Little Rascal

Cling. Clank. Cling. Clank.

Seth blearily opened his eyes and lifted his head slightly towards the sound. He felt awful and it was his own damn fault. He knew that. He owned up to it but it still didn't stop the nausea that consumed him since late last night.

In a rush to get back to work in order to perform emergency surgery on a guinea pig, Christian had left a half of stick of butter on the counter top. Seth for some reason, which even he did not know, loved butter.

Seth loved the smell. He adored the way it tasted when he licked it. To him it was like almost eating cream, except it wasn't. It was butter and without fail every time Seth ate even a little bit he got sick.

Roman had tried to reason with him last night. The dog had barked at Seth furiously from the kitchen floor, glaring up at him for his poor choices and warning the cat that he would regret eating the butter. But Seth, in the moment, hadn't cared.

I wish I had cared, the cat thought to himself. Seth moaned as his stomach seemed to twist and clench in pain.

Cling. Clank. Cling. Clank.

Seth didn't have to wonder long about what that sound was. Dean came plodding into the living room with one of Christian's belts firmly in his tiny mouth. The sound was coming from the metal attached to the end of the belt as Dean dragged it along the floor.

Ohh, that pup is going to be in trouble, thought Seth as he realized that Dean had one of Christian's favorite belts and was the one he often wore to work. Seth didn't have the energy though to tell Dean that with his stomach still rebelling so he opted to just lay there and witness what would happen. He knew from experience that Christian would not be pleased if Dean made him late for work.

Dean clearly had a plan though Seth also realized as the sly puppy put down the belt and looked towards the direction of the master bedroom with a mischievous smirk on his face. Then, wasting little time, Dean scooted backwards, getting his little butt first under the couch and then grabbed the belt again with his mouth. Once he had the belt again, Dean slowly scooted back further and further under the couch until both him and the belt were out of sight.

Seth moaned as his head started to pound again. He wondered vaguely if he was going to vomit so more when he heard Dean start to chew on the belt. Seth's eyes snapped opened and looked anxiously towards the couch. Master was not going to be pleased with Dean at all. Just as Seth began to open his mouth to warn Dean against chewing the belt further, a furious yell from upstairs startled him.

"Dean! What did you do to my belt?!" Christian said in a raised voice coming down the steps, obviously in a hurry, his hair still wet from his morning shower.

Seth heard a few stifled giggles coming from underneath the couch but Christian hadn't heard the puppy as he went looking in the kitchen and the dining room first.

Seth groaned. Dean still hadn't learned to tell the difference between when his owner was playing or when he was upset, but he was going to if the look on Christian's face was any indication.

"Dean!" Christian said again in his no nonsense tone as he entered the living room with hawk-like eyes. Dean giggled again and this time Christian heard it. Without missing a beat, their owner got down on his knees and peered under the couch at the little puppy who was wagging his tail and held the belt in his teeth waiting for Christian to make the first move.

"There you are, you little rascal," stated Christian as he started to put one of his arms under the couch in order to grab the belt from the naughty pup, "Now, drop it."

"Nope!" yapped Dean happily as he scooted away from Christian's reach taking the belt with him.

"Dean," said Christian starting to become irritated, "Drop the belt, now!"

"Nope, you were gone all last night," yapped the puppy trying to make his owner understand that he just wanted to spend more time with him, "I couldn't cuddle with you last night so we play now!"

Christian reached for the belt and for a second time it was placed just beyond his grasp as Dean darted away playfully not realizing that his owner was in no mood for games. "Dean! I will not say it again! Come out from under there!" said Christian not shouting but getting close to it.

Seth whined and clutched his ears in pain as the loud voice of his owner and the puppy's yaps were hurting his head.

"Make me!" yapped Dean rebelliously as he danced back and forth underneath the couch dragging the belt with him.

"That's it! You're in big trouble," promised Christian as he got up and physically moved the couch so that he could get to Dean.

Dean, who had never seen his owner move the couch before, was startled as all of a sudden the huge object moved over his head and he was plucked from behind by Christian who also grabbed the belt with the other hand.

"You got me!" yapped Dean as he twisted his little head trying to lick his owner's face but Christian was in a foul mood especially when he saw the state of his favorite belt.

