A/N: Hello! This was going to be a longer chapter, but I've been having horrible writers' block and I'm about to go on a trip. I wanted to publish something before I went on my trip because I haven't published in quite some time, but I couldn't get myself to write the last half or so in time. Maybe this trip will reinspire me! Anyways, here's a little chapter to chew on for a little longer so that I can get back and start writing the cool stuff. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Poker Shoulders and a Cold Face

It was a long, but cozy night. By far the coziest in quite some time it seemed. Muriel, Courage, and Noel slept deep and happily. Eustace slept unhappily, yet still deep and somewhat cozy. All four occupants of the bed got a good full night's rest, and that cozy night gave birth to another golden morning.

Courage smiled at the reassuring, golden light shining through the windows. Muriel had already left the bed to go make breakfast. But Eustace and Noel continued to sleep peacefully. It made Courage smile and giggle to know that his new friend shared some of the same habits as Eustace (such as sleeping in). Ultimately deciding to leave them undisturbed, Courage made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Muriel was already in there of course, and she was whipping up some cinnamon rolls, fried potatoes, and bacon. This was one of Courage's favorite breakfasts. She was humming her normal everyday tune and carried the smile of a truly happy person. And that happy smile somehow grew upon her noticing Courage's presence.

"Ah, good morning to you Courage," she said to him.

"Good morning Muriel," he responded cheerfully, not caring if she heard it or not.

"Where's your new friend?" she asked.

Courage acted out a series of gestures that told her his friend was still peacefully asleep upstairs. She caught onto that exactly.

"Oh, how lovely," she said. "And how are you liking your new friend now, Courage?"

Courage held his paws together, smiled warmly, turned to his side, and laughed softly to indicate that he was quite fond of him now.

"Oh, that's grand Courage," she responded, sizzling more bacon. "I was worried that you two would never get along. I always wanted to find you a wee buddy, but I never knew if you ever wanted one or not. But I'm glad it all worked out."

Muriel's words about him having a buddy stuck to him like flies stuck to honey. But before he could think too deep about it, his "wee" buddy showed up.

He walked in, still looking pretty sleepy, and scratched his side. His stomach then growled very loud, and everybody in the kitchen heard it.

"Oh, my!" Muriel laughed. "You must be starving, you poor dear."

"Yeah, I guess so," Noel giggled back.

"Don't worry dear, it's almost ready," she smiled at him, before turning back around.

Courage, who had already poured himself a glass of milk, was now sitting at the table. Noel then did the same and sat right next to him.

"Hey," Courage said upon his arrival, after a sip of milk.

"Hey," he responded back. "How'd you sleep?"

"Too good," Courage said pleasantly. "How did you sleep?"

"Better, actually," Noel responded. "Even when I didn't like you, I didn't enjoy taking your spot on the bed. I'd actually toss and turn, feeling sorry for you having to sleep somewhere else." He whined a little.

"That's okay," Courage cheered him up. "We're great friends now, and what's past is past. I won't hold anything against you if you do the same for me."

"Alright," agreed Noel. He took a sip of his cold milk.

Muriel then showed up with two scrumptious plates of food. She placed each of them down in front of both dogs, and then went to make Eustace's.

Speaking of which, Eustace then walked in. He just stood in the doorway, staring at both dogs with a finger raised and his mouth half open like he was going to say something. Ultimately deciding to hold his tongue, he turned around and went back into the dining room without a word. It was one of the first times that Eustace had intruded upon a peaceful setting, but had decided to let it be. "Good for him," Courage couldn't help but think to himself.

"Ghosts," Muriel giggled, noticing the door open and close but unaware that Eustace was just there. While Muriel prepared her and Eustace's food, the two dogs ate and then began planning their visit to Shirley.

"So," Courage said. "We are going to Shirley's today, correct?"

"That's what the plan is," Noel confirmed. "And you said you knew how to get there from here?"

"Yes," replied Courage.

"Good." Noel was silent again. "I just hope that she is able to give us the info we need about my parents. And while we're there, we ought to ask her about your parents as well."

Courage felt nauseous. "My parents?" Courage desperately did not want to face the fact that his parents were dead, especially in front of Noel. "I already spoke with her about my parents in the past," Courage lied.

"Oh," Noel replied. "Well, did she give you any suggestions or pointers?"

"Uh, I don't think so," Courage hesitated. God he felt so stupid, but Noel still bought it and stopped pressing.

"Oh," he simply responded. "Well we'll somehow find out eventually so don't worry."

"Yeah," Courage responded blankly. He feared that Noel would try to press this again soon.

It was quiet again. Muriel was then off to bring Eustace his food (expecting that man to be in the dining room).

"When are we heading out?" Noel asked.

"After breakfast," Courage responded. "You'll want to eat before we go because I have walked in on her doing crazy things that would make your stomach turn." He gagged recalling a disturbing squid mutation she was administering during one of his arrivals.

"I can't wait," Noel joked.

They eventually both finished their milk and food. It was time to head out. But first they had to tell Muriel. They went into the dining room to find Eustace feasting ravenously all alone. He stopped upon their arrival.

"Stupid dogs," he muttered before chowing down again.

"Can you tell Muriel that we're heading out?" Noel tried asking him.

"Tell her yourself!" he spat. "I'm in the middle of something very important." He smiled back down at his food.

"Come on," Courage urged Noel for them to leave.

"Oh, I was just trying," Noel said.

"At least he understands us," Courage claimed.

"But will Muriel?" Noel wondered.

"I have my ways of talking to her," Courage replied confidently.

They eventually found her switching a load of laundry in the basement. She smiled upon their arrival and Courage began doing his gestures and gibberish.

"Ah, well mind yourselves, be careful, and have fun you two!" She bade them farewell.

