Authoress Notes: Hello, everyone! I'm here with a (belated) birthday present for mendokuse na, AKA Nuklear Firefly. I'm sorry for the delay; I've been watching FMA recently. I only watched two episodes in a row (pathetic), I haven't gotten much far into the plot and am only seeing the characters now, but I already like several couples. But this is SO3 here, people, so NF, enjoy along with the readers.
Disclaimer: I don't own SO3.
Pairing: AlbelxNel, a little bit of CliffxMiragePlot/Summary: Nel gets a pet. Albel's not too pleased with it.
Puppy Love
By: xKuroSeraphimx
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"What the hell is that thing?"
"First off, Nox, it's a puppy if you can't see so clearly. And second, it's a present from Mirage and Cliff. They thought I was working too hard and decided me to get me a pet."
"… Bah."
In the majestic and lavishly ornate palace of Aquios, two Elicoorians stood with a small puppy. The small pup was black spotted with beady ebony eyes and soft, pointy ears. Currently, the little mongrel was tucked around Crimson Blade Nel Zelpher's waist, happily licking her fingers while Albel Nox, cold general of the Black Brigade of Airyglyph glared distastefully at it.
"I don't see what's your problem with it, Nox," Nel said, holding the dog up to her face. The puppy lapped its tongue at her nose and she chuckled lightly at its antics. "I think it's adorable."
I think it should drown, the Glyphian thought in response. Resisting the urge to just snatch the mangy cur and throw it over the window, he started with musing over his murderous thoughts. Why was he feeling so negatively towards a newborn pup? It had done nothing wrong to him.
Then again, he was Albel the Wicked; he could care less about some pet of Zelpher's.
… So why couldn't he stop glowering down at it as the puppy continued its tongue ministrations to her face?
Nel arched a brow. "I guess you're not fond of dogs, are you?" She shrugged. "Hm. Thought so, I suppose you like cats more."
"And when are you so quick to judge what I like or not?" He hissed more vehemently at her than intended.
"Geez, Nox, settle down. What's got you so riled up in the morning?"
The decision to leave flew past his mind at the same time he walked out of her door…
… Only to bump into a huge mass of muscular flesh of leather in front of him.
Rubbing his nose, Albel stared up at Cliff Fittir's goofball face. "What in hell are you doing here, maggot?"
The Klausian stared down at him with a surprised look. "Since when did you declare this place yours?" he retorted jokingly.
"Answer the question, fool."
"Meh…" Cliff shrugged, stretching afterwards. "Just checking up if Nel liked my and Mirage's present to her." He stared at Albel for a moment. "Did she look like she did?"
It looked like she hadn't found a friend in years. Albel replied in his mind, a grin twitching on his face as he found the statement morbidly amusing. The Glyphian composed himself and said, "What, am I supposed to keep tabs on her?"
"… Why are you defensive today?"
"I'm not being defensive." Albel defended rather haughtily. "Why does it seem like I am?"
Cliff suspended a pencil-colored brow up. "… Are you—"
"Finish that sentence, you overgrown ape of a blond, and I'll have your innards scattered around this place." A pause. "And whatever you're thinking, I'm not feeling what you're assuming."
Ding! A light bulb flashed enthusiastically in the older man's head. Cliff held his hands up as a sign of peace. "Whatever, man. I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Which is obvious, since you have the attention span to listen to up to four words before blanking out." Albel retorted before slipping past Cliff, his hair wraps flowing behind him in a rush.
Despite what he said, Cliff deduced the Wicked one's demeanor to be a sure sign that Albel didn't like the present. And for good reason, too. Grinning like a madman that just found an invention to raise the dead, he turned the knob to Nel's room and greeted her with the same curved smile.
"Hiya, Nel." He walked in, staring at the scene of Nel sitting on the bed and using one end of her black and blue striped scarf to have the puppy jump and attempt to claw at it. "So, you like?"
Nel looked up at him with a smile. "Certainly. Thanks for the present, though, I can't think of anything to repay you two…"
Cliff airily waved her offer aside. "Nah, think nothin' of it, girl. Besides, Fayt invested some of the money we got to it too. Plus, the whole gang's been worried about you working yourself to death."
The redhead rolled her eyes. "I'm not working myself to death, Cliff. Honestly, I don't know why you guys think of so…"
He raised his fingers and began ticking off reasons. "One, you work too much. Two, you work too much. Three, you find working a source of comfort. Four, you work too much. Five, you—"
"Okay, okay. I get your point, Cliff," Nel interjected, petting the spotted pup on the head.
