It’s a lovely day, clear and unseasonably warm. Birds are screaming; tree squirrels are obsessively hoarding nuts; bugs are enjoying the heated earth when they should probably be hibernating… It’s a lovely day to be a carefree dog.

Chanyeol watches a line of ants march home with a dead hornet. Good riddance, stingy bird. He’s tried playing with them before, but they’re always mean and chase him to bite him, then his dad gives him peanut butter that makes him sleepy.

The ants march on, even after Chanyeol squishes their rear flank beneath his forepaw. Oops.

He cleans the guts and legs from his pads and pushes himself up to sit and sniff his privates briefly, settling himself like a Sphinx once again once he’s satisfied he’s still all there. There was a time he didn't check, and his dad took him for a ride; next thing he remembers is waking up with some kind of fence around his head, and a part of him has been missing ever since.

Every day—or nearly every day, because there's a day that literally no one does anything, and Chanyeol has to use his softest whine and wettest eyes to beg his dad to get off the couch and go for a walk—The Uniformed Man walks the neighbourhood, dropping packages on doorsteps and letters in mailboxes. Chanyeol's house is on the corner opposite where the man comes from, so he has to wait all morning for the man to come to his house.

On the nice days, Chanyeol waits outside. The sun warms the driveway blacktop, and he'll sit or lie on it, sometimes dozing for a little while because the birdsong and squirrel chatter are actually pretty soothing, when they're not terrorising him or picking apart his dad's flowerbeds.

He knows The Uniformed Man by the sound of his footsteps, but he always whistles when he comes up Chanyeol's driveway, anyway. They first met when he was much smaller and could only put his forepaws on The Uniformed Man's knees and try to reach his hands to . Now, he can easily put his forelegs on The Uniformed Man's shoulders, and it makes The Uniformed Man laugh, which is a really great sound and great feeling but not nearly as great as when The Uniformed Man's hands scratch up and down Chanyeol's sides and ruffle his face and ears and neck and tells him what a good boy he is.

Today is no different.

The sun's crawling up the sky, playing peekaboo with the world as it hides behind scattered clouds, and the children who live nearby have all left to go to wherever it is they go when they leave home in the morning. Maybe the park, which would be really nice. Chanyeol loves spending days at the park. Maybe they go to where his dad goes; he always comes back smelling of weird things and a lot of bipeds, and sometimes they don't smell very nice, so Chanyeol has to cover the smell with something nicer, like himself, and pushes his side against and between his dad's legs, walking back and forth until yellow fur floats everywhere and his dad starts scolding him for pushing him around. Keep it up, Chanyeol, and I will buy a saddle and ride you like a horse! Chanyeol doesn’t know what a horse or saddle is, but anything with his dad is fun, so he doesn’t stop.

But anyway, Chanyeol's on his side on the sidewalk in front of his house. He can smell that it’s almost time for The Uniformed Man to make his usual appearance. There are birds in the trees over the driveway, and they always like to drop things on Chanyeol, but today they’re more concerned with shouting about finding food and flying south and how cold it’s going to get. Chanyeol’s never had to worry about any of that; his dad is a very good hunter and provider.

A few doors down, he sees The Uniformed Man leaving a mailbox after stuffing it with magazines and newspaper. His bag always looks lighter by the time he gets to Chanyeol's house. His dad never seems to get much, but he still frowns over what he does get. Chanyeol thinks frowns mean his dad is unhappy, but he’s even less happy when Chanyeol destroys the unhappy-making papers. It’s very confusing.

Finally, there's only one house left, and Chanyeol flops like a fish out of water to get to his feet to be ready and waiting for The Uniformed Man when he passes the white boundary fence his dad yells at him for marking.

"Hey, boy!" Sometimes, The Uniformed Man seems to be almost canine, which is the highest compliment. He pushes his bag to his back and opens his arms, waiting for Chanyeol's enthusiastic embrace. He steps back to keep from falling, digging his fingers into Chanyeol's sides and really getting a good scratch right where Chanyeol needs it. It's so hard to reach that sweet spot in his ribs; his dad is the only other person to find it. "Are you being a good boy?" Chanyeol's ears sit up eagerly. He's always good; he knows he's a good boy! His dad even says so. Sometimes.

