A/N: Prompt by Anon:
So in the wiki it says Alastor is (or was) afraid of dogs since they had something to do with his death. Could you write a chapter off of Husk discovering his fear?

Technically Alastor just dislikes dogs in canon instead of being afraid of them, but I think him being afraid of them is much more entertaining so I certainly stan that ;)

This happens between chapters 1 and 2 of Fine, Jackass!

Husk and Alastor were having an outing in a park. Yes, that's what Husk liked to mentally call their friendly activities that involved not being at either of their homes, fuck you very much.

An outing could be anything. It could be a bar trip. It could be grocery shopping. It could be Alastor summoning him to some completely random place that ranged from a café to a garden party to a wilderness area in the middle of nowhere. It could be just going out for a walk. Alastor seemed to be happy with any kind of an activity or even lack-there-of as long as they spent some time together on a semi-regular basis.

Husk felt weirdly flattered about having someone be that keen on hanging out with him of all people. He hadn't had that kind a relationship with anyone since he died – Hell, it had been a while even before he died. Sometimes, when he was just the right amount of drunk and sentimental, he felt like crying from sheer, silly happiness because of it. It was so stupid and embarrassing, and there was no fucking way in hell that he'd tell Alastor, but having someone who cared was really nice.

Regardless of how secretive he was about his appreciation of Alastor's friendship, the fact that said appreciation existed was why he was starting to really pay attention to all the little things about his friend. And that's why he noticed the subtle change in Alastor's body language when a group of dog demons entered the park they were currently having an outing at.

The two of them were sitting on a bench, drinking take-away coffee and scouting for poor fools that Alastor could trick into his sketchy deals at a later time – Alastor claimed that he could see the deal potential in the way the demons carried themselves, so he simply looked at people, decided who would be ripe for the picking soon, and sent a little stalker shadow to trail them so that he could swoop in and strike a deal when the opportunity came. It was creepy as fuck, but Husk was desensitized to it to the point where he didn't give a damn anymore.

While they were people watching, Alastor was talking non-stop like the motormouth he was. Husk listened with half an ear while savoring the feeling of the warm cup in his paws, and the odd contentment he sometimes felt in Alastor's presence. It was pretty nice, all things considered.

And then Alastor suddenly cut off mid-sentence for an unnatural second, before continuing his rambling at a slightly lower volume. What the fuck?

Husk looked at Alastor, whose eyes were fixed intently on something for a moment before they proceeded to look anywhere else but there, yet without letting whatever it was out of his peripheral vision. Not weird at all or anything.

Husk looked over to the direction Alastor's gaze had visited. Three distinctly dog-formed demons had walked into the park and were headed towards the shitty little kiosk they had bought their coffees from. That was the only thing going on in that direction, so it had to be what had sparked Alastor's somewhat worrisome reaction.

Did Alastor know the demons? Were they trouble?

Husk kept on looking. One of the demons looked like a Doberman. One like a German Shepherd. One like a Coonhound. None of them looked particularly confident or walked like they owned the place, like the stronger demons tended to do. They weren't big, they didn't have super creepily monstrous forms, they didn't carry visible weapons. There was nothing about them that made him feel wary in any manner, and they didn't look familiar in the slightest.

One of them glanced in his direction, met eyes with him for a second, and then dismissed him to look at Alastor. Their eyes widened, ears lowered, their tail tucked itself between their legs, and they turned their gaze away hurriedly. It was clear they recognized the Radio Demon and considered themselves way inferior and potentially in danger.

If one out of the group behaved like that, chances were the rest of them shared the sentiment. So, they absolutely weren't a threat; Husk would bet a lot on that.

That left the question: what was up with Alastor?

Husk turned his eyes away from the dogs and back to his friend. What he saw was fucking wild.

Alastor was still chattering away like nothing was wrong, but his stance told a completely different story. His ears were perked up and angled towards the dogs, alert. His back was ramrod straight and his feet were positioned in a way where he could leap up and dash off in a split-second if he had to. His microphone stand had appeared in his right hand, but it wasn't held idly as a fiddle toy or leaned against the ground like a walking stick. No, it was held at a ready like a bludgeoning weapon, thin fingers curled around the shaft tightly. Most alarmingly, there was a very quiet tinnitus in Husk's ears. The only reason he even noticed it was because he was paying attention, but when he did he couldn't un-notice it.

Alastor was absolutely in fight or flight mode, and pretending nothing was wrong.

It was really fucking weird and alarming.

"Hey Al?" Husk asked, cutting Alastor off without even knowing what he had been yammering on about – he had been paying zero attention to Alastor's chatter ever since the earlier pause. "You okay?"

Alastor looked at him from the corner of his eye instead of turning his head like a normal person. He couldn't turn if he wanted to keep the dogs within his vision. Yeah, really fucking weird. "Whatever makes you ask that, my friend?"

He avoided answering the question. Definitely not okay. "Gee, I fucking wonder. Maybe the fact that you're acting like a-"

Husk fell silent. He had been about to compare Alastor to a cornered animal and… The guy actually was a fucking deer demon, and deer were prey animals. Was that it? Was he instinctively wary of… being hunted or something?

No, that didn't actually make sense. That was human logic. A deer wouldn't differentiate between dogs and other large predators. Alastor hadn't displayed this kind of a behaviour around any other demon in Husk's presence. Hell, he should be afraid of Husk with that kind of a logic, since a cat was most definitely a predator. So if these demons weren't a threat on their own right, and it wasn't Alastor's animal instincts acting up, then what was it about them that made Alastor act like he was… afraid...

Huh.

"Husker, what-"

"Are you afraid of dogs?"

There was a record scratch sound in the air. That was quite honestly all the confirmation Husk needed.

"I'm not afraid of dogs", Alastor said a little too quickly. Husk raised an eyebrow. "I'm not. I'm… somewhat wary of them, yes, but I wouldn't call it fear. I can handle being in their vicinity."

Husk wasn't sure if he would call Alastor's behaviour "handling it", but he supposed it wasn't his business to call him out on it. Especially when Alastor looked this fucking close to going all Radio Demon on said dogs if they moved too suddenly.

Well then.

"If you say so", Husk said casually, and tossed his empty coffee cup in the direction of the nearby trash can. It landed inside of it perfectly. "Anyway, my ass is getting numb from sitting on this uncomfortable fucking bench, so how about we get the hell out of here and go get a burger or something? That coffee made me hungry."

Alastor was very quick to stand up and be ready to leave, predictably enough. Not afraid of dogs his hairy ass. Though maybe the bastard actually believed his own words. "Hungry, you say? I'm certain something can be arranged, although it will most definitely not be a burger from the uncouth and dingy little joints in this area. Why, my reputation would be in shambles if I were to be seen in a place like those! No, I believe we shall find something better, my dear! I know a most wonderful restaurant..."

Husk stretched and stood up, falling into step with his friend and leaving the park and everything within behind without a backwards glance.

Maybe he would ask some day, maybe he wouldn't. But at least he knew what to be on the lookout for from now on, just in case.