Puppy and Pup. (And Evan)

[Levi Xu]

Levi almost didn't ask Mr. Underwood if he could go into town. He was planning on asking Jake, since he figured if he could make his eyes go wide and sad enough, he'd be allowed to go. But with Jesse around more often now, Mr. Underwood seemed more occupied, and had agreed, so long as he kept his cell phone with him and didn't say anything about the school. Which was fine, as he had been planning on doing both anyway. And he even got to take Buccaneer with him!

Since the Underwood compound was at the top of a hill, the boy had unleashed his puppy friend, and they raced down the drive together. It had been a while since he'd been completely alone...actually, since he had been let out of the hospital, he had been either with his family or with one of the people from the house. (A good portion of the time it was Jake. Pretty much whenever he was home, Levi was following him around, like a puppy on his heels.) They trotted along like that for a while, until they reached the main part of town. There, he clipped the leash back onto Buccaneer's collar and said, "There you go, boy. You be good now."

Oh, Levi loved the energetic little dog. He was so cute and friendly, and he'd taken to the boy immediately. And whenever he did want to be apart from the others (until today, the farthest he'd gotten was in his room) the sheepdog had sat next to him, licking his face until he felt better.

Dogs, obviously, were the best creatures.

Once they were on the main street of the small town, Levi kept the dog close to him, trying to be inconspicuous. It was hard not to stare, not with so many interesting people walking around. There was one woman in particular, with tattoos, pigtails, and a big smile...who did forensic work for the Navy. After just wandering around a people-watching for a bit, he actually got down to business. He had a job to do: find a birthday present for Nomi. Levi loved his older sister dearly, and even though he was away at school and she was off at Hogwarts, he was going to send her a gift.

But first he had to find one. So Levi took to window-shopping, peering in at each store he passed. There was one thing that stood out in the window of an antique/junk shop, an old metal lunchbox, with the Brady Bunch on the front. Nomi had liked that show when they were little so...

He pressed his nose against the glass, trying to tell if there was a price tag on it. He couldn't go into the store with Buccaneer with him, unfortunately.

[Evan Brackett]

Evan was bored. He lay across his bed in the untraditional sense--his head hanging off the edge and his feet resting on the wall--wasting time by staring at the ceiling and imaging that the texture formed different faces and objects. It was the kind of thing he loved to do when he was five, and it had been years since he last tried it. The practice fascinated him. Now that he had picked it up again, he questioned why he ever dropped it. Oh, right. Because when you really got down to it, he was doing nothing. There were more productive things he could be doing, such as homework or cleaning the suite, but he didn’t want to do those things. It wouldn’t hurt to procrastinate a little longer. Right?

Still, there was little point in procrastinating when the substitute for doing work was doing something less than fun. There had to be something else to do. An idea finally came to him, and he ungracefully fell rolled off his bed to get ready to leave Hammel for the day. He pulled on his shoes, slipped a hoodie on over his head, and left a note on his door that said he went in town to shop.

Evan didn’t care about shopping. He did, however, like looking for interesting things to draw, and that was why he chose to explore downtown. There were always a few antique stores with a few unique items, he just didn’t come into town often enough to know where they were. He would have dragged a friend along who knew the town, but then he’d also have to tell said friend what he was actually doing. If they knew that, then they’d want to know what he was drawing, and then they’d want to see the sketch. After that he’d have to show off his entire sketchbook. The thought alone made him panic. He was not so keen about showing other people his drawings because people had opinions, and frankly, that scared him.

So here he was exploring, alone and slightly lost. He wasn’t having much luck finding what he wanted either. There was a café…a clothing store…another clothing store…another clothing store…a café…not what he was looking for at all.

There were some nice clouds, though, so he defaulted to cloud watching as he strolled. First he saw a turtle, then a ponyta, then a tree and a particularly large one that looked just like the sidewalk. No, wait. That was the sidewalk and he just fell face-first onto it after tripping on a dog leash. He should have known better than to not watch where he was going; he had plenty of problems walking when he wasn‘t distracted. Of course, he hadn't quite registered yet why he was on the ground, and instead of getting up and dusting himself off like he should have, he remained stunned and wondering what the hell just happened.

Eventually, he managed to mutter a small ow.

