thinking about hybrid dennis and how general hr regulations state that hybrid employees should recieve more verbal affirmation than most human employees, something to do with their animal brains needing confirmation that they're on the right track
robby in particular being a huge proponent of it, loves having hybrids in the workplace, but people start to notice that his praise for dennis, even after the most difficult procedures, is subdued. downplaying it, sometimes, to the point where people (Trinity, Mel, Javadi) wonder if they need to talk to him about it
What they don't know is that praise, from robby especially, makes dennis go crazy in ways that would be incredibly disruptive in the ED. so instead, he waits until they make it home, scrubs off and in comfy clothes again, to turn to dennis.
Dennis, by now, knows what's coming and is panting in anticipation, his soft ears perked and waiting for whatever robby's going to say
robby cups the side of dennis' face with one of his huge hands, scratching at the space behind dennis' ear. dennis leans into it, tail wagging hard enough to hit the backs of his thighs
"you were a good boy today, den," robby murmurs, "did such a good job, didn't you?"
and dennis' puppy brain goes ballistic
With a whine he launches himself at robby, tackling him to the floor with a wagging tail and excited whine, shoving his nose everywhere he can reach and licking and nipping at exposed skin
robby, for his part, laughs a deep, belly laugh and continues to tell him how good a boy he is, how cute he is and how lucky the pitt is to have him around, voice rising higher with each moment. it only riles dennis up more, until hes grabbing at robby's tshirt with his teeth, tugging and shaking his head w it in his mouth
his puppy teeth aren't sharp, but they can really hold on, and robby knew what he was getting into when he started this, so he just holds on and lets dennis tussle, lets him work that energy out. it turns into a wrestling match, one where robby is doing his best to keep his shirt to himself and losing. eventually, dennis has tired himself out enough that robby can get his shirt back, but neither of them really mind. they collapse onto the living room floor in a pile, and even though robby knows his back is going to hurt from the position in a couple of minutes, its worth it right now to hear his puppy's happy panting next to him.