#riley fluff

I never liked those prickly things they had at the vet, but I was too tired to fight Hesh when he jabbed it into my paw. I was my first time seeing his eyes wet. With the little energy I had left, I licked his hand before my eyes were too heavy to open.

The Ghosts continued with their mission in South America and with a ‘mwah’ on my forehead, Hesh left me with Uncle Merrick, now the captain as he replaced dad. It was probably for the best. I was still so tired and couldn’t stand for too long yet.

Almost a week later, Hesh came back in pain. Something was wrong with his chest, wrapped in white strips like my thigh was. I climbed up onto the bed, resting my head on his thigh and stayed until it was dark outside. When Logan came to get me, I whimpered. I didn’t like being away from Hesh because I couldn’t protecc him.

“It’s okay, Riley,” Hesh said, patting my head. “I promise to not get hurt anymore.”

We didn’t get to see each other much while he recovered because he was in bed most of the time and couldn’t take care of me. They called it ‘out of commission’, like I was.

“Sorry, buddy,” Logan said, as he locked me in my crate after tending to me.

He kept me there most of the time and didn’t let me play with my K9 frens while my wound healed. I promised to not lick it, but he put a heccin lampshade on me anyway. He knew it made me stupid, rendering my whiskers useless that I kept bumping into doorways and stuff. Traitor.

I liked him a lot though. He’d wrestle me and gib delicious hooman food, but when I finally got this satellite dish off, I was going to steal his noms.

“Two don’t technically make a gang, but we’re Logang, okay?” he said, booping my paw with his.

I turned to Hesh, smiling in his bed.

Logan turned my face back to him. “No, he’s too old to be included.”

But he always said we were a pack anyway. Papa was the old Walker, Hesh was the big one, and he was the medium one. I was the smol (and furry) Walker. I liked that. I liked having a pack, because that meant no one would be alone.

Sometime after Hesh and I got better, we moved out of the base to an apartment near a park. It was nice. I’d missed him a lot. No one gave better scratches than him.

But he was different, and I didn’t know why. At night, he’d look out the window for a very long time. I also liked looking out windows, but only during rides (especially in cars with a round hole in the roof I could stick my head out off) because I liked the wind in my face.

He never did this back on base, probably because we were rarely alone and he was always doing something. Hoomans thought a lot. They talked about these things I didn’t understand, and sometimes didn’t talk at all for a long time. Us doggos, we preferred to nap, but I learnt hoomans didn’t nap as much as we did.

Maybe Hesh didn’t know what to do with himself, like me when I was stuck in my crate imagining rolling on the grass outside and all the things I could smell and bark at.

I know! Walkies always did me a happy. I jumped off my bed and boofed at the door. Hesh rounded the corner and chuckled when I whined at my leash hung behind the door.

“I guess a walk isn’t a bad idea.”

I had enough exercise on base, so Hesh didn’t have to walk me so much anymore, but it was nice to finally explore the park. I liked smelling new smells. This late, the park was quiet, but I could tell many doggo frens had been here before. Maybe next time I could meet them!

As we neared the end of the park, I tipped my snoot up to smell the air. I let out a smol bork towards the delicious scent.

Hesh laughed. “Of course you smell it, huh.”

Mlem.

We continued, approaching the crowd. My tail swayed at the food trucks, lined up under the warm string lights. The customers’ chatter didn’t drown the metal clinks and sizzling.

Hesh was too predictable. Of course he picked the loaded hashbrowns truck. He carried the nom to an empty table nearby before slipping my leash under a chair leg and stabbed the cup of lemonade with a straw.

It was only then the smell hit me. This caramelised, krispi bacon sprinkled over the cheese sauce on his food. I put my paws up on the table, sniffing it. I supposed he did have a good taste. I leaned in as I mlemed. A little lick wouldn’t hurt…

“Hey!” Hesh pulled my ear.

With my paws back on the ground, I whimpered, giving him my best puppy eyes. He had to share. We were a pack!

He sucked his teeth. “Alright, just a bit.” He tossed me half a hashbrown and I caught it effortlessly. Mlem.

Hehe. Worked every time.

Hesh did that every so often: stayed up late looking out the window before buying his favourite meal. At least he always paid the Riley tax. Sometimes when I rested my head on his thigh watching him eat each bite, he’d talk about dad. About how he’d have loved to see San Diego in peace like it used to be. Peace meant happy walkies, so I agreed. I thought he’d have loved the bacon bits too.

One night, he went out again, but this time, it felt like he took longer than usual. He was doin’ me a worry so I got up from my bed to wait at the door.

When he eventually walked in, for the first time, he showed me his teeth. He even bought two loaded hashbrowns - one for me surely. Something must have happened for him to be in such a good mood. If he had a tail like me, it would be wagging.

I boofed, following him to the dining table.

Hesh started taking me out on walkies almost every day after work with a bounce in his feet I’d never seen before. It was a weird, but welcomed change. I loved walkies, no matter how late, but I still hoped to meet new frens.

