FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The black sky seemed to be on the brink of storming, thankfully the rain didn't come down again. Leaving the four animals plenty of time to be acquainted. "Human's watch this?" Sam piped up from his corner on the couch.

"Yeah, it's pretty popular actually." Rhino told the shepherd from the opposite side of the couch, Mittens was lying down next to the two. Bolt was sitting on the carpet, giving up his spot to his guest. The dalmatian on screen was fighting a robotic dachshund that was cloned from a sample of the superdogs blood, why he came out a dachshund was ignored.

"Super hero's are like, gods to humans. Isn't that right Bo-"

"I think I'm going to go get some water!" Bolt announced loudly over Mitten's question, quickly standing up and going into the adjoining kitchen. Mittens cocked her ear at him.

"Hold on wagless, I'll be back." She told Sam after a sigh and standing up. She jumped off the couch noiselessly and followed the mutt into the kitchen, leaving Sam and Rhino on the couch.

As she caught up with him she asked "What's wrong?" quietly.

"Nothing is wrong, everything is right." Bolt turned and responded, sitting down on his haunches to regard her.

" There is nothing to do with me superdogs?"

"...No..." Bolt stated after a pause, turning his brown eyes away from hers.

"Didn't you come in here for a drink wags?" Bolt jumped up as if thunder cracked though the house.

"Yes I did, I just...wanted tooo, finish talking to you before I uh got a drink." He told her in a terrible cover up.

"Well by all means, go ahead." She smiled widely, showing her white fangs and motioning a paw to his bowls. Bolt gulped and started walking over to them. Mittens waiting until he started drinking to yell out to the living room. "Hey Sam! Did you know that Bolt-AAHH!" She yelled out as Bolt tackled her to the ground. Sam and Rhino turned and ran over to the side of the couch's armrest to look over.

"Mittens? Are you alright?" Rhino called out, subtly hiding behind the dog.

"Get off me mutt!" Mittens yelled out from under the white dog's chest.

"A-a spider landed on you, it looked poisonous." Bolt gasped, looking up at the animals on the couch with wide puppy eyes. Sam's jaw dropped in reaction, he closed it immediately and covered with a cough.

"Can you get off me now!?" Mitten growled into his chest fluff. Bolt stood back up and watched Mittens stand up, only to then have her lead him out of the room. She did this by painfully taking his ear into her maw and biting down until he followed her.

"Ow ow, not the ear! They're sensitive." Bolt whined but didn't bother pulling away. Mittens pulled him away until they were out of sight from the other two. She released his ear and stared him down until he looked at the ground.

"What's going on with you?" She asked in a mix of annoyed sympathy. Bolt fiddled with his paws in response. "I can't help you if you don't tell me." Mittens walked over to Bolt and rubbed herself against him, letting her head rub against his neck and embracing him in a hug/nuzzle.

"I'm embarrassed." Bolt told her quickly.

"Your what?" Mittens responded stupidly.

"You know, embarrassed." He told her meakley.

"Oh." She breathed, Bolt pulled away slightly and clenched his jaw. "I thought you were like, scared of Sam or something. Maybe afraid of the rain not...embarrassed?"

"I don't know why, I mean I couldn't care less if anyone knows it or not. It's just..." He couldn't finish.

"Fine, I won't tell Sam." Bolt looked back at Mittens, his tail started to wagging. " Hold on super bork, Let's have a little chat about few things, don't give me that look you'll appreciate it in the future."

Sam and Rhino were left on the couch to question what was going on between the two. "Soo." Rhino yawned to get Sam's attention away from the tv. His eyes have been following every movement for the past few minutes. "Have you watched tv before?" The hamster asked just to make conversation.

"No." He answered shortly.

"Oh uh,okay." Rhino turned awkwardly back to the tv.

"I mean, I've seen it before. But I haven't "watched" it before." He fixed. "Actually, there was this one show with another dog but I stopped finding it on the tv a while ago." Sam added after realizing his lackluster response.

"You've never watched it with your human before?" Rhino gasped in shock, after all, he did grow up watching it.

"I've never been allowed on a couch before." Sam answered.

"Yikes. That sucks." Rhino dead panned. Sam opened his muzzle to say something else but was surprised by Rhino's simple response.

