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Unjust Love

A Shepherd’s Love: Part Five

By Roofles

A month before the wedding, that Thursday morning, Tan Colt was checking into Project Tomorrow’s local facility within New York City.

The building looked alien, foreign compared to the other structures around it. It was a large black box that looked as if it had fallen from the very sky above, plummeting down through earth’s atmosphere like a comet to smash into the ground. The building was sunken into the earth but, as Tan Colt walked up the parking lot towards the front doors, it seemed perfectly leveled up close. The ground itself had just been raised up around it as an artistic choice Tan Colt never understood.

He was beginning to understand one thing, though. How little he understood humans.

The black material used on the outside of the building reflected the light, creating an ominous feel to the place. The twelve-foot, barb wired, electrical fence around the facility kept people from getting closer. Add the cameras, the stationed guards and wall turrets and, well, yeah it wasn’t a welcoming place. Tan Colt was sure the outside of the building was a new type of solar panel. It’s strange black chrome texture just made it look alien and not of this world.

Kind of like them. A K-9 just looked strange, foreign to the outside world but inside they were made to help and bring support as these solar powers were made to bring power. To make the world a brighter place.

The front doors slid open as the German Shepherd K-9 approached them. He knew there were cameras on him. He knew he’d been scanned the second he stepped through the door. He knew and it still made his fur stand on it. A rush of cold air blew in his face as the AC kicked on a colder setting. Even though it was fall, this place was always… cold. Too cold. Almost like a museum of fine arts. As if trying to preserve something from times cruel hand eroding it away.

Everything was sleek, smooth and you weren’t allowed to touch anything. What little there was to touch. Tan Colt had never been to one of these museums he heard about but Bradley, his dear friend, had told him they were like this. Art on display to gawk at and talk about but never to touch or hold.

This place was close to that.

It was barren and open. There weren’t chairs to sit down at. There weren’t any potted plants to give the place… life. Just blank walls with fluorescent lights in rows down on the ceiling giving the place an eerie white glow. What little pictures were on the walls were monochrome in color and showed the history of the project rather than any visual results, written down in gold metallic letters.

Just across from the front door was a desk that was just as bare and empty as the rest of the place. The metal desk seemed to have grown out of the ground like a strange plant instead of having been brought in from the outside world. Alien spaceship, Tan Colt just nodded recalling the movie he and Bradley had stayed up watching together… cuddling together…

“Tanner Colton, checking in, I assume?” A friendly voice greeted him, and the German Shepherd let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding this entire time.

Despite the place being so… eerie, the staff here had only ever been friendly towards the K-9.

Dr. Keith Pastell was roughly Bradley’s height, six two, and had sandy blonde curls that draped down over his face almost obscuring his square glass frames from view. The German Shepherd wasn’t sure how the human could see with that tangled mess of mop hair draping over his face like that. Keith had dull gray blue eyes with a mole on the left side of his face. He wasn’t nearly as handsome as Bradley, Tan Colt thought, but for a human he wasn’t half bad.

“You’re late.” Keith came around the desk with a clipboard in hand. A formal procedure as he handed it over to Tan Colt who signed his named quickly with the pen provided.

“You know me. Fashionable late as ever.” Tan Colt’s tail wagged. He always did like Keith. He hadn’t met many people within Project Tomorrow but this guy had stuck out from the beginning. For as large as the place was… it sure was empty.

“Yes. I can see that.” Keith took a step back, giving the German Shepherd a once over. “You look… the exact same as ever.” He laughed and got a playful shove for that. “A scruffy, messy, stinky boy.” Dr. Pastell just teased him, motioning at him with the clipboard. “You need a fur cut.”

“I don’t stink.” Tan Colt rolled his eyes. “And I don’t need a cut!” The K-9 grumbled. Bradley liked it when his coat got fluffy like this. Sure, maybe, it was a bit much and it was real stuffy wearing his uniform, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice to get the human cuddling up to him in the middle of the night.

“Yet.” Keith just pointed out before motioning for him to follow down one of the side hallways. No one was left watching the desk but neither of the two seemed worried about it. There was enough security in the facility to hold off a small militia.

Down one hallway, into an elevator, down another hallway… down a flight of stairs into another hallway… if Tan Colt hadn’t done this numerous times he might’ve been lost. Who was he kidding? He defiantly was lost. He didn’t know how Keith navigated this place. Every looked and smelled the same. A stale smell of old cleaner and little else.

