When Honey and Vanilla returned home, Honey told Mr. Cake that Dr. Blanque wanted to talk to him, and Mr. Cake agreed to this.

Vanilla then dragged Honey into her room.

"I'm not even going to ask what that was about," she said huffily. "It doesn't deserve to be dignified with a response."

Honey shrugged. "Well, then I don't know what your problem is. Clearly you're not thinking logically, so my only conclusion is that you're acting out of an emotional response. And why would you feel this severely about ME being involved with someone unless--"

"Spare me the psychiatrist bit," Vanilla snapped. "It's condescending and childish."

"Vanilla, you're the one who seems to be acting childish here. I know for a fact that you're smarter than this. You accused me of going to the Blanque house to see Monty--he wasn't there, but that's not the point. I know as well as you do that he could have been there. If I'd gone myself without telling you, you could have accused me of sneaking around because I had something to hide."

"Well?" said Vanilla impatiently.

"Well, I didn't sneak around and you still accused me of wanting to see Monty, as though I didn't care about your feelings on the matter and was flaunting this in front of you. Aren't you the one who always told me you can't argue it both ways?"

"That's enough."

"No, it isn't," said Honey, advancing slightly. "I think I'm finally starting to get through to you, and there's no one here but me. I care about you, so you don't have to hide anymore. Is there something you haven't told me?"

"NO!!!"

Vanilla hid her head under her pillow.

Honey nodded and started for the door. "I won't force anything out of you, Vanilla. But whenever you're ready, I'm right here."

She closed the door, and Vanilla threw the pillow against it, tearing up.

"Oh, cool. So you did just move here? I haven't seen you around before."
Lucky got up and reached out his hand for a friendly shake.

Beta shakes Lucky's hand. He seems amazed at something.
Wow, most people who shake my hand tend to go flying. You must be pretty strong. And yeah, I just moved here.
Beta looks over at his new house, and sighs.
I liked where we lived before. The neighbourhood and the house. But having a house fall in on itself followed by another house burn down pretty much means moving to a new neighbourhood is going to happen...ANYWAY enough of the old times!!
Beta frantically smiles as if the memories of his two previous disasters of houses didn't trouble him at all.

"Well, welcome to the neighborhood. There are a lot of interesting pets here,but i'm sure you'll find them around here sooner or later."
Lucky let go of Beta's hand
Something about Beta reminded him of himself. The disasters. He wondered if beta had any brothers.
"Do you have any siblings?" Lucky asked, uneasy.

Hmm... said Beta, as he thought. Of all the wolves back at the zoo, he was the only one without any siblings. The thoughts of the zoo somewhat caused unease in Beta, but he didn't show it.
Hehe, quite the opposite, Lucky. Of all the wolves I remember from when I was young, I was the only one who was an only cub.
Why not ask him the same question, Beta thought. It couldn't hurt.
How about you?

Jackson walked up to Liz and put his arm around her.
"Shall we go ma'am?" he asked with a gental smile.

Lucky saw it coming from a mile away. He knew he shouldn't have asked.
"Oh.. yeah i have a brother. but he- hes not here right now."
Lucky didn't want to lie, he wasn't here right now, but he knew he was avoiding the truth, and he was hoping it wouldn't show outwardly.

Beta could see that Lucky was a bit twitchy, but he put that down to nerves. Or was it just nerves...Beta didn't know. Best leave that topic alone just in case.
Oh cool.
BETA!!!!!!! WE DEFINITELY NEED HELP!!!
Beta heard his dad shouting for him, and he sighed a bit.
I offer them help and they say no, but when they actually need help they come calling for me. Well, it was nice meeting you, Lucky, but I've gotta run.

"OK! hope to see you sometime soon!" Lucky waved to Beta as he ran away.
Lucky sat back down by the tree.
Tears started to roll down his cheeks as he was reminded of his brother.
All he wanted was to be able to hug him once more, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
Lucky got back up, leaving his iPod still laying by the tree. He didn't care much for it right now.

He walked further down the street and turned into a small road leading off from the main road.
He walked a little further and took a right into a old cemetery.
He walked alongside all the tombstones until he got to one that read:

Cody f. Phillips
Born June 15, 2005
Died march 27, 2009

Lucky fell on his knees, still crying.
"I'm sorry for everything..*sniff*"
"If i hadn't of came up with the stupid idea of building a tree-house in the woods you would have never broke your ankle, and would have never went to the vet."
"Its all my *Sniff* fault..."

