Fic: Dogsbody (9/13)

[rusty_armour]

Title: Dogsbody (9/13)
Author: Rusty Armour
Pairing: Lester/Quinn
Summary: Lester is forced to depend on the people around him when he finds himself in a strange and startling predicament.
Word Count: 1,976
Rating: Slash, PG-13
Spoilers: S3 in general
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or the shiny prehistoric creatures. I just played with them for a while and then returned them to the toy chest.
A/N: I was inspired to write this fic after reading knitekat’s Under the Moonlight, the first story in the Under the Moonlight wolfverse. Although I had intended to post this as a serial, the original plan was to finish the story first, as I swore to myself that I wouldn’t commit another crime of WIP. However, as so often happens, this story ended up being longer and more complicated than I’d imagined. Reality has also been rearing its ugly head and there are other commitments I can’t put off any longer, so…WIP. Well, at least this time, a large portion of the story has already been written, so I think most of the posts should be delivered in a timely fashion.

This is a sequel to Ps & Qs and Better Late Than Never, though this could probably be read as a stand-alone. As you’ll quickly realize, this story is complete crack and unapologetically self-indulgent. I’ve had a lot of fun writing this – probably too much fun. *g*

I’d like to give a big thanks to lukadreaming for the Brit-check beta.

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Lester could see it was a struggle, but Abby managed to hold her tongue until they were all seated in her Mini. Then she turned in the driver’s seat, and Lester almost winced at the fury in her eyes.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” Abby shouted. “Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”

Connor glanced from Abby to Lester in concern. “Abby…”

“No,” Abby said. “We just broke a little boy’s heart and got told off by a teenager – all because of him!” Her gaze hardened. “Why did you do it, Lester? What were you trying to prove?”

Lester couldn’t help it. He bared his teeth and growled. What do you expect me to do? Mime my answer? Play a round of charades? Even if I could find a way to communicate, you wouldn’t understand.

Abby blushed as if Lester had spoken aloud. “You can’t actually answer me, can you?”

“Maybe we should continue this discussion when we get back,” Connor said. “You’re both exhausted and I don’t think either of you is thinking too clearly.”

Abby sighed wearily. “Yeah, okay. I suppose you’re right.” She gave Lester a pointed look. “We are going to discuss this. Don’t think you’re going to get out of it that easily.”

“Speaking of trying to get out of things…” Connor dug out his mobile and started scrolling through his list of contacts. “I promised I’d phone Danny if we managed to find Lester.”

Oh, wonderful, Lester thought. He shut his eyes, trying to block out the shouting he could hear on the other end of Connor’s mobile. His eyes blinked open again when Connor coughed nervously.

“Um, Danny wants to speak to you,” Connor said.

Lester stared at Connor in disbelief for an instant, before grasping the mobile with his teeth and hurling it on the car floor.

The corners of Connor’s mouth twitched. “Ah, so it’s like that, is it?”

Yes, it bloody well is.

“What did he do?” Abby asked. She had finally pulled her car out of Lester’s driveway and they were travelling through High Wycombe.

Connor could no longer hold back a grin. “He threw my mobile on the floor.”

“Well, if he’s pissed off at Danny that explains why he took off,” Abby said.

Connor studied Lester for a moment and shook his head. “No, I think it might be more complicated than that.”

Lester looked away and settled further into his seat. He wasn’t sure whether he was resentful or grateful for the ease with which Connor had just read him.


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Lester found that he was even more indebted to Connor when they reached the flat. In a move that impressed Lester with its smoothness, Connor inserted himself between Danny and his intended target, raising a hand before Danny could even open his mouth.

“He needs a bath,” Connor said, and he ushered Lester straight through to the bathroom. He managed to shut and lock the door before Danny arrived and began pounding on it. “Well, I’ve managed to buy you some time, but I don’t know how much.”

Lester barked once and tried to look appreciative.

Connor ducked his head almost shyly. “Oh, that’s all right. It’s the least I owe you.” He started poking around in the bathroom, and Lester tried to work out what he was doing. Surely, Connor hadn’t been serious about that bath. When Lester realized that this was what Connor intended, he tried to get away, but it was a pretty big challenge in a tiny room with a locked door.

Once Connor finished gathering supplies, he turned and looked surprised when he saw Lester pressed against the door. To his credit, Connor didn’t laugh, though Lester could see that he was fighting a grin. “Look, I’ll try to make it as painless as possible, okay?”

Lester barked once, though the sound seemed strangely tremulous to his ears. He knew he should move, but his legs weren’t cooperating.

Connor crawled over to Lester, though he made no effort to grab him and force him into the bathtub. “Okay, this has to be the dog because you’re fanatically neat and I know you take showers.” He pet Lester’s head. “I’m not going to hurt you. You know that, right?”

Lester managed to give a weak bark. He did know that and, while he wasn’t thrilled by the idea of Connor giving him a bath, he knew he shouldn’t be frightened. It didn’t make any sense. Lester hadn’t wanted to think about it before now, but he found himself wondering what lay in this dog’s past to make him so afraid of water.

There was something looped around his neck. The more he struggled, the tighter it got, until it was half-choking him. As he thrashed helplessly, he was hit by a powerful blast of icy cold water that almost knocked him off his feet. It surged into his mouth, nostrils and ears, and he could barely breathe. It drove him to the ground, then lower still, to the depths of fear and misery.

He was trembling, and Connor was stroking his back gently. Over his quiet whimpers, he heard Connor whisper soothingly.

