Chapter Text
As soon as Locus opened the door, the large grey and white pup pounced on him.
"Aww, hello, buddy," Locus said, scratching the furry beast's ears. "Did you miss me?"
The dog's reply consisted of slobby, wet kisses to the hands. Wash whined softly and spun in circles around his master. Locus dropped his bag on a table and sighed. His feet hurt after a long day of work, but this is what he signed up for when he got a dog.
He grabbed the yellow leash that matched the dog's collar. Wash barked loudly in excitement.
"Okay, okay, we're going. Quiet down."
Once outside in the sunshine, Wash wasted no time dragging Locus around the neighborhood. He rolled around on the soft green grass, then peed on the grass, then tried to chase a squirrel up a tree, then drank out of Mrs Silva's bird bath, then barked at Mrs Silva when she ran outside to raise hell about a dog peeing on her lawn.
"Sorry!" Locus yelled as Wash drug him off on a new adventure.
The orange tabby in apartment 2C was sitting in the window so Wash stopped to say hi, wagging his tail excitedly. When they got to the dog park, Locus unclipped his leash and let him roam. Locus stretched his shoulders and plopped down on a bench. Wash pranced over to him with a large branch he had found, almost too big for the dog to carry. He sat and wagged his tail.
"I'm not throwing the massive stick. You'll hurt yourself."
Wash whined and put his ears back as if he understood Locus wasn't planning on throwing it.
"Fine." Locus snapped off a smaller stick and tossed it.
Wash ran off, grabbing the stick out of the air, and came to a skidding stop. His paws were quickly covered in mud as he brought his new toy back and dropped it at Locus' feet.
After an hour of running around the dog park, saying hi to all of the neighborhood kids, and chasing squirrels, Wash was now tired enough to head home. He still pulled Locus the entire way.
Once home, Locus tried to wipe off the dog's paws since keeping a tidy house was important to him, but Wash had other plans. The furry mutt headed straight for the kitchen and laid down in the middle of the floor. He knew it was dinner time and dinner time meant cleaning up all of the dropped scraps. His tail banged against the cabinets as Locus opened the fridge.
"How about…. chicken?" Locus said out loud.
Wash whined in agreement and also as a way of saying "hurry the fuck up".
Locus made Wash a bowl of dog food as his dinner cooked but the dog didn't care. He was far more interested in what was on the stove. He sniffed it excitedly and barked.
"You have dinner in the bowl!" Locus chided, motioning to the bowl on the floor.
Wash looked but kept wagging his tail and panting at the stove.
Locus took his dinner to the table and began eating. After a couple of minutes, Wash shoved his cold wet nose against Locus's elbow, then rested his head on the man's lap.
Locus smiled down at the pup. It was the first time he smiled and truly meant it in years. Maybe Siris was right and this dog is what he needed. He took a piece of chicken and dropped it on the floor. Wash pounced on it and seemed to swallow it whole. Plus he gets a built-in vacuum cleaner with this dog. Eventually, the dog's stomach got the better of him and he went off to eat the dog food.
After Locus was finished eating, he went upstairs to get ready for bed. Wash dutifully followed behind him, sitting on the bathroom rug as he brushed his teeth. When he crawled into bed, Wash was right next to him. Locus felt calm as he listened to the dog breathe. Every once in a while, Wash would sit up and listen at some nose Locus couldn't hear. Good guard doggie, Locus thought as he drifted off to sleep.