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"Is it still following us?"
"Yup."
"Seriously, what's this things deal?"
One quick glance behind their shoulders confirmed that that mangy fleabag was still following them. A dog with chocolate-colored fur had been following them for the past 30 minutes. One of its ears had a small tear in the tip and its right eye was gray and cloudy-like, a large thin scar covering the one side of its face and over its eye. Someone must have done that to it.
It wasn't like the trio had any food on them to offer it, so what was this dog's deal with them then?
The dog panted happily as its one good brown eye looked at the group, Stone in particular. It had its eyes on him since the moment it saw him. The dog looked at them as if it had known them for years and they were its owners.
"Maybe it thinks we're friendly?" Skipp asked his two other friends. He turns around, facing the dog. "Go! Go on shoo!" He says while doing a shooing motion. The dog only tilts its head to the side, confused, before going back to panting happily, its tail wagging a bit. Skipp shrugged. "Welp, I've done all I can do."
"Ugh! It's not like we have any food to give it." Vinnie pipes in, her arms crossed and slightly irritated. She was getting a bit tired of this dog following them around like it belonged to them. Then, she got an idea. "What if I try intimidating it?" She then gets down on all fours and starts growling at the dog like a wild animal would to scare off another animal.
Stone cocks one eyebrow up at her. "Uh, Vinnie? What the hell are ye doing?"
Vinnie then starts barking at the dog, attempting to scare it off. Instead, it has the opposite effect. The dog gets into a position like it wants to play, its butt in the air, tails wagging at a fast rate. Before Vinnie can register what's happening, the dog pounces at her, knocking her down to the ground and licking her face.
"Hey! No!" Vinnie protests, trying to push the dog off her with no actual success. "No play! No play!"
Skipp chuckles. "Aww, how cute!"
"Cute?! This thing it tryin' to kill me, you idiots! Help!" Vinnie pleas to her friends. She finally manages to get the mangy mutt off her with the help of Skipp.
"So, what do we do with it?" He asks his friends. "I don't think it's leaving us any time soon."
Vinnie wipes the slobber off from her face. "Well, we do need to eat something for dinner tonight." She says, eyeing up the dog currently being pat on the head by Skipp. "Maybe we could eat it?" She licks her lips at the idea.
The dog whimpers in fear and Skipp pales, shielding the scared pup. "What!? No! We're not gonna eat a dog!"
Vinnie huffs, disappointed. "Well, you got a better idea then?"
The dog looks up at Stone, who hasn't said much this entire time. Cautiously, it makes slow steps over to him. Stone extends one hand out and the pooch sniffs him. After a few sniffs, the dog licks the palm of his hand. Skipp and Vinnie almost swore they saw Stone's eyes light up with life.
Stone had always wanted a dog growing up. He could vaguely recall the days when he had a family and how he would beg his mother to get a pet dog for him, but every time he asked, she always gave him the same answer: no. But now after living on the street with Skipp and Vinnie, two friend he considers like younger siblings to him, he doesn't have anyone to tell him no anymore.
He crouched down on one knee and the dog immediately comes closer to him. It starts licking his cheeks happily and its tail wags excitedly. Stone for once in his sad life actually breathes out a laugh. He pets its head and the sides of its neck.
"We could always keep 'em." Stone interjects. While Skipp's face light up with pure joy, Vinnie's drops.
"What?! Keep it?!" Says Vinnie.
"Stone, that's a great idea!" Skipp's eyes begin to twinkle from how excited he was. "We can teach it all sorts of tricks and have it helps us on our schemes!" He looks up at Vinnie with pleading eyes. "Please, Vinnie? We gotta keep it now!"
Vinnie shifts her gaze towards Stone, who continues to pet and adore the dog who has taking a quick liking it him. "Wasn't you who said that we can barely take care of ourselves? How are we suppose to take care of a stray dog?"
