(Meeting Francis and Tito)
A couple of months passed and winter was finally over. Things were looking so much better. The grass and trees were greener than ever, and there was the sweet smell of Spring in the air.
Rose and Rita were coming from having a busy day. As they were making their way back, they were talking and talking.
Rita and Rose became inseparable, like how best friends should be.
They make it back to the barge and start heading down the stairs. Rose stops for a minute since she walked ahead of Rita.
"What is it, Rose?" Rita asked. "There's an unfamiliar scent in the barge," she said, "Do you smell it?"
Rita sniffed the air and caught the scent. "Yeah, I do," Rita said wearily.
Rose's hackles raised up as they walked down the stairs. Neither one of them recognized the scent.
They growled quietly, baring their fangs a bit. When they did make it, they calmed down, seeing that Einstein was down there.
They also saw two more dogs in front of the Great Dane.
One of them was a tan colored bull dog with a much smaller dog with him; A Chihuahua with orange hair between his big pointed ears.
"Einie, who are these guys?" Rose asked, looking from him to the two dogs.
"Fagin brought them here. They can stay, can't they?" Einstein replied, beaming.
The tiny dog pulled away from the bull dog, who held him back. This dog was the tiniest dog Rita and Rose had ever seen.
If his tail hadn't been wagging, both she-dogs would've mistaken him for a big rat they'd find in an alleyway.
"Ooh! Chicas! They didn't say you two were babes!" the small chihuahua said with a yap, eyes wide as he approached them, his tongue hanging out.
Rose and Rita stepped back a bit. The shepherd mix growled warningly at the overzealous rat dog.
Both she-dogs have had their fair share of fliratious nonsense with Dodger. They didn't need it from him.
"Watch yourself, tiny. Keep your eyes in your head where they belong," Rita said, grimacing.
The larger of the two stranger dogs, a rotund looking dog, placed his paw on the chihuahua's tail to hold him back.
"Stop that, Tito. You have no idea what these hoodlums are capable of. Besides, you're liable to get eaten in one bite. You don't know where these two have been," he spat at the smaller dog.
The rotund dog tried to keep his distance from the other dogs. Any other dogs he's come across had been dangerous to him.
He believed that these dogs would have no hesitation to maul them alive. Rose knew what she was capable of when she got ahold of that pitbull a while back.
"I can assure you, scoundrels, we have no interest in having any sort of exchanges. Your master had brought us here to spend one night," the bulldog said.
Rose and Rita glanced over at each other for a minute. "Look, you thinking that we're gonna have you as a snack, then you oughta leave," Rose said to the bulldog, having venom laced in her tone.
"Yeah, you won't find any cannibals on the outside," Rita agreed.
The bulldog cowered away from them, barely able to cover the fefar in his eyes.
The she-dogs saw this and took on a softer tone of voice. "Look, we may have been too harsh. If Fagin brought you two in, then you're more than welcome to stay," Rita said, smiling at them.
"Yeah, besides, it is Dodger's turn to bring some food. Take what you two need. And you turn your nose at us all you want, but that pup of yours needs to learn some manners," Rose said, raising her mixmatched ears at the two dogs.
Rose looked down at the chihuahua; He had stopped his attempt to get near her and her best friend. Both she-dogs looked up at Einstein.
"Try to not crush our tiniest guest, Einie," Rita said, cracking a smile at the great dane.
Rose grinned at Einstein's friendly nature. There wasn't a dog that he hated, except for that pitbull.
Rita retreated to her bed to get some space so she could wait for Dodger and Fagin. Rose decided to join her.
"Mind for some company?" she asked with a smile. Rita couldn't say no to her bestie.
"Sure. Come on in," she said, making a head motion to let Rose know she could come in.
Rose crawled in and laid down next to her, resting her head on Rita's back, dropping her ears.
