Violet:Violet was in the dog house now.
Literally.
It was a colorful plastic thing on a slightly raised platform in the fenced-in backyard of her family's home. Because it wasn't on the ground, water wouldn't flood it when it rained, so her owners could leave a worn pillow inside of it for her to have some comfort even when she was in trouble. Like tonight.
It was a silly thing to be in trouble over, at least in her mind. She just wanted to play, for someone to pay attention to her for more than just a few passing moments. She lay on the pillow, her head stuck out of the house and resting on her paws. There was a hook for a leash to attach to, but this was the backyard. Sure there were some holes she'd dug under the fence in a pique of boredom, but when it all came down to it, where would she go? Her master had gotten tired of her interrupting his "work" to try and get him to play with her after the mistress closed and locked their bedroom door to keep her out. So he put her outside.
She was so lonely lately. They had moved houses after the accident, but even that didn't seem to help. There was still a gap and because of the pain her masters were in, neither had time to deal with their sweet Violet, not anymore.
She let out a soft sigh and ran her cheek over her paws.
Tate:
He was used to being lonely. Though sometimes he preferred that. His mother visited him regularly, as much as he tried to stick away from her. She would visit his home and he would be obligated to allow her in. He squeezed out of a little window that someone had carelessly left open. He was good at sneaking, as his life revolved around it.
His home was not his, nor did its residents really know of his existence. They thought at first they had rats. Giant, giant rats. But that idea was quickly thrown out when their christmas turkey had been stolen from the tops of their stove. That had been a year or so ago, and the male hardly ever really left. He had taken up residence in their basement, somewhere the humans really just never went to.
Tonight was his night and he was determined to get things out of his mind. Though he had begun to realize he was walking the sidewalks doing nothing but thinking. This was doing more harm than good.
His paws moved over the pavement, and his head lifted from its lowered position. There was a quaint house, somewhere he could maybe steal a snack from the trashcans. He walked straight into the frontyard, and moved towards the back. He frowned when he saw the locked fence gate. Trotting to the side of the fence, he tried to peer in through the cracks. Something smelled interesting, and now he was thinking on that more than a meal.
"Hello?"
Violet:
Violet's ears went up when she heard someone call out. Wary of anyone on the other side of the fence, she still stood and walked away from her shelter, a frown on her face.
"Who's there?" she asked, her nose twitching as she took in the scent of another dog, a masculine scent. She moved a little restlessly as she paced the fence, trying to see whoever was on the other side while trying to not look too interested. Was it a neighbor's dog? No, he didn't have the underlying smell of shampoo most pets seemed to have. A stray, maybe? She'd never met one of those before, should she be even more careful?
When it all came down to it, though... here was someone to talk to... maybe.
Tate:
He perked his ears when he heard the voice on the other side. The creature that stepped forward he quickly realized to be female and he smiled. He sniffed along the fenceline, where it met the grass, sniffing deeply to see what exactly he was up against. Though he quickly came to a hole in the dirt under the fence and he felt his heart quicken.
"I called out first. Shouldn't you respond with who you are first?" He asked, and put his snout in the hole, just barely seeing on the otherside.
Violet:
"You said hello, I asked who was there. So you're the one who should say who you are first," Violet replied, her voice a little tart in response. She was a fairly clever girl, if she had anything to say about it and in her opinion she was in the right here. Then again, what would it matter, telling him who she was?
No, she was bent to the will of her masters in all their moodiness, she wanted at least a bit of an upper-paw against whomever this male was.
She paced some more, trying to follow the sound of his voice to find where he was. Would he come in through one of the holes she'd dug? Would he try to hurt her? Worse? She could take care of herself... couldn't she?
Tate:
He pushed his head in, resting his belly in the dirt and smiling. His tail was wagging, but it wasnt like she could really see that with the fence blocking the view.
"I'm Tate. I live around here." He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. She was cute, and he found himself drawn to her.
"Can I come in here, or do I have to hang out right here?" He asked, though it was matched with a light chuckle. It really was not the most comfortable position.
