Pudding!

“ Ugh, come ooooon... I’m here to talk to people, not to see girls in swimsuits! If I’m gonna be followed by someone who’s not a person, at least let ‘em be about pudding! ”

“ ... Why’re those girls all posing like that? ”

... For some reason, QP seems to be resting in the middle of the street. Why would she be sprawled out in the middle of--

“ So... hungry...! No pudding... can’t go on... ”

 “ Sweet... sweet freedom...! C’mon, Syura, stop playin’ these super long, complicated games...! ”

“ Ahhh yeah, that’s the stuff! ”

She’s clearly quite enjoying the head patting, a big grin showing up on her face as she took it.

“ Oooh yeah - thanks, Stranger! That feels great for my puppy ears~ ”

“ I had to ration it out, but I did survive. ”

“ Syura barely let me leave to go to the bathroom ‘til she finished it completely. I’m so exhausted. I haven’t seen my wife and kids in weeks...! ”

“ Hmmm? ”

The eager puppy’s eyes turn to the other character in curiosity, as she weighs the situation in her mind.

... A situation she weighs for only a few short moments.

“ A free petting? Go right ahead! ”

The boy stands rather awkwardly as the newcomer looks him over intently. He’s about to say something when the other spontaneously asks him a question that he honestly should’ve expected.

“Uh… I’m… not really sure.”

“But– if it’s that important… I guess you could call me a cabbit!”

The dog girl takes in the answer of the boy for a moment, squinting her eyes as she considers his words quite thoroughly.

“ ... Cabbit, huh? So like... a mix between cat and rabbit? Does that mean your Mom was a bunny and your Dad was a cat? Or the other way around? Or were your parents also total combinations? Is that a race I just didn’t know about? ”

A few more moments of silence (with an expression far more serious than anyone should be wearing in this situation), before giving a further response.

“ ... Okay! So if you’re square in the middle, I guess that puts you right back in neutral territory! Let’s see which part of you wins out then, stranger! ”

     “Jonathon…?”

     Is…that the seagull’s name? What kind of name is ‘Jonathon’ for a seagull? Granted, they don’t know what sort of name a seagull would have, but it just seems so…random.

     While they’re pondering this clearly very important train of thought, it suddenly occurs to them that QP is running ahead of them.

     “W-Whoa, hey, wait up–!!”

     Their short legs put up even more of an effort in a futile attempt at keeping up with her, but the determined puppy girl is already leaving them in the dust.

     They’re getting pretty winded now from all the running and, gradually, their pace starts slowing - maybe they need more exercise.

     “H-Hold on…phew…”

     …!!

     Waaait a second…

     “S-She can fly..!?”

By this point, the dog girl’s mind had drifted away entirely from the nice stranger - this chase had been going on for a while, and her attempts to converse while running were just making this whole thing wear her already-thin patience even thinner. The way her mind was so one-track didn’t really help much, either.

She was making a straight dash - or, flight, as it was now - to the seagull. She was closing in, before...

“ Yah!! ”

She quickly snatched the pudding cup from the claws of the seagull - it let out a squawk at how sudden that was... but it seemed it had also worn itself out, as it decided to simply resume flying on its path instead of properly retaliating.

A grin grew on QP’s face as she held the pudding cup proudly, before setting herself on the ground, her tail eagerly wagging and her ears as perked up as they could be.

“ Haha - yes! Perseverance and main character powers win again! And I didn’t even need to pull out the dice! ”

“ Victory for me! ”

     “Oh. QP, huh? That’s…an interesting name.”

     It’s not a bad name, and certainly Jellybean has heard far stranger ones in their time attending Namco High, but it’s still a little unusual. Maybe the QP stands for something…?

     Then again, they’ve met others before that think ‘Cotton Candy Jellybean’ is a weird first name, so who are they to judge?

     “It’s nice to meet you, QP!!” 

     They cant really complain about meeting a cute puppy girl like her, even if the circumstances are rather silly.

     “Um, well, seagulls fly south for the winter, don’t they? It makes sense that they’d be able to fly for a really long time, right?”

     Honestly, Jellybean has no idea how long seagulls are capable of flying without landing, but it sounded good in their head.

As much as QP would be more than willing to enjoy a nice little meeting, her one-track mind was keeping her focus near-entirely on the thieving seagull in front of the two of them.

“ Yeah, but I’ve been chasin’ it for so long now! I even finished the slice of bread I ran out with in my mouth this morning! ”

She was even starting to feel it a little... if it weren’t for the constant misadventures she’s gone through for pudding, she might actually be tired by this point.

“ Arrrgh, I’ll get it in no time! You won’t get away, Jonathan! ”

“ ... ”

She’s... making quite the thorough search of the boy she’s come across. Focus is especially going on his ears, and animal features.