Richard was good as dead the next time she saw him.

It seemed like such a simple request, one that wasn’t too beneath her to oblige. There was a note next to the fridge, with an adorable little smiley face on it, as if the fact that he wrote in nice bold letters on the brightest yellow sticky note wasn’t enough to draw her attention.

’Dear ungrateful roomie, please take Baldwin to the groomers today. Next to the leash is a credit card and some cash for tip should you deem they did an acceptable job. Your payment shall come when I get home tonight.

Hugs and kisses,
d**k.’

It was the least she could do, considering he was allowing her to remain in his condo rent free, but she found the condescending tone of his note to be a little over the top and downright annoying. Oh, and then there was a blatant insult at the top of the note and the oh so mature cartoon d**k drawn in place of his name. If there was something that Richard constantly lacked, it certainly wasn’t a sense of humor, and if anything, she managed to crack a smile at his cheeky humor, even as she geared herself up for the adventure that she was certainly going to have.

She managed to wrangle the horse of a dog once before, so certainly she could manage to do so once again. Baldwin was large, but gentle, and absolutely the most mellow dog she had ever laid eyes on. Even now as she looked into the living room where he lounged on the sofa, one ear perked upwards and the other bent, and bushy brows that threatened to blind the poor creature’s chocolate covered eyes, he seemed so relaxed and disinterested, so Nyasa thought that it was the least she could do for him. Between the tenants of this household, Baldwin was the one that asked for so little, and Richard didn’t usually ask for favors.

And truly, what else did she have planned for today? Besides mope around the luxurious condo and lament the failures that surrounded her and try to pull herself out of the rut that she found herself perpetually trapped in? Not to mention the thought of a surprise from Richard intrigued her. She just hoped it wasn’t candy… unless it was chocolate, then perhaps that would have been more than enough to please her.

Had she known that Baldwin was just as tricky and deceitful as both his master and roommate, she would have properly prepared herself, but the moment she got the leash on him and got in into the streets, that dog’s ears perked and he was gone! All it had taken was a little tug and the leash snapped, and down the streets went the grey, fuzzy stead, whip like tail wagging and the wind caused by his galloping speed more than enough to free the hair from his eyes and give him a clear view of the path before him. And what could Nyasa do but give chase? There were too many people in the streets to risk transforming and abusing her super speed to catch him, and she didn’t want to risk the possibility of losing sight of him.

“GET BACK HERE, BALDWIN! THIS INSTANT!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, thankful that she was at least fit enough to keep after him with every twist and turn. This wasn’t how she wanted her morning to go! Chasing after a dog and praying to every god and deity in existence that the Irish wolfhound didn’t try his luck in the streets. She didn’t want to have to explain to Richard why his dog and the driver and passengers of that vehicle that Baldwin totalled were dead. This would earn her the mockery and ridicule of those around her, and perhaps some scorn for failing to contain her roommate’s dog, but she wasn’t going to have a dead dog on her watch. Just his damned owner. “GET BACK HERE, OR NO BACON!”

((Word Count: 683))