Work Text:
“Hannu! Hey, Hannu, wait up!”
Hannu ignored the shouts and trudged on through the snow, burying his face further in his collar. Not now.
Unfortunately, Paju couldn’t read his thoughts, so she plowed ahead. “Hannu!” She reached for his arm, but he jerked it away so her hand caught his bag instead. The thin material split open, contents spilling out onto the snow.
Hannu whirled with a curse. “Dammit Paju! If any of that is broken—”
Paju stooped to help him gather the scattered objects. “Well if you’d just stopped when I called for you, this wouldn’t have—hey. What’s all this for, anyway?” She held up a bottle of cough elixir, one of three lying in front of her. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she took in the other things Hannu had been carrying: throat lozenges, tissues, packets of tea and cartons of chicken broth. A package of fever-reduction tablets caught her eye before Hannu could snatch it up. She leveled a stern gaze at him. “Hannu.”
Hannu glared at her. “It’s nothing. Go away, I can get this.”
Paju ignored his protest and continued to pick his groceries out of the snow. “This isn’t for you, if you were sick you’d be lying in bed, acting all pathetic. So how long has Ville had a fever?”
“I wouldn’t—he’s not—” Hannu’s protest died on his lips as Paju fished one last item from the snow and raised an eyebrow. “Two days,” he admitted.
Paju sighed. “And you thought hot dogs would help?” She handed the squashy package over.
“They’re his favorite,” Hannu muttered. He’d hoped maybe he could cajole Ville into eating something, and if he didn’t like the chicken broth maybe his favorite food would help. That was the scariest part—if Ville was refusing to eat, something must really be wrong. But it was none of Paju’s business. He could take care of Ville by himself.
Paju seemed to think differently. “Well what did the doctor say? Did he get a prescription? Is he contagious?” At Hannu’s blank stare, she added, “You did take him to the doctor, right?”
It was too much. Hannu grabbed the last of his items and stomped off toward his house. “Leave me alone, Paju!” He could hear her struggling to her feet behind him.
“Hannu! Don’t you dare walk away, we’re not done talking about this!”
“Yes we are!” He put on a burst of speed, just enough to reach the house ahead of her and slam the door behind him. Muffled shouts and pounding fists followed, but Hannu was home safe. He heaved a sigh and leaned against the wall. And I thought this couldn’t get any worse. It’s bad enough that Ville’s so sick. The last thing I need is Paju sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. She’s asking all the questions we can’t answer.
A faint voice from the bedroom brought him back to his senses. “Hannu…?”
Hannu dumped his armful of cough syrup and questionable meat products on the table. “Coming, Ville!”
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. When Paju got the bit between her teeth, nothing could stop her. So Hannu wasn’t surprised when she showed up again two hours later with the Kuikka twins in tow.
“Hannu, if you don’t open this door right now we’re going to break it down! I’m serious, we brought a log to smash against the door and—”
He swung the door open before Paju’s hand could touch it. The Kuikka twins paused in the act of hefting a jagged tree limb behind her.
“You actually brought a battering ram? You did.” Hannu shook his head. “And people say you’re the responsible one, Paju.” He opened the door wider, but put a hand up to stop them from entering. “Only if you can be quiet. He’s asleep.”
The three of them filed in, taking exaggerated care to muffle the noise as they kicked off boots and shook the snow from their coats.
“Do you think it’s okay to leave that log on his front steps?” Jonna whispered.
“We should probably take it with us when we leave,” Joona replied. “And I told you we could have just come in through the window, but noooo…”
“Both of you shut up!” Paju snapped. In a more normal voice she added, “Hannu, you’d better be taking us to see how Ville is.”
Hannu hesitated. He had been planning to take them to the kitchen and feed them a pack of lies along with their coffee, but...maybe it would be better to get someone else to look at Ville. By now Hannu was so sick with worry that he couldn’t tell if his roommate was improving or growing worse. So instead of leading them away from the bedroom, he motioned for silence and opened the door.
Ragged breathing greeted them. As Hannu’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw the room as his friends must be seeing it: piles of laundry that Hannu hadn’t had time to get to, a small army of mugs and water glasses clustered near the bed, and Ville’s pale face cocooned in crumpled blankets. That face was all that mattered to Hannu; the mess was nothing, by comparison. But he knew his friends were probably seeing the clutter and the way the beds were pushed together in the middle of the room and drawing conclusions he’d been trying to avoid. Well, none of that makes any difference now. They can think whatever they want, if they have any ideas for how to help Ville get better.
