PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XVII Part II

Brownie raised an eyebrow. "But isn't your family full of super-powerful witches and all that stuff? Why can't he do magic like you?"

Coco winced, turning her gaze away from Brownie. "I mean... he's a white siberian, I'm a bombay. Yeah?"

Brownie scratched at the bandages on the top of her head in thought and immediately regretted the action, wincing in pain and discomfort. "Ow- Well, It's on the tip of my tongue..."

"He's adopted, Brownie," Coco said, shaking her head and smirking.

"OHHHH. Oh shiiiit. Man, do orphans have some kind of, like, orphan hive mind or something?"

Coco cocked her head, seemingly offended. "Excuse you?" she said with sass.

"Well, like, Patches and Ginger? Patches and... your brother?" she winced at her own comment, crossing her fingers that Coco wouldn't get pissed at the mention of their old relationship.

The cat began to sulk. "Well, no, duh." She looked to the floor, studying it for patterns in the markings left by claws and chalk. "But... Now that I think of it, it's probably why they bonded so fast..."

Brownie shut her eyes and frowned. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring him up."

"No no, it's fine."

Brownie frowned even more, jowls forming an upside-down v shape.

"It's just... I really neglected him." Her face grew sullen and heavy, eyelids becoming more and more addled as the cat frowned more and more. "He's really not doing good, and I don't know if he'll ever get past what's happened to him. If I only had paid more attention to him, then-"

"Coco pleaaaaseee stop." Brownie whined. "This isn't your fault, and even if it was, it's all in the past now. Let's just furgive and forget, eh?"

Coco smiled weakly, almost chuckling at the terrible pun. "But-" she protested, "I was the one who turned off his collar..."

"C'mon. Angel, Mitt, Rover, and even Olive are all acting super depressed. Don't join them, dude; I'll be here for you no matter what, okay?"

Coco smirked, then looked to Brownie. She exhaled before finally speaking. "Brownie..." she sighed, standing up and slowly pacing backward.

"Yea?" the corgi responded, smirking at Coco's own beautiful smile.

The cat sat on Angel's bunk, an ember-fuelled need in her eyes as she patted the side of the bed, indicating the dog should sit next to her.

Brownie literally leapt at the opportunity, beaming with joy as she squished right next to Coco, immediately going for a hug but relenting at the last moment, instead just patting the cat on the back once and then returning her paws to her lap.

"Can I level with you?" Coco asked.

"Yes! You can tell me anything, even if you tell me how much you hate me, I'll still be super happy just to help you get it out of your system!"

Coco let her eyes fall from looking at Brownie, her visage growing neutral.

"So, what is it?"

"... Look. I don't know about this."

"This?"

"Yes, this."

The dog paused as pain rang in her chest for a moment, before being beaten back by the warmth Coco radiated. "Well, why not?" she asked with dreary confusion.

Coco sighed, butterflies leaving her stomach as she gained the courage to speak. "I don't want to hurt you, Brownie."

It took all of the dog's willpower to resist hugging the cat right then and there. Brownie balled up her paws into tiny fists, bringing them up to her muzzle, clenching her mitts like the joy she exuded would slip through her paw pads at any moment. "Coco! Don't say that! Why would you ever want to hurt me?!" she barked out.

"I-It's not that I want to! But-" Coco grabbed at her forehead, digging her claws into the fur and grimacing with eyes squeezed shut. "I nearly killed you earlier with that demon! I'm thinking of more and more desperate measures to stop Patches, and I don't know what I'll resort to if the worst should happen..."

"I don't care. I'd rather die by your side than any other way. No matter what you do, I want to just-" she violently shook her paws, trying to emphasize the power behind her words, "BE with you. Please?!"

"Okay! Fine! That's... That's not the full reason why."

Brownie whined, grabbing Coco by the shoulders and turning her so that they could face one another, their heads an arm-length away from touching.

"I- Ugh, this is going to sound super stupid, but..." She exhaled, then drew air sharply in through her nose. "I don't want us to hurt one another like Patches hurt my brother."

Brownie looked completely shocked by the sentence, and even more shocked to hear it come from Coco's mouth. You could practically hear the cracking of glass inside Brownie's mind as her eyes cocked in disbelief, and she gripped Coco's black outfit harder. "WHHAAAAAAAT?!" she screamed.

Coco winced at the loud noise. "Brownie, please keep it down!" she whispered.

"Why would you think that would EVER happen?!" she stammered. "Patches is just- he's just such a huge creep! Why would I ever be like him?! Or you? Why would you ever be like him! That idiot likes hurting people for a laugh! You're nothing like him, I'm nothing like him! He's a one-of-a-kind idiot!" She paused to catch her breath.

"Brow-"

"And he stinks! He has no friends! He's some dumb idiot that can't accept someone won't like him! He's some stupid, piece of shit that's totally undeserving of any relationships whatsoever, right?!"

Coco looked a bit more irritated. "Brownie."

"He's stupid! He's stupid, and you're acting stupid for thinking either of us could ever be as selfish or-"

"BROWNIE."

The corgi nearly jumped out of her own fur, shocked by the stern calling of her name.

"Brownie. I'm sorry, I know I'm being stupid, but that's just the reality of how I feel. I wish I didn't feel this way, but Patches hurt Angel, and I don't know why. My brother really cared for Patches, and I think Patches felt the same... I don't understand why one of them would just- kill the other like that.

"We're still so young, there are so many things to do, and people to meet before we die... I just don't know if this will work, and if it doesn't, I don't want to hurt you.

"And I don't want you to hurt me."