Chapter 4--All Play and No Bite

Bo certainly was no “moocher”. They’re done with their training; they’ll be starting work the day after tomorrow. They weren’t job searching for so long and I’m a little surprised that Bo had gotten hired after one week of doing so. They weren’t the highest ranking in their job, but I suppose their credentials and experience shined through the resume. Well, two hundred-something years of work experience certainly looks better than fifty.

It’s hard to say that there is, tangibly at least, a job in heaven or hell that truly makes you happy. I used to be keen on getting that, but it isn’t stable—I’d rather not think about any big mistakes right now. At least you sometimes get lucky and have the company of a client or coworker to enjoy. And it seems like them and me will be getting a coworker to enjoy.

There’s a massive catch to it though; I accept that. It’s renegade work and the fact that it’s renegade work says practically everything. We’re pseudo-coworkers, Bo acting as a mole to attempt and “sabotage” my cupid gig at my cafe. Sabotage only means so much ‘cause A: he already spilled the beans to me, and B: it isn’t a task that isn’t leaving people hurt in this case. Not to say that being a cupid isn’t null of dubiousness. What heaven or hell job isn’t, at this point? Or any job, whatsoever? Gee, it’s great to see the sun outside of the cave but still be chained to the wall! Even if I was out of it, the shadows would still tempt me to do some other dirty work.

It’s not worth getting mad. My shift’s over and I’m almost to my apartment. I hate getting mad. It never solves anything. Besides, I end up putting too much pressure on my buck teeth when I start tensing my jaw.

Just open the door to your apartment. You can relax; tomorrow’s Sunday, your only day off. Thank god I’m unionized. Can’t even thank god for that; the union did that. My feet hurt like hell.

“Knock knock!” His voice is muffled by the door.

Oh right! This is a whole shtick we have.

I sigh with amusement. “Alright, who’s there?”

“Oh, no…” he sings.

“No, what?”

I hear the doorknob being fiddled with on the inside, then a thump before the door swings open at an eased pace.

“No-bo-dy special,” Bo answers with a puff. I walk into my apartment and notice Bo still clinging onto the door, being slightly smaller in size than usual. That gives me a chuckle.

Bo leans off the door and floats in the air entering a lankier form. “How’d the world treat you today, Ettey?”

My shoulders got heavy out of nowhere. My sigh sounds more like a groan. I guess I couldn’t help myself. I gotta help myself.

“…Just the daily drivel, I’ll say…” I’m heading to the couch; man, this soreness stings.

Bo zips along and sits beside me. They’re hunched over and have their hands on their chin.

“How much ‘daily drivel’ do you think you can take?”

Again with the sighing, but it just devolves into a discouraged whimper. I hang my head low.

“I’m doubting I can take any more of it.”

“Y’know, you’ve been mentioning work stress a bit lately—do you need me to lend an ear?”

“Augh—I mean, I really shouldn’t get mad at these people. It’s so petty, and I hate being petty, and I’m the jerk at the end of the day—”

Bo chuckles, “How about you take two steps forwards to make up for that one step back?” They raise their aqualine nose in the air in amusement, but their eyebrows crease with vulnerability. The eyes aren’t getting to me, but the comment is.

“Haha, is it really worth yelling in an apartment complex about it?”

“Perhaps the porch is a suitable rage room?” Bo suggests, stroking their chin.

“…perhaps it is.”

We walk out to my porch. My apartment’s pretty high up, but I don’t think anyone’s really around to hear.

“…I guess I don’t need to say that the food industry fucking sucks,” I begin, somewhat mumbling.

“Oh, I’ve heard the horror stories. I bet it’s even worse to be a part of that story.”

“No kidding! It’s ridiculous how everyone just loses their patience and perspective when at a restaurant. You slip in front of these people one time, and they get so fussy about it!” My volume’s a bit louder now.

I ramble more, “And it’s so… needless! Like, if there’s anyone who should be allowed to go bonkers it’s me! Me, the person who has to keep the persona alive for hours and hours despite getting tugged around by everyone! And then I feel like I can’t have that rage for some reason!”

My volume is louder, but I’m not screaming. It really isn’t even that loud.

