FAKE Fic: A Dog’s Tale: Part 17 - Dog And Cats
Title: A Dog’s Tale: Part 17 - Dog And Cats
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Dick, OFC.
Rating: G
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Dick’s behaviour towards cats baffles Dee.
Written Using: The dw100 prompt ‘Cats And Dogs’.
Word Count: 1476
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Previous Part
Dogs chased cats; that was just the way it always went. Dee had no idea why it should be that way, he wasn’t an expert on animal behaviour, but he’d seen it often enough, dogs going crazy just at the sight of a cat, that he’d never had any reason to doubt the truth of it. He’d also always taken the cat’s side of things because he liked cats, whereas dogs he could well do without. Dogs bit people, something he could personally attest to having been on the receiving end more than once.
So how was it that he was now, albeit temporarily, the owner of a dog? One that, for reasons best known to itself, didn’t want to chase cats and in fact was more likely to hide behind Dee’s legs or retreat to its safe place, otherwise known as Dee’s foot, if it so much as spotted a cat in the distance.
It wasn’t that Dee wanted Dick to chase cats; being a cat lover he’d far rather have a dog that showed better sense, if he had to have a dog at all, but in all other respects Dick was most definitely a dog so why was he so un-doglike when it came to cats?
“Some guard dog you’d be if you’re scared of a harmless cat,” he told the pup, who was sitting on his foot and leaning against his leg for security, chocolate brown eyes apprehensively following a sleek silvery grey tabby as it stalked past, on the opposite side of the road no less. “It’s not gonna hurt ya, probably hasn’t even noticed ya.” Dick was relatively inconspicuous for a dog, being a long and low-slung miniature dachshund.
Dick whined, sounding suspiciously apologetic, and as soon as the cat was out of sight, bounced to his feet, eager to continue his walk. He did throw one quick look back over his shoulder though; apparently just to make sure the cat wasn’t sneaking up behind him, ready to attack.
His nervousness around cats couldn’t just be because Dick was a relatively small dog either; Dee had seen those yappy little mutts, toy poodles, Yorkshire terriers and such, go tearing after cats twice their own size without a moment’s hesitation. Dick was bigger than those breeds, in length if not in height and although he wasn’t fully grown yet, he was still approximately the size of an over-long but otherwise average-sized cat. Yet he cowered away from cats as if they were terrifying, dog-eating monsters.
The dumb dog wasn’t a coward either. Sure, he was wary of strange dogs, especially if they were the boisterous sort, but Dee thought that was only sensible, knowing what he knew about dogs in general. Dick was quite happy to play with much larger dogs once they proved themselves friendly. He’d also cheerfully chase pigeons, ducks, geese and even swans given the opportunity, although Dee wasn’t sure whether Dick wanted to eat them or play with them.
The previous week while on a walk, after two days of heavy rain, they’d even come across a large rat late one night, probably driven out of the sewers by the rising water levels. Dick had snarled at it quite ferociously, pulling on his leash in an effort to get at it in a way that said as clearly as words, ‘Lemme at it and I’ll rip it to shreds!’ The rat had scuttled away and there’d been no doubt in Dee’s mind that if he’d let Dick off his leash the little dog would have been hot on the rodent’s tail. After all, dachshunds had, according to what he’d learned from the Internet, been bred originally as hunting dogs. He supposed their shape might have made them good at going down animal burrows after the occupants.
So, Dick was a courageous little dog who’d readily take on a rat practically the size of a housecat, but when it came to actual cats, he relied on Dee to protect him. Maybe he’d been frightened by a cat when he was younger. Alley cats could be pretty vicious, and there were plenty of them prowling around the city. Plus, Dick had been lost that time, back when Dee and Ryo had first come across him. Perhaps he’d had a bad experience with a cat while he was wandering around by himself. Just because they’d found him in Central Park didn’t necessarily mean he’d been lost there. Anything could have happened to him, he might have been missing for hours, chased by cats and other dogs, maybe even people. It was the cats that seemed to bother him most though.
All except for one.
“Waaaah!” they were greeted loudly following their walk as they entered the brownstone where Dee and Ryo, and now Dick, lived.
“Woof!” Dick replied, tail wagging, trotting over to greet his friend with much sniffing on his part and a lot of mrrr-mrrring and motherly licking on hers.
Suki belonged to Dee’s landlord, inherited from his mother on her passing. She was an eight-year-old seal point Siamese, and the first time Dee had heard her unearthly wails he’d thought someone was being murdered. He’d grown accustomed to her by now, she’d been living in the first-floor apartment for over a year, and she could often be found in the foyer, checking up on the comings and goings of the residents, and talking to everyone, although she rarely ventured outside except for walks on her leash when the weather suited her. She disliked cold, wind, rain, and excessive heat, because hot sidewalks weren’t good for her paws. It was safer for her indoors anyway, where she couldn’t get lost or run over.