Maybe Keith was an alien! Tan Colt snickered at the thought recalling the cheesy black and white movie Bradley and him had watched together. He wasn’t sure what was supposed to be scary about it but didn’t mind when Bradley covered his face with the German Shepherd’s chest fur during the scene with the anal probe.

“Right in here, Mr. Colton.” Keith motioned towards the rather large metal table situated in the middle of the room.

“Thank you, doctor.” Tan Colt just gave a polite nod before walking over. He undressed on the way, placing his clothes nearby before getting up onto the table, butt naked, and lying back. He was glad these tables had a hole to fit one’s tail through.

“We’ll go over the usual.” Keith began as he walked over to tap on the wall. A mounted computer slid out on a smooth chrome metal arm from a side panel that opened up. He began typing over it quickly, scanning his ID card, thumbprint and eye before the computer let him into the system.

“I’m feeling normal.” Tan Colt just shrugged, never sure what to really say during these.

“Any episodes?” Keith asked casually enough though the question itself was loaded.

“None.” Tan Colt admitted though he was wondering at this point. He’d been feeling an itch and it was one reason why he gladly checked himself in every week to go over things.

“Good.” Keith just nodded at that, pushing his glasses up with a finger after. They both knew what Dr. Pastell meant and neither of the two wanted to address the uncomfortable smell of cleaner in the room.

The ceiling above Tan Colt opened as mechanical arms came down. Clamps snapped shut over Tan Colt’s wrists and ankles as the table suddenly lurched backwards and upwards, lifting the trapped K-9 off the floor in front of the arms. Each one had a different tool attached to them. Some connected tubing to his broad neck while others took blood samples from his arms, fur clippings were trimmed and, as Tan Colt opened his maw, saliva samples taken with a tool Tan Colt was sure came from a dentist’s office. The small vacuum sucking everything it touched quickly to be stored for analyze.

A routine procedure that was extremely evasive. It reminded Tan Colt of the forensic medical exam, or in laymen terms, a rape kit. It took samples from under his nails and in his nostrils making him sneeze afterward. He hated those long Q-tips just being shoved up there. It didn’t stop there.

His hefty sheath was rubbed over and samples taken from there and, as he grunted, underneath his tail as well. At least he didn’t need to pee or shit in a cup for them.

The cold, lifeless machine just doing its job as Keith went over everything being fed into the computer.

“Your levels seem stabilized.” Keith brought up as he checked things over. “Con Rad, today, had elevated levels, again.” Keith noted. “If he wasn’t Conwell’s kids K-9 something might be done about that.” He rolled his eyes. “We’ll go with the standard dose, today. Seeing as how everything is going within acceptable parameters. No need to fix something that isn’t broken.”

“Could I possibly get an extra dose today, actually?” Tan Colt asked, getting a look. “I’m heading out for the week with Bradley.”

“Oh yes, the wedding, correct?” Keith pulled up a separate document from the computer desktop. It had Tan Colt’s profile on it with all the updates the K-9 had been giving Project Tomorrow on his transfer to the police force.

“I did all the paperwork for it already, yeah.” Tan Colt just said, wincing as one of those ice-cold metallic hands touched his nuts. A thin needle was brought down and, thankfully, they had numbed the area before injecting him. “I won’t be able to come in next week for the appointment.”

“I see it here… looks like everything is approved. I hope you and Bradley have a good time.” Keith just said, keeping the conversation going but never getting too personal into any of it. In fact, it had been Tan Colt who told him all about Bradley and not the doctor asking about it.

Despite what people may say or think about the people working at Project Tomorrow, they not only were extremely professional but were light-hearted and fun to work with, never pushing things further. They weren’t going to kidnap kids or replace people with dogs. That was a bunch of paranoid science fiction that the media had latched onto for better ratings.

Dr. Pastell had even told Tan Colt to use his first name, not wanting to make the K-9 seem inferior in anyway during these procedures and respected Tan Colt too much to probe into his life or how his job was going.

Tan Colt didn’t mind though. He loved bragging about his human. How great he was and how capable of an officer Bradley is. How he did his job better than anyone else. How funny Bradley could be and how the two of them could just talk into the late hours of the night without getting tired or bored… or sick of each other.

He chose to leave out the parts where Bradley had officially moved into using the same bed as Tan Colt did. The two not seeing the point as they already stayed up late talking to each other. How the human could sleep so soundly, peacefully next to the K-9 who would let him lie on his side or chest as the two just…

“Yeah. I need another dose.” Tan Colt could already feel it. Feel those… urges coming back in just thinking about the human. His human. He swallowed loudly, his dry mouth making it difficult to do so.

