Petting

Charlie and Dawn were sitting at a small table in a fast food store and munching away at their food, talking about basic nonsense. Dawn was a human girl, soft brown eyes, chocolate colored skin and curly black hair while Charlie was a brown colored wolf with very fluffy fur with it being winter and all.

"Alright new question. Super geeky by the way:Who would win in a fight? Superman or the Hulk?" Dawn asked munching on a French fry. Charlie didn't even look up from his food.

"Superman. Hands down." Dawn's jaw dropped.

"No freaking way! The Hulk is like a thousand pounds of raw strength, dude!"

"Yeah but Superman's Superman."

"That doesn't mean he beats everyone who can ever exist!" Charlie chuckled and looked at her with a smile.

"What makes you think he can lose?"

"Alright well... Lets stretch some nerd muscles here. The Hulk once held up an entire mountain."

"Superman pulled the Earth."

"The Hulk had a healing factor that beats Wolverines."

"So does Superman."

"If he's around the Sun!"

"Not always. He can heal without it."

"Oh yeah? Name one time he's done it."

"He... Uh..." Charlie was drawing a blank. "There was the time he... uh..."

"I'm listening," Dawn said smiling smugly. He frowned and tossed a fry at her. With amazing quickness, she caught the fry with her mouth and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Whatever man. Superman still wins."

"Why?"

"Cause he can beat an enemy long before they even know what's hitting them with his super speed."

"Oh yeah? Dare I bring up Doomsday?" Charlie looked her in the eyes.

"Don't you dare. Don't you even-"

"Talk about the time Superman died? Oh yeah I remember that!"

"Now hang on he didn't die! He was simply in a... coma. Of some kind. Sorta."

"Yeah. Right he died and DC wanted him back so they said 'Healing coma'."  Dawn chuckled while Charlie smiled and went back to his food.

"Alright new question: You have the choice to have any super power in the world. What ya got?"

"Super speed," he said plainly. Dawn tilted her head to the side as if expecting more to be said. "That's it."

"That's it? Really?" Charlie raised an eyebrow. "You are so darn boring!" She said laughing.  Charlie smiled and rolled his eyes.

"How? Super speed is a very standard power and if you've read comics about Superman or The Flash or Quicksilver or anyone like that, they have all kinds of awesome perks with their powers."

"Thats just it! It's too basic, babe." She stole one his fries. "Super speed is an easy choice. Takes no thought. Come on now. Pick something else."

"What would you pick?"

"Ya know those neon powers in that Infamous game? The one the girl has." Charlie thought about it and remembered what she was talking about.

"Oh. Fetch's powers?"

"Yeah! Her! Love that stuff. It's so cool! Just the fun and creative stuff you could do with it." Charlie mocked her and she blew at his nose, making him whine a little and shake his head.

"You know I hate when you do that."

"You hate a lot of things. Like kids...... why do you hate kids again?" Dawn asked simply. Charlie's mood soured.

"They can just be so annoying. I've taken care of my fair share of kids and I don't necessarily enjoy it. All the pulling and whining and the 'Look mommy! A talking dog!' I'm a wolf first off. And I don't like being touched. Especially not by humans. They have really dry and ruff hands and-" he stopped and looked at Dawn who rested her head on her 'ruff and dry' hands and smiled smugly.

"Oh no. Please. Do go on. I would love to hear more about how terrible humans are," she said sarcastically. Charlie winced.

"Sorry babe. Didn't mean to say all that. It's just-"

"Ima stop you right there before I hit you. You're lucky I find your little rants cute." She got up and kissed his head. Charlie smiled and saw a human mother with her daughter looking at him with cautious eyes. He waved and the girl waved back while the Mother smiled nervously and tried to push them out the door.

"Cute girl." He said drinking some of his soda. Dawn looked back and saw the girl talking to her Mother about something. They kept glancing over at Charlie who's ears laid back against his head.