"You little deviant," said Christian sternly as he glared at Dean letting the puppy feel his displeasure.

"Wait…what did I do?" yipped Dean confused as he looked up at his owner with wide eyes. He had thought they were playing. Dean wanted to play. Didn't his owner want to as well?

"You are in time out," said Christian as he made his way over to the cage in the kitchen that he hadn't utilized yet with Dean until now. Christian opened up the door, put Dean in it and swiftly closed the door shut. "You will stay in there until I'm done getting ready for work so you can't get up to any more mischief," said Christian as he walked away sighing at the state of his belt. He had really liked that belt and now it was ruined.

Of course, Dean hadn't understood what Christian had said so he didn't know why he was in the cage or for how long he would be in there. Dean decided after two seconds that he didn't like this place. He couldn't go anywhere. He couldn't see anyone right now. His owner was upstairs, Seth was in the living room and Roman was outside. Plus he couldn't get to his food or water dish! Dean whimpered, he didn't like being alone.

Dean tentatively put his paw on the door and pushed on it. It wouldn't give. Dean then tried a different technique. He tried pawing on the door like he had seen Roman do to the front door. It still wouldn't budge. Dean plopped down on his hind legs.

"I don't like!" yapped Dean trying to get someone's attention. No one responded. "Get me out!" Dean yapped again but not a soul came into the kitchen. "I don't like! I don't LIKE!" yapped Dean as loud as he could. The wolfie's bottom lip began to tremble as he realized that no one was getting him out.

"NO!" Dean cried banging on the door to the cage, "Don't leave me in here! 'M sorry! S..ssorry!" sobbed the pup, his s's getting worse as he became distressed. Dean's chest heaved as he cried some more. He was only in there for a few minutes, but for Dean it felt like a lifetime. By the time, Christian came back into the kitchen all ready to go to work, Dean was a blubbering mess.

Christian gazed with sympathy at the little puppy who was whimpering and crying at being in the cage. His anger had cooled and he had supposed he was partly to blame for his belt getting ruined by leaving it on the floor for the young puppy to come and get. "Okay, little guy, I'm getting you out," said Christian in his soothing voice as he opened the door and the little pup went running into his lap.

"I'm sssorry, ssorry," cried Dean as he trembled on Christian's lap as his owner stroked his back, "I just don't want you to go. Don't go."

"It's okay, you're fine," said Christian as he placed Dean down on the ground and stood up. "Be good, I'm going to work now." 'Work' was one of the few words Dean understood.

"No!" yapped Dean jumping up on his owner's leg and trying to get him to pick him up again. "You were just there! Don't go! I don't want you to go!"

"Come on, Dean, don't make a fuss," chided Christian as he gently shooed the puppy off of him and then skillfully opened the door quickly and shut it behind him before the pup could come after him.

Dean furiously scratched and pawed at the front door trying through sheer force of will for his owner to come back but he didn't. "No! Not fair! Come back! Want to play!" yapped Dean. The pup stood in front of the door for a solid ten minutes whimpering, whining and crying but his owner still hadn't come back.

"DEAN!" Seth's pained meow startled the puppy out of his misery as he gazed at the cat who was still moaning in pain due to his overindulgence with butter. "Just come over here and you can cuddle with me," meowed the cat in a faint whisper.

Dean became concerned with Seth's weak voice and plodded over to the cat silently as he studied him with a crooked glance.

"This is why Ro said that you shouldn't have butter. Right, Seth?" yipped Dean in an innocent voice.

"Let's leave Roman out of this right now," breathed Seth as he closed his eyes and motioned for Dean to come lie down next to him. "The last thing I need is a lecture from him about my failings."

"Okay," huffed Dean as he plopped down next to the cat, "I'm going to dream of belts, Seth," proclaimed Dean in his sleepy voice as he closed his eyes and settled down for a nap.

"Dream on, little one," said Seth smiling at the pup fondly, "Dream on and perhaps one day you will get your wish."

I'm not sure if what Christian did is the proper way to discipline a puppy, so just take the story for what it is, a little fictional story and please forgive any mistakes of actual puppy training on my part.

Thanks for reading and reviewing :)