The Friend of My Enemy is A Dog

Vlad was desperate to focus on the financial documents in front of him, but he couldn't make the numbers out to be more than jumbled mockery. He shouldn't have agreed to this. He should have shut the door in Daniel's face the moment he saw it.

He was actually surprised Daniel had let him be alone with it. The boy was perfectly aware of Vlad's history with ghost animals and…experiments. Although he also knew the right words to say to control them in his favor. Plus, the payoff for doing this was far too great to risk over an outburst.

Still, Cujo's romping along his office rug was distracting, and Vlad really needed to finish his work. Every minute or so he could see a small blip of green streak across the corners of his vision, on top of the constant tiny barks and pitter-patter of little paws bouncing on the floor. This is why he was a cat person, and why his cat, Maddie, was definitely not a dog-friendly feline.

Vlad sighed deeply, pushing his chair back from his desk and rubbing his temples with one large hand. He needed a drink to get through the few hours he had left of watching the obnoxious pup, and then he would get his prize. Danny had promised that as long as Vlad watched Cujo while he and his friends did God-knows-what, Danny would let him physically bring a gift to Maddie on her birthday in a few weeks, no fights or other deterrents.

There must still be some scotch in his living room, if he remembered correctly. He wandered down the hallway, Cujo close on his heels.

"What…what are you doing, you mutt? No, stop that this instance!" The dog had clamped down on his pant leg, tugging uselessly in the direction of the glass door leading to the backyard. "Come on! Let go!"

And that's when Vlad made a grand mistake, getting so fed up that he shook his leg until Cujo flew off of it, practically knocking into the wall. In a flash, he saw a growling, menacing 10-foot-tall dog standing where the young puppy had been moments before in the archway to the living room.

"Oh, damned doughnuts." He did not need this new nuisance, but he couldn't take care of the situation like he wanted to. What had Daniel said? Give him something to play with? Vlad didn't have any dog toys, and the boy hadn't left anything. "Brilliant, Daniel. Just brilliant."

The much-larger Cujo was now barking loudly down the hallway, which only served to aggravate the headache growing behind Vlad's eyes. He wasn't much of a tennis player, so he didn't have any tennis balls just lying around, and even though he had done experiments on animals, he wasn't one to keep their bones. Except…this was still a ghost he was dealing with, which meant his plasma blasts would probably be harmless when casually thrown.

Vlad stood up straight, summoning ectoplasmic energy into a ball in his palm and raising his hand towards the dog. "Is this want you want, Cujo?" Vlad watched, relieved, as he saw the puppy reappear before his eyes, then made his way to open the glass door, the plasma ball still burning in one hand. "Here!" He tossed the ball out into the air.

Cujo ran earnestly through the door, barking happily and shaking his tail as he caught up with his target. Vlad leaned into the doorframe, sagging slightly with the fact that he still didn't have his scotch.

It was the sound of another bark behind him that made him realize his eyes had even been closed at all. He looked back into the house, seeing the dog run down the hallway again after he had phased through Vlad's legs. Well, at least he wasn't tugging at them anymore…

Vlad finally reached the couch in the living room, sinking into its plush cushion and letting the wave of exhaustion from the day wash over him. The scotch bottle on the table next to him was almost empty, so he skipped the glass and popped off the cork, drinking it straight and savoring the smooth warmth at the back of his throat. He could see Cujo now scampering playfully around the room, but for the moment he just didn't care, opting instead to lean his head back against the couch and close his eyes.

The calming darkness lasted for no more than two minutes, perhaps, before Vlad felt a weight drop into his lap. His head jerked forward and his eyes flew open to see that Cujo had indeed jumped up onto his legs, his front paws resting against his chest and his tail thumping against his knees. Vlad immediately picked up the dog, holding him at an arm's length away, unsure of what to do with him now.

At this proximity, he could practically feel Cujo's innocent playfulness radiating off of him. His mouth was open wide and his tongue hanging low in an eager canine grin. Save for the luminescent green fur and the hint of transparency, he looked like any other dog. He leaned his head towards Vlad's hand holding him and licked his exposed wrist.

Vlad shivered at the coolness of the tongue, but held his grip. It may have been the alcohol talking, but he couldn't help but admit that the gesture was almost…adorable. The dog was now wiggling towards him, wanting to break free and lick his face.

"Whoa there. You can't do that. But you're not too bad, I guess. You just want some attention and care." Vlad cast his eyes downward, and then whispered, "So do I."

"VLAAAAAD!" Danny floated in Vlad's foyer as Phantom, surprised when Vlad hadn't rushed at his knock begging him to take Cujo. He was sure the older halfa wouldn't have survived the few hours he had needed him to watch the ghost dog while he went to go hang out with Sam and Tucker. He would have brought Cujo, but movie theaters weren't friendly to pets, dead or alive, but Vlad didn't need to know that…

Danny refused to let any possibilities of bad things happening to Cujo enter his head. The offer he had made Vlad was too good for him to pass up. Still, he made his way down the hall apprehensively, ready to stop any dastardly deed if need be.

A deep echo caught his ear near the living room. He landed on the carpet and looked around the corner to see a snoring Vlad laying sprawled across his couch. But it was the creepily adorable overall scene that caused Danny to fish his phone out of his pocket for a picture. Vlad, the great almighty powerful Plasmius, had his arm tucked over the small curled form of Cujo on his chest, both sleeping soundly with a hint of a smile on his face.

I swear it's just a coincidence this came after "Fur in the Corners." But Vlad, baby, you're too adorable.

Check out my profile for the drawing request that inspired this!