Stone simply shrugs his shoulders. "We can make it work. Somehow." He allows a small smile to escape as he gently scratches the dog's belly. He took note that the gender was female. "I've always wanted a dog."
"Yeah! C'mon, Vinnie! We gotta keep her! Look at her! She's so cute and sweet!" Skipp pleas to his friend. After a moment of silence, Vinnie happily sighs and shrugs.
"Eh, fuck it. Sure, why not?" She says. "Us Scraps gotta look out for each other, after all, right?"
Skipp jumps up and down happily. "Yes!" He kneels down and pets the dog's belly. "You hear that, girl? You get to stay with us!"
Upon hearing this, the dog sits up and starts happily licking Skipp's face, causing him to go into a fit of giggles. Stone actually looked happy for once. Well, about as happy as he allows himself to be.
"When we get back home, we'll think of a name for her." Stone pipes in after he and his other two friends are finished petting their new furry companion.
Skipp gasps and smiles. "That's a great idea!"
"I mean, if she's staying with us, we might as well give her one." Said Vinnie. "Speaking of getting back home, we should head back soon. It'll get dark soon and it's best to be back before then."
As the trio walk back to their little makeshift rusty place they call a home, their new dog friend follows close behind, only this time no ones complaining.
"But seriously, what are we gonna do for dinner? I'm starvin'." Said Vinnie on the way back.
"I'm sure we can find ourselves a can of beans or 2." Skipp tells her, causing her to throw her fists into the air.
"Hell yeah! We're gonna eat good tonight, fellas!"
Later that same night, the group manages the find themselves a few cans of unopened hickory smoked beans, Vinnie's favorite. Vinnie practically scarfs down her beans like a hungry animal, as if it's the best thing she's eaten in years, and most likely was. They even poured some beans onto a plate for their new furry dog friend, who also scarfs down her meal.
"I'm beginning to like this dog already." Vinnie says with a laugh as she watches the dog devour the beans and lick the plate clean, leaving nothing behind on it.
"Hungry gal, aren't ye?" Stone says as he pets her head, making the dog pant happily and wag its tail. Since arriving back home, the dog never left Stone's side, stuck to him like glue. Wherever he went, she followed. The dog loved Skipp and Vinnie, yes, but she seemed to really love Stone the most.
"So, I was thinking," says Skipp as he places his can of beans to the side. "what're we going to name her?"
"Oh! Oh! I got one!" Vinnie shouts with her mouth full of beans. "How about 'Wolfgang, Destroyer of Rich Folk!'"
Stone just looks at her like she's crazy, which isn't far from the truth. "Um, no, Vinnie. We're not naming her that."
"Aw, man." Vinnie says in defeat, before getting even more ideas. "Oh! What about 'Lady Rover!' 'Destructor!' 'Captain Chaos!' 'Subwoof-!'”
"Scuttle." Stone immediately stops her with his own name suggestion. "I say her name is Scuttle"
"Scuttle? Really?" Vinnie asks confusingly. Were her name suggestions not good enough for him?
"I think the name works." Says Skipp, agreeing with Stone. While he did care about Vinnie (hell, she was basically like a sister to him), her ideas of a name for a dog were... odd.
"Then that settles it." Said Stone, patting the dog's head. "Your name will be Scuttle."
The dog, now named Scuttle, barked in response to her new name, giving Stone a lick on the cheek. She also sneakily stuck her entire snout into his empty can, licking away all of the delicious bean sauce, only for Scuttle to get her nose stuck. Skipp and Vinnie laughed as Stone removed the can from her nose as she licked away the sauce on it.
Once the fire began to die down, the trio got ready for bed. Scuttle positioned herself at the bottom of their bed by their feet, curling herself up all nice and snuggly. She laid her head in between Vinnie and Stone so that the tall blue-haired boy could still gently stroke her head and he slowly began to fall asleep, but not before Vinnie out of nowhere piped in.
"'Destructor' is still a better name."
Stone gently kicked her in the gut with his knee.