Jasper Frost froze in the doorway of Eleanor's bedroom, a frown settling over his features. He'd heard her voice as he came down the hall, and expected her to be high or blackout drunk or something else that was relatively normal for her. Yet Eleanor was definitely not doing anything remotely normal (for her).
"What?" was all he could manage to say as he took in the scene before him.
"Careful there. Your accent is starting to show" Eleanor commented as she arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him.
The princess was perched on her bed, playing with something that was definitely not drugs but was probably just as addictive. Jasper walked forward until he was standing at the foot of the bed. A small, black puppy stared up at him with large brown eyes. Jasper raised an eyebrow at it and it let out a tiny yip that was absolutely adorable. Trust Eleanor to pick a dog that was so similar to her. The little furry thing on the bed barked and bounded forward to eagerly lick Jasper's hand. The bodyguard glared and snatched his hand back, wiping the saliva off with a disgusted look on his face.
"It's only a puppy" Eleanor sighed and rolled her eyes. She scooped the puppy off the bed when it slipped and fell on her duvet.
"Your mother has asked to see you" Jasper said stiffly. Eleanor held the puppy up to his face, a teasing smile curving her lips. The puppy wriggled and licked the tip of Jasper's nose, letting out a sharp bark that made Jasper jump back in surprise.
"Alright, let's not keep the Evil Queen waiting" Eleanor stalked past him, cuddling the puppy, once she saw how unamused Jasper was by the puppy.
"What is that?" Helena demanded.
"A puppy" Eleanor rubbed the animal's ears as the puppy flinched at the queen's relatively harsh tone.
Helena wrinkled her nose and pulled it out of her daughter's grasp. Holding it at arm's length, she deposited in Jasper's hands. The bodyguard looked positively horrified and Eleanor tried to conceal a smile at the expression on his face. He walked out of the room, holding the puppy a good three feet away from his body.
"Why do you have a puppy?" the queen asked.
"I needed some company, other than your brilliant personality" Eleanor sarcastically responded, placing her hands on her hips.
Helena didn't say anything and Eleanor saw her jaw tighten almost imperceptibly.
"It was one of…Robert's charities. The puppy was going to be euthanized if no one adopted her," the princess explained.
"Jasper" Helena called. The bodyguard entered again, still looking incredibly uncomfortable.
"Why did you not prevent my daughter from adopting a dog?"
"She didn't exactly tell me, Your Majesty."
"I'm sure she didn't" Helena remarked wryly, "you're responsible for returning the animal to whatever shelter it came from."
Ignoring Eleanor's scoff and Jasper's beginning of a protest, Helena stalked over to Jasper and took the puppy away from him, handing her to Rachel. Eleanor immediately stormed over to Rachel and tugged the puppy away from her.
"She's staying with me." Eleanor turned on her heel and left the room, alternating between muttering obscenities about her mother and baby talking to the puppy.
"That thing probably has mange" Helena called after her daughter.
The only answer she received was the all too familiar sound of the doors to her room slamming.
"She's absolutely precious" Ophelia more or less squealed. She was seated cross-legged on Eleanor's carpet, playing with the puppy.
"What's her name?" Liam asked, looking at Eleanor.
"Roberta, Robbie for short" Eleanor said. She suddenly became very interested in her shirt hem.
"May I ask why you chose that name?" Liam asked quietly. He leaned against a chair, watching his girlfriend cuddle the black puppy.
She gave him a look that clearly said that not only was she not going to explain, but that she also thought he was stupid. Liam shrugged and crouched down to scratch the puppy behind his ears.
"I'll see you both later," he announced, as he stood up. Ophelia and Eleanor nodded, too distracted by the puppy to really care. Liam grinned and shook his head as Marcus followed him out the door. It was nice to finally see Eleanor interested in something that was actually good for her.
"So how's it going with…you know?" Ophelia wiggled her eyebrows in the direction of Jasper.
"Bye bye" Eleanor turned to Jasper and a shooing motion with her hand. He sighed and left the room, closing the doors quietly behind him.
"He hates Robbie," Eleanor said, tickling the puppy under her chin. Robbie promptly rolled over and stared up adoringly at Ophelia until the girl scratched her fingers lightly against the puppy's soft, furry stomach.
"Any particular reason?"
"Other than the fact that he's a grouch?" Eleanor sighed, "no. I don't think he's very predisposed to anything cute or anything that doesn't have to deal with guns or…protecting my body."
Ophelia tried not to smile at that.
"Anyways, I think you and Liam are the only ones besides me who actually like Robbie."
"Her Majesty doesn't like her?" Ophelia asked.
"The woman loves cats" Eleanor gave her a look, "she tried giving Robbie to Rachel."
Robbie let out a sharp yip at that, and both girls could've sworn she actually looked upset.
"I should be going too, rehearsal and stuff" Ophelia glanced down at her phone to check the time.
"Alright" Eleanor got up, Robbie bounding to her feet as well.
Ophelia waved goodbye as she walked down the hall.
"Well, aren't you sour today" Eleanor snarked as she looked at Jasper's rather stiff face.
"I don't believe you should keep the animal," he stated firmly.
"Well you didn't have to be so obvious."
"Your mother doesn't like her."
"My mother doesn't like a lot of things. She doesn't like me" Eleanor pointed out, "and she doesn't like you either."
Jasper sighed and turned to leave. Eleanor watched him walk away, when a small smile came over her face and a rather naughty thought popped into her head.
"Wait" she called after her retreating bodyguard.
"I'm going out for a bit and I need you to watch Robbie for me" Eleanor said, careful to keep her face impassive as she carefully deposited Robbie into her bodyguard's arms.
"Your-" Jasper started, but his sentence was cut off by the sound of Eleanor's doors closing (and locking).
Jasper wasn't trained for situations like this. He was a bodyguard, not a dog sitter. He eyed the panic button beside Eleanor's bed with a thought, but decided against it. Groaning he looked down at the little puppy in his arms. She simply blinked up at him with remarkably expressive eyes and yawned.
"Guess it's just you and me, huh?"
When Eleanor got back several hours later, she felt the smallest tinge of concern for Robbie. She didn't think Japer would kill Robbie, but then she knew how jealous of anything that took up a majority of her attention and quickened her strides. She reached her room in record time and opened the doors, unsure of what she'd find.
Jasper was fast asleep on her sofa, and Robbie was sleeping as well, curled on his stomach. On of his hands was resting protectively over Robbie's back, rising and falling with each of Robbie's breaths. His normally tense face was smooth and Eleanor could've sworn she saw him smile in his sleep.
Now that Eleanor could breathe easier knowing that Robbie was still alive, she knew she couldn't waste this opportunity.
Pulling out her phone, she quietly took several photos of the adorable scene before her.
She posted them on her Twitter, grinning with satisfaction when Rachel didn't censor them or the words she tweeted with them (my bodyguard needs an emotional therapy dog ).
The next day headlines appeared on many of the newspapers and tabloids. All of them were coupled with the picture of Jasper and Robbie. The articles all said that the princess Eleanor would be taking over one of her late brother's charities and arranging for shelter dogs to become therapy dogs.
Eleanor smiled when she saw that. Yes, Robbie was definitely here to stay.
-end-
A/N: I know it said that the story was complete, but I am now turning it into a series of drabbles involving Jasper and Eleanor. All of them will be fluffy cute stuff. Please let me know what you think of it so far!
