Sum: Rose 'verse, Rose Dixon receives a furry present from her beau Collin Tyler.

RandNote: the fictional town/group/settlement Collin and Rose live in/near is called Haven, which in located somewhere in Missouri. Sorry for the amount of dialogue overpowering anything else. They just kept talking and I had to cut them off. Also I suck at (subtle) accents so bare with me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Amc's The Walking Dead.

Canine

"Hey stranger, what are you doing back? Thought you weren't returning until tomorrow afternoon." she greeted, smiling at the young man on horseback stopping in sharpening one of her knives.

"Everything went better then expected with the group from New Branson" The young man smiled, dismounting from his chestnut mare. He patted the horse after he was done tying her to the nearby post, going to stand next to his saddle bag undoing the ties he'd almost double knotted to keep the precious cargo inside for the trip home.

"Really?" she replied, going back to sharping her knife. He noticed it was an heirloom of her mothers that he had to make a new handle for months back, it's black exterior had cracked when the rare walker had suddenly appeared in the woods and attacked her. The handle now was made from a piece of antler from one of her father's kills and had weathered and colored the bone so it was black again.

"Yeah, I even got something for you."

"C-Collin, I told you that you don't need to get me anything." she stammered, a blush rising on her cheeks. They had been 'together' for about six months and he would find something to give her as a present. From the old-world way of giving her a bunch of wildflowers, to fixing her bow and making arrows for her when they were worn, to a simple cuff bracelets he had learned to make after he melted down a bunch of 'trash' silver that she used on her arm to keep the string of her bow from hitting the inside of her wrists.

"Well too bad 'cause I think your going to love this." he reached into his saddle bag to pull out a strange fuzzy black object that was tiny in his hands before he plopped it into her arms.

Collin had once told her in the past that he was uncomfortable with her going out alone into the forest to hunt. But he understood that it was what she did, much like he would help his father in the forge and his mother at her pub.

His way of compromising for this was the sleepy black fuzzball that she held in her arms.

"A puppy?" she asked, dogs were hard to come by in their world, all the domestic canines having gone wild after the world ended made it hard to catch one. Few groups had dogs, mostly used for guarding the walls and for herding animals.

"Yeah, I thought you could train her to become a hunting dog to help you when you go out."

"How did you get her?" Rose asked truly shocked.

He shrugged "I traded for her."

"She's gorgeous, what did you...?"

"It doesn't matter, she's a gift." he cut her off, she didn't need to know about the jars of Dandelion Wine, strawberries, and some of his handcrafted knifes had gone into the trade for the scrap of black sniffing fur that she now was cooing at in her arms as it licked her face.

"Thank you." she said sincerely "I think I'm going to call her...Dixie."

"Dixie?"

"Why not? Dixie Dixon sounds like a good name for a dog." she replied affronted.

"It's a creative name." he snorted dryly, his parents Irish accents poking through his normal accent-less tones.

"Bask in my creativity Tyler, most mortals never get the chance."

"Maybe 'cause it doesn't come around tat often."

"Don't make me sic Dixie on you, Tyler."

"I can take the dog back Dixon if you're making threats." he warned with a smile.

"You wouldn't dare." she gasped in mock horror.

He smirked "Nah, I have no use for a hunting dog anyway."

"Thank you, Collin."

"Doesn't something like this deserve a kiss from da fair maiden?" he teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

She snorted "I would but it looks like my daddy is coming."

Rose nodded over his shoulder and Collin glanced over to see in fact the infamous Daryl Dixon was in fact heading in their direction with an unreadable expression on his face. He quickly went to untie his horse, she followed cradling Dixie in her arms.

"Looks like that's my cue to leave." Collin was very pale and shaking.

"Yep" she kissed him on the cheek "You'd better run."

"Right." Collin blushed, swinging onto the saddle of his horse as fast as he could and riding off before her father could shoot an arrow into his ass.

"See you at dinner!" she called out to him, giggling at the frustrated look on her fathers face as the young man got away.

Fin?

An: The puppy is based upon my dog Emma, who is at the ripe age of 9 years old, half my age. Currently she is laying on the carpet of my room sleeping, I felt like I should honor her somehow. She is a Blue Healer/Golden Retriever Mix, basically a small black golden reviver with more of a herding dogs build, she's a beautiful dog.

On another note: There's Au Caryl Multi-chapter verse I have been working on called Living Things. It's based off what I have going on here (The Rose 'verse) only it's a rewrite of seasons 1 and 2 with Carol and Daryl. Hopefully it can be posted soon.

Anyways, until next time...

R&R