A/N: Hey! Sorry for the short break from updates. Thank you everybody for reading this far. The updates will probably still be kinda skewed and inconsistent, but just hang on because I will always be back with more. I did warn that I will not have a fixed schedule dedicated to writing, but just bear with me
Chapter 6: A Night Beside a New Friend
"So what is it exactly?" Noel scratched his head, staring at Computer.
"Not 'it', 'him'," Courage corrected as he was plugging him back in.
"Well okay, what is 'he' then?" Noel asked.
"I call him 'Computer'," Courage said. "But I don't really know exactly what he is if I'm being honest. And I seriously doubt he does either." He powered him up.
Both dogs watched as the screen turned from black into that familiar green/blue screen. They sat and stared for a moment, thinking he froze. But in reality, he was actually staring right back at them waiting for them to talk. After an awkward 15 or so seconds, Computer finally broke the silence.
"What the hell do you two idiots want?" he asked, clearly still mad about Noel unplugging him.
"We just wanted to say hi," Noel said with a smile.
"Essentially," Courage added with a grin.
"Well then, hi twerp, now go away," Computer said, fed up with their fake friendliness and those stupid looking grins.
Both dogs laughed at him.
"He's kind of a jerk, isn't he?" Noel whispered to Courage.
"Yeah, totally," Courage whispered back. "This is who I've been stuck with as a 'friend' for all these years."
"You know I can hear you guys, right?" Computer said, disinterested.
"Watch this," Courage told Noel. "Hey, Computer!"
"What is it, twit?"
"Nothing, twit!" Courage fired back.
Both dogs chuckled as Computer was now starting to get pissed off.
"You two idiots just LOVE making my day more miserable huh?" Computer grumbled.
"Ohhhh don't be such a grumpy grouch," laughed Courage.
"We don't want you to have a bad day," chuckled Noel.
"Then why are you dogs still talking to me?" Computer asked.
"Don't be afraid of holding back," whispered Courage to Noel.
"I heard that you idiot!" Computer said.
"Hey Computer!" Noel tried.
Computer did not respond.
"Computer!" Noel demanded again.
"Oh my god, WHAT DO YOU WANT, dog?!" Computer finally responded to Noel.
"What's the weather outside like today," Noel asked playfully.
"Well first off, it's nighttime, dummy," Computer replied. "And secondly, it's currently cool and cloudy with a chance of two idiots about to witness what I can do when I get angry," he challenged.
Computer's threat was enough to get Courage out of his dogginess. As Noel went in to press harder, Courage stopped him.
"Don't," Courage warned.
"What?" Noel whined. "Why not? You said don't be afraid of holding back."
"Apparently he's had enough," Courage said, a little on edge.
"What's the matter?" Noel then asked curiously.
"You don't want to see what he can do," Courage said with seriousness.
"He's just a computer," Noel said.
"No, he's entirely something else," said Courage. "He'll hurt you. Trust me, he's hurt me before."
"Alright," Noel relented. "I will trust you since you clearly know more about this than I do."
Then both dogs turned to face Computer again.
"Computer, I love you," giggled Noel, forming a heart with his paws.
"GO, AWAY, NOW," Computer said slowly and bitterly.
This made the two dogs laugh extra hard.
-o0o-
They played with Computer a little longer and then eventually got into actual conversations with him. After Computer claimed to have 'ditched' them, Courage and Noel eventually sat down on the bed and continued talking. At first they continued talking about Computer, as Noel was actually more than fascinated by him. Then they eventually started telling each other more about themselves.
"How long have you stayed here?" Noel finally asked Courage.
Courage's face was then flushed with sadness, as he thought of the fate of his parents.
Noel then thoughtfully added,"- if you don't mind me asking?"
Courage took a deep breath, then he started talking. "I couldn't give you a number of years, but I've been here most of my life. Muriel found me in an alleyway somewhere in Nowhere. That's where she named me 'Courage' because she thought I had lots of courage being a small puppy in such a dangerous place all alone. And ever since she brought me here, I've fought all kinds of monsters, demons, aliens, spirits, murderers, phantoms, beasts, curses, specters, criminals, and more. I had to protect Muriel, Eustace, and myself from countless encounters and disasters almost my entire life. I've made friends to never see again, and many enemies to see many more times."