I snarl aggressively as I can, “Gee… isn’t it great that I can’t even get… five minutes to look at cute fursuits on my phone? I bet all those douchebags are sssso thankful that I… tire myself out while getting them another goddamn straw!”

I’m boiling under my own tension. God, I’m pathetic.

I retreat into a whimper and dangle my arms over the guardrail. “I-it’s not even because I hate cooking, or the whole aesthetic of my restaurant, or hell, even the persona I put on! I like being silly and p-pleasant like that. But doing that every hour of the day?” I pause. “And I can’t even make myself scream about it.”

I hang my head in shame. Bo quietly replies, “it’s Sunday tomorrow, so you got the day off.”

I sigh, “at least there’s that…”

Bo closes their eyes for a moment; they probably have something on their mind.

“You know, you’ve never shown me your fursona.”

I raise my head and look at him. And then I start to laugh, “that’s so unrelated… what like, prompted that?”

They briefly chuckle, “Well, you were the one who mentioned fursuits just a moment ago…”

“Touché…” I then get a little more serious. “Where are you going with this?”

“I’ve shown you a couple of my fursonas, but I was thinking that I would like to share a sorta personal one. If you aren’t too tired in the morning, perhaps we could go to that forest and heheh, I don’t know, frolic a little?”

“That forest near the underpass downtown, right?”

“Yup.”

It’s not a very dense forest, I’ll say. Yeah, it’s still some old trees, but a nasty string of storms some years ago left the whole place lighter than it was before. I’m not sure the entire place is vacant; the Doise and Doisette did bunker there a couple times, so there’s probably a couple people doing the same. I don’t wanna bother anyone—I guess we could go deep into the forest?

“I’m not sure. I don’t know that area pretty well… Have you been there before?” I ask.

“Yeah! I had some downtime recently and decided to scope the area out. It’s got some nice bits, like that weird raised section with the cliff.”

“Did you see anyone, like, camping there or anything?”

“Besides for some litter, I couldn’t find anyone besides for the whimsical critters out and about!”

That’s so weird, farting around a random forest. Not even camping, just pretending to be animals and acting like hooligans! But it doesn’t really matter. Nobody’s there and I doubt we’ll be hollering loud enough to disturb some average Joe. There’s nothing to lose, so I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.

I hum, “What the hell, I’m down for it. I don’t think I have anything else to do tomorrow anyhoo.”

Bo’s nose and head becomes lanky with delight. “Tomorrow’s gonna be a lovely day for the both of us.”

Well, here we are at the foot of the forest.

“C’mon! Let’s find a good spot to have fun!” Bo directs as they swoop and coil in the air, darting towards the forest. I guess I should be flying after them rather than just running. It’s honestly not that fun. Why am I hesitating to have fun?

There’s something a little daunting about this place. The Doise doesn’t have a lot of fond memories here, that’s for sure. I guess it’s like doing parkour in a graveyard, jumping around on things that just… upset people.

I doubt we’ll be doing anything… weird. This whole activity is a weird topic, but I have nuanced emotions about this, it’s clear! I got my stability, my past knowledge, the awareness of now, there’s no way I’ll get weird about it.

I can’t do it. I can’t show my fursona to Bo. It’s got its own baggage, and I can’t just… whip it out like that! I’m just a perv with it. Okay, at least it isn’t any “demon cave” shit I did with the Noise years ago. There’s others who do the stuff I do but take it way too far, and I’ve got the morals to not go there. But who’s to say I won’t get to that point? I’ve had a bad streak with stuff like that before and it could happen again. But I don’t like getting to that point! It just hurts people, but who’s to say—

“How’s this spot treating you?”

It’s a sizable pond circled by narrow birch trees. There’s a ledge-like hump of dirt on the right of its perimeter. That ledge is in a nice spot; it’s catching most of the sunlight that comes from the patch of sky seen through the trees. It would be nice to lounge there, basking like some kind of prideful lion. I could take in the warm beams as I glance down at the colorful ripples in the pond. And the birds are chattering in the distance, lost in their own world. And I’d get to be lost my own world, too.

“Oh my god, it’s lovely…” I quietly remark.

“I miss wandering the forest like this, honestly. I forgot how nice it was to find pockets like this. The internet’s got its own special nooks, but everyone needs some variety.”

“Yeah…”

Bo scratches their chin for a moment. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever LARPed before, have you?”

