A New Friend (Danil, Peter, Kyo, Nic)

[Angela]

It was a crisp, cool morning in January. Danil was up bright and early cooking breakfast for his family. He went to the patio to pull the curtains and blinds back. It was a beautiful sunny morning, though cold and snowing. He was surprised to find the backyard covered in about five inches of snow. He paused, went back inside, and turned on the television to see if there were any school delays. Sure enough, there were plenty flashing at the bottom of the screen. They were currently on the Bs. He went back and stirred the chopped potatoes, simmering in some butter and spices. When he glanced at the TV again they were on the Es. Danil added some spices to the sausage simmering nearby, and turned it over. By the time he was done doing this, and he looked at the TV again, they were finally on the Ps.

"Perry Elementary, 2-hour delay..." Danil read. He remembered Angela Rabatin, the pairs skater, saying that she had gone there as a little girl. Several more schools' names flashed by, and finally he saw it. "Pittsburgh Langley School District... Closed!" Danil grinned. Kyo had never experienced a real "Snow Day" as it was called. This called for a special treat!

But before he made anything new, he turned the stove's heat down, and went to Kyo's room. Softly, he opened the door. Kyo was still sleeping, thankfully. Danil smiled and reached over to the boy's alarm clock. He turned off the alarm, then paused to look at the sleeping young man once more.

He had never forgotten what he had thought about for the past several months since knowing Kyo. He had discussed it with Peter, too, and it was agreed that they would start looking into adoption in the spring, after Worlds. Danil would become a coach and choreographer at the rink, give seminars and workshops, anything to earn money for school, go to school, and try to be a veterinarian.

I can't wait to be a father, Danil thought, and looked at Kyo a moment more, before leaving him in peace.

Danil went back to the kitchen, and finished making breakfast. Peter came in, inhaling the seductive vapors of the food deeply.

"God it smells good in here!" Peter said with a sigh. He looked at Danil, who smiled. "Where's Kyo? Shouldn't he be awake by now?"

"Snow day!" Danil declared with a grin. "Just look outside!"

Peter went to the patiio and was heard saying, "Aww, man, I wish colleges had snow days!" He came in, sighing.

"Pete, why don't you get some more sleep? I think you can afford to miss one day. Go on, play hooky!" Danil said with a laugh. "I won't tell on you."

"Oh, nice, now that I'm up, you tell me to go back to sleep," Peter said sarcastically. But it was clear he was not really awake. His eyes were slightly bloodshot from a night of studying the night before. "Wake me in an hour or so..." he muttered as he slunk back to the bedroom.

Danil chuckled. Well, unlike Peter, he really was wide awake. Danil decided to pass the time by taking a walk around the vast yard. He put on his heavy sable coat, sable hat, wool mittens and scarf, and trudged outside through the back door, wearing his heavy leather and fur boots.

As Danil's feet trudged along the snow-covered yard, Danil heard a sound that he did not expect to hear. It was a dog crying. It surprised him to hear this because Zoloto was inside. It couldn't be her, he thought as he tried to find the source of the sound. As the sound got louder, which meant he was getting closer, the sound got more and more panicked.

"Here, dog," Danil called softly, soothingly, not wishing to scare the poor thing. "I won't hurt you. Come here..."

Danil found himself near the basement door. There were steps leading down it, and it was an area that was mostly sheltered from the snow.

Hmmm, he thought. If I were a dog, and it was this cold outside, I'd want to be right there.

Danil made his way down the stairs, and sure enough, the crying got even more panicked. Before long, Danil saw a ball of fur at the foot of the steps near the basement door. A head perked up and the dog barked and tried to get away, but found it could not move. Danil did not go any closer, but sat on the steps and spoke soothingly to the poor dog, who looked hurt.

"It's okay," he whispered, holding out his hand. He was close enough so that the dog could lick it-or bite it, whichever suited it best. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly as the dog moved its head to his hand. The dog cried a little and appeared to be shivering. "You poor thing," Danil said piteously. The dog licked his hand, probably smelling the food traces on it. With his other hand, Danil pet the dog's head.

The dog was small, perhaps the size of a large chihuahua, but had the look primarily of a beagle. It had brown legs and face, white chest, and black back. On closer inspection, Danil noticed it had a front leg that looked like it might have been broken. No wonder the dog could not move enough to get away, Danil thought. He noticed something else; the dog had no collar.

"Would you like to come inside, have something to eat?" Danil asked it, knowing that of course it could not answer him. The dog seemed to be more comfortable now with him, and wagged its stubby tiny tail.