He got up and walked over to a nearby field and picked a couple of flowers, returning to the tombstone and laying them beside it.

"We shall!" Liz purred, nuzzling him. As they continued their walk, they reached the neighborhood again.
----------

"Certain requirements, eh? I think I'm fine with my collar as it is." He joked. He looked to his notes on the table next to his hammock. He remembered one of his ideas, "Hey Winter, I have an idea!" He said, "What if there was some club where all the neighborhood dogs met, hung out, and took care of businesses? Wouldn't that be pretty cool?" He asked. He had recently thought up ideas for a club like that, and had them all written in his notebook.

"A club eh?" She put a paw thoughtfully on her chin. "With food, and music and dancing, and colors and lights and-that sound perfect!" She grinned and hugged Max, and if you looked closely you could almost see her color scheme ideas flashing in her eyes.

"Exactly!" Max said as he thought about the future club, "But where would the club be held? Would we build a clubhouse, or is there anything that's already here we can use?"

"Well... Thank you. I think it's important to know about things that are important to you." She took the compliment graciously, if not a little awkwardly, but proceeded to dust the remnants of soil off of her paws. "... Anyway, for someone who claims to know next to nothing about keeping flowers alive, you sound pretty capable to me, hah!" She noted with a laugh and some small relief in the back of her mind that thankfully, just in case, Gladioli were also pretty tough plants to kill if you weren't outright trying to. She smiled warmly when she picked up the flower pot, and held it out to Awesome. A bit of the warmth dissipated for a moment when she turned her gaze from the plant to Awesome himself, but her expression gradually relaxed again after a second or two.

"Something something corm. ... Something something roots." "Something something flowers! Something Drowning. Something something light area something." Tuning in and out of the conversation, and a little confused by it as well as the exchange he saw in front of him, Sebastian found himself itching to head out for himself. He waved a casual goodbye to Awesome, and slipped down from the side of the porch quietly and un-announced. He walked towards the park, ironically seeking to get away from the conversation about flowers in the same place Dahlia had gone to get them.

"What a nice dog," thought Beta, "if he's any indication of the rest of the pets here, we've made a good choice."
Beta approached his house and immediately saw the problem.
Dad, there are three counts of 'I told you so' here. Firstly, I told you that you'd need my help. Secondly, I knew we shouldn't have hired these men. And finally, I did tell you that bringing the piano would not be a good idea.
Just get the piano off the nice man's foot, Beta.
Fine, fine...
Beta lifted the piano off of the man's foot and put it on the floor. There are definitely times when it's handy to have a wolf around the house. This was one of them.
These men are useless, Dad.
Oh yeah, what are you going to do you little scamp, call out for help?
HEEEEY!!!! ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP US MOVE IN???!!? screamed Beta.
You always did take what I said literally said Bob, petting Beta as he did so.

Awesome smiled as his tail wagged gently when he got to hold the flower again. He was happy to have a complement. He didn't notice Seb leaving.
"Wow, thanks. I promise I'll take good care of it." Awesome looked at the flower smiling but then realised how much time had gone by since he left his house earlier that morning.
"I...I'm sorry, but I think I'd better go back home. I left before my Dad was awake and I wouldn't want to worry him..." Awesome fiddled with his tag. "Thanks a lot for this, really. I'll see you later Dahlia, and you too...Seb?" He looked over to where Seb was before he left. "Erm, tell him I said bye please."

As Awesome was walking back to his house he heard the wolf yell. He looked over to the wolf but looked back not a second later...
Why is a wolf here? Why is he moving in? It's best to ignore him for now...yeah. I'll come back later if he needs any help... Awesome walked a little bit faster while looking over to the wolf, a bit intimidated.

Beta caught a glimpse of something moving in the corner of his eye, but as he turned to see what it was there was nothing there.
Probably just a squirrel or something. Anyway, dad, how much stuff do we need to move into the house?
Well, the important stuff would be things like mattresses, tables, chairs, and don't forget the
But I thought all our stuff was destroyed in the fire. Apart from that piano...tell me, why did you unload the piano first?
Ask the removal men. As for all the stuff, all I can say is thank the lord for insurance. They've given us replacements for everything. Beds, mattresses, tables, chairs, new TVs...but they've also refused to insure this new house. I guess the market is starting to hear about our bad luck with houses.
So what do you want me to move in first?
All of the blue boxes and crates, Beta. They've got all the important stuff in them. They're pretty heavy, though.
I'm a wolf, dad. I can lift that stuff no problem. Just get the men to get it all out of the truck first.

