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 could barely stand the stench of bleach, even covering her snout with a thick sheet did nothing to prevent the irritation she felt running down her throat.
On the other hand, Patches placed both paws on his hips and took a shallow breath in through his nostrils. "Ah, such a nostalgic smell." Using a gloved mitt, he capped the fabric whitener's bottle, then placed it on the floor, underneath the large plastic sink in front of him. Although the laundry room wasn't particularly big, it was bigger than his- mainly because his mother never had a laundry room and did clothes the old-fashioned way. Some of her expertise rubbed off on him, and he began to dutifully show Dell how to use cold water and ordinary bar soap to get rid of the stubborn stains adorning her thick purple hoodie.
Dell peered over the sink, trying to cover her muzzle as she watched Patches work. "Shouldn't we use hot water?" she asked.
"Nope, you'll cook the blood into the fabric," Patches replied. Once the first of many stains was partially gone, he nodded to himself, put aside the soap, and took off the rubber gloves, chucking them at Dell's chest.
Dell barely caught the flimsy things, causing her to drop her mask and start coughing from the overwhelming stench of cleaning supplies.
"I'm going to go finish up in the kitchen. Try not to suffocate to death, and don't scrub too hard!" Patches said, quickly striding out of the room and shutting the door behind him before Dell could complain.
Taking a right down the hall, Patches came to the living room. He admired the awful decor and family photos for a second, then took a left into the kitchen, finding it was just as he left it.
Patches smirked, walking up to the dial phone set in the corner of the kitchen counter. He reached into his pockets, drawing out the student files he had swiped from Dell's backpack and beginning to go down the list...
The phone rang for an uncomfortable length of time. Each pause between the chimes accompanied a wave of anxiety. He knew he shouldn't say anything, even if they did pick up, but he found himself searching for the words regardless.
Suddenly, the chime stopped.
"Hello! This is the Higgins residence. We can't come to the phone right now, but if you want, you can leave a message. Thanks!"
There was a beep, and Patches slammed down the phone with as much haste as he could muster. "Eugh... The less I hear of Olive's mother, the better." He exhaled through his nose, setting aside the mutt's student file and taking a look at the next one. He began rapid-firing as many of the numbers as he could.
"You've reached the Pembrokes. Sorry, but we're unavailable, though if you leave a message we'll get back to you."
"You've reached the voice-mail box of: 'the Fritz household'. No one is available to take your call; please leave your message after the tone."
Patches let out a deep sigh. For now, at least, it seemed like Olive, Sparky, and Brownie had all gone to school. Of course, they could've just not picked up the phone, but he wasn't exactly able to walk to their house and check, not without the wand, at least.
Patches flipped past his own file, frowning at his earlier self's unhappy face. "I cannot believe how sad I looked back then. Kind of wish they'd took my picture after my little 'date' with Angel; I probably seemed like the happiest dalmatian on earth!" He smiled, putting the file aside and looking at Dell's.
"Oh my Dog!" he said, a huge smile creeping upon his face. Dell, in the photo, had black makeup accentuating all of her features very poorly; she had the Hachiko colours, of course, but wore a black ribbon atop her head with a bone-white skull in its center, as well as skull earrings, and what looked like a fishnet shirt barely visible underneath the usual Hachiko uniform. She looked as if she had come to the first day of school in an incredibly 'goth' outfit, but the staff had forced her to wear an undersized uniform and wipe the makeup off of her face for the photoshoot. Her face looked mostly neutral, but the dalmatian could tell there was frustration brewing behind those eyes.
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"Pfffttt! Hahaha!" Patches bellowed. Her awful, edgy appearance made him feel a whole hell of a lot better about his own photo. He made a mental note to bring it up with Dell later, so he could see her squirm in discomfort.
Stifling his giggles, Patches turned to the second to last file, finding the face of Ginger staring back at him. He smiled warmly at the dog's visage, running a paw pad over it and narrowing his eyes with malice. Wordlessly, he picked up the phone once more, dialling her number.
It rang, once, twice, three times, then it answered with a crackle.
"Hello?"
Patches smiled at Ginger's exhausted tone. She had hunted him for the last couple dozen hours, and despite their exchange, she was far worse off than he was. With the wand, he'd actually manage to kill the dog, maybe.
"S-Sparky?" she weakly asked.
He hung up the phone as carefully as he could, making no noise.
"I can't kill her. She'll come right back..." he paused, deep in thought, "Ehe... Maybe I could just..." A wicked grin sowed itself into his features; he almost started cackling at his awful musings.
Suddenly, Dell spoke from behind him. "Are those the files?"
