Chapter Text
The bright, white moon shone fully, in stark contrast to the clear night sky behind it. The darkness shrouding Camden Town on a warm August night blanketed the buildings in a warm navy blue, and the stars hung high above, twinkling like winking cosmic eyes.
Warm nights like these were always Dante’s favorite. He loved to wander the darkness without feeling the sting of cold under his fur. And so, he crept down the main hall of his pup-packed house and tiptoed to the door. It was fairly easy for him; he’d done this many times before, and besides, no one really noticed him regardless.
And so, the black-furred Dalmatian pressed his paw onto the scanner adjacent to the dog door, and as soon as it beeped green, he leaped out. As soon as his short nails touched the concrete landing platform between the door and the stairs, Dante took a deep breath into his chest, then exhaled into the warm summer air. You couldn’t tell by his face locked in a perpetual frown, but he was at his happiest right here.
He took his time wandering down the stairs and onto the sidewalk, being illuminated only by the warm streetlights that lined Dalmatian Street. Dante strolled down the dark sidewalk pointedly; he knew exactly where he wanted to go. He wove through the streets and avenues of Camden town, with dark rowhouses and other buildings guarding him like familiar soldiers, and his dark fur helped him blend into them lest a DeVil resumed a prowl.
After a couple of minutes walking through Camden Town, he reached his destination.
The dark iron-barred gates and stout stone brick walls stood for Dante’s favorite place.
The cemetery.
As he passed through the Gothic gateway, he breathed in the stale silence.
In a house packed with ninety-eight loud, crazy siblings, a place where silence was guaranteed brought a strange sense of comfort upon his aching heart.
Although his black fur blended with the darkness of the sky, his purple and white spots moved throughout the darkness like plump fireflies, and his hot-pink eyebags let the lone black poodle resting upon a large concrete crypt know of his presence.
Portia groaned restlessly, dramatically draping a paw over her forehead as she lay on her back, gazing up at the full moon above her. As she heard the rustle of a leaf crunching near her, she turned over on her side, resting her head on a paw.
“You’re here.” She sighed, her voice not conveying how much her heart was beating in her fluffy black-furred chest. Portia gently shuffled over on the lid of the crypt.
“Yeah, I made it.” Dante sighed, leaping and meeting the poodle on top and sitting down next to her. “How’s Spence?”
“Eh, same-old—for better or worse.” She rolls her eyes, a faint smile painting across her muzzle. “I will admit, it’s nice to have some me-time.”
“I feel you there.” Dante let his head droop. “Though it’s hard to get that in a house packed full of loud, yapping pups.”
Portia quietly chuckled. “Suppose that’s what you’re here for. Any new premonitions?”
“Well…” The dark Dalmatian’s lips tightened a bit at the corners as he lifted his head again. “Ever since Cruella DeVil nearly killed us, my nightmares have mostly been about her.”
Portia’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh, Dante…” She sits up and shuffles closer to him. “You’re so tragic.”
“Thank you, Portia. I’m glad you understand me.” Dante turned his head, meeting her eyes.
From here, the conversation naturally died, as the two basked in the moonlight. However, something was toiling upon Portia’s heart…
“You and I just… get each other, you know?” She lets her eyelids drop to a half-lidded state, her smile growing. “One could say we’re star-crossed.”
“Yeah, you could say that again.” Dante playfully rolls his eyes before he fully meets Portia’s face again, noticing it grow ever closer. “Erm, Portia? You feeling okay?”
“Oh, yes, Dante… I’m feeling better than ever…!” Her smile grew deranged and wide, and she continued to move her face towards his. “We’re star-crossed, and I want you to treat me like England’s most famous tragedy…!”
Dante gulps. “Portia, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t you see? I love you, Dante! I need you!” She cackles as she punches her lips onto Dante’s in a kiss.
