A certain dalmatian escapes from the cats and dogs of the communal day after healing Hachiko's students; things almost went perfectly, aside from a single unforgivable 'mistake'. Now, Patches finds himself on the run from his former friends and vows...
Dellanor shuffled into the school, squeezing past the heavy doors so she didn't exhaust herself shoving the things open. She was a little bit late now, but that didn't seem to matter as two tarrying dogs were sitting next to an open locker just across from the doorway instead of attending the assembly.
They watched her with contempt before continuing their conversation. She walked past them, further down the hallway, and noted just how empty everything was; there wasn't a single soul in the corridor or the adjacent classrooms.
She thought about turning around to ask the pair where everyone was but decided against speaking to anyone, instead going over the plan in her head again.
Dellanor brushed past a lingering piece of warning tape hanging off the ceiling and turned to the right, heading for the gym now. She figured if the school's population was hidden anywhere, it was in the only room big enough to host the occasional school announcement.
Dell opened the door to the gym, hoping her hoodie or backpack wouldn't get her in trouble for uniform violation. She peeked her head in first, trying to see who was there and finding the masses of cross-legged students, but no sign of her friend.
Thinking she had just missed him, she went over the crowd again, looking for the golden retriever amongst the group of students raptly listening to the principal announcing something about the schedule for the week being altered.
"Dell?" She heard a voice behind her from as far down the hall as one could be; and turned on her heel to see the face of her friend, lovely and lively.
"Cujo!" she breathlessly whispered, moving towards him with a dash. The lightly coloured golden retriever seemed to pause with indifference while Dell ran over. She grabbed him with a hug, her cheeks warming in glee as she nearly ripped his blue and white uniform; his stoic eyes looked down at the junior.
"Oh! Sorry." Dell backed up sooner than she would've liked, bringing a paw to her cheek and looking around, nervous at having gotten so close to him.
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Cujo suddenly appeared a bit nervous, instantly telling Dell that the hug was a step too far. "... Don't worry about it. Let's just head into the assembly, yeah?" the golden replied. "We can catch up later; I'm just really glad to see you're alright." His voice was as calm as ever, with a tiny spark of jubilation that only she could detect.
"Sorry- I..." She thought about asking if she could hug him again, but she knew how something like that might turn out.
"Hey, I said it's fine, alright? We just survived some..." he chuckled, "some, just, complete nonsense! You're allowed a hug."
"Sorry, I'm just really, really glad you're okay," Dell said, fiddling with the strings on her hoodie and staring at the ground, half-smiling at the residual warmth of his body.
