As the initial excitement that he'd felt over the new arrivals waned, Dodger got himself back to his usual priorities; getting up to mischief, teasing girls, and generally making a show of himself. In recent months he'd been spending a great deal of time off on his own, testing his own abilities and building quite the reputation. He'd started wandering off by himself more often during the couple of months when Rita was absent; the sense of exploration and the need to learn quickly kept his mind away from stewing in resentment, and since then he'd kept it up to an extent. Often he'd wander back home in the early hours of the morning, if he did come back at all. Every now and then he found himself wondering if he'd be better off eventually leaving Fagin and his friends so he could really throw himself into becoming a street dog above all the rest, and be able to live a truly care-free life with no responsibilities. Deep down, he'd always been affected by losing his mother at a young age, and he wondered if leaving his puppyhood home behind would allow him to forget. Any thoughts of leaving were quickly extinguished though; always trumped by how much his friends meant to him- even Francis, who had little time for the young mutt. Dodger knew that he could never bring himself to let Fagin down; not after all he'd done to care for the young pup when he could barely feed himself. So often, dogs that he met on the streets would scoff at Dodger's friendship with a human, but then, Dodger told himself, they must not have met a human like Fagin.

Confident in his ability to bring something useful back for Fagin without too much trouble, Dodger's focus to start the day with was seeking out something to eat in the meantime… and possibly an encounter with an attractive young lady. He'd grown up enough that his flirting was more than just a way of drawing attention to himself from cute strangers, so the time he was spending without anyone else tagging along behind could be put to good use. By now he knew all the best places for encountering other dogs- there were several spots that were almost always buzzing with canine activity, and female company would not be difficult to find.

Approaching a run-down old building that usually had at least a few dogs hanging around, Dodger's eye was caught by a pretty stranger. She appeared to be a Border collie, or at least had rather a lot of Border collie in her. She was petite, and had a white stripe going down her face which contrasted with her black fur. Her hackles raised at the sight of him, a usual response to an encounter with an unknown street dog. Dodger leaned against the wall, relaxed, making it clear that he was not a threat. The collie's fur smoothed back down, and her eyes flicked over him. Dodger smirked- she was obviously interested, and the feeling was mutual.

"So, darlin', you live round here?" he grinned, and sauntered over.

The collie smiled, amused. This guy was not much more than a pup, but he managed to turn heads all right. The sparkle in his eye and that charming grin drew her right in, and she wanted him. "That's not the kind of information I give out to strangers… even if they are as cute as you."

"Then maybe we ought to get better acquainted?" Dodger turned to walk out of the alley, making eyes at the stranger over his shoulder. She would follow, of that he was sure.

A couple of hours later, the Border collie mix was still staying close to Dodger, having been triumphantly seduced. Dodger was pleased with his efforts, and happily rolled around on his back in good spirits after a morning of good loving. The collie was quite taken with him, and he was more than willing to enjoy the attention. Now that he'd gotten what he wanted, he did, however, need to get at least something constructive done. With newcomers on the scene, extra food was needed to keep everyone in good shape. Since his tumultuous first day, Francis had gotten over his reluctance to consume stolen goods, which he took as an option preferable to eating from the trash. As the bulldog had thus far proven himself useless in the thieving department, Dodger had to take it upon himself to bring home more food than was needed to feed just himself. He got back to his feet and stretched. "You want to go for something to eat?" he asked, giving his lover-of-the-day his most charismatic smile.

The Border collie happily joined him, "Sure, do you have anything in mind?"

Dodger thought a little about the best way of finding something that would feed several dogs but at the same time could be easily carried. If he could get his paws on a whole string of hotdogs, or something big like a pizza, that would be perfect… but it was a big ask. The collie had given him an enjoyable afternoon, but Dodger had no intention of allowing her to take away what he should be bringing back home. It was nothing personal, but he had a family to take care of now. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her; an accomplice would be useful. Hotdogs, he decided, would be the best option; easy to get away with quickly and always popular with his pals. Hopefully, the collie wouldn't be one of those types who wouldn't go anywhere near humans, at least not when food was on offer. "I could go for hotdogs. You know if there are any vendors that frequent these parts?"

The collie nodded, "I'll show you." She trotted along happily, glancing every now and then to her companion in an almost love-struck manner. As she came nearer to her target, she'd stop every now and then to sniff the air, checking for signs that she was on the right track. Finally she stopped. "There you go, handsome," she said, "hotdogs. You're not gonna actually go over and just… take them, are you? You gotta be pretty gutsy to try somethin' like that."

"Takin' on that idiot? No problem!" Reaching the collie's side, Dodger scanned the area. The lunchtime rush was long since over and there was no one to block access to the vendor… and the sausages. The downside to this was the fact that there would be nothing to distract the man from the assault on his wares. Dodger turned to the collie, who was already licking her lips. "With you by my side, this'll be a piece a' cake. Think you can get him away from there? Leave the actual snatching to the pro."

"Okay," the Border collie said, and she moved forward to start her approach. "Show me what you can do." She dashed in, and bit at the vendor's trousers, snapping and snarling. She dodged out the way as the man kicked out, but then came in again to grab hold and pull him a little way away. A glance back toward the stand told her that Dodger was making his move.

