Limbo City, Friday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Today's therapy appointment had spent awhile talking about Kathy's anxiety triggers (shocking no one, she had A Lot) and had left her wound up. So wound up, in fact, that rather than throwing herself into the first taxi she could find and riding white-knuckled to the guys' place, she'd actually braved both the cold and her fears of Limbo City to walk home. Not to explore or to try to get more comfortable, but just to try to work some of that extra jittering energy off.

Which of course meant that she was so far in her head that she didn't realize that she'd taken a wrong turn into a bad neighborhood until it was far too late. All the signs were there; she should have recognized them immediately from her time as Banzai - though with the addition of a lot more deep gouges in the buildings and concrete.

It was the sound of trash cans falling over as she passed an alleyway that got her head out of the clouds, and the almost-feline howl had her anxiety taking a backseat to the adrenaline getting dumped in her blood. She reached behind her to her backpack of weaponry she carried with her whenever she visited Limbo City, keeping her eyes locked dim confines of the alley. Maybe it was just a harmless old alleycat?

A pair of lambent eyes opened in the darkness, easily at height with her chest and each one roughly the size of her fist. Okay, not an alleycat then. One of those animalistic demons Dante called Rages. She was pretty sure that he classified them further, but the taxonomy didn't immediately come to her.

The Rage did, dashing out between the buildings at a speed that she'd have to sprint to match.

A snap of her wrist and her telescoping baton extended. The Rage pounced at her and she pivoted to the side, away from those grasping claws and slammed the baton upwards with full force. Something in its face cracked and the thing yowled in pain and fury. The baton wasn't going to kill the creature, but Kathy was loathe to take out her gun and shoot it; this was the middle of the city and a stray bullet could hit someone. Her Thundaga materia was still attached to her bokken, which was tucked away in her bag and all of her knives required her to get a lot closer than she really wanted to get.

Fuck, of all the times to miss Banzai's rope darts. Maybe she'd have to get a new set - a real set, not made from repurposed gymnastics equipment.

The fight was ugly and brutal, with Kathy basically bludgeoning the Rage with her metal baton, aiming for thinner bones and joints to try to take it down even if she couldn't take it out - or at least convince it that there was better prey elsewhere until she could get a minute to call Dante and have him deal with it. A lucky strike had the tip of her baton smashing into the Rage's eye and it howled; a noise loud and shrill enough to make Kathy's ears ring.

And, right before the heavy weight hit her back and knocked her to the ground, that was when she remembered that Rages usually belonged to a mated pair and where one was, another would surely follow.

The pavement shredded her jeans and the palms of her hands and her head bounced off a rock hard enough that stars burst behind her eyes. The Rage of top of her was even bigger than its mate; she could feel the heavy weight of it on her back, the claws pricking through her jacket and into her skin, smell the rancid tang of old meat on its breath. Her hand inched towards her shoulder, all concerns about shooting gone for the moment now that survival was on the line, and she swore she heard malice in the low growl the demon loosed in her ear.

And then the weight was gone, shouldered off of her by a blur of gray and brown and white. Snaps and snarls added to the yowling cacophony; dazed, it took Kathy a minute to make sense of what she was seeing. A large dog, filthy and matted with ribs showing, had flung itself into the Rage and had managed to wrap its powerful jaws around the demon's throat. The Rage was hissing and clawing at the dog, but there must have been terrier in the mix somewhere, because the mutt refused to budge, shaking the Rage like a rat to try to snap its neck. Ignoring her own wounds, Kathy pulled herself back up to her feet and dashed over to help. She didn't trust her aim enough to not hit the dog, so she went for a knife.

Together, they finished the second Rage off, the first one fleeing back into the depths of the alley. Kathy had no intentions of following and, from the looks of it, neither did the dog. She turned to it, noting he still had a tattered collar on, though he looked like it'd been on its own for awhile. "You okay, boy?" she asked, cautiously holding her hand out for it to sniff. The dog whined and limped forward, its back paw drawn up and a bloody hole in the skin, but still licked her hand.

That was good enough for Kathy. "C'mon, boy," she said, and scooped him up in her arms. He was heavy and almost as big as she was, and he stank, like trash and dirt and blood, but he'd come to her rescue. She wasn't going to leave him behind. "Let's get you home."

[Mostly establishy, but open for phone calls and/or the guys whose house is about to get a surprise guest!]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog wasn't though, lifting his head as soon as the door to the room opened. His teeth were bared in a low growl that stopped as soon as he saw Dante on the other side.

He got up and jumped down from the bed, landing a little hard and whining, but continuing his trek over to the doorway.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Hey, hey, careful, buddy," Dante said softly, squatting down and holding out a hand for him to sniff.

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog did, sniffing his hand and even offering it a small lick. And then proceeded to try to sniff the rest of him, blatantly looking for more bacon.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed softly. "I have some more food for you in the kitchen," he promised. "Think I'll leave the feeding you steak to her, but I'm thinking you won't mind dog food either."