As they began walking up the stairs and out of the house, Noel commented on Courage's ability to communicate with Muriel.

"Uh, what in the hell did I just witness?" he laughed.

"It works every time," Courage smiled with confidence.

"Dude, I think you turned into a freaking dinosaur, crushed a building, and then swallowed a whole ship full of innocent people," Noel pointed out. "How did she interpret that as 'going out'?"

"It's a bit complicated," Courage admitted. "But I've been doing this my whole life, so I'm pretty fluent."

"Fluent in being a complete psychopath," quipped Noel.

"Hey, at least I'm not the one who took 2 and a half weeks to finally like someone who was trying to be nice to you even though you robbed them of their life!" fired Courage.

"Easy there tiger," Noel laughed. "I was just being cautious."

"Cautious my buttocks," Courage joked. "You were literally drooling for any moment you could take my spot as Muriel's pet!"

What first started as a friendly argument turned into a more heated one upon leaving the building.

"Maybe you were just too stubborn to accept another dog into your life!" Noel spat.

"You robbed me of my old life!" Courage cried. "We are walking out into the desert right now because of you!"

"Oh, please," Noel whined. "We're 20 yards from the house. Don't be ridiculous!"

"You're making me ridiculous!" Courage cried.

"Maybe I just wanted a stable life for once!" Noel finally screamed. "My entire life has been from owner to owner because one is tired of me or one dies or one goes missing or something! Maybe I wanted a life where when I was away from my owner, I wasn't out on the streets fighting against creeps or for food just to survive!" He breathed a little. "I saw something in Muriel that I had never witnessed before. It was a heart of gold. A heart of GOLD! I saw my only opportunity and took it. What the hell else was I supposed to do?" His voice got choked up and he hid his face in his paws and away from Courage.

Courage, now feeling guilty, tried to place a paw onto Noel's shoulder. But Noel shook it off.

"Sensitive fur," he groaned without lifting his head.

That response managed to anger Courage again, but he managed to calm it enough to prevent him from further action. He then decided to look away and across the desert in the direction that they were heading. It was a familiar sight as it was the 'backdrop' (or so to put it) of many memories, happy and grim. He watched as the wind gently blew the sand around on the ground. It was chilly out there as it was closer to the end of the year. Courage always preferred the cold weather to the hot as it made him want to be more active. But what he didn't know was that the cold from that moment would end up freezing his blood for the rest of his life.

"And when I saw her vehicle," Noel continued through his paws. "I saw a very jealous, mean-looking pink dog glaring at me. He was the same breed as me and even though I was intimidated, I couldn't help but think that maybe he just needed a companion."

His words sprouted icy spikes of pain straight into Courage's heart. That terrible feeling of abandonment and isolation that ate him up even before Noel arrived had surfaced yet again. It hurt SO bad and he began frantically searching his mind for the source. Noel's presence had awakened something within Courage that he had subconsciously felt for such a long time. It felt like his separation from his parents was what the source was, but it still didn't really feel like it was. The feeling was extreme and he felt like he was desperately yearning for something.

"And for some time I thought maybe that was all, but you've managed to prove me wrong," Noel finished before looking back over at Courage with a hurt frown.

"Noel," Courage's mouth was open. His paws were clasped against his stomach and his eyes were watery. "I'm sorry," he said. "I realize that I haven't been entirely fair to you, even after we became friends. I did say that I wouldn't fault you for anything as long as you don't fault me and neither one of us did that. And I'm sorry I let you down." A single tear was then making its way down Courage's muzzle.

"Look, it's okay," Noel sniffled. "I haven't been fair either and I'm sorry that I let you down too. I'll be more careful from now on."

"So will I," Courage sniffed.

"Well anyways, back on track," Noel changed the subject.

"Right," Courage grabbed his own shoulder. "This way."

As they traversed further into the desert, their conversations moved onto the subject of Noel's parents.

"What do you think their names were?" Courage asked him.

"How should I know?" Noel asked.

"I was just asking," Courage replied. "What do you think they were like?"

"Again, how should I know?" Noel asked.

"Just fantasize with me," Courage played excitedly. "Do you think your dad was big and tough like you or a little coward like me?"

"Hey now, show yourself some respect," Noel snapped, but played back. "But I dunno. Maybe he was a hitman, or a gangster, or a ninja."

"A ninja?" Courage laughed. "Alright, now what about your mother?"

"My mother must've been a queen somewhere at one point," Noel fantasized. "Or she must have been some sort of wizard or mage."

"So you were the offspring of a gangster ninja hitman and a mage queen?" Courage asked. "Wow, I thought I was a psychopath."

Noel laughed very joyfully at Courage's response. In fact, he could not calm down. Courage then felt his tail wag a little at the thought of making Noel laugh so hard. He then joined the laughter out of pure joy. Both dogs were then in the sand laughing uncontrollably for no reason, banging the ground with their paws. They laughed not at the corny quip, but just because of joy itself.

After they finished, they got back up and continued walking again. Courage knew that they were closer to Shirley's wagon now. He was content with them walking in silence now that they were getting along again. Although he still couldn't help but shake the feeling that Noel was still upset with him and was making an effort to keep that fact away from Courage. But that didn't bother him as bad as the possibility of his parents getting brought back up at Shirley's. He knew Noel had to know eventually, but he just wasn't ready. Not yet.

Eventually, Shirley's wagon came into view, and Courage put on his best poker face.

A/N: Even though this chapter wasn't as interesting (as all of the action was going to happen in the last half), there was a very crucial moment in the story that took place. It symbolized that both characters are still trying to get used to each other and develop. And because of its sudden volatile existence especially after his promise, it'll continue to haunt poor Courage for the rest of the story.