Whatever they may have been thinking, no one said anything about the state of the room. Paju pushed past him and laid the back of her hand on Ville’s forehead. “He’s burning up! Hannu, has anyone seen him? A doctor could—”
Hannu shook his head. “No, he can’t...I’m not going to explain it in here, okay? If you really want to know, I’ll tell you in the kitchen.” He stood aside to let Paju pass, pausing to place a damp cloth on Ville’s forehead. “Hang in there,” he whispered, “you’re going to feel better soon, I promise.” He wished, for once, that lies didn’t come so easily.
In the kitchen, Paju joined Jonna and Joona at the table and folded her arms. “All right, Hannu, spill it. What’s going on? Why on earth haven’t you taken Ville to a hospital, or had a doctor come look at him? He’s obviously really sick, even you must be able to see that.”
Hannu’s grip tightened on the coffee mug he was pulling from the cupboard. He set it on the table harder than he intended, rattling a stack of unwashed plates. “Of course I can see that!” he snapped. “But I can’t take him to a doctor, okay?”
“Why not?” Paju demanded.
“Does he hate doctors or something?” Jonna asked.
Joona snorted. “Even if he does, I think by now you could probably just haul him to the doctor anyway. It’s not like he can fight you off—”
“He doesn’t hate the doctor,” Hannu said. “Well, I guess he might, but that’s not the problem. I can’t take him there because they’ll ask for his personal identity code, and he doesn’t have one.”
“His personal…” Paju trailed off. “You mean, he’s not a Finnish citizen? But then, where is he from? I’m sure if you show them his papers they can—”
Hannu shook his head. “He doesn’t have papers either, okay?” He had all of their attention now; time to see if he could pull off the lie. “Look, you may have noticed Ville gets...confused, sometimes.”
They nodded, exchanging glances that spoke volumes. He knew they’d noticed; he’d overheard them talking when they thought he wasn’t paying attention. Everyone was curious about where Ville came from, why he didn’t know things he was supposed to and how on earth he’d managed to meet Hannu. In a town this size, it would be surprising if there wasn’t speculation about Ville. Since no one would ever believe the truth—because “he used to be a dog” sounded crazy even to Hannu, who knew it for fact—they’d spent the past year evading nosy questions. But that wouldn’t work anymore. He had to give them something.
“The thing is...Ville isn’t from here. We think he might be Swedish.”
Joona said “Ha!” at the same time as Paju said “We think?”
They stared at each other for a moment, then Joona spoke. “I thought he might be Swedish. Jonna thought Norwegian, so she owes me a round of cleaning duty.”
Jonna grimaced, and Paju threw her hands up in exasperation. “Well that’s great, but what do you mean you think he’s Swedish? And why doesn’t he have papers?”
It wasn’t hard for Hannu to feign a weary sigh. “It’s his memory. He can’t remember a lot of what happened early in his life, but there must have been something bad. He’s been getting better, but sometimes he still slips and forgets things. I know it seems crazy,” he said, before someone else could point it out, “but you’ve seen how he is. He’s perfectly fine in every other way, he just has a lot of gaps. I’ve tried to get him to remember how he ended up in Finland without any paperwork, but” he shrugged, “it isn’t coming back to him. We don’t even know his real last name. And if he came here to get away from a bad situation...I’m not sure we should go looking for it.”
Silence followed. The other three stared at him for a long moment. Then Paju said, “Wow, that’s—” she paused to collect herself, and for a heart-stopping moment Hannu was sure she was going to say “a load of crap”. But instead she said, “—so sad. Hannu, how could you keep that from us? We could have helped you! That kind of trauma can have all kinds of effects you might not notice, and Ville should definitely be in therapy or something. Maybe he can get refugee status? Or no, that’s hard if you don’t know where he came from, and there’d be all kinds of questions…”
Hannu shook his head. “No, we didn’t want to drag anyone else into it. Ville just wants to live a normal life, he doesn’t need a big fuss about it. And he really is fine, except for now...well, he can’t go to the doctor without a personal identity code. And I don’t know how we can get one for him.” That was the crux of the matter, really. It was why Ville couldn’t get an official job at the bakery or travel outside of the country for vacation. As far as the Finnish government was concerned, he didn’t exist.
