A hard life made easy with a new friend (For Tloren)

"Why, hello there!" Margaret hadn't see the dog before, at least she thought it to be a dog. Thinking it might belong to someone, and not wanting the dog to get lost from following her, she decided to stop jogging to get a closer look at it.

After looking at the husky long enough, she broke the silence of the alleyway with, "Dawww. You're a cute puppy, yes you are." Margaret continued speaking to the dog in this manner while trying to see if there was a tag on it, or something to identify with an owner.

"Do you belong to anyone?" She was keeping her distance in case the dog might attempt to bite.

"Oh, so you're a stray..." Margaret was sad to see a puppy as adorable as this one was all by itself. It resonated with a part of her past, and how she got to where she was today. Yet, she knew that spending money on a puppy was irresponsible. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that...I hope someone gives you a good home..."

As Margaret began to walk away, she could feel her heart being pulled by its strings for not taking this dog. Besides that, she had planned to treat herself to something other than ramen that night, and taking care of the dog meant she'd have to put that aside for a while.

She told herself not to look back, but before she knew it, she was staring back at the barking dog. Eventually, she sighed, and bent down to pick up the pup. She smiled and said. "I guess ramen for a few more nights won't hurt, but you have to be quiet. I'm not allowed animals."

Eventually, Margaret and Verona made it back to Margaret's apartment. She knew to be careful, and waited until there was no one else in sight before hurrying over to her door, unlocking it, entering and closing in one swift motion.

Relieved that she didn't appear to get caught, she then set down Verona on the wooden floor. "Make yourself at home. There's a ton of space." Her apartment was devoid of anything except for key furniture she needed to comfortably live with. "This is just temporary until we find you a home, but for now, you can sleep on the sofa with me." She kicked her shoes off by the door and collapsed onto the futon. "I'll feed us in a moment. Just give me a minute or two."

Margaret opened her eyes and looked up to find a fur-coated human-like creature looking down at her. She wasn't able to grasp that this person was the cute husky she had been holding earlier. In fact, she thought that she had fallen asleep, and that this was all in her dream. The surrealism caused Margaret to forget what the person just asked, and commented, "...I fell asleep quicker than I thought I would."

Margaret didn't oppose the logic, and gladly took a seat in Verona's lap. All of the sudden, she felt an intense increase in warmth s the fur came into contact with her body. It was, for her, a very relaxing moment. There was no reason to question it. After all, she thought this was a dream. Even so, she didn't know how her dream had conjured up someone like Verona. "I'm Margaret...nice to meet you."

Margaret didn't believe for a second that she was awake and experiencing this, especially the tenderness she was receiving from the strange person in her dream. And yet, she didn't wish to stop it from happening. She knew there was no danger in her dream, so Margaret let her guard down and allowed Verona to do as she pleased. "This has to be a dream." Her voice was more relaxed than before the fur wrapped around her. "But I don't mind. Just wake me up to give the puppy food. Okay, dream?" Margaret's body had begun to grow lax.

Even after Verona admitted to being the puppy, and a shapeshifter, it wasn't until her breathing had become more difficult that Margaret realized her current situation. She was still having trouble accepting it as reality, but Margaret knew now that she couldn't afford to be complacent. Knowing it was impossible to break free, and knowing escape could be met with resistance, the best choice in her mind was to play along. "Ahaha, you don't say?" she said in a rather weak attempt to sound convincing. "W-well, it's about time I feed you. So, put me down now, you know? So I can do that? ...Please?"