– – ❝ WAY BACK WHEN. ❞

❝ I want to give him the one thing I always wanted —

                                                                        A HOME.  ❞

  Sherman is still hugging onto the soda, making frankly adorable noises of protest as his father tried taking it from him. “ Tch! Sure I know! It’s… Uh… ”

  He’s flipping over the “soda”, squinting.

  “ …What’s cocaine? ”

  In the typical fashion of a young, stubborn boy, Sherman simply turns away and holds it to his chest. “ What’s th’ matter, Mr. P? ‘s just soda! I’ll brush my teeth right after, promise! ”

        “ i do, but it’s not a proper pipe. “ he just so happens to have the ‘ pipe ‘ in question, and gently taps it against his desk. it sounds more like plastic. “ i find the scent of smoke extremely pungent and malodorous and all it does is seep into my cushioned furniture for weeks, nevermind how disagreeable it is with my son’s health. however, i took up the habit only to fit in with my old peers (who i don’t much speak with more, by the way) and, well, since my substitute is completely harmless unlike most ‘ alternatives ‘ to smoking, i found no reason to break it. “

  There was a small comfort in Peabody mentioning that his own son was quite fine on his own and that he too had a previous fear of leaving him alone, even if he found the idea of leaving this ‘Sherman’ up to his own devices a bit nerve-wracking. Even when he allowed his daughter to do the same he’d be counting the minutes she’d return to him safe and sound. 

  Still, it was a small comfort.

  “ I hear dat. Dat’s da one thing I don’t miss bein’ in Brooklyn. Buncha creeps in da city, I tell youse! It can’t be dat hard to raise a kid to treat people with respect. ” he said in agreement with Peabody. Sure, he loved the place and the people within, but it wasn’t nearly as friendly and personal as Jellystone was (even if it got pretty wild).

  His eyebrows raise slightly at the slip-up, though it soon made him chuckle in amusement, opting to repeat his mistake in an attempt to make him feel less awkward about it (he was nice like that). “ Great! It’s a date, then! I can give ya my number so we can talk about a time ‘n day later, if dat’s alright? I’m a bit anxious to get home to my daudda an’ all. ”

        oh god, he repeated it. he not only noticed it, but he repeated it. the dog felt his face flush a little underneath his white fur in pure embarrassment. one would think constantly making a fool of himself on live television in front of millions would have gotten him used to such a feeling, but nope !  somehow, it never failed to make him want to go home and scream into a pillow.

       needless to say, he was very grateful when danny asked to just settle the details later over the phone.

  “ Dang, really? Ha, go figure we’d miss meetin’ each other earlier! Life is funny dat way. ” he shook his head, amused at such an odd circumstance. It was like they were kindred spirits or something of that kind, like in those 5 dollar movies you can buy at a all-encompassing supermarket or in a obscure young adult novel.  He tried not to feel a bit jealous about the fact he got a degree.

  “ OH GOSH, ya know about dose things? ” color him very impressed! “ Nobody can name da models of dose compuddas ‘cept techno-geeks. Ya know, like myself, ha! I actually helped out wit’ some construction on da Atari Video Compudda System when dey were makin dose! I was like, uuuuuuuuuuuh, tech-support ‘n stuff. ” if Peabody wasn’t willing to be a nerd, Danny would have to pick up the slack. 

  Danny might’ve been inclined to continue, even with Peabody’s change of subject if not for the fact he brought up one that surpassed all other topics he enjoyed discussing — his daughter!

  “ Yeah, yeah! I got da most precious, bestest, most amazing daudda da world has ever seen! She’s 11 years old, so she’s about your sons age. Actually, I usually have her around me, but ah… See, she’s a bit tired today, so I wouldn’t go draggin’ her around god’s creation if she didn’t feel too well. I can’t even believe I’ve left her alone at home so long, oh gosh… 30 minutes is forever… ” he began to look intensely nervous while muttering before clearing his throat. Calm down, calm down. She was fine! Talking about her was just as good as seeing her. 