Jonna tapped her spoon on the edge of her mug, the way she did when she was thinking hard about something. “Well, it might take a while, and it won’t do much good if he doesn’t get better soon, but...I don’t think it’s impossible for him to get a personal identity code. We can’t forge that, but there are other things we could get that would serve as proof of identity so he could apply for citizenship.” She shared a look with Joona. “We might know some people who could put us in touch with someone who could get some identity papers from Sweden.”
Hannu blinked. That idea hadn’t even occurred to him. “Really? Do you think you could...but no, would that be enough for him to get citizenship here?” He tried to squelch the hope rising in his chest. Even with the proper paperwork, it would still take time—time that Ville didn’t have—to get his citizenship. But if Ville could get through this illness on his own, then maybe...maybe they’d be ready for the next time he got sick. And he could get a job, get an education, or even travel if he wanted. He could have a future.
Joona and Jonna exchanged another loaded glance, but it was Paju who answered. “Well, probably everything will go more smoothly if he has a reason to be here. Maybe he could marry someone. They’d have to give him citizenship then, right?”
In spite of the serious situation, the twins lit up with gleeful grins. “Ooh, a wedding! Time to play matchmaker, who wants to marry Ville?” Joona said.
Jonna chuckled. “I could do it, but I have to ask Riikka first. We were talking about getting married next summer, but...I’m sure she wouldn’t mind waiting if it meant helping Ville. Or hey, maybe you could do it, Joona! Ville can come live with us, one more won’t make much of a difference.”
Hannu bristled. “What? No way, Ville’s not going to live with you, he’s scared of Oona!”
Paju rolled her eyes. “Well, I suppose I can do it. My parents will think it’s awfully sudden, but I’m sure I can keep them from asking him too many questions.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Hannu growled. “If he’s marrying anyone, it should be me, he already lives here and nothing would have to change.” He stopped, seeing the other three wearing identical smug grins. “What? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Did you hear that? Hannu wants to marry Ville! Isn’t that the sweetest thing?” Jonna cooed.
Joona slapped Hannu on the back. “Congratulations buddy!”
Paju leaned her chin on her hand, looking like a proud parent. “Who would have guessed that Hannu would be the first of us to get married? He’s grown up so much.”
Hannu pushed out of his chair. “Okay, if you’re just going to make jokes you can get out, I have a sick roommate to take care of. Ville probably needs more water.”
“Hannu, wait, come back,” Paju said. “We’re only teasing you. Look, if the twins think they can get Ville that paperwork, I think we have a plan. But none of it will work if Ville doesn’t get better right now, so...let us help. You need to take care of yourself, too.”
Hannu wanted to argue, but it seemed like too much work. He slumped against the wall. “Fine. Whatever.”
Paju gathered the stack of dirty plates from the table and headed for the sink. “Right. Jonna, go get the rest of the dishes from the bedroom. Joona, see if you can find something edible in this place. Hannu could probably use a decent meal. And you,” she nodded at Hannu, who hadn’t moved from the wall, “go lie down. You won’t be any good to Ville if you make yourself sick from worrying about him.”
Hannu trailed after Jonna, feeling overwhelmed and just a tiny bit grateful. Not that he would ever admit it, but it was good to have someone else take charge for a while. Paju might drive him crazy, but she knew how to get things done. Maybe she could even nag Ville into getting better.
Ville ran, covering far more ground on four legs than he ever could have on two. Which was strange, because no matter how fast he ran it seemed like Hannu always kept ahead of him, too far away to reach. When had Hannu gotten so fast? Or had Ville gotten slow? He remembered, suddenly, that he had seemed slower ever since he became a human. But that was strange too; why wasn’t he human now? Where was he, anyway? It was like he was running through the woods surrounding the town, but all the distances seemed much longer. He couldn’t get anywhere he wanted to go. Whichever direction he chose, he kept ending up at the water’s edge.
“Go on, jump in. I dare you.”
Ville whirled around. His hackles rose when he saw who had spoken. “No! I’m not doing anything you say ever again!”
Puppy-Fox backed away. “Aww, don’t be like that! We had some good times, didn’t we?”
