NOTE! This chapter takes place BEFORE the events of Chapters 11 and 12. This is non plot-essential fluff that I decided to write when I got…ideas…that needed to be expressed before the story's conclusion. Hopefully everyone enjoys this little snippet of everyday interaction!

The afternoon energy wound down as you walked on the familiar sidewalk towards the pier. It was about a mile between your apartment and the beach, but you didn't mind the exercise with a sedentary desk job. Cars rolled past as storefronts prepared to close their shops for the day, packing away anything left outside to avoid the pull of stray animals to fresh food. Several of the business owners nodded at you, acquainted with your routine at this point.

With your backpack slung over your shoulder you passed by a long alleyway, trash bins and dumpsters lining the sides of the brick buildings. A sudden yelp startled you as a door swung open, a man shaking his fist angrily at something unseen to you before he slammed the door shut. The rustle of plastic and cardboard caught your eye as you stopped to look down into the darkness.

"Hmm…" A small shape moved towards you in the dimming light, emerging from behind one of the dumpsters. You narrowed your eyes in an attempt to get a better look, but it wasn't until the shape moved just a bit closer that the silhouette became more recognizable.

A scruffy looking dog padded towards you, its fur matted with dirt and lack of human care. You could tell it wasn't a puppy, but if this was its adult size it still wasn't very big. Black eyes glistened up at you, highlighted by the orange sun far behind and above you.

Your reaction was immediate. "Oh my god a dog! Oh c'mere…it's OK." Your excitement grew quiet as you knelt down and held out an open hand towards the dog in an attempt to lure it to you. The idea that it was bad to lure in a stray dog didn't even cross your mind, instead focusing your attention on seeing if it was hurt or needed help…or just wanted to be your new best friend. "Oh no, dogs are so cute I love dogs! No offense to my cat…I hope it's friendly…"

The dog slowly closed the gap, edging its nose out closer and closer to your outstretched hand. You now saw it didn't have a collar and looked skinnier than it should, no doubt a dog familiar with the streets and back alleys of the city. Your immediate reaction was to give it all the food in your backpack, but you knew some of it would make it sick since dogs weren't indestructible eaters.

"C'mon…" All it took was one lick on your fingers.

Fifteen minutes later

The rhythmic pad of clawed feet echoed behind you as you walked down the sidewalk with your new companion. "My cat will not be happy if I bring you home but he can deal with it. Oh…wait." You stopped, and the dog stopped too.

"Woof!"

"I know!" you said as if to answer the dog's bark. "OK, you gotta be good, alright? You're about to make a new friend but you can't eat him. He can be grumpy sometimes, but give him some time and look at him with those big doggy eyes and he'll love you…hopefully." The dog hopped around as if she understood you right back, excited to meet another nice person.

The dog was hesitant to walk out onto the pier - no doubt the waves could be a bit intimidating at first - but you showed her it was safe and fine, and eventually a second set of feet followed you all the way down to the end of the wooden walkway.

Setting your bag down the dog sniffed it, no doubt smelling the food sitting inside the main pocket. "Nope, can't eat this. I'll find something for you when I get home." Her tail wagged excitedly and you couldn't help but melt at how cute she was, despite her rough appearance; if you did end up taking her home, she'd definitely need a bath.

You were so distracted with the dog that you hadn't noticed Bakugou peering over the edge of the pier having heard you talking to someone. The dog noticed him before you did, barking before issuing a low growl which Bakugou matched easily.

"Huh? Oh! No, no growling." You booped the dog on the nose, causing her to sneeze. "Hey, Bakugou. Uh…I have a friend? I found her on the way here and well she started following me and I can't leave her alone…" Bakugou's eyes narrowed skeptically between you and the dog who was now sniffing vigorously all over the pier, taking in all the new smells, before licking one of the wooden posts.

"What is it?" he asked, still making no move to hoist himself up to his normal sitting spot, eyeing the unfamiliar creature covered in fur. At the new voice the dog turned and started to sniff in his direction before you grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and pulled her gently back.

