Chapter 11: Duck-Flavored Guilt Trip
Finally out of earshot of all the others, Felix and Gene hadn't been alone for more than five seconds when the temperamental pug exploded.
"Why is Ralph here?!" he hissed furiously yet quietly to the corgi. "I thought I told you to tell him to go to that stupid bad dog meeting tonight!"
"I-I did!" Felix quickly yipped in response, his weak voice beyond flabbergasted. "And I was able to convince him to go! In fact, I saw him leavin' to go to it earlier!"
"So why is he back so early, hm?!" the pug countered, his growl not any less intense. "He was supposed to be gone all evening- and only come back after the party ended and we got things cleaned up!!"
"I guess their meetin' ends earlier than we thought it would...," Felix shook his head, shrugging his small shoulders helplessly. "I've never been to a bad dog meetin' before, so I wouldn't know how long it would last! It was just a guess that it would last all evenin'!"
Trembling he was so upset, Gene closed his eyes and growled out angrily at the situation at hand.
"Ugh! Why does Ralph have to ruin everything?!" he exaggerated harshly, his voice filled with a spite that made Felix wince.
"Well...him bein' here doesn't have to ruin everythin'!" the ever-optimistic corgi chirped, wagging his tail slightly in positivity. "Maybe Ralph can just come in, stay for a little bit and-"
"And completely ruin our party?!" Gene harshly intruded, his sharp voice cutting into the corgi like a sword. "A party we've been planning for weeks now- and purposely kept from the very bad dog at the door?! I don't think so, Felix!" he croaked stubbornly. "I'm not going to let some stupid, worthless guard dog destroy our party!!"
At the pug's sharp, cruel words, Felix winced slightly yet again. Gene had always had a harsh, intense dislike for Ralph- but this was beyond dislike. This was just rejection, judgement...hatred...
Which Felix knew deep down Ralph didn't deserve.
With growing guilt and worry, the corgi peered over his shoulder at Ralph- who was now ignoring everyone as he tried his hardest to finish squeezing his way through the small doggy door. He had somehow contorted his body enough to slip one of his enormous front paws through the tiny opening, and was now working on getting his other one through as well. Everyone else around stood back aways from the mastiff, as if afraid he'd break down the door frame suddenly and squish them all flat.
Ralph doesn't deserve all of this, Felix thought mentally as he softly sighed in remorse, his large, rounded ears flattening up against his head. He has never deserved this kind of treatment...
"Aw now, c'mon, Gene!" The kind-hearted corgi finally voiced to the pug, trying to avoid all conflict as he turned back to weakly reason with Gene. "Ralph's probably just wantin' to come in... for a bite to eat or somethin'."
Felix' ears suddenly perked up a little as he found his eyes drifting back towards Ralph again.
"He left so fast to go to that meetin' that I bet he forgot to eat the food Mr.Litwak set out for him," he quickly reasoned, "and those 'ole rascal raccoons ate it up again."
At the corgi's weak excuse, Gene just mockingly rolled his eyes.
"Well, if that's the case, then Ralph can just wait until our party is over before he can eat!" he hissed, his tone seeping with complete disregard for the fellow dog in question. "He can survive a few extra hours without food...actually, he's so fat, he could go a few extra days without eating," he snorted out harshly as an afterthought, smirking in the direction of the struggling mastiff.
Biting his lip, Felix flattened his large ears and shrunk back again. Gene could be so awful mean and rude sometimes- especially when it came to Ralph's size.
"Why don't we ask Ralph if he needs anythin'?" the corgi finally sighed, forcing his voice to be light and encouraging. "Then maybe we can go get him whatever he needs, and-"
"-And he'll leave the party alone before he wrecks it," the pug finished for him, his voice sounding embittered... yet persuaded a little. "If he gets what he needs and leaves, then we can resume our party..."
The pug trailed off for a moment, peering thoughtfully over at the corgi- only to see that Felix had began tagging his tail in relief.