Dante’s eyes went wide, and his pupils shrank. As he felt Portia’s tongue invade the sanctity of his mouth, a gross feeling bubbled in his throat. Everything about this felt wrong. He swiftly (yet gently) pushed Portia away, a thin bridge of saliva breaking between them. “Portia?!?! What the Dog is wrong with you?!?!”
“Oh, Dante!” Portia’s voice grows heavy as she already prowls back toward him. “You and I are fated to be lovers! And we must seal this pact by uniting our souls!” She keeps creeping toward him with eyes full of raging lust, with Dante backing away fearfully. “I want you, Dante! You and I can live out our dark fantasies together!”
“NO!!!” Dante growled, bearing his teeth as he stood up with a quivering lip.
This shut Portia up, and although their noses were mere inches apart, there was a thick, heavy rift between them.
“D-Dante…” She begins again. “You and I connect like no other souls. We’re meant for each other, can’t you see that?”
“I- I don’t…” Dante fearfully quivers. “Y-Yeah… you’re my best friend, and I care about you a lot, but-”
“-But what?” The poodle interrupts. “If you care about me, then you must love me! And I love you! Do you not feel the same?”
“N-No-!” He mutters, shutting his eyes with a tear.
The tension was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.
“‘No’…?” She looks down sadly, before that sadness flips to a fiery rage. “S-So, you led me on! You and I’ve been meeting here near every night, confiding our deepest, darkest secrets within one another! I was patient and kind with you throughout all of your nightmares and premonitions, and this is how you thank me??”
“P-Portia, please-!” Dante held out a paw. “You’re the only one who truly gets me… you’re the bestest friend I’ve ever had… but, I don’t like you like that… I- I’d rather us stay friends…”
Portia huffs. “Well, too bad. Get off. Now.” She mopes. “If you don’t want our souls to be welded, then why even bother?”
Dante gulps guiltily. “P-Portia…? Are you okay-?”
“I SAID NOW!” She snaps, her sharp canines fully bared. This startles Dante off of the crypt, and he lands hard on his back with an ‘Oof-!’. She then glares down at him with steeply downturned brows. “I never want to see you again.”
Dante replies with… nothing. His mouth hangs open, but nothing comes out, being hallowed by the unwanted intrusion within it. And so, with his lips tightly bolted in its corners, Dante awkwardly shuffles away and out of the cemetery, passing the very same gates which had once brought him comfort.
What was that? He thinks to himself. That was… disgusting! She just… kissed me! Without even asking!
By now, his wayward spiraling had led him to Regent’s Canal, with its murky waters running under a brick bridge that led to Dalmatian Street. Normally, Dante would want to sneak back into the house to avoid being caught, but today was different.
Instead, he strolled along the edge of the canal and sat himself down. He gazed down into the abyss, and his black-furred face with pink eyebags stared back at him.
“Why do I feel gross? Shouldn’t I like being kissed?” He sighs, soliloquizing. “Shouldn’t I like being kissed? Especially by Portia; she’s good-looking, but… not in a romantic way… Why do I feel like this…”
“Why do I feel… empty?” He sighs.
As it turns out, his emptiness was not only mental, but physical, as not long after, his thin belly quietly rumbled.
He sighed, standing up. “Maybe some dinner’ll cheer me up…”
And so, he stood up and slumped back down Dalmatian Street, passing by all the street lamps and rowhouses that he was all too familiar with. He climbed the stairs up to his door, pressed his paw on the scanner, and crawled back through the red dogdoor.
Inside 101 Dalmatian Street, the lights were on, and the familiar sounds of a hundred dogs’ laughter echoed from the kitchen. He slowly marched like a mourning soldier, expecting a nice, hearty bowl of kibble and all his family to comfort him.
However, when he entered the kitchen, he did see his family, laughing and talking, with each pup in front of their own respective bowl. His parents, Doug and Delilah, sat at the head of the table, and his two older siblings, Dylan and Dolly, sat at the other end. However, all of the bowls in front of them were completely empty, with mere crumbs remaining in a few.
