Dalmatian St, Camden Town, London.

A dog was making its way through the street, towards a certain house.

"98, 99, 100… 101, this must be it!" It stopped in front of the house, numbered "101", knocking on the main door, the dog sat down waiting for it to open.

The dog's ears stood up when a voice from the other side shouted:

"Coming!"

A beep was heard, drawing the dog's attention for a second before the door opened.

A Dog with white fur on spots, a black right ear with white spots, and a red collar with a star attached to it, a Dalmatian emerged out of the house.

"Oh, Hello! How can I help you?" the Dalmatian asked, noticing that the dog standing in front of him was a Dalmatian as well.

"Hello there! I moved here yesterday and I wanted to introduce myself." the Dalmatian said, as the black-eared dog inspected the stranger, immediately noticing that he was very tall, both his eyes had black patches covering them, his tail was completely covered in black, and wore a crimson collar with white dots and a golden tag attached to it.

"My name is Desmond, Desmond Dots, nice to meet you." He said as the black-eared dog stood there in awe, admiring his height.

"Ah… Oh, Sorry! Dylan! My name is Dylan Dalmatian." The dog said, startled.

"Sorry again, but you're just so tall, couldn't help but stare a bit. I hope I'm not being rude." He said nervously.

"Nah, don't worry, I get that a lot. Lots of dogs are surprised by how tall I am, especially when they learn that I'm still an adolescent." He said with a smile.

"What?! I'm one too!" Dylan said surprised.

"Yeah, I noticed"

"I mistook you for an adult, actually." Dylan replied, giggling a bit.

Desmond looked around the door before locking eyes with Dylan again.

"Say, Dylan. Earlier I heard a beeping sound around the door. Know what that was?" Desmond asked curiously.

"Oh! That's just our paw-print scanner, can't be too careful you know?"

"But… How is your human going to get in then?"

"Human? We don't have a human. My family and I live here all by ourselves." Dylan said proudly.

"That so?! I've never heard of dogs living in a house without a human." Desmond exclaimed in confusion and surprise.

"Got to say, you and your family sure are impressive, if you can live like that, all by yourselves." Desmond said impressed.

"Why thank you! Most dogs around here don't think highly of us because of that." Dylan said a bit peeved.

"Pay them no attention. As long as you're happy as you are, that's the only thing that matters." Desmond said encouragingly.

"Right!" Dylan said in confidence.

"Hey, Desmond. You said you just moved in, right? Can I ask where from?"

"Romania." He told him.

"Wow! From Romania?! That far away?" Dylan exclaimed.

"Well it's not a big deal, don't be that surprised." Said Desmond, chuckling a little.

"I should give you a tour around Camden then." Dylan said eagerly.

"I'd appreciate it. It'd be nice knowing the area, seeing as I'll be staying for a long time."

"Great!"

"Hey, Desmond. Why don't you come in, talking outside like this is a bit awkward." said Dylan with a smile, pointing towards the inside of the house.

"Oh no, no, please, you're being too kind Dylan!" Desmond said surprised.

"Please, I insist. You'll also meet my family too. Didn't you want to meet all your new neighbors?" asked Dylan.

"If you insist then." Desmond said, following Dylan inside the house.

Dylan closed the door as they entered the house. Desmond looked around noticing a staircase in front of him leading to a second floor.

"Sorry, it's a bit dirty. I was just halfway done cleaning when you showed up." Dylan said a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry. I can get pretty messy too." Desmond said, trying to relate to him.

"Well, make yourself at home. The living room is at your left, down the hallway. I'll be with you in—" Dylan was interrupted when another Dalmatian slid down the staircase's banister landing in front of Desmond.

Desmond took a good look at her, she had longer than usual ears, had three black spots under both her eyes, the spots on her legs resembled bands, and she had three differently colored collars instead of one.

"Who's the new guy, Dylan? She asked with curiosity.

"This is Desmond, he just moved in and came to introduce himself." Dylan told her.

"So, Des then?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, if you prefer." Desmond said returning the smile.