"It's a dog. Sort of like…oh! My pet cat is like a small lion, right? Dog are like tiny wolves, like in the book I showed you. A lot of people keep them as pets, but it seems either this one grew up on the streets or someone abandoned her…she doesn't seem mean, so she probably had a family at some point." Bakugou listened as you explained, slowly hoisting himself up and watching the dog carefully as it wagged a dirty tail in excitement at having someone around who wasn't yelling at him.

"It smells," he said, turning his sensitive nose up as the dog pulled on your arm to niff closer to the man with a fish tail.

Without a collar she was hard to hang onto, but you managed to keep a grip on the dog before he bowled Bakugou over in what you could only imagine would turn into an incident. "Like I said, she doesn't have a home, she's been living on the streets." At a mention of a lack of home, Bakugou silently admitted a bit of sympathy for the creature as he watched it turn around and lick your arm and hand vigorously. "You just wanna be loved by someone, huh?" you cooed, rolling the dog over and scratching her belly until her leg did the infamous thumper, tongue lolling out of her mouth with pure bliss. The distraction kept you from seeing the faraway look he gave you at your words.

Bakugou awkwardly watched this display before realizing that all your attention - which was normally on him - was now on this…dog! He wasn't the sharing type, so he'd try and worm his way back into your eyes without being too obvious about it. A webbed hand cautiously reached forward to touch the soft belly of the dog, intrigued at the texture that was different from his own head of hair. She wagged her tail with gusto at two sets of hands giving her attention.

"What's the purpose?' he asked, index finger scratching a spot he noticed the dog enjoyed particularly well.

"Purpose of what?"

"Of pets. We not keep pets." You'd thought about this before when he'd asked about the pictures of your cat, but now he'd brought the topic up on his own, answering your question. Merpeople did not keep fish as pets.

You mulled it over for a moment before answering, thinking how - despite his neediness - your cat gave you a lot of joy and entertainment. "Well, I guess most people keep pets because they're fun? They're always happy to see you, and for some people they turn into best friends. I mean, look at her!" Pausing with the belly rubs the dog immediately bolted up into your lap to start licking your face with affection as you laughed.

Bakugou looked on at how easily you accepted such blatant affection from this stinky creature that showed up out of nowhere. Would he openly admit the dog was kind of cute? Not out loud. Would he also admit he was slightly jealous of the dog? Again, not out loud.

Pulling away from the dog you noticed Bakugou's intense stare, as if he was thinking very hard about something. "If you're hungry I have food in my bag, you can grab it."

With a disgruntled huff he reached behind you and grabbed the bag you carried with you everyday, unzipping it like he'd seen you do countless times at this point. He pulled out one box - the same one you packed his food in everyday - and then another - yours. There was no third box. If you were expecting him to share with this mutt you were dead wrong.

"Ok…sit! No, dammit…sit." You pushed her butt down, only for it to pop right back up. "You are being stubborn…" After a minute the dog finally laid down, tongue hanging out, looking up at you with eyes that silently said take me home.

You turned back to Bakugou who was already eating his food with an agitated look on his face. "What's wrong, is the food not good? I didn't make anything different.." you wondered, grabbing your own box and opening up the lid. As soon as the smell of food hit the air, the dog barked and tried to jump into your lap, obviously hungry. "No, no! Fuck, this was maybe a bad idea…"

Bakugou looked over to see you struggling with the dog and honestly he just smirked; that's what you got for bringing a third party into the mix, especially one the smelled like trash and couldn't behave properly.

With a groan you finally got her to calm down enough to eat your own food, though it was a bit of a struggle. "Still want the dog?" he asked almost mockingly. You cut your eyes over to him, but his expression didn't waver.

"Just needs some training…no offense, but you weren't too different when we first met." At that he looked almost flabbergasted to be compared to that creature! He was nothing like that thing!

"I am not!" he barked out at you.

