Post by crosswise on Dec 15, 2007 1:15:07 GMT -5
Uneasy Talk
***
Crosswise sat on top of the barn loft spying on his quarry. For once, he wasn’t spying on Lucky and his crew as part of one of Tic-Tac’s schemes. No, this time it was…personal.
“Oh god now I’m spouting hackneyed clichés.” He moaned, shaking his head. “Pathetic.”
Ridding himself of irrelevant thoughts Crosswise turned back to watching his target: Aria. Aria; the pudgy, talented musical pup who had inserted herself into Tac’s inner circle through sheer force of personality…which made her the only real personality among them (besides Tac), given Crosswise’s malleablitiy and Dipstick’s…well, you get the idea.
She was…abrasive, talented, and in Crosswise’s learned opinion: more than a little sure of herself. Suffice it to say: he didn’t like her. She jeopardized Crosswise’s standing in Tac’s eyes…that spoke less about the strength of her personality than the weakness’ of his own.
“What am I gonna do?” Crosswise asked himself as he let his front paws dangle down off the loft.
“For starters you could try spying on someone and keeping your trap shut.” A familiar melodic voice suggested from behind him.
“Urk!” Crosswise flinched in surprise and almost fell off the loft. He scampered wildly as he barely managed to keep himself on the loft. “Don’t DO that!” He breathed heavily as he turned around and found himself staring into Aria’s eyes.
“Gee, I’m so sorry that I snuck up on you while you were spying on me.” Aria drawled.
“Go lick yourself.” Crosswise muttered. “I was NOT spying on you.”
“Yer a lousy liar, ya know that?” She noted. “There’s no one else in here!”
“I was busy working on some plans for Tac.”
“Oh yeah? What were they?” She challenged him.
“Plans to take over the farm.” He responded quickly.
“Narrow it down a tad there boyo, that could describe ANY of his plans.” Aria snorted. “How would this one work?”
“Well Tac was going to, um, use…kibble to, to…” He trailed off.
“Not good at thinking on yer paws, are you?”
“Oh yeah? What plans have YOU ever come up with?” Crosswise fired back. “Did you plan to become such a wide-load? If so you’re clearly a master planner!”
“Are you PLANNING to end up with a bloody snout dumbass?” Aria asked as she grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. “Because I’ll happily help you with THAT plan!”
“Oh THAT’S why Tac keeps you around!” Crosswise exclaimed, ignoring the danger he was in. “Every group needs a brainless goon!”
“You’re the one mouthing off to a larger pup who has you by the collar.” Aria reminded him. “So who’s the brainless one?” Disgusted she just let him drop on his tail. “What the hell is your problem?”
“My PROBLEM is that you just barge your pudgy butt after humiliating Tac and he just accepts you while I work like a—” He trailed off.
“You were going to say ‘dog’ weren’t you?” Aria smirked.
“I was in trouble the minute I started talking.” Crosswise sighed. “I work and I plan and all I get is a brief word in with the boss and when the plan invariably blows up it’s my tail that gets burned! You—you PAINTED him PINK and throttled him and Tac just…he never barks at you the way he does me. So far I rank behind you AND Dipstick in the group’s proverbial pecking order.”
“Wow.” Aria blinked. “You’re a drama queen.” Crosswise snorted and made to leave. “SIT.” Aria growled, so menacingly that Cross instinctively sat down. “I’m gonna say this once you dope.” She snapped in his face. “Stop being such a whiny runt. For crying out loud, Tac only associates with maybe three or four pups on the whole bloody farm…out of one hundred and one. And you’re one of them. Think abot that for a minute.” Crosswise squirmed but that soon stopped when Aria grabbed him by his collar.
“And lastly, if Tac DOES take note of me more than you then maybe it’s because he respects not just intelligence…but also determination; force of character.” She snorted. “You may have the first but ya sure don’t have the latter.” Aria dropped him. “The way I see it you have two choices here. One: you can carry on being all whiny and sulky or Two: you can work with me.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t speak fluent crazy.” Crosswise blinked. Aria rolled her eyes.
“Look, I’m not an evil genius protégé. You’ve got the intelligence—if not the common sense; and I’ve got determination enough for two. I figure the two of us could be a big help to Tac if we weren’t at each other’s throats all the time.” Aria suggested, playing on Crosswise’s strong sense of loyalty. “…And if you don’t I can just sit on you.” She finished. “What do you think?”
“When you put it that way…” Crosswise forced a grin across his muzzle. “How can I refuse?”
“Smart choice.” Aria smirked.
THE END
***
Aria © herself.
