As he was walking, Michael had heard a strange snuffling at his feet and the rhythmic jingle of a collar. He had stopped and turned around to see a small dog standing behind him. It looked to be a mixed breed, with brownish eyes and light brown fur that was a cute kind of messy. He hesitantly crouched down to stroke it, and hummed to himself in amusement when he felt the dog's head push into his palm.

   "Hey, buddy. Whatcha doin' following me? Where's your owner?" Michael ruffled the dog's ears. Of course, there was no answer, and he looked around, expecting to see someone walking over to get the mischievous canine. "Probably some stuck-up lady or somethin'." He thought. "She'll come and be all huffy with me. It ain't my fault you can't train dogs for shit, lady!"

   "Well, I suppose I should be going now. You go back to your huffy lady owner, and I'll go back to mine." He laughed to himself for the joke about his girlfriend. He didn't mean it, of course. Lindsay was the sweetest woman he had ever met, and he was lucky enough to get to wake up to her every morning.

   "Call me." He chuckled again, doing the universal hand sign with finger and thumb outstretched, before standing straight and turning on his heel.

   Ten minutes later, he heard jingling again, and the sound of nails clicking on the hardwood floor of the café he had entered just a minute ago. Sure enough, just like last time, that little brown dog poked his nose around the corner of the booth Michael was sat in. He put down his bacon and cheese panini (He never much cared for it in the first place) and picked the dog up.

   "Hey, you. What're you doin' here, little guy? You still lost, bud?" The dog looked towards the door, then back to Michael. "What? What is it?"

   "Excuse me, sir," 'Oh God, here's the huffy lady,' Michael thought.

   "Yeah?" He turned to the source of the voice to be greeted with one of the waitresses at the café, the same one who gave him his (literally) tasteless panini.

   "Excuse me, sir, but we don't allow dogs in this establishment."

   "He, uh, He's not mine..."

   "Then do you know where the owner is so I can ask them to take him outside?"

   "No, actually." Michael sighed. "I'll take him."

   "Thank you, sir. Sorry for any inconvenience." She walked away, and Michael snatched his panini off his plate, picked the dog up with the other hand, and left.

   "Hey, bud. You like cheesy bacon?" He whispered. "It don't taste of much, but you can have it if you want it."

   The dog barked, trying to wiggle out of his hands, and Michael looked up from him to see a flash of green eyes before bumping into something solid, and surprisingly warm. And human. The solid, warm human squealed, and Michael was surprised for a moment, before hastily collecting himself and apologising. The man held up his hand to quiet him and smiled.

   "It's alright. I see you found my dog. I hope he wasn't troubling you, I've been looking for him all over!" He picked up his dog and it licked his face happily. "Haven't I, you little bastard. Yes, I'm talking to you. You're a little bastard, yes you are!" He noticed Michael still standing there and cleared his throat with a blush of embarrassment. "Sorry."

   "S'alright. We all do it."

   "Um, excuse me, sirs-"

   "Yes, the dog, I'm doing it. Leave me alone. Hey, you, come on. They're racist to dogs in this place." The other man laughed and followed Michael, still clutching his half-eaten panini, outside.

   When he got outside and got his first proper look at the man, Michael saw that he looked extremely like his dog, with the exception of his striking green eyes. They contrasted beautifully with his lightly tanned skin, and he even had the same ruffled hair as his pet, it was a similar blondish-brown too. He had stubble of the same colour on his chin.

   "I am so sorry sir, I've been trying to train him. One minute he was there, I turn round to pick up the lead, and he's gone! Then he came back and then left again. I came to this cafe to ask if anyone had seen him-" The man babbled, but Michael interrupted him.

   "So you're British?" He asked, noticing the mans' accent and use of the word 'lead'.

   The man seemed a little confused by the randomness of the question but answered it anyway.

   "I, uh, I moved here about... Now that I think about it, about a year ago. It was for work. Something that I've wanted to do since I was 16 years old, and when my offer was accepted, I moved here as soon as I could! Since I couldn't do the job all the way in England, I moved in with my friend, Geoff. It was partially because of him that I got the job. You should meet him sometime. He's great!"

    "That's some good perseverance you got there. And don't worry about the dog thing, by the way, just be thankful I didn't take him home myself! What breed?"

   "Oh, he's kind of a mix. Jack russell and border terrier, mainly."

  "Well, I'd love to see you again sometime, mister..?"

  "Gavin. Gavin Free."

A/N: Hey I'm rewriting this so it's more descriptive shit, rather than just shit. Wahey. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this lil' intro! 

Slendermoon <3