Theresa "Tess" Servopoulos (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dog_eat_dog) wrote2013-09-09 02:36 pm
dog_eat_dog) wrote2013-09-09 02:36 pm
FICLET 006
Tess is awake the moment she feels a cold nose pressed to the small of her back, and it immediately prompts an irritated groan in reply.
"God fucking damn it," she grumbles, reaching behind her to find her blankets and pull them up around her. The puppy, however, is not deterred. For her trouble, Tess gets big paws on her bed and a long, sad whine.
She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to get back to sleep for a solid two minutes before the whining grates enough that she feels like barbecuing the damn dog.
"Alright!" she hisses, flinging off the blankets again and sitting up. She doesn't look at the clock; she doesn't want to fucking know. "I'm up, alright? I'm up. Fuck. Why don't you bother Joel, huh? Or Ellie? Last I checked, you're HER dog..."
Tess' feet hit the floor and at once the puppy is winding against her legs, nose up in the air, still looking for attention.
"Come on, come on," she says, leaving the room with the puppy scampering around her heels. Her first stop is Joel's door, which she knocks on impatiently. When there's no response, she raps harder and then opens the door herself. "Joel."
Joel's voice comes back to her in the dark, sleepy and groggy. The dog is quick to make his way into the room, too, vanishing into the dark but making endless snuffling noises.
"What?"
"The dog is crying," she says impatiently.
"He probably needs to go out," Joel grumbles. Tess can't even see him through the darkness. "So let him out."
"Excuse me?" Tess says. "He's not my dog."
"You're already up," Joel says.
"I am not taking out the dog. You take him out, before he takes a shit on the carpet."
Joel heaves a long-suffering, irritated sigh and Tess turns to head back to her room, leaving the dog. The dog hovers around the bed for a moment but then follows. Embarrassingly enough, Tess has to run those last ten steps to her room, in hopes that she can make it through her door and close it before the dog is hot on her heels, but he's too fast for her.
"Go away," she hisses, and then moves to Ellie's room, instead. She doesn't even bother knocking –– she just tries the door, only to find it is jammed from the other side. Out of frustration, she slaps her hand against the door, hard, and then hammers it with the side of her fist. "Ellie!"
And then Joel is up, poking his head out of his door with a disgruntled look on his face.
"Damnit, Tess, you're gonna wake the whole castle. Just take the dog out, it won't kill you."
Tess gives him a look that could kill, but after a few seconds, she gives an angry huff and storms through the living room and to the front hall closet.
"Fine," she hisses, over her shoulder. "But this is the first and ONLY time, you hear me? Next time, I just put him in your bed and let him pee on you."
Joel rolls his eyes and disappears back into his room, door closing behind him. Tess grabs the leash out of the closet and drops it on the floor, letting the dog pick it up and "play" with it while she busied herself with pulling on her boots and stuffing the cuffs of her pajama pants inside so they wouldn't get wet. Then, almost vengefully, she seizes the dog by the collar with one hand and the leash with the other and clips them together.
The dog, at least, is overjoyed to be going out.
"They don't know the first thing about raising a dog, do they?" Tess grumbles to herself as they get in the elevator, the shepherd pup winding around her legs. "They haven't even given you a name yet, you poor little bastard."
The dog responds with a happy little whimper, tail wagging so hard that his entire bottom quivers with it.
"I'd name you Shit Disturber."
So down they go, Tess and sixty pounds of excited German Shepherd pup, through the lobby and out the front door and into the grass outside. There, Tess grumbles to herself with her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, leash firmly clamped in one fist, while the dog endlessly struggles to find the perfect place to pee.
"SD for short," Tess informs the dog. "I wouldn't complain if we just called you Bad Dog, either. Joel can share your doghouse."
The doghouse currently on their balcony, obviously. The one waiting to be moved into whatever house they get in the city, whenever the paperwork gets finished and Joel and Tess figure out how to make rent every month. Then, Tess hopes, the dog can stay on a chain in the backyard, or have its own little dog run behind a chain link fence.
Tess yawns, stretching her shoulders and feeling that familiar old tug on her scars. At the same time, the dog finally finds a place to pee, and Tess averts her eyes to the stars above and the yellow light just starting to appear on the horizon.
"Ugh," Tess says to herself, for no particular reason, and then gives the pup a firm tug with the leash. They're going back in, whether the dog wants to or not.
Once they get upstairs, Tess lets them back into the apartment and unclips the leash. Boots kicks off, she shuffles back to her room, where she crawls back into bed and buries herself under the covers. The dog follows, jumping up onto the bed.
But with the dog curled up against her spine and her blankets forming a warm cocoon around her, Tess is too tired to protest beyond an annoyed grumble and an unintelligible complaint. Instead, she reaches behind her to scratch at the dog's ears and gets a long, relaxed whuff of breath out of the dog in return.