"So what're you going to name him?" Cliff asked, folding his arms across his broad chest.
"Hmm… I was thinking of Hikaru. He was an old friend of mine back in the day before the war started." She explained, noticing Cliff's questionable expression.
"Really? So where's he now?"
"… On a journey to better his skills, I suppose. I haven't seen him in years." Nel answered.
The puppy barked at her and Cliff's grinned widened an inch or two. "I think he likes the name." He walked over to the two, and planted a gentle hand on the dog's head. "Isn't that right, Hikaru?"
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"That's the reason you're griping over the puppy, Albel? That's not a good reason." Fayt Leingod said before slamming the huge hammer on the white-hot metal in Aquios' workshop.
Albel viciously glared at the Earthling's back. "I'm not griping—"
"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Fayt muttered under his breath with a grin while raising the hammer again.
"—and second, I don't need a reason to not like something."
After a loud CLANG! Sound filled the workshop for a second, Fayt wiped the small bit of sweat from his brow and turned to face the two-toned haired Glyphian. Placing a hand on his armored hip, he spoke, "Admit it, you don't like the dog because you know Nel's going to give more attention to it than you."
A second later, Fayt had to sidestep to avoid a pointed log aimed for his head, which bumped to a halt once it hit the wall behind him. Yet the azure-haired boy couldn't begin to reprimand Albel as the general was already gone by the time he regained his composure. With a sigh, Fayt returned to his Item Creating and hefted the hammer in the air.
… When will he learn?
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It was only a few days after that Nel's gift was plopped on her bed. But the said crimson-haired woman still found work to dive herself into and made most of her free time with Hikaru. The routine went like this:
Sleep. Eat. Work. Hikaru.
Sleep. Eat. Work. Hikaru.
And sometimes 'Friends' was added lastly on the list, or somewhere in between Eating and Working.
But it was time to just confront the problem now.
Knowing that the Crimson Blade was away, he slipped into her private quarters, only to be greeted with Hikaru. The puppy's ears perked at the sound of his arrival, thinking that his mistress had come back to play again, but was still nonetheless overjoyed to meet with Pudding Treat With Tentacles Man.
Albel Nox sat on the bed, which Hikaru made a break to go into his lap. Yet before he placed a paw on his navy-colored sarong, Albel snatched the puppy with two hands, holding it as if it were some sort of bomb waiting to explode.
"I don't know what she sees in you," Albel narrowed his crimson orbs at the little Hikaru, who tilted its head at his words. "You're just a mangy cur that's being pampered too much."
Hikaru barked and had his pink tongue lick the edge of Albel's nose. Disgusted by the notion, Albel dropped the spotted fluff ball of four legs and proceeded to glare at it.
It was then Albel began to think about his behavior towards the mutt and ran a hand through his shaggy mane. He was getting… dare he say it, jealous over a pup. A pup, which just happened to be taking most of Nel's attention away from…
In short, the Glyphian was just plain jealous of Hikaru. Ridiculous and pathetic, but hey, he saw her first…
The door began to open and Nel popped her head in, surprised lighting her forest-colored eyes at the sight of her dog with Albel the Wicked one. "Albel, what're you—"
He sighed before righting himself off the bed, wanting to, she guessed, walk out of her room. What she didn't expect, however, was having Albel place his good hand on her head which suggested a patting gesture and mutter, "… The things you do to me, wench…" before he walked out. Nel, with a confused expression on her face, looked accusingly at Hikaru.
Hikaru could only bark happily at the sight of her, wagging his tail happily. Nel scratched her head and said,
"… He really needs to get over himself, doesn't he?" A smile was stretched across her lips.
Her response was a light bark.
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"… You think we should be feeling sorry for him?"
"Hmm, maybe, Cliff. But are you suggesting that—"
"It's worth a shot. I think he'd like cats a lot."
"What, planning on telling him that once he has a pet of his own, he can try to make Nel jealous too?"
"Well, Mirage—"
"Oh, Cliff. Whatever will I do with you? Nel's not that type like Albel."
"Yeah, but they still have their nasty tempers."
"Point taken. But we're talking about Albel here. Since he's so unversed in the matters of the heart, he's predictable enough that you can plan his reactions three steps ahead."
"… Have you been talking to Romeria lately?"
"Something like that."
"Well, whatever we have in store for these two, let's just say it all started with puppy love."
"Cliff…"
"I get my kicks when I can!"
"Yes, and one right up your ass now if you don't get the money to buy Albel's cat."
"Yes, ma'am."
-- End –
Well, I hope you all liked it, everyone! Especially you, NF! I tried my best! Reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated.