Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sandor raised an eyebrow at his clearly insane girlfriend. She was gorgeous, kind, brilliant, talented at her craft, and she loved him. Him. A scarred old hound dog. Definitely something off about this one. Not that he was about to hold that against her, but this idea just completely took the cake.

“You want to have a party... for the dogs.” He just wanted to make absolutely certain he understood what she was talking about.

Sansa sighed heavily. “For the third time, yes. Nothing too big. Some doggy-safe cake, some new collars, new ID tags and some new toys. You know, it’s not every day that they graduate obedience school together.” Stranger had been taking the same damned class three seasons running, never quite managing to pass. Sandor was sure the son of a bitch was doing it on purpose. He liked to play in the pet store that housed the training school, and if he didn’t have training, he wouldn’t be able to go to the pet store. The dog was too smart for his own good. Or Sandor’s good, for that matter. Once Sansa introduced him to Lady, however, Stranger changed his tune. Lady was excellent at her training, and was unimpressed with her new canine associate’s skills. It became do or die, with Stranger showing a new enthusiasm to learn the commands and tricks. They enrolled the two dogs in the training course together, and thanks to Lady’s unwitting encouragement, Stranger passed with flying colors.

There was a small graduation ceremony planned for the class, where the dogs would show off what they learned and then receive “diplomas”.

It sounded incredibly stupid, but Sansa was excited about it. He breathed in deeply. The things I do for love. “Fine, if you insist, we’ll do something for the dogs. After the graduation crap.” Sansa bounced up and down and hugged him, then hugged the dogs. They looked confused but happy for the attention.

Hmm...I guess it is pretty momentous. I should help out. Just a bit, he thought.

**********

The day of the graduation ceremony arrived. Sansa was very much the proud pet parent and dressed up a little for the event. Sandor wore his nicest black t-shirt and blue jeans. She allowed herself to squeeze his butt just once before the ceremony started. Part of the training was to respond to voice commands from a distance, so the pet parents were able to take pictures along with demonstrating their pets’ learned skills. When it was Lady’s turn, Sansa planned to take dozens of photos with her phone, and then pick out the best five to print to put in a little album. She would be ready with her phone again for when Stranger’s name was called, but before any of the dogs could start, Sandor told her to not worry about it. Sansa stared as Podrick Payne, bailiff to Judge Tyrion Lannister and close friend to Brienne, set up a tripod and state of the art SLR camera with a huge lens on it.

“What is he doing?” she asked Sandor. It was concerning. Pod didn’t even own a dog. Why was he here?

He just shrugged. “He’s an amatuer photographer. I paid him fifty bucks to get both our dogs.”

“Oh…” Sansa put her phone away.

**********

After the ceremony, they took the dogs to the park. Sansa had some new toys ready to play with, a brand new frisbee for Lady, and a new (supposedly indestructible) rope for Stranger. She grabbed the plastic pet store bag with the toys, the new collar and tag sets, and a couple of the fancy treats that were sold a la carte from the trunk. She turned to find Sandor signing for a delivery. A delivery of two baskets that nearly reached to her mid-thigh, full of dog clothing, toys, and treats. She placed the bag back in the trunk, sighed as she closed it with a loud thunk and went to join Sandor to play with the dogs.

**********

On the way back to his place, they stopped by hers to pick up the little cakes she had made for each dog. A two tier cake box sat in her lap, jiggling up and down on her knees from her excitement. She had researched long and hard on making cakes dogs could eat, as well as making sure they each got their favorite. Lady preferred salmon while Stranger liked lamb best. Setting the cakes on the counter next to the unopened bag of goodies from before, she turned to Sandor. “So, dinner first, and then we can give them the cakes?”

“Oh, yeah, about that. I actually made a dinner for them.”

She blinked. “A...dinner?”

He looked nervous. “Yeah, nothing much. I just need to heat up the plates.”

“Plates…”

“Yeah, I did a quick search and found a recipe for steak and sweet potatoes. Went to the meat counter, got some decent cuts, cooked it up earlier, now I just need to heat it up and serve.”

“You...got the dogs steak? From the meat counter at the store?”

“Yeah, where else would you get steak?” He looked perplexed.

She clenched her fist, but he couldn’t see it from where he stood. He didn’t even WANT to do this in the first place! What is he… No, this is not about who can treat Lady and Stranger better. This is about celebrating their mutual achievements. Even if he HAS outdone me on every turn. She gave him a strained smile. “And for us?”

“Oh...uh...pizza ok?”

She was going to murder him.

**********

Ok, I am NOT going to murder him. He’s just...excited. Stranger has been through this course multiple times and this is the first time he’s actually completed it. Of course Sandor is excited! And his excitement caused him to go overboard. That’s understandable. Perfectly reasonable. I did the same...well, not QUITE the same, but a very similar thing when Lady finished her first puppy obedience course. So what if he outdid me for the celebration? It’s a big deal for Stranger and deserves to be recognized as such. I can give them their new collars and tags tomorrow, and new toys are always welcome, no matter the day. Treats are doubly so. She was in the bathroom, toweling her hair off from her shower, her pajamas a little damp, and was getting ready to go to bed. Everyone else was down for the night, Sandor had put the dogs in their crates, leaving her alone for the moment. I feel better. A hot shower helped clear my thoughts and emotions. Today was a good day. Odd, but good. And tomorrow will be good as well. She gave her reflection a self-satisfied nod and flicked off the bathroom light as she left.

