Title: Making New Friends - Sequel to 'In Good Hands'
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee, OCs, Dick the Dog.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Ryo and Dee take Dick to the park for some exercise and fun.
Word Count: 1528
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 267: Amnesty, using Challenge 179: Dog.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.



As Ryo left the hospital after visiting Mrs Holloway to let her know her dog was in good hands, he called Dee to let him know he was on his way home. By the time he arrived at the apartment he shared with his lover, Dee was ready and waiting for him; all he needed to do was slip into his jacket and clip Dick’s leash on. The little dog was obviously eager to head out too, bouncing and barking as soon as Dee picked up the leash.

Ryo laughed. “He seems to be adjusting well to his new circumstances. How did he behave while I was out?”

“Fine,” Dee reported. “No trouble at all. He took a post-breakfast nap in his bed while I read the paper. Just looked up every time I moved to see what was going on, but otherwise stayed put. Mrs Holloway has him well trained.”

“She said she’s had dogs all her life, I guess she knows what she’s doing when it comes to training them,” Ryo said. “I told her one of us would drop by the hospital every few days to keep her up to date on him. I think I should arrange to have her mail forwarded to us so we can take that to her when we visit. She doesn’t have any family to do that for her, and most of her friends are her age or older, so she can’t really count on them.”

“Good thinking,” Dee agreed. “She’ll be in the hospital for a few weeks at least while her hip heals. Someone needs to keep an eye on things for her and it might as well be us, since we’re already keepin’ an eye on this little guy.”

“Speaking of which, where are we taking him? We probably shouldn’t go too far because of his sore paws. Did you put the cream on them yet?”

“Yep, did that just after you left. He made it easy, rollin’ on his back. They don’t look as raw as they did yesterday so whatever that stuff is, must be helpin’. Stinks a bit though; good thing we only need to use it for a few days.” Dee turned his attention to the dog. “Keep bouncin’ like that and you’ll wear yourself out before we get anywhere.” Glancing back at his partner, he added, “There’s a park a few blocks from here, figured we could go there. It’s got a fenced off area for dogs. I can carry him until we get there; the grass’ll be softer on his feet.”

“We should probably keep him on the leash this time out, we don’t want him hurting his paws from running around too much, or worse, getting lost.”

“Yeah, best to keep him close; he won’t know the other dogs either.” Dee looked worried. “He’s only little.”

“Tough though. Dachshunds were bred as hunting dogs.”

“Kind of hard to imagine a dog his shape huntin’ anything.”

Ryo had to agree; it was a bizarre concept, considering the short legs and long bodies.

Dee scooped the little dog into his arms. “Ready to go?”

“Yep, let me just…” Heading for the kitchen, Ryo grabbed an open packet of treats from the cupboard where he’d stored Dick’s food and other essential items, stuffed them and some plastic bags in his coat pocket, along with a rubber stick from Dick’s toy box, then put his shoes back on. “Okay, let’s go.”

The walk to the park was mostly uneventful, although Dee got some funny looks as he strolled along with Dick cradled in his arms, but then…

“Hmph!” one woman declared, glaring at them disapprovingly. “Dogs have legs; you should make yours walk. It’ll get lazy if you carry it everywhere.”

“Not that it’s any of your business but he has an injured paw,” Dee said stiffly. “The vet said not to walk him too much on hard surfaces until it heals.”

“Oh.” The busybody scuttled away without another word.

“Yeah,” Dee called after her. “Maybe in future you won’t be so quick to make assumptions!”

“Dee! Everyone’s looking at us!” Ryo hissed, embarrassed.

“So what? Some people should mind their own business.” Dee turned the corner at the end of the block and led the way to the park, halfway down the next block. It wasn’t huge, but as Dee had mentioned, there was an area set-aside as a dog play area. Several dog owners and their pets were already there, the dogs running after thrown balls, or chasing each other about while the owners sat on benches against the fence, throwing things for their pets to fetch, and chatting with each other.

Curious heads turned as they entered. Probably most of the owners knew each other at least by sight, but Dee and Ryo were newcomers. It wasn’t just the owners who were curious either.

Almost as soon as Dee set Dick down on the grass, a lively Jack Russell came bounding over, yapping. Dick peered apprehensively out from behind Dee’s legs, and when the other dog scampered behind Dee, intent on giving Dick a good sniffing, the dachshund made a complete circuit of his chosen protector, winding the leash right around Dee’s legs, and sat on his foot, leaning against his leg.

Laughing, Ryo helped his partner get unravelled while the Jack Russell’s owner called his dog off.

While that was happening, and somehow without either Dee or Ryo noticing, another dog had ambled over to say hello; the first either man knew about it was when a large body pushed itself between them and a shaggy golden head leaned down to sniff at Dick.

“Woof,” said the dog, a golden retriever whose muzzle was flecked with white hairs. His wagging tail slapped against the backs of Ryo’s legs as he tried to get closer to te much smaller dog.

Dick’s tail started to wag too, and he woofed back.

“Reggie, stop that!” A middle-aged woman hurried over. “Sorry about that, he’ll try to make friends with everyone he meets, human or animal; nearly pulls me off my feet trying to make the acquaintance of every cat we pass on walks. Even had him try to get chummy with a bear on vacation last year. I thought he’d pushed his luck too far for sure with that one,” she said cheerfully, trying to get hold of her dog’s collar.

“No harm done,” Ryo said with a smile, moving out of the way. It was an odd sight, watching the big old retriever and the tiny dachshund sniffing at each other, tails wagging. Reggie crouched, butt in the air, his tail waving like a banner, inviting Dick to play. The dachshund bounced eagerly and Dee gnawed on his bottom lip.

“I know we said we were gonna keep him on the leash this time ‘cause of his sore paws, but d’ya think it would be okay to let him run around, just for a bit? Doesn’t seem fair to not let him play with his new friend, and the fences will keep him from running off…”

Ryo nodded. “The grass looks soft enough, and we can always put him back on his leash if he starts limping.”

Dee stooped to let the little dog off the leash and away he went, scampering across the grass with Reggie lumbering along beside him. While Dee kept his eyes on the dogs, to make sure there wouldn’t be any trouble, Ryo introduced them to Reggie’s owner.

“Randy Maclean,” he said, offering his hand, “and this is Dee Laytner.”

“Marsha Simmons; nice to meet you both.” She shook hands with Ryo, then with Dee, who tore his eyes way from the dogs just long enough to be polite. “What’s your dog’s name?”

“Well, he’s not really ours,” Ryo prevaricated, blushing slightly. “His owner’s in hospital so we’re just fostering him for a few weeks.”

“She called him ‘Dick’,” Dee said in a low voice. “Can you believe that?”

Marsha burst out laughing. “I can see why you’re keeping that quiet.” She eyed the two men thoughtfully. “If it’s not rude of me to ask, are you two a couple?”

“Yeah, we are.” Dee turned to Marsha with a look that clearly said, ‘You wanna make something of it?’

“I thought so.” Marsha pointed to where another woman of a similar age was sitting chatting to an elderly couple. “That’s my partner, Sandy, and over there…” She gestured to two well-dressed men, just putting their two pugs on leashes, “That’s Ritchie and Michael; they met right here in the park, thanks to their dogs, and now they come here together every day. I’ll introduce you some other time; they’re in a bit of a rush today; Michael has a job interview. It you come here enough you’ll soon get to know all the regulars.”

Dee relaxed, grinning. Looked like Dick wasn’t the only one making new friends today.

At Marsha’s invitation, they settled onto one of the benches to talk about dogs while Dick and Reggie entertained each other. Might as well learn as much as they could about dog ownership from someone in the know.


The End