dogman

In the cell farthest down the hall, where the darkness was densest and the silence heaviest, Petey was sitting in the corner, his back against the cold concrete wall.

The bars cast long shadows on the floor, as if they were claws that never stopped trapping him.

His eyes, normally sharp and arrogant, were wide open, fixed on nothing. His tail didn't move. His posture wasn't that of a defiant criminal, but that of someone… broken.

And suddenly, he remembered.

A voice, a dark room, distant screams. A hand pushing him, a door slamming shut with fury. A metallic smell. Cold. Loneliness.

Petey brought both hands to his head and shrank upon himself as if the weight of the memory crushed him. A tear fell uncontrollably. And then another. Until he could no longer stop them.

"—No... I don't want to remember," he murmured in a trembling whisper, as if saying it aloud could erase the images from his mind.

The figure everyone saw as an intelligent, sarcastic, and self-centered criminal… was now just a cat curled up in a ball, breathing with difficulty between silent sobs.

Soft footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Dog Man

He patrolled at night sometimes, out of habit. He didn't expect to find anyone awake. But as he passed Petey's cell, something triggered his instinct. He stopped.

Petey hadn't heard him coming.

Dog Man looked at him. He said nothing, as always. But his ears drooped and his brow furrowed slightly as he saw the tears glistening on the orange cheeks.

That wasn't part of the "act".

He barked softly. Once. Then again.

Petey slowly looked up, making no attempt to hide his tears. For once, he wasn't pretending to be strong.

—...What are you doing here? —his voice sounded broken, without anger.

*Dog Man tilted his head, lowering his snout slightly between the bars. He gestured with his paw towards the corner, the floor, the tears. His expression said more than a thousand p