'IB' - Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Dib clung to his new friend almost as if he weren’t planning on letting him go. He pressed his face into the soft fur, his face strained with a permanent smile for he was quite glad that for the first time in his life, he had found something that seemed to care for him.

After a moment, he spoke to little Einstein. “You want to go to the park?” he questioned as he reached for the leash and clipped it to the dog’s collar before standing up. He headed towards the front door and opened it, looking back at the other.

Einstein was ahead of him though as he ran out of the door yipping, only to be choked briefly by the leash around his neck. He stumbled back a bit and shook his pelt out, looking back at Dib and yipping.

Dib replied to this by taking off in a slow jog, closing the door behind them. Soon enough, the park was in sight. As predicted, the park was rather empty on account that school was still in session and mostly everyone was at work. As he passed by the swings, he couldn't suppress the memory of the Irken sitting in one of them, staring eerily at his feet. This imaged was soon chased away though as Einstein was jumping around at Dib's side and barking excitedly at the open space. He grabbed his leash between his teeth, tugging on it with a small growl.

The boy raised a brow and looked down at the puppy as he was snapped from this memory, leaning down and gripping the leash’s clip in his hand. “You won’t run away if I let you go, will you?”

Einstein barked and pawed at his pants leg, only seeming interested in frolicking with the human. He yipped happily as he saw him reach for his leash.

Dib smiled and hummed lightly in confidence that the other would stay and quickly unclipped the leash from Einstein’s collar. He stood and walked forward, patting his leg twice to signal the other to follow.

Einstein yipped excitedly as he scampered after him, tail wagging furiously. A few kids looked over at the yips of an obvious puppy, as everyone like a good pup. Einstein bit Dib's pants leg and tugged, thrashing his head with a playful growl. The boy chuckled and shook his leg playfully until the puppy lost his grip and jogged a couple steps forward. He stopped and turned to face the dog, leaning over and whistling once.

Einstein yipped as he bounded after him happily. He tackled him gleefully, wagging his tail as he licked his face repeatedly with delight.

Dib scooped the other in his arms again, holding him close and burying his face in the fur once again. He couldn’t remember a time he had been this happy, but he only knew he was very glad to have brought this dog with him and for the fact that his mind had been cleared of those horrible memories now.

After another moment, he set the dog down on the ground and stood, examining the park until his eyes landed upon the thick woods toward the back. He headed towards them and whistled for the other to follow, figuring both he and Einstein would find this place a bit more enjoyable.

Einstein barked happily, running around in a circle with over enthusiasm. He continued to yip and bounce around happily, just wanting to run around and burn off his energy. After observing this, Dib took off in a slow jog so the other could run after him, then he quickened his pace into a slow sprint since the puppy seemed to be keeping up rather well.

They dodged trees and jumped over logs until they ended up popping out on the other end of the park. Dib bent over, panted heavily as they had been running for quite a while. Einstein was still bouncing around excitedly though. He yipped as he saw him bent over, bouncing as he tried to nip at his hands happily.

Dib chuckled lightly, reaching down to collect his puppy in his arms once more.  “You have too much energy.” He said in between pants, seeking out a bench and walking towards it to rest for a moment.

The puppy panted as he squirmed in his arms. He yipped happily as he looked up at him, leaning up and trying to gnaw at his glasses.

Dib snorted and pulled his head away, frowning down at the other. “You can’t eat those!” He chuckled as he reached the bench. When he sat, he rested the puppy in his lap and grabbed hold of the small paws, waving them around playfully which caused Einstein to yip happily and bounce in his lap. He nipped at Dib's hands and growled in a playful manner.

Dib smirked at this, leaning down a little as if to try and intimidate the other. “Your little puppy teeth don’t scare me.” He said lowly as he continued to move the others' paws around.

Einstein growled without any threat in it as he bit at his nose. He still had sharp little puppy teeth though, which hurt to some degree, but they certainly weren't Irken grade.

Dib pulled back, wincing a little as the small pain worked it’s way through. However, he wasn’t upset by this and he smiled down at the other. “I guess I deserved that.” Before he could say anything more though, a low rumble of thunder growled through the sky as a storm had begun working its way towards them. He didn’t bother clipping the leash back on Einstein’s collar, feeling confident the other would follow, and put him back on the ground. He then stood and began to head out of the park. “Come on boy..” He mumbled.

Einstein yipped excitedly as he scampered down and tumbled in a somersault as he got over himself too quickly. He shook himself off after getting to his paws, chasing after Dib.

As the thunder continued to grow louder and more frequent and Einstein caught up to him, Dib quickened his pace since he was in no mood to be rained on. Einstein yelped, tucking his tail between his legs as he scampered ahead of Dib. It was obvious that he didn't like thunderstorms either.

To make the trip move a bit quicker, Dib scooped the puppy in his arms and headed out of the park in a slight sprint. He broke out in a full run once small raindrops began to fall, making it back to the house just in time before the rain began to pour violently from the sky.

Einstein whimpered and barked sadly at the rain, trembling in Dib's arm. And sadly, the puppy wasn't house trained, so he had no problem releasing his bladder nervously on Dib's shirt. He hadn’t noticed at first, but as soon as the warm liquid made its way through the fabric he jumped and pulled the puppy away from his chest. “D-don’t do that!” He snapped as he placed the dog on the ground and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment. He returned later with a wad of newspapers and spread them across a spot on the floor, placing Einstein on it. “This is where you go.”

Einstein whimpered and lowered his head as he was scolded. He hadn't known any better, he was just a little puppy that got frightened by the thunder.

Dib stripped off his coat and shirt and threw them to the side. He looked down at his dog, who was obviously feeling some shame, and sat in front of him quietly. He outstretched and hand and put a finger under his chin to lean his head up softly, smiling down at him. “I’m not mad, Einstein. You just know for next time.” he said in a benevolent tone.

Einstein whimpered softly up at him from being previously in trouble. He licked his hand tentatively a few times to make sure it was truly okay. With that, Dib reached with his other hand to softly run it across the dog’s cheek softly as if to reassure him. “Everything is alright.”

After a moment, Dib reached for the bowl and small bag for dog food and poured some just in case he was hungry. Once the bowl was full, he stood and walked towards the couch, collapsing upon it with a sigh as he listened to the silent beats of the raindrops on the roof.

There was the sound of puppy kibble being crunched by tiny teeth, which was an improvement from the silence. There was the sound of scattering paws before Einstein leaped onto the couch on his chest, causing the boy to wince as the claws dug lightly into his bare skin. He smiled after a moment and reached up to stroke the soft pelt of the dog in an attempt to get him into a sleeping state of mind. The boy was rather tired from all of the running today and a peaceful sleep was much desired.

Einstein didn't seem to want him to sleep though as he sat on him. He tilted his head to the side when he saw him trying to sleep and started to pant. He leaned down and pressed his cold nose to his chest.

Dib jumped a bit at the slight chill from the others' nose and propped himself up on his arm, smiling down at Einstein. “Alright,” Dib murmured as he swung his legs over the side of the couch. “We can stay up a bit longer.”

And with that, the troubled teen found himself awake most of the night, taking condolence in the only dear friend he had in his broken life.