Chapter Text
Grian lived a normal life. Quite boring actually, but it suited him. He didn't need any more than his two best friends, and his sketchy carpeting job. If he simply didn't show up to work, they'd still pay him and act as if he were there, and to be frank, he didn't really mind that. Most days, he wouldn't turn up to work, he'd just sit at home, watching TV, and trying to learn how to cook using an old cookbook his friend Mumbo gave him, but ultimately give up when something went wrong.
Mumbo was one of Grian's two best friends. He was an unemployed scientist and engineer, and he showed Grian his crazy inventions all the time. Just the other day, Grian had been visiting and Mumbo had shown him an automatic dog collar which tried to guess what a dog was feeling. "It's revolutionary!" He had said when the collar had guessed the dog was confused, hungry, and happy. But Grian didn't understand; he could already tell these things just by looking at the way the dog's head was tilted, tail was wagging, and dogs are always hungry.
Martyn was Grian's other best friend. He worked for the Watchers, which were a temporary police force created to chase down a band of criminals called the listeners but then were made permanent when the Watchers turned out to be extremely successful as police. Apparently, rumour had spread about the listeners; that they had built an entire underground city. But Grian thought that was a load of hogswash. Either way, the Watchers were in fact real. The way Grian saw it, they were basically just detectives who could legally arrest people.
Martyn mainly cared for Grian's safety and mental health. He'd say that Grian was always too lonely, or should report his job to the Watchers because it might be unsafe. And he'd always ask Grian if he was okay, and tell him to call him if anything happened. The man worried too much. So when a dog with a note attached to its collar showed up at his door suspiciously, he decided to call Mumbo instead. Little did he know, that this dog would change his life, forever. The world would've been better off if he'd called Martyn.
"Mumbo." Grian said blankly.
'Grian? Grian I'm busy, I'm hanging up.' Mumbo's voice replied over the phone.
"No wait." Grian exclaimed.
'What could possibly be so important that you had to interrupt me from my work?' He asked
"There's a dog." Grian replied simply.
'…A dog? That's why you called me? Because there's a dog?'
Grian noticed Mumbo's voice getting irritated.
"No, Mumbo, there's a dog."
There was no reply, just a confused muffle from the other end of the phone.
"Mumbo, there is a dog on my doorstep. What's so hard for you to understand?"
'You didn't say- whatever, why did you call me?'
"Because I didn't know what to do."
'And you thought I would?'
A lack of reply from Grian implied that's exactly what he thought.
'Well is there a note or something with it?'
Grian looked at the dog and saw an enveloped note on its collar.
"See? This is why I called you."
There was no reply, but Grian could imagine the Moustached man rolling his eyes and massaging his forehead.
'Grian, I need to go, I have a meeting in ten minutes to show off that dog collar which you saw a prototype of the other day.'
"Mumbo that dog collar sucked, I could easily tell what a dog is feeling by its body language."
'Grian, this collar is more accurate. It actively tests what part of the brain the dog is using. I'm not showing it off at the meeting because of how useful it is, but how it works.'
Grian didn't really listen to whatever Mumbo had just said. He was focused on trying to read the dog's expression to prove a point.
'Goodbye Grian, if you need more help, just call Martyn, he'll know what to do. I'm not quite sure why you didn't call him in the first place.'
And then he hung up. How dare he?
The big white dog barked, as if to redirect Grian's attention to it.
"What are you looking at?" Grian challenged, but the dog just sat there, panting, and wagging its tail. Grian tried to carefully remove the note from the dog's collar without getting his finger bitten off, but the dog didn't make any threatening actions. Grian really wished he'd had Mumbo's dog collar right now, he had no clue whether the dog wanted to bite his face off, or receive a belly rub. He neatly opened the envelope, and pulled out a small letter.
Dear Grian,
If you're reading this, that means I'm dead. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Pearl, your best friend from primary school. We haven't seen each other for fifteen years, but you're the only person I can trust. Do you remember that one time when you said you owed me a favour, anything, anytime, anywhere? Well I'm calling upon that favour now.
Firstly, I'd like you to look after my dog Tilly. She's perfectly trained, she doesn't bite, she knows how to sit, shake, lay down, and roll over.
Secondly, you should find a key attached to the back of her collar. Can you bring that to coordinates –1243 64 564? Bring Tilly, because when you get there, they're going to ask for proof that I sent you. If anyone asks you what Tilly's name is on the way there, don't tell them.
Thanks G.
-Your bestie, Pearl <3
Grian stood there in shock for a good while. He had so many questions. Why him? Can't she ask anyone else? Where does the key lead to? How did she die? Who is 'they'? And most of all, how did Pearl even know where he lived?
Tilly barked impatiently, adding a sort of whine to it.
"Hey, the world doesn't revolve around you Tilly, my best friend just died," Grian explained.
Tilly made a sarcastic grunting noise, and Grian could've sworn he saw her roll her eyes. He turned the letter, to see if anything was written on the back.
Don't call the police.
A chill ran down Grian's spine. Why would he need to call the police? He calmed down when he realised it was just a joke. She used to always say that when they were kids, like the time she'd offered him to the movies and said she'd totally bought the tickets then said 'don't call the police.' Or when she took him to the museum at night and said 'don't get caught by the security guards, they're pretending to be dinosaurs. Don't call the police.'
Grian thought about the letter for a while; did he really owe Pearl a favour? He really didn't want to look after her dog. To be fair, she was dead now, she wouldn't know if he handed Tilly over to a shelter, but just the thought of giving away a dead person's dog felt wrong.
"Ugh," he groaned. "Come in Tilly, I'm looking after you now."
