Work Text:
The Key
Closing the door behind her, she slipped her shoes off after a long day at work before putting the keys she held in the bowl on the table to the left of her, smiling she picked up the chain that lay beside it smiling, her fingers glazing over the treasure it held. Removing her coat and hanging it up she called out that she was home to hear the happy yelp from kitchen at the back of the house, walking through hearing the happy sounds get louder only made her smile more. Turning the corner, she saw the excited gaze from the cage by the back door, front paws in the air in anticipation, panting in eagerness of seeing her, her beautiful pet scratched at the cage as she neared. Tapping down the latch the cage door swung open, her precious pet did not bound out, no he would never do that, he waited obediently for her to call him out, his silver tag shining from his collar. “Here boy”, she said knelling down as he ran to her licking her hands, “did you miss me hey, did you miss me today”, she cooed stroking his head, “come on, let’s get you out side, do your business”, standing up she unlocked the back door, just as quickly as she did he leaped through the opening to the garden, it being summer he could use the garden, in colder weather he used the boot room close by, she didn’t want him out in that weather.
Busying herself, she started tea while she waited for him to come back in, a simple salad today she thought, chopping the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber she presented them on the plate before adding some ham and boiled eggs to it. The jingle of the tag court her attention as she sat at the table to eat, her canine companion sat at her side, wide eyed at the site of the food, god she was a sucker for his puppy dog eyes, ripping off some ham she lowered it saying there you go, licking the meat a couple of times he took it from her then. The rest of the meal went that way until he bends down, nose pointed to the floor, “alright, I get it”, she retrieved the metal bowl from cupboard and filled it then placed it in front of him, he ate readily, when they were both finished she told him to follow her, making her way to the living room he did happily, curling up on his dog bed by the sofa. Lying down she switched the telly on, flickering through the channels, her other hand stroking over his soft head and back, relaxing sighs emitting from him as she did, the calming sensation set him to drift off to sleep with a yawn, she to dosed off. She awoke to a squeaking noise, she laughed when she saw him directly in front of her, red ball in mouth, “come on then, not in the house remember”, rubbing her eyes as she stood and went to the back door, patting her thigh for him to come too, stepping outside she admired the garden, it’s high walls providing privacy, this was one of the reasons she loved this house so much. Feeling the ball tap her hand, she took it from him and throw it, watched him run after it, take it in his teeth and return, after a while she said that was enough, he whined at this, “it’s getting chilly, let’s get back in and I’ll even let you on the furniture”, he panted happily at that, racing in first. She found him sat by the sofa, front paws on it waiting for permission, sitting down she patted the seat next to her and he jumped up, curled himself, using her thigh as a pillow, again she stroked a long his body, his breathing shallowed and not long after he was asleep again.
When the programme she was watching had finished, she looked at him, her hand on him rising and falling in the relaxed rhythm of his breathing, pulling the chain out of her pocket, she held the important part of it, pushing it in she turned it unlocking the pad lock, “come on you can’t sleep in it”, she said ruffling his head gently then removed the collar. Within a few minutes his eyes opened and looked up, “want to talk about it?”, she asked softly, “bad day at work is all”, he answered, nodding she didn’t ask anything more, placing the chain in his hand, she’d gotten the text on the way home, ‘keys by the door’, was all it said and it was all she needed to know at the time. “let’s go to bed”, she suggested, arm still around his naked body as he sat up, he lent in and kissed her, “thank you”, he said, “no, thank you for trusting me”, she replied covering his fisted hand that held the key to his collar.