"But that's all Ralph would get," Gene quickly warned Felix before the corgi jumped on the idea of inviting the mastiff inside. "He does not get to come all the way inside the pet shop, let alone gets to stay inside!"
Still in pure excitement that he had somehow avoided some potentially explosive conflict, Felix wiggled in happiness.
"Oh, great! That's a very good plan, Gene!" he gushed, his baby blue eyes glowing. "Why don't we go over and talk about it with Ralph-"
"Oh, it's not 'we'," Gene quickly corrected him, shaking his head indignantly. "It's you who is going to go talk to him."
His wide blue eyes doubling in size, Felix froze in horror, his ears animatedly squished down against his head.
"What?!" he whined out, physically slumping. "Why me?!"
"As I told you before, you're the only one out of all of us who can actually stand being around that mutt, let alone talk to him," Gene replied casually as if it was obvious, already starting to push Felix in Ralph's direction. "Plus, you were able to convince him to leave last time- why wouldn't you be able to this time as well?"
"Well, I- uh, I'm not, um-" the trembling corgi stumbled out before he tripped over one of his paws. He would've landed face-first onto the hard floor underneath him had he not caught himself in time.
"YOU'RE going to ask him what he wants," the pug further pressured him, still shoving him along. "And make sure you make it clear to that oversized mutt that he's not welcomed in here!"
"I-I don't know about this, Gene," Felix admitted worriedly as he was pushed along. "I'm not really the, uh...harsh, stern type," he found himself trailing off as he forced his eyes on where Ralph was, still struggling to fit through the pet door...
"You'll be fine!" Gene told him frankly. "Just remember: do what you have to do to get rid of him!" The pug told the corgi harshly yet softly so Ralph couldn't hear as they ventured closer and closer to him.
With one final push from the pug, Felix was launched forward, tripping over his perfect paws again as he stumbled forward. Quickly finding his footing, the corgi bit his lip again as he crawled back towards the doggy dog- all eyes, including the ones belonging to the bull mastiff himself, eyeing him curiously.
Forcing himself to breathe deeply, Felix ignored the gnawing in his stomach and moved forward. His soft-hearted conscience still greatly bothered him for deceitfully convincing Ralph to leave town and go to that bad dog meeting earlier...
And this plan of just getting Ralph what he wanted and then ditching him high and dry wasn't any better, the corgi knew...
But if it keeps the peace and the anniversary party goin', he faulty readoned, maybe it's for the best?...
Sucking his gut as much as it would allow himself to, Ralph shocked everyone when he finally finished forcing himself through the doggy door- although such tight squeezing noticeably caused several cracks in the weak pet door frame.
"Finally!" the mastiff sighed out in relief, stumbling forward and allowing his large stomach to fill out. He peered around at the others, most of whom just cowered that much more in fear now that Ralph was officially inside the pet shop...
Except for a certain scowling pug, of course... and a certain petrified corgi slowly approaching.
"Uh, h-hey, Ralph," Felix began cautiously, his eyes written with clear worry and hesitancy as he continued to creep forward. "Looks like you finally got through that doggy dog...quite an awful tight squeeze, huh, hehe..."
"You got that right, Felix," Ralph chuckled good-naturally...causing Felix to wince a little more. "I feel like I can actually breathe again."
As Felix cringed out a smile and shared in the awkward chuckle, he conspicuously eyed back at Gene, his blue eyes screaming for the pug's intervention. When Gene just glared back at him and pointedly nodded, the corgi allowed his ears to flop down again.
"Well...now that you're finally inside, why don't you and I step outside to speak for a moment? In privacy?" Felix then pressed, forcing his voice to remain as serious and steady as he could make it. "To...chat?"
His eyebrows hunched down, Ralph cocked his lip up a little in confusion. Felix never just wanted to chat with him...at least not with the others around.
"I mean, yeah, sure... we can talk, but...why do we need to go back outside to do that?" the mastiff gently questioned, his tone puzzled. "It's pouring poodles out there! Besides, I just got in here- and don't really care to squeeze back through that doggy door again, ya know...," he continued cautiously to reason with Felix- watching curiously as Felix' face fell considerably.