[Levi Xu]

Levi didn't notice the other teenager's approach. Which was probably okay, as it was apparent that he hadn't been noticed either. It could have happened that the taller boy had walked on by, and Levi had remained with his nose pressed against the glass. But Buccaneer had other ideas, as an old lady was walking a labradoodle across the street, and the sheepdog puppy thought that it had to be investigated. So between the two of them and the leash that was probably a bit too long for a dog that young, Evan didn't stand much of a chance.

His first indication that anything was wrong was the tug on the leash, but by the time he had turned around, the other boy was already on the ground. Buccaneer reacted first, letting out a small yelp because his leash was now under this person, but then he decided it wasn't a problem, and licked his face, since it was close by.

"Buccaneer, stop that." Levi said, nudging the dog away. He didn't know if the boy was allergic to dogs, or maybe just didn't like them (Though who could not like dogs? Seriously.) or maybe....

And about that point was where Levi's train of thought crashed as his power took over and he suddenly knew who his dog had tripped. It was Peter Parker. He suddenly wasn't sure of what to do. Part of him wanted to run, because no one wants to piss off a superhero. But it had been an accident, and surely, he would understand that. Right?

Hoping that Spiderman would allow an apology to suffice, Levi crouched down next to him and said, "I am so, so sorry. I didn't realize he had walked across your way like that and I'm sorry." And no, he wasn't going to ask for an autograph. Not yet at least. "And Buccaneer says he's sorry too. Or he would, if he could talk. And if dogs understand the concept of sorry." There, that should cover all of his bases.

In all of his time since his power had manifested, Levi had never met anyone famous before. (And he had thought Spiderman was one of the fictional heros, as opposed to the occasional Meta that did something outstanding and had a movie written about them. But maybe they'd just said he was fictional, for some reason? After all, he looked pretty young to be a superhero.)

[Evan Brackett]

It was Buccaneer’s licking that got Evan to snap out of his daze and pull himself up into a sitting position. Why didn’t his power ever work when he needed it? He sighed and pushed the dog away from his face; not because he disliked dogs, but so he could wipe the dirt off. The slobber just made things worse, however, and he ended up smearing mud down the sleeve of his hoodie. “Ugh, that’s just great,” he grumbled and quickly gave up on his attempt to clean up. There was no point if he was just going to make things worse.

“Buccaneer?” he muttered, slightly confused. Then he realized that the dog‘s owner was talking and trying to get the puppy to leave him alone. “Oh, is that your dog’s name?” He looked up at the other teen with his head cocked to the side. The boy didn’t seem familiar, which meant he probably didn’t go to Hammel. Then again, he was kind of small, so maybe he was new student. Not a lot of Hammel students had dogs to walk, but some kids lived in town with there parents, which meant it was possible that he was one of those (and that would be another reason why Evan didn‘t recognize him). But there were plenty of non-powered people who lived in Pilot Ridge too. In any case, it didn't bother Evan that he had never seen him before.

He gave the other teen an apologetic smile when he crouched down to fumble out an apology. “Oh, uhm. No, it’s alright. Honestly. It’s my fault, and if anyone is sorry, it should be me,” Evan responded while standing up. “I wasn’t exactly watching where I was going.” He felt like an idiot, especially since the boy was trying to apologize for what happened.

“I think dogs have feelings and stuff…Is he okay? I didn’t squish him, did I?” The sixteen-year-old would feel terrible if he hurt the poor, unsuspecting animal in his fall. The puppy looked fine, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted your walk.” Evan had no idea what this boy was doing before he tripped over the leash, but he figured that was as good of a guess as any. “I’m Van, by the way.” It seemed only right that he introduce himself after what had happened. Of course, the last thing he expected was that this stranger was a meta and he had been mistaken for Spiderman.

[Levi Xu]

His dog. Was it weird that it still made Levi a little gleeful whenever anyone called the puppy his? He'd never had a pet of his own before, and he loved the little dog, despite his (Buccaneer's, that is) apparent interest in making Spiderman's day worse. "Yeah. Because of the eyepatch." The dog had a brown face, with a black splotch over one of his eyes, indeed making him look like he was wearing an eyepatch.

Levi stood up too, looking up at the older teenager. "No, it really is our fault. We shouldn't have been blocking the path." He wasn't going to let a superhero take the blame for them tripping him. It just wasn't fair. But he smiled back anyway, because Peter Parker was in Pilot Ridge, and that's awesome. He couldn't wait to tell Jake.

