Chapter thirty-six: Cleared For Mayhem!
Chase had finally hopped down off of Maggie to stretch out his back, as soon as she'd lifted the heat pad off him. He flexed both shoulders in turn, before crouching low to stretch his back in a different way.
The huskies watched him curiously, knowing he was getting better.
"Ummm. Why is he stretching like that? Is he alright? Cats mostly stretch like that," Brian whispered to Chess.
"Yeah, he's just shaking it off.. It's relaxing for him. And cat's aren't the only ones who like downward dog." Chester mentioned with the shake of his head.
Chase groaned and looked at Billy, nodding his head at them subtly. Billy just held a hand up to him, then signaled something that only he seemed to recognize which made his expression lighten.
"Marshall, bring me my penlight." Ryder requested, kneeling beside Chase.
"Um, ok.." the Dalmatian responded, leaving them to search for the item in question.
"Any headaches since yesterday?" Ryder asked his German Shepherd, looking him over.
"Not that I know of,.. and they were pretty minor anyway," Chase replied honestly, not fully paying attention to what the boy was doing. "I probably didn't drink enough yesterday. It was probably from that."
"Any tingling, nausea or numbness? Muscle weakness?" Ryder continued receiving the light from Marshall and shining it carefully into his pup's eyes.
"No,.." Chase replied, sitting down where he was. "I've had none of that.. Ever.."
"Fatigue? Dizziness, trouble walking or seeing straight?"
"No!.. what is this?" Chase asked.
"Just have to ask, Chase," Ryder mentioned in a laid back manner, clicking the penlight off. "Your eyes still look good,.. I'd say you're officially concussion cleared."
"Thank goodness!" Chase sighed deeply. "Finally!"
"How can you tell, Ryder?" Snowflake asked cautiously.
"Simple.." Ryder said. "No concussion symptoms and pupils are equal and reactive, not sluggish. No warning signs that the brain is too severely affected. He's fine, and recovering well, thank goodness."
"Thankfully." Chase sighed again. "I don't know how much of this 'patient' thing I can take! Ryder when I get back, can you please deploy me for a mission, please? I'm begging you, I need some normalcy already or I'm literally gonna go nuts!"
"We'll see about that, Chase." Ryder chuckled, earnestly meaning this.
"Go?" Skye echoed. "Go where?"
"To the future!" Ned exclaimed happily. "Where he will give me driving lessons!"
"No. Go to Katie's pet salon for a proper rest and relaxation," Melody commented.
"Pff. No way. To Jake's Mountain to hit the slopes and get some exercise!" Brian suggested with a snort.
"No. He's going to go inspect the crash area to tell us how good a job we did, or if we could have done better!" Snowflake responded seriously.
"Wrong on all counts," Chase replied, smiling up at Billy knowingly, winking then mouthing the words 'thank you'.
"Chase is taking a day away to hang with us on the farm." Billy said. "And if you want you can sleep with us too."
"Yes! Please, yes!" Chase breathed, his tail wagging wildly more than they'd ever seen in a while.
"Cool! Like when I go back to my hometown to visit my family, siblings and friends!" Snowflake said fondly.
"Uhh, yeah, something like that." Chase complied, unsure how to respond otherwise.
Snowflake nodded with a smile.
"I think since the day is already almost half over we'll take you home with us tonight and spend the day before we bring you back." Billy suggested.
"Works for me." Chase smiled.
"So what do you wanna do till then?" Marshall asked.
"I don't know." Chase shrugged.
Snowflake suddenly got wide eyed as she quickly realized something.
"Ummmm. Did we put the Christmas cookies away, or are they still in the oven? And the frosting?.." the female husky asked Ryder.
"I think we left them out," the boy replied. "But any we left in the oven might not have cooked all the way, since I turned the oven off before we left."
"The frosting needs to be refrigerated!" Rocky gasped. "Look! It's all melted!.." Touching it only confirmed this fact even further and he now realized this was a mistake by the bright green frosting saturating the tip of his paw.
"Ew, yuck!" The mixed breed cringed. "Almost like getting wet."
"Seems more like mud to me, dude." Zuma observed, lifting a paw toward the thick substance.
"Ugh, even worse." Rocky groaned in disgust.
"At least you can eat it, unlike mud," Ned commented positively.
"No! Our merry creations! Our cookie babies! They're mmeeelllltttiiinnnnggg!" Snowflake exclaimed dramatically, before trying to save the frosting. She was quite unsuccessful.
"Don't worry we'll just throw them into the fridge and they'll be just fine." Ryder said leaving the room with full pans.
"Oh thank goodness!" Snowflake said with a sigh of relief.
Ned looked around the kitchen, and as he did, he saw a small red bottle near the oven.
"Ooooh. That's festive!" the male husky pup said, before he turned the bottle on its side and carefully squeezed out the red mustard like contents. He carefully walked over to Chester, and booped his nose, covering his friend's nose in red sauce.