Dodger struck quickly; the hullabaloo caused by the collie was beginning to draw a little too much attention- not that he was fearful of dog catchers or the like, but the sooner he got out of there with the sausages, the better. He pulled at the string of hotdogs and almost a dozen came away. With a single quick movement, he flung them behind his head so they hung loosely around his neck. His accomplice was still terrorising the vendor, so Dodger could quickly slip away before she knew what had happened. His prize safely around his neck, he made a quick getaway across several lanes of traffic. Very few street dogs were road savvy enough to risk such a move, so Dodger was not surprised in the slightest when he looked over his shoulder to see the Border collie mix first searching for him, confused, and then, as his trickery became clear, snarling shouting in fury, from the safety of the other side of the road. She wouldn't be taking the risk to regain her share of the meal, and Dodger had no need to worry about being followed- certainly not quickly enough to catch up, at any rate. He jauntily carried on down the next street, filled with satisfaction over what could not have been a more successful afternoon.

"Dodge, you really are terrible."

Dodger paused and looked over his shoulder. He knew that voice in an instant, and smirked his response. "So I'm bad? Gets results, don't it?"

"That I can't argue with." Rita strutted up from behind, eyeing the hotdogs around his neck. She'd eaten very little all day, just a few scraps here and there, and those sausages smelt so good. "Pity your new friend couldn't stick around for dinner… or are you movin' on to the next one already?"

"You make it sound like she got nothin' out of our encounter. I just thought we'd skip dinner and get straight to the fun part. I don't have all day, ya know." Dodger casually scratched at his ear. "Which leaves a potential dinner reservation wide open," he pulled off the string of sausages and flung them around Rita's neck, "if you're not doing anything?"

Rita giggled. "Tempting though it is, we might have to make that a dinner for five. I'd hate for poor Scout to get the wrong idea."

"It's only dinner, no need for your boyfriend to get his tail all knotted. Unless of course you want there to be." Dodger winked and moved closer. It was all in good fun, just the way he'd always been with her- except these days Rita would flirt back.

"Come on, we'd better get moving or the hotdogs will be cold." Rita smacked the mutt in the face with her tail and laughed as she trotted off. Truth be told, she liked the way he teased her. Dodger had charm in abundance and she was happy to play up to him. Rita sometimes wondered if she was allowing herself to get sucked in too far, but decided not to worry too much about it- just about every girl she knew had a little crush on Dodger, why should she be any different? What was more important was the bond of friendship they shared. Any doubts that she once had that Dodger truly cared for her were long gone; despite the hurt Rita had caused him, he'd been her rock after she arrived back at the barge, almost dead, after her long weeks alone. He was almost always at her side as she recovered, even though he'd obviously been hurt badly, and helped her to find the courage she needed to get back out on the streets. In the face of his reputation as a Class A jerk, Dodger really was loyal to the core, and Rita had a whole lot of respect for that.

Dodger ran to catch up and nipped at Rita's ear. He noticed a small wound on her shoulder. "You get into a fight?"

Rita scowled. "Tito got into a fight. The dog was about ten times his size! I had to step in so the stupid kid didn't get himself bitten in half."

"I should've said something about that, he doesn't like to back down. Just don't let him start anything and you're fine- or grab him before he can jump in." Irritating though Tito's fearlessness could be, Dodger was impressed nonetheless. That kind of spirit was admirable.

"The kid's got a screw loose," Rita said, "If Fagin hadn't found him he'd have got himself killed by now. The only reason he isn't dead is that we're around to get bit for him, and that's gonna get old real quick."

"Guess he got lucky with us, then," Dodger shrugged, "Don't worry so much; he'll wise up eventually, and in the meantime at least it'll keep ya on your toes."

"I don't need keeping on my toes, Dodger, if I want to get beaten up I'll arrange it myself. I still think you should take some time to work with Frankie, help him out a bit. He really doesn't have a clue, and leaving me or Einstein to take care of him hasn't worked so far."

"If I take him out tomorrow, will you get off my back?" Dodger grumbled, fed up of Rita's recent attempts to get him to coach Francis. As far as he concerned, it was unnecessary; street smarts would either come to Francis or they wouldn't. Dodger was quite happy enough working solo, free to do things his own way without taking care of hangers on.

"The sooner he can pull his own weight, the better- and you'll have more time to keep the ladies of New York happy if you don't have to pick up the slack. I just think you could get through to him better than I can, you know how much Francis likes me." Rita said, hopeful that Dodger might start being more helpful. He seemed content to limit his assistance to the newcomers to hanging out with Tito, with whom he could just have a good time with no resistance. "You can always get back to makin' your way through the ladies of the city once you've fixed him up. I'm sure all those girls won't keel over and die in your absence."

"Fine, but if it matters so much to you, you can come along too." Dodger surged forward, taking the lead as he always did. He almost always took the same route home, which made it easier to run into Rita or Einstein on his way. Now, it was a force of habit.

Satisfied by Dodger's response, Rita ran to catch up with him, and playfully bounded along by his side. The movement sent the hotdogs slipping down. Not missing a beat, Dodger grabbed hold of the sausages and swung them back around his own neck. Put out, Rita made to pull the hotdogs back, and the pair engaged in a brief playful tussle. Dodger sped up, moving through the building site in which they found themselves with ease, glancing back every now and then to encourage his friend to chase. They made their way home, playfully running and nipping at one another the whole way, knowing that the gift of dinner they brought would only be too well received. They were changing; maturing into young adults with responsibilities, love lives, and greater appreciation for the harsh realities of the street life. Together, though, with the freedom to run and play, to answer to no-one, and to grow into themselves, Dodger and Rita could blossom into their adult selves with few cares, knowing that there was nothing to fear while they had one another's backs. Springing forward with seemingly endless energy and his best friend right behind him, any thoughts Dodger might have had of moving on to something different, something new, were, for the time being, miles away.