"Bakugou you stole my food the first time we met. Also you spat water in my face. Also, needy as hell, but that part didn't change much." You stuffed the last piece of food into your mouth and put the container in your bag, only to look up and see Bakugou actually looked mad. "Sorry! If it's any consolation you've gotten a lot better with manners. I said you used to act similarly, not that you still do. We've been meeting for what, over two months now?" With arms crossed over his chest he still glared at you, not answering your question. "In that time you've practically learned my language, and can hold a conversation. You're a person, and you're special, so don't forget that."

You watched as his face gradually shift from mad to mildly agitated to a look you could only describe as soft contemplation as you finished talking. If you were honest you could keep going with naming all his good qualities - the things you saw in him, the traits that kept you coming back here everyday - but unfortunately the moment was broken when the dog let out a bark at being ignored and leapt into your lap, basically pushing you over onto your back.

"Hey, chill out!" you got out while being smothered in doggy kisses. Suddenly the weight of your furry companion disappeared from your chest. Looking up you saw Bakugou had grabbed the dog, holding it straight armed out in front of him like a ticking time bomb. Sitting up and wiping off your face with the towel in your bag you couldn't help but let out a laugh at the sight in front of you.

"She won't bite…well, I hope not anyway." You sat with legs dangling over the side of the pier, watching as Bakugou analyzed the dog suspiciously.

Red eyes looked into dark brown ones. OK, yeah, he could admit - silently - that the dog was kind of appealing with the way she looked stupidly happy, tail wagging, basically begging for the spotlight. Another small wave of sympathy hit him if what you'd said was true. Maybe she was just lonely and unwanted, feeding off the attention. The dog tried to lick his hand, moving around awkwardly in his grip.

"Aww she likes you!" you exclaimed, laughing at Bakugou's face as he tried to keep the dog from slobbering all over him. "Fine, fine, put her down…" At your words he gladly did so, setting dog back down onto the pier. Once her feet touched the wood, though, she started sniffing at him vigorously, causing him to quirm which honestly made you laugh harder.

"Get it away!" Every time he pushed the dog, she just went around to his other side to sniff at his tail. Eventually with enough growling from Bakugou she decided you were a friendlier target, coming towards you for more belly rubs. He was honestly annoyed, not only that you were giving attention to this dog, but that she wanted attention from him, too!

Still…your words from earlier stuck with him, even if you did compare his behavior when the two of you first met to just slightly above alleyway pet. Despite being different from you, you called him a "person" and sometimes, when you looked at him with those eyes that glistened under the reflection of moonlight in the water, he swore that the fact the two of you were from completely different words and experiences didn't matter at all. You gave each other company and companionship, erasing the nagging loneliness he'd felt after leaving his home. It was just one reason he kept visiting you everyday, and wondered if your reasons for coming here might overlap.

"Sorry Bakugou, this seemed like a good idea at the time," you said, trying to calm the dog down. You hoped this could be kind of fun, showing Bakugou another aspect of human culture that he otherwise wouldn't get to experience. Unfortunately he seemed mostly annoyed with the dog. What were you supposed to do, though? You couldn't leave the poor thing on the street, not after she looked so hungry and dirty.

"Can you train it?" The question caught you off guard as you attempted to keep the dog from diving off the edge of the pier into the cool water below.

"Um, yeah, you can train most dogs to do things like sit, stay, don't-" you pushed her face away from yours as she attempted to lick your hand into submission. "…Don't jump on people." You really didn't have time to train a dog, though. With how busy you were at work and coming here every night to spend time with Bakugou, how were you supposed to find time to train and take care of a dog? Your penchant for empathy got you in a bind this time.

He looked between you and dog, some inner monologue going on behind his eyes before he tapped a webbed finger on the wood of the pier, the sound echoing below the hollow space between the wood and water. Immediately the dog started bounding towards him, but Bakugou growled in a way you hadn't heard before and held up a hand to her snout. "Sit," he demanded in a stern voice; she, surprisingly, sat.

"What the fuck…" you mumbled, watching as the dog obeyed Bakugou like he was her owner. "What did you do? She didn't listen to me when I told her to sit."

Bakugou just smirked with pride. "She see me as master, now." Just to prove his point he made another low growl, the dog's ears perking up in attention. "Understands my voice." With a stern look he pointed straight down and, sure enough, the dog laid flat on the pier, head down. He crossed his arms in satisfaction.