Violet:
He looked interesting, lying there with only his head and paws poking out from the hole. And his eyes were such a bright blue, standing out among the black. And he wasn't... too much bigger than she was.
"Yeah, you can come in, let's just stay towards the back, so that my masters don't see you if they glance out a window," she replied with a nod and moved away, towards the darker parts of the backyard. There was a garage they could go behind to really be out of sight, but she was fine just staying in the shadows.
"My name's Violet."
Tate:
" 'ts a pretty name. Violet. Nice to meet you." He nodded his head, and pushed hard with his back legs and wriggled through the hole. Once he was through he shook his fur of dirt and then sat.
"What is it you do all day? Don't tell me they make you a yard dog." He frowned, and hoped that wasnt the case. He would be angry if such a pretty creature was banished to the outdoors.
Violet:
Violet sat down across from him, her tail curling around her legs.
"Thanks," her replied to his compliment, tilting her head to one side and looking away. He asked her what she did all day and that just made her feel worse about her situation.
"No, usually I'm inside. I used to go on walks with my masters, they'd take me to the park or we went on trips. We don't do that anymore." She left it that, not elaborating further. She mostly just laid around all day, listening to the sounds of the house. Sometimes she watched television with one of her masters, but other than that she didn't really do anything with them.
Tate:
She didn't sound like she had a very eventful life. Yet she was lucky she had people to care for her. Though at the moment she didnt look happy, and it made him sad. For some reason, he wanted her to be happy.
"Thats a shame. You should have a friend. Someone to keep you company, obviously. We could play games." He said, and a happy look came across his features as he offered a little grin.
"I can be good at some of them. But, I'll try not to win." He was trying to be friendly, though he had the tendency to overdo it sometimes. Though it didnt seem like she would mind too terribly much.
Violet:
She smiled at his offer, still a little concerned over his intentions, but the thought of having a friend, someone she could spend time with...
"It would be nice to have someone to talk to." That was one of those things she didn't even have. It wasn't like she could talk to her owners. She had a feeling even if she could, they probably wouldn't listen. They were too wrapped up in their own worlds right now to remember they still sort of had a baby to take care of.
She couldn't help but laugh a bit at his last comments.
"I don't think it'd be fun if I won all the time. But don't you have someone who would miss you?"
Tate:
He scoffed at her question. He once wondered what it would be like to have someone miss you, but then he remembered that came with a lot of commitment and dedication. Two things he really hadn't been looking for. He just.. wasn't good with people.
"No.." He said, looking at the ground, then returning his gaze to her pretty eyes.
"I am a free dog. Course, I live in a house. So Im not homeless or anything." He said, and cocked his head.
Violet:
"Oh... Wait, do they not know you live there?" Violet asked, relaxing a bit more. What was it like, living without masters? When she thought about it...
"It sounds really lonely." Then again, so was having masters who ignored you. Sure, she was well-fed and had a good, safe home and plenty of toys she could play with, but there were other things one needed in life. Like companionship and love. So it would be really nice to have a friend.
"What kind of games were you thinking of?"
Tate:
"They don't have the slightest idea. Im pretty resourceful, and only sometimes do they have a meal or two dissappear." He stood, and stretched out his body and then smiled again.
"Well, there are a lot of fun games, but I like games where we can get to know each other.. I haven't really had a friend before." He admitted.
Violet:
She looked incredulous at that. She'd never met a stray dog before, especially not one who stole from humans. Tate was... definitely an interesting male.
"Me neither. I knew some dogs at the park where we used to live, but that's far away now," she replied and leaned over so that she could scratch at one ear.
"So, I ask a question you ask a question kind of game? Doesn't sound terribly fun, unless you have some interesting stories."
Tate:
He thought about that and frowned. He really didn't have many interesting stories, besides his every day life. He didnt want to share much about his mother, and she was the cause of most his temper.
"Fine, we could play hide and seek.. Or we could just.. talk. It's up to you, really." He said, and sat again, letting his tail curl around his ankles.