I snap out of my awe. “Oh, we’re doing a, like, roleplaying thing?”

“If you want to, yeah!”

“Heheh, I’m down. I haven’t really done roleplay before, so I’m sorry if I’m not good at it.”

Bo flicks their wrist, “Oh, that’s no biggie! If you want, you can just treat it like a casual conversation… except that I am an awesome wolf with cool hair and beautiful eyes.” Bo pauses then blurts, “You’ll be a cool wolf too—or well, a cool rabbit. ‘Cause your fursona is a rabbit.”

“U-uhm, about that… I don’t think I’m comfortable sharing my fursona… yet. It’s very… p-personal, y’know?”

Their face and tone softens, “That’s okay, I understand. Turn into whatever you want. Would it help if I started first?”

“Ye-yeah,” I reply quickly.

Bo flips in the air, their body stretching like a ribbon. The transformation is quick and brief, nothing more but smears that pass as the eye blinks.

The fursona’s pretty thematically appropriate for Bo, I’ll say. Some kind of snooty, lanky looking wolf, sorta reminiscent of those fursonas of the mid-2010s. Their cape tapers, which are usually in their mouth, now service as thin ears. Their hat looks like a royal crown fashioned out of some kind of plush material. He’s given himself one of those poofy emo haircuts, built with numerous little locs. They’ve got sparkled eyes, not necessarily anime-esque—actually, it more reminds me of those old My Little Ponies… makes sense with the broken heart on his upper back leg, ‘cause those horses got goofy little marks on their butts. Funnily enough, they’re still wearing the onesie.

Something about the nose is off though. It’s trying so hard to be small and it’s got a broken heart shape, just like the end of their tail. A single drop of blood dangles not from the nostril, but rather the crack of the heart. It wobbles like it’s about to drop, but it never does.

Bo thrusts their front paws into the air, “Ta-da!”

“Ah! so cute! I love it!”

“Oh please, I bet you’ll come up with something better!” Bo playfully retorts.

I gotta make this brief. I mean, I’ve done it quickly many times before, so there shouldn’t be an issue at all. Guess I’ll be a wolf. I’m not crazy about wolves, but hey, it feels appropriate.

I’m prepared, I know the end goal, all I gotta do is just do a little shake.

And now I’m a wolf. Feels a little weird to be on four legs after god knows how long, but—yeah, nothing really else feels really awkward. I guess I feel that… general weirdness I feel about some things—don’t linger on that. Lingering on stuff like that never goes right. I know better, I’m good.

Bo runs up to me, enamored this little form I’ve taken. “Wow! Great use of that heart motif! Black and Pink really suit you!” They swivel around me before grabbing my bulbous snout. “Ohh, and the nose too! It’s really cute!” Then he nervously laughs, “definitely better than mine.”

This feels like the time to ask, but I don’t trust it. The “broken heart” stuff is a subject that’s difficult for them for reasons I don’t understand, and this is supposed to be a nice day.

“So, how are we gonna like… do this roleplaying thing? Is it improv, or some Dungeons & Dragons sort of deal, or?”

Bo snaps out of their giddiness. “Don’t worry, I got the whole prompt thingy-mabob all figured out—It’s real good; hear this!” Oh, he’s going back to the high energy. They take on a more gritty and dramatic style as a nonexistent wind blows through their locs and fur.

“This is the wolf kingdom. Everyone is wolves and it’s awesome. Except it’s not awesome for me. I am the heir to the wolf throne and I’m frightened. The responsibility is too much and the life of royalty is much too boring! I run away to be a part in hopes of some better life, but I fear this is might be something I can’t run away from… also I can fly, create rainbows, have super speed, I can shapeshift, and I’m the most powerful wolf of all wolf kingdom.”

“Uhm… you got any ideas for me?”

“Nah. Go wild, girl!”

I stroke my fluffy face with one of my equally fluffy paws, “I wanna be a hermit who’s been exiled from the village for having female hysteria?”

Bo closes their eyes and nods with thoughtfulness, their snout borzoi-like, “Yes, yes, I digs it…”

I laugh awkwardly, “I’m not really sure how we’re going to start this roleplay… I’ve never really done one these…” At least, not in the bedroom.