Tac © himself.
Crosswise © to me.
***
Crosswise sat on top of the barn loft spying on his quarry. For once, he wasn’t spying on Lucky and his crew as part of one of Tic-Tac’s schemes. No, this time it was…personal.
“Oh god now I’m spouting hackneyed clichés.” He moaned, shaking his head. “Pathetic.”
Ridding himself of irrelevant thoughts Crosswise turned back to watching his target: Aria. Aria; the pudgy, talented musical pup who had inserted herself into Tac’s inner circle through sheer force of personality…which made her the only real personality among them (besides Tac), given Crosswise’s malleablitiy and Dipstick’s…well, you get the idea.
She was…abrasive, talented, and in Crosswise’s learned opinion: more than a little sure of herself. Suffice it to say: he didn’t like her. She jeopardized Crosswise’s standing in Tac’s eyes…that spoke less about the strength of her personality than the weakness’ of his own.
“What am I gonna do?” Crosswise asked himself as he let his front paws dangle down off the loft.
“For starters you could try spying on someone and keeping your trap shut.” A familiar melodic voice suggested from behind him.
“Urk!” Crosswise flinched in surprise and almost fell off the loft. He scampered wildly as he barely managed to keep himself on the loft. “Don’t DO that!” He breathed heavily as he turned around and found himself staring into Aria’s eyes.
“Gee, I’m so sorry that I snuck up on you while you were spying on me.” Aria drawled.
“Go lick yourself.” Crosswise muttered. “I was NOT spying on you.”
“Yer a lousy liar, ya know that?” She noted. “There’s no one else in here!”
“I was busy working on some plans for Tac.”
“Oh yeah? What were they?” She challenged him.
“Plans to take over the farm.” He responded quickly.
“Narrow it down a tad there boyo, that could describe ANY of his plans.” Aria snorted. “How would this one work?”
“Well Tac was going to, um, use…kibble to, to…” He trailed off.
“Not good at thinking on yer paws, are you?”
“Oh yeah? What plans have YOU ever come up with?” Crosswise fired back. “Did you plan to become such a wide-load? If so you’re clearly a master planner!”
“Are you PLANNING to end up with a bloody snout dumbass?” Aria asked as she grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. “Because I’ll happily help you with THAT plan!”
“Oh THAT’S why Tac keeps you around!” Crosswise exclaimed, ignoring the danger he was in. “Every group needs a brainless goon!”
“You’re the one mouthing off to a larger pup who has you by the collar.” Aria reminded him. “So who’s the brainless one?” Disgusted she just let him drop on his tail. “What the hell is your problem?”
“My PROBLEM is that you just barge your pudgy butt after humiliating Tac and he just accepts you while I work like a—” He trailed off.
“You were going to say ‘dog’ weren’t you?” Aria smirked.
“I was in trouble the minute I started talking.” Crosswise sighed. “I work and I plan and all I get is a brief word in with the boss and when the plan invariably blows up it’s my tail that gets burned! You—you PAINTED him PINK and throttled him and Tac just…he never barks at you the way he does me. So far I rank behind you AND Dipstick in the group’s proverbial pecking order.”
“Wow.” Aria blinked. “You’re a drama queen.” Crosswise snorted and made to leave. “SIT.” Aria growled, so menacingly that Cross instinctively sat down. “I’m gonna say this once you dope.” She snapped in his face. “Stop being such a whiny runt. For crying out loud, Tac only associates with maybe three or four pups on the whole bloody farm…out of one hundred and one. And you’re one of them. Think abot that for a minute.” Crosswise squirmed but that soon stopped when Aria grabbed him by his collar.
“And lastly, if Tac DOES take note of me more than you then maybe it’s because he respects not just intelligence…but also determination; force of character.” She snorted. “You may have the first but ya sure don’t have the latter.” Aria dropped him. “The way I see it you have two choices here. One: you can carry on being all whiny and sulky or Two: you can work with me.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t speak fluent crazy.” Crosswise blinked. Aria rolled her eyes.
“Look, I’m not an evil genius protégé. You’ve got the intelligence—if not the common sense; and I’ve got determination enough for two. I figure the two of us could be a big help to Tac if we weren’t at each other’s throats all the time.” Aria suggested, playing on Crosswise’s strong sense of loyalty. “…And if you don’t I can just sit on you.” She finished. “What do you think?”
“When you put it that way…” Crosswise forced a grin across his muzzle. “How can I refuse?”
“Smart choice.” Aria smirked.
THE END
***
Aria © herself.
Tac © himself.
Crosswise © to me.