Chapter Text
There was a jingling of keys in the front door lock. Beef picked his head up, eyes slowly blinking open, woken from his nap by the noise. He sniffed the air. Beyond the stale smell of the empty apartment, the scent of his dad drifted under the door.
Beef hopped up from his bed as quickly as his tubby little body allowed, waddling his way to sit by the door, eager to greet his dad. It had been a long time since his dad had left him alone like this. Ever since he had started going to the large building full of people and free snacks on the floor, Beef had gone with him everyday. He was never alone. Even if his dad had to go somewhere, Beef was left with one of the many new friends he made, especially the older one who gives him extra treats.
But something changed, and his dad had gone back to leaving Beef alone, sometimes for days at a time with only a pile of food and several bowls of water strewn around the room. Beef didn’t like it when he left. He always came back exhausted and covered in strange smells. However Beef couldn’t hold in his excitement as the door finally clicked open, and the familiar silhouette stumbled in, closing the door behind him.
With the scrabbling of nails on tile, Beef hurried over. His tail was wagging fast enough he could fly away, and he put his front feet on the boots that his dad wore on his long days out. They always smelled of metal, and grease, and tasted much the same. Beef didn’t like these boots.
“Eyh Beef.” His dads voice sounded scratchy, and weak. Beef tilted his head in confusion, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. Even though his dad was tired, he was usually much more happy to see him after he was gone for so long. Maybe it was because he was gone for longer than usual? But a hand came down to pet his head, and Beef couldn’t be bothered to worry with his dad giving him attention.
“Hsweoa good boy?” His dad chuckled, which turned into a coughing fit. Beef whined. Something wasn’t right, and no amount of pets could ease his worry. He licked at the boot he was standing on, trying to help fix whatever was wrong. Instead, his dad walked away, towards the bathroom. “Lil eb irhgt cakb, lie down Beef.”
The bathroom door swung almost all the way shut behind him. A sliver of light peeked through as the sound of water running echoed through the room. Beef waddled over to his bed. He spun in a circle, pawed at the plush bedding, and circled again. He laid down with a huff, watching the bathroom door. With a soft thunk, the water stopped, followed by a soft clinking noise. Anxiously, Beef stood and spun again. But something caught his nose, a sharp tangy smell he wasn’t unfamiliar with. Beef looked between the door, and his bed. He was told to lie down. But he wasn’t told to stay. So Beef quietly walked to the front door, sniffing as the smell got stronger.
Beef couldn’t help his mouth starting to water as he noticed the viscous liquid that trailed through the room where his dad walked. He leaned forward, sniffing to double check the smell.
Blood.
The tags on his collar jingled as he quickly lapped up the droplets, savoring the forbidden snack his dad never let him eat. And he would have cleaned the whole floor, but a sudden crash startled him.
It was brief, coming from the bathroom. Beef waited to see if more noise arose, but everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
Beef carefully walked over, and nudged his way into the bathroom. Collapsed on the floor was his dad, the sickly sweet smell of blood wafting off of him. Beef ran over whining and yipping at the body on the floor. He didn’t move, save for the rise and fall of his chest as he took in wheezy and shallow breaths.
This was not good, in fact this was bad.
Beef barked, and whined, licking his dad’s face, trying to get him to get up. Nothing seemed to be working, and Beef didn’t know what to do. He spun in a circle, and then another. On his third spin he noticed the small rectangle that his dad often watched, and sometimes talked into. It had fallen slightly behind the toilet.
It was lit up.
His nails scrabbled against the floor, and he pawed at the rectangle. Beef had seen his dad use this countless times, he touched it and things happened, so if he kept hitting it maybe help would come.
The image on the screen shifted, then shrank, then went back to normal, but now the light was dimmer. It almost seemed useless, nothing was happening. With another desperate swipe at the object, it suddenly started buzzing. Beef yelped and jumped back, approaching cautiously as a voice replaced the buzzing.