“No worries! I’ll lead us off!” Bo then zips into the backdrop and hollers, “Just act natural!”

I stand on my hind legs like a human and cross my front paws. I can feel myself smiling.

“Yeah, your character would probably do that!”

Alright, alright. I’ll head over to that ledge and bask in the rays majestically or something.

Oh, that sun feels nice. It’s kinda hot out and I have a thick coat, but I’ll try to enjoy it while it lasts. Besides, the grass is a little cold, so I probably won’t overheat or anything. Not like I can die from heatstroke or anything, so there’s no huge risk. I imagine Bo will initiate the roleplay soon. I guess I’ll just close my eyes until that happens.

Hehe, I like raising my nose to the sun. I didn’t realize it was so cold! And wet. I forgot dog noses were like that. I miss having a big snout like this. Makes me feel less bad about having such a big mouth. It also just makes me remember how much I like having a bulbous nose. I guess I could give myself one whenever I please, but I gotta keep a consistent uniform for work and stuff. People would definitely notice. I don’t know, like, Doise would probably and be like, “yo dude, reality check me for a moment and tell me if your nose always looked like that,” and then I would have to explain that I changed my nose and that I don’t hate my current nose or anything—I mean, nobody really cares about these things but I always have this weird feeling that I need to look good for someone and—

Oh my god, how long has he been this close to me?!

“Fair lady, what brings you to the pond today?”

I jolt back. “I-I—uh, wha—hey, aren’t you royalty or something? Royal dogs don’t usually go to… ponds.”

“Royalty?!” They scoff. “I may wear a crown and was named Golden-Star IV at birth, but I reject this royal life!”

“Really? How come?”

The royal wolf sits up, as if flinching from some kind of bitterness. As the sensation sinks into them, their proportions become slightly jagged before snapping back to normal with their reply. “Oh, the busywork is such a drag, y’hear?”

Jesus, what do I say?

“Uhm, are you looking for all the… other wolf villagers? I-if that’s the case, then I’ll just say that living with the village folk isn’t much fun either.”

“Why isn’t it fun?”

I tap my paw into the pond continuously. “Oh, they sorta… banished me for being crazy or something. Was considering crazy for… divorcing my husband.”

The royal wolf is amazed. “Dividing yourself from marriage?! I could never be that brave!”

No no, wait. I got something good.

“Oh and, I also practice witchcraft… hehe.”

They over-dramatize their shock so much they almost topple into the pond. “By Jove! That’s freaking awesomesauce!” They lean in close, curling their tail around me. “I’ll have you know that I too practice some magic.”

I toothily giggle, “You said you weren’t brave, and then you do magic stuff behind the king’s back!” Wait, that’s probably not the lore they wanna go with. “Or well, I’m just an old loony lady who hasn’t got a clue what’s been happening in the kingdom for… twenty years, I guess.”

For a moment, he breaks character to flash me some very amused eyes and a couple eager nods.

“No no, my dad—erm, I mean, the king still hates magic! The kingdom’s still a bunch of hooey in general. You can’t do anything fun.”

“You could say that again.”

The royal wolf looks at their reflection, and that dangling blood just never leaves their snoot. Their form slightly warbles with the creases on the pond.

“I haven’t practiced magic in a while… maybe we can show off some of the stuff we can do?”

There’s something tender about that. I wanna say yes to that question no matter the situation.

I get a little closer towards the royal wolf. They redirect their gaze towards me, curiously.

“I mean, I only know so much about you, but I’d love to do that with you.”

The wolf smiles and happily chuckles to my response, their eyes very gentle. Suddenly, they burst into a silly giddiness, “What are we waiting for then? Let’s move to a wider area so I can show off some of my tricks!”

Oh jeez—okay run to them, run to them. They really did just dash off, huh? No time to trot through the scenery; it’s all turned to green mush!

Once I get to their pace, I shout at them in a breathy tone, “We never said our names—like, preferred names! I’m… I’m uhh…”

Okay fuck, I didn’t think about this, shit.

“Just call me Bonnie! What’s your name?”

Flutter-Heart? Lady Pastel? Heartfelt Celestial? Wild Heart? Fuck, just blurt something out; it isn’t heart surgery!

“Heart Surgery!” I yelp. No, Heart Surgery’s great! It saves people; it’s awesome! “Yeah, my name’s Heart Surgery.”

