It was an ugly thing, drooping pointed ears and matted fur. Dark clumps of it stuck with a vengeance around its eyes and trailed along its back.
Levi sneered at it.
Disgusting, filthy animal.
The dog, or rather, puppy sat facing him, sunken blue eyes gazing at him sadly. Hungrily. Pathetically.
Not too unlike a lonely child.
He glanced around the back alley. No one in sight aside from the distant bustle at the markets in Stohess. Not even Hanji had followed him down here.
He sighed, glaring back at the thing.
It kept staring back.
"The hell do you want?" He crossed his arms.
If possible, its ears drooped even lower than before. It let out the most sorry excuse for a whine Levi had ever heard. High pitched, like a cross between a child crying for its mother and dying bird. It barely pierced the sound barrier coming from the market square.
He scoffed. "Is that supposed to make me care? I've seen rats do better."
The dog flicked its eyes downward, helplessly looking at a muddy puddle. Its head followed afterward, resting it in between its scrawny paws. It's tail sat, unresponsive, in the dust beside it.
Levi put his hands on his hips. "I know what you're doing and it won't work. It doesn't work for Hanji and it won't work for you. You're a scrawny piece of filth, and I refuse to pity you."
The dog didn't even look up at his jab, though he'd half expected it to. It just sat there, looking like it had been trampled on, drowned, and then left for dead in this alley.
I understand that…
He glanced around again. Still no one.
So he slowly approached the pup.
Careful to avoid the nasty puddle, which he now saw was filled with all sorts of putrid yuck, he knelt next to its head.
The poor thing was no bigger than a loaf of bread. Malnourished and weak, it easily could have been mistaken as garbage.
"...but you aren't garbage are you. You're alive." He muttered more to himself than to the dog. "Who left you here?"
The pup cast its eyes upward at him. Pure ice. The lightest of blues, so clear they hit him right in the chest.
"Hmmm." He remarked. "You don't totally look like shit after all."
It let out that terrible whine again. It sounded like it ripped through the pup like a jagged knife tears through cloth.
"Hey, do not give me attitude," He pointed a threatening finger at it. "I won't take it. Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Who left you here?"
Those eyes, so knowing, so beautiful, stared back. Unresponsive.
Levi looked to the side and sighed again. "Look, this obviously isn't working. I'm going to get Hanji. I think she speaks dog or some shit like that. Stay here." He pointed his finger down at the spot it laid.
Its eyes dropped downward.
Levi stood. "I'll be right back." And strode back the way he came, glancing back at the pup to make sure it wasn't wandering off.
Ten minutes of searching the market for Hanji later, Levi returned to the mouth of the alley. It was their day off, and he couldn't really blame Hanji for being nowhere to be found, it honestly was just like her, even if they had come here together. Regardless, he huffed his way back towards the pup.
"Okay listen up brat." He shifted his gaze around the alley, thoughtful. "Old four eyes isn't out there, clearly no one here wants you, and you're just freeloading here, stinking up this shitty alley."
The pup looked back up at him, that same sad expression in its eyes. Its tongue slipped from its lips to wet its nose.
Levi pressed his lips together in a thin frown, hand on hip. "And you're in a sorry state, even for a wild animal."
It was true. Dirt and grime covered the pup almost from nose to paw. It clearly was a fluffy little creature, though most of that fur was discolored from filth. It was nothing a bath couldn't fix, but disgusting nonetheless.
"Which we can't leave you in if we're going to find your owner." He knelt by it again. Its eyes perked up.
Levi removed his cape from his back, letting it fall over his hands. In a sort of awkward scoop, he picked up the puppy, careful not to let any part of it touch his hand, and wrapped the green fabric around it in a protective bundle. He didn't know if he was worried or grateful when it didn't fight or struggle against him.
He caught a whiff of it's fur in his nose.
"Ugh." He recoiled. "A bath might not be enough for you"
He stood, bundle cradled in his hands, and walked out of the alley.
He'd have to leave a note for Hanji telling her he'd gone back early.