Embrace (Rocky x Chase)

Chapter 8- Streetwise

Chase awoke bright and early the next day and announced he was going shopping. He didn't even wait for Ryder's approval, and just stood up at the breakfast circle and declared his plans. To his annoyance, Skye instantly jumped up and said she was tagging along, her small tail fanatically wagging with excitement. He wasn't too crazy about dragging Skye with him, but he gave it a second thought, she likely wasn't that harmful to bring along. It would be more suspicious for him to go alone anyway. Thankfully the other three dogs just shrugged and went back to eating. Three wasn't normal, there were supposed to be four other dogs around him and Skye.

Rocky was absent.

He assumed the mix was shut away in his den, something that surprised completely no one. Even Ryder failed to bring his green-colored food dish out, and it gathered another layer of dust in the cupboards.

"What're you buying?" Rubble looked up from his bowl, pieces of chicken dislodging from his mouth.

"A gift."

"Gifts?" The bulldog asked, "it ain't Christmas."

"It's... for someone special."

Zuma could be heard cooing, looking up with a smug grin, "oh, so Chase is in love."

The shepherd bared his teeth, "piss off, it happens to all of us eventually."

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure she'll love it." Skye bounced to his side, putting an arm around Chase's neck. "Trust me, I'm an expert in this kind of field, you've come to the right cockapoo."

"I don't think-" Chase stuttered, glancing to the side awkwardly, "I think this scenario is a little more unique."

Skye shook her head, "nonsense. Trust me, we'll spend a few minutes getting everything ready and it'll knock her collar off!"

Putting his paw into the conversation, Zuma couldn't resist cracking a joke. "Cool, domestic violence."

"It's a saying," Chase blinked, staring at the lab.

Waving off the edgy joke, Skye put her tail around Chase's shoulders and led him away. "Seriously, ignore that meathead. Good gifts are the best way to show your appreciation." She said, speaking directly in an educating manner. "Don't do the family Christmas thing where you buy everyone hotdog makers and call it a day. A good gift comes from the heart."

"Ugh, have you been watching old Christmas cartoons?" Chase grimaced.

"Occasionally, but you're missing the point. Try not to go for something that everyone likes, you need to give them something that's unique to them."

Unique? Chase's mind wandered at the word, and briefly Skye's voice was tuned out. He knew buying gifts for people was difficult, only now his colleague overcomplicated it beyond anything his canine brain was able to understand. Rocky was a mechanic, he knew that for a fact, and he had pretty much every tool in the book somewhere stashed in his kennel. As much as he hated to admit, he did need Skye here to guide him along.

That was how he found himself trapped in a conversation as the two of them walked through Adventure Bay, headed for the shopping plazas. The sidewalk felt longer than usual, seemingly extending another mile for every sentence leaving the cockapoo.

"Now Everest," Skye yipped as she walked, "she loves snowboarding, right?" She cut off Chase before he could respond, "so you'd think you get here something in that region, but nope! She gets that stuff all the time, and that's why I told Marshall- I swear to you I told him this- to get her these night vision goggles. And he was like, 'why?' Well it's because, -I told him- that he was going to take her into the crystal caves!"