Bonnie is enamored. “Wow! Heart Surgery is a beautiful name!”

“Heheh, that’s why I chose it…”

Bonnie suddenly halts to a stop, but the movement grinds them against the dirt for a couple feet. God, the mud here just seeps into your feet! Not even my feet—my paws! My semi-hands! Eh, I can clean off later. I guess.

Did it rain here recently, or is this section a swamp or something? No, there any of those “wispy swamp trees” around, so it can’t be. A bog? It sure looks… boggy. I can go with bog.

“It’s an open area. It’ll do,” Bonnie declares.

Honestly, I can’t tell where the water ends and the land starts. It just looks like the whole section is a lake draped with a blanket of moss, spare some tall grasses and stray trees.

Okay, this dog nose is making it harder to ignore it for any longer: this place is musty. I can smell every little microbe and particle in this block of air, and if it weren’t for the activity going on I think I would be fucking hypnotized by the sheer depth of what I’m taking in, like a Baroque antique that breaks if you breathe on it the wrong way.

I guess I’ll play along. “Of course! Unstable ground is where you harness the best magic!”

Bo looks at me, perplexed, for a millisecond and coughs into their elbow in a canned manner while pointing to the wings on his back and twitching them for extra emphasis. Good god, I’m an idiot. I thought I was good at reading the room.

And he swiftly returns to being Bonnie, “Forgive my sickness. You know that abyssal malady feel, eh?” They do a short hop into the air so they can hover above the ground. I follow their action.

“I know that feel more than anyone else. I release that horrid specter sometimes so it can…. Y’know, stretch it’s legs.”

“You’re a caster of famines?!” Bonnie exclaims, awestruck.

“Yeah!” I think for a moment. “Also a shapeshifter, a curse-placer, a matchmaker—and I can make flowers bloom so beautifully!”

Sure, that works. Is there really anything in this bog to showcase my “magic” with? Most demons and angels can’t even use a lot of magic outside of work, so I can’t put on a real good light show.

I have to try, though. Uhh… sickly tree, grass, more grass, pond scum, water, two cranes—wait. About time we find some other animals here—I could do something with them.

“You see those birds over there?” I direct Bonnie, pointing towards the animals.

I then twiddle my claws to cast the spell on the cranes. Their beaks soften and they start making out in a humanoid manner. I think that stuff wears off after, like, a minute; it’s probably okay.

“Woa… love wins…” They comment in awe of the beauty. “Lemme show something off too!”

Bonnie adjusts into an upright position and places their paws onto their snout, as if they were blowing a bubble. They blow a bubble from their nose and balance on it like a pony doing a circus trick. That bubble is definitely made out of blood, but it’s still cute. He then kicks the bubble and grabs it with his paws, spinning it on one of his fingers like a basketball. The bubble twirls into a—FUCK!

I cover my eyes. “Fuck, fuck! Demon eyes, demon eyes!”

“Oh goodness! Are you okay?”

I look away from them, hunched over. “Yeah, just got a little… shocked. I don’t do good with bright lights…”

“I don’t do good in the dark either, ehehe.”

“Did you stop shining that thing?”

“Yeah.”

I uncover my eyes and look at Bonnie. Holy fuck, I can’t remember the last time I saw one of those faces. It seems like Bonnie likes it so much that they’re able to perfectly replicate its expression too.

“Well? Isn’t my trick… awesome? I will also take epic as a compliment.”

“You, my liege, are a wolf of good culture,” I comment as I bow. A snicker snorts out of me.

“Thanks! But don’t put yourself down, Heart Surgery, you’ve got a good sense of humor yourself.”

I feel playful. Gee, that makes me laugh! Perhaps I should pull a few antics.

“Oh please,” I smugly groan, “nobody’s ever given me a good laugh, not even a snicker, until now!”

Oh my god, I can’t stop giggling! I rub my paws together, generating magic.

I continue, “but! I will return the… favor!” On the last word, I stamp both of my paws onto Bonnie’s face, leaving a large, pink heart mark on their face. They shake their head in bewilderment, their smears sustaining a tad longer than they usually do. Once stable, Bonnie paws at the mark before getting hold onto an edge and peeling the mark off like a sticker. Their eyes grow large and bedazzled as they enter a spell of euphoric laughter. He likes my antics!

