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Marshall ran around Chase excitedly, shoving his nose against Chase's fur. Chase glanced at him. "What?"
Marshall leaned forward, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a wide grin. "There's no missions today! Everyone has to stay inside because of a hurricane."
Chase flinched. "Is it going to get close to the Lookout?"
Marshall rolled his eyes playfully. "Of course I tell you that you have a day off and you start worrying. It's going around the outer edge of Adventure Bay. We don't have to evacuate or anything. It's just an added precaution." Marshall leaned against him like a puppy, while Chase held him off the floor with a bemused smirk. "We have to stay inside today." Marshall repeated. "That means we can't play fetch, or frisbee, or tug-of-war, but we can spend time together." He wagged his tail.
"Well, I can't say no to that." Chase teased, even though he'd made plans with Rocky to sort through his truck this afternoon. "Just, uh, on a schedule."
Marshall's ears drooped, and it took every ounce of his willpower to not blow off Rocky and every other plan he'd ever made in his life. "We can help Rocky together." He suggested. "Come on, Marshall, I promised."
"But then Rocky'll be there." Marshall protested.
Chase snorted. "What? Do you want to do something where we have to be alone?"
"No." Marshall muttered embarrassedly. "Not really. I just...want to spend time with you. Doing whatever. No distractions."
Chase's brain had a hard time comprehending those words. "No plans?"
"No plans." Marshall puffed out his chest in a show of exaggerated bravado, and Chase had to admit that it was adorable.
"You don't put me at ease just because you're cute." He mumbled. "Not making plans...it freaks me out."
To his horror, Marshall chuckled, and his ears lowered. "Are you laughing at me?"
"Sorry. I just think that's adorable. Are you really that insecure about life?"
Chase looked at the ground. "Yeah."
Marshall stared at him with pity in his eyes, and Chase mock-glared at him. "I'm okay, all right? I just...make plans to deal with my own inadequacy."
"Chase..." Marshall's voice warbled, and he immediately felt bad. "You're the bravest, smartest, strongest pup I know."
"You know that's not true." He protested. "Rocky's ten times as smart as I am."
"Here, let's try something, okay?" Marshall's voice softened, and it sounded like he was a dog that specialized in mental health instead of physical health. "Tell me something bad about me."
Chase blinked at him, frowning. "You can be a little clutzy sometimes, but you're so strong and brave that it doesn't matter. You're a little immature, but you're so fun to be around. You want to help people so much that you put yourself in danger and scare me half to death, but you're sweet, and kind."
Marshall chuckled, inurupting him. "See how for every negative thing you said about me, you said one positive? Now try describing yourself like that."
Chase balked. "But you're...you. And I'm me."
Marshall's gaze shone with hope. "Just try it."
"I guess I'm..." Chase could come up with a thousand negatives - perfectionistic, anxious, too cautious - but every positive thing he could dredge up didn't sound good enough. He helped people? So did the rest of the Paw Patrol. He was brave? He was scared out of his wits every time he went on a mission. "I guess I'm scared of losing control, and I overcompensate for that by trying to control everything, but you're helping me loosen up and..." He stopped talking, his ears flat against his head, as he saw the look of sadness in Marshall's eyes.
"How are you helping yourself? Don't focus on me. I'm not you." He leaned forward, against Chase's side, a comforting warmth that he never wanted to go away. "You didn't mention yourself when you were talking about me."
Chase thought about what he said when he was talking to Marshall, trying to figure out a pattern or a formula to what he said so that he could use it for himself. "I'm a control freak." He muttered bluntly, and then tried in vain to find some sort of positive that related to that. He was good at organizing things? Yeah, but he wasn't that good, or else the Paw Patrol would never make a mistake.
He was angry at himself, for being so stupid that he couldn't just...live life the way that Marshall, and Zuma, and everyone else could. No, he needed accommodations to deal with life itself. He needed plans, lists, and regulations to dictate his every move because he couldn't decide how to do anything himself.
He took a deep breath. Positive. He was supposed to be thinking positively.
"I'm....good at following rules." He finished lamely, even though everyone was, really, and he wasn't even the best at the only thing that he was good at. No, he wasn't supposed to be thinking like this. "I'm courageous." He breathed, though he didn't believe a word of it, but Marshall's wagging tail made him want to power through. "But I'm, um, also too cautious sometimes." Sometimes? Try all the time.
He focused on Marshall's face, and tried to breathe slowly, in and out.
"You're doing great!" He cheered, nodding encouragely. "Keep going."
"I'm a good police dog, I guess. I'm good at being with you." He spoke before he could stop himself.
Marshall smirked. "That was about me, but it was cute, so I'll allow it."
"More like cringey." He muttered under his breath before going on. "I...deserve you." He managed, blinking because his eyes had suddenly become irritated with held-in tears. "I make you a better dog, just by being me."
Marshall's voice softened. "You really do, Chase."
He tried desperately to not break down. He failed. He leaned against Marshall as though he was his lifeline. "Thanks, Marshall. You're more than I deserv-" He stopped himself. "Thanks for trying to help me. I should probably talk to Ryder about this, huh?"
Marshall nodded empathetically. "He can help you. I can too, but...he can help in ways that I can't."
Chase nodded. "Tommorow. Today, my schedule is all filled with time for just one dog."
Marshall didn't need to ask who.