Of course, as it almost always did, Audrey's original unsureness slowly started to lean further and further away from being in her favor—as much as she hated her impulsiveness, having to think about something for too long seemed to do her more harm than it did good. Katie had gone ahead and called her, as well as her parents to discuss everything, all of which came to the conclusion that she and this mystery dog of her owner's would meet tomorrow after they had gotten adjusted to everything.

That phone call was yesterday, the actual meeting in question between the two of them was supposed to begin about five minutes ago (if her owner could be fashionably late, why not her?).

And as one could have only assumed with her streak of luck, this event just had to fall onto one of the days when she already wasn't in the best of moods, and that was on top of the slight soreness she still felt in her joints. Even if today was a normal day, it wouldn't have been one she was particularly fond of, this just happened to be an extra weighted vest thrown onto her. As harsh as it may have seemed, she was ready to get the greetings over with so she didn't have to think about it anymore, there were plenty of other things to be worried about.

Then again, it was too late now. Here she was, sitting in front of the veterinarian's building, waiting anxiously outside as she tried to convince herself to explore the new world waiting inside. Her heart was slamming against the inside of her chest like a baseball bat hitting a home run, her breaths shaking as she tried (emphasis on tried) to get herself to step inside.

There was no telling who would be behind these doors, it could be a pup younger than Ruby and Gus who would be all over her like a moth to a flame, holding her up as the idol she never wanted to be. Or, a dog old enough to be her grandparent who simply couldn't care less about her existence. Frankly, it was all being left within the roll of the dice, fate had already picked out the dog she would have to know for the rest of her days—and she was many things, but someone capable of predicting the future was not one of them.

Swallowing her fear, she stepped into the quiet, dark lobby of the empty clinic—in all honesty, she would've forgotten that today was a Saturday if that weren't the case. Audrey glanced around the lobby, seeing nothing except for an open door that led up to Katie's apartment room; the red carpet leading her straight to her doom. With another deep breath entering her lungs, she slowly forced her legs to walk up the stairs, both her mind and body getting heavier with every step she took.

"Katie? I'm here!" she called out, looking around the apartment as she set foot into it. Within a few moments, the girl walked out of her door and bent down on her knees, scratching the top of her head—perhaps such a gesture was an apology for all the stress. As if there wasn't a single thing unusual about this visit, Audrey smiled and nuzzled against her hand, her owner was a being she could never be too upset about seeing.

"Hey, girl, glad you could make it. Are you ready?" The collie nervously nodded, clearly seeing that Katie was cutting to the chase. As if this could get any more stressful, couldn't they at least relax for a little bit and just enjoy each other's company (and no one else's, for that matter)? "Awesome. I really think that the two of you will get along well, so don't be too nervous. They've been excited to meet you.

The Border Collie wasn't too positive about how she was supposed to feel about that, even if it was clearly meant to brighten her dark spirits. She was definitely glad that Katie saw the possibility for at least a somewhat decent friendship, that was more than she saw, but there was also no telling if the girl was just sugarcoating it so she wouldn't be scared—not that anything she said would fully help that. Oh well, going back now was completely out of the question.

As her owner stepped back inside her bedroom, the pup trailed behind her, pausing at the door—just a single step away from entering her new way of life. She nervously looked up at the human who was sitting down at the edge of her bed, softly smiling and motioning for her to come in. Just one motion of her paw was all it would take now, a single movement that could very well send her already non-existent social life down into the negatives or be the very boost she needed.

After taking one more deep breath for the road, Audrey pushed herself inside the door, almost immediately jumping in surprise at the figure already looking in her direction. Before she knew it, she found herself looking into the soft, light green pair of eyes staring back, that alone nearly took her attention away before she managed to rope herself back to reality—that probably wouldn't be the best first impression to give off.

