FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

A Friend in Need: Chapter 1

Chapter Warning: Swearing

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"So, is there anything left to do after this?" Rurik asked, unwrapping the sandwich he had picked up on the way back from grocery shopping.

"Mmm...," Lotus pulled the sandwich away from his mouth, chewing as his red eye light drifted upward in thought before swallowing, "Not unless there's something you wanted to do. I got everything I needed at the store."

"Nope... home it is," the taller proclaimed, taking a bite of his own sandwich. The grocery bags dangled around his and his partner's wrists, swaying lightly as they turned the corner to go home, "By the way, what'd you need all this stuff for anyway?"

"I was thinking of trying out a new recipe for supper. I saw it online, it's ca-"

Both skeletons froze as a low growl interrupted their conversation. Rurik's eye lights narrowed on a mangy-looking brown and black-furred dog; its hackles were raised and its teeth were bared. He tugged on Lotus's arm, pulling his partner behind him as he reached for his knife.

As he flicked open the latch on the holster, Lotus placed a hand on his shoulder. "Rurik, wait...," the monster focused on the dog for a few seconds before muttering, "Don't hurt it."

"Don't-" Rurik choked, "Have you lost your damn mind?! This thing's preparing to attack us!"

The hooded skeleton shook his skull, "Look at it; it's all skin and bones. I don't think it's in any condition to fight... it's probably hungry."

"Lotus...," Rurik warned, his sockets furrowing as Lotus set his bags down and pulled a slice of turkey from his sandwich, "Lotus, no; it's a wild animal. You're asking to get bitten or mauled!"

"I don't think so," The smaller argued, stepping around his companion toward the dog, "If the dog was going to attack, it would have already."

Crouching low, Lotus extended the piece of turkey toward the animal; it stood staring at the skeletons, still in a defensive position but no longer displaying open aggression. It padded forward slowly, its brown eyes shifting between the meat and the monster holding it. Rurik gritted his teeth, his hand twitching against the handle of his knife as the dog stopped a few inches from the offering; it was nearly as big as his boyfriend!

In a flash, the dog snatched the meat from Lotus's hand. Rurik quickly reached over his companion's shoulder to grab their wrist and inspect their hand for injuries... and found everything was completely intact.

Lotus smirked as he pulled his hand from his boyfriend's grip, taking another piece of turkey from the sandwich, "Give me some credit; I was holding it with my fingers tucked in for a reason. Just because I'm trying to be nice doesn't mean I'm not going to take precautions; you know me better than that."

Holding out another piece of meat, the dog was less hesitant to take the food, which it scarfed down as quickly as the last. Rurik watched with a sour expression as his partner's lunch slowly disappeared until there was nothing left. "Huh, never knew dogs were such a fan of turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise," Rurik groused, polishing off the last of his own sandwich.

"It was probably starving, so it's fine. We have food at home anyways," Lotus reasoned as he dusted the crumbs from his hands and stood. The animal in question sniffed the ground before staring up at the pair expectantly. The smaller held their palms open with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, that was everything; all gone."

Rurik grasped his partner's arm, tugging back a bit, "Come on; we have stuff that needs to be put in the fridge, right?"

"Yeah...," Lotus reluctantly agreed, retrieving his bags and giving the dog a small wave as he turned to follow his companion. A block away from their home, Rurik heard his partner quietly mumble, "Oh shit..."

"What is it?" Rurik spun around, immediately on the offensive. When he saw the 'threat', he couldn't help but groan; the mangy dog was standing four feet from Lotus, staring at them with its tail wagging slowly.

"It's following us," Lotus mused, sticking his hand out; the dog sniffed at it and gave it a lick, earning a chuckle from the hooded skeleton.

"No."

"I think it likes me," he stated with a barely hidden smile, kneeling down to gently scratch under the dog's chin; its tail began to thump against the sidewalk.

"No." Rurik stomped his foot on the pavement.

"Aww, but it's friendly," Lotus laughed as the dog started nosing into his hood.

"Sure, it's friendly now," the taller countered, "We have no idea when this thing will decide to turn on us; it's also filthy and carrying stars only knows what kinds of diseases. It's too dangerous, so we're not keeping the mutt and that's that."

After a brief staring match Lotus conceded, sighing as he stood once more to finish the trek back home. Much to Rurik's chagrin, the dog continued following them all the way to their front walk. Opening the front door, he ushered his boyfriend into the house and turned to block the door. "Go on, there's nothing here for you!" the skeleton shouted, hoping the raised voice would spook it. He stomped in the dog's direction when it merely sat on its haunches at his vocal command, "Scram you mangy mutt!" The action produced a toothy yawn from the animal.

At a loss for what to do since actually trying to hurt the dog would make Lotus angry, Rurik threw his hands up in the air and turned to slam the door in the animal's face. He flipped the deadbolt and latched the chain with a bit more fanfare than necessary, mostly using the actions to blow off some steam. Turning away from the door with a satisfied smirk, he was met with an unimpressed gaze from his partner.

Rurik huffed as he said, "Lotus, you know we can't. Besides it being a mutt off the streets, there's nothing to guarantee it won't go wild and attack one of us. If you're home by yourself and it decides to go on a rampage..." He shook off the thought, "I won't risk it. Our safety's more important than some stupid pet."

Lotus's expression took on a guilty tinge, "That's true... you're trying to keep us safe, and I should appreciate that. You're right to be wary and I'm sorry for giving you a hard time; I guess I thought the dog was cute and had an impulse thought."

"Thanks... at least we probably won't have to worry about it anymore," Rurik pulled his companion in for a hug, "Once it figures out that it's not getting any more food, it'll leave and go back to wherever it came from."

The pair proceeded to put all thoughts of the dog behind them, having dinner and bantering over which horror movie they wanted to watch. The rest of the night was spent picking apart their movie of choice before turning in for the night hours later.

---

The next morning, Rurik woke up to an empty bed. Tromping downstairs, he walked into the kitchen to find a wrapped plate of pancakes and a note stating that his companion had gotten an early summons for work; that meant Lotus would probably be home earlier as well.

After warming and eating his breakfast and taking a quick shower, Rurik got dressed and slipped on his boots to head to work. Cracking the door open, he scanned the front lawn; he was pleased to see no signs of the dog from yesterday as he predicted.

Stepping out and locking the door, he made his way down the sidewalk for a hassle-free day of delivering packages.

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Word Count: 1,292