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Description
Panthea x Riley | Junkyard

Part 1 of an ongoing role play between myself as Riley and LeavingNeverland as Panthea.
** WARNING: Strong language

PANTHEA
Pan lifted her head up and sniffed at the dying autumn air. She missed the sweet scent of flowers and had absolutely no fondness for the way the smell of rotting leaves mushed itself in with the smells of her junkyard. She let out a light sigh, nostalgic for the welcoming sounds of spring, and tucked the thought to the back of her mind.

With a stretch and a yawn, Pan pulled herself out through glassless window of her battered Beetle home. Her small paws skipped over rusted roofs and banged up boots as she scaled her way down the junk mountain towards the ground level. She grinned with satisfaction as she glanced back at her house; the classic Beetle with the peeling banana-yellow paint was sandwiched somewhere in the middle. It was old and dusty and broken, but the seats were still in tact, and it was big enough to hold her various treasures in the front seats -- the torn teddy bears, the broken figurines -- and she loved the way it looked as the sun came up.

She pulled her warm brown eyes away and began to pad through the towers of junk, a bright spring in her step as she weaved around broken lamps and discarded computer parts. “Riley!” she called out. “Where are you? Hurry up, I’m hungry!” she announced, hunting for a familiar mottled brown coat.

RILEY
Riley rolled over in her sleep with a grumble of annoyance. Something had disturbed her out of her fitful dreams and now she clumsily pulled herself fully awake. Through half lidded eyes she peered around drearily and cracked her jaw with a high pitched yawn. Mottled sunlight pushed it’s way through motes of dust from the sunroof of the car she called home.

She stood slowly and stretched deeply, back arches and toes splayed out as she wriggled her body to shake the sleep away. Riley glanced up at the sunroof that peered up into a tunnel of other debris, trying to gauge the weather outside by the sky. Sighing, she pawed at the blankets and pillows and scraps of clothing to made up her bed and piled them all back into a nest of sorts in the back seat. The front seat held a random assortment of things she kept--old bones, chew toys, dead flowers, those sorts of things. With a final stretch of her back legs she climbed into the front seats and squeezed her way out of the broken windshield, the only way in or out of her home. From there she slinked under more rusted old car parts and other refuse before finally blinking into the sunlight. The ‘home’ she had chosen wasn’t pretty to look at, but it was secluded and hard to get into. Just perfect for her.

Her feathery ears perked at the sound of a familiar voice calling her name and she quickly shook her whole body, dislodging any dirt or dust from her coat. She hated to appear less groomed than the smaller dog. “I’m here, Pan, quit yelling.” she called back, making her way toward the voice. When she spotted the other dog she smirked and added, “You’re always hungry. That’s why you’re getting fat.”

PANTHEA
Panthea let out an exaggerated little gasp of offense, pressing her paw against her chest. “Me? Fat? Please, Darling, I don’t get fat. I get fabulous,” she told her with a flippant toss of her dangling ears. She threw her tail into the air, as though brushing away the insult. “Now stop your bellyaching and get a move on. I’m thinking… scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. Moondance Diner, here we come!” she announced, her dainty paws skipping over shards of broken glass and frayed wires. Every moment at the Junkyard seemed like it was trying to kill you, but it was something its residents got used to fairly quickly. It was adapt or die on the streets after all. No cozy beds and crackling winter fires for the likes of Pan or Riley. There were days she regretted not finding herself a couple of humans and moving in -- mostly those days were in the middle of winter, when she shivered in the backseat of her Beetle, and no amount of ratty, threadbare blankets could fight away the cold. But days like this, she was glad for her freedom. Days like this, she didn’t even consider trading in people scraps for the tasteless kibble the pets ate.

“Get a move on, Sleeping Beauty!” Pan called back over her shoulder. “We’re wasting precious daylight! Besides, you look better in the half light; there’s only so far my dashing good looks will get us with the bus boys with a gremlin on my tail,” she joked, wagging her fluffy tail in Riley’s face before taking a bounding leap forward -- a precaution, in case Riley decided now was a good time to swipe that mocking grin off of her face.