In front of her sat a surprisingly fluffy Australian Shepherd, a freshly brushed coat of orange, grey, and white fur with black around her eyes and ears—a bit taller than her, but also noticeably slimmer. They had a small smile on their face, they almost seemed to be defying logic in the fact that they looked just as nervous as she was. Honestly, now that the two of them were face to face, they looked kind of cu... yeah, never mind, that was a horrifying thought she stuffed away in the darkest corner of her mind where it belonged. Curse her head and her countless thoughts.

And even then, while she was never known for being the most extroverted of dogs, what little bit of confidence she managed to give herself had fluttered out of her head the moment they locked eyes. She was completely clueless about what was happening, unable to grasp any concept of focus while butterflies started to fly in her stomach, her heart skipping a beat.

She knew she was nervous before, but jeez, this was new, this was a type of nervousness she didn't even think she had experienced before. Was this how most supposed friends felt meeting each other? She didn't even know that something had been said to her until Katie tapped on her back and snapped her out of her trance, without her owner, who knows how long she would've been trapped in her head.

"I-I'm sorry, I kinda zoned out there, what did you say?" she asked the figure, surprising herself with how much effort was put into those words for such a puny, whimpering sound to come out of her mouth—she was never one to compliment her own voice, but it was closer to a whisper than it was the excited greeting she meant to portray. Nonetheless, the shepherd giggled, thankfully unbothered by her horrible social skills (unless they were just making fun of her).

"No worries, you're all good. My name is Emerald, but mostly everyone calls me Emma, so, you know, you can call me whatever. It's nice to meet you," the feminine voice warmly greeted, sticking out her paw. The Border Collie smiled softly and quickly gripped onto her paw for the closest thing dogs could do to a handshake. It was one of the most simple, harmless greetings in the history books, and yet the moment their paws made contact, Audrey felt the warmth in her cheeks rising until she finally found the strength to let go.

"Y-yeah, nice to meet you too, Emma. My name is Audrey, by the way." Emma smiled and glanced back up at their owner, slightly tilting her head as the girl gave a quick nod of approval at their interaction—though, from the looks of it, she was mostly staying out of the way and letting them figure it out on their own.

"Aw, that's a nice name. By the way, how old are you?" Yet again, such an unbelievably easy-to-answer question, and yet somehow, Audrey had to give it some genuine thought before bringing herself to answer—this was common sense, why was it so hard to say? She had yet to figure out what was going on with her, surely she was not this bad at socializing with someone new.

"I just turned two about a week ago. H-how old are you?" The green-eyed shepherd smiled as her tail began to wag, clearly pleased with that answer. The context gave Audrey a bit of hope, being the same age would give them far more possibilities—as friends, of course, and that was more than she could've asked for. And from the looks of it, they were getting along pretty well, maybe friends wasn't just blissful thinking.

"I'm two and a little over one month. Awesome! We're the same age!" Although it took her just long enough to catch on for it to feel awkward, Audrey finally noticed the paw sticking out at her, resulting in what felt like a very mutual high-five between them. For the moment, at least, her mood had done a full one-eighty. She wasn't even sure what emotion was running through her, but it was exciting!

"Well, you two seem to be getting along well. Whatcha wanna do now, Audrey? You wanna go back home or hang out here for a bit? You're fine to do either, but if you wanna stay I'll have to call your parents to let them know." With a bright grin on her face, the collie looked to her side at the excited Australian Shepherd—the very one whose mere presence gave her the answer she was after.

"I'll hang out for a while, just tell them that I'll be back before dark at the latest." Katie nodded and gave a small thumbs up as Audrey turned back to her unofficial friend (at least, she assumed that was the stage they were at), the latter of which appeared equally excited that the two of them would be able to get to know each other.

"Alright, cool, I'll let them know. And for the meantime, I'll let you two get to know each other, I gotta go do a few things downstairs. I'll be back in a few, yall be good" As promised, the girl shut the door behind her and allowed the two dogs to enjoy their unsupervised time with one another It was kind of calming to not have someone watching over them, but at the same time, no one else there to take the lead, which meant that the two of them were stuck to figure out where they were supposed to go next.