Speaking of his dad, the front door opens, and the outer screened door squeaks open to let his dad out. "Chanyeol!" His tone isn't happy, but he should be happy, because look! The Uniformed Man is here! Chanyeol barks to let his dad know it's okay, but he just frowns at him and stalks down the narrow walkway that Chanyeol always ignores. He doesn't understand his dad and bipeds like his dad who follow weird stone paths rather than just going straight through the trees or walking on the grass. It doesn’t hurt.

He tries to hold on when his dad grabs his collar, but he's strong, and then his hand is between his ears, so it's okay. Chanyeol sits between his dad’s feet and leans back against his legs.

"I'm sorry about him," his dad says, rubbing a silky ear between his thumb and forefinger. "He doesn't know how big he is; he still thinks he's a puppy. You’d think he’d know by now, with how long he’s known you."

"I really don't mind. We're friends, right, boy?" Chanyeol's tail wags; he strains against the hold on his collar, but it hurts his neck. He coughs and nearly retches up the grass he'd snacked on earlier. His dad runs a hand up and down his shoulders; he feels better but still tastes grass and dirt.

"Even so, it's not polite. I am sorry.” He bows; Chanyeol drops his chest to the ground in a doggy bow. “We'll work on it."

"Okay.” The Uniformed Man smiles brightly and pushes his bag behind his back again. “Tell me what I can do to help, if anything.” He points over his shoulder with his thumb. “There's an old lady the block before yours who asked me to tell her two little dogs to sit before I put the mail in the box. They're doing pretty good; they actually sit maybe five times out of seven?"

“Wow. I’m kind of envious,” his dad says flatly. “Chanyeol actually flunked out of training, but he does know one thing.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Chanyeol.” He looks up at his dad, tongue lolling. “Belly rub?”

Yes, please! Chanyeol falls onto his side and rolls onto his back with his feet in the air so fast he’s a yellow blur.

“Wow.” The Uniformed Man laughs. “He kind of reminds me of an ex-boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend liked bellyrubs?” Chanyeol’s hind leg kicks when his dad scritches along his bottom rib. It’s like heaven, but then it ends, and he rolls back onto his feet.

“Well, he didn’t mind being on his back any hour of the day.” His dad’s ears turn red, and they both laugh, although it doesn’t sound as nice as usual to Chanyeol, but as long as there’s no frowning or tears, he thinks it’s okay. “Oh, here. I can just give you your mail.”

His dad accepts the small pile, albeit a little hesitantly. “Do I want any of it?”

The Uniformed Man shrugs. “Probably not, but I still have to deliver it. Tossing it out is your responsibility.” Chanyeol nudges his empty hand with his snout. What is with bipeds and ignoring him when he’s literally at their feet? Unlike superior dogs, bipeds are made to walk on two legs for most of their lives, so their forelegs just hang. He’s just giving them purpose, again.

“Gee, thanks.” His dad briefly flips through the envelopes and tucks them all in his back pocket. “Well, thank you for the delivery, as usual. I’m sorry Chanyeol’s still so jumpy.”

“It’s really alright. I expect it, now, so he’s not knocked me over or anything. He’s a really big Retriever, though.”

“He is. His puppy feet were absolutely massive.” His dad bows again; Chanyeol drops his chest but leaves his rear elevated, lifting his dad a little and yawning as long as he’s getting a good stretch. “You’re more forgiving than I am.”

“I have a dog of my own. Not nearly so big, but he’s clingy.” The Uniformed Man scratches Chanyeol’s ear. “It was nice seeing you, Kyungsoo. And you, Chanyeol, take care of your dad, okay?”

Of course! Chanyeol pants heavily. His dad holds his collar to keep him from following The Uniformed Man and waits until he’s out of sight before patting Chanyeol’s .

“Find me a ball, Chanyeol.”

Ball?! He knows just the one. It’s blue and the perfect weight and squeaks when he chews it. It’s under a tree in the backyard. He races to retrieve it and bounds back, depositing it in his dad’s palm and racing away to get a head start—his dad has quite the arm.

They play until the air cools; it’s nearing dinner time, and that means A) food and B) a walk. Two of Chanyeol’s favorite things.

