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Jove had only returned to school the previous day, and it was more of a struggle than he anticipated. It was harder to shrug away the memories, and just keep moving. But the pup had returned for a reason! He had to get stronger, learn more, and continue doing what he was doing. With his friends, at school.

Right now his hardest task was making it through the hallways. After the fight at home he wasn't looking so hot, his left ear was torn, and there was a gash across the mottled flesh of his left cheekbone, and another pair of dark red cuts on the left side of his neck. The wild hound had left enough marks on him to turn his left side into a prop from a slasher film. But Jove could hide most of it in clothes and the long scarf he wore, aside from his poor face, and what looked like half a fresh bite mark on his calf. The cut and bruises on the side of his face were hard to hide with his hair, and the ear was impossible, but he couldn't hole himself up until it was healed. He had better things to do!

Slipping through the press of students just leaving classes, trying to avoid jostling his left side, the little pup was making his way towards the doors when he caught sight of a familiar black tail ahead. His ear perked.

What better way to start off his return than challenging Tybalt to a practice battle!

The little pup half-trotted, half hobbled over to the black dog, and waited like a silent spectre of death for his friend to notice him.

Jove wagged his tail, even as he was almost stepped on by the taller student. It was just so nice seeing his friends again after all that time awa- what? His tail slowed, and his head tilted slightly as Tybalt changed the topic rather drastically. Bullied? No way!

The pup frowned. Like he would let anyone bully him! It didn't matter that he did deal with the occasional bullying at school, being pushed around, shoved into the lockers, threatened and called a "human pet", the pup would never admit it. That would be like admitting he couldn't stand up for himself, or handle things on his own. Besides, he had never been really beaten up, not like that fight in the woods a couple days ago.

Jove snorted, and gave Tybalt an expression that read "No, I wasn't bullied," and then his tail began to wag again. His good ear perked, as though waiting for Tybalt to say how he had been doing since they returned to the school.

Jove tilted his head a little further. One could just imagine him saying things like "Did what happen? It was nothing, no sparring, why are you still talking about things like that and asking me questions?" He could understand Tybalt's shock, last time they had seen each other he had been... not doing so well, but in fine shape physically.

The pup nodded then, his tail wagging. His caretaker had taken him home, and he had some time to think things through and recover, and now he was back. With things to do! He took Tybalt's hand, his own were gloved for once. Smooth fabric that fit well on his delicate little hands, and hid the scratches there too.

With another curious look, he began to pull Tybalt in the direction of the gym, so maybe they could spar or something. Had things been okay since that event? And were people holding up okay? Was there any news from the teachers, or were they still insisting on spreading false stories about what really happened?

Jove nodded and gave Tybalt another tug, silently telling him to speed up. He supposed nothing much had happened in his absence. There would have been some time off from classes, with so many students in need of medical care, and even more in need of emotional recovery.

For Jove it had only been two weeks before he was physically functioning again, but he still had nightmares. It was like after the island, he never wanted to go to sleep, couldn't quite stomach anything he tried to eat, and the dark evenings would test his determination to become stronger. Whether he could keep it up, or lapse back into self-loathing and hopelessness would be a nightly battle. But for now, he could only push himself onwards.

So when he pulled Tybalt right up to the gym for sparring, the "Fight me?" expression easily readable in his perked ears and very direct eye contact, it was his way of pushing back those frightening feelings. But whether he was physically ready for another fight, that was another matter entirely!

Jove knew that look, Tybalt was doing too much thinking and not enough agreeing! It would be fun though, both of them sparring, maybe even in their natural form! He nodded vigourously as the black dog seemed to pick up on his wordless question, and then it quickly turned into shaking his head.

He made a disgruntled noise. No, he hadn't gotten those injuries from sparring. In truth it had been a much more serious matter, against an opponent who wouldn't hesitate to kill him and try to eat his ghostly carcass, if he didn't dissipate and float back home first.

He raised his eyes to glance at Tybalt, with the sort of puppy expression often used to mean "No, I wasn't chewing your favourite shoes," or "No, I didn't shred your papers," or in this case, "No, it's not a big deal." He just wanted to practice, injuries or no injuries!

It was at that moment the pup did a strange thing. He grinned. And like a true denizen of Halloween, it wasn't a cute grin, it was a sharp-toothed, almost sinister grin that said I AM TOTALLY GAME FOR THIS, LET'S GO ALL OUT!

At least, it would have been if he hadn't been missing two teeth on the left side of his mouth.

He immediately poofed into his natural form, clothes falling all around him, and then hopped out of the pile of fabric to face the gym door. Maybe his actions hadn't been entirely thought out... The fluffy little bum hit the ground as he contemplated how to get inside in his natural form.