Gwen was just the tiniest bit appalled.

At herself.

Regan had gone back to White Chapel after practice had ended, and upon the blonde’s departure she’d proceeded to send her secretary on a goose chase. Or, more aptly, a puppy chase.

Rose Mallory was a lovely young woman and had put up with her request with aplomb, as she always did, and it wasn’t terribly late in the afternoon after Rose had done some quick and thorough research that Gwen had found herself at a private home in Kensington picking out a puppy.

She’d never had a pet herself, had never felt the inclination for any kind of furred companionship, but Gwen remembered how Regan had been with the little bunny that had been gifted her the year prior. It was quite obvious that Lily was gone now, but after the previous evening, Gwen had been struck with the idea to provide Regan with some companionship that would interact back; something for her to love on, that would love her back without the judgment and thoughts she seemed to be so afraid of right now.

Gwen had already looked into mind healers and whittled the list down to a few that she would want to speak to herself first, but finding a suitable puppy had been surprisingly easy. There were innumerable breeds, it was true, but Rose had given her a list of the breeds that exhibited the qualities she was looking for along with a few photos.

The proper equipment and care materials had been owled to the gallery, but Gwen had the furry little thing with her.

And she was still somewhat appalled at herself.

A dog. In her house.

Despite her incredulities at herself, Gwen entered White Chapel at the ground level and proceeded to climb the first flight of stairs. Regan was on the third, just below her own suite of rooms, and it was likely she would be there. Much still needed to be done – more shopping for suitable clothing, and finding a designer that her young friend felt comfortable around, with whom she could make her space into a home – but one step at a time.

“Regan?” she called, adjusting the basket she held with both hands as the squirmy little thing moved at the sound of her voice.

Dropping her pen as she startled violently at the unexpected sound of Gwen's voice, Regan closed the cover of her new diary and slid from her bed, calling a puzzled, "Yes?" into the echoing empty gallery. She padded across the cold floor to the landing, curious, and looked out, wondering why Gwen was moving so slowly. "Are you hurt? Do you need help?" she asked, starting down the steps to the lower floors.

"No, I'm quite alright," Gwen called, her voice carrying up the open staircases. "I've just something I don't want to drop." Yet. The thought amused her and her lips twitched.

Brow furrowing, as Gwen rarely played word games with her in such a way, at least lately, Regan waited on the next landing, watching woman and basket ascend the stairs toward her. "What is it?" she prompted, head tilted in question as she eyed the parcel in her friend's hands.

"It's for you," she said, adjusting her grip as the puppy moved in the basket again, drawn by the new voice. Coming to the landing where Regan stood, finally, she set it down at Regan's feet and stood again. The blonde's gaze was on the basket, and Gwen's lips twitched again when it moved slightly. "I imagine you should open the top before it opens of its own accord."

"Me?" Her eyes followed the basket as it was set down, and she leapt back in alarm as it jostled with no help from Gwen's hands. "It's alive!"

Glancing to the woman standing before her, the signs of her hiding a smile fully present, Regan knelt beside the parcel, took a deep breath, and pushed the lid open, blinking in surprise as a small bundle of fur appeared. "Oh!" she exclaimed, eyes lighting as a tiny canine face turned in her direction. "Gwen, it's darling!"

"He," Gwen added, a full smile turning her lips as she watched Regan's face fill with the closest thing to pure, unfiltered happiness she'd seen in a very, very long time. This was a good decision, despite her own reservations about having a dog, what would be a pony sized dog, in her home. "His things should be arriving by owl sometime tonight, but ..." she smiled. "... he'll be needing a name in the interim, I imagine."

"He," Regan corrected, her gaze darting between Gwen and the puppy now trying to clamber out of his makeshift pen. Lifting the dog carefully, Regan cuddled him in her arms, giggling as he licked her face. "He's mine, Gwen, really? To keep and give a name to?" She knew her friend would never taunt with such a thing, but felt compelled to ask, regardless, overwhelmed and awed by the wonderful lightness the squirming creature in her lap caused her to feel.

"He's most definitely yours," Gwen affirmed, smaller smile playing about her lips now, lighting her eyes. "The little beast is most certainly not mine." She bent then, fingers ruffling the pup's ears. "He's yours to keep and to name, and to care for. And this will be both his home, and yours, if that's what you wish as well."

"Not a beast," she admonished, scratching under the dog's chin and laughing again as he burrowed into her arms. "He's too cuddly for that... a... teddy bear. Teddy." The flop-eared head popped up once more and a soft whine sounded, sealing the deal in Regan's mind. "Teddy it is, then."

Reaching up to curl her fingers into Gwen's, Regan tugged her heart's sister down to sit with her, a beaming smile overtaking her expression as love surged within her. "Yes," she said simply, moving to kiss Gwen's face. Teddy apparently found this a grand plan and joined in with licks of his own, pulling a gale of giggles from his new mother at the look Gwen gave him.

She wasn't wont to sit on the floor in skirt and heels often, but Gwen didn't much notice as she was, indeed, tugged to sit. Tucking her legs beneath her, she pressed a swift kiss to the hand holding hers. "Good."

A lolling tongue swiped at their hands then, as if the little miscreant wanted to be part of it too, and Gwen blinked a long moment at the fluffy dog before a chuckle escaped her, her eyes crinkling with it.

Regan watched Gwen laugh and the image was overlaid in her mind by an earlier one, first learning that warm sound so many months before. The thought ached, but gently, and the smile did not leave her face as Teddy sprawled onto his back, pawing at the air in Gwen's direction. "I'll try to keep him out of your shoes," she offered, rubbing the wiggling tummy presented to her.

Gwen's brow rose. "I should certainly hope so," she replied, tone wry though a smile still played at her lips.

She eyed the dog, Teddy, and his happy face, tongue lolling out to the side as Regan pet his tummy. "You'll be quite done if I find you with my shoes."

"I think you'd forgive him," Regan wheedled lightly, though she had no intention of finding out the hard way, if it could be avoided. "You forgive Joscelin, after all, and he knows better. And isn't nearly as adorable."

Gwen's lips twitched when her gaze moved to Regan from the furry potential reprobate. "I do agree that your little beast is, in fact, much more appealing than my brother."

"Though they share many similar qualities," Regan posited, a curl of teasing in her smile. "I think I'll keep Teddy, all the same. Less chance of rogue dragon eggs in the kitchen fire." Her laugh chimed in the open space, and she looked to Gwen, eyes bright. "I think Joscelin would make a terrible pet."

Gwen's eyes narrowed. "He'd chew my shoes just to see if I'd actually hex him, then chew more to keep playing the game with the shiny lights."

Giggling at the picture Gwen's words made, Regan could only concede the point from what she knew of Joscelin. Sighing -happily, she was startled to note- at the pleasant breathlessness of too much laughter, she rubbed her cheek against Gwen's shoulder, murmuring sincerely, "I love you... and I think Teddy is the most wonderful gift I've ever received. Thank you."

Seeing Regan laugh, seeing the darkness lift from her, not weigh her down so pressingly made something lift in Gwen, too. Happiness. There'd been so little of it that was so pure, and she was glad to see it in Regan, to feel the effects, and to even taste it herself.

Even if it meant she was now living with a furry little beast.

Wrapping her arm around Regan's slim shoulders, she pressed a kiss to her blonde temple. "You're welcome." I love you, too.


SUMMARY: Gwen brings home a puppy for Regan. He's named Teddy, formally, or 'little beast' if you ask Gwen.