Good boy
I wanted to write something I've never done before and this is the result.
In this one we see two dormmates having some wholesome fun together. (and there's a cameo from a certain otter who was a side character in one of my other stories.)
enjoy.
“Who's a good boy?" Kevin asks from in front of me. “Huh? Who's a good boy?" His ginger-striped paw scratching me behind the ear. My tail starts wagging like crazy 'Good boy? Me? I'm a good boy. Me. It's me. I'm a good boy.' My mind conjures up as I close my eyes and bask in the praise my ginger tabby dormmate is giving me. “That's it. You're a good boy!" Kevin tells me warmly, I just sit where I am and happily wag my tail, content to accept all his praise. “Come on then, I think you deserve a treat." Kevin stops scratching me which makes me a little sad but I follow him like he wants me to, walking on all fours like a good dog.
My black paws move me to follow as Kevin walks from my room to the kitchen. My happy mood comes back to me because Kevin usually gives me a treat when he brings me into the kitchen with him and my tail starts its wagging again which my dormmate smiles at, making me even happier. 'I've made him happy!' I think proudly as we move. Kevin opens the cupboard with my treats in and takes out a small bag, my eyes follow his hand and I try to jump up and get it, I almost reach the bag with my treats in but Kevin pulls the bag up out of my reach before gently pushing me back down off his front. “No! Bad boy!" He scolds and I look at him apologetically 'he's angry at me. I've been bad.' Just as soon as he started he stops scolding me and gives me a quick pat on the head, reassuring me that he's no longer angry at me. He places one of my treats, a dried piece of sapodilla, onto the floor, “Wait, Bandit!" He orders sternly as I restlessly stare at my waiting treat, moving from paw to paw. 'It's so close!' I consider ignoring him but a good dog would listen to his owner so that's what I do. “Wait….." he tells me as I almost start moving towards my treat. “Okay, go for it, Bandit." I see that Kevin is smiling kindly at me so I quickly dash over to my treat and eat it, its caramelly flavour fills my mouth and I love it. “Have another one." Kevin holds out his hand to me with another treat on it and I hungrily take it from him with my mouth and eat it. “Good boy!" He praises with lots of petting.
After I finish my treats I decide I want to play; I quickly run off and fetch my ball from my room, bringing it back to Kevin and dropping it from my mouth onto the floor in front of him. “Oh? Do you want to play with your ball, Bandit?" He asks as I sit and wait for him to play with me. “Do you?"
“Bark!" He smiles and picks up my ball.
“Well, you've been such a good boy today so of course we can play!" Kevin gently throws my ball away and I run after it, chasing it as it bounces under the table and rolls away towards the sofa in the common area. I catch my blue tennis ball in my cream-furred muzzle and run back to Kevin. “I can't throw the ball if you don't give it to me, buddy." I wait expectantly for him to throw the ball again, he reaches to take the ball from me and I turn my head away so he can't get it. “Drop it." He commands, I keep ahold of the ball. “Drop it!" He says more forcefully and I give in and drop the ball so he can pick it up. “Good boy!"
Kevin and I play fetch around the dorm until I'm panting and out of breath, completely worn out from all my running and fetching, and then we move to the common area sofa. I place my front legs onto the sofa but just as I'm about to jump up Kevin's voice sounds from behind me. “No, Bandit. No jumping up onto the furniture unless I give you permission!" I place my paws back onto the floor and instead decide to curl up by Kevin's feet, my long beige and black striped tail curled around me. “You've been such a good boy today, Bandit. You get some rest now though, I'll wake you up in the morning." Kevin sits on the sofa reading while I slowly drift off into sleep, my eyes falling closed and dreams filling my mind.
I wake up under a warm blanket, still curled up at the foot of the sofa. Kevin is not on the sofa so I look around and see him dancing a little while he cooks a fry up for breakfast. I slowly and sleepily get up from the floor and Kevin catches me in the corner of his eye. “Ah! Sleeping beauty's finally woken up!" He teases. “You'd best go take off your collar, if you want to take the collar off that is." He says with a smile.
“Yeah, that would be good." I agree, beginning to start trudging my way to my room but stopping before I get very far, having rethought the idea. All that playing yesterday evening must have really tired me out because I'm beat. I go back to the kitchen and Kevin gives me a feline grin.
“Don't worry, I've got breakfast sorted for you. You did quite a bit of running around yesterday so I just let you sleep." He gets one of my plates from my cupboard and loads it up with fried halloumi, cooked chicken pieces, bacon, and two fried eggs. “All great for getting your energy back after all that playing." Kevin tells me as he hands the plate to me as well as a fork and a knife which I can't use but take anyway, Kevin must be a little distracted. I take a seat at the table, really just making my way on top of it with my plate, and begin eating, soon being joined by Kevin.
“Thank you, Kevin." I bust out in the silence of our eating.
“For what?" He asks confused.