"Uh...well," the corgi stuttered out, his eyes twitching slightly as he side-eyed Gene again in for his next line. That wasn't what Felix excepted the mastiff to say...
The pug was no help in providing Felix' next move, however. He just jerked his head back toward the door, making his point clear that much more.
Do what you have to do to get rid of him!
"IT'SKINDASTUFFYINHERE!" Felix suddenly rushed out a little too fast and loud for Ralph to decipher, his tone beyond desperate for the mastiff to just agree with...well, whatever he'd just said.
When the mastiff just cocked his head down at him in confusion, the corgi gulped and forced his words to come out slower and clearer.
"It's, er, kinda stuffy in here," he said more softly- although his tone had just seemed grown in desperation. "And I, uh...need a break from the loud music somethin' awful, ya know, hehe..."
Slowly growing more and more suspicious, Ralph narrowed one eye at Felix... but decided he could believe the corgi's words. Disregarding the fact that this same dog had tricked him into attending that bad-dog meeting eariler (which Ralph now had a qualm that had something to do with Gene), the mastiff considered the small dog too good not to be trusted...
And Felix regrettably and contritely knew that, too.
"Well, ok...I guess we can step outside for a moment, then," Ralph finally yet wearily complied- causing Felix to slightly sigh in relief.
Although he verbally was fine with it, the mastiff exhaustedly deflated a bit when he eyed the small doggy door again, causing him to shudder at the thought of stuffing his large body back through it. He couldn't help but mentally curse whoever thought it'd be smart to make pet doors so small- especially after Felix just hoped through that same doggy door with great ease.
With renewed jealousy of his small colleague sort, Ralph discreetly rolled his eyes and lumbered in suit after the corgi, shoving his head back through the pet door- only this time heading the opposite direction he had earlier.
Embarrassingly ramming himself through the small opening yet again, the massive dog practically strained as hard as he could to squeeze himself through- just to end up flopping out onto the little welcome mat before the pet shop. He finally stood ungracefully up and shook off his vexing fall, ignoring the mocking chuckles he could hear somewhere inside the pet shop.
Before him, Felix sat in silence for a moment, obviously uncomfortable by some invisible force Ralph couldn't see. Instead of speaking, the two dogs silently eyed the torrential rains that was now dumping out of the sky again, a sight that caused both dogs to shiver slightly. They were both unspokenly thankful that the pet shop had a nice, big awning, safely protecting them from getting completely drenched.
The calming, constant sound of the rain pounding against the said marquee was the only sound heard for a few quiet moments, both Felix and Ralph noticeably awkward by the others' silence. Finally formulating an idea of what he wanted to say, Felix broke the quiet- although he looked even more hesitant than before.
"So, uh, Ralph," the corgi began as casually as he could muster, his tone painfully torturous and nervous. Craning his head all the way back just to look at the massive dog in the face, Felix forced a cringy smile. "What can I help you with on this fine evenin'? You kinda, uh... snuck up on us there, hehe."
"Well, um..." Ralph began before subconsciously biting his lip, unsure if he really wanted to continue in his line of thought.
For some odd reason, he couldn't openly admit that he just wished to join them in the merrymaking, to have fun with them...to be included for once. It all just seemed too embarrassing to admit out loud- especially to someone who'd never begin to understand what it must felt like, nonetheless.
So instead of just asking to be formally invited to the anniversary party, the mastiff reached deep inside his mind for a semi-reasonable sounding excuse.
"I couldn't help but, uh...hear all the loud music booming inside the pet shop," Ralph finally stumbled out with a slight, sincere wag of his tail. "So...um, I just wanted to make sure the music wasn't so loud it was...ah, making everyone deaf or, you know, anything like that."
Yeah, nice, the mastiff mentally cringed. That sounded really smart, Ralph.
"Oh, yeah," Felix answered, his voice a little less nervous than before. "Um, that's just Skrillex at the CD player Mr.Litwak has. That bunny sure has a way with music!" He smiled awkwardly up at Ralph, his own tail wagging slightly.