"No. I think it might have just spooked him a bit. Or maybe he was doing it on purpose, I dunno." He leaned over again to scoop up the dog, who was whining at his foot, as if he knew he was being talked about. Since he was still a puppy, he easily fit into Levi's arms. "I think dogs have feelings too. I just don't know if sorry is one of them." Frederic never looked sorry when he snapped at Levi's ankles, and Ein never looked sorry when he stole his lunch from the table.

Levi shrugged, because they hadn't actually been walking any more when the older boy had tripped. He raised an eyebrow when he said his name, however. Spiderman already had a secret identity, didn't he? Why would he need another? Well, probably because it couldn't be too secret if he'd known it. So it made sense to have a secret secret identity. Batman probably had one too. (Of course, Batman was just in a comic book, right?) "I was just looking in the window at the lunchboxes. And I'm Levi."

Too late, he wondered if it was smart to give out his real name to people. Mr. Underwood worked so hard to keep everyone safe, he probably should have used an alias. But this was Spiderman, so he would probably be okay. "So what were you doing, before we tripped you up like that?" He was curious, because he was pretty sure Peter Parker was supposed to be in New York City.

[Evan Brackett]

Something about that logic made him smile. “Ah, I see. It suits him.” Evan scratched the puppy behind the ears, which turned out to be a mistake because he had to shove the dog away from his face again before getting up.

Van sputtered out a chuckle when the boy insisted that it was his and his dog’s fault. No, don't say that, he whined to himself. This wasn’t worth arguing over, but he wasn’t going to let someone else take the blame for his idiocy. “Um, wait, no…” He was lost for words, and while it wasn’t the most convincing of arguments, at least he was trying. “It’s not. Um. Just don‘t worry about it.” Somewhere during that fine speech, he made a mental note to take a public speaking class. The poor boy probably couldn’t sell water to a fish.

Levi’s confused expression made Evan glance over his shoulder to see if there was something happening behind him (because how could his name be confusing?). “…Um?“ he muttered, now confused himself. When it was apparent that nothing was going on (or if there was, he had missed it), he looked back at the other boy. “You said your name was Levi? It's a pleasure to meet you.”

His eyes darted over to the afore mentioned window display, and he looked over the contents with minute interest. “Are you getting one for school?“ He asked with a gesture at the lunchbox. It was an attempt to make conversation, and it didn’t occur to him that he might be overstepping his bounds until after he had already asked. “Uh, well…I don’t mean to pry or anything.“

“I was looking ff--” Van’s brain managed to silence his mouth before he said too much. Oh, right. Didn’t want people knowing about that whole drawing thing. “I was…shopping.” Not that his sentence change or hesitation made him sound confident. There was also that staring-up-at-the-sky-before-he-tripped deal.

And how are you going to explain that? He asked himself, Say you were shopping for clouds?

[Levi Xu]

The little Aussie sheepdog was friendly, so when Evan was friendly to him, he decided that licking was the appropriate response. Levi also pulled the dog back a bit, but not until the slobber was done. "It does. Except he's not very fearsome like a pirate would be. He's just kind of fluffy instead." Actually, that's probably how Levi appeared to the rest of the members of M.S.A.D., but he didn't know that, he just suspected it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Levi grinned, as Evan had, in fact, missed why he was confused entirely. "And yes, I'm Levi Xu." He had just introduced himself to Spiderman. Being away at school was awesome. Had he mentioned that? Did he have to say it again? Awesome.

When Evan looked at the window display, Levi took a step to the side so he could see in better. "Oh, not, I eat at..." that question....Well, he knew he was supposed to be secret about his schooling. That's why they all lived together, where it was safe. There were too many people in the world who didn't like meta-humans, and it was dangerous for people like him, who were still learning how to protect himself. And even though this was Spiderman, he had promised Mr. Underwood he wouldn't talk about his training. (And that he would call if he got in trouble, and have his phone on him at all times.) "I eat at home. I'm homeschooled." Okay, that was true, he just wasn't schooled at his home. He did think of Mr. Underwood's house as his home now, but he was still away, at school. But he didn't want to call attention to it.

So instead, he reached over and tugged on the elbow of Evan's shirt so he would come closer and look at a specific lunch box. "I'm thinking of getting that one for my sister. She loved the Brady Bunch when we were little, and she likes old things, so it's a good idea, right?"