“Still having dry mouth?” Keith asked, watching the K-9 intently. His heart had increased on the monitor and Dr. Pastell figured it was because of that and not the lewd thoughts the K-9 was having of his human, again.

“Uh… yes. The side effect of the suppressant is still making it hard to… drool.” Tan Colt said, trying to explain but unsure the proper way to describe it.

“It’s the most common side effect, yes.” Keith just said writing down another note. “The suppressants can affect the saliva glands from producing… drool.” He said, teasing the word around before stepping away from the computer and walking over. “I’m going to give you a once over, if that’s alright.”

“Of course, doc.” Tan Colt had no problem with it. This was a medical procedure. Otherwise, he wouldn’t let anyone else touch him like this.

Keith snapped on a pair of gloves before crouching down in front of Tan Colt’s oversized paws. He inspected the nails, feeling each toe before looking down underneath at the dark paw pads. He took a swap and stuck it between two toes, collecting a sample before dropping it into a container and sealing it. He set it aside, muttering to himself.

“No black paw, that’s good.” Keith nodded feeling over the paws. “It can be hard to detect in the breeds that have dark paw pads but I’m sure you’re fine.”

“Thank you, doc.”

“Computer. Flat plane, please.” Keith just said stepping aside as the table was moved back down at the perfect height for Keith to look over without having to break his back doing so. “Standard procedure, Mr. Colton.” Keith said as he began looking everything over from Tan Colt’s ankles, up his legs, around his groin, over the fuzz on his lower belly and up to the one on his chest, under each arm and finally to his head. His fingers sliding underneath Tan Colt’s fur to make sure there were any strange bumps or lumps or mutations going on.

He changed his gloves, taking samples as he went, before finishing up.

“As good as these machines are… sometimes they aren’t as delicate,” Keith said slowly cleaning out one of Tan Colt’s ears. “As a human touch can be. You know what that’s like, right?” Keith brought up suddenly making Tan Colt’s ears fold back. Keith had been joking about it but the K-9 just mumbled a reply.

“Bradley… is very gentle with me, yes.” Tan Colt replied. It was proper to answer any questions asked during one of these. Even if they were just friendly jokes at his expense. Usually they were only physically invasive, instead of personally…

“He seems like a wonderful man. You got lucky.” Keith snapped his gloves off and tossed it into a waste bin that had come out of the wall. It slid back in as the mechanical arms tucked back into the ceiling, the spider legs retreating into its hole. Something that always unnerved Tan Colt.

The table tilted upwards and the cuffs on his ankles and wrists popped open and Tan Colt slid to the floor, rubbing one of his wrists. The doctor handed him a pair of skintight black underwear and Tan Colt put those on. He didn’t bother to dress any further as he followed Keith out of the room.

“Lucky?” Tan Colt tilted his head at that. “Well, I do like to think I’m lucky. Bradley’s great.”

“Not exactly what I meant,” Keith chuckled as his mannerisms seemed to ease after the clinical exam. “Some of the other K-9’s have returned after their… paired partners,” Keith said using the name Project Tomorrow preferred. “Returned them. A few had… episodes, after.”

Tan Colt frowned at that. The very idea of Bradley getting sick of him, not wanting him around… he didn’t even want to give such unwanted thoughts fuel as he shook them quickly from his head.

“What… about them?” Tan Colt tried to ask and faltered a bit.

“The K-9 units were returned to The Kennels for processing. If everything comes back normal, they’ll be paired up with new partners in the future. As long as it wasn’t their fault, they’ll still be part of the program.” Keith just said as the two got back into a, different, elevator. “Most humans still don’t trust us. Think we’re raising some kind of army down here,” Keith laughed. “Seriously… some people’s children, I swear. Dropped too many times, that’s what that is.”

The doors closed and it was impossible to tell if they were going up or down in the elevator.

“Their fault?” Tan Colt held back the whine from his voice, talking about the K-9’s.

“If they showed any sign or symptom of… well, you know.” Keith gave him a knowing look. “They’ll be brought back and put down if it can’t be cured. We can’t have K-9’s running feral on us!” The human laughed at the very idea, making Tan Colt shift uncomfortably next to him. “Can you imagine? What then? Wanting us to make female version of you guys?” The doctor just laughed at the idea as if it were the most ridiculous thing in the world. “There’s a reason why you’re all male.”

