Collar Drama

"It's going to happen today, Roman. I know it!" meowed Seth excitedly as he stared out the bay window from his perch on top of the couch in the living room.

"Mghgg," mumbled Roman indistinguishably as he chewed on his new bone that Christian had gave him that morning before heading to work.

"Aren't you excited!" meowed Seth as he jumped down from the couch and walked up to the big dog.

Roman finally dropped his bone and cocked his head sideways at the cat. "If by excited do you mean that I can't wait for the next week to hear the pup's constant whines about how he hates the collar around his neck? Then, no. I'd actually rather pass."

"What are you talking about Roman? Dean's going to love having a collar. Why, it's a symbol of the human's love and devotion to us!" proclaimed Seth with a sniff as he turned up his nose at Roman's pessimism.

"Really?" barked Roman in disbelief as both of his ears shot up at Seth's words. But then Roman grinned slyly as an idea suddenly came to his mind. "You wanna bet on it?"

"On what?" meowed Seth obliviously to Roman's scheming.

"On whether Dean will complain about his collar or not?"

"Well…" began Seth thinking it over, "it would have to be major complaining. A couple of comments and whines about a new thing are not going to cut it. Dean is going to have to get used to it. That's to be expected."

"Fine," agreed the dog. "Major complaining, to the point where you want to scream and get away from the puppy for a bit. Deal?"

"What are the stakes?" questioned Seth a bit more cautiously.

"If I win, you have to play 'chase the cat' with me every day for a whole week," grinned Roman as he told Seth his stipulation.

"Roman! I hate playing that game," grumbled Seth as he pouted at the mere mention of that horrible game.

"I know," barked the dog gleefully, "that's why they call it gambling."

"Oh very well," snapped Seth, "but you aren't going to win because I know Dean better than you!"

"Sure you do," barked Roman ruefully. "And if you win, All-Knowing Seth?"

"If I win…" Seth trailed off, thinking of what he wanted. "If I win, you will have to concede in front of Dean that cats are superior animals to dogs in every way!"

"Okay."

"Okay?!" Seth eye's narrowed in distrust. He had expected the big dog to argue for quite some time on that stipulation. He had not expected for Roman to agree right away to his stipulation. Did the big dog know something that he didn't?

"So, is it a deal?" barked Roman holding out his nose for Seth to bump it in order to seal the deal.

"Deal." Seth meowed in agreement as he stepped up and bumped his small nose against the dog's larger one.

Just then both animals turned towards the front door as the sound of a car turning up the driveway interrupted them.

"Yeah! Master's home!" barked Roman as he ran towards the front door.

"I'll get the pup," meowed Seth as he pranced upstairs and found the little rascal in the bathroom staring up at the toilet bowl.

"I can do it. I can do it," mumbled Dean to himself as he stared up at the toilet bowl and then took a running start and leapt up in order to get up on the lip of the bowl but he missed. "Darn it!" yipped Dean as he smacked one of his little paws down on the ground in frustration.

"What in cat's name are you doing, Dean?" questioned Seth as he walked into the bathroom.

"I wanna drink the water in there, Seth," yapped Dean matter-of-factly as he stepped back in order to try again.

"What?! No way! Not on my watch!" meowed Seth as he stepped in front of Dean's path to the toilet. "Why would you want to do something like that?"

"I don't know," yipped the puppy as he sat back on his haunches and shrugged. "I just wanna. Now, come on Seth, move!"

"I most certainly will not!" declared Seth as he stared the puppy down. "You have plenty of water in your own bowl. Who would give you the notion that it is okay to drink out of the toilet bowl?"

"Roman!" yapped the little pup happily.

"Figures," muttered Seth darkly under his breath. "Listen, Dean, you do not want to drink out of that disgusting thing. The human's urine and feces go in there."

"Cool!" yapped Dean. "I wanna see!" All of a sudden, Dean skirted around Seth and jumped again for the toilet but missed again.

"Pup! Come on!" meowed Seth, trying to redirect Dean. "Master's home and he has something for you."

"What?" asked Dean, perking his ears up in curiosity.

"Well why don't we go downstairs and see?" meowed Seth as he moved towards the stairs.

"Okay!" yapped Dean as he ran past Seth and flew down the stairs, forgetting the toilet bowl for the present.

Dean ran down the stairs so fast that he almost ran into Christian who was just walking through the front door and had already greeted Roman.

