Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and I'm making no money from this story.

A/N: This is something I've been thinking about for awhile, and I'm excited to start something new. I know this chapter is a bit short, but I believe that they'll be the usual chapter lengths of my other chaptered Kingdom Hearts stories. I should forewarn you that it will be a super slow process for updates as I'm in the middle of a lot of things at the moment. However, I'm confident that in time it will get finished just like my other two Kingdom Hearts stories Make a Wish and Flavor of Love. Enjoy.

Warnings: Fluff, ooc, a/u.

Chapter 1: Finding a Friend

Squall was not in the best of moods. His boss had all but thrown him out of work with the insistence he go home early before he worked himself to death. Squall didn't see anything wrong with having a healthy appreciation for his job, but apparently his surly tempered boss didn't have the same views about working consecutive over-time days. Even if it was for free.

So now Squall was making his way through heavy evening foot traffic trying not to bang his toolbox into anyone's shins while walking home. It made his already moody temper worse, because he was much more used to the empty streets at night when there was no one around. It didn't help that it was raining and he hadn't brought his umbrella with him.

A man knocked into his shoulder without a word and Squall was very tempted to start shoving people back. Instead he took a shortcut back to his one bedroom apartment down a narrow alleyway. It emptied out into the less reputable part of town near the Heartless Projects that was rife with crime and poverty. It also happened to be near his apartment complex, but Squall didn't mind because it was cheap and the gangs tended to leave him alone. He did a lot of free fix ups around the area that the residents appreciated because most of them couldn't afford to pay otherwise.

The rain was coming down harder when he reached Balamb Avenue, and the brunet turned up the collar of his leather jacket to partially shield his face. He needed to get out of the rain before he came down with a cold again, as his friend Tifa insisted and—

His train of thought was broken off by whimpering coming from between two rundown townhouses. Squall's footsteps slowed by the pile of wet rags and soggy cardboard that was piled up against the brick wall. There was something shivering under the pile accompanied by small whimpers that could be heard above the downpour of rain. Against his better judgment the man crouched down and pulled aside the rags to reveal a young, scrawny dog.

"Are you lost, fella?" Squall asked softly. He had a secret soft spot for dogs and this one looked to be abandoned. It wasn't unusual in this neighborhood and he always tried to get them to the pound so they could find a good home. "I won't hurt you," he reassured and reached out to scoop up the dog. "It's all right." Large blue eyes looked at him warily but the dog didn't try to bite him as he picked up the shivering bundle. Squall opened up his coat and covered the dog from the wind and rain before heading home.

It looked like he would be having a guest for the night.

The brown dog was actually a very bright yellow once Squall had cleaned him off. The fur was still partially wet despite towel drying the pup, and it stood up in odd spikes along his back. The man scratched behind the pup's ear with growing affection. Already the dog had shed its apprehensiveness to show an inquisitive nature to his new surroundings. Not even two hours in and the dog had chewed his bathmat, shredded his curtains, spilled over the potted plant Aerith had given him to track dirt throughout the kitchenette, and pulled out the stuffing in his couch. The dog reminded him a lot of his friend's sister, Yuffie, who was capable of doing similar damage. It was a frightening thought.

"Are you hungry, pup?" Squall asked. The dog was lying under a chair, tongue lolling out of his mouth while he watched him. His black nose twitched and he barked once as if in response. Squall hid a smile and turned towards his cabinets to see if there was anything to eat. A quick look proved to be bare with only a quarter bag of flour and a bottle of hot sauce he couldn't remember buying. The fridge seemed to be in a similar state, but luckily there was an opened can of spaghetti hiding behind the spoiled milk.

Squall threw out the milk, pulling out one of his clean bowls and dumping the spaghetti into it. "Looks like it's Italian tonight." He popped the bowl in the microwave and put it on reheat. He got out another bowl and a shallow dish. The microwave dinged and he pulled out the spaghetti, neatly dividing up the content between the two bowls and setting one on the floor hear his kitchen table. "It's not much, fella, but it'll get you through the night until I can find a good home for you." He placed a shallow bowl of water next to the food before eating his own meal.

The dog crawled out from under the chair and sniffed the spaghetti curiously before sticking out his tongue to lick at it. Apparently it was fine enough cuisine for the pup because he happily dug into it with small snuffling sounds. Every so often the dog would rub up against his leg as if in gratitude for the warm meal.

Squall ate his own meal, every so often dropping a bit of noodles and sauce or half a meatball for the dog. It looked like he needed the food more than him, and he didn't eat that much anyway. He mostly lived on coffee and TV dinners unless Aerith found out about his eating habits and made him take some of her home cooked meals home. He wasn't much of a cook, so he appreciated the meals and bore the woman's well meaning fussing in good humor.

The pup yipped and pushed the cleaned off bowl along the linoleum floors trying to find any other scraps of food. "Sorry pup, there's no more food for you." There wasn't anything left that was edible in his kitchen and he would have to pick up some groceries tomorrow. He didn't have to work anyway because it was Sunday, and he could drop off the pup at Aerith's.

He picked up the cleaned bowl and put it in the sink with the rest of his dishes. He could clean up tomorrow too. He had run out of clean dishes anyway. "Let's get you settled in," Squall murmured and scratched the dog's head. The pup whined and rose up on his hind legs, pawing at Squall's pants. The man rolled his eyes but scooped up the dog in his arms to carry to the bedroom. "Fine, it's only this once anyway." He couldn't resist the bright blue eyes looking up at him mournfully. "But no sleeping on the bed," he told the pup sternly. "I mean it." The dog licked his chin in response and snuggled against his chest with his yellow tail wagging behind him. Squall sighed and resigned himself to sharing a bed with an irresistible pup.

Curse his weakness for animals.