She trotted spritely down the road out of the junkyard, unravelling itself towards town and the humans that lived and ate in it, the sun crawling out over the horizon now that the stacks of garbage were no longer obscuring her view. “So what do you figure? Ten minutes to get there? Why’s this place gotta be so far away from all the food. I swear, sometimes I consider becoming a cow-chaser just so I don’t have to walk so blasted much,” she chirped, in high spirits despite the complaint.

RILEY
The beginnings of a growl began to echo in her chest at Pan ceaseless joking. A second too late she snapped her jaws on empty air where Panthea’s fluffy tail had been. Oh well. She wasn’t sure she was actually trying to grab her anyway. Panthea was one of the few dogs, perhaps the only one, who could get away saying such things. The two had a tenuous...friendship that Riley felt deserved some leeway. As an afterthought, she shook her fur out again, more violently this time, in an attempt to look better groomed. It really was a trial to look decent living in this place. With a grumble she loped to catch up to Pan’s retreating form, falling into step beside her once caught up--not an easy thing to do considering their size difference. Riley barely paid attention to where she placed her paws. It was instinct at this point to avoid the nastier scraps of metal or jagged shards of glass. Just another wonderful life lesson learned living in the junkyard. She thought bitterly of her father and half-siblings living in the lap of luxury, far from any putrid refuse that littered her day to day life. Her lip curled in a silent snarl at the thought of the beasts, but an actual growl from her stomach pushed them out of her mind for the time being.

“Hmph. I don’t care how far we have to walk, as long as there’s fresh food.” Riley sighed, stopping momentarily to scratch at a pesky itch behind her ear. She was not getting fleas. Just the idea was absolutely intolerable. “I could get there in 10 minutes easy. But you have some of the damn stumpiest legs, we’ll be lucky if we get there before nightfall.” she sighed with a swish of her tail.

Of course she was exaggerating and they were soon coming up to the city limits. A few cars flew past as they headed down Sandy Ridge Road. Her hackles rose at the sight of humans in their loud, smelly machines. Once in a while the humans would throw things at the dogs or even swerve in an attempt to hit them. Riley had nearly passed out from exhaustion once chasing one such car. “Maybe we won’t even need to make it all the way to the diner.” Riley said thoughtfully. “Maybe a little Pet is wandering too far from it’s leash…” she snorted in laughter, not sure how much of her was actually joking. Once they reached Pet territory she went on full alert, tail waving high behind her as a warning to any dogs skulking about.

PANTHEA
Pan grinned at her, kicking her stumpy legs out in an exaggerated hopping-skip of a walk. “What, short? Me? Please,” she said sarcastically, letting the words fall out of her mouth in time with the erratic little skips that she meant to cover the same amount of ground a larger dog would when he walked. “I’m conveniently travel sized. And all the better for it.” Pan had never been one of those Napoleon Complex types. She didn’t mind being small -- in fact, she rather liked it. It meant she could squeeze into places no one else could and pick at things that were otherwise far beyond anyone else’s reach. And if it meant she had to work a little harder to keep up with the Joneses, that was fine by her. It was second nature at this point anyway.

They walked in general silence as they came across the city limits and made their way into town. Riley snarled and sneered at the humans; Pan gave them a bright eyed look and an enthusiastic wag of her tail. She’d found early on that you caught more flies with honey than you did with vinegar, and half the reason she’d survived as a pup on the streets was because some human had thought her congenial and adorable, and fed her bits of their hotdog. She didn’t hold anything against them really -- not as a species. Against individuals, yes. But not as a whole. She didn’t see the point. But she wouldn’t be telling Riley that; she figured that was fighting a losing battle, and in any case, Riley was entitled to her own opinions.

Pan grinned lightly as Riley laughed. “Being a bit optimistic, aren’t we?” she asked as she strutted past one manicured lawn after another. “Hey, doesn’t that angry boy with the bee bee gun live around here? Do you think he’d be mad if we peed on his bed?” She laughed at the thought. Of course, she’d probably opt for a dead rat or something in reality, but she’d love to see his spotty face when he woke up next to blood and guts. That’d teach him for shooting pellets at her in the park.

She slowed as she reached a crossroads; one way led toward the commercial part of town, the diner, the stores, and all of that good stuff. The other led deeper into pet territory. “Well? What do you wanna do? Eggs and bacon, or wing it with the collar crowd?” she asked, glancing up at Riley.

