mind action movies? Violence involved," Cole asked, drawing her attention.

Olivia glanced over at him and shrugged.

"I don't usually watch them, but it's fine. Go ahead."

"She was a cop, Cole. I'm sure she can handle it," Ryan added.

Ryan seemed to think it was humorous, but Olivia was slightly irked by his reasoning. There was a difference between handling something and enjoying it. Yes, she could handle watching a violent movie but after all of her years on the job she had a hard time enjoying any of them. She had enough of that in her head without adding any that came from a form of "entertainment."

"We can take Suvi for a walk instead, Liv," Ben told her softly.

He'd been the one to convince her to come, so he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable even if that meant he missed the movie.

"No. It's fine, Ben. It's just a movie, though you better be planning on making some popcorn."

A smile danced across Ben's face in response, and a similar one painted Cole's. Ryan outright laughed.

"I like her," he said before turning and nudging his youngest brother. "You heard her, little bro. Go make us some popcorn."

Cole rolled his eyes but got up anyway. For Olivia he would make the popcorn without complaint. Or at least without complaint directed at her.

"You could have done it yourself."

"You're the host. That's your job."

"Yeah, yeah," Cole grumbled. "More like you're just a lazy ass."

Ryan folded his arms behind his head and stretched out his legs contently.

"Yup."

When the popcorn was finished Cole passed bowls around to everyone, pointedly giving Ryan the smallest one (which caused him to get a piece chucked at his head), and turned on the movie. They all dug into their popcorn. Olivia fumbled some as she tried to pull it out of the bowl, but none of the guys noticed. The beginning of the movie had their full attention, though the darkened room also helped. One more thing she was grateful for, she supposed.

Suvi sat down in front of her and remained statue still. It was impossible for Olivia to ignore him. She knew what he wanted anyway. A quick glance at Jerry revealed that he wanted the same thing as Suvi and was already getting it. Cole's eyes remained on the movie, but every so often he tossed a piece in front of him. Jerry snapped it up before it ever had a chance to hit the ground. Olivia smiled and gave Suvi a piece too. That was all he would get, but it should satisfy him so she could go back to watching the movie.