A/N: Thanks to ActionLover203 for reviewing. Late thanks to Lainiebot and my other Guest reviewer too. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. Hope you like this chapter too. :)
"You owe me a dog."
"Wh-What?"
Peter looked up from where he was sitting on Nadia's couch, drinking a glass of water. He'd just finished his patrol for the day and was about to head on home after retrieving his bag when the dark haired woman called him into her apartment.
"To back up your story." Nadia said simply, looking up from her laptop.
"B-but it was just a story. It's not like Ned is ever going to find out you don't actually have a dog."
The young woman looked blandly at the teen across from her. "Really, Peter? Knowing Ned, don't you think he'll ask about it sometime soon? You come here to my apartment frequently enough, I'll have to invite him here too or he's just gonna ask on his own. What am I going to say when he looks for Stevie the dog?"
Peter opened his mouth to reason out, but snapped it shut after a moment of thought. He could totally imagine Ned doing that.
Seeing the boy's hesitant acceptance, Nadia chuckled.
"Now are you free this Saturday? I was planning to get a pet sometime anyway, even when I was aiming for a cat. We need to go look for the right dog to be my Stevie, and I don't know where the shelters are near here."
"Why'd we have to go all the way to the Bronx again? We have shelters in Queens." Peter asked, looking at the door a little further down the hall.
"Don't complain. A shelter further from home is better because it's less likely Ned will find out. Not that he'll really dig, but you can never be too sure." Nadia stood and approached the counter when the volunteer behind it finally finished answering a phone call. "And because I looked up different shelters and the dogs they had up for adoption. There were only two that really matched my description that were around New York. That first one didn't like me." Nadia nodded and smiled at the young man who let them sign their names in a logbook.
"Why did Ned have to ask so many questions? And why'd you have to pick a unique color like grey? You could've said brown or black." The boy groaned, following Nadia as the volunteer escorted them to the back to look at the dogs they had up for adoption. The young woman could only snicker at that.
"I wasn't really thinking about how hard it would be to find a grey retriever, Peter. I was just answering Ned's questions."
There were a lot of dogs, and practically all of them reacted when Nadia stepped through the door. Some howled, others growled, others whined, a few just looked warily at her with their ears pressed to their skulls. This happened at the first shelter too. Hopefully the Labrador retriever mix she'd seen on the shelter's site didn't react too badly to her. They soon reached the cage of said dog who was stretched out in a corner.
Nadia crouched down and whistled softly. "Hey there, boy." The dog looked at her, before his ears perked up.
"Hey, Peter!" She grinned. "I think-" She stopped when the canine's ears suddenly shifted down and he started growling and baring his teeth, scooching away from the human in front of him. Nadia sighed. It wasn't uncommon for dogs not to like her. Something about magic users set them off. "It's no use, Peter. I guess we'll just have to go with the other story." Tell Ned that Peter'd just forgotten his bag in the café she worked at and he'd been somewhat embarrassed to tell his friend that. Well, that Nadia had been embarrassed that she'd practically stalked Peter on Facebook to find a way to return his backpack. The things she did for the boy who was fast turning into a little brother of sorts for her….
"Nadia? How 'bout this one?" Nadia backed out of the enclosure she was standing in to look where her companion was pointing. "He isn't barking or growling like the others."
The young woman moved to stand beside Peter as he opened the door to the enclosure and crouched down to take a closer look at the canine. "Hi…" He said softly. The dog stepped forward hesitantly, pausing when he saw the another human stand behind the one calling him. His ears bent back a little but he looked to Peter, then to Nadia, tilting his head. "My friend here is looking for a nice dog. Don't worry if she smells funny to you. She's a good- a good person, really."
"Hey! Magic doesn't give off a smell… I think…" Nadia argued weakly.
The dog looked to be at least a year or so old. He leant into Peter's touch, wagging his tail when the boy scratched his chin.
"He's mostly grey too." Peter gestured at the canine's fur. He was right. The dog was mostly grey, his coat was dotted with black splotches and a little brown around his face and legs. His neck and underside were white though. But yeah… mostly grey. The boy encouraged Nadia to try petting the dog. Slowly, the young woman bent down.
"Hey there, baby." She said as softly and gently as possible. The canine seemed wary of her still, but he growled only in his throat and didn't bare his teeth. He didn't snarl or bark. Those had to be good signs. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." She cooed, stretching her hand out slowly. Soon her fingers brushed the fur between his ears. The dog was still growling, but it slowly decreased in volume and soon stopped completely as Nadia scratched his head and behind his ears. "Do you want to come home with me?" When he leaned forward when Nadia experimentally withdrew her hand, Peter smiled and looked somewhat triumphant.
"Well… Looks like you found your Stevie."
"Yeah…" The young woman sounded a bit out of it as she continued to pet her soon to be new dog. It took a moment before she snapped back to reality though. She grinned a little mischievously. "And don't think this is it. Guess who's going to be my kibble runner?"
Peter groaned again, looking upward at the ceiling as he ran a hand through his hair. "Can't you use your magic or something?"
"I live on the sixth floor of my building and the elevator is busted." Nadia stated matter-of-factly, smiling. "I can't exactly keep people from seeing the light show my magic makes when I use it."
A/N: Just drop your thoughts in a review. Comments, suggestions, or just flames... If there's anything you want to see in this fic, or if you have any suggestions, I'd like to know. Till next time~