“Oh!” Delilah’s pointy ears perk up at the head of the table. “Dante, where were you?”
He didn’t want to say. He didn’t know how to say it. All his lips could mumble was “Where’s dinner…?”
“Err- Dinner’s over, love!” Delilah awkwardly smiled.
Dolly adds her piece, shouting, “Yeah, Bro! You missed it! Too busy thinking about the end of the world… again?” She cackles like a hyena at the other end of the table.
But Dante was in no laughing mood. Dolly was expecting him to angrily bark back at her, and she would laugh him off, just as it was every day.
But today, Dante’s normally miffed brows drooped sadly, and his eyes began to water as he heavily slumped away and up the stairs, each step booming throughout the hall like the bells of Big Ben.
“What? What’d I do?” Dolly chuckles.
“I don’t know, Dolly. But, I think something happened with Dante! He’s not himself!” Dylan nervously bites his lip.
“What do you mean? He’s always all gloom-and-doom!” Dolly shrugs.
After a pause, Dylan stands up. “I’m gonna go check on him, alright?”
“Whatever!” Dolly scoffs.
Dylan trots out of the kitchen and up the stairs into the warmly-lit, empty hallway. He looks around until his floppy, spotted ears finally catch the sound of gentle whimpering coming from a slightly ajar door.
“Dante?” Dylan proceeds forward to the door, nudging it open further with his nose.
This revealed the teal-tiled bathroom, but no Dante.
At least, not at first. As Dylan slowly crept further in, the whimpering grew closer, until it led him to the deep porcelain tub. He jumps his front paws over the edge and peers his nose down. And there, he sees a familiar black Dalmatian, curled up tightly in a ball.
“Dante? You okay?” Dylan tentatively asks.
However, it was met with more whimpering. This was weird. Dante’s more of a ‘shouting prophecies of apocalypse’ pup, not a ‘whimpering in the bathtub’ pup. Dylan exhales as he leaps into the tub himself, lying down on his belly so that he’s eye-level with Dante.
“Dante, what’s wrong? You sad you missed dinner? Want me to make you a bowl?” Dylan tilts his head, his voice high with big-brother-consolation.
Dante sniffs and meekly whispers. “You wouldn’t get it…”
“It’s okay! I’m your brother, Dante! You can tell me anything!” Dylan smiles, his teeth as white as his fur.
Dante’s purple irises look up to meet Dylan’s gaze. He sighs, then finally sits up. “S-So, you know Portia, right-?”
However, before he could finish his confession, Dylan’s eyelids flutter dreamily, and his lips curl into a wiggly smile. “Oh, Portia! Yeah, I know her! I know she’s the dreamiest dog in all the land! Oh, how I’d love to just spend a moment with her and-”
“Portia kissed me-!” Dante shouts, his black lip quivering.
Dylan’s face snaps like an elastic into a wide-eyed neutral. “She what?”
Dante sniffles, the load-bearing dam of his personality beginning to crumble, with some tears leaking through. “Portia kissed me! She didn’t even ask! A-And I told her I didn’t like her like that, and she got mad!”
This was more emotion than Dylan had ever seen come out of Dante. The rusty gears in his head slowly churned. “I think I know what you’re trying to tell me. And I might just know how to help!”
The younger, black-furred Dalmatian looks up, his eyes redder than usual with tears. “You do…?”
“Yup!” Dylan confidently boasts.
“Li’l brother had his first kiss! You like Portia!” Dylan wraps his paw around Dante, yanking the latter and roughly scruffing his head.
“Wh-What…?” Dante raises a shaky eyebrow.
“Don’t worry, Dante! Big brother Dylan knows exactly what you need to do!”
“N-No! You’re not listening!” Dante’s voice gets shakier. “I don’t like Portia romantically-!”
“Sure ya don’t, Dante!” Dylan scoffs with an exuberant grin. “You’re just saying that so I’ll get off your tail! No need to worry, Dante! They don’t call me ‘Dating Advice Dylan’ for nothing!”
