‘Sit. I said sit! C’mon, Pip, siiiiiittt.’ Throwing back his head, Foggy gives a quiet moan, as Pip continues to romp around the pokey space, crashing into the bookshelf and knocking into the desk, causing Matt to quickly clutch his glass of water at it shakes and threatens to spill over their laptops. ‘Why won’t you sit for me?’
‘Give it up, Foggy,’ Matt laughs, tempted to smile at the pup‘s antics, ‘She’s not interested.’
‘And I suppose you would know, would you?’ he fires back haughtily, which Matt doesn’t take offence to, given his aggravation. Truth is, it’s kind of made his day.
‘Actually…yes. I would. She’s never going to sit when she’s in such a hyper mood.’
His voice climbs into a near-whine. ‘But I made a bet with Karen that I could get her to sit by the end of the day!’
‘Foggy, I love you, but… do yourself a favour and hand over the money. Before this gets any more embarrassing. I’m afraid to say it, but - looks to me like you’ve been hustled.’
He frowns. ‘I have not been-’
‘Yeah, you have,’ Karen calls over with an amused giggle, and Foggy huffs in disbelief, before stomping over and forking out fifty bucks, which he begrudgingly slaps into Karen’s waiting palm.
…
‘Not on the couch,’ Matt reprimands a few days later, firm and uncompromising. ‘Down.’
The pup pauses, evaluates the situation. And bizarrely, to Foggy‘s undying envy…Pip complies without an issue.
…
'What's puppy doing, huh? What's puppy at?’
In recent weeks, Matt has taken to speaking to Pip in the silliest of tones when no-one else is around. For reasons he can’t, or perhaps won’t, explain, his voice adopts the most cloying, babyish of pitches and he can’t resist spoiling her with the odd treat - taken directly from his hand and accompanied by a light pat on the head, - and a wealth of affection.
'Silly puppy,’ he laughs, nuzzling his nose against Pip‘s. ‘You just want to play, don't you? Such a cutie. Such a little cutie.' Matt furiously rubs the pup's side and scratches under her chin. Pip goes wild. She drools over Matt’s wrist (and by association, the tip of his sleeve), and joyously kicks her large paws. But the stimulation obviously becomes too much for her harried system to handle and she wriggles her bottom in the air, quivering in crazy anticipation, before pouncing on the man who chuckles warmly with a grin that feels too cheerful to logically fit on his face. He squirms as the pup cranes her neck to lap fervently at his face and tries pushing her away, to no avail.
In an instant of short-lived heart failure, Matt loses his balance and falls back unceremoniously to the floor. This grants the puppy the rare opportunity to call dibs on his nose and cover more ground than ever before. Tail beating hard against Matt’s thigh and two paws pressing into his stomach, she squeezes even closer to dart a slobbery tongue over the man’s ear, exploring the deliciously awesome-smelling neck of her human. Then abruptly she bounds away, the clumsy canine tripping over itself in overexcitement, before predictably skidding forward and hitting her muzzle against the floor.
Panting hard, the puppy rolls over, and, tongue tumbling from her mouth, awaits a gratifying belly rub with a demanding yip. Matt promptly gives in, massaging her hot, exposed tummy as the rowdy fuzz ball writhes on her back. One hand scatters scrupulous, finely tuned scratches, while the other bypasses the pup’s snapping mouth to rub one floppy ear, as a playful growl rumbles in her throat. Pip arches into the touch while her leg shudders in bliss.
Any other day and he would have been alerted to their company instantly, but he’s caught up in the moment, grinning from ear to ear, and Matt doesn’t hear a thing.
‘Matt, I wanted your advice on this ca-’
Karen stops dead.
Matt freezes with his hands hovering awkwardly mid-air, as Pip wriggles out from underneath him and shakes herself off. He’s aware of how he must look. Clothes in disarray, hair ruffled, kneeling on the floor with cheeks flushed with happiness and the remnants of laughter, and now, embarrassment. Nowhere near his usual, cool, collected self.
