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All things considered, Vhagar is content with her life. It's a good one. She doesn’t mind that her days are getting shorter or that she cannot run as fast as she used to. She has a master she loves, and that’s all that really matters.
She remembers the first time they met well. She was behind bars at the shelter, had been for a few days by then. It was obvious that they were going to send her on her final vet visit soon. She couldn’t even muster the will to care. Fear was something her mind had grown accustomed to long before, sometime around her third fight in the pit or perhaps when the first scars healed on her body.
She was tired. Going to sleep for a long, long time didn’t sound so bad when the alternative was fighting other dogs again.
So she waited, listless and bored. The only thing breaking up the monotony was the strangers who visited the shelter every now and then. All looking for abandoned puppies, of course, or one of those brain-dead mutts who were ready to lick their hands after one kind look. Warriors like her were regarded with apprehension - which she could tolerate - or pity. The latter she could not stand. It made her lash out and ram into the bars, teeth bared, to see the humans back away.
The man who gave her kibble in the evenings said she had a reputation.
Good, she thought, at least she'd be left alone to sleep in peace. That's why, when the lady tending to them announced that they were going to have visitors again, Vhagar didn’t even raise her head from the flimsy blanket in her cage.
As the humans entered, presumably to choose a good-natured fluffball for their home, the more excitable dogs started barking. Vhagar turned her head towards the wall to block it out. Pathetic idiots, she huffed.
It was the smell that made her look up - an unfamiliar human, too close for comfort.
A boy, still not grown but larger than a pup, with gangly limbs and a stiff posture. Hapless as he looked, Vhagar thought he must have wandered away from his family and to the section where unwanted beasts like her were stowed. His one eye was staring at Vhagar with open curiosity. Well, time to teach him a lesson, she thought and growled at him to scare him away, but the boy just smiled.
Master Aemond has always been like that. Fearless. Strong. Even when he had nightmares growing up, it was never the danger that made him tear up and cling to Vhagar with his oversized hands - it was when he dreamt about something good that would never be. There's no doubt in Vhagar's mind that she and Master are kindred souls in that too.
Thankfully, Master isn't struggling with a nightmare right now. He's fast asleep on his stomach in the middle of the large, heavenly bed that Vhagar is not allowed to lie on, no matter how much she wants to. It's okay. She can follow rules, and Master is good at setting clear ones. Don’t eat shoes. Don’t chase after people unless Master says so. Don’t eat squirrels. Don’t bite that annoying pup, Arrax - that's a new one, and Vhagar is still learning to remember it.
There are lots of rules about eating, which makes her whine in frustration sometimes. Being a good girl is hard work.
Master never made any rule about waking him up though, which means that while Vhagar is not allowed to tear the bag of her kibbles apart, she's allowed to bother Master until he gives her some. It's well past breakfast time anyway, she doesn’t understand how Master and his mate can still laze around. She trots into the room, taking stock of the clothes strewn on the floor and the bundle of blankets at the edge of the bed that is Master's mate.
Her stomach aches, desperate for food. Wake up, she whines, but they stay motionless like the dead. She has seen dead things before, and some looked more animated than these two. But she needs her food. So, not wanting to break Master's rule by climbing up and sitting on him, Vhagar goes to Master's foot and licks it where it sticks out from under the cover.
Master groans. When nothing else happens, Vhagar nips Master's heel.
"Vhagar." Master tries to push her away with his foot, but she just rolls her head against it, feeling a kernel of excitement at the prospect of playing like a puppy. She yips. It comes out a bit louder than she intends to.
"Aemond." The shapeless pile of blankets growls, and Master curls around it for a second before pushing himself up into a sitting position.
He glares at Vhagar. "Happy now, you mutt?"
Oh, she is. She's so happy she even wags her tail, licking his hands all over as her mind is flooded with images of her food.
Master wrinkles his nose, pushing her away. "Fuck." He walks off towards the bathing room she hates. "Go wait by your bowl, Vhagar."
A second later, she hears the hiss of the shower. Another fifteen minutes! The thought tears a pitiful whine out of her throat. On the bed, Master's mate, Luke lets out a sob of frustration. Is he sick? But no, they were up mating for a long time last night, he can't be.
