Soft and Warm:

Danny quietly shut the large oak doors behind him as he entered the large mansion. He looked around, making sure Vlad

wasn't anywhere in sight. The young adult adjusted his sweater, as if carrying something underneath, before proceeding. He

silently walked across the large room and up a rather posh set of stairs. So far so good. No Vlad, no questions, nothing to

explain. He rounded the marble banister and carried himself down the hall.

First door on the right. Second door on the right... He opened that one to reveal a rather underused bathroom. No not the

right room. Maybe it was on the left? He checked the opposite door and sure enough, it was the exact room he was looking

for. A rather large study covered in a thin layer of dust. It was pretty unusual for the rooms to get this dusty, however

the master of the mansion had been too busy to keep up on chores. Danny, in his place, did a lack luster job keeping

everything looking great.

The boy closed the door behind him and unzipped his wiggling jacket. A small puppy popped out of the fuzzy apperal. Her

tongue flapped all over the place as she took in her surroundings. It was all new! A new place with new smells and a new

person! The clumsy little puppy clambered out of the jacket and plopped onto the floor. Her pudgy behind shook wildly as

her tiny tail tried to wag. The puppy excitedly started to run around and sniff everything. So many smells! So many things

she'd never seen before.

Danny tried to keep up with the little pup, but seemed to fall behind. The puppy was still very tiny and managed to get

herself stuck in every nook and cranny she could wiggle into. After having sniffed everything at least four times, she

finally trotted to the tired boy and bumped her head against him. Danny picked the puppy up and pet her. This excited the

tiny dog. She started to bark. Her voice was tiny and high pitched so it was much more like a yap.

"shhhhh!" Danny urged as he tried to quiet the new found dog. The puppy, having no concept of what the human wanted, yapped

again. This time louder. Her butt wiggled as she tried to gain more attention. The young adult tried to put a hand over the

pups mouth, but couldn't quiet her. Instead he earned some puppy kisses and more yapping. There was no silencing this ball

of energy.

"Daniel?" A strong voice called from what sounded like the staircase. Danny panicked and shoved the dog back into his

jacket and quickly zipped it up. "Daniel, are you home?" the voice rang again.

"Uh, in here?" He answered as he tried to position the lump in his jacket to look more like an over-sized coat than an

obvious bump. "I'm in the study." he quickly clarified. As soon as the boy said that, he heard footsteps wander down the

hall and stop outside the door. Vlad was in the room almost instantly.

"Why are you in here?" Vlad pondered. He didn't think the boy ever bothered to be in this room unless he was cleaning it or

bugging him. He looked around and noticed how dust the room had gotten. Strike that. Danny seemed to only be in this room

when Vlad was in there to bother. The grey haired man frowned, more focused on the dust then Danny.

"I uh, wow this is a comfy couch!" He smiled and laughed a bit. He may have been 25, but he still lied like a 14 year old.

"Yeah, it's so comfortable. I figured I'd come sit in here for a bit...?" His eyes were full of fear and panic. He was glad

the man was busy looking else where. His jacket seemed to be getting restless. Poor pup just got a taste of fun and had to

be quiet again. Luckily the dog didn't seem to complain too much.

"Hmmm, that's odd of you. You usually complain about that couch when you're bugging me to finish my work." Vlad recounted

as he walked over to Daniel.

It was right at that moment when Danny's jacket decided to give a loud whine. Danny froze as his eyes widened. "Haha, you

know I'm just really hungry right now." He tried. Vlad wasn't buying it. He reached down and unzipped the lumpy jacket.

The little pup poked her head out and excitedly started to drool. She yipped and wiggled her rump as she met another new

human. She tried to scoot her way out of the cloth to meet the new person. Danny held her and jerked his head up to Vlad.

"It's not... I mean... it is, but! I-I found her all alone in an ally way on my way home and she looked sad and cute and

how can you say no to this adorable face!?" Danny half yelled as he lifted the pup and gave Vlad a sad look. The pup yipped

and slobbered a bit as she squirmed.

"You hid a dog from me?" Vlad said, unamused. He took the puppy out of the younger man's hands and looked at it. "I'm much

more of a cat person..." He seemed to say more to himself. "And where is this dog's food? His water? What about a bed or

leash, much less a collar?" Vlad quizzed.

"It's a girl." Danny corrected. "I don't have any of that." The younger man shrugged and frowned. He was in for quite the

lecture.

"What where you going to do with this pup then? Where you going to keep her locked away in a small dull room with no toys?

Would you even feed her? If so what? Would you just share your salami sandwhiches with her?" There was a bite in the man's

voice.

"I just thought..."

"NO! No you didn't think!" Vlad yelled as he cuddled the pup, trying to keep her calm in the mist of the yelling. "You

haven't grown up at all, Daniel. You haven't thought anything through and this poor pup was going to face those

consequences."

Danny grit his teeth and felt his fists clench up. "I'm not some kid you have to lecture! I could figure it out!" He

yelled in return.

"What is best for this dog? Daniel, would this dog be better under your lazy care? Where you can't provide constant care

and love. You'd treat her like anything else you own. You wouldn't provide what she needs and you would quickly bore of

her." Vlad stared murder at the boy in front of him. "When you act like a grown up, responsible man, then you can decide on

a pet. Until then we'll just have to find a house for this one."

Vlad turned on his heels and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Danny felt fire in his face. He wasn't done with

this argument. He quickly jumped off the couch. Fuled by rage he ran after Vlad and caught him on the steps.

"I'm not a kid! I can make good decisions! I just wanted to give her a meal and a warm bed for a night!" He stopped towards

the older man. "I know you wouldn't let me keep her. But you're the devil if you want me to just toss her out!" His hands

twitched. He wanted to snatch the pup out of Master's hands and lock himself in one of the rooms with her. "I did think

about it. I stopped and picked up a small bag of dog food. It's outside next to my bike." He said as his temper lowered and

his voice steadied. "I'm not as dumb as you might think I am."

Vlad held the puppy and gave her a few quick strokes as he let the silence hang for a minute. That was rather adult of the

man in front of him. He never figured Daniel was capible of such acts. He slowly lifted the pup and handed her over to the

boy. "Okay then. If you really have considered this so thouroughly, I reliquish her to your capible hands." He nodded and

put a strong hand on the young man's shoulder.

Danny squeezed the puppy in his arms and held her close. She squirmed but didn't protest. Vlad slid his arms around the

younger man and hugged both him and the temporary addition to the family. "I'm sure you'll take good care of this situation

now." Vlad said in a not quite appologetic tone.