You looked on in amazement at the scene before you on the pier. "So, she understands your growls, then? I never even thought of the possibility you could sorta understand each other…"

By the end of the night Bakugou managed to get the dog to roll over, and the way your eyes sparked at such a simple thing made the effort worth it. Eventually it was time for you to head home, almost losing track of time because of the new addition to the normally one-on-one meetings.

Yawning, you looked between Bakugou and the dog, the former seeming to enjoy himself more compared to hours earlier now that he had some actual control over the situation. The dog, on the other hand, was also starting to fall asleep. "I think it's time for me to go home. It's pretty late now." Bakugou looked up at you with an expression you interpreted as pensive. "Sorry, the dog kind of took over today. I didn't mean for-"

"It fine," he interrupted, one finger gently scratching behind a furry ear. "Will you keep it?"

"Keep the dog? I mean what else would I do, put her back on the street? I can't do that. My cat will…not be happy though," you groaned at the idea of getting the dog home only to deal with everything that came after. Bakugou nodded in understanding; it made sense that he could empathize at least a little with her situation considering his own circumstance.

"Alright, c'mon then," you said, getting up from the pier and stretching up towards the dark sky. The dog, now worn out from having a sudden influx of interaction, stood up and walked towards you. "I'll be back tomorrow, Bakugou…would you want me to bring the dog, or no?"

The merman looked between you and the third wheel covered in dirty fur. At first when you brought the dog along he was annoyed having something else here to share your attention…but then he realized his ability to roughly make the dog obey him impressed and entertained you, so in the end it wasn't a total loss. "Wash it, first," he answered while turning up his nose and waving a webbed hand in front of his face as if to wave away an exaggerated stench.

The scene made you laugh, but you could agree that she desperately needed a bath. "Alright, I'll give her a bath before I bring her back. Goodnight, Bakugou." You gave him a warm smile and watched as he nodded in acknowledgement before you turned to walk back down the pier, the dog following sleepily behind you.

By the time you made it home you were pretty tired but knew that the dog at your feet - you'd have to come up with a name soon if you really were going to keep her - needed to eat and get a quick bath before you went to sleep.

"Alright, please be nice and don't destroy anything…maybe Bakugou's manners will stick for at least a day?" Luckily the dog seemed just as worn out as you felt, so maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad. Opening your front door the dog followed you inside and immediately started sniffing around your shoes and the furniture in your apartment. You walked into the kitchen and started fixing some type of improvised meal for the dog of leftover rice and meat. As soon as you set the bowl down onto the floor she sniffed it out and and sucked it down like a starving vacuum. "Damn, you really were hungry…alright, I hope you're OK with water because you've gotta get a bath."

You walked into your bathroom to get the water running in the tub and found your cat lounging in the sink. "You…you've gotta be nice, alright?" The cat gave no reaction other than to flick his tail at you. "Perfect…"

As water filled the tub you went back into the kitchen and grabbed up the dog. "I'll definitely have to wash these clothes tomorrow, Bakugou was right…you are a bit smelly." Walking back into the bathroom your cat's reaction was immediate: he hissed and jumped out from the sink, scurrying out of the bathroom to some other nestled spot in your apartment. "Well that's one solution…alright, in you go!"

Luckily she seemed to enjoy the water, splashing around and shaking out her fur not unlike Bakugou when he shook his hair free of seawater, spraying you as a result. It took several washes and rinses before the water ran clear, but you were impressed with how clean she was now, no longer the dirty dog from the alley. "You smell and look much better now."

"Woof!"

