Replying to the comments
Guest: Oh come now, there must be something wrong here. I'm glad you're enjoying this though, and I hope you continue to read this.
Disclaimer: Rick Griffin owns Housepets!, but from what I understand he is in negotiations to sell it to Stephanie Meyer. Apparently their going to turn Peanut into a vampire.
Silence reigned in the hallway. Bino had taken a backwards step towards the door, his eyes wide and his face displaying a look of horror. Max's grin hadn't faltered but if one looked into his eyes, they could see his nerves beginning to get the better of him and he was slightly trembling. Tina's eyes hadn't left the floor and a tuft of her fur had fallen over her face, concealing any emotion one could find from her. Nancy, of course, hadn't picked up on any hostility.
"Well, I'm sure you're all gonna be the best of friends," Nancy exclaimed cheerfully, heading for the door. "I'm just going to head down to the store to pick up some groceries. I'll be back in a few minuets."
"Okay Mom." Max said, his eyes never leaving the brown canine that stood before him.
As soon as Nancy walked out the door, Bino bluntly broke the ice. "Max, what the heck?! You told me you had a sister!"
"I never said it was biological," Max said with a smirk "and I do not like anyone putting words in my mouth."
"Still, a cat?" Bino growled, his frustration growing "what kind of dog are you?"
Tina, realizing what kind of dog Bino was, retreated to the backyard, a panicked look on her face. Max's face contorted into a face of rage for a split second, but soon returned to a neutral expression.
"Bino, could I speak with you upstairs?" Max said, the playful tone in his voice gone. He ascended the stairs before he got a response.
"As long as you don't have another 'sister' up there." Bino spat bitterly, following the tan dog.
Soon, Max had led Bino into a bedroom, presumably one for Max's parents. Sitting on a stool in the middle of the room was a stocky, balding man with a pair of glasses on over his blue-green eyes, strumming an acoustic guitar. He wore a purple shirt, khaki jeans, and a pair of sandals. His head jerked upwards when the two canines entered the room.
"Hey Max," said the man with a laid back voice "here for another song?"
"Not now Dad," Max said, "Think you could give me and my friend some privacy?"
"Sure thing kid," he said. Max's dad grabbed Bino's hand and shook it heartily. "The name's Stan by the way, if you ever need a musician let me know."
"Bino." The brown canine introduced himself curtly as Stan walked out the door. When Stan left, Bino turned to face Max, who had taken a seat on his dad's chair.
"Okay look," Bino began, disdain clear in his voice. "I don't know what sort of weird stuff you're into, and I can still get you in the club if you keep it on the down low, but if you think I'll let...cat in, you're"
"Bino, does your club have a theme song?" Max interrupted, his face and voice remaining calm.
A small firework went off in Bino's head, but his face remained neutral. "What are you talking about?" He asked.
Max leaned forward slightly, his paws pointing at Bino as he spoke. "Look, I know you don't want anything to do with Tina, but I'm willing to make a deal-I write your club a theme song, you let Tina in the club. That simple."
Bino, while ecstatic about the idea, was skeptical. "You actually know how to WRITE music?" He asked incredulously.
"Did you see my dad earlier?" Max said, a playful tone returning to his voice "The man is a music guru, and he taught me everything he knows."
Bino narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Show me something you wrote." He said.
Max's face took on a nervous expression for a split second before returning to a calm face. "Sure thing." He said with a smirk, as he stood up and moved towards a desk in the corner of the room. He started shuffling through several pieces of paper, some with sketches and words, some without. Bino stood over his shoulder, waiting patiently. Soon, Max lifted a fake potted plant, revealing a small key.
"Ah, here it is." Max said, bringing the key to a small hole on the desk. "My dad is protective of his work, and mine for that matter." He said as he twisted the key in that lock. Instead of a drawer however, the top of the desk flipped open, tossing the many papers to the floor and revealing a mess of papers underneath.
Max shuffled through the papers for a few seconds, before coming across a slightly older piece of paper with ratty edges. "I haven't written anything in a while, but I still think I have that talent." Max said, handing the paper to Bino.
Bino snatched the paper out of Max's hand and began skimming over the words. He soon slowed down, wanting to savour the words before him. "This is...Good. Really good." Bino said, unable to hide his thoughts on the song."
"Now, I'll join your club either way," Max said, realizing he had control of the situation "but if you want something penned by yours truly, you're gonna have to let Tina in to. I hold all the cards here good sir."
