Heart of a Warrior (ON HOLD)

Pizza Pals

Steve got a confused look on his face and I cocked my head. Clint grinned.

"PIZZA!!"

And he ran toward the truck where I was wagging my tail ferociously.

Oh pizza. My true undying love.

Wait.

That actually is bacon treats.

Oh pizza. My second true undying love.

Oh how I love you so. Your golden cheese glows brighter than the sun. You smell better than even an old, worn, leather shoe.

I tilted my nose to the sky and savored the scent of the pizza as we waited in the drive thru line. Yes the pizza place has drive-thru. How great of an idea is that?! It's the best invention since bacon treats! Wait which one was invented first? Actually you know what, they both exist now and that is what counts.

I watched as the lady handed two pizza boxes through the window. Oh sweet cheese. Seriously how can something smell so good. I could basically taste the ooey gooey cheese in my mouth.

Oh wait.

Yeah no that's definitely drool. 

I licked by lips, regaining my composure.

Clint drove to a nearby park that had dogs running around. Seemed like a pretty chill place. I didn't smell any threats, so I relaxed as Clint and Steve opened the pizza boxes and took a seat on the ground. They left the tailgate closed and I watched as they dug in to the pizza. They were on the driver's side of the trucks with their backs to it, and talking about some guy named Tony. Time to put the plan into action.

I slowly stood up, as to not make any noise and hopped down on the opposite side of the truck. My paws hit the grass silently and I turned around. I lowered myself to the ground and began crawling under the truck towards the pizza. I paused when I reached the other side of the truck. 5 feet and I would be at the box. The box was right between them and I knew I would have to switch stealth for speed here. My nose twitched. Oh it was bacon pizza. There was no way I wasn't getting a slice of this. I crawled out from under the truck very slowly, so that I didn't attract any attention from the corner of their eyes. I paused, still in a down position. I wanted to growl at what I saw.

The lid was on the box.

Well this just got a little harder. Looks like I'm gonna have to steal it out of their hands. Steve would be an easier target at this angle, so I settled on him. It was like 5 minutes later when he finally opened the box and grabbed a slice. I wasted no time as I launched myself at him. I didn't even touch the ground as I leapt the 5 feet to him and snagged the pizza out of his hand. As my feet hit the ground, I continued until I was about 10 feet away from them before laying down with the pizza.

"What the...?!"

Steve was still shocked at what on earth just happened, but Clint was laughing his head off.

"Did he just... steal my pizza?"

By this time I had finished the slice and looked at him, wagging my tail.

Still laughing, Clint spoke up, "He knows exactly what he did. He had that all planned. The timing of it, the carefully orchestrated attack. He knew exactly what he was doing to get that pizza."

Clint continued grinning at me; I had never seen him this happy before. Granted I hadn't known him that long but still. Steve's face slowly let a smile come onto it as well as he shook his head at me in disbelief. I walked back over to them and laid a foot in front of the box. The pizza was SO amazingly good and golden deliciousness that I had to have more. So very stealthily I began inching towards the box. Just when my nose was about to touch the box Clint spoke.

"Whatcha doin there Dodger?"

I put on my most innocent face as I looked at him and wagged my tail.

Me? Oh I wasn't doing anything. Just laying here.

Hehehe they would never know. I was so close I could taste it. It was right there inches from my nose. I could lick it.

And then it suddenly was gone. Just vanished right before my nose. I glared at Clint, my tail no longer wagging. He had grabbed the pizza box and was now standing with it in hand. I let out a low growl of displeasure, but Clint ignored me. He gestured for Steve to stand as well.

"Lets see what this dog will do for pizza."

"You mean like 'What would you do for a Klondike bar'?"

"I can't believe you actually know that reference."

I watched as Clint opened the box and ripped off a piece of pizza, handing it to Steve. I sat at attention, my eyes glued to the pizza.

"What do I say?"

"Just try a command. See if he knows it."

"I... um. I don't exactly know any dog tricks."

I smelled shame come off of Steve and detected stifled amusement from Clint.

"It's fine. Try roll over."

"Dodger. Roll over."

I laid down before rolling over twice. I sat up and looked at him expectingly. He smiled tossing me the pizza.

"God boy."

He grabbed another piece.

"Speak."

I let out 3 loud barks and then caught the pizza as he tossed it to me.

"Try something more complicated."

Steve pondered this in his head and I let out an anxious whine. Come on dude I just want more pizza.

"Spin left."

I cocked my head.

"Guess he's not that smart." Clint shrugged.

"Hang on." Steve said as he watched me carefully. I knew that look in his eyes. It was the same look Robbie gave me. He believed I could do this. I had to figure this out.  "Dodger. Spin left."

I stood up and shook. Then very slowly I turned left and went in a circle. When I looked at him questioning if I had done what he wanted, Steve was grinning.

"Good boy! Take a bow."

I let my front half sink to the ground while keeping my butt in the air, tail wagging. Clint reached into the box and pulled out a slice of pizza. He handed it to Steve who tossed the whole slice to me.

"Congratulations Captain. Looks like you got yourself a really smart dog that's finally starting to bond with you."

"You really think he's bonding with me?"

"Slowly. But yeah. He's slowly understanding you're gonna be his new partner."

I continued sniffing the ground trying to find any crumbs of pizza that I might have missed. When I glanced up at Steve, I saw a soft smile on his face as he was watching me.

Weirdo.