Man's Best Friend

   "Hey there." Derrick would turn around,

   "Henry? I haven't seen you in ages, come on come on!" Derrick wraps an arm around Henry's shoulders and walks him to a nearby bench on his porch.

   "Sorry about the seating arrangements but you don't want to go in there now." Derrick says as he gestures to his front door, "So what's the occasion Henry?"

   "I completed my term in the military and thought I'd catch up with an old friend." He glances around the porch, "and I remember how you always talked about opening up a farm in Verdentia and from the looks of it you're well on your way."

   "Yeah..." Derrick runs a hand across a nearby wall, "thanks, it's a dream come true."

A dog comes barreling towards Derrick jumping on his lap.

   "Whoa is that little Riley? What have you been feeding him? He's huge!"

Derrick laughs as he plays with Riley,

   "Yeah I always told you they grew big in Roojumi, they are the best breed if you ask me."

   "Really? What makes you say that, their size? If I had a dog that big I would expect him to be a person in his own right." Henry laughs.

   "Well..." Derrick says.

   "You're kidding..."

   "Yeah just a little ."

Henry furrows his brow, "What do you mean?"

   "Well you see the reason why I’m so obsessed with Riley's breed in particular is because of the surprising amount of agency and the considerable capacity to learn new tricks his kind boasts." Derrick points at his farm, "Infact all day Riley here's been helping me plow the seedbed all day, it's made my work twice as easy."

   "Little Riley helped you with all of this? Are you pulling my leg Derrick?" Henry says but Derrick waves him off enthusiastically,

   "No I'm being serious! I was about to plant the seeds with his help before you came- just watch this." He turns to Riley who is resting on the floor besides him,

   "Hey buddy, which one of us is Henry?"

Without getting off the ground Riley raises his head and points with his snout at Henry, Derrick looks pleased.

   "See what I mean?" Derrick says giving Riley a congratulatory pat on the head, the dog would resume lounging on the ground. Henry has his arms folded and looks at Derrick with concern,

   "It's a shame, I thought your prankster days were behind you."

Derrick recoils,

   "Why don't you believe me? How many dogs do you know can do that?"

   "...All of them, with sufficient training anyway. I can even teach my two year old that"

Derrick clears his throat, "Congratulations. But I assure you I am not pulling your leg! Riley's just tired after all, he plowed more fields than me today. You can look behind the house to check"

Henry rolls his eyes, sighing,

   "It's okay. I don't care anymore." He rises out of his seat, "It was nice seeing you after such a long time apart." He walks towards the front door, "Though I'll admit it's a shame I wasn't able to see what's being worked on in there." He knocks on the door and Derrick suddenly waves Henry towards him.

   "Oh don't do that! They'll think-"

A stampede is heard approaching the door resulting in the door flying off its hinges, impacting Henry's face and sending him careening down the porch steps with several large canines surrounding him licking about.

   "Back! Give him some air!" Derrick runs towards Henry collapsing near him,

   "Henry! Are you still there?"

Henry lifts his head and stares at Derrick with a wild look in his eyes, "What was that?"

"Riley's relatives they decided to help build my new home when they heard I moved out with him here."

Henry gives Derrick a crinkled look,

   "S-so the dogs were helping you with construction?"

Derrick nods, "Yes it's why I didn't want to go inside and disturb them, they generously assisted me so I told them at a knock on the door I'd have their supper ready."

   "Y-you made an agreement?"

Derrick nods smiling "Do you believe me now?"

Henry smiles back and passes out.  

Henry would come to later looking around to gather his bearings. The first thing he noticed was that it was night and that he was in a wheelchair, “Gosh I hope this isn't as bad as it looks.”

   “It isn't but you can never be careful with these things.” Derrick says stretching and yawning.

   “So where are we now?”

   “The patio, where I should've took us the first time.” Derrick says

   “So where are Riley’s relatives?” Henry says

   “Oh them? They finished the house so I made them supper and they went on their way.”

   “Maybe I should call on them next time I want to build a house.” Henry says and Derrick laughs.

   “I'm not joking.”

Derrick looks over at Henry and sees him in deep contemplation, “Whoa you are serious, what convinced you?”

   “A whole bunch of things least of which wasn't being launched by a pack of hungry workers. Definitely not.”

Derrick rubs his head, “I'm sorry for not warning you about that, I was caught up in seeing you again- it was all my fault.”

Henry shrugs, “All I have are some bruises I'll live and actually…I want to apologize to you.”

   “Huh, what for?”

   “For not believing you and worse yet accusing you of lying, you’re my friend and I should trust you more. So I'm sorry Derrick.”

Derrick laughs, “Of course it’s okay, we used to joke around like that all the time. I'll also live”

Henry sighs, “Well it has been a while so I didn't know if we had that same rapport but don't get me wrong I'm glad we still do.”

   “Look who’s grown deep over the years.”

   “I’d like you to show me the rock you were living under over the years- I was always like this!”

   “True I still remember back in middle school how you used to call out of turn and debate with Ms. Henna about the folly of the Monarchy system.”

   “Well unlike you she could keep up with me in debates! Infact I remember convincing her in the end.”

Laughter would ensue and the two would continue to take digs at each other until the crack of dawn.