“For doing what you did with me yesterday. Thank you."
“Shane, are you going to say that every time we do it? I know you're thankful and I'm happy to do it with you so there's no need to thank me every time."
Me and Kevin quickly became friends as soon as we became dormmates here at Maple Hills University, he was a little confused about what I was when we first met, but after explaining that I'm a civet and not some weird abnormal-looking raccoon, he and I hit it off. He walked in on me growling at a cushion and wearing a collar one evening and after desperately, and embarrassedly, trying to explain that I enjoy something called pet play, he said he was cool with it. Since then he's been humouring me and letting me do that stuff with him.
“Just, thank you." I say again with a smile before returning to my breakfast. We both eat our breakfast and soon Kevin takes our plates away, a knock on the door stops him just as he starts washing them in the sink. “I got it!" I tell him as I run my way to the door and open it, my small-ish size making it somewhat bothersome but I know I've got it better than some birds since I've got no idea how the heck they do it since some of them are really rather small. The door opens and I look up at an anthro otter wearing a pair of board shorts and a tee shirt. “Oh hey, Jason." I greet before turning and shouting back into the dorm, “It's Jason!"
“Hey, can I stay with you guys for a little? My dormmate invited a shrike over and I, uh, I'm a little scared of them so……" Jason says while fiddling with his webbed paws. I gesture him in and he walks by.
“The collar's a strange look," Jason comments as he sits down on the sofa. “Or is it completely normal for you guys?"
“Oh, um." Embarrassment makes me wince as I realise that I'm still wearing my collar. “You see-“
“I rather like it, gives a sort of smart-ishness." Kevin butts in before I can fumble an answer. He offers a mug of tea to Jason who takes it and then he offers me a civet-sized mug of coffee.
“I suppose. Fair enough." Just ask quickly as the tide comes in, Jason moves on. “So my dormmate is a sparrow, really cool guy but he's got a shrike over and I'm a little freaked out since I've heard the story. Am I just being weird for no reason?"
“Well, I'm sure your dormmate knows them very well and they must be a nice person then." I say after taking a sip of my coffee.
“Yeah, they can't all be like Archie Buxton." Kevin agrees. Jason nods his head thoughtfully with a smile. Several minutes pass as we all talk but soon Jason thanks us for putting up with him and stands up to leave. “Bye! I'm sure the shrike is a really nice person, try not to get freaked out." Kevin says as Jason leaves our dorm. Once Jason has left and Kevin has closed the door, he turns to me and holds my ball up for me to see. The question of when he got it enters my head for maybe at most half a second before Kevin says something else. “You up to play fetch?" I nod and before I know it Kevin has thrown my ball and I'm chasing after it. “Well done!" He praises while petting me after I bring my ball back to him. I drop the ball for him and he picks it up and looks down at my excited face as I move about, desperate to run after the ball once he throws it. “Do you want me to throw the ball, Bandit?" I stare pleadingly at him and at my blue tennis ball in his hand. “Do you want the ball?" He asks, waving the ball around so I can clearly see it. I start whining to him as he refuses to throw my ball, taunting me playfully with it. I'm about to burst with energy and anticipation at getting to run after my ball after Kevin has teased me and excited me with the prospect. “Here you go." He tosses the ball and I'm off like a bullet, frantically dashing after my ball. I pounce on my ball as it rolls on the ground and pick it up in my mouth to bring it back to Kevin. I drop my ball once he gives me the command and he picks my ball back up to throw it again. This repeats and I revel in the praise he gives me, happy that I'm doing what he wants. “You're such a good boy!" He praises again and I give a bark of joy and roll over onto my back, asking Kevin to scratch my tummy. He beams happily and starts scratching my belly and making my back legs kick in satisfaction at his claws gently and carefully scratching me. “Now what are we going to do now? Hmm?"
“Bark!" Kevin's right hand starts playing with my long tail and I lift my head from the floor and look back at him, my teeth bared in the shadow of a snarl.
“It's fine, Bandit." He coos softly, still scratching my exposed tummy with his left hand. He stops playing with my tail and I lose track of what's going on as he pets and scratches me until I'm a happy mess with my tongue hanging out of my muzzle. “Someone enjoyed that." Kevin laughs teasingly, looking down at me. “I have an idea on what we could do now though." I hear a trilling whistle and my brain tries to remember what it means, but I can't think much after all of Kevin's pampering. “Bandit…" my dormmate says warningly. “Bad dogs don't get treats."
'I don't want to be a bad dog!' I think, snapping out of my joyful trance and standing up on my four legs. Kevin gives the same trilling whistle again and I desperately try to remember what he wants me to do. Thinking of anything I can do to try and make Kevin happy with me again, I stand up on my back legs and spread my front legs as wide as I can.