Violet:
Violet thought about it and looked past him, towards the hole she'd dug, then back to the house, back to the hole.
"Could we talk and take a walk, I don't want to be here right now?" she suggested, ears perked up slightly. She could get in trouble if one of her masters came out and she wasn't there when they looked for her, but if they just stayed nearby, she could hear them come out.
She stood, maybe he would show her where he lived, so that she could come looking for him if she needed to. Was it really fair that he knew where she lived and not the other way around? At the very least, it might be interesting to know how stray dogs lived.
Tate:
He nodded almost instantly. If she wanted it, he would get it for her. Why the hell did he like her so much?
"Sure. C'mon, I have somewhere we can go." And indeed he was thinking of taking her to his home. If anything, it would give her a chance to come see him. They were definitely on the same page.
He trotted to the hole, and pushed himself through rather easily. Much easier than it had been going in.
Violet:
Violet followed, excited to be getting away from the house, being distracted from her problems. And he said he had somewhere he wanted to take her. A voice in the back of her mind told her to be careful, she shouldn't just trust him, but she needed to get away.
"Not too far away, though, I don't want to be gone all night," she replied, following him through the hole under her fence.
"Where are we going?"
Tate:
"I'm going to take you to see my place. It's not really that far, and you may never want to come home." He said with a wag of his tail. Though he hadnt meant it as odd as it had sounded. Poor guy just wanted the companionship. Though, particular companionship.
"I mean, if you want." He said, stopping and looking at her, his voice softening.
"If theres somewhere else you'd like to go, name it and we'll go." He said, that small smile tickling the corner of his maw.
Violet:
"Oh, I would like to go there," she replied and smiled again.
"I'll probably still want to go back, but it'd be nice to know where you live so that I might come visit you sometimes." It would be nice, really. The main reason she never left the yard when she was placed out there was because she didn't have anywhere to go. Having somewhere to go would probably make her life so much better.
"I'm new here, remember?" she asked with a shrug. "There's no where here that I know to want to go to. Maybe you can show me around sometime."
Tate:
He nodded, a soft look on his face and his voice too, was soft. "Sure. I would like that, Violet." He walked a little ways, lifting his head to look and turning where appropriate. He could have found the place by heart, but he was noting all the signs where she could find him again.
"I think I will like having a friend."
Violet:
"Having a friend is nice," she replied, looking around her as they walked. Once upon a time, her masters had been her friends. When she was a puppy, she was the center of their world, they were always playing with her, doing things with her, taking her places. But not now. She could sigh and tell herself they were recovering, things would get better soon, if not back to normal. But it had been so long and it seemed like things were just getting worse as time went on.
"You don't live far away at all," Violet mused aloud, her eyes wandering around.
Tate:
"Nope." He grinned and motioned to a rather large house. It was two stories, done in white with maroon shudders and doors. A rather pretty house, if you looked past the wear and tear that came with it. It was a very old house, and the family who lived there very rarely did much maintaining.
"Cmon."
He said, and walked to the side of the house. This time of day, the man and wife were gone. Both working and with no children to their name, the house was his.
When he got to the back of the house, he motioned to a hole that was just under the house. Pushing himself in rather simply he stretched in the basement of the house. The hole wasn't easily seen but when examined, they'd find it was a large hole, and quite easy for him to leave and come.
Violet:
Violet slipped in after him, thinking him clever to have found the entrance. She looked around the dim basement... not finding much there.
"Do you have anything to sleep on?" So she was a little concerned. She wouldn't want to sleep on the floor here, and it was sort of something she could do something about. She could give him her pillow, the one from her doghouse. Her masters would probably blame it on some wild animal and get her a new one. If it could help her new friend, it'd be forth it.
Tate:
He nodded, and padded towards a rack of tools, and nosed underneath it. He was at it for a few minutes, before he pulled out a particularly fluffy blanket.
"I swiped this awhile back. The two never clean up back there, and I dont think theyve come down here in a good year."
He fluffed up the blanket and smiled at his find.
"It really is a nice place. Warm, and with.. resources."