"This is my sister, Dolly." Dylan said a bit annoyed by his sister's interruption.

"And as I was saying, you can go wait in the living room while I finish cleaning, Desmond." Dylan said quickly going back to cleaning the house.

"I'll be right back!" He exclaimed.

"Don't worry bro, I'll keep him company." Said Dolly walking beside Desmond through the hallway.

As they entered the living room, Dolly gestured towards a couch on which Desmond could sit on.

"So, Des, where are you from?"

"Romania."

"Oh! First time in London then?"

"Yeah."

"You should get to know the place in that case." Dolly suggested.

"Dylan offered to give me a tour around Camden, actually."

"Cool, cool." Dolly said with disinterest when she heard that her brother would be the tour guide.

"Do you have any relatives or friends around here?" she asked, intrigued.

"No, I came here alone."

"Whaa?! All by yourself? Sounds pretty lonely."

"I suppose, but I'm used to living by myself."

"How so?"

"Since my parents are constantly at work, I don't get to see them that often and I don't have siblings, so most of the time I'm the only one at home." Desmond said, with a bit of sadness in his voice.

"Any friends, then?" asked Dolly, a bit concerned.

"Well, a few, but they are very reliable and sometimes come over at my home or call me to hang out with them. They always got my back when I need it." Said Desmond, with a cheerful smile.

"That's good to hear!" she said, patting him on the back.

"You sound like the total opposite of our family."

Desmond cocked his head and rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"Dylan and I have a very big family, you see."

"Oh?!" responded Desmond, perking up his ears.

"Yep! He and I are the bosses here. We take care of all our siblings when our parents aren't at home, of course. Though, Dylan can be a control freak some times." Dolly smirked, as she mentioned her brother's name.

"No, I'm not!" Dylan sternly said, overhearing his sister, as he came back from his chore.

"Just kidding, bro." she said with a smirk.

"Anyway, hope she didn't bother you too much, Desmond."

"No, not at all. She seems nice."

"Yeah, if by nice you mean irresponsible." Dylan said staring at his sister.

"You should've helped me with the chores, Dolly." He said in annoyance

"Chill, Dylan. I said that I'd help you later, remember?" she replied, as she laid down on the couch, next to Desmond.

"What help?! I'm already done with—" Dylan stopped, sighing as he realized the futility in scolding his sister.

"Okay, okay. How about I do all the chores tomorrow?" she offered.

"… Fine." He replied, focusing his attention back at Desmond.

"Alright, Desmond. Now that you've met Dolly, it's time for you to meet the rest of the family." Dylan said, gesturing for Desmond to follow him.

Dolly joined them as they walked to the backyard.

As they stepped outside the house and into the backyard, a ball hit Desmond on the head causing him to halt in astonishment.

"Heads-up, Des!" Dolly exclaimed as another ball was heading Desmond's way.

He jumped to the side avoiding the ball, then quickly ducked, when a racket flew over his head.

"Ah! Desmond, are you alright?!" yelled Dylan worried, rushing to his aid.

"I'm fine."

"But you mind telling me what that was?" Desmond asked, a little startled.

"Turn around and you'll see." Dolly said, pointing behind him.

Desmond turned his head around, wondering what Dolly meant. His eyes widened in disbelief of what he saw. There were dozens of small puppy Dalmatians, running around the backyard playing games such as tug of war, hide and seek, hopscotch, Simon says, tag, and so on.

"Are those all of your siblings?!" Desmond asked astonished.

"How many are there?"

"97, but not all of them are here, some are still in the house" Dolly answered, with a smug smile.

"I know you said you had a big family, but I wasn't expecting this!"

"Hey, everyone! Attention, please!" Dylan yelled at the pups, drawing their attention towards him.

"This is Desmond, he just moved in, so I expect all of you to come greet—" Dylan was cut off by a huge wave of puppies, jumping onto Desmond knocking him down on the ground in a big, group hug.

"Ouch!" Desmond exclaimed.

"They certainly are friendly." He said, gasping for air.

