Prompt: Fantasy AU - Josh's stray dog may have something more to it than originally thought.
Joshua Matthews walked into his apartment, sighing from a little nap day of work. He had a part-time job and college to handle while trying not to forget where he kept his keys. Just a few weeks ago he'd lost his and had to remake one.
He instantly heard a bark when he walked inside, surprising him. He didn't have a dog.
The golden retriever wagged it's tail at his arrival as if waiting for him. He took hesitant steps towards it, looking around for any humans. "Hello?" He called. No answer, except another bark from the dog. "Where did you come from?" Josh knelt down, checking for a non-existent collar.
The dog turned it's head and strutted into his bedroom. Josh groaned when he noticed the open window. "Yep. That's me," he ran a hand through his hair.
"Alright," Josh closed it before calling the dog after him. It followed to the door but whined he insisted on taking it outside. Laying its head on its paws, he knew it had no intention of moving.
Josh sighed again, "Fine. But stay off the furniture." It lifted its head.
The next morning Josh had awoken to a scrapping noise outside his window. When he turned to look, it was again open. He was completely confused as no one had been there to touch since the day before.
Where the dog had fallen asleep next to his bed, now was occupied by a small dirt spot. "Huh." He got up, checking the rest of his residence. Josh had been right: the dog was gone. Looking at the time he realized he had to get to work. His clock must not have been working again.
He'd gotten home just like the day before, and was greeted as the day before. Josh gave the animal - a girl he came to see - a bath, and tried out names. When listing a name, she would make a noise he saw as a no. Josh had given up, "Maybe I'll just call you Golden. You got the locks."
She made the disagreement sound and ran over to a picture of his family plus some. It had been taken at Family Game Night at his brother's. Topanga, Cory, and Riley had been on the left. Riley's best friend Maya had given Josh and Riley the bunny ears in the back, making her best silly face. He chuckled at the memory from a few months ago, just somehow landing on Maya's nineteenth birthday.
"Riley?" No. "Topanga?" Nope. "Maya then?" She sat down, tail still wagging. "Okay, Maya." He started petting her, getting right behind the ears. "You're a good girl, Maya. Stubborn but good," reminding him of someone else he knew.
A few months later and he had gotten used to having Maya around. She left on her own volition whenever she please, but she always came back before four days.
Josh was happy with his companion around the house; he'd even let her start napping on the bed as long as she didn't smother him. However, it did change when he went to get her some food from the kitchen. What he returned to wasn't at all what he expected.
"Maya?" Josh shouted, shocked and stunned.
"Wat?" The blonde head lifted tiredly from his white covers until her eyes widened. "Oh, crap."
He stood there, holding a bag of treats: speechless.
Maya Hart got up from the bed and brushed the hair from her face. "Um. You weren't supposed to know I was a dog. I'm suddenly very glad I fell asleep after getting dressed. Stupid powers," she muttered.
"Okay. Well - Keep it to yourself for now, and I'll explain later." She started to creep around him towards the door. "And by the way, sorry I stole your taco last week." Josh watched her walked just barely get out the door before he ran to check on her. Instead of the bright, blonde haired and beautiful human, he saw a golden retriever walk down the hallway of his building.
This was something I just dribbled down one day, so excuse the time jump and lack of detail.