woof woof motherfluffer
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Wherever you are in the Holy City on the eve of martial law, whatever business you were going about, something catches your attention: a high-pitched yelp, a loud crash, or maybe just the frantic blur of paws. The point is, you are now looking at a small orange dog crawling out from behind an overturned bin. Asgard does have strays, but whether or not you're familiar with the ones in this area, this one might be hard to recognise. Besides, it looks a little too well-groomed to fit in with them even as it scrabbles to remove a discarded paper bag from its head, and a lot too disoriented. And it seems to have a collar -
- wait, is that a collar? Some collars do have stones inset into them, but...
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One way or another, you have successfully identified the strange dog, which he's pretty relieved by, and life goes on. Unfortunately... well, life goes on, and biological processes with it.
Not necessarily that one, though. This whining and pawing at your ankles could mean anything, after all.
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The metalworks scattered around town have been getting more and more business as tensions rise and more people sense the need to protect themselves. For the young native woman at this particular shop, today hasn't been too different. But right now it's quiet, so, she's on break: her door is propped wide open, for whatever little respite it offers from the heat of the forge, and she's lounging just outside.
She gives you an amicable nod as you pass by, completely ignoring the small fluffy dog nonchalantly padding up to her from the other side of the street. Sure, you don't usually see many pets or strays in this area, but it's not a suspicious sight or anything, is it?
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All of a sudden, the door handle you were reaching towards turns by itself and bursts violently outwards.
Once you recover from the surprise or worse, you imagine you can hear a small squeak, which might sound almost apologetic or might just be the canine equivalent of snickering, but you can't see the source. How mysterious.
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idk look he's a Pomeranian now let's just do this thing
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What's this? A stray?
[As if. He recognizes the bracelet, even if he doesn't immediately know who it is.]
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This is lost on the native woman, although it's enough to finally make her take notice. She looks down at the dog curiously. Aww, isn't it cute how its legs are going every which way like that?]
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That bracelet color, too...]
Real friendly, isn't he? A little too friendly if you ask me. We'll probably have to take him to the vet soon...
[He keeps his tone light as he casually drags Yosuke into his arms in a very firm grip.]
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His squirming briefly intensifies, but it's too little too late - just as Yuusuke sweeps him up from the ground, the woman gives the two of them a sympathetic nod and heads back inside. So he ends up going limp, his ears drooping.]
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Nice try. Sneaking up on some unsuspecting lady is kinda rude, don't you think?
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... Actually, where is Sagami going?]
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[Not that there was really much question on that to begin with. He seems to be taking a very meandering path to nowhere in particular.]
Now the question is just who you are... Maybe we should play twenty questions to figure it out? Bark once for yes, twice for no.
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[It's only half a shot in the dark. But if he's right, the reaction should be worth it.]
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And more to the point, why the hell is the kid still grabbing onto him!?]
Woof! [His feet are a blur.] Woof woof, woof!!
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Thought so. Keep wiggling around like that and I'll have to get you a leash, you know!
[Is he joking? Hopefully he's joking.]
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Presently, and very quietly, he whines again.]
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So which god did you piss off to get this kind of treatment, anyway? Odin?
[...Is the first one to come to mind for him, at least.]
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[...Is that the park up ahead? Oh, that's not too bad.]
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He's not completely distracted, though - the instant Yuusuke glances towards the park entrance, he starts wriggling again, hoping it's enough for him to make a break for it.]
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You know what? Sure.
If Yosuke wants to escape so badly, he'll just go ahead and let the tiny dog drop without any warning at all.]
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...Ow?]
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[He crouches down and gives Yosuke a few "apologetic" pats on the head.
To make matters even better(?), Shirou has turned up out of nowhere and is currently watching Yosuke with some curiosity. Why does this weird dog smell like that one human?]
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Still, eventually, he does recover his footing. He shakes himself off, lets out a noise that could almost be a sigh - and bolts, with impressive speed for such little paws.
If considerably less impressive attention to the direction he's running, or whether any cats happen to be in it.]
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What, you're not even going to enjoy the park for a while? And after all the trouble I went through to bring you here, too.
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[What's there to do in the park of all places? He can't see any girls around...]
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[And yes, a noticeable lack of ladies at the moment given it's mid-day.]