"Ah! Hey! That makes my nose burn!" Chester protested, rubbing it off quickly.
Ned did the same to himself, before doing the same to Rubble, Zuma, CiCi, Tiny and Kylie.
"Ack!"
"Blk!"
"Ick!" Other pups protested.
"Look! We all are Rudolph pups! We got red noses!" Ned said happily. "Thank goodness I found that Santa sauce on the counter!"
"Huh? 'Santa sauce'? What are you talking about?" Snowflake asked before she too looked around. The female husky pup soon found the bottle in question, and turned it over. Upon seeing the name, her ears dropped.
"Ummmm. This isn't Santa sauce.."
"Burn? Why burn? It's Santa sauce! It's suppose to be festive!" Ned said defensively.
"Ned, this is hot sauce! Not Santa sauce! No wonder it burned their noses!" Snowflake pointed out as she turned the bottle.
"Oops. I'm sorry guys. I just wanted to get into the holiday mood!" Ned apologized, feeling bad.
The pups with hot sauce on their noses stood there staring at them for a moment.
"Buuurnnn!" They cried, racing away to wash the sauce off.
"Glad he didn't do that to me." Chase mentioned to his brother quietly. "Or he would never have liked to see the end of it."
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ned apologized as he too went to wash off the hot sauce on his nose. After a while, the sauce was gone, and everyone was okay.
"Ugh, my nose is still burning." Chester commented. "I could just go out and stick it into the snow."
"That'd be a good look for you," Chase teased. "Half pup, half pupsicle. Hahaha!" Chester and several other pups looked over at him in confusion as if stunned.
"What?" Chase asked in pure confusion.
"Where did that come from?" Chester asked, turning around to face him.
"What?" Chase wondered.
"You're joking, that's not like you." his brother shot back.
"Of course it is, I joke all the time." Chase replied indignantly. "I mean, not as much as Rubble or Marshall, but I can be funny when I wanna be."
"Yeah, but not like that." Chester accused. "And definitely not after playing reckless hero and then a hair raising brush with a hospital stay with a maniac driver. No offense, Ned."
"Well maybe things are changing more than you think?" The younger brother challenged.
"Not that fast." Chester quipped, making Chase step toward him threateningly.
"Now, now, now, brothers, be civil." Frank cautioned.
Chase finally decided to stand down, but his frown still remained.
"Ryder, since I'm cleared from concussion risk, can I go try out my new snowmobile now?" Chase asked, diverting his gaze to the boy, after pulling it from his brother.
"Sure." Ryder said. "Just remember to strap in tight, that thing is fast." Chase nodded then sent a blank look at the group. Almost as if he was waiting to hear someone object just by how purposefully he sought a few members of the group out specifically. But when no one said anything he turned and headed for the door, and when his eyes met Frank's, the slight motion of his hand highlighted something for him.
"*sigh* hold up.." Chester sighed begrudgingly. "I'll come with you.." Then heavily walking after him, the group watched them until the doors closed once again.
"Sooo,... what now?" Rocky asked, an awkward silence returning.
Then Ned thought for a moment.
"Wait! Wait for me! I need to pee!" he said, before walking outside too.
"I would go too, but I can't drive either.." Brian added, as he followed his brother outside.
Ned looked back confused.
"Bro, you can't drive pee-"
"That's not what I meant, Ned! Ewwww!" Brian snapped in disgust.
"Um,.." Tiny blinked, everyone frozen in various expressions of confusion or in some cases disgust. "Well so that- just.. happened."
"I don't even know what to do with that." CiCi sighed, rolling her eyes back and shaking her head.
"Me neither." Kylie mentioned, shrinking down.
"Boys.." Snowflake and Melody said together in a snarky tone, before rolling their eyes.
After a few minutes, the two male huskies returned.
"So, now that Chase and Chester are out enjoying the snow, what should we do now?" Brian asked everyone.
"Hmmm. Pup pedicure?" Melody suggested, wagging her tail. And they all took a moment to look among themselves and shrug.
xxxx
Chase barked for the underground hangar to bring up the snowmobiles and he hopped into his and began to strap in, while studying the controls to get the rundown of operating it. He heard someone plop into the snowmobile next to him and sighed dryly, sensing already who it was.
"What are you doing, Chess." He groused, leaning his head back before leaning his head over to look at him.
"Hey can't let you have all the fun." Chester joked, making Chase just roll his eyes and continue what he was doing.
"Is this your way of apologizing?.. Or just babysitting me without saying it out aloud?" Chase hinted.
"Can we go with neither for now?" Chess offered, which made Chase just sigh again and shake his head. "Hey, I'm trying here.. Can we just ride and not be at each other's throats, all guns blazing?"
Chase noticeably hesitated for a very long time without making eye contact. His jaw tightened and his ears slightly twitched back.
"Just try to keep up.." he finally decided, tightening his restraints and starting the engine. "And don't get in my way."