“Maybe you did!” Ville growled. “I got turned into all kinds of crazy things, and Hannu almost died!”
“Hmm. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway, because it’s not like you’re going to be around much longer. If you jump in the water now, you’ll get where you’re going a lot faster,” Puppy-Fox said.
Ville flattened his ears. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t want to go in that water, I want to wake up! This is another dream, isn’t it? What have you done with Hannu, why isn’t he with me?”
Puppy-Fox circled Ville, grinning wide enough to show all his teeth. “Oh, he’s not supposed to be here. He’s awake, doing his boring human thing I’m sure. But you. You’re about to go on the most exciting journey of your life! Or...well, the last journey you’ll ever take, I guess. Jumping in the water would be a pretty great way to go, plus it’s the fastest way to Tuonela. Much quicker than the dragged-out road you’ll probably have to take otherwise.”
Ville felt a shiver pass through him despite his fur. “That’s the entrance to Tuonela? But that’s where people go when they...oh.” He remembered, vaguely, that he hadn’t been feeling well. He’d been in bed for a few days, and Hannu had taken care of him. After that, things got confusing, just flashes of light and noise, burning heat followed by chills. Hannu had looked more and more worried, even though Ville kept telling him he was fine. And now…
“Tuonela,” he said again. “No, it can’t be. I’ve only been human for a year, and they live for ages. I haven’t even gotten to the end of a dog’s lifespan yet!”
Puppy-Fox yawned. “Even young humans can get sick and die. So sad, sorry for your loss and all that, but you really aren’t missing much. Better just hop in the lake and get it over with.” He stood up and trotted back and forth in front of Ville, as though demonstrating how easy it would be to simply get up and jump into the water.
“No!” Ville snapped his head out and caught Puppy-Fox by the tail. Puppy-Fox squealed and struggled to get away, but Ville held him fast.
“What are you doing? Leave me alone you bully, I didn’t even do anything this time! Owowow, that hurts, he’s hurting me! Someone help!”
A rush of wings sounded above them, and a voice filled the air. “What is going on down there?!”
Ville released Puppy-Fox’s tail and backed away. “N-nothing!”
“He’s lying, he tried to kill me!” Puppy-Fox whined. “Kokko, you should let me throw him in the lake!”
“I didn’t try to kill him!” Ville protested. “He was trying to get me to jump into the waters of Tuonela, even though I don’t want to die!”
The eagle glared at them. “I don’t care which of you tried to kill the other, you’re clearly up to no good again. Puppy-Fox, aren’t you supposed to be doing chores?”
Puppy-Fox shifted his paws. “I was just taking a break, Kokko. I wasn’t doing anything bad, I swear!”
Kokko waved her wing, and Puppy-Fox floated off the ground. “I think you’d better be getting back to them, before I tell your mother where you’ve been.” With another rustle of feathers, Puppy-Fox disappeared in a swirl of stars. Kokko turned back to Ville. “And you. You aren’t supposed to be here.”
Ville whimpered. “I didn’t mean to! I’m not even supposed to be a dog anymore! At least...I don’t think I am?”
The eagle ruffled her feathers. “Whatever form you take, I can’t have you hanging around here to distract Puppy-Fox from his punishment. Better go back to where you came from.” She waved her wing, and the world dissolved.
Shapes formed in front of Ville’s eyes, gradually growing more solid. He blinked, re-focused, and blinked again to make sure of what he saw. “H-hannu? When did you get a beard?” His voice came out as a croak, and it hurt his throat to speak.
The person sitting by the bed leaned forward, and Ville realized it wasn’t Hannu, it was Joona. “Hey, you’re awake! Let me go see if Hannu’s still sleeping—he was up half the night watching over you, before we convinced him to take a break.” He stood, then paused and added, “oh, and let me be the first to congratulate you on your upcoming marriage. I’m sure you’ll be very happy!” With that he left the room, leaving Ville to stare at the empty chair. Marriage? Am I still dreaming? It doesn’t feel like a dream, it feels like I got hit by a truck. Was I really that sick?
Before he had time to sort anything out, Hannu appeared in the doorway. “Ville!”
“Hannu, what—” He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence; Hannu was holding a glass of water to his lips.
“Can you drink this? Your fever broke in the middle of the night, but you still need lots of fluids."