“Good boy! Well done!" He pats my head and pets me to show me I've made him happy. He stops and I go back to all four legs until he does the whistle again and this time I quickly do my trick. He sits on the floor and praises me again and calls me a good dog and I couldn't be happier to have appeased Kevin. We stay like this, Kevin talking but I don't listen until he stops praising me and moves away, I follow and he smiles at me. “I told you, I need to go and do some shopping now, otherwise we won't have any food." He tells me, I try and get in his way as he makes his way to leave and he just pats me. “I know, Bandit, but I'll only be gone for an hour or so. Be a good boy and make sure this place doesn't get invaded by aliens or something like that." As he leaves the dorm I hear him chuckle from through the door. “Man, I've been watching too much X-Files." His footsteps gradually get further away until I can't hear them. I sit by the door waiting for Kevin to come back for what feels like forever but eventually cave in and go to my room and curl up on my bed, going back to sleep until Kevin gets back.
I wake up and Kevin still isn't back, I check my watch which I left at the side of my bed and realise I don't know what time he left so I don't know how long it's been. Stretching my body out I give a yawn and slowly return to my usual self now that I don't really feel like being Bandit.
“I wonder how Jason is doing?" I say to myself as I take off my collar and put it in its box with all my other pet play stuff. “That shrike can't be as scary as he thinks they are." A growl from my stomach means it's time for lunch so I leave my room and head into the kitchen. The small bag Kevin keeps my treats in is on the table and I move towards it to take a treat but stop myself as I think 'Only Kevin can give you treats.' With a sigh I climb off the table and open my small civet-sized mini-fridge and take out a piece of pre-cut sapodilla and eat it. Its flavour is wonderful and I'm tempted to have another piece but I remind myself that I need a proper lunch, not just fruit. I manage to rustle up some food and I'm just tucking into it on the kitchen table when I hear the dorm door open and look up to see Kevin with several shopping bags. A small part of me feels happy he's finally returned to me, I just grin at myself. The vague thought of being happy my owner is back flicks over my mind and I grin even more at the fact I think of Kevin as my owner.
“You seem happy about something." Kevin says after walking to the fridges and starting to unload the bags.
“Oh, uh….. it's nothing, funny thought is all."
“Awww….. is someone happy their owner is back?" Kevin teases in a sweet voice, immediately smiling widely at seeing my reaction to him guessing exactly the right thing. I swear I've never been so willing to be swallowed by the ground than right now with Kevin smiling over at me. “Oh! I see….." Kevin says he's fine with all this pet play stuff but I'm still really embarrassed about it even if we've been doing it for a while now. “Sorry, was that too far?! It's fine, I'm sorry for teasing you like that!" Kevin rattles off concernedly, thinking I'm upset or something as I stare at my lunch intently trying to will it to gain sentience so I can shift my roommate's focus and stop being so embarrassed.
“No. Just didn't expect you to guess exactly what I was thinking about. I'm just a little embarrassed." Kevin gives me a warm, apologetic smile.
“Sorry." He goes back to putting all the stuff in the bags into the fridge which means he's not looking at me which also means I can focus on getting my mind off of what's just happened.
“Were the shops busy?" I ask after a short moment of silence between us, trying to make us both move on.
“Not really, same as usual really." Kevin closes the fridges and turns back to me. “It's like four in the afternoon though so I guess it's no wonder not many people are out doing shopping." The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully, Jason doesn't come back around so we both assume all went well with his dormmate and his guest. We both sit down at the table once Kevin has prepared dinner and start eating. “I was thinking we could chill and watch the X-Files tonight. You've had quite the tiring couple days so I thought it'd be nice to laze about watching something."
“I'm always up for lazing about."
We both finish dinner and Kevin starts setting up the X Files, which is being streamed off his computer.
“Uh….I'm going to go get something from my room, be back in a sec." Kevin gives me a grunt of acknowledgement while he fiddles with his computer and I scamper off to my room. “Oh Shane, you're a funny one." I muse to myself as I open my box of pet play things and put on my collar, not an easy thing to do as a civet but I've had practice. Once my collar is on I dart out of my room and then halt myself and sheepishly walk back into the common area. Kevin looks over to me from the sofa and smiles.
“We'll look who it is. Does a certain dog want to relax with me tonight?" I happily give a bark with my long beige and black striped tail wagging behind me. My black paws beat against the floor as I bound towards and around his feet, showing how happy I am. I run around for a moment longer before dashing over to the sofa, but just as I'm about to jump up onto it I stop myself and sit on my haunches, waiting for Kevin to tell me I'm allowed. He sits down and looks down at me. “Good boy!" He praises to my waiting. He pats the sofa next to him and beckons me up. “Come on up then, Bandit." He pats the same spot on the sofa again and I get the message, placing my front paws up on the sofa and then jumping the rest of me up. Now that I'm on the sofa I nuzzle up against Kevin as his computer starts making noise which I ignore for the most part, happy just to be safe and close to my owner. I spin around in the typical dog-like fashion before curling up at Kevin's side and relaxing as he softly pets me.