Violet:
"Oh, well that's cool," Violet replied as she moved to the blanket and nosed at it. It was pretty soft, if it hadn't been cleaned in a while.
"It seems like a really nice place," she added, looking around again. Getting to know him... more questions.
"Where you always a... a free dog? I mean, were you born on the streets or something?"
Tate:
He shrugged at her question, sitting on the blanket and rolling so that it was over him and he could hide his face a bit. When his nose perked back out, he smiled.
"I had a home once. There was a fire, it burned down. My humans left, and I guess they forgot me."
He said, though the tone of sadness she should have heard was missing. He didnt care anymore. He had no reason to care.
"It is a nice place. I like it." He said, sitting so the blanket would slip off his head.
Violet:
Violet smiled and laughed a bit at the comical pose he struck, wrapped in the blanket and just peeking out at her.
She sobered, though, when he told her what had happened. The smile was chased into a frown, tilting her head in confusion. How could he not be sad... Then again, if her family just up and left her, she'd probably be sad for a little, then bitter, then get over it at he seemed to have done. It made sense. They left him, after all. Humans could be so self-centered sometimes.
"It is a nice place. Well, nice enough. I wish you could come inside my home, I think you'd like it. My masters wouldn't be happy, me bringing you in, though," she replied, then smiled again, though it was fairly bitter, and huffed.
"Then again, they might just adopt you so that I'd leave them alone."
Tate:
He frowned, his own expression sobering when he heard the bitter tone behind her words.
"But why would they want you to leave them alone? I don't get it.." His voice was quizical.
Why would anyone not want her attention? He thought she was th rilling, even if he had just met her. So how come they didnt get it?
Violet:
She looked sad, her features drooping a bit.
"When I was a puppy, they got me because they were having trouble having their own baby. Not long ago, they finally got pregnant. I was so happy, I thought I would really like that, getting to see a little human and being its friend as it grew up." Violet's tone held a bit of happiness there, as if she was remembering all the happiness that went through the family as they anticipated the baby's birth.
"But they lost it. They don't talk to each other and when they do it just leads to a fight. They let me out for exercise and feed me, but none of the things we used to do. Sometimes my master will let me sit with him while he reads, or the mistress when she watches things, but more often than not, they just push me away."
Tate:
He frowned. What a family all right. He knew loss. It was never easy and it left holes in your heart. But he was also aware that a dog like Violet made things better. She wasnt like him. A family could really enjoy it. He frowned again and shook his head. "Seems like they arent very bright, dear Violet."
Violet:
She smiled a bit and nodded a little.
"Yeah, but humans generally aren't," Violet replied, standing up.
"i should get back. Don't want them to find me gone," she added and headed towards where they had come in. She paused, though, and glanced over her shoulder. She had a feeling she was going to like Tate. He was a little strange, but seemed sensible and nice.
Tate:
He wondered what she would say if he asked her to stay. Though he imagined the loyalty she felt towards her family wasnt going to escape just because she had been scorned a bit. The situation baffled him, and he knew that he had to stay in her life. After all, she was to special to let go.
"Are you.. Are you going to come back?" He asked, his voice sheepish and shaky at first though quickly filled with confidence that was all him.
Violet:
She was facing away again when he asked if she would come back, so she could toss her head in a mildly saucy manner, trying to forget her worries.
"When I feel like it," Violet replied, giving him a look that said she was teasing him. Sure, she would come back, though mostly when he didn't come to visit her.
"I just may have issues getting out, they don't put me outside often."
Tate:
"Then I'll come see you..Every night if I have to." He said, and his eyes held conviction of his words. He would not let her just dissappear on him. No, he couldnt allow himself to let her go for good. He had just met her, and he was already sure she was supposed to be in his life.
Violet:
Violet gave him a smile and a nod.
"Well, don't stay too long if I'm not outside. I'm sure you have other things to do," she said, wagged her tail once, left the basement, and headed home. Her spirits were both high and low because of this. On the plus side, she had a new friend, on the downside she was heading back to her lonely home.
She couldn't wait until she saw Tate again.