Very gently, Danil reached out and picked the dog up, making sure not to disturb the broken right front leg. The dog, he discovered, was female. By the looks of her, she was definitely out of the puppy stage, and had some grey around her face, signifying that she was an older dog. Danil put the broken leg in one of his mittens, so as to get it out of the way and protect it for the time being. The dog cried a little and licked his hands as he took her inside through the basement door.

The large basement had a wood-burning fireplace heater, so it was toasty warm when they came in. The dog looked around its new environment curiously, and almost leapt out of Danil's arms when thundering was heard coming down the steps. Danil held her tightly, and said firmly, "Zoloto, sit!"

The golden retriever sat, but wagged her tail, looking at Danil and the new friend. She cried a little.

"Stay," Danil commanded, and walked towards the steps. As the steps were right behind Zoloto, the beagle-chihuahua mix grew frantic, but Danil managed to hold her fast. Zoloto had gone through obedience school, and was well-trained, so she stayed where she was, though she wanted to see who this newcomer was and sniff her. Danil started going up the stairs, and said again, "Stay." At the top of the stairs, Danil nodded and let Zoloto come up, then he shut the basement door.

In the kitchen, Danil turned from the door to face the kitchen table, to find that he was not alone. Kyo was already eating breakfast.

"Kyo," Danil said with a laugh. "What's the fun of a snow day if you can't sleep in?" To explain, he added, "A snow day is when school is canceled because the weather is too bad outside. You did not have to get up, son."

[Nicholas Wu]

Nicholas woke up lying on his stomach, feeling as congested as ever. Sometime during the course of January, he had caught a rather bad cold. He'd been taking antibiotics ever since, but it seemed like the cold was stubborn and wouldn't leave. He'd been having a hard time sleeping because of it and realized that he'd only woken up now because he was having trouble breathing, he was so congested. His nose felt completely blocked. He looked at his alarm clock (which he only used to display the time and not to actually wake him up) and saw that it was still early. Today he didn't have any early classes. He blinked, saw his mother's warm smile in the picture beside his alarm clock, then yawned.

He turned onto his side and closed his eyes again, but sleep did not return to him. Outside, bright light was filtering into the room. The light pierced his eyelids, and he groaned. It looked like he wouldn't be going back to sleep. Rolling over again, he lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. After a few minutes, he finally gave a long sigh, pulled back his blankets and climbed out of bed. The floor beneath his bare feet was extremely cold. He shuffled over to his bedroom window, looking out and squinting from the bright light. It was a beautiful day out (or so it seemed), but the snow had really piled up overnight! Nicholas wasn't sure if he had college or not (he assumed he probably still did), but he wondered if the trains would still be running for him to get into Pittsburgh. Even if they weren't, well...He was feeling not so hot. Maybe he wouldn't go to school anyway.

He turned from the window and moved back to his bed, pulling on his slippers. He figured the rest of the family was probably up already. Usually on this particular day, everyone but Nicholas had a very early start. It was the only day that he wasn't the first to leave.

He headed downstairs, unable to smell the delicious scent of breakfast cooking that was wafting into the attic. At the bottom of the stairs, he saw that the lights in the house were all on, except for a few rooms. The whole family must be up.

He headed towards the kitchen and entered, seeing two people already there. At the kitchen table was Kyo, eating his breakfast already. Near the basement door was Danil. He was holding a small dog in his arms. The dog wasn't Zoloto.

Nicholas looked at the dog curiously, then up at Danil.

"A...new friend?" he asked, confused. He sniffled.

[Kyo Suzuki]

Kyo woke up not because of his "Pikachu" alarm clock (upon which he had carelessly hit snooze), nor by his secondary, live "Danil" wake-up call. He awoke a little later than he normally would on a school day, and only because his blankets had fallen off and he was cold.
The first thing Kyo noticed was how bright his room appeared. It was oftentimes darker around 6:30 AM on a winter morning, but on this particular day, there was a very irridescent glow coming from his window.

No longer as tired as he had felt just minutes before, Kyo clambered out of bed, and stumbled over to the window, still tangled in his sheets.

Kyo sighed happily.

He was looking into something of a winter wonderland. Danil and Peter's beautiful, tree-covered backyard was entirely white--all the trees were covered in snow, as was the ground, and the parts of the roof that he could see...The sky was dropping delicate little snowflakes all over the place. Tokyo was very different from this in the winter. It had its own wintery beauty, but Kyo had to admit that the sight of the snow in a country-like setting was...well, to be honest, much more satisfying.

Kyo could hear the sound of television coming from another room, so he knew his host father had to be up. And if he hadn't come for him by now, Kyo realized, looking at the big, green ごぜん 6:35 on his alarm clock, then it was likely he wouldn't be at all.

