The big black dog (now roughly twice as plump as he'd been in the Forest That Smelt of Home) knew many things.
He knew how the toes of both his packmates tasted. He knew how to beg, and how to be cute enough to get a cuddle out of nearly everyone.
What the dog (now named Blackie) did not know, was that he was about to be introduced to someone new.
There was a thing-outside-of-things*, that one of the older men had delivered to their moving-den.
Blackie had nosed around it, before thrusting his wet nose into the paler boy's face.
"Eguugh!" Blackie's pale packmate woke with a satisfyingly annoyed look on his face, wiping away the dog's welcome**.
The other boy had woken, and was looking as Blackie jumped down and nudged his shoulder against the box.
"What do we have here?" he asked gently.
"Well, open it and find out!" the pale boy said impatiently.
There were tearing motions, like when Blackie tore eyes off...***
The darkhaired boy opened the box, lifting two flaps and then the other two.
From the other side, Blackie put his paws up on the box (threatening to overturn it); looking down, he waggled his entire body from his tail.
"SSSSssss..." said something long, and scaly - and very, very coiled.
"Threat! Alarm! Beware! It wants to Bite!" the dog said, though all the eyeless humans heard was rapid barking.
Then, something happened that the dog did not expect.
The grass-eyed boy licked his lips, and looked around.
Dog knew that look - it was crafty, something secret was about to happen. Dog did not want to miss the secret, so he quieted down to listen. Dog knew how to be quiet, he just rarely wanted to be.
The boy hissed at the snake, and the snake hissed back.
The dog, now quiet, started to lowly growl. How unfair was it, that his packmate could speak to a stupid snake, and not to him?! Two legs or four, he was a part of the party, not a left out outsider.
Not Anymore.
The pale boy came up, quietly, reassuringly rubbing Blackie behind the ears. "Ssh... it's okay, we won't let it hurt you."
Blackie knew the snake couldn't hurt him. He was big and strong... and just a little bit awesome****.
*a box, in other words.
**drool.
*** this is a classic thing that happens if you give a dog a stuffed animal. They rip the eyes out, first, and then pull out the stuffing. It's quite fun, and amusing to watch.
****Lyft, we miss you!
[a/n: Well, we've got the snake. We've also got a jealous dog. What could go wrong?
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This dog has something of an awareness that is brighter than your normal dog.]