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“I think you're underestimating what we mean by ‘large breed’, Dany,” Arya said.
She’d repeated that to Dany so many times by then that Dany hardly even paid it any mind. Dany simply rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses and scoffed as the two sat in the grass at the park. They passed the time waiting for Jon to meet them by chatting away and people-watching. It was feeling less and less strange to hang out with Arya outside of school. And, with only two weeks left before Arya was no longer under her tutelage, the girl felt less like a student and more like a friend. It also helped, of course, that Dany had been seeing Jon so often. That day, though, she was very much looking forward to meeting another special family member of theirs.
“I've seen large dogs before,” Dany laughed. “I've seen Great Pyrenees before, too.”
“Yeah, but the vet said that Ghost is large even by breed standards. Just a warning.”
“Warning heeded. Again .”
“He shocked the hell out of Gendry when I first brought him by.”
“I’m sure Jon enjoyed that.”
“He did, the bastard. Smug grin, and all.”
They laughed at the visual.
Regents Park was a vision that day, and they’d gotten more sun than expected. It was a perfect day for Dany to call out sick from the faculty meeting. Arya, of course, only encouraged it. Missandei would fill her in on the meeting later.
In the distance, a fluffy, white dog ran happily and picked up a stick. That’s not him , she thought. The dog wasn’t big enough; no larger than a labrador. Certainly not large enough to come with a warning. Dany continued scanning around the park for the mysterious creature she’d heard so much about.
The way Jon spoke, Ghost was more a part of him than simply a pet. Dany had seen some pictures of Ghost in Jon’s phone. And, while he was certainly a large and beautiful dog from the photos she’d seen, she didn’t understand why so much emphasis was put on his size. She’d seen elephants, massive snakes, big cats and an array of animals that could dwarf her. They underestimate how used to large animals I am , she would think to herself. So, when Jon suggested that she finally meet Ghost, she was excited to prove as much to them.
“Have you ever had a dog,” Arya asked.
“No. I moved around too much. Lived in too many small spaces. Never could get anything much larger than reptiles or birds. But they’ve always been fine enough for me, though.”
“I had my own dog before. Nymeria. I loved her so much. But, she… she ran away.” Dany looked at Arya with sadness and sympathy. As if Arya picked up on the implication, she continued. “No, I don't mean that as a euphemism to say that she died. She literally ran away. We haven't seen her in years.”
Arya stared ahead wistfully, pulling her knees up to her chest, and smiled.
“Knowing her, she's likely leading a wild wolf pack in the woods by now.”
“Sounds like something you'd do if you were a dog.”
“Yeah, I probably would, right?”
Jon was running behind again. But, Dany didn’t mind it when she could have a chance to talk with Arya. Then, with a mischievous smirk, Arya looked over in Dany’s direction and began to talk.
“You sure you won't be afraid of Ghost?”
“I'm positive,” Dany exclaimed with exasperation, “There's no way a dog could scare me.”
Just as Dany turned her head away from her, she was met face to face with a massive white fur snout. Red eyes stared her down as the creature was merely inches away from her. Dany heard the loud shriek before she realized that it came from her own mouth. She jumped backwards, knocking into Arya. Hearing Arya’s hysterical laughter, she then finally registered what she was looking at.
She had seen Great Pyrenees before, yes. She’d seen her share of large animals. But neither Arya nor Jon exaggerated when they said that Ghost was larger than normal. Both of them seated, he was taller than her and his paw was almost bigger than her hand. The density of his plush, white fur only added to the effect. His face looked far closer to a wolf's than any regular dog’s. But, even when she'd screamed, the dog gave no reaction. He only silently looked on. Dany grabbed her chest to calm herself.
“I told you,” Arya said playfully.
“I wasn't scared. Just startled. I didn't even hear him approach.”
“You never will. He's not called Ghost just for his coat color.”
“Sorry about that,” Jon called out remorsefully yet a bit amused, walking up to them. “I should've warned you about him. He's good at sneaking up.”
“I see,” Dany laughed as he helped her to her feet. She glanced back down at Ghost to be met those two red eyes boring a hole through her. “Does he always have such an intense glare like that?”
“Sometimes,” Jon replied, “He can take a minute to warm up to new people.”
“Especially new people around Jon,” Arya completed. “Come on. Dany didn’t skip her meeting to stand around all day. Let’s go.”
As the three of them chatted, Dany still felt the chill of Ghost’s uneasy stare on her. Certainly, it was in her head, she told herself. He was only staring because she was a new person. Not because of any strange dislike he had towards her. But, when she looked down by Jon’s side again, there were those eyes. Seemingly daring her to get too close to Jon. Studying her. Somehow judging her, even.