"Yeah. It did." Sam looked away from Rhino and back to the tv, lost in his thoughts. The dalmatian on screen burned a hole through a car door with his laser vision. The clacking of claws on the floor indicated that Bolt and Mittens were on their way back from whatever they were doing.

"Bolt use to have laser vision you know." Rhino told the dog next to him. The clacking stopped from the room over. Sam laughed and looked over to the hamster, his tail whacked against the back of the couch as it started wagging.

"What?"

"Bolt used to be a-" "Rhino!"

"-superhero, the dalmatian actually took his time spot on the channel." Mittens was as still as a statue on the ground. Sam's tail stopped moving, his breathing looked like it did to. Bolt slowly came around the corner.

"You mean Bolt is, Bolt. As in (the ) Bolt?" Sam's slack jawed appearance slowly started to fade.

"Yeeaaah." Rhino dragged out. "I mean the only thing different about him is that he doesn't have a bolt on his side."

"But he can't be Bolt if he doesn't have the mark. It was infused into him when he was changed."

"Make up. Duuh. Dude, Penny was literally talking with you for the past four hours now. You seriously didn't put two and two together?" Sam jumped up and lowered his chest to the couch and raised his hind quarters in the air, tail going a mile a minute.

"I thought it was just, coincidence?" He asked himself. "I don't know! I thought I was dead for an hour!" Sam squealed in excitement.

While San was still freaking out to Rhino, Mittens took a step back and told Bolt "I did say that (I) wouldn't tell him." Bolt shook his head at her and sat down onto the ground. Sam flashed his wide smile to Bolt and jumped off the couch, Bolt stopped playing with his paws and put on a small smile.

"I can't believe that you're you! I'm a huge fan." Sam looked away for a second. "Was a huge fan." He corrected.

"T-thanks. It's always cool to meet a fan." Bolt laughed, trying to make it sound happy. Sam caught onto his facade though, his tail stopped wagging and lowered his hackles.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you! I'm just star struck, I didn't me to offend you." Sam rushed out feeling little more than humiliated. Bolt was quick to correct his quivering counterpart.

"No don't be, you did nothing wrong. I'm just...embarrassed. Slightly" bolt scratched at his neck with a hind paw

"Embarrassed? Really? But you can like, take anyone out with a single bark." Sam gasped dumbfounded.

"Oh not this again." Mittens slapped a paw to her forehead.

"You stopped calico's army by jumping into a helicopter and crashing it into their nuclear tanks! How can (You) be embarrassed? Wow, you are so humble!" Sam barked out going back to his playful stance, pure admiration was in his wide green eyes.

"I guess I did do that. But still, meeting a fan is-"

"You've met plenty of fans without being nervous Bolt." Rhino laughed. Mittens started running over to him and covered the question with an overbearing laugh.

"Ixnay on the upidstay." Mittens growled quietly to him.

"Ixnay on the wha?" Sam went to glance back at the two right before Bolt got his attention back.

"Anyway, I'm happy that you're a fan." Bolt genuinely smiled this time, Bolt couldn't keep his tail from reacting as well.

"Me too, I mean, I loved you on the show it was incredible. I never knew a dog that could do what you can." Bolt blushed heavily at what he said but covered the inside of his bright red ears by flicking them down.

"Me neither." Bolt admitted. Sam looked curiously at him before Mittens answered for the dog.

"I think it will be easier if we watch some of the extras on the dvd."

"You mean the ones that show that his powers weren't real?" Rhino piped up.

"What!" The German Shepherd yelled out at the blasphemy.

Thus began the three hour marathon/lesson of sitting on the couch, watching tv, and proving that Bolt in fact did not have any superpowers by telling him a little backstory of how they got to where they are now.

A few tears and embarrassing blushes later

"Wow. That's. Sad. You must have taken that hard." Sam weakly groaned as the final seconds of the video showed how grates were mechanically pulled apart rather than with Bolt's paws..

"Yes, yes I did." Bolt rapidly agreed from his right.

"Well, I don't think any less of you. You did save my life after all." Bolt stared back at the screen after that.