RILEY
“If that little fuck shows his ugly face I’m going to shit on everything he loves.” Riley dead panned in response. “But we could pee in his bed, too.” she amended with a nonchalant shrug. She’d only encountered the boy in question once, but it had been enough to put him on Riley’s bad list for the rest of their lives. He’d some how lucked out and managed to shoot her right in the rump. Riley had squealed in shock and pain and had limped for days. Humans were such a nuisance. They made delicious food and sometimes had interesting scents but were otherwise unnecessary. Riley sighed as they padded along, becoming lost in her bitter thoughts.

At the crossroads she pulled herself back and glanced in both directions before heading toward the commercial district. “We’re bound to run into some where ever we go in this town. I at least wanna get some decent food out of it.” she replied over her shoulder, picking up her pace at the smell of sizzling, crackling meat. “Our lucky day.” Riley chimed with a wag of her tail, uncharacteristically upbeat. As they passed one of the many bistros in this section of town, some humans were leaving their outdoor table--and their leftovers. Without so much as a grunt of warning she pushed herself up to rest her front paws on the table and quickly scarfed down everything edible. Just as the humans noticed and began to protest she grabbed one last hunk of sausage and pushed off, trotting out of throwing reach.

Once a safe distance away she tossed the sausage to Panthea. Their relationship was heavily based on a ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ understanding. Riley was able to reach places Pan couldn’t and vice versa. Even if she didn’t want to, Riley had to admit they made a pretty good pair when it came to certain things. Sure, their personalities clashed more often than not, but what was a relationship without a few bumps in the road? At least that’s what Riley assumed a ‘relationship’ was supposed to seem. “Woo, smell that bacon sizzle!” Riley cried, spirits considerably higher after her snack.

PANTHEA
“Well, that’s a pretty image,” Pan commented out loud, pulling a face at the idea of Riley taking a shite in some kid’s trainers. He’d find quite a surprise getting ready for school later this morning. In truth, Pan wasn’t entirely against it. The stupid thing had shot at her on three separate occasions. Most of the time he missed, because she was a smaller target and had a talent for throwing herself behind hot dog carts or bushes for protection. But he’d caught her completely off guard a few days earlier, and had smacked one of his horrible pellets right into the side of her muzzle. She’d screamed and yelped with pain, had whimpered and hid under a bench as he laughed his ugly head off. She’d wanted to tear his throat out. But if morality hadn’t stopped her, the law would. Harming a human was punishable by death. They could kill each other all they liked, but if a stray so much as chomped on a human hand, the dog man would be on you faster than you could say ‘goodbye’.

She glanced at Riley as they reached the crossroads, shoving the thoughts of all those missing dogs away. All the unlucky ones who had turned against the humans and paid dearly for it.

She couldn’t argue with that logic. She grinned at her companion’s rare show of enthusiasm, but before she could say anything in reply, Riley had moved in and taken what she wanted, robbing a table of it’s half-eaten meal, inhaling everything she could find. Pan laughed out loud as the humans finally noticed, swatting at her and yelling out loud to try and drive her away. It worked, but not before Riley managed to snag a mostly eaten sausage. Panthea was under no delusion that Riley had left because of the humans; she left because she was done. Never for any reason other than that.

The larger dog tossed her the bit of sausage, and Pan snapped it up gratefully, letting the meaty goodness melt in her mouth, letting the warm fat spread over her tongue and slide down her throat. There was nothing quite so good as human food. “Cheers,” Pan told her before taking off to a diner a block up; the Moondance. Pan’s favourite breakfast spot. She glanced over her shoulder to check that Riley was following, and slipped in through the back alley. She whined at the back door, pawed at it lightly seconds before a woman with bright hair and painted lips came out, holding a smoking stick in her hands.

“Hey Bubbles!” she greeted her, stooping down and scratching Pan behind the ears. Pan let her tongue loll out of her mouth in a way that seemed to please all humans. For most Junkyard residents, an act like this was unthinkable. You didn’t fraternize with humans. You co-existed. But Pan wasn’t as large or strong as most of them. She couldn’t knock one down and steal it’s sandwich. So she adapted, and played it smart.

