Week 13- Saturday- footage.
“I got the breakroom scrubbed down, even the fridge, and the dishwasher is loaded and running again. The rooms with the big crates are all disinfected- And they are all so cute with the little nesties and toy hoards! And Jakey and I got the kennel room done too! All those sweet little fluffies are clean, and fed, and hugged! I even had time to sit in the run with the babies!” The highschooler was bouncing on the balls of her sneaker clad feet, enthusiastically enough the pink streaked locks of her high ponytails bounced as well.
Shadow, sitting with her bare feet up on the cheap desk, just mustered a tired smile as she looked up from her computer screen. “Good to hear. I’m going to assume that all makes a yes to my question about how you’re settling in to working here. Incidentally, if you got everything on that list I gave Jake done already, you two can leave early if you want.” Rubbing her eyes, she put the keyboard in her lap back up on its shelf, stretching.
Genny blinked at that, her incessant fidgeting and bouncing stopping for a moment. “But then I have to leave! Can’t I just stay and play with the fluffies a little longer? I’ll mark my clock out times so you don’t have to-”
“Just go play with the babies some more, if you want. More socialization can’t hurt.” Shadow sighed, glancing over the square of security images on her monitor. “Or if you’re feeling really ambitious, I was going to introduce the boys to that trio of fillies today. Might be nice if they didn’t have their sisters hanging over their shoulders for it. How do you feel about watching Aurora and Foxfire out in the yard?”
The teenager uttered a muffled squeal, bouncing again. “Sure! I love the designers here! And Foxfire is so sweet, even if she does look odd.”
“Great. Just mind her attempts to jump off the top of the castle, and try to keep Aurora from over-exhausting herself. Thanks for staying, Genevieve.” The moment she had skipped back down the hall, Shadow slumped forward, dropping her head between her crossed arms. “Single most effective employee I have. But fuck.”
“Your staffing problems remain unending, I see.” The tall blond leaning against the door-frame grinned when she sat bolt upright at the sound of his voice. “You look tired.”
“I am tired,” she sighed, crossing around in front of the desk swiftly regardless to lean into him. Asher draped an arm over her shoulders, pressing lips to her forehead as he surveyed the room and piles of half done paperwork behind her. “Thought you got the text about me not being able to make it this week?”
“Oh, I did. And as much as I could offer a conversation about normal people getting days off from their jobs or at least time not on call….” He lifted his other hand into her line of sight, holding up a handful of movies. “We’ve got Beowulf, Beowulf, Outlander, Grendel, Thirteenth warrior, and the Minotaur.”
“Well, one of those is a surprise,” Shadow murmured, reaching up to tug on one of the tangled attempts at viking braids his long hair was filled with. “I would have expected Thor.”
“Oh, I think we can save the Marvel version of my religion for another time, Tollakson. The greek myth stuff is almost as- Well, at least this one stars Tom Hardy.” Carefully, he nudged the half full mug of cold coffee farther away from the paperwork and electronics before he perched on the edge of the desk. “You cool to take a movie break now or have things you need to finish up first?”
“I was going to introduce the boys to their new playmates when I finished my coffee, actually, but…” She shook her head as he picked up the stone cold mug with a raised eyebrow, laughing. “Fine, that might have been sitting a little longer than I meant it to. The rest of my point remains. I just need to add the fillies in and keep an eye on things long enough to be certain Rook and Glory won’t eat them. There’s more that needs to get done, but none of it absolutely has to be done today.”
“Wasn’t like I didn’t expect you to be busy after that text. Plan of the moment. I’ll go get us takeout, drop my girls off at home unless you’d be okay with me leaving them in the kitchen, come back and help out until you’re settled up for the night.”
She took the coffee from him, smiling softly. “I…That sounds like a great plan for the night. Thanks, Ash. This is the sweetest thing anyone has done for me in a while.” With a couple fingers hooked in his shirt collar, she tugged him down into a kiss. “Rook offered me first dibs on their last kill and I found one of his shinies in my room, but that’s really your only competition.”
“If he’s half as avaricious over the sparklies as your last few stories imply, that’s a thoughtful gift indeed. Burgers, Tex-mex, pizza, or directions to your preferred dining option?” He pulled up a note app on his phone, an overacted look of expectant focus on his face.
“Pizza. Stuffed crust pepperoni and mushrooms, with whatever cola they have and breadsticks. And as long as you keep them out of the kennels and the playroom, Jane and Jessie are more than welcome to hang out in the kitchen. I even have a supply of kibble or fluffy meat if they need dinner as well.” He dutifully typed her order into the notepage, then pulled her into a much longer kiss with his hand buried in her hair.
“Got it, see you in a bit. Good luck with your kiddos.” Asher flicked a lazy smirk and an amused half wave over her shoulder. “And I hope you have a good shift as well, Shadow’s oh-so-very-pink new co-worker.”