Mittens was quick to notice the brown tail trying to wag despite it began pressed against the couch. "Thanks for trusting me." Sam bumped himself against Bolt's shoulder and smiled brightly at his hero. Bolt was even happier when Sam didn't pull away from him after, leaving their bodies touching.

"Now that Bolt shared a bit about himself, why don't you return the favor?" Mittens sadistically grinned at Sam.

The dog fidgeted against Bolt's side.

"Mitten's don't force anything on him. He'll share when he's comfortable." Bolt argued.

"No it's fine. I mean it is fair, you all shared." Sam sighed.

"Only say what you want." Bolt nuzzled his head against his friend's neck. Both thinking "(ohgodohgodohgod" as the action happened.

"Um well," Sam coughed to hide his voice crack " I am five years old, I came from Nevada, and I'm a one hundred percent German shepherd."

"Anticlimactic but it's a start." Rhino sighed, incidentally fogging up his clear ball.

"What do you expect? I mean I didn't travel across the country, I'm not some super famous canine, my humans hurt me, there's not much to tell." Sam chuckled lightly. The rest of them stayed quiet. "What?" Sam. Thought about what he said in his head. "Oh." He spoke simply as he gave away a hint of his secret, he rested his head between his paws and lowered his ears sadly. He didn't want them to know about that.

The three others all looked at each other with wide eyes, unsure of how to react. "You have us now. You will be alright. I promise you." Bolt spoke up after a moment. He placed his head over Sam's neck, pulling him close. Mittens padded over to them and copied Bolt's gesture. Rhino simply rolled over and laid his ball in the crook of Sam's hip. They all laid still like this for a minute until Sam finally spoke up.

"Thank you for, well, everything." He told them.

"That's what friends are for wagless." Mittens shot at him.

They all withdrew from their serious not so serious cuddle and went on as nothing happened. Save for the wagging tails. "I'll be back guys. I'm going to take my rounds." Bolt jumped off the couch with a thud.

"Rounds?" Sam asked politely.

"I go around the perimeter and survey."

"For what?" Bolt looked away abashed.

"Intruders. Or as he puts it "bogies"." Mittens quotes with her paws.

"Don't make fun of him! He's the only reason we're all alive." Rhino growled at her.

"For Pete's sake, he shooed off a skunk once! And he got sprayed!"

"Who knows what could have happened if it came in the house." Rhino mainly asked himself.

"Can I join?" Sam jumped off from his spot and jogged over to Bolt.

"Uhhhh." Bolt looked over to Mittens. She was rapidly shaking her head up and down. "Yes!" He barked, Sam recoiled from the volume. "I mean yes. I'd like that very much." The two of them shared a smile. "Follow me."

Bolt walked ahead of Sam by a few paces and let him out the doggy door.

"So, you got sprayed by a skunk?" Sam giggled. Bolt tripped over his paws at that comment.

"In the future if you see one, just run." Bolt chided.

The dogs jumped down from the porch and onto the wet grass, trying to avoid the unavoidable mud puddles. Bolt started to lead Sam over to the barn when the shepherd asked "How long have you lived here?" Bolt took a second to think.

"Ever since we left hollywood. So maybe seven months now." Sam gaped at him as they rounded a corner of the barn, hiding them from the house. "What's with the look?"

"Nothing." He told Bolt unconvincingly, the dog simply quirked an eye at him. "Fine, that means I've been...out, for sixish months." Sam relented.

"You've been homeless that long?" Bolt asked shocked. Briefly pausing their walk as they came back into the view of his home.

"Yeah, but it's not like I travelled the entire country in that time." He argued.

"I couldn't have done that without Mittens and Rhino. I would still think that I'm a dumb superdog." Bolt kicked a stray pebble in his tree's direction.

"Oh please, you were raised to believe that fiction was true. I'm the dumb one for believing it, I mean, a dog that can shoot lasers out of his eyes? Come on." Sam's voice lost it's happiness as he finished his sentence, his entire demeanor lost its pep.

"I don't think you're dumb." Bolt simply stated as they went around the tree. Sam remained tight lipped, but did have a little smile covering his lips. "Besides. Not (all) my powers were fake." Bolt smugly told Sam.

"Oh please is it your 'flexibility'? Every dog can lick his own sheathe." Sam breathed. Bolt choked on his breathe, not expected such a mature outburst.

