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It was a gloomy, wet day. Jove usually approved of such days, when the forests smelled like water and plant rot, and the shadows hung heavy between the trees, but the weather carried less promise when the pup had to attend classes all day. He would sometimes stare out the window to see if he could catch a glimpse of the forests in the distance, but it was impossible to smell them from the schoolyard.

But today Jove was not in class, he was running headlong towards the forest, caught in a complete panic. It was gym class again, and the attempted physical contact... He couldn't bear it. The harmless gesture had sent him running again, splashing through puddles and dodging obstacles until he was running off campus. And then he bounded on four legs, fur flying behind him like a banner until it was plastered down by the water and mud he dashed through. By the time he found a puppy-sized hole to hide in, he was already so deep into the forest he didn't recognize anything around him.

With a terrified little whine, Jove curled up at the very back of the rotting log he was hiding in, his little eyes glowing frightfully in the darkness as he tried to take comfort from the earthy scents surrounding him.

The pup cowered in the dark earth, muddy fur picking up dead leaves and loam as he shifted anxiously. He didn't know where he had run during his panic, and with the rain he couldn't catch any scent that would lead him safely back to the dorms. All he could smell was the water and the earth. Even his faint footprints would have been washed away in short order.

Putting his head down on his front paws, he whined and shivered, eyes flashing in the dark hollow where he lay. If anything it was even more frightening than when he wandered all alone, this time he had a place he needed to go home to, and didn't know how he would find it again. He might never see his friends again, or his caretaker...

The little pup trembled fitfully, whining all the while in a sad, frightened little voice. He couldn't see much past the rain outside the edge of the rotting log, but his eyes might have been visible from outside his dark shelter.

Was there something in the woods? The pup cowered as he saw movement out in the rain, a tall shape that appeared to be searching intently for something. As it got closer Jove could only make out the vague shape of it's legs, and a lithe tail swishing behind. Another whine escaped him before he could quiet it and he trembled with the fear of being snatched out by the monster and eaten.

Jove heard the faint voice over the drumming of the rain, but when the shadow loomed over the log and the hand reached in, that was enough to send the pup back into hysterics. After all, in that form his friend's hand was almost as big as he was in his soaked, muddy state. The puppy growled and whined almost in the same breath as the hand grew near, snapping and snarling viciously. When the encroaching hand kept reaching for him, the pitch of his growl rose substantially and he sunk his tiny, needle like teeth into Ren's finger.

It wasn't until he tasted blood that Jove let go, whining as he recognized the freckles on that hand. Nobody else he knew had freckles even on their hands... His wet ears went back in dismay, and he crouched farther back in the hollow log. He just bit his friend. He was a bad dog.

Jove hesitated and whined more, every piteous noise only half lost in the sounds of the rain. Ren's voice was still calm and coaxing, and step by step, the pup crawled towards the entrance of the log. The taste of blood in his mouth wasn't bad in and of itself, but the implications made him feel sick. And that was some feat for a ghost. He wanted nothing more than to wiggle out of that log and curl up in the safety of his friend's arms. Oh, but he was such a bad dog...

With his tail tucked very firmly between his legs, he cringed when he reached Ren's hand and gave the wound a tiny, regretful lick. The wound was deep, if only a semicircle of miniature punctures, but living creatures could bleed lots and get infected with weird things that the ghost could only guess at... Jove whined and crawled up against Ren's hand to give it a better lick in apology. Even if Ren said it didn't hurt, it could be really bad, and the fear that surged through him only increased the pitch of his whines.

Jove might not have crawled out of the log, but he had crawled far enough for Ren to get a good grip on him.

Jove's little whimpers slowly died out while he was tucked against Ren's chest, his cold little body absorbing the heat from his friend's hands and body. He curled up into a little shame-filled ball and tried not to let the warmth and gentle movement soothe his guilt, bad dogs shouldn't get petting and hugging, they should be left in logs in the rain.

It was hard work though, and by the time Ren's wings shielded him from the rain the wisp's glowing eyes had drifted closed, and his tense little body and relaxed into trembling blob of wet fur instead of pointy chicken bone heels and elbows. When he smelled the dorms instead of the rainy outdoors he opened his eyes, little nose wiggling as he began scenting the air. It seemed Ren wasn't going to turn him in at the principal's office for detention or worse... The thought both relaxed the puppy and made him feel even more guilt.

