Show Displeasure Clearly

It was 4am again and Remmy’s eyes still hadn’t shut. Not a single wink of sleep. Not that they felt tired, but they knew that sleeping was important. They’d longed for it while over in Afghanistan. They’d craved it. They could never get enough. Tossing and turning at night, wondering if they were going to wake up in the morning, or die in their sleep, only to wake up and find themselves wishing they could go back to sleep. It was both a relief and a bother. Remmy never really knew how to explain it, until now.

It was a longing.

And though their body did not tired– perhaps from the multitude of uppers they took– they still longed to sleep. They longed to not have to be conscious for just a little while. To slip away from the world where they were stripped and broken and exhausted. Not physically, but mentally. To slip away from a world where they were alone.

Finally, Remmy threw the sheets off and sat up. Moose was asleep next to them, but the second they started to move, Moose stirred and lifted his head. “Hey bud,” they said, reaching over and patting him on the head. “Shall we go for a walk?” they asked, glancing around. “Maybe that’ll help us sleep.” Moose hopped up at the word, grabbed his lead from where Remmy stored it, and brought it over to them. Remmy fitted his harness around him and hooked the lead in, before standing up. “Yeah, that’ll be nice. Maybe we’ll go up through the woods. I think there’s a nice hiking trail up there?”

Half an hour later, Remmy found themself at the start of a trail up into the forest that stretch North of the town. Dawn light was still a far ways off, but the brightness of the moon helped illuminate things for them. Besides, they’re vision in the dark had somehow improved. Musta been all the nights they spent up at Camp Dwyer. They’d run drill after drill at night, as their team mostly infiltrated during the night. Of course, they wore night goggles on actual missions, but they were still required to operate in the night. Remmy could even disarm a basic HHE in the dark, just by feel.

Another half hour later, and Remmy realized they were lost. Moose trotted up ahead, sniffing the trail as they walked, pausing every few seconds to turn and make sure Remmy was following him. He really was well trained, Remmy had to admit. Still…he wasn’t well trained enough to get them back to the trail head, was he? Remmy snapped lightly and called him back to them, but halfway back, Moose paused, sniffed the air, then turned. His signal that something– or someone– was approaching. Remmy stopped, stayed perfectly still– until another dog came bursting out of the bushes and lopped straight up to Moose. Moose stayed still, glancing over at Remmy. He was waiting for them to allow him to play. 

Remmy’s shoulders drooped as they sagged with mild relief. But what was a dog doing way out here? More rustling. “Hey there,” they said, kneeling in front of the new dog, “where’s your owner?” They glanced around, but no one was in sight. Suddenly, the dog stood up and took off. “Hey, wait!” they called, picking up Moose’s lead, and bolting after them. “Don’t run that way! You don’t know what’s–”

But they never got to finish their sentence, as they came to a skidding halt in front of a man, standing in the middle of the trees. “Oh– um– is that your dog?”

Jericho slowly followed the hounds, meandering through the dead foliage. He smiled as he heard their happy barks and bays, hearing the crash of leaves as they tackled one another. Oh to live a dogs life.

He sang a jaunty tune under his breath, kicking leaves around as he went. 

“ 'Cause you can do like you do Or you can do like me Stay in the cage, or you'll finally take the key “

Jericho took a few running steps forward, jumping onto an old log and imitating the bar dance of the scene. He jumped off, landing with a somewhat panicked noise as he almost slipped, attempting to turn it into a flourish. He managed to get his balance back, laughing nervously as he continued onward. At least no one was out here to see him land on his ass. 

He continued with the tune, his voice trailing off as he watched the dogs run past him, all convening on one spot just over the hill. His curiosity piqued, he jogged to catch up with them. Jericho couldn’t hear much more than the rustling of leaves and he gave a low whistle, calling them back. All five wolfdogs returned quickly, their breath showing up as clouds in the cool winter air and he patted them all, looking up as he heard a rustle of leaves coming straight for him. 

Jericho made a startled, almost inhuman noise as he was suddenly face-to-face with another person as they skidded to a halt in front of him. He jumped, almost comically away from them, the dogs behind him scrambling out of the way. They formed a semi-circle around him, all looking at the strange new human and their dog.

They asked him a question and he paused, looking down and glancing around him.

“Uhhhh... which one? I mean they’re all mine, so yes...” He quickly looked the person over. Androgynous, blondish hair, kinda short, pretty sure he had seen them around town here and there, recognized their dog, but had never actually met them. He clasped his hands together, placing his index fingers against his lips and giving them a confused look.