"I-I um. Can...do that." Bolt stammered. "Wait I can't, I mean I can I can prove it. But wait! No!"

Bolt stammered much to Sam's amusement.

"Do you want to prove it?" Sam teased a little more.

"I can super bark!" Bolt finally broke out.

"Suuure you can." Sam cooed, until his fangirl won over. "You can?" He held back a squeal.

"Actually, I'm not sure you deserve it anymore." Bolt left the shepherd stunned behind him.

"Please please please! You can't leave me like that." Sam caught up and jumped in front of Bolt, cutting of his trail.

"I don't know, why should I?" He dragged on. A devious smile crossed Sam's face.

"I'll show you my flexibility if you show me your bark." He winked. Bolt let out a quiet whine that perked Sam's ears.

"It's-It's alright. I'll do it for f-free." Bolt weakly told the horndog. "So," Bolt fixed his stance by deeply seeding his paws into the ground. "Do as I do."

"Alright." Sam stared down at Bolts muddied white paws and looked at his own as he placed them in the same stance.

"Press your weight on your front paw." They both did so. "Then swing back, take a deep breath and let it go."

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." "Stop, stop doing that!" Bolt barked more in embarrassment than anger. Sam was more than happy with the outburst.

"Okay okay. I'll...attempt it. Come on. We don't got all day! Please." Sam pulled out his own set of puppy eyes. Which Bolt could not help but call adorable.

"Okay Bolt let's do this." He told himself.

The wind and his heartbeat were the only thing he could hear. Bolt could feel every subtle shift of his fur as the air dance around him. The dirt and mud shifted between his toes as he flexed his paws into the ground. He pulled his head back, his tail curled itself around his leg. He let his muzzle fall underneath his chest, inhaling as deep as he could and closing his eyes, until finally, he let his entire body fly out and expelled the oxygen from his lungs. "BOOOM!" A subtle ringing filled his ears. He let his eyes open to see Sam's reaction. The dog's mouth made an O shape and his eyes were filled with pure...humiliation? Admiration? Another tion word?

Bolt recoiled back to his usual stance, save for his tail which was curled underneath him.

"This is humiliating! Why did I think that would work? It only-"

"That was Awesome!" Sam Barked out! The shepherd copied Bolts former stance and tried a bark for himself. "Bark!" He did it again. "Bark!" Soon enough he was barking into the wind, maybe not super barking...but in Bolt's mind it was something much different. Bolt sooned joined him in his barking. Leaving the two of them to Bark into the sky and playfully shove at each other when one out barked the other.

Time went by quick during their match, they didn't stop until their voices were becoming raw. "I think I've had enough." Bolt coughed out finally.

"I think I busted my larynx." Sam agreed, turning to follow Bolt back into the house.

"Does your usual scouting insist of you barking your dominance into the fields?"

"Typically no, but when I need to prove a point. Most definitely." He winked. They jumped up the porch steps two at time, stopping to rub their paws on the tan rag that rested before the door.

"Uh Bolt?" Sam chuckled.

"Hmm?"

"I'm not sure wiping your paws will do much." He gestured towards the rest of Bolt's body.

The dog followed Sam's gaze and groaned inwardly. His pristine white coat was now a mix of brown and greens, making him more of every other color than white.

"How did I get so dirty?" Bolt barked in surprise, he didn't jump in the mud or anything.

"Uh remember when we were shoving each other and how we fell...a lot."

"I didn't think it would be that bad." Bolt sighed. "We're going to need a bath."

"Two baths in two days? I think that's a record for me." Sam joked.

"Just wipe your paws for now and don't go on the furniture or carpets please. I'll go get Penny." Bolt jumped through the doggy door with Sam hot on his heels.

Bolt started heading up the stairs down the hall while Sam sat outside the living room, standing on the wooden floor just before where the carpet started.

"Could guys have made anymore noise?" Mittens sarcastically asked from her spot on top of the kitchen counter.

"Sorry. Bolt was-"

"Showing you his super bark yeah yeah I got that." She jumped off her vantage point and onto the ground with a barely audible thud. "And you're both muddy because..."

"We were playing." Sam told her with obvious enthusiasm.

