A confusing mix of mortification and bliss spread through Duke as his girlfriend lifted him by the scruff with seriously impressive strength, wordlessly deciding to carry him after he had evidently failed to hide the pain that his injuries were still causing him. Especially when he had to manage them and carrying the rat's cage… but both tasks were easier now with her physical and emotional support and warmth. Who knew life on the surface could be so complicated? Duke temporarily transferred the cage from his mouth to his front leg, letting out a strained "Thanks" as it felt heavier there than he had expected, and Duchess mumbled something that somewhat resembled "Of course" through his neck fur.
She was moving towards their destination, the suburbs that her foxing awful abandoning former owners and many hopefully non awful human families lived in, that she had oh so cleverly remembered the location of by analyzing the turns their car had taken on the way to that terrible place where they had cast her aside, with all of the grace that she had embodied since he had first seen her and much, much less of the low self image and guilt. Her enthusiasm was infectious as well as adorable, and he found himself regaining his intrigue in humans. Maybe they really would be nice, even to a scrawny rat-like dog like him. Duke hoped for her… their sake that they would be; she deserved all the wonderful things she had spoken of in spades, and sharing them with someone as wonderful as her was something he had never dared to dream of, that he could scarcely dream of now, even as they were heading towards it. Together.
They stopped for the night at a peaceful little lake off the highway, pressed intimately against each other's sides as they tucked into a rabbit that Duchess had very impressively caught for them. Gratitude surged through Duke as he reflected on her unspoken kindness of catching something that wasn't too closely related to the Rats; he still cared about them despite having never really fully being one of them and didn't want to see anything bad happen to any of their kin. Which was what made watching the rat traveling with them slowly deteriorate so painful. Duke lifted his head, pausing his meal despite its richness and fillingness, almost completely unfamiliar to him, and instead watched her erratically pacing around her cage. Would it be more merciful to give her a share of the rabbit and allow her rabies to kill her rather than starvation, or to hope that the latter returned her essence to the Rats before the former could? Duchess had long since stopped eating as well and followed his gaze, watching the rat with pity and slight, mostly suppressed revulsion.
She looked back and forth between the rabbit and rat, her worry indicating that this question had occurred to her as well. After a long moment, she shook her head slightly, bounding upwards and playfully grabbing a stick in her mouth before dropping the front half of her body and wagging her tail while facing him. Duke looked at her confusedly, trying and failing to figure out what she wanted him to do, and she eventually dropped the stick. "Come on, Duke! Haven't you ever played before?" He looked back on his memories of playing with his semi littermates, the real, biological pups of his semi mothers; they were few and far between and often short due to the disparities in size and inclinations between them. They always inevitably preferred to play amongst themselves after a pin that was a little too hard, or a play bow that failed to adequately warn them of an upcoming pounce, or some other failure on his end… "...Not really, no… I couldn't do it right with the Rats…" Her face softened with pity and sweet understanding, and she nuzzled him, successfully draining the tension out of his body and recollections. "You could never do it wrong with me, Duke."
After a long moment, she slowly pulled away from him. "Humans call this game 'Tug of War.' I take one end of the stick… usually it's done with toys, they'll have some when we find a family to stay with… you take the other, and we both try to take it from each other! …Unless you'd rather do something else, of course… There are other games I could tell you about." Duke stood up, feeling a hesitant wagging of his tail for one of the first times in his life. "That sounds perfect… Thank you, Duchess." She dipped her head, smiling and looking away from the rat slightly. "Always." She very obviously avoided pouring her full strength into this game, accounting for his smaller stature and injuries, but they still had to pause multiple times for him to regain his grip on the stick. He didn't even care… mostly… he was just happy to be here with her, sharing an experience he thought he would never have with a person he would never have dared to dream of having.
The game ended quickly after his first successful claiming of the stick from her… although she had definitely assisted with this feat… as he flinched, the force he had been exerting in his enthusiasm intensely reverberating through his hopefully only bruised ribs… but not as intensely as the love he felt for her as she immediately moved to his side, gently curling around him as he obediently lay down, dropping the stick. The comfort of being wrapped up in her warmth and love quickly dissipated the pain, replacing it with hope and excitement for their shared future that not even the audible scrabbling of the rat in her cage could challenge. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry-" She trailed off and smiled slightly at the ground as Duke licked her muzzle reassuringly. "Never been better. You don't have to apologize for anything, Duchess. That was amazing, you're amazing-" He trailed off in embarrassment and was swiftly reassured as she returned his lick."You're amazing too, Duke." Feeling his eyelids droop from the comfort of her presence, he mumbled something that hopefully at least partially resembled a return of this sentiment before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.