She let the blonde girl in the apron scratch her under the chin for a moment. “Wait here, okay?” she told her before stubbing out the smoking stick on the step beside her. She dipped back into the restaurant, and Pan shot Riley a self satisfied smile. A moment later, the girl came back holding a cardboard take-away box filled with leftover scrambled eggs, bits of waffle, scraps of sausage and bacon -- and dropped it on the ground by the door. The blonde held a finger to her lips, as though they were sharing a secret, and Pan wagged her tail enthusiastically. “See you tomorrow, Bubbles,” the girl told her, ducking back into the restaurant to deal with the morning rush.

Pan turned back to Riley. “She’s my best customer,” she announced with a triumphant grin.

RILEY
Her path was meandering as she sniffed after any other scraps. Further into this district the humans became more protective of their food. Riley snorted as one woman scooped her child up protectively as Riley passed by. As if she’d risk her neck to take a nip out of a human pup. Honestly, humans were so stupid, it baffled Riley how they managed to build cities for their huge packs.

Scents of roasting meat filled her nose and beckoned her closer to one of the shops. With her front paws braced against the building she pressed her nose against the glass to see chickens spinning slowly over lamps, heat causing the air to appear distorted. With a swish of her tail in dismissal she popped back down and trotted to catch back up with Pan. There were certain places in this city she just didn’t try her luck with. The risks outweighed the rewards, no matter how mouth watering those rewards smelled.

Riley came out of her thoughts and came up short behind Pan as they reached the back door of the diner. Her lip curled as she took a few steps back, eyeing the human wearily. As she went back into the building Riley snorted a laugh and asked, “‘Bubbles’? That’s what your human calls you?” she snickered some more until the human returned with a heaping pile of steaming food. Once the human left she leapt to stand beside Pan and gawk down at the food. It all smelled so...amazing. And fresh. This wasn’t just scooped out of a garbage or left to sit and cool, forgotten and unappreciated.

“Alright.” she grumbled grudgingly, drool beginning to pool in her mouth. “I guess humans aren’t entirely useless.”

Description
Panthea x Riley | Junkyard

Part 1 of an ongoing role play between myself as Riley and LeavingNeverland as Panthea.
** WARNING: Strong language

PANTHEA
Pan lifted her head up and sniffed at the dying autumn air. She missed the sweet scent of flowers and had absolutely no fondness for the way the smell of rotting leaves mushed itself in with the smells of her junkyard. She let out a light sigh, nostalgic for the welcoming sounds of spring, and tucked the thought to the back of her mind.

With a stretch and a yawn, Pan pulled herself out through glassless window of her battered Beetle home. Her small paws skipped over rusted roofs and banged up boots as she scaled her way down the junk mountain towards the ground level. She grinned with satisfaction as she glanced back at her house; the classic Beetle with the peeling banana-yellow paint was sandwiched somewhere in the middle. It was old and dusty and broken, but the seats were still in tact, and it was big enough to hold her various treasures in the front seats -- the torn teddy bears, the broken figurines -- and she loved the way it looked as the sun came up.

She pulled her warm brown eyes away and began to pad through the towers of junk, a bright spring in her step as she weaved around broken lamps and discarded computer parts. “Riley!” she called out. “Where are you? Hurry up, I’m hungry!” she announced, hunting for a familiar mottled brown coat.

RILEY
Riley rolled over in her sleep with a grumble of annoyance. Something had disturbed her out of her fitful dreams and now she clumsily pulled herself fully awake. Through half lidded eyes she peered around drearily and cracked her jaw with a high pitched yawn. Mottled sunlight pushed it’s way through motes of dust from the sunroof of the car she called home.

She stood slowly and stretched deeply, back arches and toes splayed out as she wriggled her body to shake the sleep away. Riley glanced up at the sunroof that peered up into a tunnel of other debris, trying to gauge the weather outside by the sky. Sighing, she pawed at the blankets and pillows and scraps of clothing to made up her bed and piled them all back into a nest of sorts in the back seat. The front seat held a random assortment of things she kept--old bones, chew toys, dead flowers, those sorts of things. With a final stretch of her back legs she climbed into the front seats and squeezed her way out of the broken windshield, the only way in or out of her home. From there she slinked under more rusted old car parts and other refuse before finally blinking into the sunlight. The ‘home’ she had chosen wasn’t pretty to look at, but it was secluded and hard to get into. Just perfect for her.

