And Thus, a Dog

[showcase_showdog]

Standing outside the door to the cafeteria is a 5-foot-3-inch-tall puppy man wearing a red blazer, yellow necktie, and blue pants.

He'll assure you that he's an adult and not a puppy, but there's no making a shih-tzu with a puppy cut look terribly old.

He appears to be guarding the entrance to the cafeteria. If you want to get in for your afternoon snack or your noon-time meal, you're going to have to get past him.

He's quite diligent. There is no sneaking past him. He always gets his man, or woman, or pelican, or squirrel. Or tapir.

The point is, you're going to have to talk to this adorable dog man if you want to eat.

Comments

[flamejock]

And then a Jock appeared.

And then a Jock stared.

And then a Jock clapped his hands to his cheeks.

"Ohmygoshyou'reagiantdogman!" he said rapidly. "You're so cute!"

[showcase_showdog]

The giantdogman blinks a few times. "Oh my goodness," he says, blushing just slightly beneath his fur. "What a very nice thing to say! It's so nice to meet you! My name is Digby. I'm not very giant, though. I'm just Digby height. You're a bit taller than I am. What's your name?"

[flamejock]

"My name is Jock! I'm a dog, too!" he said excitedly. "Let's be friends!"

[showcase_showdog]

"Whaaaat?" Digby asked in amazement. "But you're not a dog, you're a human, like the mayor! And you're a jock? Does that mean you like to lift weights and call people bro?"

[flamejock]

"I like to lift weights and call people bro, but my name is Jock," explained Jock. "And I'm a dog! Here, look!"

And here, dear reader, Jock scrunched his face up and there was a poof of smoke.

[flamedog]

And then suddenly there was a giant tiger dog instead of a man with totally awesome hair.

The giant dog leaned down and licked Digby on the cheek.

[showcase_showdog]

Digby looks on in amazement at what he's just witnessed. This is at least the second or third most amazing thing he's seen this week.

"Oh wow! You're a human who's also a dog! And you gave me a kiss! But you're naked now... like KK Slider... are you a musician? Do you play music? I like music."

[flamedog]

[I like music but I don't know how to play it! I just like to listen to it! I like it when my mom sings to me! It's the nicest and best music in the world.]

It really was the nicest and best music in the world. For Jock, anyway.

[showcase_showdog]

Digby stared at the giant dog.

"I... I'm sorry?" he said, tilting his head to the side. "What funny noises are you making? Are you alright? Do you feel okay? Do you need help?"

[flamedog]

[Whaaaaaat? Why can't you understand me. The other dogs understand me. You're a dog! You should be able to understand me when I speak in dog!]

Jock looks concerned and confused and a number of other con- things.

[showcase_showdog]

"Oh my goodness, what is this," said Digby in confusion. "I don't understand you when you're a dog, but I'm a shih-tzu. This doesn't make any sense at all. Are you speaking a foreign language? Am I feeling okay? Is there a doctor or nurse I need to go to? Do I need to have my ears checked?" Digby is swaying from side to side nervously. This is a situation he wasn't prepared to handle. He grabbed at one of his silky ears and tugged it slightly.

"I'm so very confused, giant dog."

[flamejock]

Giant dog licks Digby on the face again and then poofs into being just a hairy muscular guy.

"Why can't you understand me when I'm a pokemon? Other dogs can understand me." Jock looks really confused. "Are you sure you're actually a dog?"

Jock leans over to smell Digby. "You smell like a dog."

[showcase_showdog]

"That's because I am a dog," said Digby. "I'm... I'm very confused about how you turn into that giant orange dog and then into a muscular man. Can you explain it all to me? I want to understand it and understand what a pokemon is."

[flamejock]

"Do you like my muscles?" Jock asked, holding his bicep up and flexing in front of Digby's face. "You can touch. Do you want to touch? You can touch my muscles."

[showcase_showdog]

"Oh," said Digby, as he reached up and touched Jock's muscles with his paw. "You are very much a Jock," he said simply. "Your muscles are very nice. But," he said, dropping his arm and no longer touching Jock's muscles, "If you could explain to me just how you turned into a dog and then into a human again?"

[pinkgingham]

It wasn't everyday that Sable actually went inside the cafeteria, but she did pass it daily. She did a double take when she saw that all too familiar dog with the snappy suit!

"Digby! Oh my goodness, it's been ages!" Sable cried out as she approached him. "When did you get here?"

[showcase_showdog]

Digby looked over and saw that it was one of the Able sisters, famous purveyors of fine apparel.

"Oh, Sable Able!" said the dog, jumping slightly. "How very nice to see you here! I wasn't expecting to see anyone from home at all. I just arrived this morning, and I decided that this would be a good place to stand watch, don't you think?"

[pinkgingham]

"You got here that soon, huh!" Sable said, a bit surprised. "And you're really starting to get used to here as well! Although..."

Sable leaned towards one side, looking beyond the cafeteria. "What are you standing watch for? There can be some bad seeds here, but everybody needs to eat sometime."

[showcase_showdog]

"Oh, well, I thought that maybe it was important for someone to stand guard in case of an emergency! You never know when something could happen, and you might need someone to help out. Rain or shine, you can count on Digby to be there!"

[rivalthunderbolts]

Jolt was having way too much fun trying to sneak past. He tried other doors. He tried a running start. He tried sneaking in as a Jolteon. But always he was thwarted. This guy was like some kind of guard dog or something.

This time he was going as a Jolteon again, zipping from cover to cover, waiting for that one moment when Digby's back was turned...

[showcase_showdog]

Digby turned around and saw Jolt and somehow stopped his sneaking dart into the cafeteria. "Oh, hello there, friend," said Digby. "Do you want to go into the cafeteria?"

[rivalthunderbolts]

Jolt was stopped. Again. "How are you even doing that? Do you have like, eyes in the back of your head?" Jolt asked, trying to peek behind Digby to search for the secret of his guarding prowess.

[showcase_showdog]

"Uh," the dogman said uncomfortably. "I don't quite... understand what you said there."

[rivalthunderbolts]

Maybe it would help if he were human and could speak english. So he turned from a tiny spiky haired dog into a spiky haired boy, sitting on the floor.

"I said, have you got eyes in the back of your head?"

[showcase_showdog]

The puppy jumped a bit. "It always surprises me when that happens! I had another boy who could turn into a large orange dog do that, and it's very new to me! I don't have eyes in the back of my head, I'm just very observant."

[rivalthunderbolts]

"Oh, that's Jock. He's my buddy," Jolt explained as if that answered everything. "Pretty observant and quick to catch me!" he said.

[showcase_showdog]

"I'm a guard dog," explained the guard dog. "My job back at home is to guide visitors to the Happy Home Showcase, and I always make sure to guide them in. It wouldn't be right to just let people walk in without at least a greeting."

It would be terrible, some sort of a sin against man and God.

[rivalthunderbolts]

"Well then!" Jolt offered up his hand. "I'm Jolt. Nice to meet you!"

[showcase_showdog]

"My name is Digby. It's a pleasure." He shook Jolt's hand in his own fuzzy one.

[rivalthunderbolts]

"So Digby, what's the Happy Home Showcase?" he asked curiously.

[showcase_showdog]

"The Happy Home Showcase is a special plaza where you can visit the houses of people who are nearby you. If you really like a house, you can save it so that you always visit it, whenever you want. You can wander around and see what sorts of furniture people from the area have, and even put in a special order for most of what you see there. It's really a very wonderful place, with new homes coming in all the time."

[rivalthunderbolts]

"You must say that a lot, to have memorized all that so well," Jolt reasoned.