Desmond tried pulling himself out from the puppy pile to no avail. Dylan and Dolly grabbed his paws, helping him pull out of the pile of siblings.

"Sorry about that. You alright?" Dylan asked as he stood Desmond up.

"I'm good. Not used to this kind of greeting though." Desmond replied, rubbing his head.

"Don't sweat it, Des. You'll get used to it." Reassured Dolly.

Dylan turned his attention towards the pups, giving them a stern stare, causing them to immediately stand up from the ground and line up in front of him.

"How many times must I tell you not to do that to our guests?" he asked the puppies, with a firm tone.

"We're sorry, big brother." The little puppies apologized in unison.

"Now, how about you greet our guest properly?"

"Hello, mister Desmond!" the pups said in unison again.

"Hello, everyone." Desmond replied, blushing a bit.

"C'mon, bro, give 'em some slack. They were just being friendly." Dolly said.

"Tackling someone on the ground isn't friendly, Dolly." Dylan differed.

"Whatever you say, General party pooper." She said, sneering at him.

Dylan just rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, the ground under Desmond gave in and he fell into a deep hole.

"AH!" Desmond groaned when he hit the bottom of the hole.

"My back!" he whimpered.

Desmond felt something moving under him, a small Dalmatian pup popped its head up from the dirt, staring at him.

"Hello." He greeted, innocently.

"Hi!" Desmond replied, baffled.

"You look new, your smell is new too!" the pup said, giving a big smile.

Desmond stood himself up, allowing the pup to fully emerge from the dirt beneath him.

Now he got a better look at the small Dalmatian. He was covered in mud-stains, had a monobrow, and wore a light brown collar.

"You're also very tall." the pup said, examining Desmond.

"And you're very muddy." Desmond said, putting his paw on the pup's head, shaking it in a playful manner.

"Hehe! That's because I love digging!"

"I take it you're the one who made this hole, then?"

"Yup! Not only this hole, but I also dig all the holes here!" the pup proudly declared.

"That so?" Desmond said in amusement.

"Say, I didn't get your name, little guy."

"I'm Diesel!" he replied.

"I am Desmond, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Desmond!" Diesel said, with a broad smile.

"So, Diesel, think you can get us out of here?"

"Yeah, I can. Just follow me." He said, heading towards the hole's wall, burring his paws into it.

"Dig, dig, dig…" he started repeating as he began digging upwards.

Desmond entered the newly made hole, Diesel dug, following him to the surface.


"Oh, my dog! Oh, my dog! Quickly get a rope or something, Dolly!" Dylan yelled at his sister.

"Already got one." Dolly replied, giving it to her brother.

"This is Diesel's work. I know he loves digging and all, but his craze for making holes has recently gone overboard!

"What will Desmond think of us now? He got hit by a ball, almost didn't lose his head from a racket, and now this!"

Dylan and Dolly started lowering the rope in the hole when they heard a loud digging noise behind them.

Diesel emerged from the ground, jumping on the surface, shaking some dirt off, quickly followed by Desmond.

Dylan and Dolly ran towards them.

"Desmond are you hurt, any injuries?!" Dylan asked, inspecting Desmond's body thoroughly.

"You okay, Des?" Dolly asked concerned.

"Just bruised my back a little, nothing to worry about." Desmond replied, rubbing his back.

"A little? Your whole back's in bruises! And you have several wounds!" Dylan exclaimed.

"Are they big?" Desmond asked.

"Fortunately no, but we need to treat them."

"Diesel, look what you've done!" Dylan scolded his brother.

"It was an incident, Dylan. Diesel didn't mean it." Dolly argued.

"Indeed. Diesel here was the one who got me out, in fact." Desmond confirmed, putting a paw on Diesel's head.

Dylan thought a bit, realizing that Diesel really didn't mean any harm.

"Alright, but at least worn when you dig such deep holes, okay?"

"And thanks for getting Desmond out." Dylan said, giving his brother a smile.

"You got it!" Diesel replied, going back to digging holes.

"Oh! I'll be digging a deep hole now." He warned.

