Stone Circle Be prepared

"Ow," Murdock complained, his ears pressing forward at the feeling of tiny teeth in his nose. For once, though, he did not pull away, and simply enjoyed the strange, skunky aroma of puppybreath. It'd been years since he'd last smelled it, and the high intensity of the scent made him want to huddle protectively over little Stephie.

"I've eaten puppies, you know," he told her conversationally, extracting his nose from her grip. He freed her from under his paw and nudged her into the thick fur of his chest, where she would be safe forever and no one would ever hurt her. "Not ones that would've lived, mind, but still. They taste different than they smell. Like any meat, I suppose." He remembered, suddenly, that kids could often understand words before they could speak, and a look of dawning horror passed over his face. "Oh, shit! I gotta watch what I say around you little bastards," he realized, finding another reason to dislike children, all of the sudden.