“So, where did you find him?
“Well,” Jon began, “Our old home had acres of woods nearby, and we happened to stumble on him and his litter mates, abandoned out there. We couldn’t find any sign of their mother, so we took them in. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t make it, but Ghost was one of the ones who held out.”
“They’ve been attached since then,” Arya added. “Show her the tattoo.”
“It’s on my back, Arya. I’m not lifting my shirt in Regents Park. Not sober, at least.”
“You have a tattoo of Ghost?”
“Yeah,” Jon responded, almost bashfully, “We’ve got a pretty tight bond.”
“You’re a regular softie when it comes to him, huh,” Dany grinned and playfully nudged Jon on the arm.
Just then, to all their surprises, Ghost let out a low, angry snarl; almost inaudible but certainly visible on his face. It took a second before they realized it was because of Dany’s nudging. They all exchanged looks as Jon scratched behind Ghost’s ears to calm him down. So it wasn’t in her head, after all. The glaring and judgement. He hated her. She wasn’t sure if it was because she screamed when they met. Or if her perfume was offensive. Or if he simply hated the red shirt she wore. But, it was plainly obvious, for all three of them, this meeting had gone astray.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Jon said to Ghost in an attempt to soothe him, “We talked about this, boy. She’s with us.”
It wasn’t helping. He stopped snarling but continued looking at her defensively. With a calm and open smile, Dany extended her hand to him to introduce herself better. She’d always found that that worked with meeting new animals. But, not with Ghost. He moved back as her hand got closer.
“Ghost, what’s going on,” Jon asked.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, I am not winning any points with him, I guess.”
“It’s really weird.”
“Maybe he’ll warm up to her later,” Arya added.
“I hope so,” Jon replied.
He hoped so. Or Dany’s out , Dany thought, no more pursuing this woman . That’s the impression that filled her head. If it was between her or Ghost, the decision was obvious. The dog, who Jon loved enough to get a tattoo of, had no love to give her. Of all the obstacles Dany imagined that she’d encounter in their burgeoning relationship, she hadn’t expected that Jon’s dog would be her first big hurdle.
Dammit , I’ve got to impress this dog.
Dany thought about what dogs might like as they all walked along. Her canine experience was limited, but dogs are pretty straight forward with what they like. Food? Jon had a bag of treats, but she was admittedly not willing to risk getting close to Ghost’s mouth yet. Petting? That was out of the question. Her eyes then fell on a stick. Small but sturdy. Perfect for fetch even with the most contrarian of dogs. She grabbed the stick, waving it in front of Ghost to make it more enticing before throwing it some distance away.
In her mind, he gleefully chased after it, tongue and tail wagging, before returning happily and dropping the stick at her feet to play again. Perhaps, other dogs would’ve allowed it. Dany, however, had no such luck. Ghost’s eyes followed the stick across the grass. His body did not. He sat coolly, unwilling to move to play with her. Lovely game of fetch , she thought.
“Yeah, I thought that might work. Guess not,” she said, defeated.
“It’s okay,” Jon replied, “I'll go grab it.”
The moment Jon took to walking off, Ghost was right beside him, his ears perked up excitedly. He said something to his dog when they were out of earshot, but Dany was glad she couldn’t hear.
Thanks for alerting me of how terrible that girl obviously is, Dany imagined Jon saying, I’ll split with her immediately. You’ll never have to see her again.
Dany hung back with Arya as Jon and Ghost recovered the stick and played fetch off in the distance. After a short silence, she gave Arya a look that must have said everything.
“It’ll be fine,” Arya said knowingly.
“I swear I’m usually really good with animals.”
“Ghost is just different. He’s really protective over Jon. He nearly bit a guy’s arm off for trying to fight with Jon. But, he’s otherwise really calm, though.”
“It feels like I’m trying to impress his child and failing. Can’t help but think that I may be dwindling my chances with this.”
“Don’t even worry about that. Jon once dated a girl who Ghost apparently really hated.”
“ Dated . Past-tense.”
“I’m sure he wasn’t the only reason why they didn’t work out.”
“You’re trying to make me feel better.”
Dany wanted to hide the disappointment in her voice, but it was loud and clear to Arya, whose face lit up with realization.
“Oh, wow. I get it now.”
“What?”
“It’s happening already.”
“What is?”
“You really like him a lot, don’t you? Like, legit fancy him.”