  “ W-Well, anyhow, I understand completely! ” he said with a sympathetic tone. “ I don’t think he’ll have too much trouble fittin’ in around here, all the kids my daudda knows are good ones! No bully problems or anythin’… Say, I got a great idea! Why don’t ya come over sometime, we could set up a playdate for ‘em! My daudda is a great conversationalist! ”

        “ really ?  that’s incredible !  i’d love to hear more about that some time, “ he managed to get in before the other dog started going on about his own child. which, by the way, was actually quite endearing to listen to. peabody politely crossed his arms as he listened, a pleasant smile on his face. so his daughter and sherman were about the same age — good to know !  maybe that would mean sherman would at least have someone to speak with whenever he finally went back to school.

       the smile faltered a little into a look of...confusion ?  concern ?  potentially a mix of both ?  upon hearing danny mutter something about 30 minutes being forever, not entirely certain of what to make of it considering it was a little out of the blue for him, and he wasn’t even sure if he was necessarily...meant to hear that. he ended up opting for shifting his expression to one that was sympathetic, saying, “ i know that feeling. i remember when i first adopted sherman, i disliked leaving him unsupervised as well. “ he purposely left out some of the reasons he felt the need to supervise his boy back then — no one needed to hear some of the contraptions peabody used to keep around his home, or the fact that sherman had a bit of a habit of wandering off without much warning back then. “ now, though, he fares quite well on his own ! “ this was his somewhat roundabout way of reassuring the other. obviously, he wasn’t about to say ‘ i’m sure she’s fine ‘ in regards to his daughter since it wasn’t his kid, but perhaps hearing that a child his own daughter’s age did fine when left to their own devices would ease a little bit of the nervousness that had suddenly showed.

       “ well, thank goodness for that, “ he commented when danny stated there were no bullying issues as far as he was aware. “ i tell you, some of the kids in nyc schools could be so nasty, i’ll never understand it... “ if what the other dog said was accurate, then sherman would probably find attending school a lot more enjoyable, at least on that front. the teachers were a different matter, but at least it’d be one potential issue off the boy’s plate, hopefully.

  “ Awww, c’mon, don’t sell yourself short! ” he said encouragingly, “ I’m sure issa great show! Maybe I’ll watch it, get to know whom I’m talkin’ to a liddle more! ” he said, moving to clap him on the back in his usual overly-friendly manner (though, who wasn’t in this town?).

  “Well, Peabody, welcome to the neighborhood! Or welcome back, I should say, haha! ” he laughed warmly, not sure what to make of the other just yet. The only thing he really knew was that he acted a bit strangely compared to everyone he’s known, but hey, he was like that when he got to Jellystone, too! It was a weird change, certainly. 

  Speaking of… “ Ohhhhh yeah! I did indeedie! Oh man, whadda city. ” he sighed fondly, remembering his past life during his younger years. It seemed like just yesterday he was a pup trying his hardest in community college! “ I lived dere for a bit, until da late… 70s? I was makin my way in Brooklyn, I was! Oh, yous shouldda seent me, I was a bit of a compudda whiz! ” he blinked, remembering himself for a moment. Ah, right, he hadn’t asked about all of that. He only wanted to know why he hadn’t ever heard of him. 

  “ Well, I didn’t really get a lot of attention and such, ya know? ” he admits, shrugging his shoulders. “ I was jus’ livin’ life, didn’t make da rounds anywhere but smaller parts o’ Brooklyn, really! I don’t mind it none, course. I’m the most happy I’ve ever been wit’ my precious baby girl in liddle ol’ Jellystone! ”

  He went back to grinning enthusiastically. There was no point in thinking about the past, right now he was thinking about making a new friend feel welcome! “ Anyway! Round here, dere is no ‘ talkin’ dog ‘ phe-nom-ee-nah as it were! I know it’s probably a lot to get used to, huh? ”

        when he heard when danny had apparently moved out of the city, he couldn’t help but give an amused little chuckle. “ well isn’t that a funny little coincidence — it just so happens that i didn’t move there until the late 70s. i can’t recall if it was ‘78 or ‘79 off the top of my head, but i do remember it wasn’t until a few years after getting my degree. “ funny to think there was a small window of opportunity where he and peabody could’ve crossed paths at least once and met far sooner. he supposed it was moments like these why the phrase ‘ it’s a small world ‘ existed in the first place.