Shadow belatedly followed his glance, smacking at his shoulder in mock annoyance as he laughed and sauntered back outside. Pink streaked brunette hair, pink t-shirt and shorts, and an increasingly pink cheeked face. “Genny, that was Asher, you’ll probably see him stop by again. Now…” she snapped her fingers until the girl focused on her again, and pointed at the mismatched pair of demonfluffs sitting expectantly by the yard door. “Keep them away from the pen and Warlock’s herd if you can. Don’t let them do anything crazy. Jake can come out and help you if he wants and his tasks are all done as well.”
“Right. Fluffies. Jake.” Genny repeated absently, staring at the front door a moment more. Her boss sighed, and the highschooler shook her head and offered her a rueful smile before turning her still flushed face back to her current charges. “Alright, Rory and Foxy, lets go play outside!”
“Fwuffies namsies am Auwowa an’ Fo’fia, nu Wowy an’ Fossy,” both the demonfluffs waiting corrected, the larger of them far more quietly and under her breath as the door opened.
“Hi there, little fluffies!” Shadow chirped, crouching in front of the row of cages with a much happier expression than she wore earlier. All three of the young mares huddled back into their cages a little, eying her with more than a trace of suspicion. “Those cages don’t look very comfortable. How would you like to go somewhere with comfy fluffy beds and toys? There might even be spaghetti.”
“Mewody wan sketti!” the pale gray fluffy immediately answered, skittering up to the wire grating. “Nice wad- Miss S’ado’ gib fwuffies toysies and nice nesties now? Dank ‘ou muches! Mewody wiww be bestest fwuffy fo’ nyu home!” Her sister and the shrill voiced pink mare next to them joined in moments later, three sets of hooves braced against the cage doors.
“That’s good to hear. Now, there are some rules you have to follow if you want to have the sketti and the toys and the nice nesties. If you can’t follow them, you’ll have to come back here. Understand?” All three nodded enthusiastically, and Shadow grinned, waving a hand. Rook stepped out from behind her, the tag on his new collar jingling softly, and the mares flinched back. “This is Rook. He’s my fluffy, and he and his brother need some new friends. So, if you can play very nice, I’m sure they’d be willing to share their toys and sketti.” one of them opened their mouth, and Shadow added “Playing nice means not calling them monsters or scary, by the way.” She opened the cage doors as the trio shifted from hoof to hoof and looked at each other.
It was the lavender mare, Harmony, that stepped out first, carefully edging closer to Rook and Shadow. “Hawmony wiww be guud fwiend to nyu big fwuffy,” she crooned softly, ears moving a little stiffly as she considered Rook. “Fwuffy wook wike big, big stawwion, bu’…bu’ smeww mowe wike cowt?”
“Wook am gwown up fwuffy. Mos’wy.” he huffed quietly, but allowed her to approach, taking the opportunity to sniff along her back. “Hawmony smeww wike… pwetty. Pwetty mawe, bu’…” his ears tipped backwards, and he began shuffling his hooves and looking at Shadow quizzically.
The young mare giggled at that, sidling even closer and leaning into Rook with only a trace of stiltedness to her movements. “Hawmony am gwown mawe. Mos’wy.” every time she looked up and saw both the wings and horn, she flinched, but kept close to Rook anyways. “Wook be guud fwiend tu Hawmony an’ Sissy an’ gib bestest toysies an’ sketti?”
His half relaxed posture stiffened and he gave Shadow another uncertain look as she opened the door back into the hall. The other two young mares had followed Harmony’s lead, if very hesitantly and slowly, flinching at every move he made. When they had slid past him into the hallway, he leaned into Shadow’s leg. “Something wrong, sweetie?”
“Does Wook hafta hab num- hab nu-pack fwuffy as speciew fwiend? Mummah was wite, speciew wumps hab huwties, bu… Fiwwies pwetty, smeww guud, bu’ nu am wike Wook an Pack.” She ruffled his mane fondly at that, chuckling softly.
“They don’t have to be your special friends, Rook. Not forever, at any rate. I’d like if you gave them special huggies to see if they can have yours and Glory’s babies, and so you don’t have…er… ‘Special lump’ hurties, but…”
“Uh… miss Shado’? Ho’ topic hab speciew wump huwties tu.” the black stallion tapped at the door of his own cage, giving the human as optimistic a grin as possible. “Can maybe hab speciaw huggies tu?” A soft chorus of agreement came from the other three cages next to his, and Shadow rolled her eyes.
“Little short on non-pregnant broodmares lately, boys. I’ll…” She glanced at the dog runs across the room, and shrugged. “Stay quiet and good the rest of the day and I’ll think about it tomorrow.”
The trio of fillies had settled in quite well in the short time it took Shadow and Rook to join them in the playroom, Glory leading them around on an expansive tour of the large playroom. “An dese awe da bwockies, an’ da comfy cush’ns. Da stuffytoys dat nu gu fwoof an’ faww apawt yet gu in dis bask’t, and da wittawboxes aww oba dewe. Dis am dusty boww ting. Makes fwuff and feataws aww pwetty an nu ucky.” he flared his wings wider at that, neck arching as attempted to display himself to best advantage.