Her feathery ears perked at the sound of a familiar voice calling her name and she quickly shook her whole body, dislodging any dirt or dust from her coat. She hated to appear less groomed than the smaller dog. “I’m here, Pan, quit yelling.” she called back, making her way toward the voice. When she spotted the other dog she smirked and added, “You’re always hungry. That’s why you’re getting fat.”

PANTHEA
Panthea let out an exaggerated little gasp of offense, pressing her paw against her chest. “Me? Fat? Please, Darling, I don’t get fat. I get fabulous,” she told her with a flippant toss of her dangling ears. She threw her tail into the air, as though brushing away the insult. “Now stop your bellyaching and get a move on. I’m thinking… scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. Moondance Diner, here we come!” she announced, her dainty paws skipping over shards of broken glass and frayed wires. Every moment at the Junkyard seemed like it was trying to kill you, but it was something its residents got used to fairly quickly. It was adapt or die on the streets after all. No cozy beds and crackling winter fires for the likes of Pan or Riley. There were days she regretted not finding herself a couple of humans and moving in -- mostly those days were in the middle of winter, when she shivered in the backseat of her Beetle, and no amount of ratty, threadbare blankets could fight away the cold. But days like this, she was glad for her freedom. Days like this, she didn’t even consider trading in people scraps for the tasteless kibble the pets ate.

“Get a move on, Sleeping Beauty!” Pan called back over her shoulder. “We’re wasting precious daylight! Besides, you look better in the half light; there’s only so far my dashing good looks will get us with the bus boys with a gremlin on my tail,” she joked, wagging her fluffy tail in Riley’s face before taking a bounding leap forward -- a precaution, in case Riley decided now was a good time to swipe that mocking grin off of her face.

She trotted spritely down the road out of the junkyard, unravelling itself towards town and the humans that lived and ate in it, the sun crawling out over the horizon now that the stacks of garbage were no longer obscuring her view. “So what do you figure? Ten minutes to get there? Why’s this place gotta be so far away from all the food. I swear, sometimes I consider becoming a cow-chaser just so I don’t have to walk so blasted much,” she chirped, in high spirits despite the complaint.

RILEY
The beginnings of a growl began to echo in her chest at Pan ceaseless joking. A second too late she snapped her jaws on empty air where Panthea’s fluffy tail had been. Oh well. She wasn’t sure she was actually trying to grab her anyway. Panthea was one of the few dogs, perhaps the only one, who could get away saying such things. The two had a tenuous...friendship that Riley felt deserved some leeway. As an afterthought, she shook her fur out again, more violently this time, in an attempt to look better groomed. It really was a trial to look decent living in this place. With a grumble she loped to catch up to Pan’s retreating form, falling into step beside her once caught up--not an easy thing to do considering their size difference. Riley barely paid attention to where she placed her paws. It was instinct at this point to avoid the nastier scraps of metal or jagged shards of glass. Just another wonderful life lesson learned living in the junkyard. She thought bitterly of her father and half-siblings living in the lap of luxury, far from any putrid refuse that littered her day to day life. Her lip curled in a silent snarl at the thought of the beasts, but an actual growl from her stomach pushed them out of her mind for the time being.

“Hmph. I don’t care how far we have to walk, as long as there’s fresh food.” Riley sighed, stopping momentarily to scratch at a pesky itch behind her ear. She was not getting fleas. Just the idea was absolutely intolerable. “I could get there in 10 minutes easy. But you have some of the damn stumpiest legs, we’ll be lucky if we get there before nightfall.” she sighed with a swish of her tail.

Of course she was exaggerating and they were soon coming up to the city limits. A few cars flew past as they headed down Sandy Ridge Road. Her hackles rose at the sight of humans in their loud, smelly machines. Once in a while the humans would throw things at the dogs or even swerve in an attempt to hit them. Riley had nearly passed out from exhaustion once chasing one such car. “Maybe we won’t even need to make it all the way to the diner.” Riley said thoughtfully. “Maybe a little Pet is wandering too far from it’s leash…” she snorted in laughter, not sure how much of her was actually joking. Once they reached Pet territory she went on full alert, tail waving high behind her as a warning to any dogs skulking about.

