Dog Days of Summer

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N: Just as it's a continuation, and it gets things situated, I'll give you the 2nd chapter a little early...and due to the change in summary.

Chapter 2 (Settling on the Ranch)

Tori felt a sharp push in her side and moaned as her eyes fluttered open and Beck's voice whispered in her ear. "We're here, Tori." She prayed that it had been a dream and she'd wake up at the magic shop with Robbie or one of her friends laughing everything off as some massive prank, but to her heart's dismay she found herself still in the back of the rusty pickup.

"They're stopping?" She rose onto her paws and peered down with a whimper. "I'm still not used to this, I swear I was just dreaming of chasing a damn tire." She sniffed the air and stopped as the smell of manure, mud, and a variety of farm life stung her nostrils. "Oh god that'll take some getting used to."

"What will?"

"The smells! What else? Can't you smell?"

"Yeah, but Jade and I are trying to ignore it the best we can." He lifted his paw to reveal Jade curled up in a ball behind him, her own paws were over her snout. "Jade's not having much luck."

"What's this?" Tori threw her head up at Trina's voice and her eyes widened when she saw her sister and grandfather staring back at them.

"Ah we have a couple of stowaways I see," chimed Grandpa Clarence. Trina looked at him with an arched eyebrow and small smile. "Reminds me of the time our platoon was stranded out on the high seas in '53, fendin' off a pack of spies that hid away in the deep confines of the S.S. Trailblazer!"

Jade and Beck chuckled nervously and looked to Tori with shocked gazes. Tori couldn't help but to smile, "Gramps has always been big on his military stories…" She moved to the edge and put her front paws to the rim, yipping at her sister. Trina reached over her and carefully lifted Jade.

"Aw, a cocker spaniel!" Tori's jaw dropped as Trina hugged Jade close to her chest. Jade's tongue was snapping out of her snout while Beck snickered. "They're one of my favorite breeds. Can't say I'm a fan of poodles though, too hyper, but sort of cute."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Jade then proceeded to lick Trina on the chin, causing the woman to laugh. Tori's eyes narrowed as jealousy struck her heart. "You're doing that on purpose, aren't you. Sure, rub it in Jade." Jade looked away and moved her ears upwards.

"I'm trying to ensure they want to keep us around. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yeah, but-" She huffed and turned away, moving her snout up into the air. "Well, two can play at that game. I was hoping to charm the two of them into keeping us here. It's only fair since she is my sister. Just because I never liked to admit it doesn't mean it's not true."

"That you would have everyone believe," Beck rolled his eyes and leaned against the rim of the truck.

"Whatever!" She started her act by bowing her head and lifting a paw off the ground, whimpering painfully. Trina's eyes darted over to her and she gently set Jade back into the bed of the truck.

"Oh, the poor thing…" Tori flashed a smirk at Jade just as Trina picked her up, cradling her with one arm and checking her paw with her hand. "Poor thing must be frightened riding in the back of the truck all the way here."

"Sure enough," Clarence replied and hung his arm over the truck. "Cute and manipulative little thing, though."

"Yeah, poodles are always hyperactive. They remind me a lot of Tori, always has to be the center of the attention in the room." Tori yelped as Trina's lips curved up into a smile and her eyes rolled. "Anyway Grandpa, I don't see any collars on these dogs-do you think they're strays?"

"Possibly." Clarence rubbed his chin and swept his hand through Beck's fur while examining him with his eyes. "This one seems clean, and the coats on the other two are clean as well. We'll put them with the other rescue animals and set a word out, if they don't belong to anyone we'll have to see what we can do."

"Sounds good." Tori shifted to the side, turning a glare onto Beck and Jade. She could hear them snickering and wasn't amused. She was beside herself with confusion. How in the hell did poodles remind Trina of her?

"I swear if you could hear me talk, Sister." Tori barked out and Trina set her back into the bed of the truck with a long sigh.

"And here comes the headache. Kind of like dealing with my little sis-I'm glad to be out of that house actually." Tori jerked her head back and whimpered as Trina and Clarence turned their backs to the truck. Her heart grew heavy from hearing that Trina was actually glad to be out of the house. They confused her because she thought Trina would at least miss living there. "Alright Grandpa, I'll put the groceries up and get the baths ready for the dogs."

"You remember the procedure? We need to make sure the dogs are friendly before we can try and adopt them."

Tori laid down and set her head on her paws, ignoring the conversation at this point and focusing on the tightening of her stomach. Beck and Jade moved over to her and nudged her with their snouts, but she didn't budge. "You okay?" Beck asked quietly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just don't feel well." She turned her head away and pulled her lips back into a grimace. "Trina thinks I'm manipulative like a poodle and she's glad to be away from us? Why would she think that? I'm a good sister, aren't I? A good sister, a good friend, and not at all 'hyper' or 'manipulative' or even the center of attention. Right?"

"Come on," Clarence picked her up with a grunt, forcing her away from her questions and friends. "Let's get you pups taken care of. You're lucky I help rescued and lost animals like yourself. Got the best assistant and secretary workin' for me too, you three are in good hands. Yep!"

