Pretty Pretty Princess [Josie]

[Rhys Freeman]

In a few months he'd have his own bike to ride, a fact which excited the young mechanic.  It would cost a couple weeks pay, but that was nothing.  He just needed to build it himself and figure out where the hell he would keep the damn thing when it was done, since parking it out front of this shady ass complex wasn't an option.  He didn't need the asshole kids messing around with his stuff, or worse some dip shit deciding they wanted his custom build for himself.  He'd bust someone's ass for taking his stuff, which meant he needed a good place to keep it.  The lease was up in a few months, so maybe they would find a better place.  As long as he kept working with Casey it wouldn't be an issue at all. He could afford a years worth of rent in like a month.

He pulled up to the complex, sliding into an open space when something caught his eye.  A dog.. a gray and white pit running from somewhere he couldn't see right in front of his car.  Another car, driving in the opposite direction, swerved to miss the dog as it sprinted across the road, blaring its horn at the poor animal.

Rhys got out of his car and jetted across the street to where the dog had gone, whistling as he went.  "Hey, hey! C'mere.. c'mere dog!" He whistled again, clapping as he squatted down a few feet from the dog.  He could see she was nervous, her tail wagging low.  She was well fed and clean, clearly someone's pet.  "C'mere, baby.." He called snapping his fingers.  Nervously the dog inched towards him, obviously not sure if it should trust him or not.  He could see it was a girl as he inched forward a little.  "Good girl, c'mere.. c'mon.."  He slipped his hand into the pocket of his hoody and pulled out a back of cheetos.  "Wanna snack?"  He waved the cheetos and the dog tilted her head to the side.  She knew what that was.. "Ooh, yeah I betchu do! Here yah go."  He tossed a few over to her and she came closer, snatching the snack up until there was nothing left.  Trusting him, the beast came closer and Rhys offered her more snacks before grabbing her collar.  "There you go. Now where you live, girly?"

[Josie Raines]

All Josie meant to do was pause to stub out her cigarette. She and Princess were nearly home, and she couldn't very well take it with her. But when she stopped at a trashcan at the edge of the complex, neither she nor the cyclist behind her was paying enough attention.

...Okay, it was mostly her fault for stepping in his way, but bicycles have brakes, don't they?

When their collision knocked them both in the dirt, she must've dropped the end of the leash. Princess, wound up from the walk rather than tired, lunged happily toward freedom. Josie, at first gearing up to serve the cyclist some very colorful language, caught the sound of the dog's pattering footsteps, pulling her attention away.

"Shit! Princess!" She was heading for the road! Cigarette and cyclist forgotten, Josie sprinted across the parking lot and toward the street, unwelcome images of blood and bone filling her brain. A horn blared as a car narrowly missed flattening her poor dog. Her heart thundered in her throat as she ran; if anything happened, if Princess got hurt -

"Hey!" Josie slapped the hood of another passing car, this one having screeched to a stop just before its fender could collide with her knees. She wasn't yelling at the driver, though; she was focused on her dog, and the big stranger who'd approached her.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god...." Across the street, past the cars and their confused and disgruntled drivers, Josie stumbled and skidded knees over grass - she flung her arms around Princess' neck, which was a mite awkward with someone's fingers looped under her collar but that didn't matter, what mattered was whether Princess had been hit or not.

"You scared the shit out of me!" Josie cried. Her fingers gripped handfuls of fur as though if she let go, Princess would dash back into the road. Her blonde hair was windswept from her mad dash, face flushed, eyes wide with panic. She craned her neck to look up at the guy who'd caught the pup, and the thanks that had been about to spill out got lost along the way. "...Oh shit, it's you." The statement carried no venom; she was still too shellshocked for that.

[Rhys Freeman]

He'd just begun to pull her collar around to look at the tags when he heard footsteps quickly approaching.  Rhys turned just in time to see the girl dive down and throw her arms around the dogs neck.  He raised a brow, not letting go just yet, realization sinking in.  He knew that voice.  He knew that hair, too.. It wasn't until brown eyes peered up at him did the realization hit.

The bitch from the laundry room.

Rhys could see the grateful look on her face twist almost immediately as the recognition settled in.  Her comment only added fuel to his smug little fire, his lips quirking up at the corners.  "Don't people usually say thanks?" He asked raising a brow and finally pulling back, folding his arms over his chest.  "I mean, I did save yer dogs life."  The dog was sniffing at him and he knew it was because she wanted more cheetos.  Instead of asking the girl he just reached the bag out for the dog to stick her snout in and help herself.  

After all, she was going home with her.

[Josie Raines]

Josie jerked to her feet, leash clutched in both hands now. A variety of emotions clamored for precence - relief, such relief that Princess was all right. Guilt that she'd ever let her go in the first place. Burning indignation that of all people in the entire goddamn world, it was this prick who had not only saved the day but had gotten to witness her in such a frantic state. The tumult did absolutely nothing for her mood; it made it that much harder to resist slapping those fucking cheetos out of his hand.

"...You're right, my bad," she managed after a moment, still slightly breathless from her full-tilt sprint. "I forgot I'm s'posed to set a better example, y'know, for the youth." Josie straightened, squaring her shoulders theatrically in a manner that clashed with her still-disheveled appearance. "Thank you very much, young man." She held her nose high in an attempt to condescend harder, but he was so damn tall it didn't make any difference.

[Rhys Freeman]

His pale eyes followed her as she got to her feet, trying his best not to make the situation worse for her than it clearly already was.  Poor pup.. she had to live with the woman.  Rhys tilted his head to the side, noting the way she shot daggers with her eyes.  It was a shame she was such a bitch, because she was sexy as hell when she was mad like that.

"Ooh.." His lips pursed at the jab at his age, but he didn't let it get to him.  She was trying to shoot a low blow, but really only succeeded in making herself look even more pathetic.  Did she really think it would bother him? Rhys decided she probably didn't care if it did or not.  She was that kind of person; deliver the blow to help herself feel better.  She could at least walk away knowing she'd done something, even if it didn't work.

"See, was that so hard?" He asked, feeling the dogs snout pushing against his hand from inside the bag, her tongue likely licking at whatever tiny cheese morsels remained in the deepest corners, as if she could somehow miss any of it.  He pulled the bag back and balled it up in his fist.  "And yer welcome."  He knelt down and grabbed her pooches face, smushing it playfully.  "And yer welcome for the snacks." His voice became low and gruff, playful for the dog as he played with her.  "Yer welcome to come over any time you want more cheetos." He promised, getting back to his feet and smirking at the blond.  "You can come too I guess."

[Josie Raines]

In gooey romantic comedies, this was probably the part where Josie's frozen heart was supposed to melt as she leapt into his arms and cried, "You complete me!" or something equally nauseating. The way to a girl's heart was through her dog, right? And Princess, with her crumb-dusted face and distinctly non-injured body, seemed perfectly content to have her face smooshed. Good thing this wasn't that sort of movie.

"We'll pass," Josie replied coldly. "I usually take 'er to the dog park when she wants to play with hounds. Over there they're usually fixed." One hand gripped the loop at the end of the leash, the other a stretch of it only inches from Princess's collar, the better to steer her back inside. The dog trotted along happily, oblivious to Josie's face burning as she stormed off to the complex entrance.