Finding Eyes
By: Dead Alchemist
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Petshop of Horrors, though Tane and Yue both belong to me. SO DON'T SUE!!!
Summary: Leon gets stuck in the rain and finds something in the trash in an alley that should never have been there. Takes place before the manga so no D. Prologue to another story yet to come.
Warnings: Human cruelty.
Rating: PG/K+
It was raining.
The Los Angeles sky was dark enough that it would have confused the nocturnal creatures that roamed the streets. Few people, if any, still braved the sheets of cold water, most people having gone home or found some shelter in a store or diner of some sort. Of course, one person in particular didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave the quite roads. Leon scowled at the sky for a moment before a stream of curses flew from his mouth. Gods, but he hated being stuck in the rain. He didn't mind listening to it, but being under it, getting cold and wet; definitely not his favorite pastime. He sighed in frustration as he walked past yet another filthy alleyway; like most alleyways in the godforsaken city.
It was his shift to walk the roads of Chinatown, his territory, or so he called it. As an officer, he often did this but it didn't seem to be as fun walking as it did taking a car. The car; that blasted car that had broken down and now he was being forced to walk all the way back to the precinct to alert the others that the vehicle would need to go to the shop. Leon stopped by yet another alley. He could have sworn… Yes, he had heard it. A sound, like a whine or whimper. Walking into the alley, Leon looked closely at the piles of garbage thrown haphazardly to the ground. Getting closer to the sound, Leon noticed a large garbage bag moving around, or rather, something inside it was moving.
Striding towards the bag he ripped it open and saw, without little surprise, a small dog. Its fur was filthy and matted to it, the once platinum blonde and white pelt now brownish green with whatever sludge was in that bag. The dog, which Leon finally remembered was called a Pomeranian, whined up at him in hunger. Leon sighed again. People in this city pissed him off at times. Picking up tiny dog and wrapping it up in his coat to help share what warmth he could, Leon set off again, this time towards his apartment.
After nearly an hour of walking, Leon reached his apartment building and sighed in relief, a nice hot shower and a cup of steaming coffee for him and a warm bath and a meaty dish for the dog sounding perfect. He fed his own dog, Tane, a homemade dog food made with real meat and could give the Pomeranian the same thing. Although, a German shepherd ate a great deal more than this tiny thing would, starving as it no doubt was.
Unlocking his door, he stepped in and was greeted with the milky white gaze of a blind dog.
"Hey, Tane, how've you been all day?" Leon grinned at his furry companion, patting him on the head with his free hand. "We've got a guest today so I want you to be on your best behavior while," Leon looked at the underbelly of the dirty dog in his hands, "he is here, 'kay?"
Tane rose to his feet, shaking himself off as he did so, and barked at his master in agreement, receiving another pat on the head and a grin.
"Good boy. Now, we need to get this little guy bathed and fed so let's head to the bathroom."
With that, Leon walked into the bathroom and started running some hot water into the tub. Soon, the bottom of the tub was engulfed in water and the little dog was already feeling Leon's fingers scrubbing soap into his fur, cleaning out as much of the dirt and grime and whatever else he had matted up into what was once his prized pelt. Leon laughed as Tane nosed his way in to smell at the little intruder to his home only to jump in surprise as the little dog yipped at him and licked his nose. Leon finished the bath with one last spray of warm water over the dog and took a towel and wrapped it around the dog, scrubbing gently to get the water off him.
Once this was done, it was much easier to see that the little Pomeranian was once an adorable little guy. 'Although,' Leon thought sadly, 'since the fur was still matted to him, it will need to be sheared off and left to grow out to fix that mess.' Sadly, the little dog would need to wait until the rain had stopped; Leon had no intentions of going outside again today. Making his way to the kitchen, he quickly heated up some of the homemade dog food from the fridge and gave some to Tane and his tiny guest.
Leon made a quick call to the precinct about the messed up car before heading into the bathroom once more, this time for his shower. While under the spray of hot water he thought about his find. Not something he usually found, at least, not something he found alive. Although he would love to keep the little guy, Tane was blind and required more attention than a normal dog. If it were a matter of finding an animal shelter than that would be easy, however, he would rather not. 'Three days is all they'd give him before they killed the poor thing. I ain't giving them the chance to do that.' He thought with a scowl. He could give him to an acquaintance from the precinct or someone in the building. That plan had some merit. 'But I really wished I could keep him, he is too cute.'
Getting out and drying off, Leon wandered into his room and grabbed some night clothes; it was only eight but he was dead-tired. Walking back out into the living room, he looked around for the two dogs. THUMP! Leon jerked around towards the sound and saw Tane shake himself off after having walked into the wall, again. Leon sighed and was about to go and help Tane find wherever it was he was heading to when the tiny Pomeranian went up to Tane and yipped a couple of times at him. Leon watched in wonder as the little dog led Tane to the kitchen and the water dish inside.
Suddenly, the idea of keeping the Pomeranian didn't seem like such a bad one. If the little guy could act as Tane's eyes, then maybe it would be that much easier to take care of both of them. Leon laughed a little at that idea. 'Easier to take care of' for two such high-maintenance dogs? Definitely going on his 'Famous Last Words' list. Well, if they got along well enough…hmm.
"So, little guy, you think you want to stay here with us? We haven't got much but we're happy enough." Leon grinned down at the blond fuzz-ball who had a little doggy grin on his face and was wagging his tail in a friendly manner. The dog yipped at him.
"I'll take that as a yes." Leon laughed.
He was quite for a moment, thinking about a good name for his new pet. 'Greyn' maybe, or 'Anel'. Hmm. 'Got it!' Leon thought happily.
"How 'bout we call you Yue."
The little dog yipped at him again, jumping up on his leg in excitement. Behind him, Tane also barked in agreement. Leon laughed and reached down to pet the newly named Yue.
Maybe it won't be as easy as it used to be but it couldn't be all bad.
Author's Note – Hey, hope you all liked this one-shot of Leon before he met D. Please read and review, if enough people liked this one then I am planning on posting my sequel to this which is set a year and a half after he meets D but there is no Chris. Review and tell me what you guys think.:)