"Okay." Dylan replied, giggling.

"Come on, Desmond. We need to take care of your injuries." Dylan told him, as they all went back in the house.


"Ouch! Can you be gentler?" Desmond moaned.

"Sorry, I'm not very good at this." Dylan apologized, as he was warping a bandage around Desmond's lower back.

"Mom's gonna be home soon. If you stay a bit longer, she can better treat your bruises, Des." Dolly offered.

"Oh, yeah! Mum works as a nurse, she'll properly handle your injuries." Dylan said in reassurance.

"Well… Since you offered." Desmond replied. As he felt eyes on him he spun his head around, trying to find who was observing him, but couldn't see anyone.

"Hey, Dylan, Dolly. Do you feel like someone's staring at us?" Desmond asked.

"It's him isn't it?" Dylan asked his sister, giving her a small smile.

"Who else."

"You can come out Dante. He doesn't bite, despite his size." Dolly said, cackling, pointing at Desmond.

Watching carefully from the top of the staircase, a dog with black fur started coming down the stairs. Desmond, at first thought the dog was a black Labrador, but as the dog reached the base of the staircase, he realized that it had white spots on his black coat, the spots on his left ear were purple as were his paws, he had dark pinkish bags under his eyes, and wore a gray spiked collar.

"I was just curious as to why Desmond got injured." Dante said, approaching Desmond.

"You know my name?" Desmond said surprised.

"I overheard your name earlier when you were talking with Dolly." Dante answered.

"Why didn't you come greet him, then?" Dolly asked.

"Just being wary. He could mean disaster to our family, after all!"

"Pardon?" Desmond asked a bit insulted.

"Oh no, don't take it personally, Desmond. Dante's just a little paranoid about everything. He does this with every new person he meets." Dylan explained.

"He's very paranoid, actually." Dolly corrected.

"That's because DOOM AWAITS US ALL EVERYWHERE!" Dante shouted with a dramatic voice.

"Dante, please! Not in front of Desmond. You're going to freak him out." Dylan frowned at his brother.

"Hey, I'm just warning you." Dante said with a gloomy expression.

"So, how did he get hurt?" Dante asked.

"He fell into one of Diesel's holes." Dylan answered.

"If you're going to be hanging around here, you should be wary of everything." Dante warned Desmond.

"I'll keep that in mind." Desmond said in amusement.

"There, all done. This should do it until Mum comes home." Dylan said, finished bandaging Desmond.

"Excuse me! Can you straighten your back a bit, please?" A voice behind Desmond asked.

Everyone spun around seeing a Dalmatian pointing a brush at Desmond while holding a canvas.

Desmond noted that the spots on her fur weren't only black, but in a variety of colors, her paws were stained in paint, she had a black patch on her right eye, her left ear was folded, and instead of a collar, she wore a pink bandanna.

"Why?" Desmond asked intrigued.

"I need a full view of it. You have the figure I was looking for. Oh, and if you can turn your head sideways, that'd be great." The painter dog requested, pointing her brush at Desmond's head.

"Can I get the name of my painter?" Desmond asked while turning his head to the side.

"Da Vinci." The painter dog said, going back to her canvas.

"Da Vinci! You can't just draw others without permission! Ask first, at least." Dylan told his sister.

"It's fine Dylan. I'm a big fan of art, actually. I don't mind, so long as it doesn't take too long." Desmond told him.

"You don't have to stay still all day… Umm…?" Da Vinci struggled to think of a way to refer to the tall dog.

"Desmond." He told her, smiling.

"You don't have to stay still all day, Desmond. If you're okay with it, I'd like to continue this session with you… Tomorrow maybe…? If you have time to spare, of course."

"Sure, just give me a copy when you're done, okay, Da Vinci?" he joked.

"I'll make sure to give you one." Da Vinci chuckled, continuing her work on the painting.

"Well, seeing as this is going to take a while, I'm going to go finish the rest of the chores." Dylan said.

"Come on, Dante. You'll be helping me out with them."

