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When Sasha is walking home from school, he stumbles across the smallest and most adorable dog in the world.
shadow-on-the-sea
He crouches down next to the dog and checks to see if there's a collar.
shadow-on-the-sea
........that is deeply weird but okay, probably whoever's dog this is has a weird sense of humor.
Is there a phone number or anything?
post-purchase-rationalization
There is no phone number!
The Perfectly Ordinary Dog licks his fingers.
shadow-on-the-sea
...well. He can't really take care of a dog and clearly it belongs to someone but he can take care of it for a few days while he puts up signs.
He extends both hands, cupped, to the perfectly ordinary dog. "Do you want to come with me?"
shadow-on-the-sea
Sasha is almost one hundred percent sure that dogs don't nod.
Okay. He picks up the perfectly ordinary dog and cradles it against his chest with both hands and keeps walking.
post-purchase-rationalization
The Perfectly Ordinary Dog makes a happy noise and presses against his chest.
He is SO soft.
shadow-on-the-sea
"I'm Sasha," he says, because despite the collar he is very sure that this is not in fact an ordinary dog, and not just because it's the cutest softest dog in the world. "Do you have a name?"
shadow-on-the-sea
It takes him a while to pick through names; names are important.
He's almost home when he says, "How about Leo?"
shadow-on-the-sea
"Alright, then. Leo."
He puts Leo in the pocket of his sweatshirt when he gets into the house, takes him out again and puts him in Sasha's lap once he's sitting down on his own bed with the bedroom door closed.
post-purchase-rationalization
Leo curls up on Sasha's lap.
He is VERY soft and VERY pettable and VERY small.
shadow-on-the-sea
"I have English, Russian, and a little bit of Yiddish; is English the only language we have in common?"
shadow-on-the-sea
"Okay, so it's complicated. What I was actually trying to ask was, do I need to find the person you belong to?"
shadow-on-the-sea
"— I will not do that then!"
What other things are important with dogs. "Bark three times in a row if you need to go outside. Do you eat normal dog food?"