RWBY: Remnant's Blond Bard

Chapter 22

"Who are you!? Threat? Danger? No, you smell good."

"Huh," he said, reaching down his hand to pet it and instead getting his hand attacked by slobbery kisses. "I guess Penny got her dog after all."

"I did!" Penny cheered – and for once her typical over-exuberance didn't come across as fake or robotic. Anyone having gained a new dog would have sounded just as delighted with life. "I'm calling him Buddie! Isn't he amazing!?"

Buddie, because a dog was a human's best friend so the robot who wanted to feel human would want to count a dog among her friends. Again, no one without the context of what she was would connect the dots. His Semblance was just making it easy for him.

"I cut back with Penny and a few guards after the White Fang issue was resolved," Pietro explained. The dog came over to him and jumped up on his legs. The disabled man laughed and scratched its nose. "Penny was quite insistent on adopting the oldest and most rejected animal there and giving it a nice home. I shall have to dog-proof the lab."

His voice descended into cutesy babble.

"But you're worth it, aren't you? Yes, you are. Good boy."

"I'm a good boy! Why don't your legs work? I'll help fix them." The dog began nosing at the man's legs. "Work! You're supposed to work!"

"Um—"

"Don't worry, I can't feel anything down there." Pietro didn't look or sound bothered by it. "I've told Penny she needs to attend some dog training classes with Buddie here. Why don't you and her see if you can teach him to sit while I decide which rooms need to be locked off from his curious nose. There's a lot of machinery here that could hurt an inquisitive animal."

Jaune nodded and followed Penny into what must have been their living quarters. There was a curious amount of family photos involving Penny, which he first assumed were just for cover but quickly realised were real. The smiles on Pietro's faces in those pictures made it clear just how much he adored her.

In the centre of the room lay a new box, freshly opened, and around it a dog bed, several toys, a packet of food and some other bits and pieces. Also, the dog magazine Jaune had bought for her.

"I have been studying hard!" said Penny, deadly serious. "And have consumed much media on training. But there is a problem."

"Oh?"

Penny picked up a dog treat and held it out. Buddie sniffed it but, tail wagging furiously, was much more interested in climbing up over Penny's legs and licking her face. Penny giggled.

"Buddie does not have a food drive as they call it, so he is not interested in treats as a reward for doing a good job."

"Ah, that sounds like it'd make things difficult." He'd never heard of a food drive before, but he knew the basic idea of training was to bribe dogs with treats. Buddie was much too excitable for it. "How far have you gotten?"

"Nowhere! Look at him!" Penny gently pushed him off her, still smiling. "Father thinks it may because he's too stimulated right now, and that he might calm down in a day or two. Being adopted and having a new environment may have him too excited to listen. I have been trying to teach him to sit. Buddie!" she said. "Sit!"