Caught up in the simple joy of relaxing with her friends, Rita's eye was suddenly caught by a canine figure approaching- it was Scout. Surprised, she jumped to her feet immediately and barked a welcome, but waited for him to come to her.
Dodger, who was not a huge fan of Rita's boyfriend, frowned at the sight. It had been going so well, the five of them working together, and Scout was only going to get in the way of that. At least, he thought, he made her happy, but that didn't mean he'd ever really like him.
"Ooh, is it Rita's boyfriend?" Tito laughed, jumping up onto the back of a disgruntled Francis to catch a better look.
Scout sauntered over and dropped a pigeon that he'd caught at Rita's paws, "Hi princess, are you hungry?" he asked, looking at Rita lovingly.
"She's already eaten some real food," Dodger said quickly, "Maybe you should try it yourself sometime." He couldn't see why anyone would willingly choose to eat raw, feathery vermin when there was plenty of proper food ripe for the taking all around them. The shepherd just didn't have the nerve to take advantage of it.
Rita angrily nipped at Dodger's ear, "Cut it out, will you?" She turned back to Scout and smiled, "Hi, baby. I'm not hungry right now, but thanks." Stepping over the pigeon, she moved in to nuzzle his neck, ignoring the kissy noises Tito was mockingly making behind her.
"Are you finished work today?" Scout asked hopefully, "It'd be great to hang out- just the two of us, I've hardly seen you recently."
Though she'd been enjoying the day spent with the gang all together, Rita knew that it had been too long since she'd been with Scout, and it would make for the perfect end to a great day. She ignored the sniggers coming from behind her- Tito probably. "I'm all done. Do you want to go for a long walk, and then just go from there?"
Scout beamed his response, and picked up the pigeon in his jaws before starting on his way, knowing that Rita would follow.
As she moved to follow after Scout, Rita noticed that Dodger looked a little crestfallen. It did seem a shame to put an end to what had been the only successful day out all together since Francis and Tito turned up, and Rita guessed that Dodger didn't want to see it over either. She turned back to him and nipped at him once more, though this time playfully. "I'll see you round, Dodgie-baby, shouldn't be too late."
Dodger seemed to cheer up a little- Rita's flirting usually had that effect on him, and she could go on her way content in the knowledge that he understood that this part of her life was important too. Every now and then, Dodger would be a bit too snarky towards Scout, but he was quick to tone it down as soon as it began to bother Rita. She wasn't stupid; she knew full well that neither Scout nor Dodger liked one another much, but had no intention of compromising on either relationship- she was entitled to enjoy both her childhood best friend and her dashing sweetheart, and they'd both just have to live with it. Actually, Dodger appreciated that about her; she didn't take garbage from anyone- and nor, he thought, should she.
Once Rita caught up with Scout, they walked side by side, close enough they would brush gently against one another every now and then. Rita loved the feeling. With his feathered meal all finished and the last drops licked from his lips, Scout took the opportunity to have a serious talk.
The shepherd gazed over Rita admiringly. "You're so beautiful, you know that?" He loved the way she smiled when he said it. "I've been thinking, Rita, we've got something pretty good going on between the two of us. I know sometimes I feel like I don't understand you at all- I mean that thing with the human is still pretty weird to me, but I also know how you make me feel. I just wonder if we're really moving forward?"
Rita smiled and rubbed her head against his shoulder. "It feels good, me and you. You're wonderful, Scout, a real gentleman- and I don't come across many of them. I'm happy the way things are right now, we have a lot of fun," she hesitated, "is there something more you want?"
Scout stopped and sat down. "Yes. What it comes down to is that I want you to be my mate; properly I mean, not just running off together every few nights for light-hearted- but very enjoyable- hook ups. I want to be with you all the time. Sooner or later we're going to have to live together if this is really going to go anywhere. I don't mean right away, but I'd like to know that that's where we're heading."
For a moment Rita was too stunned to speak. At not even a year old, she hadn't thought of the relationship as anything serious; just a bit of fun as she was growing up and exploring a different side to herself. "I… Scout, I don't know where I want us to go with this. I'm not ready to commit to anything real serious, I'm still sorta working myself out." As she swallowed what he wanted from her, Rita became distressed. "You're important to me, you really are, but I can't tell you that I'll turn my back on my family for you, I just can't!" This really wasn't turning out to be the evening she'd had in mind. Scout looked hurt, but he was asking too much of her and there was no getting away from that.