"Why me! Dolly's right there, wasn't she supposed to help you with them today?!" Dante protested, pointing at his older sister.

"She promised me she'd do all the chores tomorrow, that's why I'm not bothering her today." Dylan explained.

"Besides, haven't you been slacking off your chores for the last couple of days?" Dylan said, giving Dante a stern look.

"Have fun with the chores, Dante." Dolly teased her little brother.

"I really wished a catastrophe happened right now." Dante groan.

"You can keep on wishing while washing the dishes." Dylan also teased his little brother.

"I'll be staying here. I'm curious how much time Des can stay still before his body gives up." Dolly jested, looking at Desmond.

"I'll have you know that I've got a lot of stamina in me." Desmond said with a smirk.

"We'll see." Dolly replied, smirking back at him.

After half an hour, Dolly found herself highly bored with watching Da Vinci paint Desmond. So, she quietly slipped out of the room, not wanting to disturb her sister from drawing, and went into the backyard to play with the puppies.

After some more time, a beep was heard coming from the main door as it opened. A mature female Dalmatian entered the house.

"Sweeties, I'm home!" she informed everyone in the house.

"Mum!" Dylan shouted in delight.

"Mom!" So did Dolly, and everybody else in the house. All rushing towards her in a group hug.

"Ah! Mum's home. Well, this is enough for today, Desmond." Da Vinci told him.

"Finally!" Desmond exclaimed, stretching out, cracking his joints.

"Not to sound like I didn't enjoy modeling for you, but my whole body feels sore." He told her while still stretching.

"We can continue this tomorrow if you still want."

"Oh, certainly! I'd like to draw you in a couple other poses if you don't mind."

"Yeah, sure. Whenever you want."

"Alright, I'll go greet Mum. Come meet her, Desmond."

Da Vinci dashed out the living room towards the front door, where her other siblings were, hugging their mother. Desmond walked out of the living room and into the hallway.

As he was making his way towards the pile of pups, he saw that the adult Dalmatian was half a head shorter than him, her right ear was black with white spots just like Dylan's, she wore a blue collar with a green tag attached to it and carried a medkit in her mouth.

"Hey, Mom, where's Dad?" Dolly asked her mother.

"He'll be working the late shift, dear." Her mother answered.

"AWW!" all the pups exclaimed in disappointment.

The adult dog fixed her eyes on Desmond approaching her.

"Oh, why hello! Who might you be, a friend of Dylan and Dolly perhaps?" She asked in wonder.

"That's Desmond, Mum! He's our new neighbor." Dylan answered.

"Yeah! He recently moved all the way from Romania to live here." Dolly added.

"Recently? I did hear that someone was moving to live on the street yesterday. So you were the newcomer?" She said, giving a warm smile.

"Even though Dylan already told you my name, I feel like properly introducing myself." Desmond stated.

"I am Desmond Dots. Pleased to meet you!"

"How well-mannered." She said, delighted.

"Delilah Dalmatian. The pleasure's mine."

Delilah then noticed the bandages on Desmond's body.

"Oh, dear! Are you injured?" she asked, worried.

"That's right! Mum, Desmond fell in one of Diesel's holes and hurt his back." Dylan told his mother, remembering.

"Oh, yeah. Think you can check Des' injuries, Mom?" Dolly asked.

"I tried treating him, but I don't think I did a good job." Dylan said, embarrassed.

"Well, let me see." Delilah said, walking behind Desmond, examining his back.

"Did you wash his wounds first?"

"I… No, I didn't. I just wrapped a couple of bandages around his back." Dylan admitted.

"We'll have to remove these bandages and wash your wounds, Desmond." Delilah told him, gesturing for Desmond to follow her to the bathroom.

All the pups followed right after them.


"AAAAH! Jeez! Why does it hurt so much now?! It didn't before." Desmond yelped, as Delilah washed his wounds.

"Delayed pain." She supposed.

"Delayed pain…? What's that?" Dolly asked, confused.

"It's something that usually happens after an injury, Dolly. Endorphins are released in your body which stops the pain signals traveling to your brain." Delilah explained.

