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Dipper lies close to his Grunkle Stan, his sore body shivering. The older werewolf curls up tighter around the pup, hoping to at least ease the boy’s pain a little.
“How you feeling now?”
“It hurts less but that’s not saying much.” He presses his body against Stan’s.
“I can grab something upstairs if it makes ya whine less.”
“No, we have to stay down here until they’re back.” Dipper groans.
Stan shoots an annoyed glance at the pup, flashing a fang. He buries his head between his arms.
“I’m not planning staying cooped up in the basement for the next few nights, or my life.”
“We’re not going to be down here every night, just on real bad nights.”
Dipper rolls a bit further to his side, and he is harshly reminded why he didn’t try getting too comfortable before. A surge of pain shoots through him, throbbing. He winces as he gives out a loud cry of pain.
The older werewolf pops up; his ears perk as he stands on fours lowly, appearing quite startled. He stares down worriedly at his great-nephew.
Seeing the boy’s leg twitching, Stan sniffs the pup’s leg, inspecting it. He pulls back his head with concern and bewilderment on his face, lying back down steadily.
“You do ok fighting those wolf guys off then they bite your leg and suddenly you’re helpless?”
“That guy really dug his teeth into it…agh.”
The boy carefully leans deeper into his Grunkle’s fur. At least the warmth from the large werewolf helps ease his sores at least.
“And then the hunters decide to show at the same time.” Dipper growls slightly.
“I probably should have torn off that were-jerk’s leg for what he did. They’re lucky I didn’t decide to rip them apart at the time.”
“Uh…yeah.” he doesn’t bother to hide his uncomfortable tone.
His body flinches as Stan readjusts in his spot and places a large arm over him.
“I don’t blame ya if you’re tired from fighting back. It’s good to sleep it off before going back in the ring.”
Unconsciously, Stan finds himself stroking the younger werewolf’s back.
“I just want a break.” The young werewolf whimpers.
“Don’t blame ya.”
He curls around the pup again, his eyes staying on Dipper. Stan’s left ear lowers uneasily, giving the kid a questioning growl.
Dipper answers with another weak groan.
“Your wounds aren’t that bad. You’ve been through worse, come on. This is nothing compared to the others.”
“It hurts to breathe…”
Stan raises his head.
“Now, you’re telling me this now?”
“I thought it wouldn’t hurt by now, you would tell me to tough it out anyway.”
“You didn’t need to impress your old man; you’ve pulled it off a few times already. Try lying out flat, it might help.”
Dipper gives a short cry of pain as he moves slightly, looking very weak.
The kid isn't exaggerating. He really isn’t breathing right.
Stan cringes, keeping his body tightly against his great-nephew.
“Here, just lie close to me again. I’ll keep ya warm, keep you safe.”
“I think I bruised my ribs.”
“Shut up and rest kid, you need to breathe.”
“Talking is still breathing.” He mutters.
Stan glares and bumps him rather harshly.
“You’re sounding like Ford; I don’t need a smaller version. He’s enough trouble as it is. And you’re causing enough as it is, doubling that with that curse of yours!”
His ear twitches, picking up the boy’s quiet laugh. That caught him by surprise admittedly. He is not usually so easily humored, especially now of all things.
“I want to sleep for once without you stressing me.” The old wolf grumbles.
Silence passes but only briefly.
“How…how do you feel now? I mean from fighting the other werewolves?” Dipper asks curiously.
“I don’t feel a thing! Their scratches are nothing to me kid. You get used to this sort of stuff after several beatings.”
Dipper’s nose twitches, eyeing Stan’s very visible wounds.
He can still smell the blood, and the old man is twitching in some areas.
Figures he would lie.
But he decides not to bring it up; he’s not going to hurt his Grunkle Stan’s pride as well.
“Bet they regret cursing me; you saw the one with his tail between his legs?”
“You almost tore it off.”
“Wasn’t trying too, he got in the way of that other mutt. It’s nothing but a twig with fur, I just snap at anything that passes by my mouth.”
“They’ll just kick you in the face if you try that again.”
“I’ll drag them by the leg if they try that.” Stan chuckles. “You had a weird way of fighting those guys, kept running around them like nuts before attacking them; you could have worn them out before you landed a bite on them. I have to tell ya, it’s hilarious watching them trying to go after you.”
“Grunkle Stan.”
“Now what?”
“Thanks for shielding me back there.”
Stan’s smile vanishes, replaced with an unreadable expression. He nuzzles the kid’s head and places his snout next to his nephew’s, pulling the kid close to his shaggy body protectively.
“Didn’t want them to eat you alive back there. I can’t afford to get you torn up by those guys every time; you nearly gave me a heart attack with the last few close calls.”
Dipper smiles. He rubs his head against Stan with a whine mixed with a growl.
“Ford better get his sorry butt back soon.”
The large beast nudges the pup, closing his eyes.
And a low, drawn-out whine disturbs the old werewolf’s rest.
Stan’s ear flicks, he eyes his nephew with confusion.
“Was that supposed to be a howl?”
“I had the thought of doing it, and it kind of slipped out.”
“Now I feel like doing it, but I dunno, we might bring attention…but we’re underground, heck I hid a portal under here without anyone finding out…” he trails off quietly.
A calm feral expression flashes across Stan’s eyes, steadily raising his head.
“Don’t…”
The old werewolf releases a long, loud howl, his focus and expression going into a trance-like state.
Dipper opens his mouth, wanting to tell Stan to keep his voice down. But his body ultimately gives in to his instincts, and a howl escapes him instead.
Both somber sounding as they pour their heart and soul into it.
Dipper tells himself in his head that he should quit, but…the soothing sound puts his mind and body at ease, lulling himself.
It has a sort of magic that keeps him at peace, and his Grunkle is kind of right.
No one can hear them down here…hopefully.