The removal men proceed to unload the contents of the truck. Once all of the blue crates and boxes are out, Beta notices another problem.
I don't think these are gonna fit through the front door, dad.
Don't be silly, Beta, those crates have always done us good.
*Groan* Allow me to demonstrate.
Beta picks up one of the crates effortlessly, and moves it to the front door. He puts it on the ground in front of the door.
See? The door isn't wide enough!
How the...but I asked specifically how wide the door was when we bought the house!
Dad...you never were very good with units. The door is not wide enough.
So how are we meant to get this stuff inside??!
I dunno...it's not like there's a wizard in this neighbourhood.

Beta and his dad sigh and take a seat on one of the crates.

Awesome went to his celler first and put the flower close to the window. It had a porch and, with some odd luck, the flower would have sunlight throughout most of the day. Awesome walked into the house to get some water, only to be a little shocked that his dad was looking through the window at the wolf across the street. Awesome tried to walk by and get some water without being noticed.
"Awesome, nice to see you're awake. See that truck?" Awesome walked over to the window to see the wolf and delivery men down the road.
"I think we should greet them, and looking at them both it seems they don't know what to do. Must be stuck somehow."
Dad... it's obvious you only want to see the wolf, to check if it's wild or not... Awesome sighed before saying "Of course. Could I get a snack and some water first though?"
"Of course but be quick!"
Awesome got a small cup of water to water the new flower. He did it very carefuly and made sure to put the same amount of water eavrywhere. He also quickly ate some dog snacks (OOC I really don't know...) before going to his dad again. They were about to leave but then Awesome's owner's phone rang. It was probably important. "Go on Awesome, I'll catch up soon."

Awesome felt quite shy and out of place as he walked to the stranger and the...wolf sitting on the crates. As he got a bit closer, he felt quite scared and intimidated.
"Erm...do you need any help...I mean, erm, welcome to Radiant Gardens..." Awesome slowly said.
I'm not good at this...

Not unless you're a wizard of some sort. said Bob, who by this time was not in a good mood. Although I guess that any sort of a welcome is a good thi...are you okay?
The dog speaking to them seemed a bit shaky.
Don't worry dad, it's the whole wolf thing again. It always is.
Beta turns to look at the brown dog in front of him.
Hey there, this is Bob *points to Bob* and I'm Betawolf. Don't worry about the "whole wolf thing".
Beta points to his collar and smiles.
I'm a pet just like you, no need to be afraid. I wouldn't hurt a fly!
Beta, unless you've got a way of getting our stuff into the house, you're not helping.
Don't mind my dad, he's just a bit touchy because the crates are too wide to fit through the door. I never got your name, what was it?
Beta extends his arm and offers his paw to shake.

Awesome smiled a little, and shook Beta's paw.
"Awesome, thank you. My name is Awesome." Awesome looked over to the crates and then to the door.
"Have you tried going through the back door? It might be a bit bigger..." Awesome made an efort to not show his intimidation.

Your name is Awesome? That's pretty cool!
Don't joke around, Beta.
Dad, please calm down a bit. As for the back door...Dad, do you have the key to the back door?
Yes, it's right here...
Bob searches for the back door key.
Of all the keys I was given, it had to be the back door one that I wasn't given. Beta, how are you at lock-picking?
Sorry Dad. *Shows his claws to Bob* My claws aren't sharp enough at the moment. Awesome, can you pick locks?

[In real life, my dad is a locksmith. the irony of your situation is explosive.]

Lucky got up from the grass and wiped the tears from his eyes.
He walked out of the cemetery gates onto the small road which connected to the main road.
After walking a while, he noticed Awesome standing by Beta and his owner which were sitting on some odd colored boxes.

He would have went to go help, but he remembered he left his iPod in the park by the tree.
so instead, he turned into the park and walked over to the tree the ipod was at.
After picking it up he walked over to Beta's house to see what was wrong.

Lucky noticed Beta when he was walking toward him, and replied.
"Well, i guess so. All you have to do is push all 5 pins in the lock up at once so there not obstructing the path of the cylinder."
"Why?"