"Woah, I'm surprised Bolt willingly got his pelt dirty."

"He didn't notice at the time." Sam flashed his eyes down, somewhat ashamed for getting his friend muddy.

"What made him so busy that he didn't notice falling in the mud?" Mittens teased.

"Showing off his superpower." Sam shot back quickly. "What's with the twenty question?"

"Last time I knew rolling around in the mud didn't involve barking." Mittens sat down and started licking her paws, annoying the dog just enough to keep going.

"We weren't 'rolling around in the mud.'" He imitated her voice with bad nasally high pitched impersonation.

"Oh, so you were doing something (else) in the mud sorry someone. Keep the details to yourself please." Mittens gagged and walked away, playfully swatting her tail.

"We were not!" Sam jumped up in a fluster.

"Talk to the paws wagless." She made sure to hide the smile on her face. Sam was smart enough to not follow the bait this time. He harrumphed once and then plopped onto his hindquarters to await the penny... (THE) Penny. He couldn't help but internally squeal.

The canine could hear the clacking of nails on wood before he heard Bolts voice up the stairs. "Come on up." He called simply, the clacking faded as Bolt entered the bathroom. Sam picked himself up and shook his tail to clear some debris from it, which he instantly regretted as some dirt flung onto the ground. He quickly escaped the scene of the crime, fleeing to the upstairs hallway. Penny was on her way out of her room as Sam climbed the last step, she walked by and gently ruffled his head fur. Sam pulled away, unsure of the interaction

"Slowly getting used to me huh boy." The girl laughed and walked into the familiar white tiled bathroom. Sam followed two steps behind her, admiring the human who Bolt saved countless times on tv, but fearing the 'human' thing about her. As he entered the doorway, he saw Bolt sitting by the side of the tub happily grinning up and wagging at the girl. "You two just had to go out in the mud didn't ya?" She groaned softly. Bolt jumped up and licked her cheek in response. "C'mon boy, down." She playfully laughed and pushed him down, Sam looked on with curiosity.

Bolt finally jumped off of her so that she could turn the faucet in the tub on. The clear water instantly began pouring out, loudly splashing against the bottom of the simple tub. Bolt went on his hind legs and rested against the edge of the tub, watching it fill up. Penny stepped away and began pulling things out of the closet next to the toilet. Sam moved over to the tub and copied what Bolt was doing. "Come here often?" Bolt asked nonchalantly, saw for the flick of his tail.

"Save it dolt." The Shepherd retaliated.

"Oh don't be such a dachshund." Bolt chuckled playfully, mentioning back to the tv show.

"Oh so now you're the one calling someone names?"

"It's only fair." Bolt yawned lamely as if he won the argument.

"You only called me a hot dog, I'd say that's more of a compliment or flirt than an insult." He giggled, wagging his tail against Bolt's lower back.

"How is that flirting? I mean a compliment." The superdogs voice cracked mid sentence. Sam simply rolled his eyes.

"Dachshunds are called "hot dogs" by humans...aren't they?" Sam started second guessing his comeback.

"Well then by my standards you are not a dachshund." Bolt looked away dramatically.

"Then what am I huh?" Sam held back a laugh and pushed his face closer to Bolts turned one.

"You are a, whatever the opposite of a dachshund is!"

"A German Shepherd?"

"Yeah, Shepherd! Oh, right." Bolt frowned at being bested.

"Forget we're both shepherds?"

"I did not!" Bolt snapped his head to the side. "It just wasn't pertinent to the mission."

"Which I won." Sam coughed.

"That's debateable." Bolt argued

"Aww, are you mad I didn't call you cute back?" Sam cooed playfully.

"Pu-lease I don't need your soothing words." Bolt waved his paw and stepped back, letting Penny turn off the faucet.

"Good, because I think you're (not) cute." He paused. Bolt stiffened up slightly under Sam's watchful gaze. "But Maybe ruggedly handsome?"

"Come on Bolt in the tub." Penny commanded, setting the soap and a few towels to the side. Bolt took a quick glance at Sam, then an evil one at the full tub. Sam quickly put two and two together.

"Don't you even-" his comment was pulled short as Bolt jumped into the warm water, splashing Sam and Penny in the progress. The water created a tidal wave as it lapped over the tub, flying in the air for a few seconds and hitting the ground even quicker. The tiny layer of water on the floor was put aside for later.