Tori rolled her eyes and tried to muster the best smile she could as a dog. Clarence motioned the others from the truck and watched with rosy cheeks as the dogs hopped off. "Yep, you're at the best place possible." He set her on the ground and scratched the back of his head, sighing heavily and muttering to himself. "So long as I can get those agents off my back…"

While Beck was the first to get checked over for fleas and to get a bath, Tori decided to make her way to the living room where she was shocked to see Jade curled up on a brown couch beside Trina. Trina's fingers were moving fervently on the keys of her silver laptop. Her eyes were focused intently on the screen and her lips were pulled back into her cheeks.

"What are you doing, Jade?" Tori made her way to the couch and looked up at her friend with a great deal of confusion. "You don't even like her. Why are you all of a sudden so close to her?" Jade lifted her head from the couch and peered down at her. She tried to push away the strange sense of envy rising up inside of her, especially since she never bothered to feel jealous of anyone else giving or getting attention from Trina. "You're not her sister."

"For what it's worth, right now none of us are." Jade hopped off the couch and walked over to her. "I'm not 'close' all of a sudden, I'm just trying to get her to warm up to us. Besides, you don't like her either." Tori struck the ground twice with her paw and looked away with a subtle huff. "Look. Tori. Apparently your grandpa is a rescue worker. He takes in stray animals and adopts them."

"Yeah. So?"

"So, if we warm up to both your sister and grandpa, they won't adopt us out for a while. That gives us ample time to figure out how to get back to normal before we're separated. Right?"

"I…guess so." Jade's reasoning did make sense, but then why did it hurt her so much to see Jade getting close to Trina. Even if it was just in an attempt to keep from being split apart. She watched the girl hop back onto the couch and curl into a ball against Trina's leg.

When her sister moved her hand to Jade's head, scratching behind her ear, Tori felt a sharp sting in her chest. Jade stretched her neck forward and sighed. "Wow, I never thought scratching a dog behind the ear felt so good." Tori moaned lightly and Jade raised a brow at her. "You know, you can do this too. Does this bother you or something?"

"Of course not! Why should I care if you get attention from her?"

"It is only so they don't get rid of us, Tori."

Trina's eyes lifted away from the laptop screen and fixated onto Tori. Her brow furrowed and her lips parted. "Aw, what's wrong little one?" Tori whined and sat down as Trina moved her hand to the couch and pat it twice. "Come here. Here, here."

Tori hesitated until Jade looked to Trina's hand, then back. "It's an invitation, Tori. Get up here and sit next to her." A lump formed in her throat and she barked once before rushing onto the couch and curling up beside her sister. A peculiar warmth swept over her heart as Trina rubbed her head.

"I guess you wanted some attention too, did you?" Trina chuckled softly and pulled her hand away. Tori gazed up and peered into her sister's eyes. "What are we going to do with you two? Grandpa always says to give the dogs a name so we can have something to call you before you're adopted. So 'dog' and 'poodle' won't do." Trina laughed once and watched as Tori crawled up into her lap, nestling herself between her sister's stomach and laptop. "Okay, if you're going to sit there…"

Trina set her computer on the cushion and reached down to scratch Tori on the back between her shoulders. Tori let out a contented sigh and stretched her limbs out. Trina tilted her head to the right and smirked. "You really are a prissy little thing aren't you? I've seen a lot of poodles, but not that many brown or black haired ones. You must think you're a one of a kind among your breed. And for some strange reason you remind me a little of my sister, and she always thinks so highly of herself, so I think I've got a name for you."

Tori reeled her head back as a shiver ran down her spine. She was nervous of what Trina would call her especially if Trina thought what she did. 'Princess' or 'Queen' was too generic, but she had a bad feeling that this was where it was leading.

"How about Cleo. Short for Cleopatra." Tori tilted her head and Jade looked up, confused. "I always think about the names. Cleopatra was a very entitled Egyptian princess in the ancient times, thought so much of herself and seduced Julius Cesar into killing her brother so she could be Queen. Then later seduced Marc Antony so she could have more power and hopefully rule over Rome. When Antony died, she tried to seduce the other Roman ruler…" Trina frowned and looked towards the computer. "Unfortunately that failed. As it so often does for anyone that just wants more power and attention."

"Cleo?" Jade hummed and Tori shot her a scolding look. "I'd say it fits." Tori rolled her eyes as Jade stretched herself and yawned. "She named me already. Artemis, who I think is the goddess of the wilderness."

"Apparently Trina's fascinated with Greek, Roman and Egyptian goddesses." They did make for good names, and she had to admit it was better than being called 'dog'. "I can't wait to see what they call Beck."

"With our luck, Zeus or Thor." Jade laughed and Tori shook her head. This was going to be a long night indeed.

So a little bit of amusement, but this gets things started. I believe I mentioned somewhere that they're going to end up having to do something for their friends too-but a big part of this is probably going to involve the ranch as well as trying to break from the curse.