Right, Lester thought. I won’t be doing that again.

Eventually, he stopped whimpering and the trembling died down, but Connor continued stroking his back.

“You were able to access his memories, weren’t you?” Connor asked. “You know why he’s afraid.”

Lester gave a single bark and walked slowly to the bathtub, trying to ignore his shaky limbs. Now that he had discovered the origin of the dog’s fear, he was sure he could fight it. He had planted his front paws on the side of the tub when Connor appeared next to him.

“Maybe I’d better give you a hand,” Connor said. “I don’t want you to slip and fall.”

Oh, why not? It’s not as if I haven’t suffered enough humiliation already. Lester gave a bark of assent, and Connor picked him up, depositing him safely in the tub.

“I’m going to use the shower attachment to wet your fur first. I won’t go anywhere near your head. I’m just going to wash your chest, back and legs.” Connor reached up to get the showerhead, bringing it down slowly to Lester’s level, as if he were trying very hard not to startle him. “I’m going to use warm water, but I’ll test it on my hand first to make sure it’s not too hot.”

Lester barked, wishing he found it more irritating that Connor was speaking to him as if he were a three year old.

Connor turned on the taps, and Lester jerked as the water burst from the shower head. However, Connor kept his word and made sure the temperature was just right before directing the water towards him.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Connor said as Lester began shaking again. He started scratching behind Lester’s ears as he ran water over his back. It helped reduce some of the shudders, though Lester found it impossible to relax. It was almost a relief when Connor shut off the shower, though Lester knew bath-time wasn’t over yet.

“I should really be using dog shampoo, but I think we can make do with what we’ve got.” Connor picked up the shampoo bottle he’d found and squeezed out a large dollop before rubbing the shampoo into Lester’s chest. “Your family’s great. I can understand why you wanted to see them. It must be hard to be away from them during the week.”

The question was obviously rhetorical, but Lester still barked once in reply.

Connor nodded and spread more shampoo over Lester’s sides and back. “I know we’re not your family, and we don’t share the same bond with you as they do, but we do care, Lester. We were all really worried when you took off, especially Danny.” Connor lathered shampoo on Lester’s legs. “I know you’re a very private person, but if we’ve done something to hurt you we need to know. You’re going to have to talk to us about it, or, at least, talk to Danny and Abby.”

Well, Lester thought, the boy’s more perceptive than I realized. Damn him.

“Could you lift the paw you injured?” Connor asked. “It needs to be clean before Abby can treat it.”

Lester raised the paw in question, and Connor washed the pads carefully, being extra cautious around the area of the cut. Connor had set the paw back down again and was putting down the shampoo bottle, when there was a knock on the door.

Oh, please don’t let it be Danny.

“Connor, has Lester had his bath yet?” Abby said, her voice filtering through the door. “I want to bandage his paw.”

Connor sprang to his feet. “Just a second.”

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Don’t you dare let her in.

Connor unlocked the door, and Abby walked into the bathroom with an armful of supplies. She raised her eyebrows at Lester, but held her tongue. Then Connor whispered something in Abby’s ear that Lester couldn’t quite make out. However, when Abby’s face fell and her eyes darted in Lester’s direction, Lester had a good idea what Connor had told her.

What are you going to do next, Connor? Take out an advert? He watched Abby warily as she perched on the side of the tub. Then he had to fight the urge to wag his soapy tail as Abby began scratching behind his ears.

“Just relax, okay?” Abby said.

Maybe once I’m out of the bath, Lester thought. He could see Connor stretching out his hand for the shower attachment.

“Lester, look at me,” Abby said. “Focus on me.”

Lester heard the water start up and couldn’t help tensing.

Abby tugged on one of Lester’s ears gently. “It will all be over in a minute. Just keep your eyes on me. That’s it. There you go. Just hold on a little longer, Lester.”

A little longer turned out to be a lot longer than Lester would have liked, but he kept his eyes glued on Abby and managed to get through the ordeal.

Abby smiled at Lester when Connor turned off the shower. Then she fetched a towel and began drying Lester off. “Connor, can you help me lift him out of the bath? I don’t want the bandages to get wet and I think we’ll have more room to work on the floor.”

“I can do it,” Connor said. “Just grab what you need to treat his paw.”

Lester contained a growl as Connor hauled him out of the bathtub. He wondered how the average dog was able to endure this kind of treatment. Were they like little children who wanted to be picked up and carried around?

“Lester, could you try to keep your injured paw off the ground?” Abby asked. “I’m going to dry it off and put on some ointment.”

Lester didn’t bother barking in reply. He simply raised his paw and sat patiently as Abby dried the pads of his foot with infinite care and patience. Then she was dabbing ointment on the cut.

“Once I bandage your paw, you should try to keep off of it as much as possible,” Abby said. “No more long treks across Buckinghamshire.”

Lester snorted but didn’t argue. He had accomplished what he’d needed to accomplish.

“Is that too tight?” Abby asked once she had wrapped three layers of gauze and three layers of bandages around Lester’s paw and ankle.

Lester barked twice. Then he lowered his foot, setting it gingerly on the ground. There was no pain. Satisfied, Lester headed for the door.

“Well, I suppose we’re done,” Abby said. She began gathering up her supplies, while Connor opened the bathroom door.

No one was surprised to see Danny standing outside in the hall.


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Comments

[canadian-jay.livejournal.com]

*g* *combustion slowly stops*

Hee! Glad to please you, then. ^.^