“Hehehehe, you’re one heck of a prankster!” Bonnie remarks. “Take your whoopie cushion back!” They tease before swiftly tossing the mark onto my face.

I rip the mark off and hold it in my mouth. I lean down, rump in the air and about to pounce. “I’m not saying touché yet!”

I gallop in the air towards Bonnie, and they dash off to some higher section of the air. I’m gonna get ‘em!

“You’re a crazy witch, a crazy witch!” Bonnie hollers as we glide above the trees.

“You’re crazy royalty!” I growl before launching the mark back onto Bonnie. Bingo! X marks the spot! They rotate a couple times, not for long but enough for me to catch up to them.

“Back of the head, twenty points!” I joke, then crouch in front of them like a playful dog. Gotta wag my tail so I can sit still! But I wanna jump around! I wanna be silly!

The end of Bonnie’s tail turns into a hand that peels off the mark once again. They bark, “Sneak attack!” before flipping and slinging the spot onto my face. “One hundred points!”

The both of us are chuckling. I’m close enough that I’m able to tackle Bonnie. Now we incessantly wrestle! This is such a ridiculous joke, powering us into a chaotic spout that neither of us are willing to give up! I don’t care! Let me have the fun!

As we do our back and forth of trying to put the spot on one another, we end up gradually tapping ourselves lower and lower from the sky and closer and closer to the ground. A tree brushes my foot. Alright, lemme make sure we don’t crash.

I grab the spot from Bonnie’s paws with my mouth and clench onto it tight. Bonnie bites onto the other end, and we start playing tug-of-war. Man, I’m a bit stronger than this guy, actually. Well, he’s a little guy, so it’s no surprise. I’ll try to redirect us towards this open, circular patch free of trees.

“Lemme have it!” Bonnie speaks through their teeth before tugging.

“No, let me have it!” I speak through mine and tug back.

The tugging is exhilarating. It’s like a spark runs through me, the need for it to be mine motivates my entire being that every part of me gives the okay. They tug back; it thrills them too. I can see them slobber. The drool in my mouth is making it harder to hold on. But I want it! I don’t even want it anymore; I just want this to never end! This synchronization, this safety, this energy, these jowls, this tail—the singular smile shared by two faces!

This is the silliness that makes life worth living. The sincerity that propels people to find rhythm. The vulnerability that speaks to the self! The mark feels thinner than it did before. Dare I say this speaks to womanhood, to demonhood, to anyone! Whatever. I can’t keep it in my head. The thrill is consuming me.

“I NEVER WANT THIS TO END!” I scream, dimpling the mark even further, as if it couldn’t get any more mangled.

“ME TOO!” Bonnie yelps, tugging at the mark—

It ripped.

It was nice while it lasted. We’re frozen in the air, but I recover from the shock much quicker. I look up to see Bonnie’s eyes trying to sideline from the situation, as if they did something worse than a mistake.

“I-I think that’s enough spell-showcasing for today…” Bonnie chuckles with an uneasy smile. They then gently descend down to the open patch. I follow after them.

What are they doing?

“Are you okay?” I ask him as I drop to the grass. They have their back facing me and are sitting next to an old log. “If you’re upset about that patch thing breaking, I’m not mad. Those things are flimsy anyway.”

“I’m good, I’m good… it just… I remembered a bad memory, that’s all.”

I can’t tell we’re still doing the roleplay or not.

“Is this a royalty-related memory or something else?”

They whip themselves to face me, “royalty, royalty! It’s… royalty related.” He pauses to think for a moment. “It’s… sometimes I remember that doing this… magic stuff… is banned and all that, and it just sucks out the fun. I don’t like playing mean tricks, but sometimes I get a little worried that I will. Or I feel like I don’t deserve something like this—I’m royalty, after all! I ran away when I probably could’ve made it all better!”

That’s a tough point. They are royalty, at the end of the day. But this isn’t real life! He can run away and live the life he wants; this is a self-indulgent thing and there’s no dire consequence to this sort of thing. But what does it say about someone that they fantasize about running away?

Like I wouldn’t want to do the same thing. You have an idea of the “why”.

