Valentines Day Special!

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Part 1 —

There was a light hum in the air, the smell of rubber and the gong of a hollow ball ricocheting from the backboard and past the rim.

"Oh c'mon!" he shouted, "You let her right past you!"

The terrier stuck out his tongue and exhaled, rolling his eyes back down to his salami-mayo sandwich, and sinking his teeth into the questionably-fresh taste. Something about the spice and the creaminess of mayo lit his nose up, and he gobbled the thing up in an instant.

The game passed without his knowledge, it was secondary to the food, but then the door to the gym opened, the figure scratching at the back of his neck, ruining the grey fluff there.

The sophomore smiled. "Sparky!" He put the sandwich down, grease wetting his fur as he wiped his paw off, patting it against the spot on the bleachers next to him.

Dejected, Sparky gave him a small wave, just the tiniest smile forcing its way onto his face. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he said just loud enough for the terrier to read his lips.

The terrier scooted aside, helping the wounded dog climb up to where the two would usually sit. His tail wagged, bumping against the wood rhythmically. He reached for Sparky's paw, he didn't know why.

A firm grasp on his shoulder ruined the dull haze Sparky was engulfed in, allowing just a moment or two to raise his head and swallow the chunk of sandwich.

"Ish shomething whong?"

Sparky inhaled- he did that whenever he had to answer a tough question- and laughed.

"I'm fine, just some school stuff." He turned his attention to the court, trying to find interest in the one-sided game. "You?"

Crinkles embossed themselves on his letterman jacket, and flared as he shrugged. The wordless response punctuated by the dog's eyes jolting open in fright. He swallowed. "Where's your lunch?"

Sparky chuckled, testing the grip he had around his arm. "I'm not hungry, that's all."

Grease tickled the pipe of his throat, and he retched to clear it. His eyes were already watering, but they turned towards the husky, all sulky. "D-Do you want my sandwich?" He asked, holding out the tentacles of it's slices clinging onto the mortar-like mayonnaise. Every bit of the meat shifted outwards as Rover pressed on it's top and bottom.

"I-" A flinch left the husky to hesitate, and flashed a tooth as he smiled, "Thank you Rover, but I have my lunch. I'm just not hungry."

The terrier gave a nod, then scarfed the rest of it down, wiping off his mitts on his pants, and uncorking the water bottle slid next to his lunch bag. His ears drooped towards the floor as he dipped his head up, chugging the whole of the bottle and exhaling.

Sparky, all the while, clutched to his knees, watching in mild amusement as Rover ate. "Guess someone skipped breakfast," he smirked.

"Nah," the dog clumsily replied, putting away the bottle and scavenging through for anything else of note. "You want my fruit?" he asked, pulling out a small plastic container with strawberries in it.

Sparky hid his face behind his shoulder. "I'm fine, really."

That voice hid something in it. Paint flecked off of it's facade, and Rover began to put the image together.

"But you like fruit," the terrier whimpered, "You *are* sad!" he murmured, darting to his tail and picking the limp gray appendage up, scoffing as it flopped like a sodden log. "What happened, Captain?"

Another dog caught Sparky's gaze, sharing a brief eye contact that turned the larger teen back towards his friend's conversation. "No, I promise I'm fine, just..." he flopped his arms to his sides. "Math, science, social studies, *doglish*, you know."

He got onto all fours, walking with his knees towards the husky and whimpering. "Oh no... Sparky, you had a test yesterday."
Sparky shrugged. "Yeah, I did."

"And.. you failed?" he asked.

"Yeah," the taller dog struck at something on his face, then turned away again. "I did."

He soured, picking at his jowls in the midst of the lingering mood. It was something that ruined the squealing voices of the students around them. Nobody was on the benches anymore, they were just fog.

"I just want to think about something else," Sparky grumbled.

The terrier nodded, putting away his strawberries. "Junior year scares me," he murmured. "I barely got past last year, and school is so much nicer right now but, it sounds so ruff, like there's-" the terrier paused, looking to Sparky for approval, to which he nodded. "There's less, but everything is harder. It looks like what you're doing is going to be... really hard?"

The rusty piano wire in his throat sung; "I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you. You'll be fine," he said, patting him on the arm, "You're smart, and you've got good friends. You can make it, Rover, it's just hard because you haven't gotten through sophomore yet."

The dog giggled and hid his cheeks amongst his jacket. "Hehe, maybe, um, but don't you..."

Sparky's ears twitched.

Someone turned their head, asking what the fuck that sound was.

"... Are those... pipes?" he asked, turning towards the gym doors, following the curious onlookers peering out of the main door.

That loud clunking sound was always annoying, but now, it began the unmuffled calamity settling just inches from the room. Chaos, dozens of dogs screaming in pain, then being shuffled out for another dozen. Squishes and cracks and splatters, all things the dogs in the gym stared on in horror at.

"S-Sparky w-what,"

"I don't know," Sparky said, motioning an arm over, "Just stick close, okay?"

The terrier inhaled, nodding, "Okay-"

Sparky's eyes shattered, peeling clear of their pupils as he stumbled back in horror, crashing over the stands and hitting his back.

"Captain!" he shouted, ignoring the screams around him. "Are you-"

"ROVER, BEHIND YOU!"


— Part 2

"AAH!"

Rover jumped out of bed, screeching and clutching at his leg- the scars still there, slowly growing in with new fur that was whiter than the rest, like it was younger.

"Oh-" he sighed, "Just that dream again where I talk to Sparky and die..." he kicked his legs around, clearing the two jumbles of blankets off of him, and testing the broken alarm button on his nightstand before unplugging it as usual.


He stretched, and yawned, and tasted the air. The phone was ringing. He looked to his novelty football-phone. Yep, it was his.

Rover reached for his desk, flat stomach grinding against the edge of his bedpost and flopping onto the carpteded floor.

"N-Nyyeh!" Rover stammered out in exertion, reaching for the football from the comfort of the carpet, his claws stuck around the wire and tugged the device to the floor. He heard a girly voice giggling beneath the speaker.

"Oh- Sh, I think he's there..." the peppy dog on the other side murmured, "Rover? You there?"

He blinked away the blur in his eyes, checking the date on his calendar as he rose up with the phone. "Saturday, yesssss-" he cheered.

"Rover?"

"Yeah?!" he bellowed into the phone, "Brownie?"

"Hey dude!" She cheered, leaning aside and covering the receiver with a paw. "*Coco, say hi,*"

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