Vhagar knows when they're doing it. It's obvious, even if that nuisance Arrax can't put together why they're locked out of the sleeping room sometimes. He kept whining at the door last night too until Vhagar managed to get it through his thick skull that his Master Luke was perfectly fine and didn't need any help. Well. Not any help that Arrax could provide.
Vhagar had tried to help them once, before they started locking the door. Because she knows that they're doing something wrong - they mate several times a week, but they still don't have any pups yet. They must be terrible at it. Vhagar has seen a thing or two over her long years, she could probably tell what's wrong.
With the same thought in mind on that day years ago, she sneaked into the room while they were occupied with each other.
They were just lying there on the mattress when she entered, Master with his head on his mate's chest, playing with his mate's hand. Luke was stroking his hair. Disappointing. It had taken Vhagar too long to work out the door handle problem, and they were not mating anymore.
"Your dog is standing in the doorway." Master's mate mumbled.
Master waved an arm in Vhagar's general direction. "Vhagar, go away."
But she could tell that he didn't mean it, so she sat down, waiting for them to resume mating. She knew they would, and then she would be able to tell what they did wrong.
"Mum says she'll sue Aegon if your mother forces Grandpa to split the company. And she told us to stop talking to your side of the family." Luke said then, but Master just grunted. He kept moving his fingers over his mate's as if studying them, but it was a sign of human bonding Vhagar didn’t understand. It would just drive her mad if someone kept touching her paws.
A sigh escaped Luke's lips. "I wish we could just run away."
Vhagar's ears perked up. Running away? Were they in danger? She would tear anything to shreds if it threatened her Master. Or his mate, just to keep Master happy.
After a long beat of silence, Master raised his head. "Let's do it."
"What?" Luke asked with a confused smile. Master started pressing kisses to his cheek.
"If you want it too…" He whispered it quietly, but Vhagar's ears picked up on it anyway. "...I'll take you to the Summer Islands and make you mine forever."
The smile disappeared from Luke's face as his breath rushed out of him. "Are you crazy?"
Master looked him in the eye. "Are you scared?"
"Never." Luke jutted out his jaw, and Master nipped at it. Now, that was a form of affection Vhagar understood - her Master was happy.
"Maybe you should be." He moved his lips up to Luke's mouth. "My strong boy."
They kissed, sharing soft, wet sighs and hums, a language Vhagar didn’t speak.
"You’re so annoying." Luke muttered, but he kissed Master again. His arms wrapped around Master's back. Vhagar tensed - surely, they would start mating soon. "If that was your proposal, it sucked."
"It worked, didn’t it?"
"I haven’t said yes."
Master propped himself up on his elbows and cupped his mate's face. His long hair poured over his shoulders like a waterfall. "Say it then."
Luke stared up at him, unblinking. "Ask me first."
Master put a hand on Luke's thigh, then hummed, a sound that Vhagar recognised as the one he would make after coming home in the evening. Vhagar felt like she could smell a change in the air, tension shifting and growing. "Will you marry me?"
Luke let out a deep breath. "Yes. I will." Then the corners of his lips curved up. He tugged on a strand of Master's hair. "Uncle."
Master laughed then, just once, as if surprised. "Insolent little shit."
They folded into each other then, hands roaming all over, lips seeking one another until the sounds they usually made during mating started to rumble between their chests. Vhagar scooted closer, concentrating, but perhaps that was her mistake because Luke pushed at Master's shoulders. He hissed. "Not with Vhagar watching."
"She doesn’t understand." Master's tone was cajoling, like when he wanted Vhagar to climb into the car for a dreadful vet visit. "Don’t mind her."
"Aemond."
"Ugh." Master huffed, jumping off the bed naked and snapping his fingers. "Come on, girl, time to go out."
There was no protesting that - she was herded out into the garden and her mission to help them failed.
She has given up on it by now. But maybe she shouldn't have, because Luke looks distinctly unhappy today as he drags himself out from under the blankets and shuffles into the bathing room. Their mating must have been fruitless again. Or is it because Vhagar follows right on his heels, watching with her best puppy eyes? Undoubtedly, it's not as successful as that pain in the rump Arrax's, but it tends to work nevertheless.
"God, why is this always so cold…" Luke mumbles, glaring at the tiles as he opens the toilet to relieve himself. "We need another bath mat!"