Courage ended up telling Noel about every single encounter and disaster that they faced (besides the fate of his parents of course). Noel just sat there in shock and horror, listening to every word Courage spoke.
"Well," Courage kept talking. "It wasn't until a couple of months before you showed up that things have gotten strangely calm and quiet. We haven't had any strangers and occurrences ever since. Well, that is unless we count you." Courage gently punched Noel on the arm.
Noel then chuckled softly in disbelief at what he had just been told. "Wow," he said with pity. "I never knew you went through any of that. That, that mattress, those mummies, that cat, that duck, that weremole, that robot, that chicken, that snowman, that gerbil, that moon, that record, that scarecrow, that unhappy scientist, the flanatics, that virus, that dome, those quilt sisters, those aliens looking for a cure, the starmakers, EUSTACE, that librarian, the perfectionist, and of course COMPUTER!"
Computer giggled from across the room upon hearing his name. Both dogs completely ignored him.
Noel was at a loss of words. He had no idea Courage lived such a life filled with such close brushes with death.
"Anyways, what about you?" Courage asked Noel, hoping that he'd finally open up to him.
"I was first found in an alleyway in Nowhere too," Noel said.
Since Courage was staring back at him, it was now Noel's turn to stare at the floor.
"In fact, it was Shirley, that gypsy, that found me. Kinda funny that you two have had a history too. But anyways, she found me there all by myself during her trip to the grocery store. She never saw either of my parents anywhere. She even searched for them in her crystal ball, which is supposed to show her everyone dead or alive, and she still couldn't find them. But she took me in and raised me for some time. With the help of magic or something, she WAS able to find out my name somehow. I do get the feeling that she was able to find out what happened to my parents, but she never told me. Luckily I was obviously far too young to remember anything about my parents, so it didn't bother me too much."
He then looked back up at Courage. "Do you remember your parents?" he asked him with shockingly innocent eyes.
Courage, who was still much too sensitive about this topic, created a lie. "No. I don't think so," he lied. "I kinda just showed up too. I do remember when Muriel found me though so I must've been a little older. But either way, I definitely have no recollection of my parents." The lie was so painful to Courage, but he desperately did not want to share, talk about, or even think about his parents right now.
"Now who's the one bottling things up and not sharing?!" a voice in Courage's head violently screamed at him. Courage realized what he was hypocritically doing, but he decided that some things just shouldn't be shared yet.
"Oh well," Noel sighed. "I guess that's another thing we have in common."
Courage returned his eyesight and attention to Noel.
"I've always dreamed of finally meeting my parents after all of these years, but then I remember how impossible that is." Noel paused for a moment. "It's hard living a life wondering if your own parents are even still alive or not."
Courage broke eyesight upon hearing those words. And he whined, as his eyes started to water.
"It's okay," Noel said in response to Courage's whine. "Maybe we could look for both of our parents together?"
Courage smiled up at him. "I'd like that very much," he said. "If they are even still alive."
"Yeah," Noel sighed down at the ground.
"Both couples might be dead," Courage said. "But then I guess our goal would just be figuring out what happened to them to give ourselves a sense of closure and acceptance. And honestly, I think that's just as important as finding them alive."
"I fulheartedly agree," said Noel. "And I really like this idea, but if we decided to do this, then where would we even start? And whose parents are we going to search for first?"
"I honestly don't know," Courage admitted. He sat there for a moment, scratching his own chin. "Maybe let's start with your parents because we seem to have more leads on them."
"Alright," agreed Noel. "And if we search for mine first, Shirley is probably our best bet." Noel's ears suddenly dropped. "But I personally get the sad feeling that they already perished though," he finished.
"Hey," now it was Courage's turn to be reassuring. "Don't say that. Shirley said that she couldn't find them deceased. They may very well be still alive."
"But they aren't showing up as living either," Noel pointed out.
"And maybe we'll figure out why tomorrow when we pay her a visit."
Noel started to calm down again. Courage was happy that he seemed to have kept his word about not being mean when he was emotional.
"Everything will be okay," Courage reassured him.
"I sure hope so," Noel said.