[Evan Brackett]

Van really didn‘t mind that Buccaneer was so friendly. “That’s okay. I think I like cute, fluffy dogs better.” Yeah, he’d probably be freaking out right now if he had tripped on the leash of a large dog with a short temper. He’d take the sloppy puppy kisses over that any day. Besides, the little Aussie fit this kid much better than an overgrown fighting dog would.

He lifted a brow when Levi hesitated to tell him where he ate. Why couldn’t he say? Unless…Maybe he was a new kid at Hammel after all, and was worried about mentioning it. It wasn’t such a far fetched idea considering that the town was oblivious to the fact that the school was for training metas, and for some reason, he really wished that was the case. It was disappointing to hear that the boy was home schooled instead. At least that sort of explained things. “I guess that’s why I’ve never seen you around before,” he stated offhandedly, more for his own benefit than anything.

He breathed a sigh of relief when Levi pointed out the Brady Bunch lunchbox instead of asking about his shopping. “Yeah. That’s really sweet, actually.” The fact that he remembered something sentimental like that was pretty touching. Evan's brothers never did anything like that for him.

“You must get to see her all the time since you’re home schooled. That sounds kinda nice.” Since his older brother had already graduated, and his younger brother was (so far) non-powered, Evan only got to see them when he went home on breaks. There were perks to that, like not having to share a bedroom and less sibling rivalry, but there was also not getting to play games or hang out with them. Sometimes he felt the burn of homesickness, and now was one of those times. “Do you like being home schooled?” he asked. There he went with the prying questions again. He was starting to feel sorry for this kid.

[Levi Xu]

Levi shrugged, feeling a little awkward with his lie. "I only moved here a couple months ago. So it hasn't been that long." Pilot Ridge was big enough to justify not seeing everyone who lived there over the course of a few months, right?

He grinned when Evan/Peter said the gift idea was sweet. "Thanks." That's what he was going for, really. He hadn't seen Nomi in months, and it had only been a very short while between his coming home from the hospital and then leaving with Mr. Underwood. (Still, even in his head, he never referred to him as anything else, even when the rest of their group called him his first name.)

But the older boy's next comment threw him off again, because it all played into the lie. (This is why he didn't lie much, he just wasn't good at it.) "She doesn't live with us. Nomi was already a junior so she's staying with nai--my grandma in Portland until she goes to college." There, now all he had to do was remember that. "And I like it, I guess." Anxiously, he scratched the back of his neck, one of his nervous habits. "I think I liked being in school better."

And really, he had been happier back in Portland. He'd had a small group of friends at school, and they'd been very close. Here...well, he was close to Jake at least, and Oliver was nice. Fifi scared him a little, and Jesse scared him a lot. And most of the other adults, outside of the tutoring him in various subjects, didn't pay much attention to him. Except for when Mr. Underwood had given him Buccaneer, he had mostly seemed too preoccupied with other things, and Levi didn't bother him.

"Do you have any siblings?" He knew the comic-book version didn't, but if Evan was trying to keep his secret identities a secret, Levi could play along. (And it would get the topic off of him.)

[Evan Brackett]

“Is that so,” Van said with a smile. That made sense, and he felt a little better about not seeing the other boy around before. “Still, I don’t get to meet people outside of school all that often.” He felt pathetic after admitting that; mostly because it was true. Very true. He rarely talked to anyone outside of Hammel (with the exception of family friends), not even old school mates he met before transferring. There wasn’t any excuse for that.

Okay, he could sympathize with not being able to see siblings. It also made the gift idea even sweeter. “Aww, that’s too bad. You must miss her.” He knew he missed his family sometimes, and they weren’t nearly as far away as Portland. Evan shrugged when Levi said he liked school better. Public school was alright, but home school entailed being able to roll out of bed and do school work on your own time.

Wait.

“You used to go to school?” He asked, genuinely surprised. He had heard of people growing up home schooled then going to high school later, but not the other way around. It wasn‘t like Pilot Ridge didn‘t have a public school or that the school was terrible. “That’s kinda weird.“ He furrowed his brows, then corrected himself because that sounded rude. “I mean. Not in a bad way. In a…uh. Unique way.” Unique was a good thing, right?

