Puppy Tales
Dodging Cars
If asked on just how long he'd been with Fagin, Dodger would grin and lazily say he has no clue. This is true; for him, the streets have been there before he could properly see, and Fagin just as long. The earliest he can remember is waiting on the sidewalk while Fagin haggled with some stall guy.
There'd been a wallet in the middle of the street. He'd thought, with a confidence that still hasn't left, I can get that. So he did, no accidents or nothin'.
Now, when Fagin ran in to get him back, well...
Margarita
Dodger remember Rita back then, too. It'd been in the back alleys of a club, near the dumpsters. There hadn't even been a whimper; they'd just nudged aside a piece of cardboard and there'd she'd been. She'd been a puppy, too, big guarded eyes and bits of a beer can stuck in her foot.
Rita's first words: "Ain't polite to stare atta lady."
Dodger's smart a** reply: "You're a lady?"
When Fagin took them to an old vet friend of his (who'd died a year later) they both needed to be fixed up.
Keep It Short
The story of how they find Francis and Tito is one that takes too much time to really tell, but Fagin does find them together. Neither of them is reliable for the true telling of the tale if only how they tell it. Francis will go on and on and on while Tito just can't pick a point already. Regardless, when it all comes down to it, they all know enough to smile and laugh when 'Broadway firecrackers' get brought up. It's even enough to get the two of them to grin and smack their paws together.
E = love (2)
No one believes it when it's mentioned Einstein is the youngest among them, but it's true. To be fair, none of them believed it either. His big fat feet gave him away, 'tho. In the end, none of them much cared. After all, he became family.
Not to mention no one cared so long as his size meant he could knock over any hotdog cart in existence.
Olive Pit
It's a long way from home when Einstein brings home a cardboard box in from the cold hard rain. They all expect food, but instead there's just a tiny little kitten. There's a big fat argument over what to do with a Cat. When Einstein curls up to Rita with the Cat in tow, however, it's decided. "He stays," she says, even as she can feel Fagin's ribs pressed against her head. The bickering stops, and they all fall silent save for the clicking of claws as they curl up against Fagin.
Waiting
The silence wakes them all up, quiet and one by one. When they hold their breaths, there's only teh drips from a pipe up high. Oliver is the first to speak.
"Rita." The whisper is somewhere near her tail, and the little clumsy claws can be felt on her paws. "Rita."
Slowly, she twists and bumps her nose against the top of his head. "I'm here, baby."
"I think there's something wrong with Fagin."
And everything is still silent. Too still.
Leaving
Tito bursts into the bathroom, long abandoned in this part of the subway, and the first thing they hear is- "Kidnapped! He's gonna be in chains, man, gonna lock 'im up!" After they calm him down, the whole story spills out. Humes ahd nabbed Oliver while on a food run. Rita and Dodger don't need to hear the rest; they're out in seconds, dashing down the old subway tunnel and towards the busier station. They don't stop to think- don't stop period. They just follow their noses straight to the scene of the crime. When they see the two dark skinned women, Rita can only stare. Something in her heart flutters.
"Dodge..."
"We're not losing anyone else," is all he says, eyes steely, and she feels her chest tighten.
It's a rush job, done in the blink of an eye. Rita slams into the leg of the woman with the long black hair, Oliver drops, and Doger darts in to scoop him up. Even as they're scrambling away amidst all the yells and confusion, Rita looks behind them and swears she can see a kind of knowing in their eyes. Somehow, she has a feeling she'll see those two again.
Her prediction is right, proven only a few nights later. At the sound of footsteps, every single one of them freezes, still huddled up against Fagin's cold cold cold body. The tension clings to them, heavy and thick, as they wait. When the door squeaks open, Einstein begins to give frightened growls and Tito starts a barrage of rapid, high pitched threats. Even with all this noise, Rita can still hear the women's breaths catch. Taking a chance, following her heart, Rita steps forward. Starting up at the one with hair pulled back, she whispers.
"We did everything we could."