“Wha–,” Dany stumbled, “I mean… sure, in a casual way. Not like, you know… too seriously or–“
“Dany, please. You’re worried that he’s going to stop wanting to see you because his dog doesn’t like you.”
“So you agree that Ghost hates me.”
“Okay,” Arya said, rolling her eyes and pulling Dany’s arm. “Come on before you drive yourself insane.”
They linked back up with Jon and Ghost and continued on their walk. Dany was no stranger to fickle pets. Her bearded dragon, Drogon, was quick to snap at anyone he didn’t like. Seeing as that was unusual behavior for his species, Dany took to believing that Drogon could sense when someone was no good. She used his reactions as a guide to her feelings towards people. Self-fulfilling prophecy or not, Drogon was usually right in her eyes. But now, she found herself on the other side. Was she the “bad person” who failed the pet test? Did Jon take Ghost’s dislike to heart as much as she took Drogon’s? Her mind swam with scenarios as she walked in silence.
Sensing the nervous tension, Arya made it a point to steer the conversation to something lighthearted.
“Hey, Jon, I’ve got a question. If you could have any animal you want, what would you choose,” she asked.
“I can't imagine anything other than this one here. Maybe some kind of bird, I guess.”
“Something dark and dramatic, I'm sure,” Arya teased, “Like a crow.”
“Nothing wrong with a crow,” he responded.
“Yeah, alright,” she laughed. “I might like a cat. They’re sneaky, and that’s pretty cool. Dany, what about you? If you could have an animal besides a lizard – I know how you are with lizards – what would you have?”
“Oh, a dragon, for sure,” Dany blurted out matter-of-factly. Jon and Arya both looked quizzically at her. Even Ghost seemed to stop to question her. “What?”
“I just thought you'd say a lion or a horse. Something normal like that,” Arya chuckled, intrigued, “Why a dragon?”
“Why a dragon? Why not? They're the best,” Dany excitedly began, her entire mood suddenly lifted. “Have you never read stories about them? They’re seriously the most amazing creatures. And they're everywhere. Nearly every place I traveled had representations of them. Completely different continents. So many civilizations around the world have had dragons as an important part of their cultures for thousands of years and longer, even long before they communicated with each other. The fact that dragons are somehow so universal is so… fascinating. They're spectacular, really.”
She finally stopped herself when she saw everyone's faces. Dany had gone off on a tangent as she often had when dragons were being discussed. She had a tendency to become overly-enthusiastic about the lore much to the chagrin of people around her. And she'd done it again in front of Jon and Arya. Both gave amused half-smiles, though. Neither of them had seen her that giddy before.
“Sorry,” Dany chuckled bashfully, “I just think dragons are really cool.”
“I do, too, when you put it that way,” Jon smiled.
There was the smile. That sweet smile that eased her concern over the day.
“Dragons could still count as lizards,” Arya said in jest.
“Dragons absolutely do not count as lizards. No more than snakes do,” Dany answered definitively.
“They kind of do, though,” Jon added with a cheeky grin.
“You, too? Fine, I’ll keep all the cool dragons to myself then.”
They laughed for a moment, everyone finally in good spirits again, until Arya suddenly stopped and looked around. Her face quickly dropped.
“Where’s Ghost,” she asked.
Jon and Dany froze, as well, and glanced over to the empty space where Ghost was. He was nowhere to be found.
“Ghost,” Jon called out with no answer. He repeated his calls, growing more frantic each time. “Ghost? C’mon, where are you?”
Their eyes darted around the park for even a glimpse of white fur. However, in the span of only a couple of minutes, Ghost had clearly disappeared. All three of them took to shouting his name, Jon’s worry increasing every moment. The park was massive. Surely, there was no way he could’ve gotten too far. But, with all of the hidden trails and pockets, he didn’t have to go far to get lost.
“How did he slip away when he’s as big as a horse,” Arya asked rhetorically. Jon took a deep breath, trying to calm and focus, and think of a plan.
“We can split up. Give it about twenty minutes to look. If we don’t see him by then, we meet back here.”
Arya and Dany agreed and the three of them took off in different directions to track the missing dog down. Dany tried asking some people along the way if they’d seen him. A dog his size was memorable enough that someone would’ve noticed him. One woman shrugged. A man pointed out the wrong white dog. And an angry teen told her to piss off, a sentiment which she returned in kind. But, no one could actually help.