I'm sure Shirou would even be kind enough to keep an eye on you the whole time. Isn't that nice of him?
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Alright, now he knows he's getting out of here - just as soon as he manages to dislodge this stupid cat.]
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What, the park isn't good enough? I kinda figured you're a little too tiny to take on the forest by yourself, but if you really prefer it...
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But then an idea occurs. Yeah, it's a long shot, but it's better than just being sat on forever. He stops his squirming again, just long enough to shoot a glare up at the offending cat... and then to mentally picture it being tugged away.]
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However, Yosuke may also notice his collar appears to be pulling him towards the ground. He can probably scramble to his feet again, but it's certainly not letting him get anywhere.]
Now that's not very nice!
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...The dog looks unhurt, but what's a nice dog like them doing in the trash?]
You okay?
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...Little help, here?]
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Just a stray dog, apparently. She doesn't bother to get a decent look at it as she plans to continue her path home, fresh food for dinner in hand.
But Naoto isn't as nonchalant as she might want people to believe and watching him struggle with that paper bag fills her with a familiar sense of pity. She steps close to him, hoping not to startle him, and pulls the bag off its head. It was probably a poor idea. Stray dogs might bite, but... well. It was so little she wasn't all that worried.]
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And then jumps in surprise.]
Woof!?
[Holy - at least give him some warning!]
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Ah, well. The dog seems totally fine if not weirdly familiar. Those spastic movements remind her of... .... Nah. It looks startled that she's there though. She watches it for a moment before realizing it was probably hungry. It had been colliding with trash cans, after all. What dog does that if it isn't hungry?
So Naoto reaches into her bag and pulls a chunk of meat off one of the pre-cooked streak skewers she'd gotten for herself to eat later. She offers it to the dog.
Here you go Fido eat up so she feels less guilty about almost just leaving you with a bag on your head.]
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Woof! Woof woof.
[Jeez, who knew how difficult it is to pronounce the name "Naoto" without vocal cords?]
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She ignores the barking and reaches for him, pulling him forward a bit by the collar to examine it. Hm... no name tag though.]
I wonder if you're someone's pet or... if you were actually brought here to serve one of the houses. [The collar indicates it could be either. The stones certainly look the same... but that doesn't mean they are.]
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"Oh! Hello. I don't think I've seen you around here before..." From the way he looked, his fur was much too clean for him to be a stray. "Did you step away from your home when your owners weren't watching you?"
But really, the most important bit of information here was that apparently Souji talked with animals as if they could understand him when there was no one around. He carefully uses his back to bring out plant vines that gently place the can in an upright position.
"I have a friend who's pretty clumsy with these too."
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Oh. Oh yeah, this is awkward. Of all the people to show up...
Giving itself a shake, it turns its furry head to look from side to side, utterly unfazed by the vines bursting into life behind it. Maybe he can use something as a prop... Ugh, but what are the chances somebody just happened to throw away a pencil or something around here?
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He watches the body language, even as he walks a little closer.
"Don't be afraid. I'll figure out who you belong to."
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Starting to look agitated, the dog attempts to rear up, frantically trying to catch Souji's eye.
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"This looks like our bracelets..."
That stone color.
"Loki's house!"
Did the gods still have time to joke around at this point?
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"Hey little buddy! Are you lost? Don't worry, we'll get you home."
After holding out his hand to let the Pomeranian sniff it, he gently picks up the dog and holds him in his arms. It must be someone's dog... it has a collar that looks almost like the visitor bracelets.
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Agitated, it paws at Ryoji's sleeve, trying to wriggle free. H-Hey, Mochizuki! Not cool!
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“Calm down, buddy, I’m just taking you to Yosuke-kun. He can make a post to the network about you and eventually we’ll track down your owner.”
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...Also, more importantly, don't talk about him like he's not here! ... And even more importantly, that's not going to work! Oh man, how to explain himself before Ryoji gets too fired up about this...?
Well, he's got nothing to lose. Without warning, the small dog launches itself at Ryoji's scarf, or as close to it as it can get.
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He frowns in confusion as a realization hits him.
“Hey, how did you know about-”
He doesn’t have time to finish his sentence before the dog launches for his scarf, practically strangling him as it digs its teeth and claws in the fabric.
“H-Hey! Quit that, I can’t breathe!”
His hands flail about as he tries to push the dog away and get some air.