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No-one could work out how the dog had got inside the Railroad HQ. The escape tunnel was locked by a terminal which would only be accessed from the inside and Glory, the last person to return to HQ through the main entrance, had sealed up the passage behind her.
Nevertheless, there he was. A German shepherd, a bandana tied around his neck and a pair of goggles on his head, most likely to protect his eyes from the dust of the wasteland.
Desdemona stared at him. He ignored everyone and everything in HQ, his nose pressed to the ground as he wove his way through agents and furniture to reach her and when he did he stopped, stared at her and whined, his head cocked to one side.
Dog.
Glory was by her side in a second, her expression wary and her eyes fixed on the four-legged intruder.
Good dog.
Her hand twitched with the urge to reach out and scratch him behind one of those perfect pointy ears.
She was aware Glory was saying something but it was lost when the dog suddenly leapt up, grabbing the hem of her shirt in his mouth and giving it a small tug and a muffled wuff. He dropped it and darted off, tail high. When she didn’t move, her turned around and barked.
“I think he wants me to follow him.”
“Like hell you are.”
Glory’s sudden, defensive outburst took Desdemona by surprise.
“Why not?”
“This has ‘Institute trap’ written all over it, Dez.”
“You really think the Institute would use adora-“ she coughed, trying to cover the rising blush, “would use animals as spies?”
“They have the Watchers, don’t they? Creepy bastards are all over the ‘Wealth. And this one,” she jerked her head towards the dog, now sitting on the floor. His tail thumped on the stone a couple of times. “He went straight for you, didn’t he? You’re telling me that’s not a little suspicious?”
Reluctantly, Desdemona nodded.
“That’s true. But if they’re sending spies down here then they know where we are. And if this isn’t Institute tech then what the hell is he doing down here?”
Before either of them could say anything more, the voice of Agent Whisper interrupted them.
“Dogmeat! Hey, Dogmeat!”
The dog barked, spun excitedly and then ran towards the recently arrived agent. Whisper seemed to expect this, and only slightly staggered when approximately 30kg of dog jumped into her arms.
“Whose my good boy? You are! Yes you are! Okay, down.” All four paws were once again on the ground and Whisper scratched him behind the ears.
She then became uncomfortably aware that everyone was staring at her.
“Uh, hello.” She gave a small wave to the assembled agents.
“Everyone back to work,” Desdemona said, making her way over to Whisper, Glory following her.
“So, he’s your dog.”
“I guess. He sort of adopted me not long after I left the vault. He’s a good boy.” She scratched his ears again, and he barked, happy at the attention. “I’m sorry if he was bothering you guys. He just ran off when we got to the Commons. He does that. Figured he’d come back when he wanted to. Wasn’t expecting to find him here.”
“He took us by surprise too. Actually thought he might be Institute tech.”
At the word ‘Institute’, Dogmeat gave a low, long growl. Whisper laughed. “Good boy,” she muttered.
Whisper then looked from Dogmeat to Desdemona, “I don’t suppose – since he’s already here – if I could leave Dogmeat here? He’s… not the best on stealth missions.”
Desdemona looked down at the dog, who stared back, his tail thumping on the ground. He cocked his head to one side and whined.
“I… suppose.”
It was very hard not to reach out and hug him.
Glory left HQ shortly after Whisper did. She had a mission of her own to run. Desdemona started to tackle the reports that were piling up on her desk. It was always good to have a distraction when Glory was in the field.
(Not that she didn’t care for all her agents, or that she didn’t believe Glory could look after herself. It was just hard not to worry).
Dogmeat sat by her desk while she worked, and she found her hand going down every so often to give his ears a scratch. Occasionally there was a soft thump from his tail wagging against the stone floor. Desdemona didn’t even realise that she’d fallen asleep while reading until the wet nose pressed against her hand jerked her awake. They stared at each other, brown eyes meeting hazel. The dog gave a bark and jumped up, his front paws resting on Desdemona’s legs, and his face level with hers.
He licked her nose.
This was getting to be too much.
She very gently pushed him down again.
The words of her reports were all starting to merge into one anyway and she stood up, stretched, and whistled for Dogmeat to follow her.
They walked to the door that led to the church. There was a tennis ball lying near one of the workbenches – part of the latest scavenging haul, waiting to be broken into scrap. She grabbed that, humming happily as she threw it into the air and caught it again. Dogmeat’s eyes never left the ball.
Glory had been securing a new route, and returned to the Old North Church to be greeted by the sight of Desdemona lying on the only rubble-free parts of the church floor, Whisper’s dog lying on top of her. One of Desdemona’s hands was resting on the dog’s head, scratching his ears.
“Is there something I should know, or - ?” Glory was fighting hard to keep the amusement out of her voice
“Glory, I –“ Desdemona pushed herself up onto her elbows, slightly dislodging her new friend.
“It’s fine. Don’t get up on my account. Having fun down there?”
“It’s peaceful.”
“Looks it.” Glory lent her minigun against one of the ruined pews, and joined Desdemona on the floor. One of Desdemona’s hands returned to Dogmeat’s head. Glory’s fingers brushed against her free hand, their fingers intertwining with an old familiarity.
“So – you like dogs.” Glory didn’t phrase it as a question. It was a new piece of information about her lover, a part of Desdemona that could be treasured.
“I used to have them. Two. Before, well. Just before.” There was no need for elaboration. Everyone in the Railroad had a ‘before’.
“The Institute had cats.” It almost felt normal to say that.
“I had cats too.”
“Called one of them ‘Gooseberry’. Didn’t even know what a gooseberry was.”
With a huff, Dogmeat shifted so he was lying across the two women. Glory scratched him behind the ears and his tail happily but sleepily swept from side to side a few times.
“Should’ve brought some pillows.”
“Mmmm.”
“He’s not gonna move, is he?”
“Nope.”
Glory closed her eyes. It wasn’t so bad. It was peaceful, Dez was with her, and they could both use a break.