Being Together

[Angel]

Like...?

Angel's head gave a subtle tilt, but she didn't prompt Patch to continue speaking. He'd already told her that he thought she was worth something, and that was more than enough for her. She had a good feeling that 'you' would have been the word to finish that particular sentence. Still, no further prompting was given. No further prompting was needed, it seemed, because Patch filled in the blank on his own. Angel's smile returned and her tail wagged once more.

"You'd really want to protect me?" Angel asked. She didn't really need an answer, but it still felt right to ask. Just because.

Patch went on to answer her first question at last. Blue eyes flickered with surprise when he revealed just what sort of people he had encountered in his circle. A human that could turn into a wolf? One with green skin? Just what sort of strange humans were there in the world?

Really, she couldn't manage the words. Instead, a light laugh was her first response. She brought her paw to her mouth after a moment, though, and finally seemed to find her tongue again. Angel could give some sort of response now.

"Sounds like you've got quite the circle. Maybe I should try to get to know my own better. I mean... So far, all I've really seen that stood out was this one human with a metal leg and a girl that had candy in her hair," Angel said. She hadn't actually stopped to talk to him, but his appearance had been impossible to miss. Whoever he was, something had to have happened to him at some point. Angel probably would never find out, though. The chances of her having the same class as a human like that were slim to none. As for Vanellope, Angel had determined that she was nice. She'd just have to see how true that thought even was.

"I don't even know how a human gets candy stuck in their hair. I'll have to ask her that sometime if we do end up seeing each other again," she said.

[Patch]

Patch nodded, a small smile on his muzzle and his tail wagging gently, as Angel sought confirmation of his words. He supposed it must sound strange for her, after so long without, to have someone she'd barely known for a day promising to protect her; but the dalmatian couldn't imagine not doing so, especially not now that Angel had become so special to him. Quite how that had happened so quickly, not even Patch couldn't place his paw on; still, the fact remained that he had indeed fallen head-over-paws for Angel, and as long as he was making her happy too, the spotty male was satisfied.

Again, Patch grinned as Angel chuckled lightly at his description of his circle mates. He'd noticed it yesterday, when he'd been tickling her unmercifully, and he noticed it again now; to his ears, her laughter was a beautiful sound that, when it wasn't at his expense, made him feel kind of tingly in a pleasant way.

He tilted his head to listen as Angel went on to describe those in her own circle. While they may not have had unbelievable abilities like the girls in his own circle, Patch still thought the two she had described must stand out plenty. The metal leg, he supposed, stood to reason if the human had been in some kind of accident before coming here; but the candy hair... Patch couldn't help a little chuckle of his own.

"Maybe she came from a sweet shop and managed to spill one of the shelves all over herself?" he suggested, continuing to trot along at Angel's side. Even though he had never been inside a human sweet shop himself, Patch knew enough to have a clue what they were like; and the idea of a girl managing to knock down a shelf full of sticky candy so that it all showered her hair was quite an amusing one to him; and he hoped it was to Angel, too, because he would love to hear her laughter again.

"Just a moment..." he waved Angel to a brief stop. By now, they were approaching the mansion again, and Patch paused in his tracks for half a minute just to make sure his uniform was looking proper and neat again after his scratching mishap earlier. He double-checked that his tie was nicely tight, his collar smooth, and the rest of his shirt... well, it still looked a bit rumpled, even after he'd pawed at it a few times, but it was the best he could do. It would suffice at least, he hoped; even if it was now hanging partially untucked from his trousers, he didn't think that would be enough to get him into any trouble.

He glanced across at Angel, almost hoping for her confirmation that his clothes looked okay once again, and then hopped back to his feet, ready to start forward again. The bell was going to go any moment, he was sure, and he didn't want to make Angel late for her class because he'd been doing something stupid like fussing over his uniform.

[Angel]

"Maybe," Angel laughed. It just gave her all the more reason to want to ask about it. How in the world Vanellope had gotten candy stuck in her hair was still a mystery until she got the answer from the girl herself. Patch's idea was humorous, though, and she appreciated being able to laugh at something like that. She would have said more, but it became apparent that the two of them were approaching their destination. Angel almost wished that they hadn't; she liked spending time with Patch. Alas and alack, the two of them were fast approaching the school building again and would have to part ways sooner or later.

When Patch told her to pause, Angel did so and looked back to see what was up. As it turned out, he had paused to make sure his uniform was okay. Her smile brightened and she shook her head a little. As far as she was concerned, his uniform looked absolutely fine to her. She soon caught sight of him looking her way as though he expected some confirmation. That innocent look in his brown eyes... It was too cute.

