Just a Regular Dog

      Tak stood motionless at the door, carefully listening to the entire conversation. He groaned inwardly when Elsa was caught off guard, but brightened when she recovered so gracefully. "That's my girl!" He muttered under his breath, beaming.
      He started to move back from the door when Elsa volunteered to retrieve him, but stopped in order to hear her final exchange with Mr. Toohey. The grumpy statesmen's lethargic—and no doubt showy—exit from the sitting room gave Tak enough time to scurry back from the door. He carefully avoided the rug, instead choosing to hop onto the bench next to the door and feign sleep.
      Mr. Toohey walked out of the room, chain held at the ready. He looked at the rug briefly, before spotting Tak on the bench. Tak, hearing the man's approach, opened his eyes and looked at Mr. Toohey with a dull and bemused gaze. He gave a brief growl and yip before softly wagging his tail, almost apologetically. All in all, it was a rather perfect rendition of what any normal dog might do in a similar situation.
      Mr. Toohey glared at Tak. "You're small." He stated dumbly. Tak yawned and stretched in response. "Not so tough when you're faced with adults, are you?" Tak found it amusing that Mr. Toohey's desire to bully overrode his 'rational' objection to speaking to dogs. He hopped off the bench, walked over to the door, looked back at Mr. Toohey, wagged his tail, and gave a little whine. "No, you're not going anywhere." Mr. Toohey held the chain at arms lengthy and awkwardly walked towards Tak.
      Tak backed up and raised his hackles, growling ever so slightly. This, Tak supposed, was a fairly common response from a canine perspective. Mr. Toohey wrestled the chain around Tak's neck; Tak whimpered, rolled over, and licked Mr. Toohey's hand. "I don't understand what all the excitement is about," Mr. Toohey muttered, "it's just a boring dog." He tugged on the chain and Tak, appearing reluctant, followed him into the sitting room.