The crates are too big to fit in the front door and we don't have the key to the back door. Thanks a lot, LucKYYYYYYYYYYY
OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU
Bob runs quickly towards Lucky, barging Beta out of the way, and attempts to hug him.

"GAh!" Lucky didnt understand what was going on at that second, but took the hug anyway.
"So do i just go around the side here?"

Lucky squirmed a little to be free but it was no use.
"uhhgg..."

Okay dad, hugs time is over.
Beta lifts Bob's arms off of Lucky, and picks up Bob. He puts him over his shoulder.
Sometimes being a wolf has its benefits he says to Lucky. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold him for, so if you can pick the lock, being speedy might help.

[FYI I'm typing all of these from my iPhone since I'm not at home right now, so it may take mena while to reply, it's not that I'm not online, it's because I'm typing. And it may have grammaical and spelling errors too.]

Lucky ran around the back of the house to find the door, and after a few tries he managed to get it open. He left the door cracked open a little and ran to the front of the house.

"it's open. It wasn't too hard."

Bob has calmed down now, and he's happy, but not in the same way he was before. Thanks for the help...Lucky, was it?
Beta walks up to Lucky, and looks at him.
Thanks Lucky, you're a good dog and a really nice guy.
Beta offers a hug to the much smaller Lucky.

Lucky hugged Beta and started walking away toward his house.
"no problem, see you later sometime!" Lucky said as he walked away from the three.
Lucky ran into his house and got his cell phone and headed out the front door and sat by the tree in there front yard, still scarred up from his practice with his knives
Lucky typed his cousins number and put the phone up to his ear.
"hello?"
"HeY Bella, it's me Lucky."
"oh hey Lucky, what have you been up too lately?"
"oh nothing much, just a new... Pet... Move into the neighborhood."
"sound cool, what's his name?"
"Beta. And how has your leg been doing?"
"still in the vet, they said it should be healed sometime soon"
"Thats great! Well i just wanted to talk to you, see how you were doing."
"ok it's nice to hear from you. Bye"
"bye"
Lucky hung up the phone. It was good to hear Bellas voice.

That Lucky is a great dog, wouldn't you say so, Dad?
Absolutely. Now how about we get this stuff inside, eh?
By we, you mean me, right?
Sorry mate. These removal men aren't exactly...well, they're terrible.
Agreed. How many blue crates are there?
10 blue crates, which is the important stuff, but then there's 5 smaller ones.
So if you get the other bags inside, I'll deal with the crates. *looks around* Hey, what happened to that piano?
The piano? *Looks around too* Err...the heck? The piano...isn't here...
Odd...well, it never really was much use, anyway. I'll get all this inside for us.

Beta carries the crates inside the house, and puts them in the right rooms. At least his dad labelled where each one should go. Once 9 blue crates are inside, he starts to move the 10th one.
I love having a wolf around the house.
I love having a caring dad like you. You got the bags in?
Yup, yup. So we're close to being finnnnnnnnnn............
Dad...what is it?
I've just found the piano.
Huh?
It's on top of the roof...of the house...next to ours...
Stop kidding me, Dad.
Have a look for yourself, mate.

Beta steps out of the house and looks where Bob is pointing to.
................................how in the world did it get up there?
So should we knock on next door's house?
Of course we should, dad.

Beta and Bob walk up to the door of the house on the left of theirs, and Bob knocks on the door.
[OOC: Whoever wants to be one of my neighbours, open your front door or whatever]

Max noticed that a man came up to their door, "Hold on Winter." He told her as he walked up to the man, "Hello sir, my name is Max. My mom's at work and my dad's asleep. Can I help you with something?" He asked politely.

Bob looked down at Max. Hello, I'm Bob Thomas, and this is my pet wolf, Beta.
Please to meet you, Max said Beta in a joyful tone.
We just moved into the house next door, and, well...how can I put this...
Bob couldn't find the right words to use. Beta, however, was prepared to say it straight and honest.
Within the space of 15 minutes, our piano has disappeared, and now reappeared on top of your house's roof.
Yes...this has actually happened. I don't know if you could help us at all, or if you would be better off getting your dad, but the fact remains...our piano is on your house's roof.

