Marshall and Chase: On the Skase!

(22) Melt

Chase lightly scratched at the bandage on his cheek as he made his rounds around the lookout. He took a breath of the slightly cold air, a reminder that the beginning of fall was finally here. And he was all for it. Fall was his favorite season after all.

A few days after waking up, Chase had been released from the hospital and was finally able to go home. His wounds had been stitched up, but still needed to be wrapped in order to prevent the stitches from opening. The police pup was obviously ecstatic by this, and didn't waste any time getting back to his usual routine.

It was nothing too big. Just an early rise, a single warm-up jog around the lookout, patrol the area for the next half hour before waking the others up and beginning their morning routine. It was essential as the second in command to remain vigilant in case something like what had happened with Skye happened again.

And in addition to its practical uses, patrolling the area also calmed the Shepherd. It was always quiet in the mornings. Usually, he would hear laughing or talking somewhere in the lookout or outside, but when everyone was asleep, he got the opportunity to admire the beauty of the place he was honored to call home.

Finally, things were right again–

"Aaaauggghhh..." The Shepherd heard groaning nearby.

Maybe not...

Chase looked over to see who was making the noise. He heard the groaning continue as he began walking towards it. His brows furrowed in confusion once he realized the groaning was coming from Marshall's pup house.

"Well I guess there are some things to sort out before we can completely go back to normal."

Chase peeked into his sworn brother's pup house, opening the door slightly.

"Ughhhh..."

Scattered around the insides of the Dally's pup house were various tubs of ice cream, one of which covering the Dally's face.

"Marsh?"

He groaned weakly, fanning his paw, "Go away..."

"Are you okay?" Chase shuffled into his pup house, closing the door behind him, "You look like you had the roughest night ever..."

Marshall took the tub of ice cream from over his face, his eyes slowly traced over to the German Shepherd, "You don't say...."

"What's up, buddy?"

"You heard what Ryder told us, Everest is leaving tomorrow!" Marshall shot up, "With all that has been going on, I forgot that she didn't live at the lookout! Once she leaves, who knows how long it'll be until the next visit?"

Chase raised an eyebrow, "That's never been a problem for you before, why is it now?"

"Because, Chase!" Marshall flailed his arms around, "With you constantly avoiding Skye since you left the hospital, it reminded me that I have my own romantic issues going on!"

Chase winced at the mention of his increased awkwardness toward Skye since he returned to Adventure Bay. He would have loved to blame Marshall for that, as he was the one to tell Skye everything about their journey, and how far they both—especially Chase— went to find her and bring her home.

So embarrassing... Or maybe he was just being a coward.

"Right..." Chase looked away.

"Don't tell me you're still dodging Skye..." Marshall raised an eyebrow, "I know you've been back for only a few days and getting back into routine, but you can't lie and say you haven't been."

"No way, I'm just busy with stuff."

"What stuff?"

Before Chase could try and defend himself again, they heard shuffling outside of the pup house.