"I am going to maim you!" Sam barked deathly, shaking his fur to dry himself off. Poor penny was the forgotten civilian in their assault. She just stood straight faced and accepted her water logged fate.

"Says the land lover." Bolt teased. Sam readied himself to pounce into the tub as Penny quickly gripped his scruff in a tight fist.

"Don't you dare!" Penny snapped, killing Sam's plan and will in seconds. The girl stretched over him and grabbed for the step stool that was next to the sink to the side of her.

She popped the stool in front of him and smoothed out the steps. "There, (now) you can get in." She scolded the both of them, keeping her glare focused on Bolt who slowly slid deeper into the water. The grip of Sam's neck was released, letting him go up the steps slowly under the humans watchful gaze. "You're Lucky she's here." Sam tossed his floofy head towards their sentry.

"You're the lucky one." Bolt chided as Sam gracefully as he could stepped into the tub, submerging himself in the chest high warm water. A groan of pleasure vibrated in his throat, the clear water was already a light shade of brown. Which Sam completely blamed on Bolt. The two dogs stayed silent as Penny began to pour a dull pink liquid into the tub that created a plethora of bubbles to fill the air. Sam was able to restrain himself from biting them, Bolt on the other paw greedily bit at any magic sphere that entered his boundaries, up until he realized he had a spectator.

"Sorry." Bolt sheepishly spoke to the water rather than the dog. Sam responded with a laugh.

"Don't be, please." A small water tornado swirled behind Bolt as his tail wagged under water.

"At least you guys have me a reason to take a break." Penny sighed despite the small smile on her lips.

"I didn't mean to get dirty Penny." Bolt spoke aloud. Which translated into English as a shameful whine.

"You were just having fun I know, at least you got stranger here to join in." She answered.

"(Mittens would have never have done that.)" Bolt thought internally.

"Okay boys, time for the fun." Penny slid her shirt off so that she was only in her tan bra and leaned against the side of the tub. Bolt shimmied himself next to Sam and politely looked away from Penny. Sam was taking advantage of the lesson.

"I never saw a human female without a shirt before." He stared and stated innocently, Bolt gasped at him.

"Don't stare it's rude!" Bolt yelped, more than surprised at Sam's reaction.

"I'm a dog, Bolt. It's not like I'm attracted to it. I mean why do humans have (them) anyway? They just weigh them down, female dogs don't have them. Besides you sleep with her on a daily basis, I think that's worse." The shepherd joked with a smile, the innuendo went over Bolt's head.

"So? Sleeping with her is better than...goggling at her."

"Oh please." Sam breathed, watching as Penny bent over to start rubbing soap into bolt. "You've never cuddled with her? Or mittens?"

"I mean yeah. But that's different. It's not, I don't know. Inappropriate."

"It's only inappropriate if you feel something from it."

"I don't think that's how that works Sam." Bolt at this point gave up on the argument.

"Tomato potato, same thing." Sam sighed as Penny finished creating a small crown of bubbles on Bolts head. The super dog shook his head to get rid of the embarrassing adornment.

"(Penny! Do you have to do that now)?" He argued in his head.

"What boy? Are you ashamed to be crowned king of the tub in front of your new friend?" Penny playfully ruffled his soaked head fur. "He love baths Sam, he tell you that?" The girl Informed much to Bolts displeasure.

"Oh so you (do) like baths?" The Shepherd gasped dramatically.

"You're the one who purred like a kitten when you got in here." Bolt pointed out.

"I never said I didn't like 'em tough guy." Sam closed his eyes as Penny started to knead some soap into his fur. A smile twitched the corner of his mouth. "Personally I think you look much better with a crown of bubbles atop your head."

"I...thanks." Bolt mummered in defeat. He quietly watched Sam enjoying his rub down, his body was clearly underweight but there was a certain...appeal to it. One that would confuse Bolt's for a long time to come.

Penny finally stopped cleaning the two of them once their fur was back to its original pristine condition and uncapped the bottom of the tub. She stood up and reached for the shower nozzle to get the soap off them once all the water finally drained.

