Ben
This is my first story for rosebuds! It's a little longer than five-hundred words, but the idea came from one of their prompts. I feel it could have been a bit lengthier, but I didn't want to add more than I needed to. So, please enjoy! :D
Title: Ben
Prompt: Dogs
Summary: Angel remembers.
Rating: PG
Word count: 1,669
His filth covered hands dug under the piles of garbage, searching for nothing in particular. Any kind of sustenance would have been great, but he knew that more than likely, he would be eating rats tonight -and every other night after. He pulled himself out of the dumpster, landing swiftly on his feet, the holes in his worn out shoes making themselves known.
He grimaced and bent down to inspect his now, soaked with dirty water sneakers. He was lucky he had shoes at all, so he knew he shouldn’t have been complaining too much. He had found the pair he was currently wearing in a dumpster much like the one he had been digging in prior to hopping into a disgusting puddle of god knows what. He sighed and pushed his long, greasy hair out of his face. Oh, what he would do for a bath and some food; blood, but certainly not human.
He walked out of the small puddle of grime, his feet making a soft sloshing sound inside of his shoes. He shuddered at the feel and told himself that when he made it back to his home, he’d rid himself of them. Stuffing his hands inside the pockets of his ratty old jacket, he made his way out of the back alley of the dingy restaurant he used to work at.
‘Until they found out what I am, of course.’
He kicked a small pebble as he walked. He kept his head down and made sure he didn’t attract any attention. He didn’t need any trouble. A few weeks before, he had made eye contact with a drunken business man who was, apparently down on his luck, and he had gotten beaten up something awful. He hadn’t wanted to hurt the man, so once the first blow was struck to his temple, he fell and curled up to protect himself. Eventually, the man had given up and stumbled away from him. It had taken his supernatural healing days to kick in before he could even get up again to go out on a ‘hunt.’
Turning the corner towards his little shack of a house, he stopped dead in his tracks; there on the street across from where he resided was the group of men that always hassled him. They quite often pushed him around, laughing and bullying him, thinking he was just another random beggar they could just mess with. Little did they know his morality and humanity stopped him from showing them what he really was.
He took a step back and turned around without a second thought. Digging around in one more garbage wouldn’t hurt, right? He headed towards a nearby Chinese restaurant. The couple that owned it was often nice to him, but wary of him as well. The usually let him dig around their garbage and sometimes, they gave him a doggie bag of food he could no longer taste. They were a nice old couple, but he could not afford to repay them, so he kept to himself once again, just digging around through their leftovers.
Once he stepped foot into the alley, he knew he was not alone. He took a deep breath and sighed in relief once he realized what was with him. Walking closer to the large, overflowing dumpster, he saw it; a dog. It was trying to rip open a bag full of garbage, obviously starving. It was covered in dirt, but he could tell its natural color was an off chocolate. It was pretty big, and he was sure, if it was digging in garbage, it was probably ravenous. He took another step closer and the dog noticed him. It bared its teeth and growled, unknowing if he was a danger or not.
He stopped in his tracks, thinking a moment. Slowly, he inched towards the garbage, digging inside before pulling out what felt like chicken - he never took his eyes off the angry pooch. Retrieving it successfully, he offered it to the dog, getting closer to it with as little speed as possible. It sniffed at what he offered and grabbed it, running to the corner and eating it furiously. He let out a sigh of relief; one less enemy in the world.
Dragging a few large bags out of the grimy dumpster, he began digging through them, hoping to find something salvageable tonight. After a few moments of putting a few rations to the side and tossing the rest back into the dumpster, he felt something nudge against his foot. It was the dog.
“Hello,” he spoke softly, reaching his hand out so the dog could smell him. The dog took one sniff and licked his fingers. A small smile graced his lips, the first since he could remember, and let himself pet the top of the dogs head.
“You still hungry?” he asked as he sifted through his findings, giving the dog a few pieces of good meat to enjoy, as he knew he wouldn’t.
The dog sat next to him and began to feast on the food he had received. He smiled again, nibbling a bit on some noodles he had salvaged.
“I’m Angel,” the dog looked up at him, cocked its head and continued to eat. “Do you have a name?”
A glimmer from the streetlight above gave him the answer; a nametag on his collar. Tentatively, he reached over, tugging gently on the only piece of identification the dog had.
“Ben. Your name is Ben,” the dog panted softly, licking at Angel’s hand once more. “We’re gonna be friends, right boy?”
Angel smiled a full, true smile, and continued to show affection to the abandoned canine. It was apparent to him that he hadn’t been the only one abandoned and cast out in this city. When they had finished their meals, Angel made sure he cleaned up after them, as he had mused before; the old couple was nice, so he didn’t want to leave a mess in their alleyway. After he had returned the garbage to their original placement, he began to walk back to his abode.
Ben followed close behind and it was at that moment that Angel was glad that he had kept a few scraps for later. He had been so preoccupied with his new friends that he didn’t realize what, and who he was walking into.
“Hey, bummy,” the man grabbed him by the lapels of his torn jacket, flinging him against the wall next to them. “Long time no see.”