Every day, Chanyeol’s sure to take his dad for a walk. Ideally more than one, if the weather’s nice or his dad stays home. He leaves for a long time most days and only comes back a bit before dinner time, and while the cool evening is nice to walk in, because his paws don’t burn or freeze on the pavement—plus, he can pee in peace without anyone seeing—Chanyeol prefers the middle of the day, when there are lots of other dogs and their moms and dads out to play with.

The following day is a day when his dad doesn’t leave for the long time, and Chanyeol’s ready with his leash in his mouth for his dad to get up from the sofa. C’mon! he woofs around the heavy rope. Let’s go for a walk! Let’s go outside! I gotta potty! He nudges his dad’s leg, placing his paw on his knee. He leans into the hand scratching the side of his neck, but he wants to go out. It’s not his fault he doesn’t poop in the yard; it’s plain manners and logic. What kind of animal poops where they sleep and play? Honestly. He really should’ve waited to drink all of the water in his bowl; his dad is always so slow to get ready, and Chanyeol is impatient and can’t be held responsible for any unfortunate accidents.

Finally, after a really long time of dancing and praying his bladder holds firm—because his dad may be kind and patient and really really good, but he Does Not like accidents, and Chanyeol’s spent many nights outside in his tiny house due to his bladder betraying him—his dad rocks off the sofa and takes Chanyeol’s leash.

“You ready for a walk?”

Yes! he barks joyously. He runs ahead to the door, and his dad dutifully follows. There’s a row of hooks on the wall, and a blue strappy thing hangs from one of them. Whenever they go for their walks, his dad puts laced booties on his feet and the strappy thing on Chanyeol. It hugs him, which is kind of nice, but it also feels like it holds him back, so he can’t run the way he’d like.

“Chanyeol, you know the drill.” His dad leans over him with the strappy thing laid out on the floor. Picking up one of Chanyeol’s legs, he manipulates it to step into the strappy thing and then tries the same with the other leg, but Chanyeol shifts his balance and steps out of it, so they have to do it all over again. “It’s like putting on pants; just hold still!” Chanyeol’s never worn pants; he doesn’t understand.

Eventually, his dad yanks the strappy thing up Chanyeol’s forelegs and clips it behind his back, holding down his fur to keep it from snagging. He puts on his booties and pats his pockets—Chanyeol’s sharp ears catch the wrinkle of plastic—and finally, finally attaches the leash.

Once the clip clicks, Chanyeol bounces in place before the door. The inner door has a button in the knob, so he can’t open it on his own, but he jumps on the outer lever door. He’s stopped before he can run too far ahead and waits for his dad, who walks much slower, like most dads do. It must be the weird placement of their forelegs, affecting their overall balance or something.

First thing’s first: Emptying his bladder enough so he can take his time to enjoy their walk.

There’s a particular tree at the end of his immediate territory, on the other side of the sidewalk, that every other dog that passes by tries to claim. It’s Chanyeol’s daily duty to reclaim it, and his dad courteously turns away while he takes care of his business.

Chanyeol kicks up turf when he’s done, making doubly sure his territory is reclaimed.

He marks a few more trees, bushes, and fences on their way; his dad always waits patiently, sometimes pulling the skinny light up brick from his pocket and staring at it. He’s aimed it towards Chanyeol before, and then shows him another dog on it that looks like Chanyeol, but less handsome.

The dog park they often walk to has chain link fence around its perimeter and doors that can open wide. Trees take up most of the outer greenspace, but it’s clear in the middle with a small pond birds like to flock around. The park is filled with dogs and their moms and dads and siblings and the smells of tree squirrels, ground squirrels, tiny stinging birds, and dogs who were there earlier.

Chanyeol stops suddenly in his tracks, not even responding when his dad bumps against his back end. He closes his mouth to listen and smells the air; he hears something familiar. With a mighty tug, he pulls free of his dad and goes charging across the lawn. Trees, grass, tree squirrels, trash, biped puppies, stinging bird. He's close; the smell is stronger. And that laugh! He knows that laugh!

A dad's sitting on a park bench. He's not wearing the uniform, but he smells right when Chanyeol checks between his legs and—Yes!—this is The Uniformed Man!

