If Vivi found your lack of social skills odd, she didn't say anything about it. It helped that she was a little odd herself. Who kept a duck as a pet anyway?

But on a good note, she was very sweet and you soon felt comfortable enough around her to relax. And you were honestly adoring the relationship her duck, Karoo, and Meatloaf had. Originally you were afraid things wouldn't work out with a dog and a duck but your fur baby proved you wrong.

He ended up babying the duck, following it around as it explored the place and sticking to it like glue. When he got tired and would lay down, Karoo would snuggle up beside him and they'd sleep together. So much for thinking it'd end up as the dog's lunch.

When Vivi moved in things were starting to get a bit hectic around the dorms. Others were either coming back for the school semester or just moving in as well. The halls were filled with people trying to shove themselves and their furniture through in a last minute attempt to get set up.

You didn't care for it and chose to stay huddled up in your place as often as possible. Meatloaf was very much on the same page as you and liked to curl up in your lap whenever it was too loud for him. The problem was, he was much too big to be considered a lapdog, but there was no telling him that.

The last day before classes started back up, things were relatively calm again. Some people were still rushing to get settled in but that was done for the most part. Now the majority of the noise in the place was caused by overzealous people ready to start partying. There were a lot of folks in these particular dorms looking to get the full college experience. You'd lost count of how many times drunkards have knocked at your door thinking your place was actually theirs. Once you even forgot to lock your door and woke up in the middle of the night to someone high of their ass helping themself to the contents of your fridge. You were a little paranoid for a while after that encounter.

But even with the risk of running into others, you had to go out for a bit. Your poor dog was going stir crazy and was itching to go out for a while. It was time to chance the halls.

Taking Meatloaf on a walk or to the park was a real process. You liked to dress comfortably for the outings and he'd figured out when you'd put on leggings, a tee, and your sneakers, he was going places. So you were halfway through getting dressed when he started bouncing off the walls with excitement, zipping out of your bedroom and right back in multiple times.

Karoo was waddling after him as fast as he could, quacking the whole way. For some reason he had caught on to the energy but couldn't figure out what was going on. As soon as you had your shoes on, Vivi walked by your room and nearly got ran over.

"What's going on here?" She asked, watching the two animals make another round.

"I'm taking Loaf out for a bit and he figured it out."

"He always gets this excited for walks?" She giggled as he let out a couple gruff barks.

"Oh you should see him when we go to the pond."

At the mention of his favorite spot, Meatloaf whipped his head around and froze in his tracks.

"No we aren't going there today buddy. Maybe next time."

He let out a puff of air and continued with his spastic run through the house.

"You know, you say he's not all that smart but I doubt most dogs would understand you like he does."

"He's got his moments." You smiled. "Well we'll be out for a bit. It's going to take a while to wear him out."

Now came the hard part. He was all muscle and had zero leash manners. So you had to wrestle him into his harness to keep him from choking himself out when he tugged the leash. It helped keep a better hold on him too so he wouldn't jump on people, he'd tackled more than one unsuspecting victim in the past in his search for rubs and pets.

The second you went to the front door and grabbed the harness from off the wall hook, Meatloaf was jumping around you and barking madly. You had to pin him between your legs to keep him in place as you shoved the harness over his head and strapped it around him. That alone was its own workout.

"He's going to tire you out before you even leave the building." Vivi commented as she watched you wrestle him.

"Nah," You pushed your hair out of your face and gave her a confident smile. "I've done this often enough, I'm used to it."

"Got it down to a fine science." She agreed, giggling again.

"You bet, we'll see you later."

"Have fun!"

You leashed the hyper pup and stepped out the door. Your dorm was on the first floor which was great. Taking Meatloaf down stairs would only result in him dragging you down them. But it did come with one problem. People were passing by your place all the time to go upstairs which was apparently the case now.

You didn't even get the chance to see who was coming before your dog did. He immediately saw someone and jerked forward to greet them, promptly yanking the leash out of your hand and almost pulling your arm out of its socket in the process.

"Loaf no!"

But it was too late. There was a heavy thump as he knocked someone to the floor and began showering them in unwanted affection. There was a burst of masculine laughter that sounded familiar but you couldn't quite put your finger on it. Not until you ran down the hall to catch your dog and saw the group around him.