“No. No sir, I couldn’t.” Tan Colt said going back to his training. He stood a bit taller, head up, chest out and folded both hands behind his back as he stand to attention.

“Ah, that’s why I always liked working with you Mr. Colton.” Keith adjusted his glasses with a finger. “You get it. You understand your… limitations. Unlike so many others, who try to have their cake… and eat it too? The female variation levels were unpredictable during heat so that project was scrapped.” Keith shrugged. “It’s not like it’s a secret,” he added on just glad to talk to someone in the seemingly empty building. “We even told the papers! And they still say we’re breeding you guys down here.” He rolled his eyes, rubbing his temple with two fingers. “I swear…”

The elevator doors opened to the smell of fresh grass and flowers.

“The Park?” Tan Colt looked over at Keith who just walked ahead of him. Without a word or a single gesture, the K-9 knew what to do. Tan Colt knew he needed to follow him. It was in his training. To follow, to stay slightly behind and off to the side. To be there until needed…

Bradley never treated him like that. Bradley was always so…

“Yes, well sometimes the best way to do a weekly check in is to see you in action.” Keith motioned around them. “Tests can change during physical exertion or outside, stimuli.” Keith just noted, thinking about it. “I suppose a chemical imbalance could happen if there was some kind of, extreme, emotional issue but you K-9’s aren’t designed to experience that.”

Tan Colt didn’t correct the doctor on the matter. When it came to Bradley, he felt… different. Not some mindless drone worker but maybe, at times, possibly… human?

The open field before them had fresh turf laid down with trees growing out of the ground. There were several hills separated by a cobble pathway of stone. Tan Colt knew they were underground, and everything was artificial but wasn’t sure where the light was coming from. The room had been designed to look like an open “Dog park” as they called it. Though, technically, it was the “outdoor training grounds” on paper. The walls were painted a calming blue with white clouds dusted on them. The bright light above resembled the sun, off to the side as if it were still rising above them. It was warm in here and the air was freshly blown in from the outside.

There were other K-9’s here, wearing the bare minimum like Tan Colt, as they ran around in formation. Playing games. Chasing frisbees. Doing drills. A random assortment of chaos all contained and organized into the room with humans off to the side watching, recording, and charting everything down. Tan Colt and Keith walked towards the middle of the room as his nose twitched smelling all the different scents.

He recognized some of the other K-9’s, some even waved to him. He returned the gesture as they jogged past, tongues lolling out.

All the branching paths connected and wound together in the middle of the park around a fountain with several stone benches set up along the sides of them. The sound of water trickling from the fountain was a nice addition. And there, sitting on one of the benches with crossed legs and a book in hand, was a human.

It wasn’t the human Tan Colt noticed but the Doberman standing nearby. With folded hands above his cropped tail, the Doberman regarded him with a cold steely expression behind dark shades. A quick once over before turning back to look over the field, or rather, at all the other K-9’s around them. As if daring any of them to be foolish enough to disturb his master while he was reading.

“Con Rad.” Keith greeted the Doberman. “And Mr. Conwell Jr.” He added looking at the guy sitting on the bench.

Henry glanced up at him before looking down at his book without returning the pleasantries.

“As friendly as ever,” Keith chuckled.

“Stop trying to kiss my ass, doctor. My father isn’t watching.” Henry just replied without looking up at him. The Doberman snorted a laugh from behind him, still facing away. “He’s in another meeting being brown nosed by other kiss asses, like you.”

“Right… arrogant little…” Keith took a steady breath before letting it out. “Let’s just ignore them and,” he stopped though seeing two K-9’s starting to fight. The other humans, a pair of scientists, just continued to record the exchange rather than try to break it up. “Dammit, where the hell is Lawrence? He’s supposed to be keeping an eye on those two! They’re not supposed to be… dammit, I’ll be right back!” Keith motioned for Tan Colt to take a seat before running over, his lap coat billowing in the breeze that blew by.

The German Shepherd not to take a seat seeing as how the Doberman had moved between him and the bench Henry was on, blocking his path to sit down.

“Con Rad.” Tan Colt greeted the Doberman as he walked over, around him and off to the side.

“Tan Colt.” Con Rad gave a single nod before looking away.

“I heard your… levels, were off again.” Tan Colt couldn’t resist taking a jab at the golden dog. The K-9 that had been assigned to Doctor Conwell’s boy. All the K-9’s knew of him. Con Rad had passed the tests with top scores, creating a rather vicious curve everyone else had to try and keep up with.