"Almost done." She told them, running the water through her hand to make sure it was a comfortable temperature. "Sam first then you Bolt."

Penny aimed the shower head at the bottom of Sam's back and let the water go through his mop of fur. Now that the water was gone his formerly fluffyish and patchy fur was reduced to an almost second layer of skin, accentuating his boney-ness.

"I think we should start feeding you extra Sammy." Penny spoke sadly, eyeing his figure up and down. Sam kept his gaze from meeting Bolt's, the dog was quick to make him feel better.

"Great you're only here a day and you already get more food than I do." Bolt argued, clearly poking fun.

"Well when you are as dashingly handsome as I am, then you will get more." Sam flashed him a quick thank you smile.

"I thought I was the handsome one." Penny finished with Sam and began working water through Bolts pelt.

"You're the extra baggage." Sam fired.

"That's really what you think of me?" Bolt asked, looking as if he had something up his sleeve...fur?

"Yep." The Shepherd responded with a wide smile.

"Alright, we'll settle this when you won't snap like a twig if I jump on you."

"The only thing snapping will be my jaws around your scruff." Sam retorted stoically.

"(I'll hold you to that)." Bolt noted internally, "(where did that come from?)" He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Okay boys, all set." Penny told them as she turned the water off. She reached for the towels she tossed on the floor next to her earlier, one was a dull pink the other was a bright yellow. She tossed the pink one over Bolt and the yellow over Sam. "Hold still Bolt, no point in fighting this." She warned, Bolt snuffed deliberately but otherwise stayed still until Penny finished rubbing the water out of his fur.

"Same goes for you Sam." She fixed the towel over his head, leaving only his muzzle sticking out. His tongue was out of his mouth, leaving the dog to pant and wag his tail.

"You enjoy this?" Bolt asked shocked.

"Yes! It feels so good, well it did yesterday anyway." Sam shut his mouth to let Penny drag the towel to his chest and back. Both of their fur was a mess when they were finally let out of the tub. Bolt was fine to just shake his fur as his thick coat allowed him to, Sam's thinner and patchier coat required a more sit and wait approach.

"Now that you two are done, it's my turn. Git!" She prodded Bolt with her foot to lead him to the exit, she had a hand on her underwear before they left the room. Sam watched as she- slam! The door shut in his face as her undergarments started slipping under her hip.

"You are ridiculous." Bolt snuffed, as he watched Sam watch her.

"What? I'm just...curious." The dog stepped forward and matched Bolts pace.

"Keep your eyes on Mittens Sam, she's the only compatible female here. Actually don't, she might kill you." He corrected.

"I only have my eyes on your tail and stones right now Bolt." Sam admitted as he saw Bolts furry pouch every time his tail swung.

"My stones?"

"Uh, nothing sorry." He rushed out to cover himself. A lava like heat spread through his entire body, Sam swore he saw the water evaporate off himself. Bolt shrugged off his comment as they wound their way back to the living room.

"Want to finish our marathon." Bolt asked, looking back.

"How many episodes left?"

"Around four. Should take less than two hours." Bolt responded.

"Sure." Sam jumped onto the couch and let Bolt turn the tv on and handle the buttons. Mittens and Rhino were nowhere to be found.

"Did lighting really take your job?" Sam asked when the Dalmatian popped up on screen during the last episode. Bolt scratched at his collar before answering.

"Not technically. After we came back home Penny and her mom had enough. The studio actually caught fire the day I came back and the agent wanted to use her as a cash grab we were done." Bolt snuffed.

"The studio caught fire?" Sam gasped softly, the conversation was an obvious sore spot for the dog as he flinched slightly, he avoided this story when he was telling Sam about his powers.

"Y-yeah. My first replacement, he was suppose to actually be a replica of me, story for another time I don't know how they cloned me." Bolt added quickly. "He knocked into a fire holder I think, and from there it just spread. Everyone was able to get out safely." He finished.

"Oh." Sam flicked his ears, staring back at the screen. "I expected more." Bolt turned to him. " I mean it's obviously something you don't want to talk about, but I thought there would be more...explosions?"

"I mean there were a few explosions."

"Were you there?" Sam asked innocently.