PANTHEA
Pan grinned at her, kicking her stumpy legs out in an exaggerated hopping-skip of a walk. “What, short? Me? Please,” she said sarcastically, letting the words fall out of her mouth in time with the erratic little skips that she meant to cover the same amount of ground a larger dog would when he walked. “I’m conveniently travel sized. And all the better for it.” Pan had never been one of those Napoleon Complex types. She didn’t mind being small -- in fact, she rather liked it. It meant she could squeeze into places no one else could and pick at things that were otherwise far beyond anyone else’s reach. And if it meant she had to work a little harder to keep up with the Joneses, that was fine by her. It was second nature at this point anyway.

They walked in general silence as they came across the city limits and made their way into town. Riley snarled and sneered at the humans; Pan gave them a bright eyed look and an enthusiastic wag of her tail. She’d found early on that you caught more flies with honey than you did with vinegar, and half the reason she’d survived as a pup on the streets was because some human had thought her congenial and adorable, and fed her bits of their hotdog. She didn’t hold anything against them really -- not as a species. Against individuals, yes. But not as a whole. She didn’t see the point. But she wouldn’t be telling Riley that; she figured that was fighting a losing battle, and in any case, Riley was entitled to her own opinions.

Pan grinned lightly as Riley laughed. “Being a bit optimistic, aren’t we?” she asked as she strutted past one manicured lawn after another. “Hey, doesn’t that angry boy with the bee bee gun live around here? Do you think he’d be mad if we peed on his bed?” She laughed at the thought. Of course, she’d probably opt for a dead rat or something in reality, but she’d love to see his spotty face when he woke up next to blood and guts. That’d teach him for shooting pellets at her in the park.

She slowed as she reached a crossroads; one way led toward the commercial part of town, the diner, the stores, and all of that good stuff. The other led deeper into pet territory. “Well? What do you wanna do? Eggs and bacon, or wing it with the collar crowd?” she asked, glancing up at Riley.

RILEY
“If that little fuck shows his ugly face I’m going to shit on everything he loves.” Riley dead panned in response. “But we could pee in his bed, too.” she amended with a nonchalant shrug. She’d only encountered the boy in question once, but it had been enough to put him on Riley’s bad list for the rest of their lives. He’d some how lucked out and managed to shoot her right in the rump. Riley had squealed in shock and pain and had limped for days. Humans were such a nuisance. They made delicious food and sometimes had interesting scents but were otherwise unnecessary. Riley sighed as they padded along, becoming lost in her bitter thoughts.

At the crossroads she pulled herself back and glanced in both directions before heading toward the commercial district. “We’re bound to run into some where ever we go in this town. I at least wanna get some decent food out of it.” she replied over her shoulder, picking up her pace at the smell of sizzling, crackling meat. “Our lucky day.” Riley chimed with a wag of her tail, uncharacteristically upbeat. As they passed one of the many bistros in this section of town, some humans were leaving their outdoor table--and their leftovers. Without so much as a grunt of warning she pushed herself up to rest her front paws on the table and quickly scarfed down everything edible. Just as the humans noticed and began to protest she grabbed one last hunk of sausage and pushed off, trotting out of throwing reach.

Once a safe distance away she tossed the sausage to Panthea. Their relationship was heavily based on a ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ understanding. Riley was able to reach places Pan couldn’t and vice versa. Even if she didn’t want to, Riley had to admit they made a pretty good pair when it came to certain things. Sure, their personalities clashed more often than not, but what was a relationship without a few bumps in the road? At least that’s what Riley assumed a ‘relationship’ was supposed to seem. “Woo, smell that bacon sizzle!” Riley cried, spirits considerably higher after her snack.