"She's wants to come over here." Dawn said softly. "She wanna pet the big puppy." She bit her lip to try and hide her smile. Charlie's eyes widened and he tried to hide his face.

"I'm gonna say no." Dawn frowned.

"Why? She's so cute looking. And it's The New Year babe. Do something different for a change. Have some holiday spirit. Be nice." Charlie groaned as the girl walked over to their table and upon looking at the girls big blue eyes and seeing her hold a stuffed bunny rabbit, he instantly softened up. The girl looked at him with such desperation and wonder that he smiled at her.

"I'm very sorry to bother you but my daughter Andrea here was determined to come and meet you. You see..." the mother was doing everything she could to make sure she didn't say anything wrong but was cut off by her daughter who jumped in place.

"I wanna pet the puppy!" She walked up closer while her mother grabbed her arms quickly as if she were afraid of what Charlie might do.

"She's never seen a... your kind before." Wrong words to describe Charlie but he let it slide with a small growl. "She would love to pet you. Please if you would be so kind." Charlie breathed in then out.

"I don't know. I mean I'm not all that comfortable with-"

"Please? I promise I'll be gentle," Andrea said softly. Charlie tried to avoid her gaze but those soft blue eyes were just too cute! He looked at Dawn who had a big grin on her face. Without her even needing to say a word, he knew what she would say. 'You gonna deny such a cute little girl? You monster.'. Charlie sighed and looked at the girl with his own faint smile.

"Okay. Just please be gent-" he was cut off when the girl screamed in delight and hugged his tail tightly, stroking it up and down messing up his fur pattern. He would have said something but something about how much she enjoyed it made him stay silent. Andrea played with his tail and Charlie sagged it in front of her a few times making her laugh in enjoyment and hug it tightly to keep it in place. Andrea's mother smiled too but still seemed uneasy. Dawn saw this and began to brainstorm something.

"Would you like to pet him too Ms?" The woman's eyes widened and Charlie's ears stood up in shock. Both were unprepared for this and Dawn asked again. The woman looked at Charlie who still looked surprised and awaited her answer.

"Well I... If it's not too much trouble," she said her eyes avoiding his eyes. He looked at Dawn with eyes of silent anger before she opened her mouth to speak again.

"Oh don't worry about it. I'm his girlfriend and I can tell you from experience he loves being pet." Charlie would have said something but the girl kept jumping wanting to pet his ears. He lowered his head and the girl stroked his ears which sent shivers down his spine. Ears are super sensitive but they are so fun to play with! The mother then reached down and pet Charlie's head softly as if she was touching hot metal. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably for a while but then all the petting and attention began to make him happy. The softness of the two of them letting his head made him feel warm. Even Dawn rushed over and began to pet him which really made him happy as he hands were like a clouds. Soft and pure and perfect in every way.

His tail began wagging excitedly side to side and finally when everyone was done he looked up and gave small puppies whimper as if asking for more before barking softly like a dog. He then covered his mouth as Dawn laughed and the mother smiled while Andrea hugged Charlie who was blushing profusely at the embarrassing noise he just made. Andrea was the only one who didn't laugh as she saw his embarrassment and felt bad.

"I'm sorry puppy. I didn't mean to embarrass you." His blush remained and she kissed his nose before her mother picked her up and walked them out. He looked at Andrea as she waved goodbye to him holding her little stuffed bunny and Charlie waved back. Dawn simply looked at him.

"So... you were gonna say no huh?" Charlie stuck his tongue out at her. "Oh I wish I had recorded that. It was so cute!"

"Oh hush." He said smiling slightly and gathering his trash to throw away. "Let's get out of here before someone else asks to-" he was cut off by a little boy and his father coming up to him with smiles on their faces.

"Hi. I noticed you let the little girl and her mother pet you. Do you mind if... my son does the same? He’s just never seen one of you before.” Charlie's ears flattened against his head as he looked at Dawn with pleading eyes. She smiled.

"Of course you can.”