He barks and throws his forelegs over The Uniformed Man’s lap, tail wagging so hard his rear wiggles. Hello! Hi! It's you! It's me!

"Chanyeol!" His leash is grabbed by his dad, and he's tugged away from the out-of-uniform-but-still-Uniformed-Man. "I am so sorry, Baekhyun."

"Just can’t go a day without seeing me, Kyungsoo?” The Uniformed Man laughs.

“Seeing you six days a week is enough for me. Chanyeol’s the co-dependent one.”

“Aw, and I thought he had something special.” The Uniformed Man rubs down Chanyeol’s muzzle and between his eyes with a fingertip. “We rarely come to the park, and the day we do, here comes Chanyeol; he scared me!"

His dad pats his , and Chanyeol sits between his feet. "I figured you’d be fine, but who knows when he'll meet a mean Chihuahua and get his nose bit off? He needs to learn to be more self-aware."

“He’s a dog. Self-awareness isn’t a thing.” The Uniformed Man laughs again. Chanyeol likes his laugh. It stops at a sudden yodel from behind him.

"What's the matter, Chen? Are you jealous?" A little yellow and white dog with a plumed, arched tail and triangular ears trots around the bench and snorts. They’re not angry, but they are wary, and they should be happy! It’s a beautiful day, and they’re outside, and The Uniformed Man is here, and his dad is here, and they can be friends! So Chanyeol leans forward to sniff them quickly—him; it’s unmistakable, even without the back parts—and introduce himself.

Hi! I'm Chanyeol! My dad calls me No-Chanyeol-what-are-you-eating-bad-dog!. He leans over to sniff the stranger. Their tail wags a little, and Chanyeol stands up to sniff and be sniffed. After a minute or two of circling each other, Chanyeol drops his front end to the grass, forelegs wide, and the other dog—Chen, or Who's-a-good-boy-you-are!—hops to the side with a throaty pant.

Chanyeol’s dad unclips his leash. “Chanyeol, play nice.” Barking, Chanyeol bounds after Chen, leaving their dads to themselves.

Chen can run really fast for being so small. He dashes in front of Chanyeol, turns suddenly, and hops off Chanyeol’s shoulders when he gets close. He waits until the last moment, and Chanyeol’s always caught off-guard. A rougher leap pushes him off balance, and he rolls a couple times over the grass. Chen follows, nipping Chanyeol’s neck and feet. When Chanyeol stops rolling, Chen rolls over Chanyeol’s muzzle and slithers forward, biting before Chanyeol’s nose and retreating before Chanyeol can retaliate.

They’re a panting pile of grass bits and raised fur when they lay nearly toe-to-toe.

The Uniformed Man whistles; he has a bowl of water. Chen trots off immediately, but Chanyeol still has to catch his breath. Chen’s drinking when Chanyeol approaches, and his dad pats his .

“Chanyeol,” he warns, “wait your turn.”

Chen his chops and accepts a hand down his spine, grumbling when his tail is flipped. He crawls under the bench and stretches out while Chanyeol sniffs at the bowl. It has a weird smell, but water is water, and it’s really cold. He drinks it all in one standing; his dad apologizes to The Uniformed Man for his “binge drinking,” whatever that is.

A poodle and Great Dane Chanyeol knows bark at him to play; Chen shows no interest and curls into a ball to nap.

Chanyeol returns after a heated game of tag and finds the water bowl refilled. It’s like magic! He starts to drink but feels a weird itch on his rear again and folds himself in half to try reaching it.

“Chanyeol, don’t bite.”

But it itches! he sighs and drinks some more. Someone’s hand rests on his back, rubbing the itchy spot. The Uniformed Man is an angel among dogs, although Chanyeol’s not sure if angels flinch. He knows there’s a weird lump where the weird itch it; that’s what’s making him itch, he thinks, and his dad always yells at him for biting at it.

“What did you do, boy?” Chanyeol backs up a couple steps so his side is against the bench. He wags his tail while his fur is parted, every move relieving just a bit of the weird itch.

“You’re probably feeling a scab,” his dad says. He leans over and feels where The Uniformed Man’s fingers are. Double the touch equals double the relief; Chanyeol has no complaints. “Yeah. Chanyeol has allergies; he bites or scratches at himself until he hurts himself. This is fine; I have stuff at home I can put on it.” His dad sits upright again. Why did he stop touching Chanyeol?