Harmony was making vague noises of awe, the other two edging away from behind her to look at the baskets piled high with assorted toys.
“Hey, kiddo. Your new friends working out well? Think they deserve sketti?” Shadow asked cheerfully, and Melody and Carmen scooted several inches closer to Glory’s side, wearing their most ingratiating smiles.
“Yesh pwease! Gwowy nyu speciew fwiends nee’ guud nummies!” At that proclamation, all three of the young mares looked at him, glancing nervously between themselves.
“Well, that was fast. All three of you decided to be his special friends? What about poor Rook here?” Shadow asked, hiding a smile. Glory blinked at that, looking between his brother’s halfhearted glare and the new mares. With an almost sheepish flick of his ears, he stepped back, nudging Carmen in Rook’s direction and herding the other two over to one of the larger beds.
“Gwowy bewy happis fo’ new speciew fwiends, mummah Shadow. Fwuffies nu- pack fwuffies, bu’ Fo’fia happies wit’ speciew fwiend Mawnie, su Gwowy tink aww am guud. Hawmony an Mewody bewy pwetty mawes.” With both of his choices plopped nervously where he put them, he began grabbing toys, setting them ceremoniously in front of them.
“Marnie’s a mare, and fixed besides, she isn’t….” Shadow sighed heavily. “Know what? I’ll think about that later. If you two have this under control, I’ll go get that spaghetti started.” Rook gave her a far more confident look than he had in the kennel room, and she smiled.
“Carmen am pwetty mawe. Gib Wook speceiw huggies fo’ hab sketti wen Mummah come back?” Rook offered bluntly, circling the pink mare. Glory aimed a faintly puzzled look at that, still piling toys in front of his two.
“Carmen, uh… Mu-Big, pwetty fwuffy stawwion pwomise dewe be sketties?”she asked, her ears flattened as she glanced nervously anywhere but at the alicorn standing in front of her. Rook’s wings drew up slightly at this, but he shot another questioning look at Shadow, who just gave him an encouraging smile.
“Wook pwomise. Mummah say Mummah gu make skettis, su wiww be skettis,” he agreed confidently. “Speciew huggies, den sketti. An’ toyses and teebee.”
“He’s not one for wasting time, I see,” Asher noted, from behind Shadow, his arms full of pizza boxes and a pair of dogs behind him. “On a related note, I don’t have any ‘sketti’, but what can I get in trade for- ow.” She swatted his shoulder again, without bothering to hide her smile.
“You get nothing until Genny and Jakob leave, Ash,” she reminded him, her nose wrinkling as he freed a hand enough to tap the tip of it. “Jane, Jesse. Kitchen.” she snapped her fingers- which had Rook automatically glancing up to check for instructions- and pointed down the hall. Asher repeated the gesture, and both the border collie and the heeler trotted off.
“Speaking of, I grabbed an extra medium pepperoni while I was there, for the inevitable puppy eyes when those two bring your girls inside. Are you leaving the fillies in permanently?” Asher asked, following her after the herd dogs.
“One- sure, encourage the teenagers. One of them has been lowkey hero worshipping you since the first time you loaded fluffies out of that van in combat boots and a leather jacket, and the other picks up all new shades of pink every time you look at her,” Shadow snorted, starting water for spaghetti. “And two-Probably not. I’ll move some toys and the latest craigslist tv into the boy’s room and settle their pets in there. Easy access to them for Glory and Rook, out of the way for everyone else.”
“Seems like a good idea. Think letting her know how very taken I have every intention of staying or just pretending we know nothing about it would work best for dealing with Pinkie Pie out there? I wasn’t great at managing high school drama when I was in high school,” he laughed.
“Let’s start with ignoring it, I think, spare her some of the humiliation.”
By the time they made it back into the playroom, both dogs happily left behind to bury their greying muzzles in bowls of rough chopped fluffy meat, all was quiet again. Both Melody and Carmen were snuffling softly as Harmony leaned nervously against a smug ivory demonfluff. All three of them now sported damp, slightly matted fluff on their rumps, and Rook was sprawled over the farthest bed with the same smug expression Glory wore.
“Who wants sketti!” Shadow called, setting down a trio of bowls as all three of the mares immediately brightened and scrambled forward. The boys followed at a far more leisurely pace, seeming taken aback by the lack of bowls for them. “You two get yours in the kitchen, once we have your new friends settled in their new room for the night,” she soothed, and they somewhat reluctantly stepped back.
First Chapter- The Pack- because what we need is more fluffies bred to eat other fluffies. (1) by :Shadowfox
Previous Chapter- The Pack- (29) Week 12 end log (Shadowfox)
Next Chapter- The Pack- (31) Weekend interlude- the first movie night. (Shadowfox)