Ville let Hannu help him drink, then leaned back on the pillows. “Hannu, I had a dream that I was supposed to go to Tuonela. Puppy-Fox was there.”
Worry creased Hannu’s forehead. “You had a really high fever. I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t take you to the doctor.” He heaved a shuddering sigh. “I thought you were trying to go to Tuonela too.”
Ville swallowed hard. “No, I wouldn’t—”
“He’s awake! That’s great, we brought more soup!” A babble of voices rose from the direction of the front door. Moments later, Joona returned with Jonna and Paju at his heels. They all seemed so happy to see him, unlike Hannu who looked like he’d just sucked on a lemon. Still, he didn’t say anything, just let them chatter on about chicken soup and clean dishes and something about paperwork. Ville found it cheering, to see all of them so concerned about him, but he was still so tired, and he wanted to talk to Hannu. Eventually he interrupted the stream of well-wishes to croak out a request for some quiet. “I think...I might want to sleep again,” he managed.
Instantly the visitors shuffled towards the door, shushing each other and getting in each other’s way. Hannu watched them go, nodding absently as Paju gave him a last-minute lecture on what to do with the soup in the kitchen, then closed the door behind them. As soon as they were gone he sagged with relief.
“Ugh. They annoy the hell out of me sometimes.”
Ville frowned. “But...they were helping you? You never ask for help.”
“I didn’t ask for it this time either, they just showed up,” Hannu grumbled, shuffling cups around to make space for the mug of tea someone had given him. He started for the chair, but Ville reached for him.
“No, wait, can you...don’t sit all the way over there. I’m not that contagious, am I?”
Hannu dropped onto the bed with a sigh. “You probably aren’t contagious at all, if you’re sick with something I’ve already had. That’s why it got so bad—you haven’t ever been sick as a human, so you aren’t immune to anything.” He dropped his head into his hands. “What a nightmare. When this is all over, I’m making you get so many vaccinations.”
Everything about Hannu’s posture indicated that he was as exhausted as Ville was. And Hannu wasn’t even sick. Ville pushed himself up, careful to make sure he wouldn’t collapse, and shifted to the side. Hannu frowned down at him. “What are you doing?”
“Making space. Come on, you look so tired.” Ville slumped down again. Hannu’s mouth set in a stubborn line, but Ville knew how to be stubborn too. “Please? I don’t want to be alone if I have another bad dream.”
Hannu scowled harder, then relented. “Fine.” He stretched out next to Ville. “But I’m not tired, I’m just doing this to humor you.”
Ville smiled. If Hannu was lying, he must be feeling better.
As he started to drift off, Ville remembered one more question he had to ask. “Hannu...when I woke up...Joona said I was getting married. Was that part a dream too?”
He knew the answer even before Hannu opened his mouth, because the expression on Hannu’s face told him everything. “Joona is a dead man.”
Ville patted Hannu on the shoulder; the effort tired him out, so he left his arm draped over Hannu’s side. “Aww, don't kill Joona, I think it’s nice. I’ll be glad to finally have a last name like a real human. When are we going to have the ceremony?”
“I didn’t even say who you were marrying, why would you assume it’s me? And it’s not like it’s a big deal, we’re just doing it so we can get the government to let you have a job and healthcare. Just another one of our lies, that’s all.”
Ville ignored this. “So when? Can we have flowers? And cake?”
“Ville!”
He ignored that protest too, and leaned forward to rest his head on Hannu’s shoulder. “You should be nice to me, I’ve been sick.”
“You’re still sick,” Hannu grumbled. He didn’t pull away though. “And you’re probably going to get snot on my shirt.” They were quiet for a while, then he added, “Anyway, we can’t do anything until the twins get you fake identity papers. They think you’re Swedish, by the way. Do you know any Swedish?”
“Ja? That’s yes, right? I know one word, does that count?”
Hannu groaned. “Ugh, Ville. We’re going to have to teach you how to lie better. Remind me why I didn’t just let the fever take you to Tuonela?”
Yes, Hannu was certainly back to his normal self. Ville might not be yet, but he would get there. “Because everyone else makes you grumpy,” he countered, “and you would miss me too much.”
Ville really was falling asleep now, and he suspected Hannu was too. But he thought he heard one last whisper, right before his eyes closed. “Yeah, I would.”