Kyo pressed his face against the cool window and beamed.

A snow day? Hm, well, that was a rare occurrence in Japan. Schooling held such priority in Japanese society that oftentimes even the worst of snowstorms could not convince school heads to close down. At least, that was how Kyo saw it, and that was how it had always been at his school in Japan. Anyway, it was more exciting to experience an American "Snow Day." American schools already seemed to have some sense of leniency, and it was kind of cool for Kyo to get to see this much snow. He couldn't remember having ever seen so much. He wanted to just go outside and play in it.

At that instant, Kyo saw his host father Danil wandering around the yard. He attempted to get the man's attention by waving wildly, but it occurred to him that it was very dark in his room, and it would be difficult to see him from outside, as proven by the fact that Danil did not see him. Kyo shrugged and pulled a bathrobe around himself. Normally he would have gotten fully dressed before heading to the kitchen, but he felt quite lazy today. Perhaps it was knowing that there was no school.

Kyo did make his bed before he left his room and went into the kitchen, which was warm, but surprisingly empty. Normally Peter was up at this time...Kyo looked at clock. Yes, it was now 7 A.M. Ah, what did it matter? It was a nice, lazy day for everyone. He got himself something to eat, sat down at the kitchen table, and allowed time to pass him by as he enjoyed his meal. The sound of a door closing somewhere in the house alerted him to the fact that someone was awake and around. Perhaps Danil had come back in? Kyo strained his neck slightly trying to catch a glimpse of someone through the kitchen door.
Danil spotted him.

"Kyo," Danil said with a laugh. "What's the fun of a snow day if you can't sleep in?" To explain, he added, "A snow day is when school is canceled because the weather is too bad outside. You did not have to get up, son."

Kyo swallowed a big bite of his food and nodded his head. "Hai, good morning, I guessed this was so. It is rare occurrence at home, but I am happy to partake of it here." He sensed movement behind Danil, then beamed when he realized who else had decided to join them. "And I faced the winter chill, so I get up early--ohayo, Nic-o-san!"

"A...new friend?" Nicholas asked.

Kyo's eyes bulged as his gaze followed Nic's. He had mistaken the dog for some kind of winter muff--they were rather fashionable back home, and this "muff" was tiny and inconspicuous enough to be one. But now that he realized what the small, furry bundle really was...
Kyo immediately stood up and pushed his chair back. "That is...is...dog desuka?" Kyo rushed over to Danil's side to pet the animal, now that he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He looked down to Zoloto as though she could give him his answer, then returned his attention back to his host father. He had never seen a dog like this one before. He wondered if it was a traditional American breed...

"Dan-o-san, this is already day full of adventures. Where did the dog come from?"

[Angela]

Danil laughed softly at Kyo, and looked to Nic. "Yes, a new friend," he said to both of them. "This poor little girl was found by me near the basement door. She has a broken leg." He gestured to his mitten on the dog's broken front leg. "She's a mixed breed, I am sure of it. Beagle, chihuahua, maybe even Jack Russell. I'm not sure though. But the first two look like she could be. Poor thing looks so starved," Danil said sadly. "I have to call my vet, and see if we can find a temporary idea of what to do until the blizzard clears up. It's a good thing I worked in an animal shelter when I was younger." He had not really been able to look away from Nic, both out of respect to him as well as out of concern. "Nic, son, you look dreadful! Still under the weather, I see. Why don't you go lie down a bit, and I'll make you some hot oatmeal and some mint tea," he offered. "I'll make some soup for you later, if you like."

Zoloto was wagging her tail anxiously, excited to get to know this new friend. But because of her command, she still sat patiently, waiting to be commanded to come. The dog in Danil's arms was still shaking, licking Danil's hands and cried a little.

"It's okay," he said soothingly, trying to comfort her.

[Nicholas Wu]

Nicholas attempted a smile at Kyo’s warm welcome. “Hey, Kyo,” he said. He watched as the younger boy approached Danil, surprise etched into his features. Obviously, he had just noticed the new dog Danil was carrying. Kyo looked so interested in this new friend. Nicholas saw that he was speaking and could barely read the boy’s lips from the side.

"Dan-o-san, this is already day full of adventures. Where did the dog come from?"

Danil laughed softly at Kyo, and looked to Nic. "Yes, a new friend," he said to both of them. "This poor little girl was found by me near the basement door. She has a broken leg." He gestured to his mitten on the dog's broken front leg. "She's a mixed breed, I am sure of it. Beagle, chihuahua, maybe even Jack Russell. I'm not sure though. But the first two look like she could be. Poor thing looks so starved," Danil said sadly. "I have to call my vet, and see if we can find a temporary idea of what to do until the blizzard clears up. It's a good thing I worked in an animal shelter when I was younger."