"It's just a human, they abandon dogs all the time, it's no big deal. Besides, you're training up those new guys, they can take your place," Scout said hopefully, but seeing Rita's expression harden, he hastily added, "I don't expect anything to happen overnight, but just think about it, all right? We could have a real future together- maybe even a litter within the next year."
All of a sudden, Rita just wanted to be home. How could she possibly enjoy the night with Scout she'd been anticipating when his idea of their relationship was so different to hers? The mood had been completely ruined. She couldn't believe how easy it was for him to disregard everything that mattered to her.
"Sweetie, you're asking too much from me," Rita said, turning away. "I want to be with you, but I can't leave my family. I just can't." She looked back to him, trying to stay calm. "I thought things were right between us the way we are now; we've got all our lives to get serious and settle down, let's just enjoy ourselves while we're young. I'm hardly more than a pup myself, there's no way I'm even thinking about having any of my own."
Scout was disheartened, but didn't want to spoil their time together- it would only be too soon before Rita would be running back to Dodger and their human. "All right, I'm sorry I said anything. If it's really too much for you to consider right now, can you at least try and find more time for me? I can't help feeling that you'd rather be around Dodger."
Rita was grateful that Scout didn't want to push anything for the time being, but still unnerved. "I know I should be making more of an effort, but things have been pretty crazy back home recently- you know that. You also knew when we started this that my family is my first priority, and that includes Dodger. There's nothin' going on between us, and if you can't trust me that's your problem," she spoke with a slight growl, but then softened a little, catching herself. "I want to be with you, Scout, just don't try and rush me, and don't expect me to be able to just walk away from Fagin just because you don't like humans."
"Okay, okay," Scout affectionately nibbled at Rita's ear, hoping to smooth things over, "we can just keep things as they are for now." Disappointed though he was, he didn't want to cause a fall-out, and Rita was obviously not going to budge on the matter. He decided it best to wait a while before continuing to voice his displeasure about her hanging around Dodger all day.
Rita nuzzled back. "I'm going to try harder. I'll find time to see you every day, we'll make it work."
"So do you want to find somewhere to snuggle up for a little while?"
"Honey, I'm not really feeling it right now. We had a busy day today and I just want to crash out," Rita said, no longer in the mood for a romantic night out, "Tomorrow, I promise. I'll finish up early so we can spend most of the day together, get something to eat, and then enjoy all the snuggling your heart desires." She kissed his face tenderly, "It'll be worth the wait."
Scout sighed. "I guess I can live with that," he whispered, and he softly kissed her. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then. Love you, Rita."
Rita nuzzled him, again feeling that he was more invested in the relationship than she was. It was uncomfortable, like she was somehow letting him down. "See you tomorrow, Scout," was all she said in return.
Arriving back at the barge after a long walk to clear her head, Rita felt oddly queasy. To even have been discussing her walking out on the gang after the last time filled her with guilt, and she found herself resenting Scout forcing that on her. She was left confused by the state of the relationship. Rita thought that she owed it to herself and to Scout to keep trying with it, but suddenly her heart wasn't in it anymore. It felt rather like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over her and shocked to her senses. For the time being, it seemed that Scout had accepted her stance on the matter and they could carry on keeping things casual. She decided that it was worth a shot.
Rita came downstairs to find everyone already home and happily lounging around. Dodger was lying sprawled out on his belly in front of the television, casually switching his attention intermittently between the baseball game that was playing and Tito's lively recount of his great escape from his previous home. Not long ago, such a tale would have gotten on Rita's nerves, but she'd since gotten over her feelings about the little dog's running away. She wouldn't be quick to admit it, but Tito had grown on her a lot. Hearing her come down, Dodger offered Rita a quick glance of recognition before promptly turning his attention back to Tito's tale. Francis had crashed out a little while away, appearing dead to the world. It wasn't a surprise considering he'd almost certainly never had such a busy day in his life. Rita couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, and looked around for Einstein. The Great Dane was in the corner of the barge with Fagin, who was pulling through a pile of bits and bobs apparently looking for something.
"Lost something, Einstein?" Rita called to him.
Einstein looked up, surprised, and grinned at the sight of his friend. "Fagin's looking for my Frisbee. Do you remember? We used to play with it all the time. Someone must have put it somewhere. Fagin says it will be more fun to play with that than the ball," he said.
It occurred to Rita that it was more likely that the old toy had been thrown into the water accidentally at some point and lost forever. It always did fly in a wonky sort of manner.
