Chapter Text
It has been yet another long day at work…
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What is the career that you chose? A professional dog trainer and not just simply training puppies to go pee outside or roll over for a treat. No no… You train police dogs to be BAMF fighters but obedient and loyal to their handlers. Therefore, you knew many tricks how to gain the trust of dogs and make them obey given orders.
You were considered to be the best in town and were the number one choice to call for help when the animal help services needed to get vicious or very scared dogs out of their unloving and cruel owners’ hold. You always found a way to make a connection with any dog and let them know that they can trust you not to hurt them.
It was not an easy job since it required a lot of patience and continuous research for new information about dog behaviour and psychology. Even though it was necessary to put a lot of effort in order to be really good at your job, you loved it and enjoyed the company of these animals. Their behaviour was not difficult to take a grasp of and easier to understand than compared to people’s actions and attitude.
People man… They can be such twat waffles and unreasonably complicated. That is why you did not pick a career where you would have to spend day after day in an office, having coffee with co-workers, talking about the current political situation, pretending to be having a very intelligent discussion, and carry on working in a cubicle on projects you would have no interest in.
This is exactly why you decided early on that working with animals is the best option to maintain a happy life with a little bit of challenge, which you have always liked.
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So, after coming back to your two-room apartment late after work, you went to change out of your uniform. Tonight you had plans to go over to your best friend’s place for a movie night, who fortunately lived in an adjacent apartment to yours.
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You both rented apartments next to each other for two obvious reasons both of you worked at the same department - only she was an actual policewoman - and living next to each other allowed to have many girls’ nights and hang out outside of work.
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You put on your favorite hoodie on and went into the kitchen to grab some snacks to bring with you. As you were slowly walking towards the dimly lit room, you heard a loud shriek coming from your friend’s apartment. Without much thought you grabbed your wooden training pole and immediately ran out to check on your friend.
As you approached the front door you knocked on it with force and only got a response of your friend’s screams from somewhere inside. With quick reaction you kicked the door down and raced into the apartment. You did not anticipate to see such a scene in front of you. There was nobody else there but you clearly saw how your friend got knocked over a coffee table and something from thin air was ripping the skin off of her legs. Shocked, you stood there blinking until your friend noticed your presence and shouted,
“Y/N! The dog, please, get it off of me! Help, I beg you!”
What she said had not registered well with you and you could not understand what she was talking about, but instinctively you tried to pull away the invisible force that was holding down your friend to the ground. To your great confusion you actually felt something between your body and the wooden pole that you used to capture the whatever invisible dog your friend was screaming about. And now you could hear his vicious growls right next to you. You tackled the being off of your friend and used all of your strength to push the invisible dog away from you as well. Suddenly, you panicked, since you could not see the creature and now there was no way to predict what it’s going to do and when it’s going to pounce at you or your friend.
You figured that using your training tactics should at least give you a chance to control the situation. Slightly crouched you tried to look at the floor next to your feet so you wouldn’t be staring at the being’s eyes, if it had any for that matter. Carefully you tried to move towards your friend without making sudden movements or showing any aggression. The key in dealing with angry animals is to not project an aggressive stance. And you started using your best gift in dealing with disobedient canines: your confident and calming voice. Even though in this situation it was a challenge to talk in a strong voice due to you shaking a little from the amount of adrenaline in your system.
“Hey there, you invisible creature…” You tried to keep his attention focused on you. “I won’t hurt you but only if you do the same. You got that?” You inquired boldly.
“Y/N, be careful!” Your friend alerted you.
Then you heard a ferocious growl to the right of you and thank god you remembered that your hoodie’s pocket contained some dog treats from yesterday’s work at the park. Very slowly you retracted them and gently crouching down you sprinkled them on the floor in front of you. Then you decided to try using the dog body language that you know of. So you slightly tilted your head to the side, which canines register as a calming gesture. After that, you fake-yawned, which also in dogs’ language meant that they’re calming themselves down.
At this point, you were trying everything to show this invisible canine that you do not want any harm and hopefully it’ll run off and you could finally go to help your friend with the gashing wounds on her legs.
Suddenly, you heard curious sniffing not far from your crouched body. Then to your biggest surprise you picked up a crunching chewing sound and you sighed in relief. Now you anxiously wanted to go over to your friend’s side since you were not sure how much she was damaged.
“Hey, Y/F/N, are you okay there?” You inquired using your soft voice to avoid startling the canine.
“I’m bleeding but I’ll live. Is it gone?” Your friend questioned your still posture fearing that the creature was still in here.
“No, it’s still next to me. I think I calmed it down but I don’t want to risk moving. Where did it even come from?” You spoke slowly holding your side turned to the invisible creature.
“I… I don’t know, Y/N. I started hearing these angry growls and I swear to god I saw a huge wolf-like dog outside my window. And then it attacked me from nowhere! Started gnawing at my legs!” Your friend started explaining while sobbing.
“Ok ok, shhh, everything’s gonna be alright. You just have to promise me to keep your voice calm, I don’t want this dog to come after you again, deal?” Quickly you interrupted your friend’s cries.
“Okay…” She acquiesced.
You had started to wonder whether the creature is still where you thought it was and is it going to leave you now. The stillness in the air did not make you feel better, it only added to your uneasiness. With the corner of your eye you noticed that on the table your friend had left a tray with the meat you would have cooked tonight. You had no more options since now there were no sounds anymore to reveal the position of this mysterious dog. Keeping your hands at your sides you smoothly stood up and leaned towards the tray. Taking the piece of meat into your hand you returned to your previous position and held the steak as an offering to the dog. You intended to hold it while the creature hopefully eats it. There was a plan formulating in your head and it was the only reasonable idea you had at the moment.