A small, maybe ridiculous, part of her wondered if Ghost ran off as a response to her. Had he disliked her so much that he ran away? Maybe he sensed her wariness of him and decided to leave all of them. As if she needed more to worry about with Ghost. And with Jon. He was distraught to find that Ghost was gone. More than being concerned for herself, she felt awful thinking of how hard it would be on Jon if they couldn’t find him. And as the minutes went on and she covered more ground, it was beginning to look like Ghost could very well, strange as it was, be gone.
She wandered down a small garden pathway of hedges, still calling his name to nothing but the trees and shrubbery, it seemed. Just then, Dany heard the faintest growling coming from nearby. She curiously followed it down an empty walkway before it led her to a small pond. There, at the edge of it, Ghost stood on the defense not paying any mind to her approaching. His ears pointed back as he now silently snarled at something near the water. She let out the deepest sigh of relief before something else struck her. What was he snarling at? Dany was almost nervous to confront what had such a fearsome beast so tensed.
“Hey, Ghost,” she spoke quietly as she approached and attempted to glance over his head. “What is it?”
His attention was solely on the thing in front of him. As she got closer a shape came into view. It was small and mostly dark brown in color except for its outspread bright red wings. It sat frozen on a rock, eyes defensively trained on Ghost. Once Dany registered the little lizard, she more confidently walked to it
“Is this what’s wrong,” she asked with a laugh. She carefully picked up the lizard and looked it over.
“I haven’t seen you since Indonesia. You’re very far from home, you poor thing.”
Ghost, as if he was taken aback by her bravery, looked on with an expression of shock and awe as she stroked her finger soothingly over the lizard’s back.
“Can I tell you something about this little guy?” Dany began and Ghost seemed to eagerly wait for an answer, “Draco volans. These are pretty common in Asia. I saw them all the time. He won’t hurt us. He looks a little scarier than he actually is. They’re really cool when they glide, though. Like a tiny dragon flying.”
Ghost tentatively moved his snout towards the lizard in her hands. The lizard allowed two sniffs before he took advantage of the gust of wind and let his wings carry him away. She didn’t see where he landed, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Ghost was found. She took a light hold of his collar to keep him in place and texted Jon to let him know where they were.
Waiting for the others to meet them, Dany sat cross-legged in front of Ghost, and they stared each other down. Not in the antagonistic way which he’d looked at her before. Rather in a curious way. In a way to call a truce long enough to understand each other.
“You really scared everyone, running off like that, you know?”
She never felt strange speaking to animals. She regularly did so with Drogon. And Ghost had a human-like quality in the way that he listened. She decided to take advantage of their alone time.
“You’re very protective over him, I see. You’re an effective guard.” Ghost sat up straight as if to agree and emphasize the point. “That’s a good thing, of course. You can keep him safe and away from shit people. I don't have any bad intentions towards Jon, though. None, at all. You have to believe me.”
Ghost continued to listen, so Dany continued to talk.
“He’s such a genuine guy. So many wonderful qualities about him. Much better than the guys I used to date. I really want this one to work out for the long term. And, I hope you and I can be friends, you know. I know I don’t have much experience with dogs. But, I’d love to learn if you give me a chance. See, the thing is I think I… I’m starting to… I really do care about Jon, and your bond means the world to him. Means a whole lot to me, too. What do you say? Can we start over?”
She reached her hand out again for him to sniff, which he finally did.
“I’m Dany.”
Ghost then laid down beside her, curling up against her leg. To her surprise, he placed his head and a paw in her lap. His head was admittedly heavy and his fur would certainly shed all over her dark jeans, but Dany only chuckled. Finally, she could see the softness that they’d spoken so much about. He really was a sweet albeit enormous animal.
Shortly after, Jon and Arya ran upon them and were equally shocked to see Dany gently petting a relaxed Ghost’s head. She grinned and shrugged her shoulders at them. Jon came over and scolded Ghost while hugging and scratching him, and Ghost returned scolding by licking his face. They stood to leave and, though Jon called Ghost to his side, Ghost stayed by Dany’s instead.
“Look at that then. He likes Dany more than you now, Jon,” Arya joked.
“Traitor,” he said to Ghost before grinning at Dany. “I’m alright with that, though. I knew he’d come around.”
It had been a long afternoon, and they decided it was time to head home. Arya walked in front, talking on the phone with Gendry and leaving Dany, Jon and Ghost behind. A day that was heading towards the beginning of the end of a potential relationship ended up igniting the spark between the two of them all over again. Dany knew it, and she could tell that Jon knew it, too. No longer feeling insecure with Ghost’s approval, Dany held her hand out to Jon in invitation. He took it, placing a quick kiss on her lips. On her other side, Ghost gently nudged her, almost pushing her even closer to Jon; urging them on.
Approved .