The perfect dog. The one everyone should strive to be like. It rubbed Tan Colt the wrong way whenever he was around Con Rad. The Doberman didn’t brag about it and still… he wanted to just punch his smug, arrogant face in. Always wearing suits, dark sunglasses with an earpiece in as if he were some secret agent. The only thing special about him was that he was assigned to the docs kid.

Not that Henry was bad, no. Just a bit… distance, and with a father like Dr. Conwell even Tan Colt could understand why. That man was as cold and calculative as the machines back in the exam room. He shuddered at having a human like that.

“And I heard you were still a straight lace, little prick.” Con Rad just replied relaxing his arms as he looked the German Shepherd over once more as if only now acknowledging he had been standing there for the past five minutes. “Why don’t you go put your cute little uniform back on and play cop with the other pups?” Con Rad motioned him off with a hand.

Tan Colt lip quivered at that.

“Con Rad.” Henry spoke up between them, still sitting down and not looking up from his book. “Play nice.”

Con Rad snorted at that, licking his chops. Drool trickled from his lips making Tan Colt take a second.

“Just having some fun, sir. No need to worry.” Con Rad assured him. Henry just rolled his eyes and continued to read from an advanced biochemistry book.

“Have you been taking your suppressants…?” Tan Colt asked suspiciously, glancing at the Doberman.

“Of course.” Con Rad just gave him a wry smile. “I’m a good boy.” He mocked. “Why wouldn’t I take the drug they shove down our throats? And stick in our dicks.” He let a low growl escape him at that.

“You’re just… drooling a lot. Is all.” Tan Colt frowned, thinking about it. When he had hit up Jameson club a couple weeks ago, the other K-9’s there had been drooling profusely as well… the suppressant usually prevented such excessive build up of saliva.

“It’s a glandular disorder.” Con Rad just shrugged as he swallowed loudly, licking his lips again with a drool slathered tongue. “Can’t help it.” Tan Colt knew that was a load of bull. Con Rad was in peek physical health. He was the golden dog after all. “Besides,” the Doberman took a step towards him.

Tan Colt found himself taking a step back.

The two were roughly the same size and yet the Doberman had such an oppressive presence about him. It made Tan Colt want to tuck tail, bow his head and just prostate himself before the other K-9. It was something he shouldn’t be experiencing. These animalistic… urges and instincts.

The suppressant was supposed to help regulate such levels within their system. To keep them more “man” than “animal.” It had a few nasty side effects, like killing one’s sex drive. Not that mattered… all the K-9’s were male anyways. There wasn’t a chance of them reproducing with each other.

It didn’t stop the urges though.

“Makes you feel numb, doesn’t it?” Con Rad just pressed as he took another step closer. Tan Colt really wished he was wearing something now, standing almost in the buff before the intimidating K-9. The Doberman seemed so much larger in the suit he was wearing. “Makes you a bit crazy, up here.” Con Rad tapped the side of his head, tapping at the metal plate there. It was far more apparent on the thin fur of the Doberman than the thick fur of the German Shepherd. “Unable to think properly. Unable to have an independent thought. Wanting to just follow orders without questions… Makes you a good, obedient, dog.”

Tan Colt growled in reply, trying to match Con Rad now. The Doberman didn’t even flinch as he nosed at Tan Colt’s neck. Sniffing him once, twice. Before snorting out and pulling back with a knowing smile.

“You’re sleeping with your human.” Con Rad whispered the words against his ear, making Tan Colt’s fur stand on.

“Am not!” Tan Colt snapped his jaws as Con Rad pulled back with a barking laugh.

“Not like that. That would be… wrong.” Con Rad glanced over at Henry who was choosing to ignore the two. “Don’t you wonder what it’d be like, though?” Con Rad didn’t let it go as he walked around Tan Colt looking him over. “To feel him… touch him… sniff him… lick him…” The Doberman huffed a hot breath against Tan Colt’s neck. “Bite him…”

“It’s illegal to do so.” Tan Colt turned on Con Rad who didn’t even pull back as if baiting Tan Colt to throw the first punch. The two knew Con Rad would then be allowed to put the German Shepherd, the second in the charts, in his place. Reminding everyone where he stood.

“Says who?” Con Rad just snorted a breath against his face, tilting his head back and barked a laugh as he walked back over to stand by Henry. “If you don’t do something, you might lose your human forever.” The Doberman said with a shake of his head as if he were trying to warn a friend about something. “He won’t stick around waiting for you…” The Doberman resisted the urge to play with Henry’s long hair with his fingers.