Nicholas looked at the dog and immediately felt bad for her. He hadn’t realized she was hurt…especially so badly! He wondered if perhaps the dog was whining and he had missed it. He immediately felt stupid. He walked closer to the dog, examining her appearance. For a mixed breed, she was certainly a pretty one. Nicholas smiled. “She looks like a nice dog.”

Danil was still speaking, though now it seemed all his attention was on Nicholas. "Nic, son, you look dreadful! Still under the weather, I see. Why don't you go lie down a bit, and I'll make you some hot oatmeal and some mint tea," he offered. "I'll make some soup for you later, if you like."

Nicholas had noticed that Danil had been staring at him the entire time he’d been speaking, and now it made sense. Danil must have noticed he was sick. He blushed.

“I…you don’t…have to do that.” But he backed up, suddenly feeling like one big walking germ. It occurred to him that if he wasn’t careful, he could get everyone else sick too. He took a few more steps back, feeling sorry that he had been rude enough to not even consider everyone else’s feelings. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I, uh…I can go back to my room. I didn’t mean to get anyone sick; I didn’t even think about it. So sorry.”

He looked down, not meeting the eyes of Danil or Kyo. The only being he could see was Zoloto, wagging her tail and looking up at the dog in Danil’s arms. She looked pretty excited to have a new friend.

Realizing that he could just as easily get his classmates sick, Nicholas made the promise then to himself that he would instead spend the day inside studying, rather than go to school.

“I should just take some medicine…” he said, moving for the kitchen cabinets, where the cold medicine was stored. As he pulled out his medicine, a thought occurred to him. “Is there anything you can give the dog to make her feel less pain from her broken leg?” He doubted any medicine for humans could work on a dog, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

[Angela]

"Oh, Nic, you don't have to rush off. That was not why I offered it. I enjoy taking care of you both," Danil explained, looking from him to Kyo and back. "I just hate to see you sick, that's all." He walked over to Nic, and with one hand, offered him a seat at the table. "I'll make you something after I call the vet and see if there is anything I can do for this little lady." He was grateful to have Dr. Kolcheck's number on speed dial. He wasn't sure if anyone would be at "Camelot" animal hospital this day, but if not, he had the home phone number. With one hand, he picked up the phone and called the animal hospital known as Camelot.

"Camelot Animal Hospital and Sanctuary," a young woman answered, sounding stressed.

"My goodness, am I glad you're in," Danil said with a relieved sigh. "This is Danil Andropov. I found a dog who has a broken right front leg, she seems to be at least 7 years old, part beagle, part chihuahua I am assuming, about 15 pounds. I wonder if there is anything I can do here before I bring her in. I'm not sure honestly when I can come because the roads are covered with this blizzard."

The girl asked him to repeat slowly everything he said, and he did so. After a few minutes, she said that Dr. Kolcheck was not in yet, but pointed out that they were practically neighbors because they lived on the same street. Danil nodded, and the girl gave him tips to keep the dog comfortable until she could be brought in.

"Nic, Kyo, I need your help," he said with a smile. He knew they would both be eager to help. He carried the dog to where Zoloto's leash was kept, fitted it around the beagle mix's neck, and brought her into the living room with Kyo and Nic. "I'm going to call Dr. Kolcheck. He does not live far from here. I will need your help with this." He fitted the other end of the leach to a table, and tightened it just so that the dog could not move her head. She said to muzzle the dog, but he had no muzzle that would fit her. Hopefully it would be okay. "Kyo, get a bowl of clean warm water. Let's all wash our hands, and I'll get some bandages." He paused. "I think she'll need them." He pulled off themitten, and nodded sadly at the open fracture. "It's okay," he said gently to the dog, and left for a moment with the others to wash their hands and get supplies. "Okay, just hold her there." He spent a few minutes gently cleaning her leg with the water and a washcloth. After that, he bandaged the leg carefully, then removed the leash. "Dr. Kolcheck has a more blizzard-worthy vehicle, so we will probably go with him. You can both come with me, if you like." He smiled. "Watch over her, please, while I call."

Throughout her care, the dog whimpered slightly, but for the most part, behaved well. The dog definitely seemed to trust him, and Zoloto kept vigil beside them. Danil went to his phone and called the vet at home. After several minutes, the vet agreed to come, saying that his van could easily maneuver itself in the blizzard. Danil went to get dressed, and instructed the others to do the same if they wished to come. In his room, Danil woke Peter for a few minutes to explain what was happening, and said that they would be back shortly. He returned to the beagle, and sat with her for a few minutes before the doorbell rang.