October 29, 2013
Random Story Clip: A New Pack
I’m just getting this out of my head. Consider it fanfiction for a story I’m writing that’s not done? That makes no sense, but whatever. Anyway, a random story clip.
I heard the door open, and Rex answer the door. I opened the door to my quarters and growled loudly at him as he stood in the doorway.
“Splicers save us, Rex, I fucking told you not to answer the door without clothes on! This is a human building you stupid…!” I yelled as I marched across the living room towards the door. “Pup…” Sam was standing in the hallway, waving.
“Hey, Prince. Uh, who is this?”
“I’m Rex of Prince, and I live here. Who are you? You smell odd.”
I rubbed my eyes. Could this get to be any more of a clusterfuck? Why had I ever let them in here? “Rex, this is Sam, he’s my partner at work, and he is fine. Now fucking listen to me and get out of the doorway until you at least have some pants on.”
Rex’s tail fell between his legs, and he backed off. “Sorry, ma’am.” I pointed to his quarters, and he scurried off.
“Fucking pups,” I grumbled, looking back up to Sam, getting him into the apartment and closing the door. “What’s up?”
“Is that Sam?” Brie said from the kitchen.
“Yeah. Dunno why, though,” I called back.
“Just thought I’d see your new place. Realized I never brought a housewarming gift,” he said, chuckling, holding out a bottle of whiskey.
“Seems more like a gift for you than me,” I said, grinning.
“Yeah, well, gotta have a reason to stop by,” he said, grinning right back. “Rex of Prince, though?”
I lowered my ears a little. “I told them not to say that, but they won’t listen to me.”
Sam found a seat and plopped down in it. “Explain, explain, explain!” he said, grinning at me.
“Will you be here for dinner, Sam?” Brie said, ducking her head in from the kitchen. She had put on an apron for a little cover for Sam’s sake, but that was it.
“Sure, if you’ll have me.”
Brie nodded. “I don’t know if it’ll be to your liking, but you’re welcome to stay.” She moved back into the kitchen, and I sat down across from Sam.
I could hear the door to Buddy and Rex’s quarters creep open so they could try to keep tabs, and I turned in their direction and growled loudly. Then I turned back to Sam. “You really want to hear?”
“I asked, didn’t I?”
I sighed.—
About two weeks ago, things were a bit less complicated. Well, they were very complicated, to be honest. I had taken my bitch and run away from the pack, so I wouldn’t have to deal with trying to keep us together in a situation that wouldn’t just let us be. I didn’t really want to, to be honest. Sylvan pack was my family. But they didn’t give me much of a choice. With Sam’s help, I had found an apartment, and Brie and I had started our new, more human lifestyle. It was working out okay, until they showed up.
There had been a knock on our door. We hadn’t really been expecting anyone, of course. None of the other tenants in the building knew what to make of two dogs living on the top floor, and so we weren’t really expecting social calls. Still, I asked the door to wait a moment, got dressed, and opened it.
I found two male dogs waiting for me, who looked like this was probably the first time they had ever put on clothes, though they were decent. The smaller one was hiding behind the bigger one, who looked at me with a worried expression. They weren’t Sylvan, as far as I knew, and I didn’t think I had seen them before. They were both basically pups.
“Can I help you two?” I asked.
“You’re Prince? Used to be from Sylvan den?”
“That’d be me. Who are you?”
“I’m Buddy of Malcom.”
“Rex of Malcom,” said the smaller male behind him.
“We want to join your pack,” Buddy said, though he looked quite nervous when he said it.
I laughed. “What pack? It’s just me and my bitch here. Sylvan den is across town.”
“B-but you left!” Rex said, surprised.
“Is what everyone is saying not true?” Buddy asked. Rex looked up at him, worried.
I frowned. “What is everyone saying?”
“That you left to form a new pack where… where dogs could love each other without duty getting in the way?” Rex said.
“Well, I left to be with my bitch, but I don’t have anything in the way of resources to form my own pack.”
“But you have a den,” Buddy said, “You have one right here.”
“It’s a two bedroom apartment,” I said. “Barely enough room for my bitch and myself.”
“But…”
“I don’t know what you pups are up to, but you should get home,” I said. “What are you doing?”
Buddy tried to look intimidating. “We’re not leaving. We’re joining your pack.”
“Like fuck you are,” I said, growling. “I can’t take care of a couple of pups. I can barely take care of my bitch to the extent she deserves.”
“We’re staying,” Buddy said. I could tell he was scared of me. I wasn’t sure why he was doing this.
“Leave, now.” I growled.
“N-no!” Rex shouted as Buddy pounced me, knocking me to the floor. I could hear Brie rush in to see what everything was about and cry out in fear as I kicked the male off of me. He was big, and probably a bit stronger, but he sure wasn’t a fighter. He tried to scramble to his feet, but I was on top of him faster than he could get up, pinning his paws and pressing my jaws around his throat. He yelped. “N-no, please, don’t!” Rex yelled at me.
I let up my grip on Buddy’s throat. “You submit, right?”
Buddy nodded, shivering in fear.
“Why the fuck did you do that? You clearly knew you had no chance.”
“Nobody is taking him away from me,” he whimpered.
“What?” I said.
“Nobody is taking my bitch away from me!” he barked, getting a second wind, but while he put on a fierce face, he didn’t fight back.
I looked at him for a moment, then to Rex, and back to him. I stood back up on two paws, brushing myself off. “Well, I guess it makes sense there’d be males in a similar predicament, but it never crossed my mind,” I said. Brie came over and I licked her cheek. “I’m fine. He’s nothing.”
Brie nodded. “Just had to make sure.”