‘Karen…it’s not what it looks li-’
But she just laughs, waves off his discomfort, and beams, ‘Knew it.’
That’s the first time Matt takes Pip home; it’s not the last.
…
After that, Pip becomes a regular fixture in Matt’s life, so much so that when he is forced to take a couple days off after exchanging blows with what he‘d thought was just your typical old street thug but turned out to be an extremely talented competitor, and emerged with more than a few cuts and bruises, Foggy and Karen are at a complete loss.
Pip pitifully slugs Matt’s pant’s with a doleful expression and wide, dewy eyes and the classic, limp paw when they come to collect her from his place, as if sensing the imminent separation, and he murmurs his goodbyes, tells her to be good, and then it’s up to Foggy to lift her away from her guardian, while everyone’s heart breaks at the eruption of gut-wrenching howls.
They grab a few of her things to try to make her as comfortable as possible, but it doesn’t help. Karen places her inside her basket alongside her worn teddy with a missing ear (aka, the torn off and eaten one. May it rest in peace), where she stands on wobbly legs and shivers. It makes her heart hurt.
That night, she won’t eat, she won’t drink. In the end, they have to wrap her up in one of Matt’s shirts to catch a wink of sleep.
By day two, neither of them can take it anymore. It was a stupid idea, anyway.
They ring up Matt and he decides that if he’s able to stand again, he’s able to look after one high-maintenance pup. Both Foggy and Karen disagree, naturally, but they settle on a compromise, wherein they will stay at Matt’s and assist him in any way he needs, and Pip can have her separation anxiety dealt with in smaller, healthier doses, one step at a time.
Hearing their approach, Matt leverages himself up on a cushion and then cautiously heaves himself off the couch with a grunt. By the time the door knocks, he is already halfway there and Karen glares upon seeing him stumbling around, seemingly without purpose, but before she can nag at him to rest, Pip is straining against Foggy‘s grip, unable to contain herself at the prospect off regaining access to her human.
'Come here, girl,' he murmurs and she barks in impatience, energized by the sound of his voice. Rustling up a soft smile, he pats his thighs and clicks his teeth. ‘Good girl. C‘mere.’
Foggy gives a low groan and holds his breath as he unclips the leash. Pip barrels towards Matt and bounces in delight as he hunkers down, stretching to dab a moist tongue over his prickly chin, wanting nothing more than to lick her favourite face. 'Who's a good girl?’ he croons, ‘You are. Yes, you are.'
Behind him, Matt can feel his friends’ twin beams.
'Alright, alright. Calm down,' Matt laughs, after several minutes of non-stop licking. 'I'm not going anywhere.'
Pip falls back, panting and grinning up at him in something like worship.
'Bit keyed up, isn't she?' Matt remarks, while the puppy gallops in a never-ending loop around him. The motion makes him dizzy and he’s not even witnessing the spectacle. Though, to be fair, Matt supposes it is enough to make anyone’s head spin.
Foggy scrubs a hand over his forehead and blows out a ragged sigh. 'You don't know the half of it, man. Someone,' he states pointedly, as Pip extends her neck to push a wet nose against Matt’s palm, sniffing loudly, 'was acting like another someone had D-I-E-D.' He spells it out, but it's not necessary. The puppy is oblivious.
Matt arches a brow, inquisitive. 'Had your hands full, then?'
‘Oh, fuck, yeah.'
That gets a silky chuckle outta him, but he soon sobers.
'Well - um. Thank-you,' he says, rubbing the back of his neck, 'Both of you. For taking care of her. I appreciate it.'
'I'd like to say it was our pleasure, but it really wasn’t. Don't ever do that to us again.'
'Agreed.'
Matt cracks a smile alive with mirth at his friend's tone and Foggy shakes his head and punches his shoulder, but he's grinning ,too.
…
Matt pauses when he feels a tug on his shoelaces. He slowly extracts the thin cord from between slippery teeth and frowns down at the perpetrator. Pip topples backwards and kicks out her legs, panting innocently.