"Aha! Therefore Desmond didn't feel pain at the time of injury, right?" Dylan exclaimed.

"Correct. Now, can you hand me over the peroxide?" she asked her son.

"Here you go, Mom!" a small pup said, handing it over to her mother.

"And here are some cotton pads too!" another small dog said, handing the pads.

"Thank you, Dizzy, Dee Dee." Delilah thanked her daughters.

Desmond turned his attention towards them.

Dee Dee, the one who gave her mother the peroxide, had a black streak between her eyes, her paws were covered in black fur, she had a black spot under her left eye, and wore two blue collars.

Her sister Dizzy had a left black ear with white spots, the spots on her face were in the shape of a pirate mask, she had spots on her legs resembling bands just like Dolly, and wore a blue collar with strips.

"Mister Desmond, is your owie really bad?" Dizzy asked, concerned.

"If so, we hope you get better soon." Dee Dee added.

"Don't worry you two, he's going to be just fine." Delilah reassured as she applied the peroxide on a pad, lightly wiping at Desmond's wounds.

"Augh…! I appreciate you tending to my wounds, Mrs. Dalmatian—"

"Delilah, dear."

"Appreciate you tending to my wounds, Delilah, but you think you can do it less painfully?"

"Afraid not, you'll just have to bear with it."

"Haha! Oh, c'mon, Des, you sound like a little pup!" Dolly joked, snickering at Desmond.

"Like to see you in my place." Desmond replied, irritated.

"Alright, done with the wounds. Dante go get me an ice pack." Delilah told her son.

"Sure." Dante replied, running to the kitchen.

"Here, Mom." He came back carrying a bunch of ice packs.

"One was enough, Dante." She said, cackling a bit.

"This will reduce the swelling." Delilah said, putting the pack on the bruises, then wrapped Desmond's back with a new clean bandage.

"There, this should do it." She told Desmond as she finished bandaging his wounds.

"Thank you, Delilah. Already feeling better." Desmond said with a smile.

"Hehe, if you say so. Now, tell me if the wounds worsen or the pain remains."

"Sure will."

"Oh, hey, Mom! Can we have Desmond stay for dinner?" Dolly asked with excitement.

"Hmm, that's a great idea, Dolly." Delilah noted.

"Say, kids, what do you think? You want Desmond to stay for dinner?" she asked her children.

"YAAAY!" all the pups shouted in agreement.

"Really? But I… Okay, but I'll be staying for a short time. I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense, you're our guest. It'd be a perfect opportunity to get to know you Desmond." Delilah reassured.

"Alright, Dylan, Dolly, and Dante come help me set the table." She told her oldest children.

After a couple of minutes, everyone entered the dining room. Upon entrance, Desmond immediately noticed the table's huge length, it was stretching from one end of the room to the other. Every pup took its place around the table, waiting patiently for Desmond to join them before digging into the food.

"Yo, Des! Come sit over here, next to Dylan and me!" Dolly yelled from across the table.

Desmond made his way towards the end of the table as Dylan and Dolly made room between them for him.

"Ouch…! Hehe, guess this won't be fast to heal." Desmond rubbed his back as he sat down next to them.

The moment Desmond took his seat, all of the puppies dug their snouts into the food splattering kibbles everywhere.

"Wow! Looks like someone's hungry." Desmond exclaimed in surprise, giving a small smile.

"Kids, please, we have a guest. Behave yourselves." Delilah told her children with a bit of sternness in her voice.

All the pups stopped their onslaught on the food and started eating normally.

"Dolly, didn't you say Desmond was from Romania?" Delilah asked her daughter.

"Uh-huh." She nodded her head.

"Well, you know, I've visited the country once before." Delilah told the tall dog.

"Huh? When?! You've never told us that, Mum." Dylan said surprised.

"It was long ago, Dylan. Even before you were born." Delilah told him, giggling a little.

"Really? And what did you think of it?" Desmond asked intrigued.

