Welcome to Gaia! ::

[Sabra via discord / 16]

"You'll be alright, promise." Azeria cradled the puppy in her arms as she waited for Audra to return. She had managed to twist the knob to release water for the bathtub, filling it under halfway so that they hopefully didn't make too big of a splash when they did wash the duruf. She had managed to convince him to stand in the water, splashing a bit of it across his fur by the time that Audra returned.

"Sounds good." She beamed at her sister, thankful for her help, and nodded towards the puppy who looked a lot thinner now that his mane was wet and clinging to his small frame of a body. "I was working on rinsing off the outer layer. I have an old wood comb I can grab afterwards, I was going to throw it out anyways." It was missing a few pieces from how hard she had yanked at some tangles over the years, the older comb recently replaced by a nicer one with engraved flowers she had asked her mother for when they went shopping last. "I can keep holding him like this if you wanna get the soap ready. He's pretty calm now." And at this point she could see a bit more of the fur beneath, the light gold colors with some russet mixed in.

[Sabra via discord / 17]

Azeria frowned, a pout crossing her features at the statement. "But I don't think he has a home." She protested quietly as she watched the muck disappear under the bubbles of soap. The water in the tub was becoming a murky brown but the puppy was getting brighter by the second, his coat almost golden in the sunlight that came from the small window in the washroom. There were just some speckles that went around and the fluff around his neck was also more russet in color, a contrast to the pale fur beneath. "Maybe we can convince Mama and Papa to keep him." She added after another moment, looking at her sister. "Or we can give him time to settle in and then tell them?" Was she suggesting that they hide the puppy? Would it even be possible? Maybe, just maybe if they worked together and they could also see if their older siblings could get involved...their parents were awfully busy with work lately so Azeria was fairly hopeful. It was hard not to be, especially since she didn't wanna give up the duruf who was being adorable as they washed him. He had gone from whimpering to just shivering slightly, the little nose twitching as he sneezed at the floating bubbles rising around them.

[Sabra via discord / 18]

"Agreed. I think we should pretty him up a bit more and then do that. And maybe if we can prove that we can keep him then another pet could come along in the future?" One step at a time, but she really didn't want to abandon the little puppy. He looked like he had already gone through so much. So for now she would focus on him and convincing their parents. They could drop hints in the meantime, tell their parents about how helpful a duruf would be especially since everyone was so busy as of late. Having a puppy could teach them responsibility and also give them company when they couldn't play around with everyone because of work. Azeria nodded as she thought about the list of things to bring up before trying to untangle more of his mane with her fingers, working out the muck that had gotten in there. "I wonder how he even got here. You...you don't think someone abandoned him, do you?" The very thought made her gaze burn, the girl really saddened by the idea. How awful if so!

[Sabra via discord / 19]

Azeria gave her sister a grateful smile. Even if Audra wasn't always happy with the situations she caused at least she was willing to support her, especially in this one. "True. Our family isn't like that at all." They weren't like some of the other nasty earthlings out there that did such horrible things! They were like the opposite really, just very good people...at least in her opinion they were. What other heroes created amazing costumes and sweets to make the world a better place?

"Oh." The girl blinked at the concept of a name. "I don't know. We should pick something...hmm." She studied the puppy for a moment before looking back at her sister. "He's pretty regal looking, maybe something noble?" They could keep it simple with speckles or spots since he had plenty of those, but that wasn't as dramatic as Azeria liked with her fantasy stories and plays.

[Sabra via Discord / 20]

"Squash." Repeated Azeria, blinking as she processed the name that her sister offered. "I like that over Rock, but he's still a duke." She shook her head as the duruf pup shook his body in the tub once they rinsed the soap, sending water splashing across her top. Oh! "We'll figure it out." She managed with a soft giggle, trying to avoid making too much noise even though she was certain she looked quite the mess. "But we'll see. We should probably hurry before mama catches us in here." They would have to clean up the bathroom, get Duke into their bedroom and then find food for him too. Still, Azeria was really excited to see what happened. Nervous but excited because she really wanted to give Duke a good home with her family.