Half-hidden in the steam-filled shower stall, Master's silhouette leans its head against the wall. "I'm not going to IKEA with you. Take that sissy, Jace."
"Your daddy is an asshole." Luke comments to Vhagar, then smirks and flushes the toilet. Master makes a strangled noise, knocking all the soap bottles off their shelf. What’s wrong, Vhagar barks in worry, but Luke is chuckling as he washes his hands, so it can't be that bad. Master is still swearing under his breath when Luke nudges Vhagar with his knee. "Come on, let's get you some breakfast."
Perhaps she should feel guilty about it, but as soon as she hears the word breakfast, Vhagar forgets all about Master's predicament. She practically sprints to her bowl, whining impatiently because Luke takes way too much time to put on his robe and follow. The commotion wakes Arrax up too, to Vhagar's immense chagrin. He stumbles out of Vhagar's bed because the useless pup cannot sleep alone and Vhagar was too tired to push him off last night. Yawning, he blinks at Vhagar.
Food? He sniffs, then his tail starts wagging. Brainless fool. Master Luke! Master Luke!
He runs up to Master's mate and starts running circles around his legs, more awake than Vhagar has felt in a decade. Luke laughs and picks him up with one hand, cooing nonsense at him.
Now this is why Vhagar regrets giving up on helping with his Master's mating habits, because if she hadn’t, they might have conceived a human pup instead of bringing this pest into her life.
He remembers the day Master brought Arrax home and introduced him to her as "Luke's nameday present". Most of Arrax's body could fit in his palm, his four legs dangling as Master held him out for Vhagar to sniff. For a moment, she thought the pup was meant to be her dinner.
Friend? Arrax wagged his tail at her, while she just sat there in horror, too frozen in shock to snarl.
That's how they ended up here, with Vhagar having to growl to protect her meal from this menace who eats more than his body weight and doubles in size every few weeks. She wonders how big he's supposed to get, because his brain doesn’t seem to expand at the same pace with the rest of his body.
Nevertheless, despite her annoyance, she feels generous enough to give Luke's hand one lick because he has given her an extra large amount of food.
Luke has always been great about food. Vhagar remembers the times when he wasn't around yet and Master lived alone. He didn't eat enough - always just a slab of meat and those wretched potatoes that made Vhagar throw up when she tried them from the trash can. Master's mother used to say he looked thin, while Master's strange-smelling brother, Aegon liked to joke that Master lived like some kind of soldier. Vhagar felt equal amounts of protectiveness and pride at the time, because she, too, was a soldier, and didn't mind looking the part.
But then, Master took a mate.
It never happened before. He did come home smelling like other people sometimes, but it always washed off quickly, and no strangers were allowed to come to their house. Luke's smell didn’t fade away though - just when Vhagar thought it was finally gone and it could be just her and Master against the world again, Master came back stinking with it anew.
Then, one evening, he pulled Vhagar into the small side room where she had an extra bed and where Master put his clothes in the washer.
"Be a good girl now." Master said in a breathy whisper. "Quiet. We mustn't scare him away."
It sounded strange and nervous, but Vhagar didn’t get a chance to figure out why, because Master just petted her head once and left, shutting the door behind himself. A moment later, she heard the muffled lilt of an unfamiliar voice. She wasn't let out until the middle of the night.
It kept happening. More and more frequently, Vhagar found herself curled up in her second bed, brooding in jealousy while Master did the thing that made his skin smell like that salty-sweet stranger that Vhagar wanted to bite.
She didn’t know how long it went on until one day, Master's mate stayed through the entire night. When Vhagar came in from the garden in the morning, she found the intruder sitting on Master's couch, wearing Master's clothes and smelling like he belonged there, where previously only Master and Vhagar did.
It made Vhagar's hackles rise. She stalked up to the man and bared her teeth at him, growling to let him know he was not needed here. She and Master were fine on their own.
"Oh my God." Master's mate said under his breath, paling. He pulled his legs up on the couch. As if that would have helped him.
"Aemond!" He cried out. He didn't seem sufficiently afraid though. "I'm going to kill you if this beast eats me!"
Master walked in from the kitchen, looking more amused than alarmed. Vhagar wondered where all that nervousness from before had gone.