“Leave me alone,” Angel pushed at the man, but his friends stood nearby, and he knew he could not hurt them. He didn’t have it in him anymore.
“We’re just trying to have a little fun, that’s all. Now, why would you try to ruin that for us?” Two men, one on each side, grabbed his arms, pinning him to the stone wall behind him. “Let’s see what you’ve got on you tonight.”
The man bent down in front of him, running his hands up his legs, patting down his thighs and hips before reaching around and feeling in his back pockets and then the pockets in his jackets.
“What’s this?” he taunted softly, taking the small Chinese container out of his large hole of a pocket. “Old Chinese food? What’s this worth?”
“Don’t!” Angel cried as he tossed it away, the contents spilling all over the concrete. Ben growled at the men, and a few of them turned around.
“Well, lookie here,” the man raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Bummy has a friend. C’mere, pooch.”
He reached down to pet him, but Ben would have none of that. He was hurting his only friend! Ben snarled at the man and bit down on his unsuspecting hand. He screamed in pain and tried to pull his wounded limb from the death grips of Ben’s iron jaw, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Help me, you idiots! Hit the mutt!”
One of them kicked Ben and he let go of the man’s hand, yelping in pain as he fell to the ground.
“Kill the damn thing!” he screamed as he clutched at his bleeding hand.
Angel watched as they began to kick at his friend - his only friend.
“No!” he bellowed as he broke free of his imprisonment, throwing punches blindly. All he could think about was Ben.
He could feel his fists connecting with flesh, his knuckles becoming damp with blood, but he could not think straight. All he saw was red and all he knew was that he had to save his friend. It didn’t matter that they had gone after him, attacked him, but when they went after his friend, that was a different matter all together.
“Let’s get outta here!” he heard one of them scream and suddenly, he was watching them flee from him, not even looking back as they ran.
He stood for a moment, motionless, before noticing Ben. Tears sprung to his eyes as he rushed over to the still body of the dog. He fell down to his knees beside him. He now feared that he had failed the only living creature on earth that had trusted him, that had almost begun to love him.
“Ben,” he cried, the tears spilling down his cheeks as he pulled the wounded animal into his lap, trying to be as gentle as possible with him. “Please don’t die, Ben.”
Ben opened his eyes as looked up at him, licking at the hand that was resting on his head. Angel tried to smile, for the dog, for himself, but he knew what was to come. He could hear the dog’s heartbeat slowing, and before long …
oOo
“Do you know what it’s like to have a friend?”
Taken back at her words, Angel only stared wordlessly at her, memories of his one friend in centuries flooding his thoughts, and then receding back into the recesses of his mind once again.
Title: Ben
Prompt: Dogs
Summary: Angel remembers.
Rating: PG
Word count: 1,669
His filth covered hands dug under the piles of garbage, searching for nothing in particular. Any kind of sustenance would have been great, but he knew that more than likely, he would be eating rats tonight -and every other night after. He pulled himself out of the dumpster, landing swiftly on his feet, the holes in his worn out shoes making themselves known.
He grimaced and bent down to inspect his now, soaked with dirty water sneakers. He was lucky he had shoes at all, so he knew he shouldn’t have been complaining too much. He had found the pair he was currently wearing in a dumpster much like the one he had been digging in prior to hopping into a disgusting puddle of god knows what. He sighed and pushed his long, greasy hair out of his face. Oh, what he would do for a bath and some food; blood, but certainly not human.
He walked out of the small puddle of grime, his feet making a soft sloshing sound inside of his shoes. He shuddered at the feel and told himself that when he made it back to his home, he’d rid himself of them. Stuffing his hands inside the pockets of his ratty old jacket, he made his way out of the back alley of the dingy restaurant he used to work at.
‘Until they found out what I am, of course.’
He kicked a small pebble as he walked. He kept his head down and made sure he didn’t attract any attention. He didn’t need any trouble. A few weeks before, he had made eye contact with a drunken business man who was, apparently down on his luck, and he had gotten beaten up something awful. He hadn’t wanted to hurt the man, so once the first blow was struck to his temple, he fell and curled up to protect himself. Eventually, the man had given up and stumbled away from him. It had taken his supernatural healing days to kick in before he could even get up again to go out on a ‘hunt.’
Turning the corner towards his little shack of a house, he stopped dead in his tracks; there on the street across from where he resided was the group of men that always hassled him. They quite often pushed him around, laughing and bullying him, thinking he was just another random beggar they could just mess with. Little did they know his morality and humanity stopped him from showing them what he really was.
He took a step back and turned around without a second thought. Digging around in one more garbage wouldn’t hurt, right? He headed towards a nearby Chinese restaurant. The couple that owned it was often nice to him, but wary of him as well. The usually let him dig around their garbage and sometimes, they gave him a doggie bag of food he could no longer taste. They were a nice old couple, but he could not afford to repay them, so he kept to himself once again, just digging around through their leftovers.