He got back up. "C'mon, boy."

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog followed him down the hall, quiet but for the clacking of his toenails on the wood. He was slow to follow, not just because of his leg, but because he was taking the opportunity to sniff his way around, exploring the new area he had found himself in. He didn't let Dante get more than a few yards ahead of him though, hurrying to close the distance if he thought the gap had widened too much.

[rebelseekspizza]

"There we are," Dante said, as he found himself in the kitchen. He grabbed a can of dog food and held it up while he rifled around for a can opener. "You know this stuff?"

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog crowded close to Dante's legs, eager for the can, but didn't get underfoot in any way that would trip him up. But he did fix Dante with a look of canine impatience, tongue out and panting.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed. "Okay," he said, making short work of the can's lid. He grabbed another plate - he wasn't using either of the cats' bowls for this - and dumped the entirety of the can's contents on the plate.

He pushed it in front of the dog.

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog yearned over the plate, sniffing it excitedly, but made no move to eat it, looking up at Dante and whining softly.

Now that he was no longer - quite - starving, his training was kicking in.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante blinked at the dog, then shrugged, pointing at it. "It's all yours," he said. "C'mon, buddy, eat."

[spin_kick_snap]

Eat.

The magic word was said, permission was given, and the dog leaned down, devouring the contents in just a few bites and looking up hopefully for more.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Nah, I think we need to let that rest for a while," Dante said, but he reached out to scritch the dog behind the ears again. "Let Kathy decide how much else you eat and when."

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog made a grumbly noise and licked the plate again, but didn't continue begging. Instead he sat at Dante's feet and looked up at him, almost like he was waiting for instructions.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante blinked at the dog some more. "Go do... dog things?" he said. "Or, uh, go nap with Kathy some more, that leg of yours is pretty fucked up."

Shit, dogs didn't understand people language, did they?

[spin_kick_snap]

...They did not, Dante. Some few words and commands, like Eat or Sit or Stay, but neither 'do dog things' or 'nap with Kathy' had been covered in his extensive training.

So he just sat there, looking...could dogs look unimpressed?

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante sighed. "Come with me?" he said, strolling back out of the kitchen.

[spin_kick_snap]

That was easy enough to understand and the dog moved with Dante, staying by his side, but again staying carefully out from underfoot.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante noticed, and it made him wonder who'd trained the dog. But he walked him back in amicable silence otherwise, gesturing towards the bed. "She needs something to cuddle, and I'm not fuzzy enough."

He should probably wake her up in another half-hour, see how she was doing. But not yet.

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog looked from Dante to the bed and back, then carefully walked over and dragged himself up on the bed. It wasn't the most graceful maneuver, but he got there. Three spins and then he was laying down, close to Kathy's back.

He would obey the human that had given him food; he was trained to obey, after all. But this one was his new charge.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante smiled at the dog. He knew Kathy'd been looking for one; he was starting to get the impression one had found her instead.

"I'll be back," he promised quietly.

Then he ducked back out the door.

[spin_kick_snap]

The dog settled down with his face on his paws and fell asleep, warm and clean and full for the first time since the bad time.

And Kathy still deeply asleep, sighed and cuddled a bit closer, cold feet seeking out the warmth of his belly. The dog made a quietly mournful noise and steeled himself for this new chore.

[rebelseekspizza]

Poor dog. That was life in this household; he'd just have to deal with it for now.

Dante, for his part, ambled back into the living room, where he heated up some pizza and collapsed on the sofa until it was time to wake Kathy again.

[spin_kick_snap]

She was pinned to the ground, helpless, and the Rage was poised on top of her, mouth open and ready to rip out her softest bits as exes shuffled out of the alleyway--

A cold, damp nose prodded Kathy awake just before she started thrashing, bringing her nightmare to a screeching halt. She was dimly aware of this having played out several times during her nap, though this was the first time she'd come fully awake from it.

Her dog - the dog, the dog that could still have people looking for him - was lying behind her, a warm, comforting weight on her back. "Hi there boy," she said, voice still thick with sleep.

[rebelseekspizza]

It'd been a little more than half an hour - close to an hour, maybe - which meant it was time to check on Kathy.

Dante opened the door carefully, stepping quietly into the room.

[spin_kick_snap]

"...honestly, you just gotta be cool to make Dante like you," Kathy was in the middle of explaining. "Don't harass the cats, don't make messes on the floor. I don't know if he'll ever like you like you, but he'll be okay. Anders...well, he's the one we have to worry about."

She hadn't heard him come in, curled around the dog again, her eyes still closed. The dog did, and again he raised his head and bared his teeth until he saw who it was.

"He doesn't like dogs much. So being nice to the cats is the bare minimum here."