Work Text:
Another day, another long study session for Hal Emmerich. As a prospective computer programmer, his daily routine was usually: study, short break, practice, study, eat, sleep, repeat. It was repetitive and a bit boring, but the monotony was a necessary evil if he hoped to be successful in the field. For better or worse, the routine was successfully engraving his studies into the forefront of his brain.
"Hal! I think someone's at the door!"
The teenage boy snapped out of his focused state at the sound of his younger sister's voice. He glanced between his computer screen and his door, silently deciding if he could spare the time to investigate their guest. He hummed thoughtfully, then, after a few moments of consideration, he pushed out his chair and walked out of his room. Hal saw Emma down the hall, standing next to the front door with a stuffed dog toy held close to her chest. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and moved her back a few inches, then cautiously cracked the door open.
"Bark!"
Hal's eyes drifted downwards, where he saw a small black and white spotted dog. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the little guy and opened the door wider so Emma could see. "So our surprise guest was a puppy," he mused with a chuckle.
Emma squeezed past him and squatted down in front of the dog, extending her hand for it to sniff. She grinned when it shoved its muzzle into her hand and licked her wrist, its tail wagging furiously. Without a moment's hesitation, she tossed her toy aside and scooped up the puppy. "She's so cute! Can we keep her?"
"Wha--? We can't just take a random dog that showed up at our door!"
"Why not? She doesn't have a collar."
"I--" Hal didn't have an answer for that. He stared thoughtfully at the puppy in his sister's arms. She seemed to be a dalmatian and, sure enough, she didn't have a collar. Judging by her size, she was probably about two months old. Based on his limited knowledge of dalmatians, he guessed she would grow to be a fairly large dog, which meant she would eat a lot of food. Food is money. Can we afford that? As the responsible party of the household, Hal was trying to think about this reasonably, but when he lifted his gaze to look at Emma and saw the glow of joy in her eyes, he sighed and closed the door. "I guess we can keep her. But if anyone comes looking for her, we have to give her back!"
"Yes!" Emma hugged the puppy. "I promise I'll take good care of her! Um, what should we call her?"
"How about Riko?"
Emma held the dog up in the air and smiled. "Yeah... Riko!" She set Riko down and watched her begin to run around the house excitedly. "She already feels at home!" The pup suddenly stopped next to the shoe rack by the door and squatted, peeing directly into one of Hal's tennis shoes.
Hal and Emma exchanged glances, then Hal began to walk back towards his room. "You're cleaning that!" he called over his shoulder before quickly escaping back to his room.