"That's right!" you answered, emptying the tub and running an old towel over her fur. "I feel like you need a name, but I'm not sure what…I'll think on it tomorrow." With everything that happened today you were dead tired and wanted nothing more than to flop right into bed. Walking out of the bathroom the dog followed you, seemingly happy that she was clean and fed. "Now where is that cat…?" Looking around the apartment you spotted your actual pet crouched suspiciously on his cat tree, watching the dog like a hawk. "Just stay there and the dog can sleep in my room tonight while I figure out what the hell to do…spontaneously adopting a dog wasn't exactly in my agenda, today…"

You walked into your bedroom and, as soon as the dog was clear of the doorway, you shut the door and got ready for bed. Of course she now sniffed all over your room, pawing at your tossed clothes on the floor. "I forgot how nosey dogs are. Now, hopefully you're tired because I am. Also, please don't poop or pee on the floor. What did I get myself into…" Turning off your lights and double checking your work alarm for in the morning you crawled into bed, enjoying the cool feel of well-used covers on your skin as you sank into your pillow. Eyelids heavy and breath even you started to doze off when you felt a sudden weight at the end of your bed. Groaning you looked up towards the other side of your dark room to see the dog circling around the foot of your bed about five times before settling down near your feet.

"You done?" you asked groggily, as if the dog could answer. She didn't, her breaths even against the comforter. Settling back down into your pillow it only took a few minutes for you to fall asleep.

Sometimes you dreamed, but most nights were uneventful as time passed quickly between dozing off and waking up to the annoying buzz of your phone alarm. Your hand sloppily shot out from under the covers to grope for your phone, but something else woke you up far quicker: the unmistakable feeling of dog slobber on your cheek as a wet tongue slid across your face. "N-no god, stop, too early!"

Your hands pushed the dog away and you sat up trying to wipe your face clean of drool. Looking off to the side with bleary eyes still half asleep, the dog you basically adopted yesterday sat wide awake and happy, staring at you with those big wet eyes. You let out a heavy sigh. "I can already tell today will be a long day. At least you make a good alarm."

Getting ready for work was a challenge. Your cat still avoided the dog like the plague, which honestly made your life easier. Hopefully if you left them alone all day they wouldn't kill each other…or wreck your apartment. You gave the dog some more food before taking her out to use the bathroom. Surprisingly she didn't seem to need a leash, though you'd need to get one today along with actual dog food, anyway - better safe than sorry.

"Now, please behave. I'll come back at lunch to check on you, alright?" The dog barked happily before immediately trying to follow you out the door to work. "No, stay here. Stay." She gave you those sad doggy eyes and dammit, she was lucky she was so cute. "Stay." After several minutes you finally got her to sit as you scurried out the door to the bus station.

Your mind was half focused on work, half focused on wondering how intact your apartment would be once you took your lunch break. As soon as the first half of the day was over, you hopped back on the bus towards your apartment knowing this would take up most of your lunch hour, so you'd have to grab something quick on the way back.

Whatever you were expecting when you walked in the door certainly wasn't what you witnessed. The dog sat on the couch, totally content and peaceful, as your cat made biscuits into her fluffy butt. "Oh my god…" Immediately you took out your phone and managed to snap a video of the scene before your cat resumed (pretending) to dislike the dog. You made a quick sweep of the place and everything was surprisingly unbroken. "Well, I think this proves you aren't just a street dog and at some point had an owner, which makes things easier. C'mon, let's go out real quick before I get back to work."

The rest of the work day went by with less stress than the first half with the knowledge your home wouldn't end up in a total mess when you returned. You stopped by a petstore on the way home and picked up the essentials: a leash, a collar, a small bag of dog food, a brush, doggy shampoo, etc. along with a couple of things your cat needed as well. Passing by the machine near the exit that printed name tags, you once again considered what to name the dog if you really were planning on keeping her. "Hmm…maybe Bakugou will have some name ideas, something more creative than what I can come up with."

As you walked through the threshold of your apartment, it was suspiciously quiet. No dog or cat to be seen. You hummed to yourself while looking around. "Come out, come out, where-" When you spoke up, however, a blur of fur came bounding from your bedroom into the living room and skidded to a half at your feet. "Well, you obviously react to my voice so that's good at least. It doesn't look like you made a mess…so good girl!" Bending down you scratched her behind the ears, prompting her to roll on her back for mandatory tummy rubs. You obliged.

After feeding her and attaching the collar, you grabbed up your normal things and, with leash in hand, headed out the door. "Be good, alright? We're going to see Bakugou again. Maybe he told you to behave last night; if so you are damn good at following directions."