During one particularly late walkie, Hesh slowed down as he waved. I followed his line of sight. Oh, a fren shape!! The hooman jogged towards us and I panted as the heccin angery lookin’ doggo neared. If he had bright eyes, he’d do me a frighten, like Uncle Keegan when we first met!

“David! Hi,” she said before looking down at me. “And you must be Riley.”

She knew me! Did she come to give treats? I boofed.

“You can pet him,” Hesh said as her doggo circled me, tail swaying.

“Hi, Riley.” She let me sniff her hand before scratching my neck. “This is Colin.”

HENLO FREN!

Colin kneaded, not looking angery anymore. He was a big fren. A woofer. My first, because all my frens on base were other German Shepherd doggos just like me!

He had mostly black floof, with brown bits on his chest, legs and face - the colour of perfectly golden-brown cookies. Unlike my big, upright ears, his were droopy triangles on the sides of his round face.

Unfortunately, Hesh’s friend didn’t have treats, but she offered to walk a lap together and handed Colin’s leash to Hesh. Double unfortunate though, because we walked past the food trucks, despite Colin and my whimpers.

I liked my new fren. He knew how to be a doggo.

Maybe next time. Hesh was already doin’ me a happ showing his teeth so much when talking to her. I didn’t know he had so many teeth.

At one of the gates, he stopped. “Do you like chicken nuggets?”

CHIMKIN NUGGIES?! Colin and I boofed.

She laughed. “Of course. Who doesn’t?”

Exactly. Why was Hesh asking such a silly question?

“You want to get some with me sometime?” he asked, suddenly smelling a little sweaty. “We can go to a dog park afterwards.”

“That sounds wonderful. I’d love that.”

Oh, did that mean I was going to meet Colin again? He would do me a heccin’ fun, wrestling with me.

We watched as she and Colin walked away before Hesh led us back home, his teeth still showing.

That Saturday, Hesh woke me with his grunts. He was pushing the floor, all sweaty, before bathing and blasting his chest with the pfft pfft that made him smell wrong.

He told me to eat and brushed my floof. He never brushed my floof in the morning. He was doin’ me a suspicioso. I thought I was healed! I didn’t mean to start shaking.

“Oh, Riley, no, no. We’re not going to the vet!” He grabbed my shoulders. “We’re meeting Colin!”

He sounded too happy to meet my fren, but it was enough to stop the frighten. Maybe we were getting the nuggies he mentioned! I shouldn’t have eaten my kibbles.

When we got to the park and laid on the blankie Hesh laid out, I finally understood why he was so happy. It must have been someone’s birthday, with all the snaccs his fren had packed us. There were peanut butter sandwiches, chimkin, eggs and colourful cronch sticks.

No wonder Colin was such a big woofer. He ate heccin good. Maybe Hesh wouldn’t mind if I had a sleepover at her house.

After lounging around and playing with Colin’s toys, Hesh drove us to get ‘pupper cups’ as she’d suggested. I’d never heard of them, but when I had a little taste of the fluffy white cloud, I knew I wanted her to be my hooman. I still loved Hesh very much, but she’d take a wonderful care of me.

And then she booped Hesh’s cheek with her face. He must have been very thirsty by now - showing that much teeth only made my mouth dry, but with the way he was looking at her, I knew he wanted her to be his hooman too.

We started going on walkies together after work.

The first time we went to hers, Colin angery borked when I walked in. He did me a surprise, but then showed me how to wipe my pawpaws on the doormat to keep his house clean.

“Alright, dinner’s ready,” she called from the kitchen while we wrestled by the couch, and we came running for the chimkin dindin.

I was right. Everything was better at hers. Even Colin’s kibbles tasted better. If I stayed here long enough, I’d probably become a woofer too.

I saw Colin more and more, and Hesh and his fren started licking each other’s face. When we stayed over, Colin was really nice to share his bed, even though only half of our bodies could fit in it. She came over to ours sometimes too, but then only our heads fitted in my bed. I have since wiped my feet on the mat at home too. Hesh seemed to like that very much.

He would take us to the pet shop and buy us new toys – squeakies, chewies and ropes. I didn’t want to be ungrateful, but my favourite game was wrestling with Colin. The hoomans told us to not do it at home anymore though, because one time we hit the table and spilt colourful water on the carpet.

Eventually, Hesh left my spare leash at hers, and got me my own water and nom bowl to put next to Colin’s. I liked how often I saw him and his hooman. She took a good care of him and was always so nice to me, giving me pats and scratches. If Colin loved her, I loved her too.

I wondered if Logan would too, because I could tell Hesh really, really liked her.

When we finally met the medium Walker, Colin looked angery, like he always was around strangers. I tried to tell Logan it wasn’t Colin’s fault his face looked like that, but he didn’t seem to understand and kept his distance. I tried to cheer him up with a few licks on his hand.

