Chapter 2
What's Wrong
As Ryder walked out the door, he heard one of the pups crying. He immediately rushed toward the sound, to find Rocky in tears. He immediately knelt down to stroke the back of his neck to calm him. "Calm down, Rocky," began Ryder, "tell me what happened."
After regaining his composure, he blurted out, "I'd finished tuning up my truck and I was looking around to see if any of the others needed help and I found Rubble struggling with his rig and offered to help and I fixed the problem but then he asked me to explain how I did it and I told him but he didn't understand me and asked me to say it in simpler words but I couldn't and then he got frustrated and told me I have to act normal to fit in."
"Wait a minute," began Ryder, as he put his hands on the mutt's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Now, what exactly did Rubble say to you?" asked
Ryder.
After the heavily panting, teary-eyed mix caught his breath, he swallowed and began "He told me, sniff, that I have to act normal, sniff, to fit in, sniff, because, sniff, I think differently, sniff, suggesting that, sniff, that I have to, sniff, to act a certain way, sniff, to appease him, sniff, that I'm less than canine, sniff, that I don't deserve the same kindness as the other Pups, sniff, sniff, sniff" cried Rocky
"Oh no," thought the boy, as he face palmed himself.
Rocky, on seeing his reaction, thought "I'm being a burden, aren't I?"
Upon noticing his sulk, Ryder immediately said, "No, no, no. Listen to me Rocky. When I was explaining your diagnosis to Rubble, I told him that at times you might feel like you need to act "normal" to fit in, and he clearly misunderstood what I meant."
Rocky looked back at the ground dejected. "Here we go again," he thought, "because I overreacted, and because he didn't mean to hurt me, my feelings don't matter, and it's all my fault."
But much to his surprise, Ryder suddenly added, "Regardless, it was not okay for Rubble to say that to you, and it was very ungrateful of him to be demanding things from you after you offered to help him. Come Rocky," reassured his owner, as he gave him a pat on the back. Ryder then led Rocky back into the Lookout, and toward the kitchen. Once there, Ryder then got out a liver treat, spread a glob of peanut butter on top, and gave it to him. Rocky immediately wolfed it down. Ryder then knelt down and gave the shaggy, gray dog a tight hug.
"I'll talk to Rubble later, I promise," he reassured him.
Notes:
Before anyone asks, Yes, Rocky is on the spectrum, and that has been clear for a while now
Why Rubble: I found that his innocence was the best plot device to make this situation work, and I needed a situation to use him in (I'm not fond of him)
The treat: Ryder is doing this to deescalate him
Rocky blurting things out: this part is deliberately written without punctuation to capture the feeling of how fast he's saying all this.
I'm so, so, so, sorry this was late. I thought I posted this more than a week ago. Anyway, for an upcoming story, I was going to have Jura and Rex be on vacation in the jungle with Tracker and Carlos. However, that Raises the question of should I do any more about Tracker & Xochi/Rex & Jura's "Private lives", or just leave that subject alone (I will not write a lemon), but do we really need to know any more about that anyhow? With regard to the story however, I actually considered having Ryder completely invalidate Rocky's feelings on the grounds that he (Rocky) was worried about to make the situation feel more relatable (to people on the spectrum) but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to make him (Ryder) do something so cruel and insensitive. As always, don't forget to leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.