Apocalypse Rebirth: Making Billions With My Fortune-Telling Skill

Chapter 108: A proper hug?

​The doctor didn’t need to be told twice. He scrambled backward until his lab coat hit the supply cabinets, clutching the syringe to his chest like a shield.

​Nat let out a sudden, loud bark of a laugh from the corner of the room, slouching against the wall in his borrowed tracksuit.

"Man, this is pathetic," he snickered, his chaotic eyes gleaming behind his shades. "To think a ten-million-dollars beast is throwing a tantrum over a little piece of metal. You’re already losing your reputation, Rufus. Where’s the pride I was seeing just now?"

​"Mr. Collins, your input is not exactly helping with the taming," April muttered back, not looking at him.

​She took a step closer to the stainless-steel table. Rufus immediately stopped his frantic skittering, though his ears remained tightly pinned back as he tracked her movement.

She sighed. She’s never had a pet before and she didn’t know the first thing about calming an animal. Maybe she should’ve been looking over animal guides instead of playing Winecraft the whole way here.

​Samuel stepped up from behind her, his hand instinctively reaching into his coat pocket where his private security device rested.

His eyes were cold, fixed entirely on the snapping jaws of the canine. "Miss April, if the beast lacks compliance under medical pressure, it may pose an unmanageable security risk for you. I can authorize a mild sedative dart from the vehicle."

​The moment the word sedative left Samuel’s mouth, Rufus’s head snapped toward the assistant, letting out a sharp, incredibly intelligent snap of his jaws in his direction.

​"No sedatives," April ordered, her tone flat and final.

​She reached into her sweater pocket, her fingers brushing against her phone and stepped right up to the edge of the metal table, completely ignoring the rows of sharp teeth.

She reached out her hand, her palm flat and open as she gently pressed it against Rufus’s broad, silver-furred chest.

"How do I calm you down?" she whispered and Rufus buried his face over her sweater.

The veterinarian blinked rapidly, snapping out of his daze as he looked at the terrifying dog currently acting like a giant, trembling puppy with its nose buried in April’s sweater.

​"M-Miss April," the vet stammered, swallowing hard as he carefully stepped forward, keeping the needle pointed safely away. "The microchip needle is quite thick. If you keep your posture that rigid, he’s going to sense the tension and snap again. Since he clearly adores you, try... I don’t know, giving him a proper hug? Pet him, talk to him like a normal companion. Let him take in your warmth so he ignores the prick."

​April’s hand froze in the dog’s fur.

​A proper hug? Talk like a normal companion?

​That concept too was foreign but not entirely. She recalled how she tried in the past, trying to make Lena relax when she was trembling, scared. She didn’t like the memory because it only brought back the faces of those she detested.

Still, she had been scared as well back then. So scared, but no one comforted her. Maybe it was because she pretended to be strong for the sake of it. Maybe that’s why they made her the bait, being the strongest out of their weak group.

She gritted her teeth, her face crunching for a second and her grip on the dog’s fur nearly tightened but she released the rage just as it surfaced.

She looked down at Rufus, who let out another soft, pathetic whine against her ribs, his massive frame still subtly trembling.

​Feeling incredibly awkward, April slowly bent her upper body over the metal table. She wrapped her arms around Rufus’s thick, muscular neck, pulling the massive canine into a tight, somewhat stiff embrace, similar to the one she had given him while rubbing his fur earlier, but this one was more... felt.

​The moment she closed the space, a sudden wave of immense warmth from his thick coat completely enveloped her.

Rufus wasn’t just hot-blooded; the divine creature possessed a soothing, almost physical aura of vitality that instantly seeped through her gray sweater, completely melting away the final, stubborn traces of her morning hangover.

​April blinked, her chin resting on his grey shoulder blade. He’s incredibly soft, she thought, her fingers automatically burying deeper into the plush fur, lightly smoothing it down.

​Under her touch, Rufus’s trembling finally stopped. The divine beast let out a deep, entirely content sigh, completely relaxing his heavy muscles against her chest as he locked his golden eyes onto the wall, totally checked out from reality.

​April kept her face buried in the coat for another second before cutting a sharp, sideways glance toward the vet.

​"Administer the chip now," she murmured into the fur, her voice flat but steady.

​"R-Right away!"

​The vet moved quickly. With Rufus completely neutralized by April’s warmth, the thick needle smoothly pierced the skin behind his shoulder blade, injecting the tracking microchip in a second.

Rufus didn’t even flinch; he just gave a lazy thump of his tail against the steel table, far too comfortable in his master’s arms to care about the needle.

​Nat let out a low, amused whistle from the corner, watching the stiff, awkward way April held the giant dog. "Look at that," he snickered toward Samuel. "Our cold little seer actually knows how to cuddle. Who would’ve thought?"

​Samuel merely adjusted his glasses, his expression entirely clinical, though his eyes softened by a fraction as he looked at April. "The health evaluation is complete, Miss April. I shall prepare the G-Wagon for our movement to the transit house."

"Yes, Samuel. Thank you," she said, her voice lightly muffled as she buried her face a little deeper into the furs, taking in more of the canine’s warmth.

As Samuel made his way out, April leaned back, her hand still resting on the dog’s head. "I didn’t know hugging with intent was so warm," she whispered. "Or is it because you’re not a normal beast?"

Nat watched and said, "Well, normal or not, the beast likes it and so do you. I guess you’ll be getting a lot of cuddles from now on." He smirked. "You seem to like it a lot."

But April did not respond to that. Whether she loved the cuddle or that she would do it more often, it was her business anyway.