The dog happily bounded in, and started searching for a comfy place to sit. Grian looked at the time, it was almost 12:30.
"Well Tilly, we best be getting lunch now. Do dogs eat lunch? You know, I've never looked after a pet before, maybe Martyn will finally stop worrying about my mental health now because I'm not alone anymore."
Grian walked into his kitchen and started looking for something to eat. He decided on Fruit Loops, and he started pouring a bowl of milk, but he jumped and spilt the milk all over the counter when his phone rang and frightened him.
"This is why they pour the cereal first," he mumbled grumpily, watching as the milk dripped off the counter and onto the floor.
"Hello?" Grian asked, answering the phone.
'Hi Grian, it's Martyn, are you alright?' The voice asked over the phone. Tilly had walked over and started licking the milk on the floor.
"Tilly, you're in my way! Sorry, Martyn, give me a moment. Tilly, get out of the way."
Tilly kept licking the milk, grunting, but otherwise completely ignoring Grian as he tried nudging her out of the way with his foot.
'Grian, is that a-'
"Stupid dog," Grian grumbled. He held his head against his shoulder and tucked the phone in between. Then he picked up the big white dog and moved her out of the way himself.
"Wow, you're heavy," he huffed. "I'm sorry Martyn, what were you saying?"
'Grian? Is that a dog?'
"Yes, I have a dog now," he replied, reaching over to grab some paper towel.
'That’s...surprising. Anyway, Mumbo said you wanted to call me.'
Seriously Mumbo? Grian thought.
"Well, I was going to call you," he lied, "but it didn't seem necessary."
'Why? What happened?'
"Well, a dog showed up on my doorstep with a note, but it just turned out to be from an old friend."
'Friend? Aren't Mumbo and I your only friends?'
"Yeah, she was my friend from-"
Grian thought for a moment. If he told Martyn that he hadn't seen her in fifteen years, he would surely get suspicious. He'd insist on investigating the letter, and then he'd see the 'don't call the police' joke and overreact about it.
"-Highschool. I was good friends with her in high school."
'That's a relief to hear. Why did she give you her dog?'
"She died."
'Grian! How can you say that so nonchalantly?'
"Well I haven't seen her for a few years."
'And she gave you her dog when she died?'
"Martyn, you're overreacting. It's a normal thing to do."
'And how would you know what a normal this to do is Grian? You have two friends, and one of them's Mumbo. I'm the only normal person you know, and I think it's suspicious. How did this 'friend' know where you lived?'
"I told her."
'Grian, you got that house a year ago. That would mean you've seen her within the last two years.'
"Martyn, why can't you just be happy for me for once?"
Grian thought he heard Martyn mumble something like 'because you have nothing to be happy about' but he wasn't sure.
'Fine, what's her name?'
"Tilly. She's a beautiful white dog."
'Do you even know how to look after her?'
"No, but I'll figure it out."
Martyn sighed in defeat.
'Did the note say anything else?'
Grian hesitated.
"No."
'Don't lie to me Grian.'
"I'm not lying."
'Grian, I'm a Watcher, I've interrogated many people before, I can tell you're lying to me.'
"Wow, just wow. I can't believe you Martyn, first you tell me I have no friends, then you accuse me of lying! Good day Martyn. I said good day!"
Grian hung up the phone before Martyn had a chance to speak. He felt kind of guilty for it, but he really didn't want to have to put up with Martyn calling the Watchers and investigating something which was probably nothing.
By now Grian had cleaned up most of the milk, and Tilly had cleaned up anything on the floor that he'd missed.
"Alright. Tilly, would you like a bowl of Fruit Loops?"
The dog barked enthusiastically, obviously having no clue what he had just said, but excited to be part of the conversation.
"Alright, I'll pour you a bowl."
Grian poured each of them a bowl (Tilly's being much smaller because Grian wasn't sure if it was poisonous to her or not). He placed them on the table and pulled out a seat to sit, but before he could sit down, Tilly jumped up and took his seat.
"No Tilly, that's my chair."
The dog just tilted her head in confusion.
"Down," he commanded, pointing at the ground. The dog looked at him, expressionless.
"I'm really going to have to get one of Mumbo's dog collars. Luckily for us, Tilly, his house is on our way to the coordinates Pearl gave us."
The dog's head pricked up at her owner's name. She started looking around frantically, barking and whining, hoping she was nearby.
"No, no Tilly, stop, I'm sorry, I get it; touchy subject, just stop barking-"
The whining got louder. Tilly started to shake, and she stood up in her chair. Her tail tucked tightly between her legs as she eventually started howling.
"Tilly! Stop, I command you to stop, no, no, don't look at me like that."
That was it. Grian grabbed his phone and opened up google. He searched up why Tilly was freaking out and came to the conclusion that she had separation anxiety. She missed Pearl.
You poor thing, Grian thought. He had no clue what to do, so he decided to wait it out.
About 20 minutes later, Tilly had finally realised that Pearl wasn't there.
"Good girl Tilly," Grian praised after she finally stopped whining. The big dog started licking at her cereal.
"Really Tilly? It's all soggy now."
But the dog kept licking it until all the milk was gone, then she started eating the actual Fruit Loops.
"Weird dog."
Grian placed the empty bowls on the bench because there was no more room in the sink.
"I should probably wash those soon."
Tilly barked, agreeing with whatever she thought he'd just said. Honestly, it was nice to have a friend that agreed to everything he said and actually meant it.
"Well, it's getting Late Tilly, do you reckon we take the key over to the coordinated Pear-your owner gave us?"
Tilly, once again, barked in an agreeing fashion. So Grian headed off to Mumbo's house.