"So...what do you like to do for fun?" Emma finally asked, walking across the room and lying down on her dog bed—by all means, the other was thankful to not have to be the one to change the subject, as much as her mouth rambled, small talk still wasn't a strength. Audrey eagerly jumped up and trailed behind her, laying against the hardwood floor in front of the bed with her tail swishing across the ground.

"Uhm, most of the time I just hang out with my parents or play with my cousins, or sometimes Katie and I like to play video games. What about you?" she asked, once again putting her faith in a roll of the dice to see what they had in common. In a more than pleasant turn of events, Emma's eyes lit up as her own tail started to wag, and Audrey was having a hard time deciding whether to interpret the look on her face as excitement or a threat.

"You have video games here?" Assuming that this would be going in a direction that she was very much okay with, the Border Collie eyed her carefully, nodding as she confidently smirked. "If Katie is fine with it, you wanna play some?"

"Sure! And yeah, don't worry, Katie won't care. As long as we don't break anything." The shepherd laughed softly, following as Audrey lead them out the door of the bedroom and into the living room. She could probably do this whole thing on muscle memory alone, turning on the TV and machine before handing over one of the controllers to Emma. "Do you know how to play?"

"Oh yeah, trust me, one of my foster owners let me use one of these all the time. And listen, you seem cool and all, but don't think that I'm gonna take it easy on you, alright?" Emma confidently proclaimed, holding her head up with pride. The Border Collie wasn't fully sure if she was also meant to give it her all, she'd feel bad if she used all of her strength without an ounce of pity, only to crush her opponent. She figured that at the very least, she'd just see what skill level she was up against—she was never one to toot her own horn, but this felt like something she should be good at.

And after an annoyingly long loading screen, they got into their first round of a fighting game—each with their ideal characters and a (for now) equal amount of lives. Audrey decided to go slowly at first, odds were she could spare a life just to test the waters.

To her, it was a form of mercy, something that she felt would go without consequences—not for her, at least. But oh how wrong she was, before she could even map out her grand plan, the shepherd pulled a move that she would've had trouble countering even if she was trying, already taking her down a life before she could even fight back.

"What the...?" the collie trailed off, turning her head over to Emma who simply looked over as if she hadn't just murdered her in cold blood. The grey pup smirked softly, holding up her controller as she raised an eyebrow—a taunt that made the Border Collie's sense of kindness melt away into the fires of tension.

"You still planning on taking it easy on me?" Willing to ignore the fact that she had just been read like an open book, Audrey squinted her eyes, holding the shepherd within in a clash of eye contact as she shook her head with a sense of heartlessness. This was no longer a simple icebreaker to enjoy a hobby that they shared, nor was this an act of kindness to make the new kid feel at home. It was a challenge, and while she may have lost the battle, she refused to lose the war.

Without any sense of compassion to hold her back, the Border Collie managed to drill her focus onto the game in front of her. Whether the shepherd like it or not, it was now her sole mission to fully cement herself as the victor of the two. This was a first impression, and regardless of what some others tried to tell her, first impressions always mattered.

And try she did, putting all of her efforts into it, and for a while, it was paying off. Emma had the heart to give up a life of her own so they could be fighting on equal grounds, and after a while, both of them were down to their last life. One good move was all it would take, each one of them was just moments away from death until...

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Dang it!" Audrey exclaimed, leaning back against the couch as her controller fell onto the cushions below—her eyes forced to see that the only first impression she'd ever get to make was ending with her as the victim. Emma laughed, turning over to her side with a genuine smile—at least she was happy (not that she was actually upset herself). It was all in good fun, of course, it would take more than that to drain her of her pride. But despite that, the shepherd still softly tilted her head in sympathy.

"Hey..." she quietly muttered, leaning closer and wrapping her foreleg around the black and white pup, whose mind was currently short-circuiting at what felt like a hug. Strange, wasn't it? There was nothing out of the ordinary about hugs. "You did really good, don't beat yourself up."