'You little scamp. You're more trouble than you're worth,' Matt tells her, reaching down to rub her belly.
FILL: Our Four-Legged Fiend
‘Give it up, Foggy,’ Matt laughs, tempted to smile at the pup‘s antics, ‘She’s not interested.’
‘And I suppose you would know, would you?’ he fires back haughtily, which Matt doesn’t take offence to, given his aggravation. Truth is, it’s kind of made his day.
‘Actually…yes. I would. She’s never going to sit when she’s in such a hyper mood.’
His voice climbs into a near-whine. ‘But I made a bet with Karen that I could get her to sit by the end of the day!’
‘Foggy, I love you, but… do yourself a favour and hand over the money. Before this gets any more embarrassing. I’m afraid to say it, but - looks to me like you’ve been hustled.’
He frowns. ‘I have not been-’
‘Yeah, you have,’ Karen calls over with an amused giggle, and Foggy huffs in disbelief, before stomping over and forking out fifty bucks, which he begrudgingly slaps into Karen’s waiting palm.
…
‘Not on the couch,’ Matt reprimands a few days later, firm and uncompromising. ‘Down.’
The pup pauses, evaluates the situation. And bizarrely, to Foggy‘s undying envy…Pip complies without an issue.
…
'What's puppy doing, huh? What's puppy at?’
In recent weeks, Matt has taken to speaking to Pip in the silliest of tones when no-one else is around. For reasons he can’t, or perhaps won’t, explain, his voice adopts the most cloying, babyish of pitches and he can’t resist spoiling her with the odd treat - taken directly from his hand and accompanied by a light pat on the head, - and a wealth of affection.
'Silly puppy,’ he laughs, nuzzling his nose against Pip‘s. ‘You just want to play, don't you? Such a cutie. Such a little cutie.' Matt furiously rubs the pup's side and scratches under her chin. Pip goes wild. She drools over Matt’s wrist (and by association, the tip of his sleeve), and joyously kicks her large paws. But the stimulation obviously becomes too much for her harried system to handle and she wriggles her bottom in the air, quivering in crazy anticipation, before pouncing on the man who chuckles warmly with a grin that feels too cheerful to logically fit on his face. He squirms as the pup cranes her neck to lap fervently at his face and tries pushing her away, to no avail.
In an instant of short-lived heart failure, Matt loses his balance and falls back unceremoniously to the floor. This grants the puppy the rare opportunity to call dibs on his nose and cover more ground than ever before. Tail beating hard against Matt’s thigh and two paws pressing into his stomach, she squeezes even closer to dart a slobbery tongue over the man’s ear, exploring the deliciously awesome-smelling neck of her human. Then abruptly she bounds away, the clumsy canine tripping over itself in overexcitement, before predictably skidding forward and hitting her muzzle against the floor.
Panting hard, the puppy rolls over, and, tongue tumbling from her mouth, awaits a gratifying belly rub with a demanding yip. Matt promptly gives in, massaging her hot, exposed tummy as the rowdy fuzz ball writhes on her back. One hand scatters scrupulous, finely tuned scratches, while the other bypasses the pup’s snapping mouth to rub one floppy ear, as a playful growl rumbles in her throat. Pip arches into the touch while her leg shudders in bliss.
Any other day and he would have been alerted to their company instantly, but he’s caught up in the moment, grinning from ear to ear, and Matt doesn’t hear a thing.
‘Matt, I wanted your advice on this ca-’
Karen stops dead.
Matt freezes with his hands hovering awkwardly mid-air, as Pip wriggles out from underneath him and shakes herself off. He’s aware of how he must look. Clothes in disarray, hair ruffled, kneeling on the floor with cheeks flushed with happiness and the remnants of laughter, and now, embarrassment. Nowhere near his usual, cool, collected self.
‘Karen…it’s not what it looks li-’
But she just laughs, waves off his discomfort, and beams, ‘Knew it.’
That’s the first time Matt takes Pip home; it’s not the last.