       “ a computer whiz, you say ? “ he said, appearing visibly intrigued despite the comment likely being more of an offhanded one. “ how fascinating !  gosh, and during the 70s too — i still remember when trs-80s had first come out, “ he said with genuine laughter in his tone. god, to most he’d probably sound old — and nerdy. he was tempted to ask if the other dog still pursued that interest at all, but decided against it. lord knows if he got going on the subject, he’d probably never stop.

       “ mhm, “ he hummed with a nod in response to danny telling him how things for him had, by the sounds of it to peabody’s ears, anyway, been fairly quiet. when he made the comment about how it was a lot to get used to, the dog said, “ oh, certainly. i mean, it’s practically day and night in almost every sense of the saying. “ the smaller space, the smaller group of people, the lack of — well, actually, perhaps there were still rats that he wasn’t aware of in jellystone, but he doubted strongly that it was the same as in new york. “ but it’s certainly nothing that my son and i can’t get used to. actually, it might be nice to get away from all the hustle and bustle for a change ! “ was he saying that more to reassure himself ?  probably. hopefully that didn’t show.

…Do I pretend to know or should I be honest | @deepregcrd​

  “ Ah… ” Danny trailed off, uncertain how to respond to that, his polite smile falling a bit. See, he’d been trying to give Peabody a nice and warm Jellystone welcome, knowing he’s new in town. The fact he’s a celebrity — from New York City, no less!  — Really made it hard for him to be honest about knowing absolutely nothing about his show.

  “ W-Well, I gotta say, I’m not really a big tee-vee watcha! ” he chuckled nervously, opting for the honesty route since he was a horrible liar, “ But my daudda’s probably seen’t aaaaaall da good shows, I’m sure she’s watched it. As for me, I haven’t thought about da Big Apple since when I was livin’ dere! ”

  “ I just thought yous looked familiar ‘n all. Maybe I seent you in da town before, wit dat… Da kid with da fluffy hair? I-I dunno, I could be wrong. Figured I would introduce myself since we’ll be seeins a lot of each other ‘round here nows! I’m Danny, ‘s nice to meet some big time celeb in dis small town! ”

        of course he’d say that he hadn’t really seen the show. who on earth was peabody kidding — his audience was bought over so easilyby a rival show and his own got cancelled by a mere rigged competition. to act like it was that well known was probably quite laughable on his part. he chuckled nervously a little, waving a hand and going, “ oh, even if she hasn’t, it’s no big deal. it’s really nothing special— “ his ears perking up in realization. had the other just said that he lived in new york city ?  this was clearly a bit of a shock to him. he almost felt a little silly with his initial response, now. although he still swore he’d never seen this dog in his life, it made a little more sense why he would think that he’d seen peabody before.

       “ o—oh, i don’t know if i’d say ‘ big ‘, personally, i mean, i’m just — i’m just a person — well, ‘ person ‘ —  just like anyone else, really, “ he replied in an attempt to sound at least a little more humble. and not necessarily inaccurate to say, in his opinion, given that his celebrity status had practically been dropped like hot cakes just like that but he digressed. “ but yes, it’s nice to meet you as well !  please, just call me peabody — there’s not much need to include the ‘ mister ‘ portion in completely casual conversation. “

ONCE UPON A TIME SENTENCE STARTERS. ( @thclunchtable​ )

        peabody blinked a little at the statement, almost appearing a little surprised, though he wasn’t sure if it was because the other was suddenly making conversation with him or the actual content of what he was saying. “ ...i couldn’t say for sure, “ the beagle replied, his expression showing a sort of doubtfulness. “ i mean, i have lived here before, but that was decades ago. i doubt i stayed long enough to make a lasting impression. “