Bino sighed in frustration, scratching the back of his head. On one hand, a cat in The Good Ol' Dog's Club would cause pure chaos. On the other, no one had even offered to write an anthem for the club before, and from what he had just read, this was the guy to do it...
"Fine," Bino grunted, extending his paw. "You win. She can be in the club."
Max however, did not grab Bino's paw. "Actually...I think I have another stipulation. See, Tina is not the social type, as I'm sure you've gathered, and I want you to be her friend and introduce her to everyone in the neighborhood."
Bino's paw went down immediately, his expression becoming incredulous. "What?! You can keep your theme song if you think I'm doing that!" He hollered, stomping towards the door.
Keeping his cool, Max spoke again. "It's not just the theme song you'll lose if you don't do this you know," Max said "you walk out that door, you can forget about me joining that club, as I'll be to busy trying to get Tina to socialize with everyone to bother with it."
Bino froze. Sure he had kicked dogs out of the club before, heck he did it to Peanut on a bi-weekly basis. But to have a dog in Babylon Gardens NOT in The Good Ol' Dogs Club...It was unimaginable. He growled again.
"Where is she now?" He asked begrudgingly, not facing the grey eyed canine behind him.
"In the backyard, probably on the bench swing." Max said. Bino sighed and headed downstairs. As he stepped on the first step however, Max called out.
"BINO!" He called, and winced as Bino stumbled down thirteen (thankfully carpeted) stairs, landing face first.
"A little to much gun powder..." Bino mumbled incoherently.
"Sorry about that Bino"," Max said apologetically "but I'd rather not have Tina know that I'm basically bribing you to be her friend. You seem like a good actor, so just don't let her know."
"I thought that was obvious." Bino grumbled, heading towards the backyard as he was clutching his head.
As Bino walked towards the back door, Max glanced down at the small key he had brought down from the bedroom. "Thank dog that worked..." he mumbled to himself, as he headed back upstairs.
The first thing Bino noticed as he stepped out into the backyard was that it was facing directly towards the sun. He shielded his eyes as the afternoon sun shone down on him, squinting as he looked at the swing in front of him. In it sat the orange cat he was looking for, who had turned around when the door opened. Tina's eyes widened and stared at him in fear.
"Alright, look," Bino said, having to strain to keep any malice out of his voice. "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier, I just assumed when he said sister he meant a dog. I just want to talk."
Silence reigned once again as the dog and cat stared each other down. After what seemed like forever, Tina nodded and patted the spot on the swing beside her. Bino sat down after some hesitation.
Bino decided to take a better look at what he was dealing with, as he hadn't bothered to really look at her in the hallway. She had a few other, smaller brown spots on her back around the same shape as the one around her eye. She was about an inch shorter than him and had a small tuft of orange fur that covered her left eye.
"So..." Bino began, trying to strike up a conversation "how do you like Babylon Gardens so far?"
They entered another awkward silence as Bino waited for her response, which seemed to take forever. "It has a good view of the sunset." Tina said quietly after a long pause.
Bino had never noticed it before, but yes, the view of the sunset from here. There were no trees in the way to block the bright orange light of the sun, and the view of it was spectacular.
'This would be kind of romantic if I wasn't with a cat.' Bino noted to himself. "Yeah, it is nice, but theirs a lot more to Babylon Gardens than that. I can give you a little tour if you want." Bino said, instantly regretting his statement.
Tina pulled her knees up to her chest, rocking herself back and forth. "I'd like that." She said after another pause.
'Max, I'm going to kill you.' Bino thought disdainfully, though none of it showed on his face, which was beaming friendliness. "Sure, I know this place better than anyone. We can go now if you want."
"Sure." Tina said, standing up and heading towards the door. "Max, do you want to come." She called out, seemingly to thin air.
Bino stared at her incredously, but soon dropped that face as Max emerged from a bush near by. "But...how..."
"I have my ways." Max said simply. "Anyway, I still have a few boxes left to unpack, so you two go ahead and I'll catch up."
Tina nodded and headed towards the front door, Bino catching up with her soon after. As they stepped out the door, Bino almost bolted towards home, but something held him back. He knew the theme song was tempting, and not having Max in the club didn't seem like an option to him, but there was something else. He chalked it up to being to into character, and soon began leading Tina around.
Told you it was long XD hopefully it was worth the read. If you enjoyed, leave a review and tell me how I can improve, and I promise I'll respond to it whenever I get the next chapter up...Which may take some time, since my family is taking me on vacation for the week, so please be patient.
-You're friendly neighborhood weirdo, Biz.