"You look fine, Patch. Don't worry so much. ...You just may want to avoid scratching yourself in the future," she said in an attempt to lightly tease him for earlier. He'd been teased enough for that, of course, but she wanted to get him one more time. Just to say she had.

[Patch]

"...yeah, I realised that." Patch lowered his head slightly, that sheepish grin once again slipping into place on his maw. He'd made a right fool of himself with the scratching, he knew, and all he could do was be relieved that only Angel had actually seen it. Any of his siblings would have been laughing their asses off had they been present to observe; but while Angel clearly wasn't about to let him forget it anytime soon, her teasing was gentle and in good fun, and Patch found he really didn't mind it ever so much.

"I know they mess up easily, but I don't really mind the uniforms all that much now," he confessed as he caught back up to Angel. Perhaps that was weird, perhaps not; Patch wasn't rightly sure. He wasn't saying he'd go out of his way to wear it, of course; but now that he'd got used to the outfit, it wasn't so very uncomfortable in his opinion. Even if he was probably the only animal here to think so. Again, Lucky and the others would scoff at him if they thought he was actually warming up to the human clothes; but Patch was confident that Angel wouldn't pass on the confession to his brother.

"Even you pulling my tie yesterday wasn't so bad in the end," he added, a touch mischeviously. It was true, Angel had implied she would much rather not mention that particular fiasco ever again, and the dalmatian would usually have honored her wishes; but as long as she was ribbing him about his scratch, Patch figured he had some right to return the teasing.

They were starting to get back amongst the throng of other students, human and animal, who had all had the same idea of making it to their classes, and Patch pressed in closer to Angel. It was true they were going to have to go their own different ways soon anyway; but until that point, Patch was entirely reluctant to be separated from her.

[Angel]

Fair enough, she supposed. If she kept teasing Patch then he had every right to tease her in return. Rather than bringing it up, though, Angel just laughed and let Patch press closer to her as they made their way into the school building. The feeling of him beside her was actually quite pleasant. The problem was that sooner or later they would have to be separated. As much as Angel didn't like that idea, though, she knew it had to happen. The two of them would soon reach a point at which they would just have to go down their separate paths. It looked as though that point was coming up soon, too.

"Well, looks like I'll have to take my leave here. My class is that way," Angel said as she came to a stop and pointed in the direction she needed to go. She assumed that Patch's classroom would be in a different direction, so she didn't bother to ask where he needed to go. Instead, the fluffy female turned her attention back to him and offered a little smile his way.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Angel said. In truth, she was very much looking forward to the next day. Finally she had something to really make her happy. Patch was the only one she'd bothered to tell anything about her past to. He made her happy on top of that. The only thing remaining was to see just how things went from there. She had hopes that everything would go well, though. Patch didn't seem like the type who would dump her at any point for someone less... Damaged. Her past wasn't the best, after all. Anyone would have thought of her as damaged goods.

Maybe things really were going to work out. It wasn't the same as having a home, but this was one of the only friends she could claim to having at the school. Patch wasn't going to just ditch her. She could feel it. The most Angel could do that that point was hope and wait to see what would come.

[Patch]

And his, of course, was the other way; reluctantly, Patch took a step away from Angel and in the direction he had to go. He'd found someone who he cared for and who thought he was special; Patch hardly wanted to let Angel go her separate way at all, but he knew that was a ridiculous inclination. All he'd do was make her late for her class, and the dalmatian didn't want her to have to get into trouble on his behalf. Still, he took a few extra moments to respond to her statement.

"I already can't wait." His tail gave a happy little wag at the prospect of spending a full afternoon with Angel without the bother of classes or uniforms or anything of the like. As much as he would have liked their present time together to go on forever, that was going to be even better in the end; and maybe he could use the time in between to think up things they could do together that Angel would really enjoy. That was something, at least.

Though one final thing had been on the tip of his tongue to say before they went their own separate ways, the abrupt clanging of the bell not only disrupted Patch's train of thought completely but startled him enough that he jumped an inch or so off the floor, before covering his reaction best he could with another sheepish grin as the echoes ringing in his ears died away.

"Ah... hope you have a good class?" It wasn't what he'd been meaning to say, but Patch had lost the words he had been intending to use about the time the bell had momentarily deafened him. He took a half-step back towards Angel to bump his nose gently against her shoulder in parting, and then took off sprinting in the direction of his class; Angel would see his tie whipping back over his shoulder like a banner for the briefest of moments before he vanished in amongst the rest of the crowd.