Later that day, when Colin got more kibbles and decided Logan was a good boi, he slipped between Logan’s legs with his tongue out when we waited for lemonades from the food truck. With big eyes and many teeth, he said we were officially Logang.

After that, Logan would take us on walks or hikes. As a gang, he said. Colin liked him a lot too – he gave us good wrestles… and more treatos and fries than our hoomans.

While Logan always went on missions with Hesh, I didn’t. I usually stayed on base with the other K9s when I wasn’t needed, but one day Hesh made me stay with Colin. As much as I loved my frens on base, his hooman fed me way better and took us out on walkies every day. That, and it was a lot less lonely than having to be all alone in my crate at night because Hesh’s fren let us join her in bed if we wanted. She even gave us bedtime ‘mwah’s!

Soon after Hesh came back, the park had a party with plenty of frens! There were so many new smells, and I was so excited to meet everybody. But unlike the parties Hesh’s fren made for us, Hesh told me to find the treats myself in the fenced playground.

He called it a scavenger hunt, but it was like what we usually did on missions. The treats didn’t smell as good as bacon, but they weren’t hard to find. This time, everyone looked so happ when I found all three hidden treatos.

“Riley, good job, bud!” Hesh said, patting my side.

A woman gave me a shiny necklace and people said I was a good boi. Hehe. I liked this scavenger hunt thing. Mlem.

We joined Colin outside the fence, who entered another area to sit with other woofers, all in harnesses. Next to the others, he didn’t look as big, but he was still the angeriest. I liked that about him, because it meant he could protecc Hesh’s fren.

And I knew how much Hesh liked her. He licked her face often, always latching onto her at bedtime. Like I did to my favourite blankie when I was a pupper.

I boofed at Colin, and he boofed back before panting. People secured ropes tied to boxes to the woofers, and their hoomans waited at the other end of the arena. The whistle blew and frens made their way across the field as people cheered. I could tell the weight was heavy because they were moving in slow motion.

But not Colin and another brown doggo. I think that woofer might be bigger than my angery brother, who’d stopped halfway down the field.

“Colin, you can do it!” Hesh yelled, and I borked.

When the brown doggo slowed down, Colin charged down the field to Hesh’s fren and the whistle blew again. A man walked up to them, but Colin made a face. He gave her the necklace instead.

We went to see a very nice man who gave everyone with a doggo with a shiny necklace a big box of treats. He gave Hesh two. Colin and I wagged our tails. We must have been very good bois!

Back at Colin’s house, the hoomans ate their noms on the couch while we laid by their feet.

“They’re raising the rent in two months,” she said.

I knew rent. Logan said it was something you paid with what you got from working. It meant she had to collect more treats to stay in her home.

Hesh looked up from his burger, and she continued. “I’ve been looking at new places nearby, but the ones within my budget don’t allow pets. So it looks like I’ll have to move a little further out.”

“Oh, how far?”

“20-30 minutes on foot.”

There was a pause while Hesh started smelling sweaty. “You know, I’ve been thinking of asking you to move in with me. My place is a little bigger, and well, we already spend most nights together.”

“David, you know I didn’t tell you so you’d ask me this, right?”

“No, no, I know. But I meant it. I’d love to make that permanent, and I know Riley likes having Colin too.”

She looked away, like Colin would when he was in trouble.

“You don’t have to answer now. But we’ll come see you no matter where you go-“ he turned to me- “Right, Riley?”

I boofed. I liked him saying my name.

“I like having you both too.”

Hesh showed his teeth, scooting closer to her. “If you want, we can find a bigger place too. So the boys don’t have to keep bumping into the furniture when they wrestle.”

She pressed her head on his shoulder with a small laugh. “I’d love that.”

I was hoping Hesh would forget about his burger, but he held onto it when he licked her face.

We got a new home. This time, it looked out at the food truck park, not the other end of the walkie park anymore. Colin and I liked to stick our snoots between the bars of the balcony railing and smell all the smells.

We slept near the bedroom door so we could protecc our hoomans. We didn’t have to share our bed anymore, but with how Hesh and his fren always looked so happy pressed together in theirs, I wouldn’t mind if we had to share.

It was then I realised Colin was not my fren anymore. He was my brother. Like the big Walker and the medium Walker. Colin was bigger than me though, so it looked like I’d have to be demoted to be the tiny Walker and he’d be the smol one.

Hesh didn’t look out the window so much anymore, even that the view was better. If he did, it would be to check if it was dry, and the four of us would go on a walkie.

And as for Hesh’s friend, I understood she was his mate, the way he always wanted to be close to her. Bringing her treats, making sure she was warm and comfortable will at the blankies. And that meant along with Hesh, I had to protecc her too like the good boi I was.

Our family (hooman word for pack) was bigger now, and I liked it because we could take care of each other. I knew Papa Walker would have liked it too, especially when Hesh was all teeth and she could make his imaginary tail wag like that.

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