“Dylan, stop-!!” Dante wails, the tears that had been welling in his eyes finally began to stream down his face.
It took for the waterfalls to start rushing down the black cliffs of Dante’s face for Dylan’s confident demeanor to finally falter. “D-Dante?”
However, the black Dalmatian leaped out of the bathtub before he could respond, and ran as fast as his paws could take him out of the bathroom.
“Huh… was it something I said?” Dylan tilted his head as he stood up in the tub.
The black Dalmatian galloped down the hardwood hallway and into the doorway at the other end. This led to the pups’ bedroom, whose lights were off, and left the room subject to the faint glow of the moon.
Dante dove into the plush throw pillow he called his bed and buried his muzzle into it, letting all the events of the night rush out so hard it might tear a hole through it. He sobbed with sputtering inhales, his tears staining little pools into his pillow.
He could have stayed like this for the rest of his life. However, his head was only lifted by the familiar rolling sound of a skateboard.
“What’s up, Dante?” Dolly suavely rolled in. “Why’s it so dark in here? Come on, bro! Get some light!” she chuckled as she leaped off her skateboard, slapping the lightswitch as she did so.
As the bright lights of the room popped on, Dante weakly lifted his head from his pillow. His eyes were red, his bags were deeper, his nose was stuffy, and his cheeks were flooded.
The whimpering black Dalmatian gulped as he began. “D-Dolly…? Could I talk to you…? P-Please…?”
These words pierced Dolly’s heart in an unfamiliar way. “Uhh… I dunno if I’m that good of a therapist. Ya might wanna head to Dylan for that-”
“NO!” Dante cut his sister off. “D-Dylan wouldn’t listen… P-Please, I need someone who’ll understand…”
“Aww, Dante…” Dolly’s pouted voice softened as she carefully trotted over to him, sitting down and resting a paw on his back. “What’s got you down?”
He sniffles. “S-So, y’know Portia?”
“Ugh…” Dolly scoffs. “Unfortunately. Aren’t you two like, best friends? What is it about her that’s got you down?”
“Well…” Dante swallowed the lump in his throat and prepared to relive his trauma all over again. “Sh-She… She kissed me…”
“Alright! Little bro’s first kiss-!” Dolly began, before being swiftly interrupted by her brother.
“NO!! I-It was terrible! She didn’t even ask! She just… went in! And it made me feel gross! And she wants to be my girlfriend, but I don’t feel the same! Now she’s mad at me!”
Dolly blinks, head tilting a bit. “So, let me get this straight… Portia kissed you without your permission, she wants you two to date, and you don’t feel the same way, and that’s why she’s mad?”
Dante said nothing, but his low-hanging head said it all.
Dolly’s brows dipped from confusion to anger as she growled. “I don’t know who the Dog she thinks she is, but no one violates my brother like that! Oh, when I get my paws on her, I’m gonna-”
“Stop!” Dante held out a shaky paw. “P-Please… Don’t fight her, I don’t want her to be madder than she already is-!”
“But Dante! She violated you! She needs to learn a lesson!” Dolly groaned.
“P-Please… I just needed someone to talk to… Dylan wouldn’t listen…”
Dolly sighed. “Well, you could stop me from fighting Portia… but you can’t stop me from tearing your brother a new one!” She stomped toward the doorway, paused, then jumped and slapped the lightswitch off. “I’ll be here when you wake up, okay?”
Dante sniffled, the mucus in his nose not moving an inch. “Thank you, Dolly…”
And so, as the lights turned off and he was left alone, Dante flopped onto his back, his head landing on his tear-stained pillow. He gazed up at the blank ceiling above him.
He did his best to close his eyes to sleep. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the events of the day.
All he could feel was Portia’s rough tongue storming the fortress of his mouth. This feeling nearly made him gag, but the lack of food in his belly helped avoid a potential mess.
He sighed as a final tear rolled down his cheek. “What is this feeling…?”