"If we find it, do you want to come play?" Einstein asked earnestly.
Rita smiled. "Sure, I will. Don't bet on gettin' a game outta Frankie though, he looks like he'll be staying put for a long time."
With a wag of his tail, Einstein went back to merrily ploughing through the grimy contents of the barge. Even if he didn't find the Frisbee, he was happy to be helping Fagin.
Leaving them to it, Rita retreated back to her bed, still feeling like she'd somehow betrayed them through the conversation she'd had with Scout. She tried not to let it bother her- after all, she had set him straight. Hopefully she'd be able to somehow keep Scout happy without sacrificing time she should be spending with the gang. Aside from any responsibility she felt, she'd had a wonderful time with her friends and imagined she would have been happier had Scout not turned up that afternoon. She wasn't about to miss out on that just to satisfy a relationship that now didn't seem likely to be long-lived. Her eyelids drooping, Rita welcomed a sleep after what had been a very busy day.
By the time Rita had woken from her nap it must have been late as everyone else seemed to be snoring and the barge dark. It seemed Einstein hadn't found the Frisbee after all; he surely would have woken her if the opportunity for a game had arisen. Perhaps it was just as well that she'd missed out on an evening with her friends, she still felt as though she'd wronged them. Cursing Scout's ruining things, Rita lay her head back down.
"You been avoiding me, Rita-girl?" Dodger's voice caused Rita to lift her head back up.
She scoffed. "I was tired, that's all. I hate to break it to you, handsome, but my life doesn't revolve around you."
Dodger smirked and shifted himself around so he could talk to her easier. "So, how was the boyfriend? You two have fun?"
"It was all right," Rita said with a shrug. She wanted to really talk to Dodger, but knew he'd react badly if he knew what they'd been discussing. Treading carefully, she added, "I'm actually not sure it's working for me."
"Whatcha mean? You looked pretty into him from where I was standing! Somethin' happened?" Dodger raised an eyebrow. Something was weird here. Maybe that boring, vermin-eating shepherd wasn't meeting her needs… if that were the case Dodger was more than happy to supplement his efforts.
"I'm just not sure we're a good match, that's all. I'm gonna keep seeing him for now, but I'm not sure it'll last long. He's a nice guy and I like him, but I'm not sure how I really feel anymore."
"Well, that was vague," said Dodger. There wasn't a lot he could do with that information. "You're okay though, right?"
Rita nodded. "Yeah, fine. I'm fine," Having had enough of thinking about Scout, she steered the conversation away. "What about you? Did you just hang out with the guys after I left?"
Dodger yawned, taking the hint. "Pretty much. I came across this spaniel and I got her talkin'. Could tell she wanted me but then Tito came over to 'help me out'. Kid's got a lot to learn about winning over the ladies."
"You better fix him up, don't want him cramping your style," Rita said with a laugh. She went quiet for a moment, lost in thought. "Do you think they're going to stick around? Francis and Tito, I mean."
Dodger glanced over to the newcomers. They were lying together, Tito perched atop his friend's broad back. "I know he's been putting up a fight, but I reckon Francis is pretty happy. They'll stick around."
"You know what, Dodgie," Rita said, "I hope so. I didn't like either of them at first- don't tell them-"
Dodger laughed. "Rit, they know ya didn't like 'em. It was fairly obvious."
"-but actually this feels nice," she continued, "like they're part of the family now. I can't see how there's anywhere else for Francis to go anyway, this is about as much he could hope for. And he wouldn't go nowhere without Tito."
"I don't think Tito's plannin' on runnin' back home to be a lap dog anytime soon. They're home for good," Dodger said confidently. "We're a family now; all of us. Just you wait, once I got them trained up like I did with you, we're gonna be runnin' this city."
Rita laid her head down and rested her eyes. The guilt she'd been feeling had faded somewhat- she knew exactly where her loyalties lay, and Scout could accept it or look elsewhere for a mate. How could she even consider walking away when the future with her family looked brighter than ever? She curled herself up so that her tail fell over her face, ready to go back to sleep. "Sounds like you're going to be busy," she murmured.
Dodger smiled a little and rested his head in a cushion. He could hear the sleepiness coming through in Rita's voice; it seemed she was ready to call it a night. "Yeah. I'd better get some sleep, huh? G'dnight, Rita."
Already, Rita was almost dozing off. She made a soft noise that was close to a 'goodnight', knowing that Dodger would get the message. Feeling far more content than she had been, she soon drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