The only reason Dee could think of that might account for Dick’s friendship with her was that because of her collar and leash, he perhaps assumed she was an odd sort of dog. For her part, she seemed to prefer the company of dogs over that of other cats; maybe she was under the impression she was a dog too. If a cat dared try to enter the building’s lobby when she was there, Suki would fluff up her tail, hiss and spit, arch her back, and prance sideways at the intruder. If that failed to scare it off, she’d take more direct action, hurling herself at the other cat, claws unsheathed, and wailing like a banshee. None of them stuck around long enough to find out what would happen next, which was probably just as well.
Anyway, perhaps because of her intolerance towards cat kind in general, Dick adored Suki and always insisted on making a fuss of her whenever they met. It didn’t hurt that, once he’d gotten over her extraordinary voice, Dee had taken to Suki as well, enjoying her antics, although he wouldn’t have wanted to be her owner. She was loud, quirky, stubborn, and demanding, and not nearly as independent as other cats, having been spoiled rotten by her previous owner to the point where she assumed people existed solely for her convenience.
“WAAAAH!” Suki complained now, crossing her eyes at him when Dee said it was time for Dick to go upstairs with him. Reluctant to let her friend leave, she followed them into the elevator and went all the way up with them, holding Dick down with one paw while she thoroughly cleaned his ears. Good-natured dog that he was, Dick didn’t protest, wagging his tail gently against the floor of the elevator as he stoically endured Suki’s ministrations. When they got out at the top, Suki delivered one final lick before bounding back down the stairs, having successfully seen her friend safely to his door.
“Y’know, you could learn a lot from her,” Dee commented as he unlocked the door to let them both in, Ryo still being at work. “Suki would be a great guard dog. She wouldn’t hide behind my legs or sit on my foot.” He wisely didn’t mention the time she’d climbed him like a tree, just so she could hang over his shoulder and bawl right in the postman’s face. That hadn’t had anything to do with hiding; she’d simply been annoyed because it hadn’t been the regular postman, who always brought her a treat.
Dick didn’t reply, just sat down and scratched at his ear with one hind foot while waiting patiently for Dee to unclip his leash.
“Dumb dog,” Dee accused, stroking Dick’s head. “Go on then.” Dick stood up, shook himself, and trotted into the kitchen for a drink as Dee hung the leash on its hook beside his coat, leaving his boots on the shoe rack and heading for the kitchen himself; Ryo would be home soon, so he’d better start fixing dinner.
Maybe next time he visited Mrs Holloway he’d ask her about Dick’s aversion to cats.
TBC in ‘’
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Dick, OFC.
Rating: G
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Dick’s behaviour towards cats baffles Dee.
Written Using: The dw100 prompt ‘Cats And Dogs’.
Word Count: 1476
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Previous Part
Dogs chased cats; that was just the way it always went. Dee had no idea why it should be that way, he wasn’t an expert on animal behaviour, but he’d seen it often enough, dogs going crazy just at the sight of a cat, that he’d never had any reason to doubt the truth of it. He’d also always taken the cat’s side of things because he liked cats, whereas dogs he could well do without. Dogs bit people, something he could personally attest to having been on the receiving end more than once.
So how was it that he was now, albeit temporarily, the owner of a dog? One that, for reasons best known to itself, didn’t want to chase cats and in fact was more likely to hide behind Dee’s legs or retreat to its safe place, otherwise known as Dee’s foot, if it so much as spotted a cat in the distance.
It wasn’t that Dee wanted Dick to chase cats; being a cat lover he’d far rather have a dog that showed better sense, if he had to have a dog at all, but in all other respects Dick was most definitely a dog so why was he so un-doglike when it came to cats?
“Some guard dog you’d be if you’re scared of a harmless cat,” he told the pup, who was sitting on his foot and leaning against his leg for security, chocolate brown eyes apprehensively following a sleek silvery grey tabby as it stalked past, on the opposite side of the road no less. “It’s not gonna hurt ya, probably hasn’t even noticed ya.” Dick was relatively inconspicuous for a dog, being a long and low-slung miniature dachshund.
Dick whined, sounding suspiciously apologetic, and as soon as the cat was out of sight, bounced to his feet, eager to continue his walk. He did throw one quick look back over his shoulder though; apparently just to make sure the cat wasn’t sneaking up behind him, ready to attack.
His nervousness around cats couldn’t just be because Dick was a relatively small dog either; Dee had seen those yappy little mutts, toy poodles, Yorkshire terriers and such, go tearing after cats twice their own size without a moment’s hesitation. Dick was bigger than those breeds, in length if not in height and although he wasn’t fully grown yet, he was still approximately the size of an over-long but otherwise average-sized cat. Yet he cowered away from cats as if they were terrifying, dog-eating monsters.
