pup and me.

and so the query has been answered, i can walk home all the way from city centre with six bushmills on my breath.
and you know, that was the best part of the evening. i made a friend, and i named him/her pup. i was gonna just call the dog darlin, but then i thought if it's a boy, that might not work out so well. pup it is.
so, i was just drunk enough to make walking interesting, and i was cutting through the field that i always cut through. it was however 1am, and it was dark. the field is well known for it's mud, but i kept walking, slipping a little once in a while and talking to myself because no one was around and i needed entertainment to keep from breaking down.
right after i got back onto the sidewalk and right before i got bored with walking, i see this dog trotting toward me.
'hi darlin!'
and the dog chewed on a paper towel for a while and seemed uninterested in trying to get over the little wall separating grassy knoll from sidewalk.
i shrugged and kept walking, singing green day tunes and such.
well, about a block up, the dog appeared in front of me.
'hiya!'
and for the rest of the walk home, the dog stayed a little in front of me. occasionally, pup would stop, wait for me to catch up, and then keep walking. at an intersection, pup would stop just long enough to see which way i was going.
i quite enjoyed pup's company as i decided that if something happened to me, pup would be the type to defend me or help me or whatever.
generally, i cut through this apartment complex so that the hill i have to walk up isn't so bad (bad knees). and when we got there, pup just led the way up into the gate of the apartment complex. i was thinking, wow, pup really knows his way around.
so we're walking in front of the complex, and the path turns into a very narrow passage in between the building and the wall. it is not lit at all, and it's the type of passage that makes people incredibly nervous. very dark. very narrow. but it opens up to the stairs that i need to take up to get to my road.
pup was very hesitant about this. he stopped in the passage and looked at me. i said, 'it's ok, we've got to go upstairs.' and for the first time, pup stopped long enough for me to be beside him. i touched his head, and said, 'come on, you.'
i could also hear the drunk college assholes in the parking lot above, and i was timorous that pup would not follow me the rest of the way home.
so, i got to the stairs, and pup followed me up halfway. there was a group of people standing at the top, and i passed through them (having to nearly knock a fellow down to get him to move).
i looked back, and pup was standing halfway up the stairs. i patted my leg and beckoned to him. he retreated back down the stairs, apprehensive of the loud gits.
i shrugged. i only had another two or three minutes to get home. walkin walkin walkin, and a half block up, i hear the clickpatclickpat of paws. and running up behind me is pup. smart thing took the long way round.
"heya!"
and so we walked back to my apartment, and i sat down on the steps and called pup over. he seemed so happy to be there with me, late in the unusually warm night.
and he rubbed up against my legs and accepted my affectionate pats.
i sat there and chatted with him for a while, wondering if he felt a lot like i have for the past few weeks.
he curled himself up at my feet and fell asleep.
i continued talking to myself for the next half hour or so before i quietly got up and went inside to get pup some chicken.
when i came back outside, he was waiting patiently. i gave him the small bits of chicken i could find in our fridge. patted him on the head, and said thank you.