"You'd come back for me from the dead?" He smiled.
Luke tilted his head back, exposing his neck. What a foolish move, Vhagar thought. She could have bitten him there if she hadn’t been sure that Master would have scolded her for it. "You bet I would. My vengeful ghost would drag you to the grave with me."
Master snorted and sat down next to Luke, sliding his hand over the bared column of Luke's throat gently. If that was supposed to be threatening, he wasn't doing a good job at all. "I would exorcize it."
"You'd be welcome to try." Luke shrugged. "You’re not getting rid of me that easily."
Master grinned and changed his hold on his mate's neck to pull him forward until their lips met. Upset, Vhagar snarled.
"Vhagar." Master warned as he pulled away. His voice had that steel edge that made so many humans around him tremble in fear. "Sit."
When she reluctantly did, he stroked her back. "You heard it, girl. We're stuck with him now."
She thought it was the worst thing that happened to her for a while. She hates sharing. Not to mention the betrayal she felt because she lost some of Master's time and attention to a mate who couldn’t even give Master a pup. It seemed unfair. That's why her relationship with Luke had quite a rocky start - and it was the food that changed it.
Not like that. Vhagar is not a cheap girl like some of the lapdogs she knows from the park. She doesn’t start liking someone just because they give her food. No, she started warming up to Luke because he gave food to Master.
And Master, well… Vhagar always thought he was perfect, but somehow, after Luke came along, he looked even better. His mother stopped telling him he was thin and Aegon started joking about Master's exercise habits instead.
So, just as unwilling as she was when the vet wanted to give her a shot, Vhagar admitted to herself that she alone had not been enough. Master must have been lonely. He needed a mate of his own. She just had to accept that not everyone was happy to live an unbonded life like she was.
But no matter how she tries to rationalize it, she cannot find an explanation for disrupting everything with this unbearable fleabag who keeps herding things as if it was his life's purpose. Vhagar can't even enjoy her walks in peace anymore, because Arrax is either running around her, nipping at her hind legs or barking in that irritating, high voice of his, or he's being walked on the other side of the road to avoid her stepping on him. She would be content with the second option, if it didn’t mean that Luke has to walk on the other side too, once again drawing Master's attention away from her.
She longs for the days when it was just the three of them. But, unfortunately, there's no going back now. Arrax is here to stay and will gleefully upend all her comfortable routines.
Today is no exception. When Master announces that it's time for a walk, Vhagar goes to wait by the door, right where her leash hangs. She's happy to wear the new collar Master got her and can't wait to see how it feels on a walk, but Arrax, of course, has to be difficult. He zooms around the living room, running away from Luke, sometimes even bowing with his butt up to show how much he enjoys the play. When Luke manages to catch the stupid pup at last, he gives Master a bright smile. Master rolls his eye and leads Vhagar out the door.
It's a pleasant walk. The winter chill feels crispy in the air, but the sunshine warms Vhagar's back, and the smells are all very interesting today. So much pine and cinnamon and oil from those stalls where humans buy the sweet, warm snacks called waffles. She stole a waffle from a garbage bin one time. But she's not allowed to eat trash anymore. Master gave her this new rule after she ate the bushy-haired things that Master threw out from the Christmas decorations box and she had to be taken to the vet.
On their way to Vhagar's favourite park, Master and Luke walk on opposite sides of the road, so she doesn’t have to put up with Arrax's incoherent yapping. There's something nostalgic about spending time with Master like this - no one stops them to ask "if they can pet the puppy", and people move out of their way without hesitation. A young man takes one look at them and crosses to the other side. When Master scoffs and makes some sort of gesture to his mate, Vhagar hears Luke laugh.
At the park, she's allowed to roam free. Master knows that one whistle and she'd be back by his side. Arrax isn't taken off the leash though - he's too disobedient and bothersome, at least that's what Vhagar identifies as the reason - so she feels a hint of triumphant joy as she runs away in search of squirrels.
She's not going to eat them, because Master's rule says she must not. But she can still chase them, right?
She's just coming around a thick oak tree to sniff the scents left behind by all the other dogs there when she spots a familiar figure. It's a man in running clothes. Master's acquaintance. The last time they met, she couldn’t decide whether he was friend or enemy, because he made Master tense, but Master didn’t let Vhagar take a sample of his thigh. Well, maybe she could satisfy her instincts now. Just a tiny warning, and the man would know to avoid Vhagar's humans from now on.
