Dogs of War

Chapter 29

"As far as we can tell, there's no abnormal activity happening in her head." Archiels voice says as she slumps into the seat next to me. "It looks like she was just having control issues keeping the animal instincts back."

I continue staring across the hall at the bland and sterile medbay wall without answering her, too caught up in my own thoughts to really think of something appropriate to say. Archiel for her part seemed to understand and stayed quiet, contemplating with me. Then she spoke up again.

"In fact, she may have let go of the reigns intentionally." Her statement has my head turning towards her slowly as I scowl. 

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me just fine."

"I'm not sure I did. Why on Earth would she do that?"

"Our competing animal and human instincts don't always work well together-"

"I am aware, she's always had issues controlling her more animalistic tendencies-"

"Yes, and if you'd let me finish, you block head, Ceri would likely have let the animal side take over to give herself a break. With everything happening before she ended up in a coma, and then everything after, it's likely she figured it would just be easier."

"Why wouldn't she have told me, at least?" The information Archiel is presenting to me is troubling, and indicates that Wolf hasn't been open with me. Her answering shrug doesn't instil confidence in me.

"She might not have had the chance to say something before the switch got flicked. It seems like she came to see you pretty quickly after the change, right?"

I think on the medics words and realise she's right. We'd just been running through some of the language options to begin teaching her about an hour before she'd come scratching at my door. I'd hope she'd at least have told me about her struggles before it got to that point, but I also knew just how stubborn she could be. She would have thought she'd had it under control until it was too late to say something.

As if my thoughts had summoned her, she came bounding down the hallway, wolfish grin on her face as if she was delighted at the chaos she seemed to prone to causing. Her excited little yips as she saw me curled my lips up slightly. At least she seemed to be in good health despite her demeanour. 

"Come on pup, maybe a good nights sleep will help you shift back, eh?" She skids to a stop in front of me, sitting with her head in my lap, puppy dog eyes staring up at me hopefully as her tail wags like crazy. At least it seemed she'd finally forgiven me, and by extension, Soap for going on that cursed mission a couple weeks back. I run my hands across her head and down her back, her tail going crazy at the contact. Yeah, definitely forgiven, I smile down at her. 

"How long will she be in her instincts for?" I ask the medic, still looking down at the puddle of bliss between my legs as Wolf groans in delight.

"If you keep giving her that kind of attention, she might stay this way for a while," Archiel smirks as she watches my War Dog with amusement. "I thought she was meant to be a fierce and scary weapon? She's just a puppy in an over grown body." A warning growl meets her words as Wolf opens the closest eye to her and lazily stares at her. Archiels hands come up placatingly. "I'm just saying, Ceri, you act more like puppy, than weapon. How do you get any work done, hmm?" She reaches out to flick Wolf gently on the nose, only for her nose to wrinkle in response. Her tongue flicks out, catching Archiels fingers as they withdraw and leaving them wet.

"Thanks Ceri," Archiel mutters, wiping her fingers on her pants. "Just what I needed, dog slobber all over my hands."

Wolf gives an excited little woof in response, ears pinning back in amusement as she continues eyeing off the medic with a single eye.

"I think you're more human now than you're letting on, aren't you?" I murmur at Wolf. "You're being way more smart assed than you were after waking up out of your coma." Her eyes roll up to look at me, and the keen intelligence I can see there would suggest that I am correct. She might not be all the way human, but there was significant chunk of her that was. 

"For a human, you're pretty perceptive on the hybrids," Archiel remarks, eyebrow arched. "How did you know?"

"Not the hybrids. Just Wolf." I reply shortly. 

"Ok, humour me, how do you manage to perceive so much in regards to Ceri, even stuff that I struggle to pick up on?"

"You struggle picking up on things?"

"Don't deflect. Answer my question, I'll answer yours."

I hesitate, not wanting to answer her question, but curious to hear her answers. "I'm good at reading people."

"And I have advanced senses, yet I didn't pick up how close she was to the surface, but you did. How?"

"Wolf and I have spent a lot of time together. You get to know someone well when you spend almost all your time together."

"That still doesn't explain much."

"If you've ever spent seven, eight months in close proximity with someone, it does. We spent a month together specifically for her to learn my tells and body language, but I spent that time doing the same. Over the last... year and a half, two years, I've gotten to read her well enough to know when she's being a pain in the ass. Now, how much do you struggle picking up on her cues?"

"Her medical information I can pick up without issues. That's what I was trained in, after all. The behavioural stuff? That's harder. She was trained to pick up on lies and emotions as her primary learning factor, with basic medical information being a far second. My training was in the reverse, so unless she's making it very obvious what her intent is it's beyond me to interpret what's going on below the surface."

"But you seem to read me, and Soap, and the other humans just fine?"

"You all have very big emotions. You may be able to school your expression, but your emotions are on show all the time. Wolf is much more careful with her emotions, having spent time amongst the hybrids for longer. You, though, are much better than the others. It's not often I pick up what your feeling, and only in regards to Ceri." She smirks at me. "Though right now, the pleasure radiating from you that I struggle to pick up on your emotions is quiet strong. You might want to tone that down before I start thinking you actually have emotions."

"Oh bite me," I mutter, only to look down as Wolf bites at my fingers. "Really mutt?" I say pulling my fingers out from between her teeth and flicking her gently on her nose. "Uncalled for."

"Well, you did say to bite you," Archiel chuckles. "But if there's no concerns with haemorrhaging in her brain, I'm going back to sleep." She yawns, punctuating her comment and stands up. 

"Us too. Come on pup. It's almost two am." She stands up with a stretch and follows me down the hallway as if she hadn't had me sitting up for longer than I had intended on. I figured she'd probably want to avoid sleeping be herself and let her into her room with the promise I'd be back. She looked up at me with a suspicious expression. 

"Your beds bigger pup. Two of us on my bed is just ridiculous." She sat in the doorway not letting me close the door and I look at her with exasperation. "You can smell I'm telling the truth, why are you being obstinate?" She just looks up at me with a huff. "Fine, you stubborn bitch." 

I leave her in the doorway as I go back to my room and change out of my day clothes and shower. I come back out, balaclava in hand and she stares up at me with a curious expression. I know what she wants to know, but I'm not going to answer her unspoken question. She'll have to come all the way back and ask me herself if she wants to know. As I walk back towards her, she shuffles back into her room finally and settles into the bed, sheets as messy as she normally left them. I blast the air con as cold as I can set it and grab the blanket, throwing it over her body knowing she'd be whining and shivering all night otherwise. I look down at the curled body of Wolf and shook my head, climbing in beside her. I really needed a bed like this. I honestly didn't mind most nights when she wanted a company while she watched a movie. The bed was significantly more comfortable than the standard issue military beds. The thought hits me that I was definitely becoming spoiled and decided to not get too used to the soft, fluffy bed that Wolf had insisted on buying herself.