Chapter 3: The Morning After the Storm

Courage laid and slept on the kitchen floor all night. He was not looking forward to the following day either. He feared that Muriel would probably scold him for what happened, and that Noel will be there to rub it in his face and steal Muriel's favor. He tossed and turned restlessly all night dreading what the next day would bring.

-o0o-

"Courage?" Muriel shook him. But it wasn't a shake of impatience, but rather a gentle shake to wake him up. "Courage. Wakey wakey you wee little thing."

Courage slowly opened his eyes. He looked up to be greeted by the smell of french toast, a smiling Muriel, a clean kitchen, and no Noel.

"Did you forget where your bed was?" Muriel asked with a chuckle.

"Huh?" he replied in confusion.

"Oh well," said Muriel. "Breakfast should be ready soon."

Courage opened up the fridge and got the carton of milk. He poured himself a glass of it and chugged a good third of it. He wiped his mouth with his arm and scanned the kitchen. It looked and felt like nothing happened last night. He was beginning to think that it was all just a horrible nightmare as a result of his self destructive jealousy that rose before Noel even set foot in this house. Yet last night had felt so real, and it'd be hard to disregard it as a mere dream.

Not knowing what to think, he made his way over to Muriel who was sizzling some bacon. She smiled down at him again and patted his head a good three times. He smiled up at her again. He was really thinking that last night didn't actually happen. As he kept his smile, he got comfortable. He then leaned against the wall when-

RIP!

He sunk into the wall, which startled him. He jumped back to see that a Noel-shaped hole was still in the wall. Every hope he had that last night was just a dream then crumbled.

"Are you alright Courage?" asked Muriel running over to see if he was hurt.

"No," Courage sighed while shaking his head.

"Oh, you poor dear. I was only able to cover it up with wallpaper." She thought he was referring to his little fall. "I'll have Eustace fix it after that man decides to get up."

Courage, now melancholy, went over to the counter to pick up his glass of milk for another drink.

"In fact-," she continued. "-your new, wee little friend has taken a liking to sleeping in late too."

Her mentioning Noel made Courage choke on his gulp of milk.

Just when things couldn't get any worse, Eustace entered the kitchen, already crankier than usual.

"Muriel," he said as if something was wrong.

"Good morning Eustace," Muriel smiled back, unaware of his tone.

"Muriel," he said again. "The stupid dog is all blue now and might have one of them diseases."

Right after he said that, he turned and finally noticed pink little Courage, who smiled back nervously at him.

"What's eh?" he froze. "Hold it!" Eustace yelled before beelining back upstairs.

"All this bother over a wee fly," Muriel shook her head, oblivious to what was really going on.

"Who the heck are you?" Eustace's muffled voice could barely be heard from upstairs. Noel could be heard arguing back too, but Courage could no longer make out what they were saying. Muriel continued to hum peacefully and cook while the arguing upstairs grew louder.

Then it fell silent. And before long, the kitchen door opened, and a very tired and VERY annoyed looking Noel appeared. He could be heard griping about that mean old man. Courage couldn't help but curiously notice something about that argument.

"He understands you?" he asked Noel.

Noel did not even acknowledge him. He walked right past Courage, and straight to Muriel.

"Aww, morning you wee little thing you," Muriel said to Noel as she reached down to scratch his muzzle. "Breakfast is almost ready."

After receiving a couple of scratches, Noel then looked back at Courage to answer to his question.

"Yeah, why wouldn't he?" Noel responded.

It took all of Courage's patience to not get too angry over this. But thankfully, he remained calm and kept the conversation that way.

"I didn't think people could understand dogs," Courage admitted.

"We speak English, don't we?" Noel pointed out.

"I suppose you're right."

Courage's thoughts returned to where they were before Noel's rude encounter. Courage still couldn't quite understand the whole concept of communication between him and his owners. If Eustace could understand them then why couldn't Muriel? Is it because Muriel has bad ears? It'd make sense because he never really talks to Eustace, and if Muriel has bad ears, then there's an obvious gap in communication.

