expanding on my ship cabin boy ideas… being made to stay tied to a lifeline practically 24/7, just to make sure you can be found at all times and they can track your whereabouts - no hiding from this crew !
being dragged back onto the main deck when someone needs to let off some steam, or when the captain wants to put on a show for the rest of the crew to boost morale 😋
the only time you arent connected is when the captain takes you to his quarters for the night and clips you into your special collar, which connects to a notch on the wall with a chain that the crew hear jingle all through the night.
Summary: Atlas notices a few new details about JD’s collar and asks them about it
JD was a lot of things: a goofball, a klutz, an airhead, sure. But they certainly weren’t forgetful. So it concerned Atlas when he saw their collar in his jacket pocket.
He examined it closer and found a couple of interesting things up close. Firstly, the clasp seemed makeshift, like an amateur tried to prolong the life expectancy of the collar. Second, he realized that “Pup,” was actually engraved into the collar, rather than painted as he thought. The final thing Atlas noticed was the most interesting. He found a note engraved in red on the back labeled “from CJ”. He’d never met CJ before, nor had JD mentioned them before. Curiosity got the better of him, so he decided to teleport to JD to ask a few questions.
As soon as Atlas stepped out of the portal, JD grabbed him, shaking him a bit.
“HAVE YOU SEEN MY-“
“Got it right here, Pup.” Atlas handed it to them before slipping out of their hold. They fastened and adjusted it on their neck, letting out a sigh of relief. Atlas smirked before prying about it.
“Soooo, how long’ve you had your collar?” he asked. JD’s face lit up.
“It was the start of my collar collection! I got it when I was around 10. From an old friend!” they said excitedly. They fizzled out after that, not adding any other information.
Atlas wanted to respect JD’s privacy, as they didn’t share much of their past, but he was curious. He needed something new about his friend of a friend. “Cmon, dude. What else? Who was this person?”
“Well, I haven’t seen him in a while. His name’s CJ! I met him a bit after I moved in with Aunt May. He worked at a supermarket back when I was garbage hunting for food.”
Atlas shuddered. “Gross, dude.”
“What can I say? I was a growing pup with a ‘vivacious appetite.’”
“So why go in the stores if you were in the back?”
The wolf clutched the back of their neck. “Well, part of it was I wanted to see people! Say hi, pretended that I worked there and knew what things were. Maybe got a free cookie every now and then! The other half… I got stuck one day.” Atlas started dying of laughter. “It’s not funny!!!” they fumed. “He had three people get me out!”
“I know!!! But how the hell do you get stuck in a giant ass dumpster?” Atlas wheezed.
“There was sticky stuff and glass everywhere! I didn’t want to cut my feet-” they stuck out their tongue. “Dumpster diving without shoes was better so they wouldn't get dirty.” Atlas was starting to calm himself.
“Anyway… after that, he started calling me dumpster baby, which wasn’t fair, ‘cause that was a one time thing. Despite me hating the name, we started hanging out. He was really cool. He let me hang out in the break room, gave me his old DS, he even taught me what being nonbinary was! He was the absolute coolest!” JD started to blush a bit.
“The year after the dumpster incident on my birthday, he got me the collar. It was really nice of him and was my first birthday gift in a while. It’s kinda why it means so much to me; it helped define who I am! I can be JD; I can set my one rules; I can make real friends!” There was a bittersweet twinge in their voice when they mentioned real friends. They saw Atlas grow intrigued. “Yep, after that we were inseparable. I met up with him up every day during his shift. We even hung out in the woods every once in a while. It was like that for about three years. Suddenly, one day he told me he had to move-” they adjust their collar, remembering that day. “And it absolutely destroyed me. I thought we’d stay side by side for life, but I guess life had other plans. I always wonder where he went. Maybe he moved back to Mexico. Maybe he went to New Jersey.” JD looked up at the ceiling.
“You think he’ll ever visit back here?” Atlas asked.
“I hope so. I’d want you to meet him!”
Atlas nodded, liking the way that sounded. He jokingly bowed. “I’d be honored, Lord Finch, to make CJ’s acquaintance.” They pushed him over.
“Cut it out with the royalty stuff,” they chuckled, moving him out of the way. “Weren’t we gonna get some food for us. A pup gets hungry at night,” they whined.
Atlas patted his belly. “Yeah, I could go for some jalapeño nachos myself. Let’s head out; Road 45th gets crowded around dinner.”
“Then let’s not wait any longer!” JD burst out the door, forgetting it to shut it, . Atlas closed it before chuckling.
“Cmon Pup, how could you forget this, too?” He muttered before opening a portal to the restaurant.