The words he said earlier reverberated in his head as he looked to his right to see a piano on the top of his neighbors house.
"..."
Lucky walked back inside his house and on his way to his room, he wiped the dust off of his brothers picture in the living room.
Lucky sighed, decided he didn't want to play the PS3, and just got his knives instead and went outside to start practicing with the tree.

Awesome had walked back to his house not long after Betawolf and Bob got into their house again. He felt like too many people were getting involved.
"Awesome, guess who's coming round soon!"
What? Is this what the phone call was about? "Erm, somebody you know here?"
"Yes. Will is comin' round soon and he's bringing his pet cat! Remember, we came to this area a few years ago when you were a pup before moving to England".
I didn't know I ever left England before...
"I forgot the cat's name, but you two got along really well back in the day...so how was the wolf?"
"very nice...nicer then I thought. Him and his owner seem like quite a pair. Could I go to the cellar for a rest please?"
"sure, enjoy yourself." He said as he grabbed a random sword and walked upstairs.
Awesome walked to his cellar and rested on the bed...he noticed how amazing the sword lily looked on the perch as the sun made a cool shadow across the room. It had been quite a day already, and he needed to think before it continued.

After practicing on the tree for a while, Lucky was tired and worn out, and it seemed like the tree was too.
He went inside to put up the knives, and came back out, too still find the piano on the neighbors house, it hadn't moved from where it was.

he walked down the road, and turned into the park and went over to the dog park section, to his despair, it was empty. no one was there and it was quiet. it unnerved him, but he got over it and sat down on one of the swings and started swinging.

After Vanilla had a good cry, she worked up her courage and knocked on Honey's door. Perhaps if she confessed everything (after securing Honey's promise not to tell anyone), it would discourage Honey from starting anything with Monty.

"It's open," said Honey.

Vanilla slowly stepped inside and closed the door.

"This does not leave the room," said Vanilla.

"Not even to tell Dad?"

"No."

Honey felt a little uncomfortable when the restrictions were that severe, but she nodded.

"You know Strawberry's brother?"

"No...I didn't even know Strawberry HAD a brother...." said Honey honestly.

Vanilla sighed and sat next to Honey on the bed. "He was a German Shepherd. His name was Wort. He was a police dog."

"I didn't know that...." said Honey. "Is he the one...?"

"Would you please let me finish?"

Honey apologized and kept silent.

"...He's how I came to know Strawberry. I thought I LIKED Wort, but I was afraid to even talk to him. You know why. When Strawberry started up a friendship with me, I...part of me wanted to use it as an opportunity to get to know Wort through his sister.... I know it's selfish now, and it serves me right that...."

"That what?"

Vanilla shook her head vigorously. "Anyway, some good came out of it because Strawberry was the only real friend I've ever had. She was even there when I.... When he...."

She started to cry. Honey offered her shoulder. Vanilla didn't have to say anything. Wort had rejected her. She didn't know how--had he been rough? Had he been insulted? Had he laughed? Had he been indifferent? Had he been awkwardly polite? However he'd been, he had rejected Vanilla, that much was plain.

"You see?" said Vanilla when she found her voice again. "You see what romantic love does to you?"

Honey put her paws on her sister's shoulders. "I'm very sorry...what happened to you. I wish it could have been otherwise, because love CAN be otherwise. It CAN be the most wonderful thing in the world. Risking a broken heart is the price you have to pay for falling in love. I'm not in love with Monty, but I will say this: IF I were, I'm glad I have a sister I could talk to if things didn't work out with me and him."

She hugged Vanilla. "And if things DID work out, I assure you that I would never let it make me forget about you. You come first, before any boyfriend I might have."

At this, Vanilla couldn't help participating in the hug herself. Honey didn't tell Vanilla that she could have come to HER to talk about her broken heart. Honey wasn't even offended--she was glad that Vanilla had had another friend to talk to, especially one so close to the situation.

"I won't tell anyone," said Honey. "Not even Dad. Not unless you say it's okay."

Max looked at the piano up there, and he couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, let's get our ladder. Then Bob and I can climb up there and lower the piano to you, Beta." Max suggested.

You sure you're strong enough to do that, little guy?
More importantly, how did it get up there? Does stuff like that normally happen around here, Max?
Beta turns to Bob. I really don't think that he'd be able to do that, even with your help. Maybe I should go up there instead...but even then we need a way of lowering it down.
Beta turns back to Max. If you really want to help...you got any rope in that house?