| puppy love|
flashpoint | ed/winnie | au/fluff/first meetings | g | written for: flashpointangelicfan. thanks for the request, hun! | I don't own Flashpoint etc.
Ed Lane had never liked dogs. Yappy little things that chewed everything, left 'presents' everywhere and gave you nothing but pain. And an empty checkbook. And when his neighbor with the yappy mutt that made him want to severally break the law, finally left after two years of yapping and chewing and precious little 'presents' everywhere, his neighborhood was finally back to the way he liked it. Quiet, slow and dog free. That was until his new neighbor arrived, bringing along a whole new level of yap: the Chihuahua kind. The thing was tiny, all brown fur with little sticks for legs poking out from nowhere and little black slits for eyes. As Ed emptied his rubbish bags into the bin, the little thing just stood there, this black-eyed stare watching his every move. It stood on the driveway as the moving men unloaded the truck, just watching. No barking, not yet anyway, but Ed could feel it coming any time now. Like a storm but only worse. This kind he couldn't take cover from. He still hadn't seen the new neighbor yet, but judging by the amount of pink and frills the moving men were offloading, it had to be a woman. Ed paused on his way back inside, hands and hips as he squinted at the little fur ball with legs. Why wasn't it barking yet? Was it the strong and silent type? Or just lulling him into a false sense of security? Well, there's one way to find out. Ed walked over to the fence, waving in return at one of the delivery men. The little fur ball just sat there, riveted in its place, staring. "Hey, you." Ed said, looking down with suspicion at the potential yap-box. Nothing. No blink, no growl. Nothing. Ed knelt down to the dog's level; its disturbing eyes following his every move. "What have we here?" Ed squinted at the little silver disc that hung from the dog's blue collar. "Rufus. Rufus?" Ed double checked the tag again as the dog continued its silent staring. "Sounds more like a-"
"Oh, there you are!" Ed glanced up as the dog's owner rushed over to the animal, which automatically started yapping in Ed's face.
"And there we go." Ed whispered, grimacing slightly and standing up. Once a yapper, always a yapper.
"I'm so sorry about that." The woman said, smiling apologetically at Ed, as she knelt down and picked Rufus up. Long black hair framed a pretty face and the most beautiful pair of eyes that Ed had ever seen met his, the smile reaching all the way. "I hope you don't mind dogs? Rufus is a doll, but a yapping doll."
"Oh, dogs yeah," Ed said smiling, glancing at Rufus who stared at him with an evil like look, "Gotta love 'em." The woman smiled at him and untangling her hand from the squirming fur ball, held it out.
"I'm Winnie, by the way. I'm so glad that you like dogs. Rufus can be a bit of a trouble maker sometimes." Ed glanced at Rufus as he shook Winnie hand, the squirt now emitting a low growl as well as gracing Ed with an evil, slit-eyed stare.
"Wouldn't have known. Ed, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. We saw you come in late this morning, hope the truck didn't wake you."
"Nah it's fine," Ed replied, ignoring the dogs rising growl, "Slept through louder. Hope I didn't wake you."
"No, not at all. We we're still unpacking, weren't we Rufus?" She rubbed the little dog's head, the dog turning its beady eyes to look up at her.
"Right, takes a while. Need any help? You know, unloading or… anything?" Ed rubbed the back of his neck. Yeah, real smooth Lane.
"Oh, no thanks." Winnie replied and Ed could have sworn she backed up a little, "It's almost done now. They're bringing in the last load. But thank you for the offer, that's really sweet. A dog lover and a gentleman." Ed smiled.
"Yeah well, right for one part."
"Really?" Winnie asked, raising her eyebrows, "Only one?" Ed laughed.
"Maybe." Winnie nodded, smiling as she and Rufus turned to walk away.
"Tell you what, why don't you come on over later? Rufus and I were going to have a little barbeque, to celebrate our new home. Be more fun with someone who actually speaks back to me."
"Sure."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, why not." Ed smiled, "Give me a chance to get to know 'ol Rufus better. And his owner too, of course."
"Oh, of course." Winnie said, smiling as she and Rufus turned away, giving Rufus just enough time to level Ed with one last stare. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he had a feeling that good 'ol Rufus didn't like him much. But one thing Ed did know, he had until tonight to get to like dogs. He smiled to himself as Winnie turned and gave a small wave before going inside. Scratch that, love dogs.