Likewise, he was also glad that the conversation turned to him, because the way things were going, he was making an ass of himself. “Oh. Yeah, two brothers. One’s older, one’s younger.” That pretty much summed it up, but he felt obligated to offer up more information since Levi told him about his sister. “They live outside of town with my parents. My older brother helps around the farm and my younger brother goes to the local elementary school.” Not that any of that would make sense to someone he just met and that knew, quite literally, nothing else about him.

[Levi Xu]

"Um...yeah. In Oregon." Levi flushed red, embarrassed to be caught in his lie. He'd known people who had been homeschooled up until a certain point to, but they never gone the other way. So now he had to lie again, and he was kind of wishing he hadn't left the compound. He could talk to the dogs, and they didn't care what he said. It was weird, what had happened to him. And probably unique too, since from what he understood, everyone else knew what their power was for. "Well, I was in the hospital for a long time, and I'm going to go back to school once I get caught up, maybe."

Levi hoped he would. He really had enjoyed school, when he'd actually attended one.

"I always wanted a brother, but it was just me and Nomi." But then it was his turn to think about what Peter had said. The way it sounded, he didn't live with his parents. (Then again, Spiderman's parents were dead. So maybe this was just a cover too.) But he decided not to go into that, because he didn't want to embarrass him.

However, one part really interested him. "You live on a farm? Like, with horses and cows? That's cool." Other than Nomi's old cat, he had never lived with any animals before moving into Mr. Underwood's house. "That's why I like being out here; I can have a dog." Again, he stooped down to give the puppy a good scratch on his side. Buccaneer ignored him, as he was too busy attempting to stalk a nearby cricket. "My old yard was really little, and there wasn't room for a dog to run around." Now he had the whole compound to explore, and he had. Plus, there was the town so close by, and even though this was his first visit, he already liked knowing it was there, close enough to walk to.

And in his opinion, having dogs was much, much better than school.

[Evan Brackett]

Evan looked down and shyly scuffed his feet when Levi blushed. Damn. Something he had said was over the top, and now he had upset the other boy. He stared at his shoes, trying to come up with something to change the topic, but came up blank. Then Levi added that he had been in a hospital. Van's eyes snapped up to the other boy's. A hospital? That sounds serious. The thought was kept to himself because he could see that the conversation was bothering Levi, and he didn’t want to be a bother. Instead he simply said, “I see.” It was tempting to ask for more information, but he didn’t want to push it.

“Hmm,” he muttered pensively. Evan couldn’t think of a time where he wanted a sister. There wasn’t a reason why other than the thought never crossed his mind before. But now that it had been brought up, he couldn’t decide whether or not it would be a good thing. Certainly it would be a lot different than having a brother, he just wasn't sure in what way. "I'm happy with just my brothers," he decided with a shrug.

Admittedly, the farm question was difficult for him to answer. “Uhm. Yeah. I mean. Sort of,” he fumbled out an response. “My parents own it, but I don’t really live there. Not right now, at least.” Sure he had a bedroom and everything, but nowadays he spent a lot more time at Hammel than at home. It was still his home, just not where he lived, and he wasn’t exactly sure how to explain that. “The school I go to is a boarding school.” There, that was a start.

Evan grinned at the distracted puppy. “Well, I guess that’s the silver lining to moving out here.” They always had farm dogs when he was a kid, and there was never a problem with yard space when you grew up on a farm. He liked dogs too, even though this one in particular had taken part in tripping him. The puppy had long since been forgiven; it had led to him meeting Levi, and for once, Van was kind of glad he was clumsy.

[Levi Xu]

Boarding school. If it wouldn't have blown his cover, Levi would have facepalmed right about there. Boarding school. That's exactly what he was doing. Why didn't he think to say that?

Well, yeah, because only he and Jesse lived there and actually took classes there. The rest of the people in the compound usually spent their day doing something else, or... well, was Fifi, and she didn't live there. It didn't even seem like a real school. So he could almost forgive himself for skipping over that idea.

"Boarding school? Like Harry Potter? Awesome." The boy almost wanted to joke about a school for learning special powers, but he felt it might be a little on-the-nose. He didn't want Spiderman to ask him if he was meta-human. He didn't want to lie about that, since Mr. Underwood had talked to him about being proud of who he was. Levi didn't want to disappoint him by lying about his meta-human status. (Even if they couldn't figure out exactly how his power worked, the blood tests showed he had one.)