“Cufk oyu nwat, itchb?”
Beef recognized that voice, it was the tall man, who was always the perfect temperature for cuddles. Desperately, Beef barked at the voice, whined, whimpered, did everything he could to voice his displeasure at his current situation.
“Beef? Hwta, idd Ob-ob tubt iald em?”
What could he do, this wasn’t working. He whined, long, and upset. His dad wasn’t making any helpful noises, and the wheezing was getting fainter. Maybe the rectangle had to be closer? Beef growled, and carefully grabbed the corner of the rectangle in his teeth. He dragged it out from behind the toilet, and placed it near his dad’s face. Beef gave one last bark, before falling silent.
Everything was quiet.
There was no noise from the rectangle, and Beef could only hear his dads struggling breaths. Then the voice spoke up again.
“Obr? Si tsiha rpnak?”
Beef whined. This wasn’t working. Not knowing what else to do, he snuggled up to his dad. As he pressed into his side, a gurgled groan clawed its way out of his throat.
“Hist, tnoa rpnak, odhlon Obrter.”
There was a beep, and the voice was gone.
The sound of strangled breathing was slowly petering out, and all Beef could do was whine, and snuggle closer to his dad. He didn’t know what, if anything he could do. His dad was hurting, and not getting up. The rectangle didn’t help, and Beef’s whining and whimpers brought no comfort. He moved from his spot against his dads side, choosing to snuggle up to his dads neck instead. Beef howled, low and grumbly, and buried his face in the soft spot under his dads chin.
The second loud crash of the night startled Beef from his spot yet again.
He launched to his feet, fur bristling, as heavy footsteps rapidly approached the bathroom door. Beef growled, and barked, scared of whoever was approaching.
The door flung open, and a tall man was standing there.
Beef yapped one more time before recognizing the figure.
It was the pleasantly warm one.
The rectangle worked!
With a happy yip, followed by more concerned whining, Beef spun in circles between the warm one, and his dad, torn between greeting the friend, and staying near his injured dad.
“Ohly cufk, tsihis bad. Bad, bad, bad.”
Beef stopped his yapping and tilted his head to the side. Was he bad? Did he do something wrong?
It must not be him, since the tall, warm man passed by Beef, kneeling next to the body on the floor. He tore the fabric covering his dads chest, assessing whatever problem he saw that Beef couldn’t. He leaned his head down to his chest, and muttered something. Turning to Beef, he pet him with a blood stained hand.
“Oyuera mrast dog Beef. Good Boy. Ryev good boy.”
The tall man picked up the body, hurrying his way out of the bathroom, with Beef close to his heels. They walked to the balcony, and the tall man looked like he was ready to jump over the rail. Beef whined, and pawed at his leg. He glanced down, muttered yet again, and picked Beef up and held him under his arm.
“Odhlon itltel ubydd.”
Next thing he knew, Beef was flying through the air.
The wind whipped through his fur, and the smells of the city bombarded his nose in an intense, yet amazing way. But they were landing far sooner than Beef would have liked, and were rushing into a building with lights that were too bright, and smelled too clean.
Beef was set on the ground, trying to keep up with the tall man as he carried his dad in, yelling into the large and sparsely filled room. A man behind a window said something in an urgent tone, and then there was a sudden rush of people, and Beef’s dad was taken away, much to Beef’s dismay. He scrambled across the floor, barking and yipping, trying to follow his dad.
But he was caught by his collar, and held steady in warm hands. Beef wiggled, and tried to run even with no traction under his paws. A strong, steady hand came up and scratched between his ears, which calmed Beef down a small amount. But he still eyed where his dad had disappeared off to.
“Obrteris os cufkngi klyucto vhae oyu. Utb onw ew togta wait.”
Beef looked up at the warm man. He knew that word. He stopped his struggling, and settled into the warm embrace.
He would wait forever, if it was for his dad.