PANTHEA
“Well, that’s a pretty image,” Pan commented out loud, pulling a face at the idea of Riley taking a shite in some kid’s trainers. He’d find quite a surprise getting ready for school later this morning. In truth, Pan wasn’t entirely against it. The stupid thing had shot at her on three separate occasions. Most of the time he missed, because she was a smaller target and had a talent for throwing herself behind hot dog carts or bushes for protection. But he’d caught her completely off guard a few days earlier, and had smacked one of his horrible pellets right into the side of her muzzle. She’d screamed and yelped with pain, had whimpered and hid under a bench as he laughed his ugly head off. She’d wanted to tear his throat out. But if morality hadn’t stopped her, the law would. Harming a human was punishable by death. They could kill each other all they liked, but if a stray so much as chomped on a human hand, the dog man would be on you faster than you could say ‘goodbye’.

She glanced at Riley as they reached the crossroads, shoving the thoughts of all those missing dogs away. All the unlucky ones who had turned against the humans and paid dearly for it.

She couldn’t argue with that logic. She grinned at her companion’s rare show of enthusiasm, but before she could say anything in reply, Riley had moved in and taken what she wanted, robbing a table of it’s half-eaten meal, inhaling everything she could find. Pan laughed out loud as the humans finally noticed, swatting at her and yelling out loud to try and drive her away. It worked, but not before Riley managed to snag a mostly eaten sausage. Panthea was under no delusion that Riley had left because of the humans; she left because she was done. Never for any reason other than that.

The larger dog tossed her the bit of sausage, and Pan snapped it up gratefully, letting the meaty goodness melt in her mouth, letting the warm fat spread over her tongue and slide down her throat. There was nothing quite so good as human food. “Cheers,” Pan told her before taking off to a diner a block up; the Moondance. Pan’s favourite breakfast spot. She glanced over her shoulder to check that Riley was following, and slipped in through the back alley. She whined at the back door, pawed at it lightly seconds before a woman with bright hair and painted lips came out, holding a smoking stick in her hands.

“Hey Bubbles!” she greeted her, stooping down and scratching Pan behind the ears. Pan let her tongue loll out of her mouth in a way that seemed to please all humans. For most Junkyard residents, an act like this was unthinkable. You didn’t fraternize with humans. You co-existed. But Pan wasn’t as large or strong as most of them. She couldn’t knock one down and steal it’s sandwich. So she adapted, and played it smart.

She let the blonde girl in the apron scratch her under the chin for a moment. “Wait here, okay?” she told her before stubbing out the smoking stick on the step beside her. She dipped back into the restaurant, and Pan shot Riley a self satisfied smile. A moment later, the girl came back holding a cardboard take-away box filled with leftover scrambled eggs, bits of waffle, scraps of sausage and bacon -- and dropped it on the ground by the door. The blonde held a finger to her lips, as though they were sharing a secret, and Pan wagged her tail enthusiastically. “See you tomorrow, Bubbles,” the girl told her, ducking back into the restaurant to deal with the morning rush.

Pan turned back to Riley. “She’s my best customer,” she announced with a triumphant grin.

RILEY
Her path was meandering as she sniffed after any other scraps. Further into this district the humans became more protective of their food. Riley snorted as one woman scooped her child up protectively as Riley passed by. As if she’d risk her neck to take a nip out of a human pup. Honestly, humans were so stupid, it baffled Riley how they managed to build cities for their huge packs.

Scents of roasting meat filled her nose and beckoned her closer to one of the shops. With her front paws braced against the building she pressed her nose against the glass to see chickens spinning slowly over lamps, heat causing the air to appear distorted. With a swish of her tail in dismissal she popped back down and trotted to catch back up with Pan. There were certain places in this city she just didn’t try her luck with. The risks outweighed the rewards, no matter how mouth watering those rewards smelled.

Riley came out of her thoughts and came up short behind Pan as they reached the back door of the diner. Her lip curled as she took a few steps back, eyeing the human wearily. As she went back into the building Riley snorted a laugh and asked, “‘Bubbles’? That’s what your human calls you?” she snickered some more until the human returned with a heaping pile of steaming food. Once the human left she leapt to stand beside Pan and gawk down at the food. It all smelled so...amazing. And fresh. This wasn’t just scooped out of a garbage or left to sit and cool, forgotten and unappreciated.

“Alright.” she grumbled grudgingly, drool beginning to pool in her mouth. “I guess humans aren’t entirely useless.”