Once he stepped foot into the alley, he knew he was not alone. He took a deep breath and sighed in relief once he realized what was with him. Walking closer to the large, overflowing dumpster, he saw it; a dog. It was trying to rip open a bag full of garbage, obviously starving. It was covered in dirt, but he could tell its natural color was an off chocolate. It was pretty big, and he was sure, if it was digging in garbage, it was probably ravenous. He took another step closer and the dog noticed him. It bared its teeth and growled, unknowing if he was a danger or not.
He stopped in his tracks, thinking a moment. Slowly, he inched towards the garbage, digging inside before pulling out what felt like chicken - he never took his eyes off the angry pooch. Retrieving it successfully, he offered it to the dog, getting closer to it with as little speed as possible. It sniffed at what he offered and grabbed it, running to the corner and eating it furiously. He let out a sigh of relief; one less enemy in the world.
Dragging a few large bags out of the grimy dumpster, he began digging through them, hoping to find something salvageable tonight. After a few moments of putting a few rations to the side and tossing the rest back into the dumpster, he felt something nudge against his foot. It was the dog.
“Hello,” he spoke softly, reaching his hand out so the dog could smell him. The dog took one sniff and licked his fingers. A small smile graced his lips, the first since he could remember, and let himself pet the top of the dogs head.
“You still hungry?” he asked as he sifted through his findings, giving the dog a few pieces of good meat to enjoy, as he knew he wouldn’t.
The dog sat next to him and began to feast on the food he had received. He smiled again, nibbling a bit on some noodles he had salvaged.
“I’m Angel,” the dog looked up at him, cocked its head and continued to eat. “Do you have a name?”
A glimmer from the streetlight above gave him the answer; a nametag on his collar. Tentatively, he reached over, tugging gently on the only piece of identification the dog had.
“Ben. Your name is Ben,” the dog panted softly, licking at Angel’s hand once more. “We’re gonna be friends, right boy?”
Angel smiled a full, true smile, and continued to show affection to the abandoned canine. It was apparent to him that he hadn’t been the only one abandoned and cast out in this city. When they had finished their meals, Angel made sure he cleaned up after them, as he had mused before; the old couple was nice, so he didn’t want to leave a mess in their alleyway. After he had returned the garbage to their original placement, he began to walk back to his abode.
Ben followed close behind and it was at that moment that Angel was glad that he had kept a few scraps for later. He had been so preoccupied with his new friends that he didn’t realize what, and who he was walking into.
“Hey, bummy,” the man grabbed him by the lapels of his torn jacket, flinging him against the wall next to them. “Long time no see.”
“Leave me alone,” Angel pushed at the man, but his friends stood nearby, and he knew he could not hurt them. He didn’t have it in him anymore.
“We’re just trying to have a little fun, that’s all. Now, why would you try to ruin that for us?” Two men, one on each side, grabbed his arms, pinning him to the stone wall behind him. “Let’s see what you’ve got on you tonight.”
The man bent down in front of him, running his hands up his legs, patting down his thighs and hips before reaching around and feeling in his back pockets and then the pockets in his jackets.
“What’s this?” he taunted softly, taking the small Chinese container out of his large hole of a pocket. “Old Chinese food? What’s this worth?”
“Don’t!” Angel cried as he tossed it away, the contents spilling all over the concrete. Ben growled at the men, and a few of them turned around.
“Well, lookie here,” the man raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Bummy has a friend. C’mere, pooch.”
He reached down to pet him, but Ben would have none of that. He was hurting his only friend! Ben snarled at the man and bit down on his unsuspecting hand. He screamed in pain and tried to pull his wounded limb from the death grips of Ben’s iron jaw, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Help me, you idiots! Hit the mutt!”
One of them kicked Ben and he let go of the man’s hand, yelping in pain as he fell to the ground.
“Kill the damn thing!” he screamed as he clutched at his bleeding hand.
Angel watched as they began to kick at his friend - his only friend.
“No!” he bellowed as he broke free of his imprisonment, throwing punches blindly. All he could think about was Ben.
He could feel his fists connecting with flesh, his knuckles becoming damp with blood, but he could not think straight. All he saw was red and all he knew was that he had to save his friend. It didn’t matter that they had gone after him, attacked him, but when they went after his friend, that was a different matter all together.
“Let’s get outta here!” he heard one of them scream and suddenly, he was watching them flee from him, not even looking back as they ran.
He stood for a moment, motionless, before noticing Ben. Tears sprung to his eyes as he rushed over to the still body of the dog. He fell down to his knees beside him. He now feared that he had failed the only living creature on earth that had trusted him, that had almost begun to love him.
“Ben,” he cried, the tears spilling down his cheeks as he pulled the wounded animal into his lap, trying to be as gentle as possible with him. “Please don’t die, Ben.”
Ben opened his eyes as looked up at him, licking at the hand that was resting on his head. Angel tried to smile, for the dog, for himself, but he knew what was to come. He could hear the dog’s heartbeat slowing, and before long …
oOo
“Do you know what it’s like to have a friend?”
Taken back at her words, Angel only stared wordlessly at her, memories of his one friend in centuries flooding his thoughts, and then receding back into the recesses of his mind once again.