Archive of Our Own ^beta

Otto looked up from his desk and lowered the screwdriver in his hand as the double doors to his lab slid open. A moment later, Raz’s head peeked up from behind the desk. Raz slid both hands onto the countertop, drumming the tips of his fingers on it.

“Ah, Razputin.” Otto set down the screwdriver and straightened up. “What brings you into my lab today?” Otto didn’t get a lot of visitors, and the Motherlobe didn’t get a lot of Otto. But getting to see Raz’s smile always put a smile on his face.

“I’ve been busy with getting settled in, so I wanted to see what you’ve been working on during all that,” Raz replied.

Otto’s smile widened, and he stood up from his seat. Before he had time to speak, his legs were already carrying him into his laboratory. Raz followed close behind him, his pace faster than usual as he followed.

Wait, I’ve never offered to let him see, Otto thought to himself.  “Why don’t I show you?” he asked Raz.

“Sure!” Raz replied. Otto briefly thought about the moment that had passed by, before brushing the thought aside. It was no matter now.

As the two walked through the shadowy laboratory, they passed by gizmos that blinked and contraptions that beeped. Finally, they stopped in front of a table. Various clear bottles filled with a thick, colorful liquid sat amongst the beakers. Otto picked up one of the bottles, and held up into the air like Rafiki holding Simba into the light of the sun.

“I call them Bottled Emotions. Distilled fresh from my own raw feelings!”

“Bottled emotions?” Raz asked

"Yes! They-”

“Arf!”

Otto and Raz whirled around. Bounding towards them was a large dog with a white coat that shook more like jelly than fur as it jumped about. Before Otto or Raz could blink, the dog was flying towards them through the air as a white blur. Otto dropped the bottle onto the table and ducked, while Raz yelped and rolled to the side.

The dog flew between the pair and landed on top of the table. It lowered its nose at the bottles, the tiny black dot scrunching as it sniffed. Then, it sat on top of the bottles. Its body jiggled, distorting against the bottles, then bounced onto the table with a wet slap as it absorbed the bottles into its body.

Otto stood up from the floor, adjusted his glasses, and blinked at the situation in front of him. Then, he gasped. “What kind of creature are you?” he asked the dog.

“Uh, Otto-”

“And here I thought that ectoplasmic beings-”

“Otto!” Raz interjected.

Otto jumped and turned around. “Yes, Razputin?”

“That dog kind of uh… took your Bottled Emotions.”

"Mm," Otto hummed and looked over to the dog. "You think he'll let me take them?"

Before waiting for a response, Otto reached out a hand towards the dog. The dog stood up, bottles still suspended in its body, and backed away from Otto. It jumped off the table and hopped around the two on the floor, not staying still for even a second, with its tail wagging at a million miles per hour.

“I think that’s a no,” Raz said.

Otto held his face in one hand. “My best work, stolen by a dog!”

“Maybe I could ask him for the bottles back,” Raz said. “He probably just wants to play.”

Otto looked at Raz with a raised eyebrow.

“Dogen’s been showing me how to use zoolingualism!”

“Be my guest, Razputin.”

Raz crouched down, looking at the dog. As he focused on it, an orange glow came from his temples.

“Hey boy, can you hear me?” Raz asked in his thoughts.

“Hiiii!” the dog replied, its voice bouncing around in Raz’s head. Its voice was high pitched and filled with giggles, but scratched at the inside of Raz’s skull like nails on a chalkboard. Raz smiled, but at the same time, thrust his hands into his pockets so that he wouldn't cover his ears.

“Who’s a good boy?” Raz asked.

“I’m a good boy!” the dog replied. It bounced up to Raz and tackled him to the floor. Before Raz realized what was happening, four paws were standing on his body and his face was covered in dog slobber as a tongue licked all over his face.

“I just met you, and I looooove you!” The dog’s voice had gotten louder, having gone from loud laughter to a barely-repressed shout.  

Raz giggled, lowered one of his hands, and petted the dog on it’s back. Instead of soft fur running through his fingers, he felt thick, slippery slime that wibbled and wobbled as he moved his hand.

It’s like petting one of Nona’s shrimp salad cakes, Raz thought to himself, shuddering as a mental image of the lime-green cake flashed through his mind.

“Yeah, you’re a good boy,” Raz said. “In fact, if you’re a really good boy-”

“Whaaaat?” The dog paused licking at Raz, perked up its ears, and tilted its head. “Did you saaaaay something?”

Raz raised his voice. “I said, if you’re a really good boy-”

“You mumble too much!” The dog returned to licking at Raz’s face.

From his spot on the floor, Raz turned his head to one side, and glanced up to look at Otto. Otto looked back down at Raz. Otto flared his nostrils, and Raz let out a silent sigh. Then, Raz turned his head back to look at the dog.

“Hey, can I have the bottles back?” Raz asked.

“Aw, but they’re so preeeeeety!” the dog replied. It hopped off of Raz, and started to jump around Otto and Raz again. “They even make a funny sound!” The dog shook its body, and the bottles let out a clink  as they knocked together.

Raz sat up on the floor. “Can I have them back? Please?”

“Nope, sorry, they’re mine now!” The dog ran off, vanishing into the depths of Otto’s lab.