Hello, fanfiction world. This is my first Taiora fanfic and I wrote it as a response to a challenge. The subject was pets. I hope you like it. Read & Review.

Disclaimer: I own no part of the Digimon franchise because if I did, Taiora would've been canon. It all belongs to Toei.

Age of Tai and Sora: 19

Tai was sitting in the living room watching his girlfriend Sora play with her little brown puppy. She was throwing a stuffed ball and the puppy was eagerly bringing it back to her. Tai frowned at the scene. It wasn't that he disapproved of Sora's decision to get a pet. In fact, when she'd asked him about it, he'd been very supportive. He knew she was responsible and would take care of any pet well.

The two were living together in a local apartment complex. They loved each other and knew they were going to get married, but decided to get a place of their own to make sure they could handle the responsibility that came with having a house. Plus, Sora wanted to prove to her mother that she could be independent.

It wasn't that he hated the puppy either. Sora had named him Tyson and the animal was a perfectly friendly, playful little pup. Tai had even played with it himself on a few occasions. No, the problem was that Sora had gotten the puppy two months ago and in that two months, she'd been so preoccupied with the thing that she barely paid attention to him.

She was either feeding it, walking it, playing with it, or cuddling with it and she had all but forgotten about him. They had gone on only two dates in the last month alone and lately, whenever they talked, Sora gushed about the puppy more than anything. He was really getting tired of it.

I know that taking care of a pet is a big responsibility, but does it have to come at the expense of spending time with your boyfriend?

Tai hadn't voiced his concerns to Sora because he knew how much she loved the dog and he didn't want to risk upsetting her but he couldn't keep quiet about it any longer. As soon as Sora finished playing with Tyson, Tai walked over to her.

"Sora, you and I need to talk."

"What about?"

"About Tyson," he said, his tone somewhat harsh when he said the puppy's name.

"Is there something wrong?" Sora asked.

"With the dog? No. With us, yes."

"What do you mean? And what does Tyson have to do with it?"

"Sora, ever since you got that puppy, you've been neglecting our relationship."

"What? No I haven't," Sora said defensively.

"Oh really? You and I went on all of two dates last month and we haven't been out at all this month. All you wanna talk about anymore is the puppy and when was the last time you and I had any time alone without the dog aside from sleeping?"

Sora said nothing for a while as she thought about what Tai said. She realized that she had been basically ignoring him for the last two months and she felt awful.

"I'm sorry Tai. I guess I just got so preoccupied with Tyson that I kinda lost sight of everything outside of work. I'll find a way to make it up to you."

Tai gave her a wary smile. "Okay. I'm glad you understand."

"I'm gonna go lie down for a while," Sora told him.

"Alright. I'll heat up something for dinner."

Sora went to their shared bedroom and took her shoes off before lying down on the bed. She thought back to before she got Tyson. She and Tai went out at least once a week, so she could start that habit back up and move the dates to weekends. When it came to talking and spending time together, they had always found ways to squeeze in quality time, usually after Sora got home from work. With a dog to take care of, Sora couldn't seem to think of a way to work in that time.

Ten minutes later, Tai came in with two cups of ramen. Sora sat up and Tai sat next to her. Sora smiled, realizing that this was an opportunity for quality time.

"How was your day at school Tai?" she asked.

Tai smiled. It was the first time in a while she'd asked him about his day.

"Soccer practice went really well. It's still hard to balance all my subjects with soccer though."

"You'll manage. You always do and if you need help, you can always ask me."

"I know. Thanks Sora."

"You're welcome. And I'm sorry for not doing more to spend time together. Tell you what, how about we go out on a date every weekend? There's no work or school to worry about and we can have the day to ourselves."

Tai beamed. "That sounds great."

Suddenly, Tyson ran in the room and started barking at Sora, looking up at her expectantly.

"I guess he didn't like being alone," Sora said.

"I can relate," Tai muttered.

Sora gave him a sad look at his words. Looking back at her dog, she got an idea.

"Tai, I think I figured out a way for us to spend time together again, even with Tyson here."

"How?" Tai asked.

She looked back at Tyson and patted the spot on the bed next to her. Tyson jumped up and licked her face before rubbing up against her side.

"You see what Tyson is doing?" she asked Tai.

"Yeah. What about it?" Tai asked.

"Well, that's his way of cuddling up to me and when he does it I always cuddle with him. You could do the same. I'd give you just as much attention as I give Tyson."

Tai looked at her incredulously. "You want me to act like a dog?" he asked.

Sora laughed. "No. You know how to cuddle with me, don't you? Come on, do it right now."

Tai put his ramen cup down and scooted closer to his girlfriend. He laid his head down on her shoulder and started rubbing his face against hers.

"See? How does it feel?" Sora asked.

"Really good actually. Your skin is so soft."

Sora rubbed her left hand through Tai's giant mane of hair and Tai wrapped one arm around her waist before kissing her on the cheek. Sora smiled and kissed Tai on the lips which he responded to immediately. All the while, Sora was rubbing Tyson with her other hand. Her ramen cup sat on the night stand.

"So, what do you think? Is this a good way for us to spend time?" Sora asked.

"It'll take some getting used to, but I could definitely learn to like it."

"Good."

Tyson licked her right cheek while Tai kissed her left cheek.

Sora laughed again. "Very good."