"Stupid dog," she grumbles.
"God fucking damn it," she grumbles, reaching behind her to find her blankets and pull them up around her. The puppy, however, is not deterred. For her trouble, Tess gets big paws on her bed and a long, sad whine.
She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to get back to sleep for a solid two minutes before the whining grates enough that she feels like barbecuing the damn dog.
"Alright!" she hisses, flinging off the blankets again and sitting up. She doesn't look at the clock; she doesn't want to fucking know. "I'm up, alright? I'm up. Fuck. Why don't you bother Joel, huh? Or Ellie? Last I checked, you're HER dog..."
Tess' feet hit the floor and at once the puppy is winding against her legs, nose up in the air, still looking for attention.
"Come on, come on," she says, leaving the room with the puppy scampering around her heels. Her first stop is Joel's door, which she knocks on impatiently. When there's no response, she raps harder and then opens the door herself. "Joel."
Joel's voice comes back to her in the dark, sleepy and groggy. The dog is quick to make his way into the room, too, vanishing into the dark but making endless snuffling noises.
"What?"
"The dog is crying," she says impatiently.
"He probably needs to go out," Joel grumbles. Tess can't even see him through the darkness. "So let him out."
"Excuse me?" Tess says. "He's not my dog."
"You're already up," Joel says.
"I am not taking out the dog. You take him out, before he takes a shit on the carpet."
Joel heaves a long-suffering, irritated sigh and Tess turns to head back to her room, leaving the dog. The dog hovers around the bed for a moment but then follows. Embarrassingly enough, Tess has to run those last ten steps to her room, in hopes that she can make it through her door and close it before the dog is hot on her heels, but he's too fast for her.
"Go away," she hisses, and then moves to Ellie's room, instead. She doesn't even bother knocking –– she just tries the door, only to find it is jammed from the other side. Out of frustration, she slaps her hand against the door, hard, and then hammers it with the side of her fist. "Ellie!"
And then Joel is up, poking his head out of his door with a disgruntled look on his face.
"Damnit, Tess, you're gonna wake the whole castle. Just take the dog out, it won't kill you."
Tess gives him a look that could kill, but after a few seconds, she gives an angry huff and storms through the living room and to the front hall closet.
"Fine," she hisses, over her shoulder. "But this is the first and ONLY time, you hear me? Next time, I just put him in your bed and let him pee on you."
Joel rolls his eyes and disappears back into his room, door closing behind him. Tess grabs the leash out of the closet and drops it on the floor, letting the dog pick it up and "play" with it while she busied herself with pulling on her boots and stuffing the cuffs of her pajama pants inside so they wouldn't get wet. Then, almost vengefully, she seizes the dog by the collar with one hand and the leash with the other and clips them together.
The dog, at least, is overjoyed to be going out.
"They don't know the first thing about raising a dog, do they?" Tess grumbles to herself as they get in the elevator, the shepherd pup winding around her legs. "They haven't even given you a name yet, you poor little bastard."
The dog responds with a happy little whimper, tail wagging so hard that his entire bottom quivers with it.
"I'd name you Shit Disturber."
So down they go, Tess and sixty pounds of excited German Shepherd pup, through the lobby and out the front door and into the grass outside. There, Tess grumbles to herself with her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, leash firmly clamped in one fist, while the dog endlessly struggles to find the perfect place to pee.
"SD for short," Tess informs the dog. "I wouldn't complain if we just called you Bad Dog, either. Joel can share your doghouse."
The doghouse currently on their balcony, obviously. The one waiting to be moved into whatever house they get in the city, whenever the paperwork gets finished and Joel and Tess figure out how to make rent every month. Then, Tess hopes, the dog can stay on a chain in the backyard, or have its own little dog run behind a chain link fence.
Tess yawns, stretching her shoulders and feeling that familiar old tug on her scars. At the same time, the dog finally finds a place to pee, and Tess averts her eyes to the stars above and the yellow light just starting to appear on the horizon.
"Ugh," Tess says to herself, for no particular reason, and then gives the pup a firm tug with the leash. They're going back in, whether the dog wants to or not.
Once they get upstairs, Tess lets them back into the apartment and unclips the leash. Boots kicks off, she shuffles back to her room, where she crawls back into bed and buries herself under the covers. The dog follows, jumping up onto the bed.
But with the dog curled up against her spine and her blankets forming a warm cocoon around her, Tess is too tired to protest beyond an annoyed grumble and an unintelligible complaint. Instead, she reaches behind her to scratch at the dog's ears and gets a long, relaxed whuff of breath out of the dog in return.
"Stupid dog," she grumbles.