"Done.. and done." Chester announced, plopping down onto his seat and slamming his helmet on so the visor lowered over his game face. Then revving the engine to life, the two pups zipped off in a dash of snow.
xxxx
The roar of the engine, the vibration of the motor.. Every ounce of horsepower flowed through his veins like he was somehow one with the vehicle he was driving. The pound of his heart powered with the bumping beat of the internal mechanisms of the snowmobile's engine block. The smell of the crisp winter air felt mostly stagnant till it melted within his lungs, then puffed out like a cloud with each exhale. The zip of his vehicle echoed almost in sync with the other and he could tell his older double was easily keeping pace with him. He chose not to acknowledge him even though he knew he was hot on his tail, so to speak, even if he was actually right next to him.
"So where are we headed anyway?" Chester called over to him, and Chase wasn't sure he wanted to answer him just yet.
"Come on, are you really gonna keep on icing me out?" Chester pried. "What are we gonna do tomorrow?"
"You don't have to be there looking over my shoulder." Chase snapped, speeding up a bit.
"I didn't say I was." Chester pointed out, catching back up to him.
"You didn't have to." Chase shot back.
"Hey,.. I don't wanna be your babysitter, but sometimes you don't give me a lot of choice," the older pup reasoned.
"You don't have to babysit me!" Chase shouted, speeding up again. They reached a certain point where they turned up a slope.
"Ok, I admit it, I'm a total knucklehead. I know I tend to push all your buttons.." Chester surrendered, "sometimes too good.." they both hit a solid snow bank and jostled for position.
"But you know, I only wanna see you happy and healthy.. and it kills me to see you down. And it's totally my fault!" Chess was just barely starting to fall behind and didn't try too hard to pursue. "Look, I know you said you're not mad about Halloween Night.." Chase's eyes flashed at the mention of this. "But I'm your brother.. I know better than that.."
"Why do you have to bring that back up?" Chase growled, shifting gears again.
"Because I know you." Chess replied. "You haven't been able to shake that night since it happened. And you've been cold as ice to me ever since. You're also irritable, not sleeping, depressed, distant and incredibly touchy. All signs, including the withdrawal, the nightmares, the PTSD, all point to unresolved feelings..-"
"Stop talking!" Chase thundered, suddenly the left edge of his tread caught a sheet of pure ice and sent him fishtailing through a thin patch of trees.
"Chase!" Chester called, punching it forward. Chase turned the controls each direction to try not to flip himself and also to try and regain control. He hit something that made the ride a bit rougher and he did his best to keep his sightline in sight.
Sliding off to the right, he turned sharply to avoid a buried structure, likely a rock or something, and started to slide the other way.
"Watch out!" Chester cried, positioning himself above Chase so he could throw out a grappling line that caught the back of Chase's vehicle and stopped him from going over the edge right in front of them. Chase was jerked forward against his harness which made him grimace from the strain it put on his shoulder, but the momentum of their lateral motion swung them around and slingshotted Chase's vehicle back onto the snow, so they could both keep going on their way.
"Whooph! That was too close." Chester breathed, seeing his way forward. But catching erratic movement out of the corner of his eye made him look over.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Ihn,.. something's off, the steering's difficult." Chase strained, trying not to swerve around as much as possible. "Can't hold my line."
Chester backed off on the speed a bit till he could finally see the problem.
"Your tread's busted." Chester observed. "We gotta stop and call for backup."
"No can do, the system's froze up," Chase informed him. "If we try to slow down too quick; I'll get rolled. We gotta play this smart."
"Smart! We don't have much maneuverability in here and the patches of ice reduce our traction down to almost none! How is that a recipe for success?" his brother countered.
"Would you hush up and trust me!?" Chase argued. "It's just like training when we were pups.. I'm taking point, you're my backup. We'll work with what we have to gather intel, then make a move. But we don't have time to debate this!"
"Right, just.. stay focused ok?" Chester advised, refocusing once again. "Please, don't get rolled before I figure something out."
"I'll try, just think of something quick!" Chase badgered, still trying to keep what little control he had, and Chester continued to hurriedly wrack his brain.
HOLY FREAKING COW, MY NEXT FAVORITE SCENARIO IS COMING UP NEXT! And the title we chose was just so good we could NOT pass it up! Hopefully it makes sense and furthermore I hope you see why it's so funny. LOL! XD XD
But with that said, the brotherly squabbling is actually a part of Chase and Chester's relationship that I enjoy. They're both quick on their feet, always have a response for things, they read each other's minds and They know one another inside and out. Which is why Chester's apology was so amazing! And really got Chase's attention which was so funny! XD
Plus with their personalities, their banter LITERALLY plays off each other flawlessly. I love the familiarity between the two of them which almost makes their arguments all the more fun to write as well as read..
But that's just my opinion, of course. As always let me know what you think and buckle your seatbelts for another wild ride! Thx!