labcoatgirl | It's a dog's life

Betty isn't sure what happened. She can't remember what happened prior to this.

Everything feels wrong. Like her body is in the wrong position. But when she goes to stand up, she's still too short. There's too many smells in her nose, Betty giving her head a shake. When she does that, she can feel her soft ears moving on her head.

It's not till she does a complete circle that she realizes the situation.

She's a dog.

How could this happen?? she wants to say out loud. Instead, it comes out as a whine and a yip, something that surprises her. It's wet and damp where she is, Betty trying to walk on all fours to the end of the alley. It's pouring rain out there, her coat is already matted and soaked. She sits under an awning, trying to wait till it stops. Racking her poor dog brain to figure out a way out of this.

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Betty cowers down in a corner, her back paw smarting but she can't help watching the fight in front of her. There's something familiar about it...

After a few attempts at overwhelming the bigger dog, the pack is worse for wear and starting to consider pulling back. Even the leader is worried, not able to keep his teeth in the dog's fur, something he's never had a problem with before. It was like the Great Dane had grown armored fur all of the sudden, he couldn't be stopped.

Finally, they all fall back, licking their wounds and yelping that they'll be back with friends! But likely, they'll keep their distance from now on.

Bruce barks and howls threateningly after the retreating pack, going so far as to chase them to the end of the alley before turning back toward Betty. His glowing green eyes still livid, but he's stopped baring his teeth as he uncertainly starts to walk toward her. He approaches and then backs off repeatedly, as if he's almost afraid of her, but he's worried about that back leg, and it continues to draw him in, even though he repeats the strange dance, approaching, and then stepping away uncertainly.

Betty whines, getting up to limp towards him. He was so brave, defending her. Even though he still looks a little severe, she knows he won't hurt her.

She presses her nose against his neck before licking his face hopefully. Was it even possible?

Bruce?

The green dog grunts, lowering himself to the ground and doing a sort of half-crawl toward Betty as she licks his face. He sighs, the coloring in his fur slowly starting to abate as he watches her and whines when he notices her limp again. He gives her leg a gentle lick before setting his head down on the cool pavement and looking up at her sadly. She's familiar, she's kind, and she hasn't run away. Only one person never really ran from him...

Be-tty? He's still a little wound, but calming down. She's certainly helping.

Edited Date: 2012-10-07 06:25 am (UTC)

She yips once. Yes! Yes, it's me. Oh Bruce, what's happened to us?? Not that he would have any better answer than her.

Her leg still hurts, but feels a little better when he's licking it. So she tries to settle near his head, still licking his face affectionately. She really doesn't know what else to do, Betty's just so happy to see him, even in this state. I love you so much, you were so brave.

Tired. He grunts and blinks, the green glow slowly fading from his eyes. With a sigh, he closes his eyes, the green coloring completely fading from his fur and he lazily flops over on his side, mindful not to lay on Betty.

Don't know what's wrong. He whines, opening an eye that's now cleared of the gamma glow, a worried look on his massive face. He licks at her leg again, fretting over her. You're hurt...

It's okay, it'll be okay, she tries to reassure him. Betty pants as she lays next to him, trying to calm down herself. It was so easy to get worked up when you were a dog. Now that she knew who he was, she could almost see his expression in that worried dog face.

Betty whimpers when he hits a sore spot, putting her head down on her front paws to try and lay still. The leg has stopped bleeding thankfully. It's feeling a little better.

He taps the end of his large nose against hers gently as she lays down.

I'd suggest a vet, but I think we'd just end up in the pound. He sighs with a whumph that sends his jowls flapping.

Don't want that. She lays there for a bit, trying to think what they can do. They're both wet, muddy, tired...not as hungry as before but that can't last too much longer.

We need to find somewhere safe for the night. She gets up on three legs, trying to stay off the fourth. Which isn't too difficult. We shouldn't stay here.

Might know a place... Bruce is a little tired and sore, but he pushes himself to his feet as he quickly roots through the trash and grabs a still-wrapped burger before starting off at a slow pace, so Betty can keep up on three legs. It's risky, taking food, but he's not going to leave her alone just so he can find something for them to eat later. He'll battle off any other trouble if it decides to come along.

Betty limps carefully after him, keeping up despite her injury. You do? Hopefully it wasn't far. And out of the rain.

There were so many smells on the way, it was difficult to stay on task. She kept wanting to stop and sniff every new thing they passed and had to apologize now and again for slowing them down. It's so hard to not stop. I don't know what's wrong with me.

At least you're not slobbering? He looks back over at her, that oddly embarrassed look on his face as a stringer hangs from his lower jaw. Carrying a burger is practically murder, but it's helping him ignore all the other smells that are distracting Betty.

She can't laugh as a dog, but an open mouthed pant almost looks like a smile. You look lovely. Her shoulder bumping up against his leg for a moment. I'm sorry I freaked out earlier when I first saw you. I didn't know what else to do.

Heh, sure. He whines, his own expression pulling back a little into something resembling a smile. Slobbering was anything but lovely.

It's alright, I didn't know what to do either. It's...a little surreal. A little. Sure, but considering in his human life he had a habit for turning into a 9-foot tall green monster, turning into a dog was almost normal. I'm just glad we found each other. He takes an awkward step, flopping his ears and picking up a paw, before setting it down again. It's almost like a playful motion from the massive dog as they approach a park which is colored brightly with fall leaves.

She'd think he looked lovely anyway, slobbering or not. At least she wasn't alone in this strange reality.

I know...too many smells. And I can't see any colors anymore. Not that it mattered really when you were a dog.

The more Betty uses the injured paw, the better it feels. She's hoping it was just a superficial wound she got. As they go through the grass of the park, she lowers her nose to the ground to smell all of the crunchy leaves they were passing. Oh, that smells good...

Hmm? Bruce's ears push forward, giving him a curious look. He sets a paw down on a crunch leaf, and then sets the burger down, give a sniff. Oh, hey. That's kind of...neat. He gives another sniff, and another, and while he doesn't wander from the burger, he can't turn on his inquisitive mind that's only make more interested by the influx of smells from his newly improved sense of smell.

Betty's completely forgotten for a moment that she's not a dog, following the trail of something along the ground. Sniffsniffsniff...

All the way to a tree, the smell traveling up it. Aw, rats, I can't go up there. Probably a squirrel.

Bruce looks up, a dopey smile on his face. They were both getting pretty caught up in all this, and it was hard not to be. Everything was different.

He picks the burger back up and trots over to her, giving her a gentle nudge with his nose.

Come on, Lady. Tramp thinks we should stake our claim somewhere before we get too into this.

She laughs to herself inside her head, following along behind him. Lady and the Tramp, it was a good analogy. She bounds up behind him to catch up with his long strides, her fur starting to dry and get fluffy.

Are you going to carry that the whole way?

Well, it's that, or bury it. Granted, he wasn't against doing it, if that's what it took. It was still wrapped after all. Your call. He didn't know how comfortable she'd be if he did, because he's the one who's eaten out of dumpsters long before this happened.