Closing Doors (Wilmon AU)

Mutts and Melodies

Tuesday, January 31st:

"Oh fuck!" Wille swore to himself, before racing towards the open gate.

"Where are you going?" Simon asked, holding the leash of a medium sized terrier mix.

"My dog got out!" Wille shouted over his shoulder, looking around for the corgi. "Elliott! Come here, Elliott!"

Simon jogged towards him, looking around, a dog on a leash still with him. "Elliott!"

"Why do you still have that dog with you?" Wille asked, stopping to look down a narrow street for a glimpse of his dog.

"Tina? I couldn't leave her there, tied to a post or something. It will be OK." Simon ducked down, looking under parked cars, thinking the dog might hide there.

The terrier pulled at her leash, letting out a soft growly bark.

"I think he could be that way," Simon pointed the direction the dog was wanting to go.

Not knowing what else to do, Wille nodded, following Simon, who was following Tina's lead. "Let's just hope she's not taking us into trouble."

"Like what? Getting us to join a gang?" Simon scoffed. "Elliott!"

It was dark out, and the occasional street lights helped a bit, but there were still lots of shadowy places. Luckily it was a quiet Tuesday night, and not many people were outside.

"Elliott!" Wille called out. He glanced towards Simon. "There could be wolves, lynx, and even bears."

Simon trotted into an alley, looking around some trash containers. "This is a city of over 100,000 people. I assure you there aren't any big animals like that around."

"Whatever," Wille said, and thought he saw movement a half block down, and ran off that direction. "Elliott!"

Simon followed him. "There! He ran under that tarp!"

They raced towards where he pointed, slowing down as they got near, not wanting to scare the dog into running again.

"Here, hold this. I'll try to grab him," Simon held Tina's leash out to Wille.

Wille took the leash, and pulled the other one from his pocket, where he had shoved it to go after Elliott when he had slipped out of his collar. It must have been too loose.

"Here, Elliott, come on out, boy," Simon crooned soothingly. He lifted the edge of the tarp, which was draped over a fence and some lumber. Someone's construction project. "It's OK," he said, crouching down to get closer.

Wille looped Tina's leash over his wrist, clutching it tightly. He needed to be ready to move and grab the corgi if he came running out.

"There, there. Let's get you back somewhere warm and dry," Simon said softly. "There! Got you!"

Wille rushed forward, grabbing the edge of the tarp to hold it up, allowing Simon to back out of the small space, clutching the wet and wiggling dog against his chest.

Carefully, still holding the dog's scruff tightly, Simon lowered the dog to the ground. "I'll hold him. Get the leash on him."

Wille nodded, letting go of the edge of the tarp, to fumble with undoing the collar. Unfortunately, the tarp fell into a slightly different position, and a bunch of cold water that had collected in a fold cascaded downwards, splashing on to Simon's head and shoulders.

"Fuck!" Simon hissed, shaking his soaked hair back from his face. "Get Elliott!"

Wille dropped down to his knees, barely grabbing Elliott before he made another escape attempt. They both held him, as Wille got the collar around his neck, and tightened it snugly in place.