The dumb dog wasn’t a coward either. Sure, he was wary of strange dogs, especially if they were the boisterous sort, but Dee thought that was only sensible, knowing what he knew about dogs in general. Dick was quite happy to play with much larger dogs once they proved themselves friendly. He’d also cheerfully chase pigeons, ducks, geese and even swans given the opportunity, although Dee wasn’t sure whether Dick wanted to eat them or play with them.
The previous week while on a walk, after two days of heavy rain, they’d even come across a large rat late one night, probably driven out of the sewers by the rising water levels. Dick had snarled at it quite ferociously, pulling on his leash in an effort to get at it in a way that said as clearly as words, ‘Lemme at it and I’ll rip it to shreds!’ The rat had scuttled away and there’d been no doubt in Dee’s mind that if he’d let Dick off his leash the little dog would have been hot on the rodent’s tail. After all, dachshunds had, according to what he’d learned from the Internet, been bred originally as hunting dogs. He supposed their shape might have made them good at going down animal burrows after the occupants.
So, Dick was a courageous little dog who’d readily take on a rat practically the size of a housecat, but when it came to actual cats, he relied on Dee to protect him. Maybe he’d been frightened by a cat when he was younger. Alley cats could be pretty vicious, and there were plenty of them prowling around the city. Plus, Dick had been lost that time, back when Dee and Ryo had first come across him. Perhaps he’d had a bad experience with a cat while he was wandering around by himself. Just because they’d found him in Central Park didn’t necessarily mean he’d been lost there. Anything could have happened to him, he might have been missing for hours, chased by cats and other dogs, maybe even people. It was the cats that seemed to bother him most though.
All except for one.
“Waaaah!” they were greeted loudly following their walk as they entered the brownstone where Dee and Ryo, and now Dick, lived.
“Woof!” Dick replied, tail wagging, trotting over to greet his friend with much sniffing on his part and a lot of mrrr-mrrring and motherly licking on hers.
Suki belonged to Dee’s landlord, inherited from his mother on her passing. She was an eight-year-old seal point Siamese, and the first time Dee had heard her unearthly wails he’d thought someone was being murdered. He’d grown accustomed to her by now, she’d been living in the first-floor apartment for over a year, and she could often be found in the foyer, checking up on the comings and goings of the residents, and talking to everyone, although she rarely ventured outside except for walks on her leash when the weather suited her. She disliked cold, wind, rain, and excessive heat, because hot sidewalks weren’t good for her paws. It was safer for her indoors anyway, where she couldn’t get lost or run over.
The only reason Dee could think of that might account for Dick’s friendship with her was that because of her collar and leash, he perhaps assumed she was an odd sort of dog. For her part, she seemed to prefer the company of dogs over that of other cats; maybe she was under the impression she was a dog too. If a cat dared try to enter the building’s lobby when she was there, Suki would fluff up her tail, hiss and spit, arch her back, and prance sideways at the intruder. If that failed to scare it off, she’d take more direct action, hurling herself at the other cat, claws unsheathed, and wailing like a banshee. None of them stuck around long enough to find out what would happen next, which was probably just as well.
Anyway, perhaps because of her intolerance towards cat kind in general, Dick adored Suki and always insisted on making a fuss of her whenever they met. It didn’t hurt that, once he’d gotten over her extraordinary voice, Dee had taken to Suki as well, enjoying her antics, although he wouldn’t have wanted to be her owner. She was loud, quirky, stubborn, and demanding, and not nearly as independent as other cats, having been spoiled rotten by her previous owner to the point where she assumed people existed solely for her convenience.
“WAAAAH!” Suki complained now, crossing her eyes at him when Dee said it was time for Dick to go upstairs with him. Reluctant to let her friend leave, she followed them into the elevator and went all the way up with them, holding Dick down with one paw while she thoroughly cleaned his ears. Good-natured dog that he was, Dick didn’t protest, wagging his tail gently against the floor of the elevator as he stoically endured Suki’s ministrations. When they got out at the top, Suki delivered one final lick before bounding back down the stairs, having successfully seen her friend safely to his door.
“Y’know, you could learn a lot from her,” Dee commented as he unlocked the door to let them both in, Ryo still being at work. “Suki would be a great guard dog. She wouldn’t hide behind my legs or sit on my foot.” He wisely didn’t mention the time she’d climbed him like a tree, just so she could hang over his shoulder and bawl right in the postman’s face. That hadn’t had anything to do with hiding; she’d simply been annoyed because it hadn’t been the regular postman, who always brought her a treat.
Dick didn’t reply, just sat down and scratched at his ear with one hind foot while waiting patiently for Dee to unclip his leash.
“Dumb dog,” Dee accused, stroking Dick’s head. “Go on then.” Dick stood up, shook himself, and trotted into the kitchen for a drink as Dee hung the leash on its hook beside his coat, leaving his boots on the shoe rack and heading for the kitchen himself; Ryo would be home soon, so he’d better start fixing dinner.
Maybe next time he visited Mrs Holloway he’d ask her about Dick’s aversion to cats.
TBC in ‘’