…
After that, Pip becomes a regular fixture in Matt’s life, so much so that when he is forced to take a couple days off after exchanging blows with what he‘d thought was just your typical old street thug but turned out to be an extremely talented competitor, and emerged with more than a few cuts and bruises, Foggy and Karen are at a complete loss.
Pip pitifully slugs Matt’s pant’s with a doleful expression and wide, dewy eyes and the classic, limp paw when they come to collect her from his place, as if sensing the imminent separation, and he murmurs his goodbyes, tells her to be good, and then it’s up to Foggy to lift her away from her guardian, while everyone’s heart breaks at the eruption of gut-wrenching howls.
They grab a few of her things to try to make her as comfortable as possible, but it doesn’t help. Karen places her inside her basket alongside her worn teddy with a missing ear (aka, the torn off and eaten one. May it rest in peace), where she stands on wobbly legs and shivers. It makes her heart hurt.
That night, she won’t eat, she won’t drink. In the end, they have to wrap her up in one of Matt’s shirts to catch a wink of sleep.
By day two, neither of them can take it anymore. It was a stupid idea, anyway.
They ring up Matt and he decides that if he’s able to stand again, he’s able to look after one high-maintenance pup. Both Foggy and Karen disagree, naturally, but they settle on a compromise, wherein they will stay at Matt’s and assist him in any way he needs, and Pip can have her separation anxiety dealt with in smaller, healthier doses, one step at a time.
Hearing their approach, Matt leverages himself up on a cushion and then cautiously heaves himself off the couch with a grunt. By the time the door knocks, he is already halfway there and Karen glares upon seeing him stumbling around, seemingly without purpose, but before she can nag at him to rest, Pip is straining against Foggy‘s grip, unable to contain herself at the prospect off regaining access to her human.
'Come here, girl,' he murmurs and she barks in impatience, energized by the sound of his voice. Rustling up a soft smile, he pats his thighs and clicks his teeth. ‘Good girl. C‘mere.’
Foggy gives a low groan and holds his breath as he unclips the leash. Pip barrels towards Matt and bounces in delight as he hunkers down, stretching to dab a moist tongue over his prickly chin, wanting nothing more than to lick her favourite face. 'Who's a good girl?’ he croons, ‘You are. Yes, you are.'
Behind him, Matt can feel his friends’ twin beams.
'Alright, alright. Calm down,' Matt laughs, after several minutes of non-stop licking. 'I'm not going anywhere.'
Pip falls back, panting and grinning up at him in something like worship.
'Bit keyed up, isn't she?' Matt remarks, while the puppy gallops in a never-ending loop around him. The motion makes him dizzy and he’s not even witnessing the spectacle. Though, to be fair, Matt supposes it is enough to make anyone’s head spin.
Foggy scrubs a hand over his forehead and blows out a ragged sigh. 'You don't know the half of it, man. Someone,' he states pointedly, as Pip extends her neck to push a wet nose against Matt’s palm, sniffing loudly, 'was acting like another someone had D-I-E-D.' He spells it out, but it's not necessary. The puppy is oblivious.
Matt arches a brow, inquisitive. 'Had your hands full, then?'
‘Oh, fuck, yeah.'
That gets a silky chuckle outta him, but he soon sobers.
'Well - um. Thank-you,' he says, rubbing the back of his neck, 'Both of you. For taking care of her. I appreciate it.'
'I'd like to say it was our pleasure, but it really wasn’t. Don't ever do that to us again.'
'Agreed.'
Matt cracks a smile alive with mirth at his friend's tone and Foggy shakes his head and punches his shoulder, but he's grinning ,too.
…
Matt pauses when he feels a tug on his shoelaces. He slowly extracts the thin cord from between slippery teeth and frowns down at the perpetrator. Pip topples backwards and kicks out her legs, panting innocently.
'You little scamp. You're more trouble than you're worth,' Matt tells her, reaching down to rub her belly.
They both know he doesn't mean it