Once you arrived at the pier it didn't take long for the familiar touch of wet skin to glide across your foot, asking if it was safe to come up. The echo of rapping knuckles on the wood of the pier gave him his answer, prompting him to jump up to his normal spot at your side. Immediately crimson eyes eyed the dog who obediently sat next to him as if waiting for orders. Raising his nose in the air Bakugou sniffed while looking between you and the dog before nodding in approval. "Doesn't smell bad. Smell…like you," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"For one, she slept in my apartment and on my bed so yeah, she probably smells a bit like me. Two, I used my soap to wash her. As you can see she looks cleaner in addition to smelling nicer." Bakugou analyzed the dog once more and, now that you'd pointed it out, she did look less dirty and was overall more pleasant to look at. "Did you tell her to behave last night? She did a lot better than I thought she would when I got her home."

Bakugou's eyes cut away from you before slowly returning with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe," he said with a smirk.

You laughed at how you'd assumed correctly, and at the fact he didn't tell you. "Well, I appreciate it. She also got along surprisingly well with my cat…" Looking over at him, however, he shook his head while rifling through your bag for his food.

"That not me, dog must like cats," he replied, pulling out a strange bag that he'd never seen before. "What's this?"

Immediately the dog perked up at the bag, but one glare from Bakugou had her behaving once more. "Oh those are treats for her. They're made special for dogs." Opening up the bag he turned up his nose at the smell. "Yeah, they don't smell good but dogs love 'em." Experimentally he reached in and grabbed a treat, watching the dog's reaction he slowly lowered his hand and, without much warning, the dog snapped forward and took the treat, swallowing it without even bothering to chew. The look on Bakugou's face was more than amusing.

"I gave her plenty of food, but I bet she's still excited to see food she doesn't have to dig around back alleys for." Bakugou dug into the bag for another treat, but this time let out a low growl and the dog obeyed whatever he demanded, doing a barrel roll on the pier before sitting up expectantly. He looked at you waiting for approval, and at your nod he tossed another treat to the dog who let out a happy bark.

"Don't give her a lot, they're basically like candy so too many can be bad for them," you explained before taking out his and your own food from your bag. Rather than jump all over you like last time, the dog sat patiently and only issued the occasional whine when she wanted a bit of attention; those damn eyes of hers were something to be wary of with how adorable and innocent they made her look.

Bakugo silently took note of how you reacted to the dog, catering to her now that she was more well-behaved compared to the previous day. A thought hit him to try an experiment…he just needed to find the right moment to test his theory.

"Question for you," you said, dangling a treat above the dog as her tail wagged vigorously in anticipation.

"What?" Bakugou asked, subtly scooting closer to you while you were distracted.

"I was wondering if you wanted to name her? I'm no good with coming up with names, maybe you have something more interesting than…'dog' hmm?" You finally gave in and let her have the treat, the simple whines and cuteness factor too powerful to deny. Looking up you now noticed Bakugou was much closer than you remember him being to you a minute ago; you didn't mind, of course.

He tilted his head and quirked his brow at your question. "A name?" he inquired, red eyes darting between you and the dog.

"Sure. She obeys you…plus I'm curious what you'd come up with," you admitted, looking up at him with the disappearing sunset silhouetting him in the background as if to remind you how effortlessly handsome he looked. Bakugou smirked as if he read your mind and you had to look away, focusing instead on the dog now licking your hand.

Suddenly Bakugou leaned over and picked up the dog under the front legs, holding her up next to his face, and all you could do was stare as they looked…adorably similar. While she had her tongue lolling out of her mouth, Bakugou stuck his own tongue out playfully as if to mirror her actions. This was definitely a sight to commit to memory.

"Treat?" he said, wiggling the dog's paws in the air as she barked; how he switched effortlessly between handsome and cute so quickly was almost jarring.

"I knew you were devious…but this is a whole new level." You didn't want to give the dog too many more treats - she was already incredibly spoiled after just one day - but you sighed and dug into the bag for one more, holding it out to her as she licked your fingers hungrily.