"O-oh, yeah, don't worry about it, I wasn't beating myself up," she nervously stuttered, eyes wide and head running wild. If her face wasn't covered with fur, she'd probably be blushing, which felt like utter nonsense in a situation like this. 

She had no reason to be embarrassed, it was hardly even a full hug, there was nothing wrong with that whatsoever. Hugging friends was normal! She knew that, of course she did, she just didn't know it would make her feel so...fuzzy.

"Alright, alright, just making sure. You wanna be on the same team now?" Now that, sounded like a much more relaxing idea, and Audrey was given no choice but to nod. Before she knew it, the two of them were alongside each other, partners in crime. And from there, it was all almost too easy, they were crushing anyone who dared to step in their way!

In comparison to when they were fighting each other, this was a breeze, and weirdly calming in a sense—who would've guessed murdering lines of code with a new companion could be such a nice thing after worrying all day? 

Audrey felt like she was getting too comfortable, something that any normal person would consider impossible. Her mind wasn't focusing as much, the outside world was slowly becoming blurry. Normally if she was alone, this was fine, and even with her parents and Katie the same could be said, but with someone else, well...

"U-uhm, Audrey? A-are you okay?" The moment she heard her name, the Border Collie's eyes widened, and the gravity of her mistake sunk into every corner of her brain. It was fully on accident, but apparently, being too comfortable was her downfall. Without realizing it, she had leaned over against Emma—her head previously against her shoulder until she corrected such a mistake.

"S-shoot, I am so sorry, I-I'm not very good with, or, I don't...ugh!" she exclaimed in frustration, forcing herself to stop and taking the advice her dad would always give (a deep breath, even if she was still annoyed with herself). "Sorry, I'm...not very good at this. I have a hard time controlling what I say or do around people."

"Oh, alright, don't worry about it. I wasn't, you know, m-mad or anything, you just seemed kind of out of it. I-I didn't really mind," Emma softly muttered, her voice trailing off until her last sentence was nothing more than a whisper aimed at no one's ears but her own. Though even with what she felt was a pretty decent response, Audrey still seemed nervous, yet to be fully convinced. "Do you have other friends who get annoyed with you for it? Because if you do, I'll—"

"Oh no, it's not that at all. Well, I-I don't actually have any friends. Besides Katie, obviously, but you know, she's my owner," she explained, softly laughing. The shepherd narrowed her eyes, and after a second passing without hearing any sort of laugh in return, Audrey realized what she had probably just done (apparently Emma wasn't one for her self-deprecating humor either). Spewing out her issues to someone she just met was surely not a good look, she was not a socializing master, but that just felt like common sense.

"Well...in that case, I'll be your first!" The Border Collie blinked her eyes in confusion, tilting her head in the process—that certainly didn't seem right. Wasn't this what usually turned people away from her? No, no it definitely was. That dilemma continued to linger in her head, but even then, Emma held her paw out with a small smile that gave no such mercy to that question. "Friends?"

Audrey looked at her paw, still hesitant to reach out and accept the chance she was being given. But the shepherd looked genuine, something she had never seen in someone she had just met—excluding her therapist, but that was totally cheating. Even if it was a slim chance, the mere concept of being accepted sounded far better than anything she could've asked for; finalizing her answer as she reached out and softly grabbed the other's paw.

"Friends."

Even if the last time it had caused her nothing but embarrassment, the collie just...didn't want to let go, not yet. And her newly appointed friend had yet to force them out of it, each of them holding eye contact with one another with small, dazed smiles on their face. Both of them were simply caught up in the moment, neither wanting to make the make the final move—and not a force could tear them apart!

"Okay, so, your parents said you could stay as long as I fed you, Audrey. So...consider yourselves fed," Katie announced as she stepped through the door of the living space, two bowls in her head that were promptly set on the ground. So much for there not being a force able to tear them apart. The girl turned over to face them, and she was just fast enough to notice the panic in their eyes as they pulled their paws away. "Aww, well, I'm glad to see that you two are getting along well."