The Uniformed Man coos and ruffles Chanyeol’s neck, making his tags jingle loudly. “Poor baby.” Chanyeol turns his head and catches The Uniformed Man’s chin with his tongue. “Ugh! Thanks for the kiss.”

Chen snorts beneath the bench. He loves kisses; don’t trust his tone. He crawls out and jumps onto the bench beside his dad, sitting on his lap like a cat. The Uniformed Man immediately starts rubbing his shoulders and chest.

Chanyeol’s kind of jealous; his dad yells at him when he sits on him. He doesn’t respect Chanyeol’s need for comfort and closeness, sometimes.

His dad calls him over, pulling him around by his straps to clip the leash. He doesn’t get up, though, and lets Chanyeol nuzzle his head into his lap. His tail beats against The Uniformed Man’s legs, earning him a hand taken from Chen’s massage, so he has three hands on him, covering all down his back and over his head. Yes, perfect.

“Happy now, you big baby?”

Very.

“Can we go home, now?”

“Before you do,” The Uniformed Man comments, “could I have your number? We could set up a playdate.”

“You wanna meet up at the sandbox?”

“I meant for Chen and Chanyeol.” Chanyeol pants happily at his name and sits on his dad’s feet. “They get along really well; I’m impressed Chen was so nice. He can be a bit of a , sometimes.” Chen smiles, sitting back enough to slide down his dad’s lap a little. “Or maybe we could find someone to watch them so we can meet up at the sandbox, if it has a bar.”

Bipeds have strange mating rituals. Chen yawns and crosses his forepaws over his chest, ready to nap through his dad’s attempts at flirting.

On the other paw, Chanyeol’s rather proud of his dad for making a friend, especially if it’s The Uniformed Man. His dad passes his light brick, and The Uniformed Man does something with it they both like, because his own light bright buzzes, earning a grumpy huff from Chen, who’s laying on it.

“I’ll text you.” The Uniformed Man smiles. Chanyeol nudges his fingers, his knuckles, and sticks his head beneath the palm. “See you tomorrow, Chanyeol. We’ll try to get Chen to play again another time.”

I like playing. Chen’s fun! Chanyeol woofs, and his dad shakes the leash. “No barking, Chanyeol. Let’s go home.” Chen opens his eyes to say goodbye but doesn’t get off his dad’s lap even when Chanyeol sticks his nose between his legs. “Ah ah. Let’s go. See you later, Baekhyun.”

“Bye bye.” He waves cheerfully.

Chanyeol walks his dad out of the park and back home, rechecking his marks to be sure no one tried to cover them. Did you make a friend, Dad? he pants over his shoulder.

“We’re almost home. Did you have fun?” Of course. The park is always fun! “You really liked that little Shiba. His dad’s like the total opposite. Baekhyun talked the entire time you were running around. I wonder how he survives the mail route on his own.” You really like The Uniformed Man. As expected; his dad has good taste.

At home, Chanyeol bounces at the front door until his dad unlocks it. Once the strappy thing is unclipped and drops around his feet, he shakes vigorously and runs off to check his food dish. Unfortunately, it’s not magic like The Uniformed Man’s water bowl.

“You had breakfast before we left, you piglet. You can wait until dinner.” His dad’s light brick chirps, and it does something that makes him smile. “This Saturday…” He hits the light brick lightly with his fingers a few times and puts it back in his pocket.

Chanyeol sits pretty when his dad walks towards him and is rewarded with a great ear ruffling and kiss to his head.

“Good boy, Chanyeol.”

He pants in his dad’s face, chin tilted back. What a great day! He went for a walk, made a friend, saw The Uniformed Man again, and his dad is praising him. Life is pretty perfect.

a/n: Prompt #1812 written for Dainty Boys Fest. This turned out to be more focused on Chanyeol (oops), but the Baeksoo is still there. A little bit more imagination and dog-like thinking is required.

The title is taken from a Rudyard Kipling story, The Cat That Walked By Himself: “When the Man waked up he said, 'What is Wild Dog doing here?' And the Woman said, 'His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always.”