But he figured a few more details about his home wouldn't hurt. After all, no one cared about these particular ones. "Yeah. We've got a couple of dogs now, but Buccaneer is the baby, and he's mine." Levi grinned down at the puppy as well, before realizing something. "Hey, Van, could you hold on to him for a few minutes so I can go and buy the lunchbox? I was thinking about bringing him inside, but I don't think the guy will like that." He held out the leash to the older boy. In another situation, say if Mr. Underwood told him to leave Buccaneer with Jesse and go do something, he would hesitate. But he had liked Evan instantly, and not just because he was Peter Parker. "He is good, so long as you're paying attention, and it'll only take a minute."

When he thought about it, really, how lucky was he? Just when he was debating whether he would be allowed to bring the pup inside, Van had showed up. Perfect timing, on the older boy's part.

[Evan Brackett]

Evan thought of Hammel like any other boarding school, except that it was made for meta-humans and had power training. So when Levi came up with the perfect analogy, and it was of the fantasy nature, the farmer boy was left speechless.

Like Harry Potter?

Evan had to admit that the situation was comparable. From the discovery of a hidden ability to being shipped off to a majestic school for training, it fit the bill. And although Hammel wasn’t in an ancient castle like Hogwarts, it was a relatively old, high-class establishment--especially compared to regular public schools. Not that Levi could possibly know about any of that, and Evan wasn’t inclined to tell him more about it. Since, like Hogwarts, regular people weren‘t suppose to know about the meta-human school.

Once the shock wore off and he found his voice again, Evan burst out laughing. The accuracy was spooky, and therefore hilarious. “I never thought of it that way, but I guess so,” he admitted.

He smirked when Levi talked about his dogs, and readily took the leash as it was handed to him. “Yeah, no problem.“ But he still looked down at the puppy with a hint of confusion on his face when Levi suggested paying attention to him. Buccaneer was tiny in comparison to the tall boy, and it wasn't like the auzzie was strong enough to overpower anyone of his stature. "I think I can handle him all right," Evan said in all seriousness.

It wasn't long after the younger boy went inside that Evan's eyes had strayed from the dog and up to Levi. He could see him through the shop window and couldn't resist the urge to wave. The brunette also flashed a dorky grin that seemed to say, "See? I'm doing a good job!" Holding a leash wasn't the most difficult task in the world, but it was important to someone and Evan was happy to be useful. Then he remembered that he was told to pay attention to Buccaneer, and his gaze snapped back to the puppy. Focus; definitely something he needed to work on.

[Levi Xu]

Admittedly, when Evan started laughing, Levi didn't exactly know why. But he smiled anyway, because the older boy seemed nice. And if he had made him smile, well, it couldn't be bad, right? After a moment, it occurred to him that the older boy probably didn't know that Hogwarts really did exist, and that his sister actually went to school there.

By "paying attention", Levi had meant that so long as you kept your eye on Buccaneer, he couldn't get into much trouble. Like Evan, the puppy was easily distracted, and his attention could be drawn away from anything problematic with just a tug on his leash or an excited voice. Pretty much, it wouldn't be hard to keep the little dog safe for the time it would take for him to go and purchase the lunchbox.

He went into the store, and smiled at the slightly chaotic interior of the store. It reminded him of his bedroom at home--the one in Portland, not the one at Mr. Underwood's house--cluttered and crammed full of things that may not be important, but were probably interesting. Luckily, he wasn't as easily distracted as Buccaneer, or else Van would have been left waiting outside for a loooooong time. At one point, while haggling the price of the lunchbox down, he glanced out the window and caught the wave and the goofy grin. Levi returned both, then turned back to what he was doing.

It didn't take too long at all before he was back on the sidewalk, newly-purchased Brady Bunch lunchbox in hand. "The hinges squeak really loud, but it's pretty awesome. And the guy in there had a big box of old comic books. Even some Spider-Man." As he said that, he grinned widely, hinting at Van's secret.

Again, he crouched down so he could give the puppy a good scratch behind his ears. "Hey baby, you were a good boy, weren't you?" Buccaneer responded with a hearty lick on his face, which only made him smile more. The boy gave the dog's ear a soft tug, then stood again. "Thanks for watching him; sorry if we held you up."