Of all the ways she’d ever been woken up in the past, Arilee had decided that a tiny, icy cold nose nudging her belly was probably the cutest. And the weirdest since she had a feeling that Sanskrit was trying to root for a meal that was well, physically impossible for her to produce. Cracking open an eye, she tilted her head just enough to see the tiny tan ball of fur she’d adopted laying against her stomach. Every few moments, he would prod at her with his nose and whine softly. Moving slowly, she raised her hand and brought it down to gently stroke the puppy, marveling a little at the fine, wispy fur that covered him. At her touch, he made a funny little happy growling chuff before turning over to wiggle his paws at her and trying to n** her fingers.

“Hey now, little guy,” she murmured. “No noms, no noms. Mommy needs those fingers if you wanna eat this morning.”

Sitting up in bed, she laughed as Sanskrit bumbled around her, yipping a little as she stretched. According to the vet she’d taken him to the night she’d found him, he was reasonably healthy. The only issues that the vet had been able to find were the marks from the plastic ties that had bound his legs. He’d given Sanskrit his first round of shots and given Arilee herself some medicines to treat the small cuts. He’d also told her that the puppy was a breed called a Yorkillon and he knew because he and his wife owned a couple. As far as they’d been able to determine, he was mostly weaned from milk. Which was a good thing since Arilee would rather feed him the good canned stuff.

He wasn’t quite housetrained yet, but since he hadn’t made a mess this morning Arilee took heart. And decided that unless she wanted to scrub the floors again, it would be a good idea to get up and take him outside for a quick walk.

“C’mon, bumblebutt, you wanna go for a walk?” she asked, reaching for the thin leash she’d bought for him. The moment the word ‘walk’ exited her lips, Sanskrit’s whole butt began to wag happily. Laughing again, she picked him up and set him on the floor before getting out of the bed and tossing on an old pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Grabbing her keys, she headed for the door, leash in hand. Before they left, she hooked the leash to his collar. Once out the door, they had to go a little slower since she didn’t really want to see Sanskrit go tumbling down the stairs. The moment he was off the last stair, though, he found a small patch of grass and relieved himself. Well, that was good, right? It meant he was learning quickly. Which tallied with what the vet had told her about yorkillons being quite intelligent and easily trainable.

As they walked, Arilee found herself wondering idly if she’d ever be able to take Sanskrit with her if the Dark Mirror Court achieved its goal of re-populating space. She’d have to ask Quinn about that. Only a few days and she was already ridiculously attached. But she couldn’t help it. He was pretty much Cute incarnate.

After half an hour, Arilee simply scooped him up and cuddled him close, touching her nose to his as she grinned stupidly.

“Nose kissies for you, yes. I think we should go home now and both get some breakfast. Sound good, little sweetheart?”

Oh yeah, she was going to turn into one of those people who went completely dumbshit over their animals.