"I hope they won't be staying for long," Rita whispered to Rose. "They don't seem that bad," Rose replied, hearing the chihuahua constantly chattering away, "If that rat they call a dog ever shuts his muzzle, that is,"
Rita smiled at her. "Yeah, guess you're right on that one," she said.
Then, a pair of footsteps were coming down the stairs. Rose and Rita finally emerged from the secluded bed.
"I hope you guys have played nice!" Fagin said as he came downstairs.
The bulldog held the chihuahua back as he watched the other dogs jump on Fagin to greet him.
Tito started to sniff around the terrier, completely unafraid. Tito was small but fearless.
"So, Fagin took you in, huh?" Dodger asked.
"Yeah, I was out with my brother, Frankie and Fagin gave us biscuits, said we could come home with him, man!" Tito exclaimed in his Spanish accent, continuously bouncing around with each word.
Dodger looked over to the bulldog, who kept his distance. "Guess we got off on the wrong paw," he said.
"Nope, we were just getting to that," Rita said. "Yeah, Rita and I have been hiding for a while," Rose said, scratching her floppy ear.
Dodger noticed how the she-dogs kept their distance from the two new dogs.
"You guys cool? Something got your tails in a bunch?" he asked with his head cocked a bit.
"Oh, we're cool, Dodge. We're just surprised that this dog and some dog that should be with the rich privileged humans judging us like we came from the trash can," Rose replied, trying to keep a civil tone.
"Yeah, I agree with Rose. If they play nice, then so will we," Rita said, sick of the tension that had been built up.
They knew that Dodger was the only one who could calm things down. He could calm the bulldog down to a friendly state.
"Why don't we start over? But let's start with the basics. Name's Dodger; Einstein, Rose, an' Rita you sorta met before. This is our home and as long as you two respect it, we'll get along just fine. *Looks down at Tito* And you might want to be careful around Rita and Rose; They're not interested. You can think of them as your sisters. Rita is harmless enough unless you cross her. Rose has one heck of a bite and she is attentive and vigilant. Don't be jerks and you'll be fine. As for Einie, he wouldn't hurt a fly so you have nothing to worry about," Dodger said, keeping it idyllic.
"I am Ignacio Alonzo Julio Fredrico de Tito and this is Frankie! He was alone when I found 'im. We've been partners ever since. Now he's got somebody to watch his back if we get jumped! Frankie's scared of everything!" the chihuahua said.
"The name's Francis, you intrusive little pipsqueak. I'll have you know that being suitably weary of other strays does not make me a coward," Francis clarified in his sophisticated English tone.
Then, Fagin called the small pack over to his broken recliner for a story. Einstein made no hesitation to join his masters' side. Rose stood on her hind legs, letting her rest her forepaws on Fagin's arm as if she was begging for food.
Rita laid down at Fagin's feet, grateful to have a distraction. Both she-dogs were now 9 months old, almost a year old, so they were getting too big to be in Fagin's lap.
It wasn't a comfortable experience anymore for them. Dodger joined her as he looked back at Francis and Tito. "You two coming for the story, Francis and uh…" Dodger asked, already forgetting the name of the hyper-active chihuahua.
His name was too big for his size. "I've been referring to him as Tito," Francis clarified, hesitantly following the terrier. He avoided the she-dogs; He knew there was little he could do about this situation, so he would just have to grin and bear it.
The story Fagin read wasn't exactly Shakspeare, but it was a good distraction. Tito jumped up on Fagin's head, letting his four inch legs dangle by Fagin's face. This blocked Fagin's vision, making it hard to read.
"Yo, Tito, man, he can't read with you blocking his vision," Dodger said with a laugh. "Yeah, why don't you move in a less awkward position?" Rose suggested with a grin.
And he did, perching on Fagin's shoulder. Dodger and Rose would be lying if they said they weren't enjoying the new additions. Rita relaxed a little bit around the hostile bulldog. Dodger seemed to make a great first impression on him.
The future days would be much more interesting, that was for sure.