She entered the bedroom to find both Stranger and Lady sprawled together on her side of the bed, with Sandor dead asleep on his. She sighed and shook her head. Well...crap. Looks like it’s the couch for me. She could have just gone back to her apartment, but it was late and she was tired. The lamp on her side of the bed was on, illuminating the room in soft yellow light. She grabbed a pillow, turned the lamp off and walked back to the living room. At least it’s a comfy couch with a warm blanket, she thought as she settled in. The quilt Sandor’s mother had made was on the back of the couch and she pulled it down over her.

It wasn’t quite how she pictured the day going, being outshined by her boyfriend, ignored by the dogs, and now set to sleep alone on the couch. The first sniffle was quiet, but was soon followed by another, and then another, until she was crying into her pillow, trying to not sob from her frustration and failing miserably.

A cold nose to her cheek startled her, then a warm tongue lapped up her tears. Another cold nose snuffled in her hair. “Lady? Stranger?” She could hear more than see as the two tails started wagging happily, and they climbed onto the couch with her. She was glad the couch had deep cushions, or else the two large dogs wouldn’t fit. Lady snuggled to her front, while Stranger curled up to the back of her knees. It was so odd, this feeling of being surrounded by dogs, but she found herself comforted by their presence and warmth. The tension, the frustration, the anger, it all melted away.

**********

A growl woke her. The sun was shining through the venetian blinds, and Sandor stood in front of her, the pet store bag in his hand. Stranger was growling at him. The giant black dog had moved during the night and was laying half on Sansa’s back, and half squished between her and the back cushions of the couch.

“Shut it, you tempermental bastard,” Sandor said with a bit of amusement. Stranger ignored him.

“Hush, Stranger,” Sansa whispered, and the dog quieted down, but kept his eyes on Sandor.

Sandor knelt in front of Sansa and held up the bag. “What’s this then?”

“Nothing...just some stuff,” she said. She wasn’t angry anymore, but she felt embarrassed and didn’t want to talk about it.

Sandor sighed and sat on the floor. He still towered over her, but his face was closer to hers. “Little bird…it’s not nothing. You slept on the couch last night instead of the bed. The dogs are huddled around you like a security team. MY dog is growling at me, protecting you from me. That’s not nothing.”

“Well, I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“Tough shit. I do. Why do you have this?” He held up the bag again. “You were very adamant about celebrating yesterday, yet you did very little.”

Stranger growled again, though a hand to his jowl from Sansa had him being quiet again. “It’s stupid.”

“Tell me anyway.”

She made a noise of frustration. “You did everything and you did it better!”

He looked at her in surprise. “What? I only helped a little.”

She raised both eyebrows at him. “A little?! Sandor, you hired a photographer--”

“Amatuer photographer.”

“You got two baskets nearly as big as the dogs, full of goodies, delivered to the dog park.”

“I just thought they would like it--”

“You cooked them steak dinners and ordered pizza as an afterthought for us. Which, by the way, OUCH.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

“And then, when I get to the bedroom, I find you passed out, and the dogs are taking up all the room on my side of the bed, when they were supposed to be put to bed in their crates, like you promised you would do while I was showering.” Her ire was peaked again, and Sandor looked thoroughly chagrined.

“You...could have...gotten them off the bed?”

Stranger was nuzzling her shoulder. It was breaking up the physical tension she was feeling and she just felt tired as the anger drained again. “Sandor, that’s not the point. I was really excited about yesterday, and it felt like you were one-upping me all day. By that point, I was feeling too sorry for myself, and frankly, I did not want to share the bed with you because I was that frustrated. I probably would have kicked or punched you in my sleep.” He laughed at that and even she managed to crack a grin. “Look, can we just forget about it? Both Lady and Stranger had a good time, and that’s what we should be concentrating on.”

“I hate that I made you feel that way. I’m your loyal dog, supposed to make you just as happy as these two mutts,” Sandor said, pointing at the two dogs. Lady gave him a delicate sniff and turned away from him, while Stranger growled.

“You know I don’t like it when you call yourself that,” she said, frowning at him.

“It’s true though. You are the proud master of one,” he pointed at Lady, “two,” pointed at Stranger, “three dogs.” He pointed at himself. “You’re practically a Clegane with a pack of three.”

She snorted. “Yeah, sure, why don’t I just legally change my name then?”

He stared at her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She looked at him in confusion, but he just gave her that tender little smile of his. “Sorry about yesterday. I didn’t realize how overboard I was going. It was your idea and I shouldn’t have done all that stuff without talking to you about it first. I really didn’t meant to upset you. That’s the last thing I want to do.”

“I know...I’m to blame, too. I should have said something. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, and kissed her. “How about I make some breakfast? For all of us.”

“That sounds lovely,” she said, right before Stranger laid his head across her face. “Ack! Less lovely!! Less lovely!!!”

**********

Sansa was cleaning the dog drool off her face as Sandor got started on breakfast. His mind was a million miles away as the rest of him went on autopilot. Stranger sat next to him, dutifully waiting for bits of food to drop. Lady sat on the other side of him. She wouldn’t rush to any dropped morsels, but she did tend to get just as much food from Sandor as Stranger got from the floor. He nodded to himself, smiling and humming as he worked.