"Food is now ready boys," Muriel turned to face them. "There's French toast, bacon, and eggs. Now the French toast is special. I found an old recipe from my great uncle Malcolm while I cleaned this morning. Ah, the beauty of discovery." She stood there rather awkwardly for a moment, and both dogs exchanged confused looks. "I'll be off to fetch Eustace to have a talk with that man about you, little blue." She patted Noel on the head, which bothered Courage now more than ever, and then left.

"Get used to your new life dork," Noel said sourly when he noticed Courage's hurt look.

Courage's blood boiled. "God, you are such an insufferable prick, you know that?" Courage spat.

"No," he replied vainly. "I didn't know that." Then he walked over to start making a plate.

Courage bit his tongue so hard that it bled a little. He tried to bite it despite being absolutely livid at the moment. Trying to stay calm, he followed Noel to make his own plate. But then he noticed Noel taking almost all of the French toast before moving to the eggs.

"Hey," Courage stopped him.

"What?" Noel asked dryly.

"Put some of that back!" Courage demanded.

"Why, there's plenty left for you."

"You aren't going to eat 12 whole slices of French toast!"

"Watch me," Noel challenged.

"Alright, maybe I will, fatty!"

Noel then threw his plate down on the ground hard. Luckily it wasn't a glass plate as it would have shattered. But there was now a big mess all over the floor.

"Geeze?!" cried Courage in shock.

"DO NOT CALL ME FAT," Noel said coldly with venom.

"Well then 'do not' take all of the food!" Courage mocked. "That's what a gluttonous pig would do!"

Noel then slapped Courage's plate out of his paws which startled him at first, but then he was too angry to care anymore.

Courage grabbed Noel and slammed him into the counter, which spilled all of the food that was on top of it everywhere. Both dogs were rolling around and fighting while all of the perfectly good food was soiled. When both dogs were tired, they eventually stopped fighting and kinda came to their senses. But kitchen was now a totally wrecked nightmare.

Both Muriel and Eustace walked in completely unprepared for what they were about to see. Apparently Muriel was barely able to win Eustace over into keeping Noel, but upon seeing this, that clearly faltered.

They both gasped.

"You see, Muriel," Eustace pointed around the kitchen. "This is EXACTLY what I was talking about! You broke your back cleaning this room up after them last night, and they completely destroyed it again! Those stupid dogs were alone for less than 10 minutes, and they recreated the disaster from last night!"

"Oh, Eustace," Muriel said calmly. "It's only a wee mess."

"But there's nothing 'wee' about any of this!" Eustace screamed. "It was already bad enough having one stupid dog. Why must we have two?"

"Eustace, dear. He isn't doing anyone any harm so why does it matter?" Muriel tried to reason.

"He is harming ME!" Eustace shouted. "If these stupid dogs don't learn to stay outta trouble, they're both outta here!" He stormed out of the room without another word.

"Oh my," Muriel sighed with a hand under her chin.

A pit formed in Courage's stomach. Not only have they managed to create more work for Muriel, Eustace was determined to throw BOTH of them out now. Courage did not want to be kicked out for something that wasn't really his fault. Surely Muriel wouldn't let Eustace do that to him.

Muriel approached the two saddened dogs. "Don't worry, my sweet little pooches,"she assured them. "Eustace is just a little cranky and doesn't know what he's sayin." She bent down to pet their heads, making them both smile. "I won't ever let him throw y'all out."

When she stopped, she went over to start cleaning up the mess and making more breakfast. Both dogs, still smiling, slowly turned to face each other. Then their smiles immediately turned into glares.

Then they both suddenly sprung over to help Muriel the best each of them could. Courage was fetching the mop and broom, while Noel was fetching rags and sprays. Both of them were all over Muriel like flies trying to 'help' her. Her routine smile faded and her humming stopped.

"Oh my," she said, a little startled.

Courage, who read her, backed away. But Noel was still over there all over her and would not back off. Muriel was clearly overwhelmed, and Noel would just not back off. Courage then went over and pulled him by his ear into the vacant dining room.

"What is your problem?" Courage scolded.