Not too long from then you felt a warm breath next to your hand and thanks to your trained hands you did not shiver at all. Calmly waiting you tried to sweet-talk with the invisible being.
“That’s right boy, or are you a girl, huh? Come here, don’t fear me. I just want to pet you, will you let me?”
“Y/N, what are you trying to do?” Your friend panicked.
“Shhh, it’s okay, I have a plan, don’t worry.” You assured her.
You felt a slight tug at the meat and then you saw it being bitten into. Now was your chance.
“That’s it, eat this delicious piece of meat. Will you let me pet your head, please?”
Gently, without hiding your intentions, which otherwise would only piss the dog off, you reached for the presumed head. You heard a silent growl and stopped your hand mid-air. Then the canine continued chomping the meat and you slowly extended your hand and felt the soft fur underneath your fingertips. With great care you caressed the being’s head and carefully pressed your fingers to the veins through which the oxygen reaches the brain. This way the dog should pass out from the lack of air and then you could deal with the situation.
And with relief you felt the creature fall right in front of you with a loud thud. You finally let out a breath you were holding. For safety purposes you checked the dog if he was really out and would not randomly pounce at you unexpectedly. From its steady breathing you understood that the being, in fact, had passed out from the shortage of oxygen.
Without wasting any more time you darted to your friend’s aid. She was breathing unrhythmically and you started to talk with her to keep her consciousness going. You hurried to the kitchen to get a washcloth and a first aid kit to stop the horrid bleeding.
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As you were mending her wounds you swear you heard movement so, you quickly turned around only to be greeted by a pair of brown eyes staring at you with what seemed to be anger written all over this man’s scruffy face. He was wearing a fancy smart suit and shiny black dress shoes. This man, in a confident stance, was glaring down at you and you were not sure if to start shouting and defending yourself or to alert the mysterious man about the invisible dog.
‘How did he get here? And who IS he?’ You thought to yourself.
However, you could not move or say anything. Tonight was all too much already and now you had an unfamiliar dude in the apartment. Could this evening get any better?
“Hello, darling.” The man finally spoke with irritation fading from his face.
“Um, hello, who are you supposed to be? And what the hell are you doing here?!” Suddenly you could use your voice again and, forgetting that there was a sleeping wolf-like creature ten feet away, you raised your voice.
“Now now… There’s no need for shouting sweetie. I am Crowley, King of Hell. And this is my hellhound, which, thankfully, you only put to sleep.” The man proclaimed motioning to the place where you left the invisible dog.
“K..king of Hell? Hellhound? Listen here buddy, explain right now what on earth are you even talking about or you’ll have it worse than the dog!” Nothing made sense anymore and you wished this was one of your crazy dreams and not reality.
“Ooh, feisty! Now, darling, listen. I would be really angry and do nasty things to you and your friend, if you had injured my boy here. But since you so motherly fed him and made him take a nap I’m going to make a deal.”
“Deal? What deal? Just get the fuck out and take your vicious dog… hound-thing with you!”
“Oh, come on, love, won’t you do me the honour to at least ask how you’ve managed to woo my pup when the toughest hunters I know cannot possibly deal with him without a knife in their hands?”
“Hunters? Ok, listen here, pal. Nothing from everything you’ve said so far makes sense to me. So, start walking or I’ll start using my not so motherly skills.” You were absolutely done with this man but you would be lying if you said that you did not find him charming and intriguing.
“Please, such a tender women wouldn’t dare hurting a friendly man after she so nicely treated an attacking vicious hellhound!” Crowley asserted with a smirk playing on his face.
You thought about this for a bit and decided that there is nothing more that you could not handle, after all, you did manage to trick a fucking invisible hellhound.
“What’s that deal you were talking about?” You inquired with curiosity.
“There’s that spark in your eyes that outplayed my pup. So, here’s my offer. You give me the privilege to take you on a date and we can forget any of this ever happened. Deal?”
“What?! First of all, forget anything happened? Do you not see the state in which my friend is? And second of all, a date? How stupid you think I am to go out with someone whose pet just attacked my friend?” You snapped at Crowley.
“Oh, your friend… Well I can assess the damage and have her completely healed, without a scratch left on her. What about that date now, dear?” Crowley was not going to give up that easily.
“You can do that? Then what are you waiting for, fix her before she fucking bleeds out or I swear I will…”
“You will what? Crowley asked raising his eyebrow in amusement.
“I will make your dear pup, if you may, tear you a new one.” You firmly stated while emphasizing your threat by taking a step closer to him on each word, throwing daggers with your eyes.
“You make me feel all tingly. May I ask you, how do you think you would manage to do that?”
“I have some tricks up my sleeve, I ain’t called the best dog trainer for nothing, mister.”
“Well that’s fantastic! Care to face a challenge and train my hellhounds? They can be really vicious but their trust is rewarding.”
“Challenges don’t scare me but why would you want me to have that kind of power, I could turn them against you, you know.”
“You haven’t done anything to me yet, now haven’t you, darling?”
“Not yet.”
“So, do you accept my offer?”
You hesitated but there was something that made you feel so right by doing something so wrong and you decided to give this date a go at least for your friend’s sake. It did not seem that he wanted to hurt you, hell, he probably would have done that by now, and, if he really can heal your friend’s wounds, it is definitely worth a shot.
“Fine. But heal my friend first, or else!”
“As you wish, my dear.” Crowley just snapped his fingers and that was it, your friend was as good as new.
“What the hell…” You whispered under your breath. “So that’s it, you just snap your fingers and everything’s back to normal, like nothing even happened?”
“Well… not always, but for the most part, yes, I can fix the damage. Shall we?” Crowley extended his hand beckoning to take it and leave together with him.
And just like that a new challenge had been introduced into your life.