But it wasn't until his scrawny, wet body was wrapped in one of Ren's cosy towels that he actually put up a bit of a fight. Weak perhaps, but a squirm nonetheless. He was getting mud and gross things all over the towel! It was bad enough that Ren had bled and gone out in the rain for him, the little ghost was certainly not willing to make a mess of his friend's stuff.

When Ren's back was turned, Jove shrugged out of the towel and half slipped, half jumped off the side of the bed, landing on the floor with a sickening splat of wet fur. Not graceful, but it got the job done... Then he stood for a minute, ears drooping, tail tucked between his legs, as he glanced between the bathroom where he could at least get clean, and the door, where he should probably go if he didn't want to cause his friend any more trouble.

Jove limply let himself be picked up. It certainly solved his bathroom or door dilemma, seeing as he was now on his way to be clean. And also rather warm. His little paws slowly slid on the bottom of the tub until he was flopped on his belly, with the warm water crawling up above his tiny nose. It was certainly a good thing he didn't need to breathe.

He lifted his head when Ren started rubbing at his fur, giving the gryphon a doleful expression with those big, glowing puppy eyes. HIs friend had been worried? Jove realized he wasn't surprised, why else would Ren go out in the rain to find him, and recognize the sound of his whine, or even the sight of him in his natural form? The pup was careful not to show this fluffy body in the presence of other students, not with how sensitive he was of his small stature and childish appearance. But Ren knew him well enough to recognize him anyway.

The little whine started up all over again, squeaky and pitiful as Jove poured out all his guilt. The worry, and the biting, and the wet he knew Ren disliked, the little pup felt so bad to have put his friend through all that and the puppy-crying was the only way he seemed to be able to get out that sorrow.

But he was slowly getting clean, and the water was slowly getting dark with all the mud that had been stuck into the pup's fur. He was also slowly warming up, his temperature rising from the chilly outdoor temperature to that of the bath water. Ren could have turned it right up to steaming and had a miniature puppy-shaped hot water bottle had he so desired.

At the poke on the nose, Jove tilted his head back and let out the most pitiful, heart-wrenching puppy howl, trailing off into silence. Ren would really do that, come for him regardless? His eyes closed as the gryphon poured water over his head. Yeah, he had never had a real brother, but Ren was definitely like a big brother to him. Complete from protection to good-natured picking on.

The pup relaxed and let Ren scoop him out of the water, his little body feeling heavy with all that wet fur. He couldn't even shake properly when he was set down. The fur was weighed down too heavily with water and all that resulted from his attempt was nearly falling over.

And with that he submitted to being scooped back up, and wrapped in the fluffiness of a towel to be carried to the bed. The pup set his head down on his forepaws, licking his nose with a pink tongue after Ren rubbed his muzzle. He whined slightly.

"Scared..." he admitted quietly, a cryptic confession that might have explained why he ran off instead of going somewhere familiar and safe. He still couldn't help it, the panic just overwhelmed him and sent him running with no opportunity for logic to intercede and take him somewhere safe. It was the same panic that made him bite out of fear.

He squirmed around to lick Ren's fingers, Did the bite still hurt? The gryphon really should get it tended to...

Jove's puppy dog eyes in his human form were cute, but in his natural form, it was heartbreaking. How was he supposed to take a deep breath and run in the right direction when he couldn't focus enough to breathe at all? Not breathing in the first place was not the point. He would try to do okay next time though...

The sad puppy eyes morphed into a scowling face, pressing his lips together like he was about to bark. That wound looked not happy at all, and rubbing it off and slapping a band-aid on it was hardly the sort of treatment Jove was hoping for. He needed... antibiotics, and ointments, and other healthy things so it would heal well and not get infected.

"Mrrrr..." Jove made a little noise in his throat, and glared at the band-aid.

Enough was enough. The tired little pup squirmed out of the towelling, and staggered on all four paws for a second before hopping off Ren's chest and onto the soft covers. Then he rubbed his face on the pillows, flopping over to wiggle on the covers, and doing the best he could to finish drying off his fur. It might have been getting everything else slightly damp, but Ren slept under the covers and not on top of them, so he should be okay.

It looked almost playful, the way Jove wiggled around, but once he was done he collapsed in a tired heap next to the gryphon. His fur would need a lot of brushing after that one...