There were three men surrounding a fourth that was on the floor, currently getting covered in sloppy dog kisses. A couch sat nearby, abandoned on its side. The redhead, Kid, was watching Meatloaf vigorously wiggle his way into Heat's lap, doubled over with laughter.

"I'm so sorry! He gets carried away when he meets new people!" You looped your fingers through the harness and dragged your dog back. It took a lot of effort but eventually you had him pulled away enough for the man to get back to his feet.

"It's alright. No damage done." Heat said, wiping his face off.

"That was some good shit." Kid chuckled, eyeing your dog as he tried to jerk towards the group of men again. It was taking everything you had to keep him in place.

"You wouldn't be laughing if that was you on the floor Kid." The blonde said shaking his head. There was a slight smirk on his lips.

You wanted nothing more than to go hide under a rock from embarrassment but you were too polite to just leave.

"A-are you sure you're okay? Meatloaf hits pretty hard." You asked Heat.

"Wait, the dog's name is Meatloaf?" Kid fell into a new fit of laughter. "Who the fuck names their dog that?"

A heavy blush dusted your cheeks. Maybe you should've just left.

"I-I didn't. That's what he was called when I got him."

"Oi! You're blocking the hall!" A green haired man stomped by, glaring at all of you before heading up to the next floor. He was right. Between the couch and all of you, there wasn't much room for people to get through.

"C'mon Loaf." You started dragging the unwilling dog away. When you were almost to the double doors leading outside, you were stopped.

"(Y/n)?" Heat called after you. His friends gave him a few odd looks but picked up the couch and didn't say anything. "He didn't hurt me any."

It took you a second to realize he was finally answering your question. "Oh, uh, that's good."

It seemed like he wanted to say something else but he just looked away.

"You live in this building right?" The tallest of the group asked. He'd been quiet up until now and his stoic look made you feel like he was scrutinizing you.

You nodded. "Yeah."

"We'll see you around then."

"S-sure thing."

He pat Heat hard enough on the shoulder to break him of his reverie and they continued were they left off, before your dog decided to be a pain.

You scampered outside, taking Meatloaf by the leash again now that he had calmed down. The park seemed like the best option for you. He could run around with other dogs and leave you to mull over your thoughts. That group of men was going to really throw you in for a loop.

The walk there was short. The dog park was close to the school and thankfully had a few dogs already playing in it. You entered the fenced off area and let your pup loose. He immediately darted off to join the others. One you recognized as a regular, a fluffy white mass called Bepo. You didn't know his owner's name but the two of you never talked anyway.

The guy liked to do the same thing as you, let his dog do his thing and use the free time for thinking, or when classes were going, studying. You'd seen the taller, tattooed man on campus all the time and it was like the two of you had come to the silent agreement to just not talk to each other.

When you saw him sitting in the grass under a tree he gave you a quick nod of the head in acknowledgement before returning to watching the dogs absentmindedly. That was about as far as you two went with communicating.

You took a seat at an empty bench nearby and watched your dog carefully approach a shivering Chihuahua. If only he'd show people the same level of care, your only chance of making a new friend wouldn't have been ruined.

Heat was nice from what little time you'd spent with him and now you were sure he wouldn't want to deal with you and your crazy pet. Though you found it odd that one of his friends said they'd see you around. Maybe they all found your awkwardness funny enough to see you from time to time to get their kicks in. Kid sure thought you were funny at least.

You zoned out for a while, going between getting lost in thought and playing phone games. Other dog owners came and went, bring and taking away their canine companions while your own played with them all, keeping the same level of energy the entire time. You'd never met a bulldog with as much energy as him.

Eventually he came up to you and plopped on the ground at your feet, completely tired out. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as he let out nasally sounding pants and wagged his little stump of a tail at you.

"Baby please tell me you can at least walk home." You pleaded with him, only to receive a grunt in response.

He was going to have to be carried of course. With a sigh, you got out of your seat and bent down to pick him up. The big baby snuggled in and licked your chin when you had a good hold on him. The tattooed man had come before you and it looked like he was staying longer as well. He watched you walk by with a smile, his dog padding after you happily.

"Bepo-ya you can't go home with her." He called to him and the white dog sat on his heels with a whine. He and Meatloaf got along very well and he wasn't happy to see his friend leaving.

"We'll be back another time." You assured Bepo. Now you had to get home so you could be prepared for classes tomorrow. You didn't intend to start the semester off by slacking off.