Strutting down the street, Brassite's ponytail bobbed cheerily in time along with Tony's tail. It'd been a good day so far, the youma proving irresistible to passerby with his massive size, fluffy clean fur, and clearly docile nature. As long as Tony didn't open all three of his eyes or the toothy, vertical slit of his mouth, he looked for all the world like some sorta dog. Close to a Tibetan mastiff. He hadn't always done so well for himself, and Brassite couldn't help but feel a bit smug for her vision in helping the fella out.

The first time she'd seen the youma since dubbed Tony Tippytoes was back in November. She'd been all civvie'd up and taking her Winter Boyfriend out for a test drive. Downtown was pretty bustling in the post-Black Friday shopping frenzy and it was fun just to be walking 'round in the midst of it all. Now, America wasn't one to just not pet a dog when presented the opportunity to do so, and so when she passed the big fella resting outside a cafe, well! He was gonna get some good pets n'praises outta her! Winter Boyfriend was a little more cautious since he was Like That and also the dog was huge and unaccompanied and honestly kinda grungy. But America had none of it, and went right on trying to woo the Good Boy into loving her right back. He stayed sleepy, though. Not that she minded! But as the couple walked away, something happened.

She stumbled.

A little dizzy, a little drowsy.

It took a bit for her to realize that something was off about that and she might, just maybe, know what had happened. Winter Boyfriend thought it might be a blood sugar thing or whatever, he mentioned he had sisters with a certain understanding expression. Took her til the next day to realize he was saying it might be her period coming up and hadn't that been a Huh of a moment. But today she just went along with whatever he was thinking. They ended the date early with a couple cute smooches and talk about next weekend and then winter vacation. Nothing set in stone but some nice things for each of them to anticipate even as they separated for the day.

A little later and she was out as Brassite. It was a bit odd, going out in daylight like this, but her uniform was pretty passing. Almost looked ready to intern at some office or another. there were lots of store rooftops to traverse and hunker down on downtown, even if she did have to be careful not to be seen jumping 'round them. But it wasn't too bad working back to where she'd seen the big dog and could get a good view of him.

Folks were still crowding down the sidewalks, and time to time someone would stop to pet the big doggie. Not much would happen right away, but she noticed more than a few tripped or stumbled or swayed as they were walking away. It wasn't too noticeable, though, 'cause most people gave the big guy an even bigger berth. Winter Boyfriend had it right: he was huge, no owner in sight, and he was dirty. Kinda smelly too, she had to admit. A small kid rushed up to him and hugged the guy, and Brassite found herself holding her breath. That'd get pretty ugly, pretty fast wouldn't it? Folks got up in arms like nothing else if they thought something was hurting little kids. But when the child toddled away with their parents in hand, they seemed none the worse for it.

Huh.

Once it got dark, the giant dog got up for the first time she'd seen that day and lumbered down a nearby alleyway. Brassite followed fast enough to just catch it disappearing into ********' nothing. She wanted to whoop and crow for having the right of him, but settled for a quiet <******** yeah fistpump. He was a youma!

The next weekend she'd made plans for Saturday, for a cute date with Winter Boyfriend. And for Sunday...she hadn't been sure, but night after night, either in her dormitory or out draining the bad folks of Destiny City, she couldn't stop thinking about the big, dog-like youma. So Sunday found her once again on a rooftop as Brassite, staking out the cafe and waiting for the youma to show up.

He didn't show up.

At least not in front of the cafe, but fortunately he wasn't too far from it either, this time choosing a bougie camping store to hunker down in front of. The folks coming in and out were a little braver than last week's, but still more moved wide of him than approached. Kids didn't get drained at all or at least too little to have any effect...and neither did very short adults. She guessed the youma had learned some sorta lesson, that if you drain the small humans you'd get in big ********' trouble for it.

She sipped some hot chocolate from her travel mug, twin to the one she'd bought for her secret santa. Apparently they liked tea, but she knew ******** about the stuff unless it was sweet as angels iced tea or came from a box with the sleepy bear on it. People who said they liked tea weren't usually into those sorts, right? They liked the fancy stuff she didn’t even know how to pronounce. Instead, she opted for interrogating Malby for a decent stakeout tumbler, something that kept hot s**t real hot for a long time and wouldn't cost her more than she was allowed (or honestly willing) to spend. His suggestion looked decent enough that America treated herself to one as well. She was also working long nights outside after all.

And days too, now that she had a bit of a project in sight.

The next weekend, before the youma disappeared as the sun went down, Brassite cornered the fellow with a grin, a collar, and a leash. The youma vanished before she could even say hi.

The next weekend, she cornered him with a grin, a brush, and a purple ball of energy in hand. The youma, after a moment, settled down on the ground and patiently allowed her to brush him as he nomm'd at the loosening energy. The result was a lot of hair on the ground, a slightly less grungy dog appearance and...a big lick on the cheek. Which was when Brassite got introduced to some of his charming, monstery "extras". It left her a bit stunned but also put a firm nail into her head that this was absolutely a youma and not really a dog. Mostly.

The next night, she caught up to him once again and this time involved an actual bath through means of gently breaking into a car wash. The weekend after, she finally coaxed him into the collar, a shining new tag declaring to the world that this was Tony Tippytoes. For such a big guy, who hardly ever liked to move, once he got going he was as light and quiet as a cloud.

After that, she was able to really begin their working relationship, which was...dog walking! Or at least, putting him on a leash and walking him around a bit downtown with periodic breaks. With Tony's usual energy it'd end up about 20-80 walking to breaks. But that was fine. It still kept him from staying in one place too often or too long, and the accompaniment of leash and owner made him way more approachable to folks who might've otherwise avoided him. And more people meant both more energy collected in general, but less from individuals making it less noticeable all 'round.

For her part, Brassite didn't drain during these walks. She didn't benefit from it like that, but it didn't mean there was no benefit. First, she got to play with and hug a big giant doggy youma. Second, she got to help a co-worker, Tony was a very charming fella for all his slow moving laziness. Third, she got to dress him up sometimes, a seasonal bowtie or bandana was about as much as he'd tolerate now, but she was pretty sure she could work him up to a full costume by October. Fourth and maybe most importantly, it felt really good to walk around powered, in broad daylight. It felt a little mean and clever, to help a youma drain people out in the open, and in such a way that if someone else powered tried to stop them, they'd get the torches and pitchforks treatment for harassing an innocent girl and her dog.

"Hey girlie! How's the two of you doing?"

"Just enjoying a fine day 'til the rain comes in, Mr. Gerrard!" Brassite and Tony had become familiar figures in certain areas, a thing she didn't mind in the least. Familiarity bred acceptance and even better, fondness. The Negaverse could probably do a lot with that sorta thing. Skulking about at night had its place and all, but it shouldn't be their only way to move and exist, right?

At the end of their walk, there was still a good few hours of sun left, and so she settled down on the grass at the park. Travel mug full of icy sweet tea in one hand, she leaned heavily on her self-assigned partner as she rubbed his ear with the other. "Well, Tony," she sighed dramatically, "you're welcome."