"It was wonderful. The nature, the people, the architecture, and especially the sunsets, oh, they were my favorite. But unfortunately, I went there during the winter and it was nightmarishly cold."

"At least the weather there is normal, not a mess like here in Britain." He joked.

"You can say that again." She said amused.

"But yeah, it can get a bit cold during winter." Desmond agreed.

"A bit?! I've never felt such chilling cold in my life. I was afraid I'd lose a paw or two." Delilah laughed.

"Though, with all that snow around, everybody there told me that I should try skiing. And I'll tell you I've never had more fun in my life, once I stepped on those skis." She grinned.

"OHO! Mom, you've skied? How did it go?" Dolly asked in eagerness.

"Hehe, well… I fell on my snout, the first couple times, but once I got the hang of it, it was a wonder sliding down the slopes."

"That's from where I learned how to ski, in fact." She added.

"Well, I've tried skiing too, but I figured it wasn't my thing." Desmond replied.

"So, where did you stay?" He asked.

"In Bucharest."

"That's where I was born and grew up." Desmond said, perking up.

"Oh, that so? I'll have to say your city is quite attractive, Desmond." She noted.

Desmond smiled proudly upon hearing that.

"I take it you've visited the Palace of the Parliament, then, since you were in the capital?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss seeing the world's heaviest building."

"Heaviest…? Well, how heavy can it be?" Dylan asked intrigued.

"Does four million tons and a half sound a lot to you?" Desmond answered, raising his eyebrow smugly.

Dylan almost spat out his food from amazement.

"That heavy!" He said baffled.

"Wow!" Dolly exclaimed as did all the pups.

"Visited any other of my country's wonders?" Desmond asked, turning his attention back at Delilah.

"Well…" Delilah gave it a thought when she noticed Dante shaking.

"Dante, what's the matter dear? Are you feeling alright?" she asked her son, a bit worried as everyone turned their attention towards him.

"Oh, I know what's wrong with him." Dolly said, looking at Dante, giving him a frisky smile.

"I bet you're dying to ask, aren't you Dante?" Dolly said, squinting at him.

"Ask what you want, sweetie." Delilah told him.

"Have you… visited Bran Castle?" Dante asked a bit nervous.

"Ha! Knew you'd ask that!" Dolly smirked.

"I was just wondering! I always wanted to go to that castle, you know." Dante said, peeved.

"I'm afraid I haven't visited that castle, Dante. The only one I went to was Pele Castle." Delilah told her son.

"I've been to Bran Castle. You can ask me anything you want about it, Dante." Desmond told him.

"Okay. Is there a torture chamber in the castle?"

"Kind of weird thing to ask Dante, but yeah, there is one."

"What's in it?"

"Well… There's an iron maiden… And an iron chair."

"Nice!" Dante said, with a creepy smile.

"Any other questions?"

"Oh yeah, was—"

"Dante! If you're going to ask any other questions like the previous one, can it wait until after dinner?" Delilah scolded him.

"Alright, Mom." He said a bit annoyed.

"So Desmond, did you move in with your family?"

"No, I moved here alone. My parents didn't mind me moving out of the country, they didn't care that much, to be honest. That's not to say they don't care about me… They just know I can take care of myself."

"What are your parents like?" she asked with interest.

Dolly took special attention to the question.

"Well… My parents and I aren't very close. Being so occupied with their jobs, they didn't have much time to spend with me. When they did, though, they always made sure to focus only on me.

"My mother is very strict whenever she's around, always expected me to behave like a well-mannered pup, even when it was just the two of us.

"As for my father, he is less authoritarian than my mother, made sure I behaved as well, but he was the one letting me loosen up more from the two."

"So your mom was a total killjoy?" Dolly asked.

"Guess so. She isn't the type of person to enjoy games or anything like that. The only thing on her mind was me being healthy and educated."

"Sounds like your parents love you a lot, even if they didn't do any pastime activities with you." Delilah said.

"Well, if it was only pastime activities. Again, since they were very occupied with work, I was alone at home most of the time, and that was the part that I hated the most. Being alone for a small pup can be… let's say unpleasant."

