Save for whomever and whatever I came up with myself, I own none of the characters or elements in this story, which belong to DreamWorks Animation and Ted Key and Jay Ward.

Ears perking and nose twitching, a tiny bipedal ivory puppy wearing huge black-edged glasses looked up from his page of The Republic at the sound of a door opening.

"It's okay, little guy, it's okay," the familiar demure voice of Ms. Richie, the owner of the shelter and a thickset brunette woman in her late twenties, gingerly echoed in the silence of slumbering dogs, some of which woke up at a sudden new smell, the same one the bespectacled puppy caught.

A sniffle followed Ms. Richie's assurance, and perhaps a whimper? All the beagle knew, once the owner and her company turned down the corner and he finally got a look at the newcomer, was his surprise in that he hadn't fainted straight away. Before his very eyes, another puppy (a thickset black-furred Scottish terrier, in fact) walked beside the average-dressed woman —and on his hind legs just like him, no less—and wore a palm-tree laden cerise shirt that made Peabody want to roll his eyes.

'Who on Earth gave him that article of clothing? It looks ridiculous!'

Still, fashion sense aside, the beagle inwardly rejoiced at the prospect of having someone like him around, someone who could understand his position and relate with his aspirations. Perhaps this fellow even shared his interests! Gently setting his book down so as not to startle anyone with any sudden noise, the ivory-furred prodigy drew a polite smile as the cage next to his opened, courtesy of Ms. Richie, and the new dog stepped in with heavy steps.

Once Ms. Richie closed the cage, she leaned down to her knees and offered a sad yet hopeful smile. "It's really unfair this ended up happening to you. But you wanna know something?" She waited for the puppy to lift his watery eyes to her. "I think you and Peabody here are going to make great friends. You'll see."

And with those words, she left. Peabody was beside himself; despite his anticipation, he simply could not overlook the sniffling sounds emanating from the other dog rocking himself in an upright fetal position. He almost flinched the moment the newcomer confusedly turned his head away and landed his sight on him, amber chocolate irises meeting Peabody's green ones like earth to grass, especially when he noticed that the terrier towered over him by half a head. For a few moments, the two dogs stared at each other curiously, fascinated by the other's appearance yet unsure how to greet each other.

Eventually, the beagle tired of the silence and so hemmed to speak in his typical cultured, albeit squeaky, voice. "Hello, my name is Peabody. Hector Peabody. A pleasure to meet you," he stuck out a forepaw between the bars for the terrier to shake. "And you are...?"

For a moment, the black puppy stared at the extended paw then its owner and back, worrying Hector for a moment, before tentatively taking his paw in his own slightly larger one and shaking it. "K-Keanu Jameson," he spoke in a somewhat lower-pitched voice, tone still shaky from crying. Once their handshake ended, Keanu took his own hand back and wrapped it around his legs again.

Peabody hummed thoughtfully, head sloped in curiosity. "Keanu? Hmm, interesting name. Where are you from exactly?"

A good question to start with as proven when Keanu wiped his tears away. "Hawaii. My parents and I were visiting my uncle here until...," he turned away with downcast eyes heavy with not only sorrow this time but some anger as well,"...until bad people shot them. I've got nobody back home who'd wanna take care of me and the people here couldn't put me in an orphanage because I'm different, so they brought me here. My mommy's brother is supposed to pick me up next week, so I won't hafta worry about someone else adopting me."

Hector's ears drooped in sympathy. "Oh...I see." His heart rang out for his fellow canine with the utmost sincerity. He himself had always wished for a family of his own yet he could hardly imagine the pain of losing one he already had. Something had to be done. 'Perhaps the mood will lighten with a change in topics.' Peabody pushed his glasses back against his nose with a practiced smile. "Tell me, what is Hawaii like? From what I've seen in the books I've borrowed from the libraries, it's quite beautiful."

Luckily the mention of the island made a smile pop up on Keanu's muzzle. It was faint but hey it counted as progress in Peabody's book (and Peabody loved progress). "It's really pretty...and lots warmer than here, that's for sure. Mommy and Daddy would always take me down to the beach so I could play around in the water and make sandcastles all day. And when we had ta go home, we'd all get snow-cones. I always got cherry and—"

A faint snort escaped Hector before he could stop himself, making Keanu pause and stare at him weirdly. "What's so funny?"

"Oh I apologize," the white puppy assured in hopes he had not crossed a line, "It's just...you seem to be quite fond of the color red."

Keanu blushed under his thick fur and tried in vain to hide his growing smile. Something about this other puppy really drew him in and made all his troubles seem far away. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what, but he could live with that. Screwing his face up in thought, the black pup snarkily retorted, "Yeah well, I could say the same about you."

Holding back the urge to chortle again, Hector rolled his eyes in response. "Oh come now. That's just my bowtie, a part of my ensemble." He gestured to the accessory. "Perfectly appropriate. At least I don't wear the color like a traffic light!"

A look of faux offense took over Keanu's face as he threw his arms out in an exaggerated fashion. "So I like my clothes to match my personality! What's wrong with that?"

"Oh nothing, if you prefer self-branding yourself as a lost tourist."

"Why I oughta—"

Harsh barking suddenly rang out around the boys, and sure enough a glance around revealed several of the surrounding dogs either barking or glaring balefully at them, basically the canine way of saying 'Shut the freak up! We're trying to sleep here!' Hector bowed his head in meek apology, although his humored grin ruined the gesture, while Keanu blew a raspberry at his temporary neighbors, making his fellow bipedal canine chuckle under his breath. His associate finally seemed to be regaining his usual spirit.

Speaking of whom, Keanu turned to Hector with a happy grin. "Hey Hector, you wanna hang out tomorrow?"

Wait, what? Mouth going slack, Hector angled his head with a befuddled countenance, not sure if he heard right. "Hang out?"

"Yeah, hang out, you and me," affirmed Keanu, nodding as he thumbed to the pup then himself, "I like ya."

Incredible. Simply incredible. The beagle needed a moment to himself. He never had anyone associate with him, let alone freely. The dogs tended to be friendly enough and Ms. Richie showed him great amounts of kindness but never did he have anyone who wanted to be around him because they liked him.

'Can I trust this fellow? I barely know him.' And yet...something about this Keanu spoke to him. While he didn't seem like the intellectual type, he possessed a vivacity Peabody instantly found contagious. 'I'll let him associate with me for now. Besides, having this character around should prove quite interesting.'

With an agreeable smile, Peabody readjusted his glasses. "I have a warm regard for you as well."