"Where mine?" Bakugou asked slyly while wiggling his tongue. You weren't sure if he had any idea how he looked, but you nearly coughed at the image.

"You already ate, so what else do you want? A tummy rub?" You were sarcastic of course, but Bakugou actually seemed to mull it over for a moment before scoffing at the idea. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He had another plan, however. Sitting the dog down Bakugou laid down in your lap, head resting on one of your thighs. He gazed up at you expectantly, a smirk still playing on his lips. Shaking your head you figured out what he wanted, bringing your hand up to scratch his scalp and twirl your fingers in his hair white blonde hair.

Now having no attention, the dog let out a small whine. Bakugou opened one crimson eye - previously closed to fully enjoy your attention - to look at the dog before letting out a sigh and making a small gesture. Immediately she hopped up onto his stomach and laid down like that was where she was supposed to be.

"This is the cutest shit, not gonna lie," you laughed, looking down at the merman in your lap and the dog in his own lap. "Have you thought of a name, yet?"

Bakugou's brows furrowed as if he was thinking, mulling over various unaired names in his head until he found one he liked. Snapping open, his eyes focused on you looking down at him, irisis full of answers to questions you'd never asked.

"Pearl," he said. "Like your gift."

At that your hand stopped stopped moving. Such a simple title held so much meaning for you - and you assumed for him as well. Taking a moment to think it over the dog laying across Bakugou was a bit like a pearl in some ways: her shell wasn't that pretty to look at initially, but once she was cleaned up you couldn't help but become attached after so little time like a gem in the rough. The nuance was far from lost on you as you smiled down at Bakugou. You felt him shift slightly on your legs under your gaze.

"That's a good name." Apparently she thought so too, climbing up to lick Bakugou in the face. He groaned, lifting the dog up easily so she could cover you in doggy kisses instead as your laughter filled the cool sea air.

Eventually it was time for you to head home, the sun now long gone behind the horizon line of the ocean and replaced with the dark cascade of night and stars. The dog - now officially named Pearl - enjoyed the attention of one webbed hand behind her left ear, Bakugou discovering this new favorite scratching spot minutes earlier. You resolved to bring the dog back every once in a while, though not everyday, still wanting time along with the handsome merman without any distractions.

"Ready to go home?" At the sound of your voice Pearl turned her attention to you, but looked up at Bakugou as if she'd already miss him. He rolled his ruby eyes but resigned to give her one final pat on the head before she trotted over to you, claws clattering along the echoing wood of the pier in the silence of the late evening. "Thanks for all your help, Bakugou. I'm glad you actually sorta like her now," you joked, sticking your tongue out at him similar to his own expression earlier.

He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, but didn't miss how his eyes followed Pearl as she sat next to you expectantly. You wondered if, outside of feeling kinship at her lack of home and someone to care for her properly, he was envious of her ability to stay with you. It was a consideration you thought about more than you'd like to admit. Maybe you'd talk with him about it, but that conversation was for another day.

"I'll see you tomorrow…and how about I leave her at home and it just be us?" The small glint in his eyes at the suggestion gave you your answer. "Goodnight Bakugou." As you turned to leave, though, Pearl gave a whine and pointed her nose at the merman still sitting on the pier…as if to ask why he wasn't coming with you, a pang shooting through your heart at the idea.

Bakguou gestured for Pearl to come closer, red eyes observing you before he bent down and seemingly whispered a secret into the dog's furry ear. The scene was bizarre, Pearl almost nodding her head in understanding before jogging back over to you.

"What did you say to her?" Bakugou just put a webbed finger up to his lips and shook his head.

"Secret," he replied with small smirk. Looking between your two companions you couldn't help but laugh at the fact they were apparently having conversations without you.

With one final smile you waved goodbye, Pearl following you down the dark wood-lined path. Crimson eyes followed you like they always did before disappearing with a small splash below the tension of shifting water, wondering if what he asked of the dog was enough to satisfy him for the time being: that she'd watch over you when he could not, and comfort you outside of the small meeting space you shared under shimmering stars.