I place a paw onto Bonnie’s back, and they look at me. “Well, what do you want?” I ask.

They stare into the dark cracks held by the dense forest surrounding us as their face grimaces, their snout wrinkled. The blood from their nose finally breaks from its strand and stains the ground a dark red. Come to think of it, I don’t ever remember hearing that angel blood is red.

They finally respond. “I think I want to be safe.”

“I think I want that too,” I sigh.

I brush my tail against theirs; I guess I’ll use that as a way to ask if they want to be touched. They don’t react, but their tail quickly darts away from mine.

“If it helps to hear this, I’m not the greatest person either. I don’t always step up when I need to, and I’ve hurt a couple people through that.”

Still unresponsive. Still staring into the obscurities of the woods.

I continue, “I imagine you still want to do good. I… like doing good things too.” I get in front of them. “But it’s hard to do good when we’re upset. Maybe you need a little break before you try to make things right.” I then offer my paw like a welcoming hand, “how about we just… chill for the rest of the day?”

Bonnie’s eyes perk up. There’s something about my expression that’s making them enamored at me. They slowly gravitate their paw to mine, their gaze clinging onto me. He then smiles, as if he thought about something funny.

They chuckle, “I—”

“That’s a fucking sparkledog.”

We snap our heads to the source of the sound, like two deer sensing for predators.

That’s the Doise. I can smell him. She’s some several yards away from us.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw a sparkledog, what the fuck,” Doise adds.

“Those aren’t real, right? You didn’t see any of these weird dogs in that tower, right?” Doisette asks, bewildered. The two of them somewhat cautiously walk towards us.

“No! Definitely not! It was all food people and shit! I saw fifty Native American caricatures and not a single cool furry!”

Bo and I look at each other somewhat cheekily. I whisper to them, “don’t say or do anything. I wanna see where this goes.”

Doisette is the first to get a better sight of us. He notices Bo first. He scrunches up his face and shakes his fists before crying, “Who is this dog’s barber?! WHO?!?”

The Doise runs over upon hearing Doisette’s dumbfounded comment and gets a sight of us.

“You fuckers can talk. I know you can,” the Doise asserts, bug-eyed.

“Bark bark bark! Bark bark bark!” Bo replies, yipping like a small dog. I join with them.

The Doise’s expression changes to one of skepticism. Now something about the situation delights her. It seems like Doisette hasn’t really caught onto it yet.

“I never saw you as the roleplaying type,Noisette,” the Doise remarks.

I look like a moron. I start to stammer, “I—uh, that’s not really… a bad thing?”

“I’m fucking jealous, dude,” Doisette comments. Here we are, Doise and I, in our forties trying to kill a monster… and you guys are like—older than us! And you guys have the courage to roleplay in a fuckass forest!” Doisette rants with jealousy.

“No offense, Noisette, but you’re lowkey an anxious type, bruh. I never expected you be into this sorta thing. I’m glad you can still have fun like this, though,” The Doise clarifies.

Oh. I can’t really say she’s wrong, really.

Don’t linger. Talk about something else.

“W-what are you guys doing around here, anyway?” I ask.

“Scouting. Like—we’re trying to getting a summary of the place to see how to further develop the plan. I mean, we camped here for a while, but it’s been—a long time since we’ve been around so…” She replies, gradually getting more loose with her words.

“Where’s that big fella you two hang with?” Bo pokes in.

“It’s trying to track down Peddito, trying to observe any…” Doise snaps his fingers as he trots through his memory, “Exploits? No—fine, I’ll work with that. Fakey’s trying to find any other exploits we can take advantage of with that thing.”

“I suppose thirty-something years with that thing only gives you so much knowledge, eh?” I lightly joke.

“That, and getting your brains splattered regularly messes with your memory, like, long term. And he’s insanely unpredictable! Sometimes I can be within a meter of that guy and it won’t bite at all, and then some other times he’ll maul me if I even get within a mile!” Frustration flushes through the Doise, prompting her to sit down on the nearby log. “It’s bullshit, complete bullshit.”

Doisette sits down besides her and places a hand onto her back. He looks to us and changes the subject. “Say, you guys were prowling around too; have you found any spots that could give us an advantage?”

Me and Bo look at each other, entering a moment of thought.