Then it was quiet again. And after a brief moment, Noel broke that silence with an enormous yawn.
"You tired?" Courage asked him.
"Yeah," Noel replied.
"Me too," Courage stretched in return.
"Where are you sleeping tonight?" Noel asked.
"Oh, I'll probably fall asleep up here," said Courage.
"But why? It's so cold up here," Noel pointed out.
"I've grown used to it," Courage claimed.
"Why not sleep in the bedroom again?" Noel asked.
"Isn't that where you sleep now?"
"There's room for both of us, silly," Noel reasoned.
"But Eustace wouldn't like having two dogs sleep in the bed. He hardly lets one," Courage pointed out.
"Courage, this isn't up for debate," Noel said earnestly. "You aren't sleeping up here alone in the cold."
"Ahem," Computer got their attention. "Not alone."
"You don't count, twerp!" Noel fired at him.
"Twerp?!" Computer repeated. "Oh, why I never!"
Noel then looked back over to Courage. And Courage looked back up at his face in return.
"Come join us," Noel told him. And after Courage still wouldn't budge, Noel said, "Muriel would want you to."
"Alright," Courage relented, thankful for his friend's prodding.
Both dogs got up and proceeded to walk down to the bedroom. And they kept talking on their way, recognizing their newfound friendship.
"I am so happy that things went this way," Courage said.
"Huh?" Noel asked.
"Us getting along," Courage confirmed.
"Oh yeah? Me too," Noel replied happily.
"I finally have a friend that was meant to stay here for good," Courage proclaimed.
"I finally just have a friend," Noel smiled.
When they arrived into the bedroom, Muriel and Eustace were still awake, sitting in bed with the lamps on reading. Muriel read a book while Eustace was reading the newspaper. Muriel then looked up from her book upon their arrival together.
"Aww, how lovely," Muriel smiled at them, as she knew that they were starting to get along. "Eustace, I think Courage and the new dog are finally starting to really like each other."
Eustace briefly looked up and over at them and then back down at his paper. "Stupid dogs," he grumbled. "Muriel, the only thing worse than one stupid dog are two stupid dogs!"
"Eustace, please dear," Muriel tried.
"And the only thing worse than two stupid dogs are two happy stupid dogs!" Eustace spat. "They are not sleeping in here Muriel."
"Such a fussy, stubborn man you are!" Muriel scolded. "These two have come such a long way to finally become friends. They are both sleeping in here whether you like it or not!"
"Eh, fine!" he relented. "But if I so much as hear one little peep, they're both gone for good!" he threatened again. He then slammed his paper to the ground, pulled the covers up to his face, and turned to face away from them.
Eustace's threat didn't hurt Courage as much as it did the first time he said that. This was because he now knew for a fact that Muriel would never let him do that to either one of them. As he and Noel climbed their way up the bed, Noel made his way towards Eustace's side.
"What are you doing?" asked Courage.
"You get to sleep close to Muriel," Noel insisted. "I'll put up with Eustace for now so long as you get a good dose of Muriel."
"Stupid dog," Eustace grumbled back upon hearing his name. But both dogs ignored him.
Courage still couldn't believe Noel's sudden kindness.
"Thank you," Courage smiled back. He then went in to hug Noel, but then stopped upon remembering Noel's "sensitive fur."
Noel caught wind of us, and with a smirk, he shook is head and waved a finger at Courage.
"Sorry," Courage apologized.
"Don't apologize," Noel said before laying his head down.
Courage, from across the bed, decided to do the same.
After a while, Muriel put up her book, wished Eustace a goodnight, and turned off her lamp.
"Goodnight, Eustace," Muriel said warmly with a yawn.
"Yeah yeah," Eustace grumbled effortlessly while turning off his lamp too. "Goodnight."
Muriel then looked over at the two pups. She gave Noel a nice pat on the head and wished him a goodnight. Then she kissed Courage on the head and wished him a special goodnight. Afterwards, she laid back down and was snoring in minutes.
Courage, who finally got comfortable, fell asleep facing Noel. Noel, who was already out, apparently did the same.
End of Chapter
A/N: Sorry Computer for all of that abuse! Really glad our little puppers are finally getting along though :)