"Uh, I'm very clearly helping her," Noel said dismissively. "I don't know what the fuss is all about?"

"Can't you see she is overwhelmed?" Courage asked.

Both dogs creaked open the kitchen door to peek in on Muriel. She was back to her smiling, humming, happy self.

"Yeah, she's barely holding on right now," Noel joked.

"Well, she's better now because we're gone. And if you love her so much, then you give her some space," Courage said.

"So that you can take it all up?" Noel asked. "I don't think so."

Eustace then walked in from the living room, probably on his way to the kitchen to eat. Both dogs froze in their tracks before looking over at Eustace, who was staring back at them.

"Stupid dogs," he said before leaving the room and entering the kitchen. After the door stopped swinging, they were back to arguing.

"Look," Courage said, really trying to reason now. "This isn't about you, this isn't about me, it's about her." Courage was going to say more but was interrupted by Noel.

"And she'll decide who she really loves more, so let her be the judge of that." Noel gently pushed him out of the way and walked towards the kitchen.

Courage could not believe that dog. His skull is so thick that it might as well be solid the whole way through. And what he said about Muriel hurt Courage. Even though he knew she loved him more, he still feared on some level that Noel may be right.

Re-entering the kitchen, he found that Noel was not all over Muriel this time, and was instead taking a seat at the table next to a vacant seat Muriel no doubt set up implying that it was for Courage. He seemed to have been taking a little of what Courage said to heart, which made him happy. Courage then sat down next to Noel, and on the table were two plates made for the two dogs. And of course after comparing their plates, they were arguing again.

"She loves me more because she gave me more bacon," Courage said, still hurt from what Noel told him in the dining room.

"She loves ME more because she got me more eggs," Noel said.

"I've lived here and protected her almost my whole life," Courage stated. "Now why on Earth would she EVER prefer you over me?"

"Well, she's just moved on from you as she knows how emotionally unstable you are, and how it hinders your ability to act."

"Hey, at least I have and healthily express my emotions," Courage pointed out. "You just let the little that you have bottle up like a shaken soda pop until you explode."

"Don't you DARE talk about my emotions!" Noel yelled.

"Don't you DARE lie about what Muriel thinks of me!" Courage screamed.

"Will you two quit jabberin?!" Eustace finally joined the argument. Courage forgot he was there quite frankly. "Your stupid talking is making me head ache. And you-!" He pointed a bony finger at Courage. "-fetch me my paper!" He kicked Courage so hard out of his chair that Noel had to move to avoid getting flung too.

After Courage returned with Eustace's paper in his mouth and a bruise starting to form in his side, Eustace rudely snatched the paper out of his mouth.

"Well it's about time!" he complained, and then he whacked Courage rather harshly atop the head with paper.

After a small, pathetic whine, Courage went to lift his chair back off the ground and sit back down. Both dogs started to eat in total silence. Well, that is before Eustace started talking again.

"And what are y'all doing sitting at the table?!" Eustace just noticed.

Muriel then marched over with a deeply crossed expression on her face. "Eustace, where are your marbles? You are the only one talking right now."

"But the stupid dirty dogs are ruining our table!" Eustace whined.

"Eustace, have you no sense of hospitality?" Muriel asked sternly.

"Nope," Eustace said plainly.

"Well then-," Muriel started. "-since you don't have anything nice to say, how about you eat in the dining room all by yourself."

Eustace got up with his food and moved to the dining room, grumbling about "peace and quiet" while passing the two dogs.

"What has gotten into that man?" Muriel wondered.

At the corner of his eye, he saw Noel turn to face him again. As Courage faced back, he noticed that Noel no longer carried a look of hatred on his face. But rather, a look of concern with a hint of sadness.

"Courage, can we both agree that guy's a total jerk?" Noel said, as Courage turned to face him back. He was honestly shocked at what Noel was suddenly saying.

"Mmm, hmm," he agreed with Noel. "He's always held a grudge against me for just being a dog he probably did not want." He sighed and then put his head down onto the table.

"Well-," Noel spoke again, "-I think he treats you SOOOO badly. And even though I hate you, just know that you don't deserve ANY of what he does to you, and that I hate him FAR more than I could ever hate you."