The two of them laughed awkwardly, refusing to make eye contact with one another now that such a comment was in their heads—even if it was very thankfully true. But as a nice change of the subject (as well as hopefully a break from all this nervousness), Audrey jumped off the couch and stepped over to her food bowl with Emma trailing behind.

Without any second thoughts, she dipped her head into the bowl, with no regrets or a single part of her feeling bad for the food that was forced to feel her wrath. It felt like an instinct at this point, but she still managed to stop herself and look back at Emma, who had simply been staring down at her bowl with a motionless, impossible-to-read gaze.

"U-uhm, Katie, can I eat by myself please?" the shepherd requested, initially worried that she was asking just a little too much until she saw the expression on her owner's face—one that was both concerned but not exactly surprised. The girl nodded and bent down to pick up the bowl, making sure to not let a single piece slip out (not that it meant much of a difference to the pup).

"Yes, you can. But, I want you to show me the bowl afterward, just so I know that you're eating enough, alright?" Emma quietly thanked her, awkwardly waving in Audrey's direction before her owner carried the bowl off into the privacy of her bedroom. And a moment later, the girl softly cracked the door behind her, walking back next to the Border Collie as she sat down on the couch.

"What was that about?" the pup asked, wiping the crumbs off of her lips as she jumped up onto the couch, sitting upright next to her owner. The girl didn't answer at first, but her eyes flashed a hint of noticeable hesitation, something that was always taken as a red flag—especially from a vet.

"Well...I think that's something she should tell you, not me. But on another note, you two seem to have hit it off pretty well, huh?" Once again, for a reason she still couldn't fathom, the pup felt a surge of nervousness now that her new friend was the subject of the conversation. It was like some top-secret information would be let out of she kept her mouth running for long enough, and despite her being the one tasked with such a mission, even she felt out of the loop.

"I-I guess you could say that. Emma is really nice, she seems pretty cool." Hearing her stuttering tone of voice, Katie smiled and scratched behind her ear, though she never said anything about it—simply keeping that in her back pocket for a later time. Instead, she just continued the small talk until they heard a voice calling out, followed by the appearance of the Australian Shepherd and a half-eaten food bowl.

"I-I'm done," she stated to the world, her eyebrow scrunched together as if she was expecting to get in trouble for whatever she had done—which unless she had poisoned the food, was a worry that Audrey doubted would ever come to reality. Her new owner nodded and pulled herself off of the couch, looking down at the bowl while the dog refused to look up at either of them.

"Alright, you're all good, just wanted to make sure. Nice job!" The girl bent down and extended her hand, getting a high-five from the pup who nervously chuckled, making it clear that she didn't want to have any part in this conversation. Audrey saw the unfinished containment of the bowl, if she had to guess, there was still around a quarter left sitting in the bowl. A strange thing to give praise for, but oh well, to each their own.

"T-thank you. So...now what?" Emma eagerly looked around her, eyeing the two with a wagging tail in anticipation of the future—either glad to be with them or just to change the subject. Without any sort of thinking, the black and white quickly opened her mouth and spat out the first thought that came to her head (about time that had happened today, she was running a bit behind schedule anyway).

"I have an idea! I-if Katie and my parents are fine with it, that is," she proclaimed, trying to de-escalate it once she had made her announcement. The shepherd tilted her head, seeming just as interested as Katie was suspicious—the latter feeling as such simply because this was something that called for her permission. That was almost always a worrying sign, though she was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. For now.

"Whatcha got in mind?" Emma asked with excitement, ready for nearly any suggestion that might be thrown her way. Audrey smiled and tilted her head to the side in curiosity, wondering if this question was a bit of a stretch given their brief interactions with one another. Then again, she had built up the weapon of her own confidence, there was no time quite like the present!

"You wanna have a sleepover?"