Mind made up, she breaks into a run.
It has been a while since she had something big to chase, and she was always more of a brute force type of fighter, but she enjoys the challenge. The wind whips against her scarred muzzle and frost-wet earth crunches under her toes. When the man notices her, he yelps, picking up his pace in utter panic. She enjoys that too.
Too bad that only a second later, Master's whistle cuts through the air. She slows down, then stops when she hears him call her name.
The guy she spotted collapses on a bench, clutching his chest. "Shit. That was scary as fuck." He heaves a nervous laugh when Master and Luke walk up to him. "I thought your dog was going after me."
"She was." Master says. "Must have recognised you." He flashes the man a half-smile.
"She just wanted to play." Luke adds incorrectly, but Master lets it slide. "Tom, right? From Finance?"
"Yeah." The man swallows and stands up, accepting the hand Luke holds out for him to shake. After a moment of silence, he starts backing away. "Well, it was um, nice bumping into you, boss. Again. I don’t come to this park often, I mean, I'm not going to. Er. It's too crowded."
He runs a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I have to, well." He gestures at the path behind him, as if that meant something.
"Merry Christmas to you and -" His eyes slide to Luke, then to Vhagar, and his face drains of colour. "- and to your family!" He ends it on another anxious laugh, then waves and runs away. He looks back over his shoulder to make sure Vhagar doesn’t follow.
"To you too!" Luke calls after him with a smile. When Tom is gone, he turns to look up at Master. The tips of his curly bangs stick out from under his knitted hat. "Do you think it's Vhagar or our relationship that made him so awkward?"
Master gives him a fond look, then drops a kiss on his lips, but doesn’t answer.
On the way back home, Vhagar gets a scolding and she's reminded of the rule about not chasing people unless asked. She bows her head, knowing she messed up. She feels repentant enough to walk beside Arrax in peace. When she looks back to check if Master has forgiven her, she sees that Master is holding on to his mate's hand again. A strange human custom she will never get, but the familiarity of it makes her feel calm.
She daydreams about catching Tom from Finance and giving Master a piece of his trousers until they reach their front door.
The rest of the day is uneventful. Vhagar listens to her humans discuss the family dinner they're supposed to attend on Christmas Day because Master's father asked. They bicker about not having a so-called dogsitter, which Vhagar is happy about because she hates those useless intruders anyway. If she gets to go along to the house of Master's parents, she can try to find the bone she hid somewhere on the grounds years ago. Perhaps she could even make use of Arrax's boundless energy and tell him to dig out holes for her.
Sounds like a promising tomorrow to her.
As the night falls, the exhaustion of the day catches up with all of them. Arrax curls up in Vhagar's bed again, the bastard, but Vhagar doesn’t have the energy to push him out of it, so she just lies down across the space that's left and tries to get comfortable. She doesn’t think Master and his mate have any reason to be tired, given how long they stayed in bed in the morning, but they're lying down nevertheless.
Perhaps it's the atmosphere that pulls them under, she thinks through a yawn. The house is cozy and quiet, and the decorations Luke put up emit a soft glow. There's a pine tree in the corner with little globes on it that jiggle whenever Vhagar brushes against them. She's tempted to go over and examine them again, but her full stomach weighs her down. She takes a deep breath. The scent of Master's dinner still lingers in the air. Spices and warmth.
Her eyelids feel heavy as she looks at her Master. He's stretched out on his back on the couch, with his mate dozing on top of him, and his eye is fixed on the movie he's watching without sound. After a moment, he turns it off, leaving the strings on the pine tree their only source of light. He strokes his mate's hand and closes his eye.
Something twinges in Vhagar's side. She whines.
Master glances at her, then reaches out - and Vhagar is moving before even thinking about it, walking across the room to his hand, pushing her head under his palm.
He scratches that nice spot behind her ear that only he knows how to find. "Merry Christmas, girl."
Vhagar thinks of her life, and a content warmth spreads through her heart. All things considered, it's a good one. She may have an annoying little pup taking over her bed and her Master might have given her too many rules to follow, but she loves her family, and that’s all that really matters.