“Uhm… there’s a small bog not too far from here,” Bo mentions.

“There’s… a few real tight sections in these woods. Not tight by awesome wolf standards, but tight for a big bird like him for sure!” I add.

“I think we might’ve seen that bog before…” the Doise replies. “It’s sorta this hard middle to get to. We don’t want it to catch us, but if it lags behind too much the timing would be harder.”

“Timing?” I blurt.

“Oh! Okay so, y’know the weird hill-mountain-cliff thingy at the center of this place?” The Doise points to the giant centerpiece in the distance. “This place does bad with storms. It makes some nasty fucking landslides. Peddito likes to fly low, so you could get that guy, like, congested in the woods. When the time is right Bo, or whoever ends up being the bait, will lure Peddito to an open area and hopefully, hopefully, the landslide hits him and not one of us.”

“And then what?”

The Doise smirks and snickers, “Then it starves to death!” Her face then sinks and she looks away, “look, I’m kinda doing it ‘cause it seems poetic, but like, bullets only slow it down and it regenerates from all its injuries, so starving it to death just makes sense to me.”

Doisette gently smiles, leaning towards the Doise to caress his chin, “aww c’mon, don’t knock yourself down. I thought it was metal. You’re so cute when you get eccentric.” The Doise coyly curls inward in response, a flustered snort steaming out of him.

“Aww, I guess I’m some good,” she sighs.

Bo places their front paws on the edge of the log, meekly barging in the two’s moment of intimacy, “This is out of the blue but, eheh, I think it would do some good to tell you guys that us angels don’t see good in the dark. If I end up being bait and it’s dark out, I can’t go alone.”

“I don’t think I was intending on the ‘bait’ being alone anyway, but that’s good to know,” The Doise replies.

Doisette adds, “well, we certainly don’t have the schedule down for this whole plan, that’s for sure.” He turns his head, “I just hope I can actually be there. My boss would get on my ass if I don’t enter work for even a couple days.”

The Doise grabs Doisette and looks into his eyes, very much looking she was about to give a response. She can’t think of anything though, it seems. Part of his face is rotted to the muscle and bone, but I think his face is getting all pursed. His eyes sink into the darkness of his sockets and makes a weak grumble.

“I shouldn’t ask you for hope, it’s wrong,” she creaks.

Doisette sparks with anxiety, “no no! I’m not all high and mighty, man. Sucking up to some major corporation is like, a disservice on my end! I-I-I just—I’ll figure something out, okay?”

“I always make you do everything… I need this plan to work.”

Doisette’s brow furrows in thought. His eyes momentarily jerk to us and he changes his body language. “Hey uhm, could you guys give us some privacy?” He requests, making a shooing gesture with his free hand.

I doubt we’d be much help anyway.

Bo and I look at eachother, then we dash off back into the woods. Once we get a good distance away from the two, Bo makes a comment.

“I hope it works out.”

We don’t stop walking. I’m not sure what the end destination is.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t think it’s gonna work out either,” I respond. “But… we gotta try something, at least.”

Bo lets out an empty hum. “Do you know the Doise pretty well?”

I scrunch up my neck. “It’s… complicated. I’ve known of the guy for decades, and him and Doisette try to get friendly and all but… I don’t know. I feel like I don’t really know these people, despite everything.”

“I only know so much about her, but I will say she’s better off than she was when she was seventeen. I’d like to think the two of them will figure it out in the end.”

Something about the hope is so hard to take. Why? I mean—no, why can’t I feel that? I make my own living and unpacked my… issues. I should be able to take this.

I was able to feel it decades ago.

I sure was happier too. Despite everything.

I guess I was just… in my place. I suppose that made things simpler.

Get back on track, Noisette.

I stammer and subconsciously stop in my tracks. Bo takes a few steps and turns around once he notices I’ve stopped.

“H-how? How do you think they’ll figure it out in the end?”

Bo tilts their head up, their eyes close for a moment. I think I see their outlines quiver.

“I don’t know. But I know that whenever you go through the same trouble over and over again, one day you just… start figuring it out.” They then mutter, “I know so.”

“I guess you’re right.”

And we continue walking. We’ve gone quiet. I guess I’ll just wait for the moment to wash by.

And Bo’s got a gentle smile on, and I don’t.

How do they do it?