Aching for that touch. To be close to him. Never fully turning his back on Tan Colt, this other K-9, when he was here with his human. The Doberman instinct to protect overruling all rational thought. Just wanting to press his body against the human, hide him under his bulk and weight, pin him to that bench and just…

“Who says he’d even be interested…” Tan Colt muttered bitterly to himself, turning away now.

“Like you can’t smell it.” Con Rad growled low, seemingly getting angry about it.

“Con Rad.” Henry warned and the Doberman backed down. “We’ve been over this. Not in public.”

“Have you ever felt that… itch?” Con Rad said, scratching at his neck now and looking away, needing to distract himself. He was drooling again. “A single… whiff of his scent,” his eyes fell to Henry. “A touch. Feeling him against you… in your arms and knowing, wanting, to never let him go…?”

“Why are you mentioning this? Any of this?” Tan Colt rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. “No matter what I feel… it’s against the rules.” Tan Colt crossed his arms.

“Bran Dan was taken in the other day.” Con Rad adjusted his shades, calming down. “Taken in to be… recycled.” A growl crept into his voice. “He was taking everything as he should be, a good dog, but after being rejected for the fourth time by a human partner… well, it does things, to a dog. In here.” Con Rad tapped his head again. “We’re not made… to be alone.”

“They should’ve caught it sooner on the tests then.” Tan Colt just growled, looking away from the two in front of him. He didn’t want to hear this. Didn’t want to think of the mastiff, his friend, just being… gone like that. Because, what? He couldn’t make the cut? Because people kept rejecting him to the point that…

“Like they didn’t know. They didn’t see it coming.” Con Rad brought up with a snarky voice. “They didn’t plan it, testing on him, using him like some kind of… of… guinea pig!”

“They wouldn’t.” Tan Colt glared back, not buying into this. There were plenty of K-9’s out there convinced they, Project Tomorrow, were just using them like lab rats for further testing and results. Though these K-9’s kept it to themselves, not wanting to be caught talking bad about the project.

They owed their life to it. They owed so much to the program. The idea they were just… objects, to be used and tossed away after didn’t sit right with Tan Colt.

The book snapped shut next to them and Henry got up. He jabbed one of the sharp corners against Con Rad’s chest.

“Conrad…” Henry just gave him a look before turning to Tan Colt. “Bran Dan was indeed processed and… treated, accordingly.” Henry winced at the meaning behind those words. “He refused to take the supplements or medicine for the treatment. He convinced himself he’d be better off without any help. Refusing to even work with the physiatrists at that point. It wasn’t one thing. Or another. It was an accumulation of all the above, and more, that ‘caused his end, Mr. Colton.”

Tan Colt jumped slightly at that; unaware Henry Conwell knew his name.

“If you wish to stop taking the suppressants, that is your choice.” Henry said as if reading from a legal document. “It is encouraged, not forced. What happens after you stop taking them, however, is on your head. No one else. Don’t go blaming others for the mistakes you make thereafter.” Henry rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers the Doberman jumped to attention.

“Yes, sir?” Con Rad just asked, the only one he ever gave respect too was the Conwell family.

“I’m done here. Father can walk home for all I care.” Henry just grumbled bitterly. “I finished reading,” he added. “It was an interesting take on Nora Williams hypothesis, though I saw a couple of glaring errors due to her personal bias…” Henry went on and Con rad was enraptured with every word the human had to say, walking by his side…

Like Tan Colt did, walking next to Bradley. Not behind him but, maybe, as an equal.

Would it be possible then, to have his cake and eat it too…? Even if it was against the law… the thought made him feel queasy. If someone like Con Rad, the golden dog, could get away with it… then maybe he…

Tan Colt licked his lips, feeling particularly… drooly, thinking of his human as Dr. Pastell came back over to continue the physical portion of the exam. Something he knew he’d ace in a heartbeat. He’d make sure to get several of the portable injectors of the suppressant to make sure he’d keep his libido, if nothing else, under control.

But as he jogged across the field, wind blowing through his fur with the artificial light of the sun beating down on his back. All he could think of doing was going back home and flopping on top of his best friend. Pulling him close, snuggling up and going back to sleep on their day off together.

It was a warm, bright thought that made drool trickle from the German Shepherd’s jaws as he began to run. Faster and faster as if he did, then he’d get home that much sooner to his human.

“I’m coming, Bradley…”