"We all were actually." Bolt resigned. Sam's full attention was on Bolt by now. Bolt sat up straighter but couldn't keep his gaze on the screen. "They found an entrance that let me in the building. While I was in there, I was able to find Penny almost passed out on the ground at this point and covered in black soot. The smoke burned my lungs every breath I took I don't know how she lasted as long as she did." Bolt coughed to regain his pitch. "From there I was able to drag her to an air vent and got the attention of fire men by my superbark." He told him

"You're an actual hero then?" Sam barked, "You saved Penny by literally pulling her from a burning building.

"The real hero's are the firemen and policemen that arrived and helped everyone." Bolt bit his lip, trying to refrain from being called a hero. Sam momentarily lost his speech as Bolt did the hottest thing imaginable by unintentionally smoldering.

"T-that's even what a hero would say! Stop being humble please. I mean, how many people have you helped in the past year alone? You saved Penny's life and mine and even gave Mittens and Rhino a home. Are you (totally) sure you are not a super dog?" Sam glanced at him as if he was about to unleash a hidden power.

"No more than you are." Bolt spoke grimly, a sad tone infused with his voice as he rested his chin on his paws. A far away look in his eye as he stared through the tv screen. Guilt spread through the brown dog for dragging on the topic for too long when he could tell Bolt was uncomfortable.

"What if I wasn't there?" Sam was stunned so much his entire body froze. "I mean, I'm the reason they had to get a new dog." He spoke through his paws.

"The only reason you weren't there was because you thought Penny was kidnapped if I remember correctly."

"But I was stupid enough to believe that I actually had powers. How could I possibly think that what I could do was real?" He whined. Sam lowered to his stomach as well, he measured his response carefully as he knew that what whatever he said would decide on how they would both build from their past.

"You thought what you did was real because that's what you were told was real. You were trained and brainwashed to believe that you were (made) Bolt the dog that could take out superman, not that you were born...Bolt the dog. You were only doing the right thing when you went to save her from the green eyed man. If you didn't go she would have been gone forever in your head, you had no clue that everything was fake because you were made to live in a false reality, not one where you are just a simple dog that loves his human. You were never given the chance to not go after her, it was your job to save her." Sam finished with a sigh, Bolt stayed silent as he must have been thinking everything over. "And if it means anything to you, you are (my) superdog." Sam blushed at his very stereotypically statement and tried to give a lesser second meaning behind it. "You, did teach me to superbark after all." Sam placed his wet nose against Bolt's neck and snuffed through it, ruffling his white fur slightly before pulling away.

The dalmatian on screen flew into the arms of his his human, the boy's clothes were in perfect condition despite running through a flooding, muddy jungle. The dog was happily licking at the boy's face as Bolt simply stated "I don't like being called a hero." The background music on the tv played a rapid cut time melody, keeping the room from being silent as Sam thought if he should say something or not. The former won out.

"Why not?" Bolt shrugged minutely.

"I don't feel like one, on the show I always had the green eyed man to fight or a cat to judo chop at the end of the story. I can't get back at the person that harmed you and I certainly can't go against a burning building." Bolt told him, Sam quietly let out a sigh of relief. "What?"

"You don't need a bad guy to be a hero dolt. Hero's are made with courage which you certainly don't lack." Bolt opened his muzzle to reply but Sam stopped him.

"I swear on your human's life if you counter that I will bite your tail." Sam growled lightly, Bolt's jaws closed with a loud *clack*. "Do I need to get Rhino out here? There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't call you a hero because of what you two believed was real on tv and for what you did for them to get them to this point. What you did for me." Sam added softly.

"If I concede will you stop trying to make me feel better?" Bolt snapped with a more volume in his voice, his tail wagged once behind him. "(Why does he always have to win our arguments?"

"That's all I ever wanted." Sam smiled at him with a wide grin, scooting himself against Bolt so that he could lie his head against his shoulder. Bolt nonchalantly put his tail over Sam's which soon became wrapped around his own, both could hear the others heart beating much faster than they should.

"Hey Sam?" The dog turned his head to Bolt. "Thank you." Sam snuggled his head deeper into Bolt's fur.

"Hey Bolt?"

"Hmm?" "I think I love you." Sam felt the body next to him go rigid.

"I...that's impossible, you can't love another male."