Courage felt a playful, tingling sensation within his soul after Noel spoke those words. He deeply resisted the urge to wag his tail and sat on it almost completely. He lifted his head from the table to smile at Noel's caring face. "Thank you, Noel," he said, embellishing his words with as much gratitude as he could muster.

But then Noel's caring eyes flashed back into hard, squinty eyes. "Bah, whatever!" He threw his paw in front of his face carelessly. So right before they could finally have one friendly conversation, Noel had to shoot it down again. Great!

They continued eating in silence. But Courage was hopelessly trying to think of another conversation that they could hopefully start connecting with again. But he could not think of anything else except for the same topic.

"Do you know what it's like?" Courage asked.

"What what's like?" Noel asked back confused.

"What it's like to be hopelessly scared, and in the crosshairs of someone much bigger than you, who could seriously hurt or kill you?" Courage confirmed. His words slipped out of him before he could even think about how inappropriate this was to ask ANYBODY.

Noel's mouth opened in horror and pain. "I, I don't want to talk about it," he said silently with a small, hurt voice.

"So you do know?" Courage involuntarily pressed.

"Oh my god dog! Why do you always have to bring out the sadness and hurt out of me? Why can't you just let me be?" Noel nearly cried out.

Courage, feeling terrible, then stared back down at his food and it was silent again. After a little longer, Noel asked Courage if he could pass him the syrup. When Courage handed him the syrup, he pretended to drop it (while actually doing so) right into Courage's food.

"My bad," Noel laughed sarcastically. "Let me just-," he kept smearing it more into Courage's food, pretending to be having a hard time picking it up.

Courage, who's had enough of Noel's back and forth hostility, grabbed his plate of food and slammed it right into Noel's face.

"Oh, my, god, dog. I seriously hate you right now, you have NO idea," he calmly said from behind the plate stuck onto his head. Then Muriel came over.

"Oh my!" she chuckled. "Looks like you've made a mess," she told Noel, getting the plate off of his head.

"Oh yeah," Noel giggled. "It was totally me."

Then she looked down at Courage and asked if he was done too.

Courage, trying to test his communication, spoke to Muriel using only words. "I guess I am now," he said.

"Why, you're not making much sense to me Courage," she admitted.

Courage then tried communicating again with hand gestures and a nod, and that finally got her to understand. She took his plate and left. It kind of hurt him that Muriel wasn't able to understand his "people talking words". Feeling a little glum, he stood up to leave. Noel then tripped him, and he face planted right onto the floor. It hurt more than Courage would have liked. Noel proceeded to laugh at him rather hard. Courage finally gave in to his emotions he's been holding back all day, and the tears started falling. He ran into the dining room away from Noel before he could see. Eustace was unfortunately still in there and was now laughing at him too.

"Stupid baby dog!" Eustace teased him between laughs.

Courage then ran out of the dining room and up the stairs. He ran into the attic, where he locked the door and jumped into the bed up there. He sobbed into the pillow and choked out every last cry he's ever held back. When did his life get so awful? Why is this all happening to him? And then he thought of Noel again with their friendly moment. Why does he always shoot those moments down? Then he always acts unnecessarily hostile towards me right after moments like those.

And then Courage thought of Muriel. While it's clear that Muriel is very forgiving, he cannot communicate with her hardly at all, so there's no point in even trying anymore. He pulled onto his ears again and cried out his loneliness in the face of such misery. He yearned now for just someone to talk to that wasn't any of those three downstairs.

And that's when he turned his head and saw Computer's monitor.

End of Chapter

A/N: Congratulations, this was the last chapter that primarily takes place in the kitchen. This chapter and the next one were originally written to be one, but I decided to divide it because of length and purpose. Poor Courage is still struggling with Noel. And because Eustace abused Courage right in front of Noel, this gave Noel an opportunity to be on Courage's side for once, before witching right back. Also I'm happy to say (indicated by where I left this chapter) that the next chapter stars one of our old friends "Computer" and we all get a much needed break from Noel.