Buddy stood up, and Rex came over to him. Buddy gave him a hug.
I sighed. “Fine, but you two cannot be dead weight. I can’t support you. You can stay here until you figure out a good way to live on your own, okay?”
“You’re serious…?” Rex asked, worried.
I turned to Brie. “I’m assuming you don’t mind looking after these pups while I’m at work. Am I right?”
Brie smiled. “It’ll be nice to not be alone all the time, though I agree, our finances can’t support them.”
“Alright. Then yes, Rex, I am serious. Don’t make me regret it.”
The males let out a sigh of relief, and then happy yips, hugging and licking each other. I rolled my eyes.—
“And since then they’ve been treating me like alpha,” I growled, annoyed. “I’m not alpha material.”
“Says you,” Sam says, grinning. “You have a good head on your shoulders, Prince. I’m sure you’d be fine at it.”
At that point, I could hear talking in the hallway. Soon, the door unlocked and opened, and I sighed. I had forgotten she had left.
“Oh! Uh, company,” said Daisy, walking in. She was still wearing her waitress outfit from her job. Behind her was Lola, who had gone to walk her back to the apartment, as she always did.
“Human company,” Lola added, looking to me.
“This is Sam Moranth. We work together.”
“Hi there!” Sam said, giving a wave as he turned to me and mouthed “More?” I nodded.
“I’m Lola of Prince, and this is my bitch, Daisy of Prince. It’s nice to meet you,” Lola said, smiling.
“Can I just tell them? They’re going to ask anyway over dinner,” I said to Sam.
Sam shrugged. “Sure.”
I turned to Lola and Daisy. “Sam’s a spook, but he’s a good friend. He won’t look without permission. Don’t be an ass towards him, okay?”
“Spook? Seriously, ma’am?” Daisy said, shivering a little. “In the den?”
“It’s my fucking den and like I said, he’s a good friend. I know you’ve had bad experiences, but keep a level head,” I growled.
“Y-yes ma’am,” Daisy said, shivering.
“Go gossip about all this with the boys, dinner will be ready soon and I’m talking with Sam, okay?” I said. Lola and Daisy nodded and disappeared.
Sam laughed. “Seems to me like you’re taking to being an alpha just fine!”
“Well, what choice do I have? They all look up to me for no real reason. Hell, Lola is older than me and she still treats me like her senior.”
Sam grinned. “You’re a leader, clearly.”
“I’m a shitty one, though. I mean, you think I haven’t thought about treating this thing as a pack? But there’s no way to do it. There’s no way to make the pack sustain itself without forcing everyone to breed, and that’s the whole fucking thing I wanted to get away from. It’s a shitty alpha that sabotages their own pack like that.”
“Then be a shitty alpha, then,” Sam said, shrugging. “I mean, they’re clearly okay with you not forcing them to do that.”
“I can’t do that…”
“You couldn’t move away from Sylvan either, if I recall.”
I sighed. “Man, fuck you and your logic and shit.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, well, so it goes. It’s how my brain works.”
“Your stupid, fucked up human brain,” I said, grinning.
“Yep!”
I sighed. “Prince I just feels weird, though. Even weirder than the name my mother gave me.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll deal with it,” Sam said. “Just don’t forget the little people from up on your throne.”
Brie ducked her head in. “I think things are about ready. Um, it’s mostly meat, Sam, I hope that’s okay…”
“Not like I expected anything else, Brie. Don’t worry about it,” Sam said.
Brie turned to me. “Tell everyone to set the table up?”
I nodded. “I will. See if you can find silverware for Sam. I thought I bought something.” I then turned to Sam. “We don’t really have good furniture for this stuff, so don’t give me shit about my card tables.”
Sam laughed. “It’s fine! You’ve seen how shitty my apartment is. I get it.”
“I know you’re eavesdropping,” I barked at the door to the boys’ quarters. “Set up the tables. Sam is eating with us, so make sure there’s room for him too.”
The door opened and all four of them murmured, “Yes, ma’am,” before starting to get the tables and chairs out of the closet. Lola and Daisy had basically claimed what was supposed to be the dining area as their quarters, so setting these tables up in the common area was the only solution I could think of. It worked okay.
Sam bopped the side of his head. “That’s what I was forgetting. I didn’t offer to let them smell me. That’s rude, right?”
“With how you smell? Nah,” I said, chuckling.
Sam chuckled with me, turning to the four dogs as they finished setting up the chairs. “Anyway, any of you can, if you want, though perhaps you’ll let me get to know you in return? But Prince tells me I’m pretty harsh on the nose, so maybe after dinner, so you don’t lose your appetite,” he said, grinning. “Any family of Prince is a friend of mine.”
Lola looked to Daisy, who seemed uncomfortable. “We’ll pass, but we both appreciate the offer nonetheless.”
Rex came over, and gave Sam a sniff, before yelping and leaping backwards in surprise, almost knocking over a table.
Sam laughed, and I sighed. “Now you know what a spook smells like. Be prepared next time.”
Rex nodded. Buddy followed suit, and handled it a bit better, though I could tell he was shocked it was as bad as Rex suggested it was.
Brie brought the food in, and we all sat down.
“Toast!” Sam yelled.
“What’s a toast?” Rex asked.
I huffed. “Human tradition. Normally by head of the house.”
“Then toast, ma’am,” Rex said, smiling.
I sighed, and raised my water bowl. It always looked more impressive with human glasses, I had to admit. “Well, uh… to friends and pack, and the bond between.”
Trying to follow suit, everyone lifted their bowls, and watching Sam and Brie, clinked them together. And then we ate.