Desmond noticed that the pups were starting to make sad looks on their faces.

"But, well, that's in the past. Now I'm here to try and live my own life."

"Desmond, if you're in need of friends, we're here." Dylan suggested, giving Desmond a warm smile.

"Yeah, if you wanna spend some time with someone, give us a call!" Dolly added, slapping him on the back.

"AH! Watch the back!" Desmond groaned.

"That's very kind of you two." Delilah told them.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate having some friends around here. Especially, since all my friends are back in my country."

Desmond took a look at the window behind him and saw that it was getting dark.

"Oh! Look at that, seems like it's time for me to go." He told everyone.

"AWWW!" All of the pups exclaimed.

Desmond stood up from his sit as did all the other dogs, sending him off to the main door.

"Remember, you promised you'd come tomorrow to model for me." Da Vinci reminded him.

"Of course. I always keep my word, Da Vinci." Desmond reassured.

"Oh, Dylan! Is that tour offer still valid?"

"Yeah! Just say when." Dylan said with enthusiasm.

"Is tomorrow fine? I'd like to get to know the area as fast as possible."

"Not a problem. If you'd like we could start early, so we can cover more places." Dylan suggested.

"Good idea. How about… Ten in the morning? I hear from the news that the weather tomorrow will be mostly sunny."

"You got it!" Dylan said, giving Desmond a handshake.

"Hey! Hey! Remember your promise?!" Da Vinci said, a bit flustered.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry I'll just come before the tour."

"Mum, it's not a problem if Desmond comes early tomorrow to model for me, is it?" Da Vinci asked her mother.

"Not at all, sweetie." Delilah replied.

"Thank you!" Da Vinci said, giving her a browed smile.

"You know, you can come over to my place anytime you like. My house number's 85." Desmond pointed toward a house down the street.

"Sure, we'll come over sometime." Dolly told him.

"Well, I'll be off, then." He said, before walking down the porch stairs.

"la revedere!" Desmond said waving a paw.

Delilah giggled in amusement as she heard him say that.

"Huh?!" Everybody exclaim confused.

"Wha… What did he say?" Dylan asked puzzled.

"He said goodbye, dear." Delilah told him.

"Oooh! Bye to you, too, Desmond!" Dylan yelled as he waved a paw back at him as did his family.

Desmond just smiled at them as he made his way down the street, towards his house.


Desmond walked up the porch stairs towards the entrance of his house. As he opened the door, he turned on the lights, closing the door behind him.

He inhaled and exhaled heavily, before pausing for a moment.

"Everything went smoothly." The tall dog said while walking down the hallway.

Desmond entered his room located on the right side at the end of the hallway.

"Still got several things to unpack. Better get to it." He smirked.

"First, though…" Desmond looked at a computer in his room.

He booted it, jumping on the chair waiting for it to load. When it did, Desmond opened a chat application, typing:

"The infiltration was successful."

Desmond waited for a response.

"Perfect. As expected from my most reliable pet." The person on the other side replied.

Desmond scowled at being called a pet, but he was used to it and just continued writing on the keyboard.

"Any additional orders?" He typed, sending the message.

"No. Just continue as instructed." The person replied.

"Get as close to them as possible, earn their trust, and then bring them to me.

"As I said, I'll be paying for all your expenses while you're in London. Take your time, but you better not disappoint me as my incompetent nephew did."

"I will not." Desmond reassured.

Desmond paused for a moment pondering on a thought.

"I know it's not my place to question, but… What do you intend to do with them?" he typed.

"…Oh, Desmond, my sweet pet. You need not worry yourself with such things. Just do as you're told and you'll get what you desire most."

Desmond bit his lips upon reading that.

"Understood. I shall continue with the infiltration until further orders." He typed.

"Good boy."

"Now, I'll wish you a good night." The person replied, ending the conversation.

Desmond put a paw on his forehead, rubbing it.

"…For them." He reminded himself before getting off the chair, turning the computer off, and heading to his bed.