"Hey, little Dean," said Christian as he crouched down to greet and pet the puppy who licked his hand happily. "I've got something for you."

Christian set his things down and reached into his bag as he sat heavily down on the couch.

"What is it?! What is it?! Let me see!" yipped Dean as he jumped up and down on one of his owner's legs, pawing anxiously.

Christian laughed at Dean's enthusiasm, reached down and gently placed the puppy beside him on the couch so that Dean could get a better look.

"Look, Roman," sighed Seth proudly as he gazed at his owner and Dean together. "Doesn't it take you back to when you got your first collar?"

"Sure does," replied Roman barely able to keep from laughing, because the big dog definitely remembered his first time wearing a collar and he was pretty sure that Seth was going to lose this bet.

"Look, Dean, this is for you," said Christian in a light voice as he brought out the puppy's first collar. The collar was a nice shade of blue which matched the puppy's eyes and had little black paws on it, complete with silver tags. All in all, it was indeed a handsome collar.

"Nice," yapped Dean as he leaned forward to sniff the foreign object. "What's it for? Can I chew it?!"

"Okay. Let's see if it will fit," said Christian to himself as he brought the puppy closer to him and in one smooth motion clasped it around Dean's neck. Christian tested it out with his fingers, making sure that the collar was neither too tight nor too loose. "Perfect!" remarked Christian as he set Dean back down on the floor.

"What?" Dean was confused as he felt the collar on his neck. The puppy rolled his head to one side and then the other. The thing didn't come off. Dean lifted one of his back paws to scratch at the thing. It moved but it didn't come off. "Off," whined Dean as he looked up at his owner who was watching to see how he would react.

"It's okay, little buddy," said Christian soothingly as he reached down to rub Dean behind the ears. "I know it feels weird right now but you will get used to it."

Dean settled down for a bit but when Christian got up to go make dinner in the kitchen and the puppy realized that his owner hadn't taken the collar off, he hurried after him whining all the way. "Off. Off. I want off. Off. Now! Off! Now!" Dean's yaps grew increasingly louder as his wishes were ignored.

"Dean. Dean. It's alright," meowed Seth as he went to go comfort the stubborn puppy. "What you have now is a collar. Look." Seth showed Dean his own collar and gestured to Roman's. "You're starting to grow up now, so you get to have one like us."

In response, Dean began to wail. "Don't wanna grow up! Want it off! Off! OFF!" Dean resumed scratching the collar trying desperately to get it off of his neck.

"Dean, do you want a treat?" asked Christian coaxingly as he got out one of Dean's favorite treats and held it in front of the distressed puppy. "For being such a good boy."

Dean sniffed as he stared at the treat. "Can I get a treat and get it off," yapped Dean hopefully as he turned his mournful puppy-dog eyes in Christian's direction.

"Here you go," said Christian reading Dean's lack of yapping as a sign of calming down and fed him the treat.

Dean gobbled up the treat quickly but his hopes were dashed as he realized that the collar wasn't coming off. The puppy whined miserably as he turned his attentions towards Seth and Roman.

"Ro, I want it off," whined Dean as he dramatically hobbled over to the older dog.

"Sorry, Dean," barked Roman sympathetically but with a no-nonsense voice. "The collar stays on. It's for your own good. You'll see."

"No! No! I won't see! I want it off!" yipped Dean rebelliously as he glared up at Roman.

"Dean," began Seth trying to placate the young pup. "You just need to get used…"

"NOOOO!" interrupted Dean as he stomped both of his front paws in anger. "I want it off! I want it off! I want it off! I want it off!" Dean's cries continue to echo around the house and nothing Christian, Roman and Seth did could soothe the wolfie.

"Oh, for cat's sake," murmured Seth as he put his front paws over his ears. By this time, Dean had been carrying on steadily for about four hours already.

"Guess what we're playing tomorrow Seth," whispered Roman as he plopped down next to the unhappy cat as Christian tried unsuccessfully to get Dean to stop crying and whining.

Seth groaned and closed his eyes as he realized that he had lost the bet.

Thanks for reading. As always I would love to hear what you think about this chapter :)

Author's Announcement: Hey readers, thanks for all the support on this story. For a while now I have wanted to create a cover image for this story but alas I am not an artist. So, I was wondering if any of my readers would be willing or want to make a cover image for me. If it is something you would be interested in helping me with, feel free to PM me. Thanks again for reading, supporting, and reviewing the story. I really appreciate it :)