The mastiff nodded with a forced grimace, unsure of how to respond for an awkwardly long moment.
Say something, you big dummy! he screamed at himself. Say anything! Don't just stand here!
"Yeah, totally...Well, uh, is this party for somebody birthday or...?" Ralph finally ask, playing as dumb as he could- which he miserably knew wasn't too big of a stretch for Felix to believe.
"Oh, well, uh..." the corgi responded, completely unsure if he should tell Ralph the truth or not...but without Gene out here to give him cues, Felix realized, he was on his own. "It's more of an... anniversary party, really..."
He paused long enough to scrape the top of his small white-tipped paw over the concrete gently, worry seaping from his voice. "The 5-year anniversary of the pet shop, actually."
Forcing his eyes to widen, Ralph pretended to look dumbfounded.
"What?" he screeched a little too loudly, his voice overly-dramatic. "Is that today?!"
"Yeah...It is! And I know!" Felix agreed quickly, his eyes squished up in a cute way in understanding- although something inside told him that Ralph was just fibbing. "It really snuck up on us, huh??"
Briefly nodding, Ralph fakely laughed as he dismissively shook his head.
"Man, I have such a horrible memory...," he lied yet again, rolling his eyes at his 'forgetfulness'. "Anyway, uh, congratulations," he pointed nodded at the corgi, hoping he'd catch the hint.
"Thank you...And to you, too, Ralph," Felix just kindly returned, hoping that would cut the conversation short.
But the awkwardness between the two just continued as Ralph proceeded to stand still, eyeing down Felix slightly with expectation- as the corgi somewhat did the same with the mastiff.
Just when neither thought they could stand the silent uneasiness anymore, a turtle head suddenly appeared through the doggy dog.
"Hey, Felix," the turtle mumbled, his voice dry and monotone. "We got the mess cleaned up, and now Mary was wanting to know when she needs to bring out the container with the new treats."
Frantically turning towards the turtle, Felix winced.
"Uh...now is fine," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Just bring them out now, Glen!"
"Great," the ennui reptile droned before turning to give a stink eye to Ralph. Glaring, he slowly slipped back inside.
Ignoring the rude turtle, Ralph turned to look at Felix in surprise.
"New treats?" he asked pointedly, his voice full of hope. "The new favored Dent-a-Sticks came into today, huh?"
At his words, Felix just shrunk down lower. He knew where this was going- and really didn't like it.
"They're duck flavored," he admitted slightly... then wondered why in the boo he had to go and say that out loud.
Smirking slightly, Ralph eyed down at his colleagues' shrunken form, happy the naive corgi had admitted that little piece of information out loud. The mastiff now could use something he knew Felix couldn't resist...
A painful guilt trip.
Sporting a fake look of wonder, Ralph raised his eyebrows down at him.
"Duck flavored, eh?" he mused softly, thoughtfully peering up in wonderment. "I've never had one of them before. Mr.Litwak's never given me one... being, you know, the outside dog and all..."
His smile faulting at Ralph's marked look of sudden sadness, Felix just wagged his little tail sheepishly as he tried to slip closer to the doggy door- seeing even more clearly where all of this was heading.
"I've always wanted try a duck-flavored treat, ya know," Ralph then slyly added as his eyes became glued to the shuffling corgi, deeply peering into Felix' big blue eyes.
Looking away forcefully, Felix's eyes shrunk considerably as he squished his cute little nose up... but it didn't really matter at that point anymore. He well knew his soft corgi heart couldn't ignore the empty look Ralph was giving him, sincerely this time, too...
Gulping back a knot, Felix knew he couldn't give in, let Ralph come inside, but...
Every part of his good dog blood couldn't help but be kind and considerate- and Ralph knew it, too.
"I suppose... you wouldn't want to come inside and have one, would ya?" The corgi finally asked awkwardly, tilting his head towards the doggy door as he wagged his stub tail gently...
All the while gulping back another huge knot in his corgi throat as one thought raced through his mind.
Gene is going to kill me.
