A/N: This may become the precursor of an actual story later. I’ve been playing around with a few ideas so we’ll see.

Emotions

By: CTCD

The computer as he was only known by had always found the small purple dog as an oddity even more so among the oddities that made up the middle of Nowhere. The dog probably saw him as an oddity himself, after all how many talking computers do you come across?

They’d known each other for almost as long as they had both been living on the farm. Their relationship was almost as odd as being an intelligent dog to a talking computer. In all honesty he disliked dealing with the unintelligent dog but commended him for what little intelligence he did have, it was a far cry from most dogs. Besides? How many people would know how to fend off an evil she-demon or a mutant foot fungus.

He had often took out his hatred of being stuck in an attic alone with a stupid dog who was just a bit more intelligent then most canines. The dog always got the worse of it since he was the only one who ever showed up but he also took it out to keep Courage around for just a bit longer. When the dog wasn’t around he little to do but wait for their next meeting. The jokes and cynicism were truth but also a lie to keep the dog around.

Of course that was before and not the present. It was only a few month since he and the dog had mutually agreed that their relationship was more then just ‘friendship’ and they both had accepted it without embarrassment or rejection. He had gotten sick of all the time he was spending waiting in the boredom and truthfully loneliness for the dog to return and finally told him how he really felt and wanted the dog to come around more often.

It must have been a stroke of fate for Courage almost instantly began taking about how he felt about him and soon they both had let it slip how they both really felt about each other. He hated Courage for his stupidity but loved him for it as well. It was a character trait and flaw that made Courage, Courage. As Courage hated him for being a sarcastic jerk but loved him for it as well.

It was an odd union but both excepted. Though he did not lessen up on his criticism about the dog’s lack of knowledge he stopped most of the unneeded sarcasm and cynicism. He now took on an almost teacher like role. He would spend hours talking with the dog and showing him things and teaching him everything he knew and everything he could find in his data banks. Down to the most minuscule piece of information was shared with Courage. It was a nice past time and both he and Courage enjoyed it.

They of course could not do anything physical and he had made it very clear he wanted to keep any sappiness out of their relationship. Despite this Courage was prone to going ‘cute dog’ on him, everything from wagging the tail while saying cute stuff in his gibberish English to kissing his screen which had caused him to rebound with as much verbal abuse as possible although he was simply hiding how taken aback he had been by such a display of affection.

He wanted to keep it a love, hate relationship as much as possible since he was really not willing to show how he really felt about the dog...not yet anyway. Neither of them had actually said ‘I love you’ to each other yet to begin with.

Courage seemed perfectly okay with being in love with a sentient object, he had made this claim a few times when the topic had come up in a few of their conversations. He was not having it so easy, he would often find himself pondering things long into the night or when Courage wasn’t around.

Could he feel love at all? Was what he was feeling really the human equivalent of love? Did he just think he was feeling love? He often wondered if he could feel emotions at all he had learned how to mimic the emotions he often showed from others but he had never experienced a display love from any of his other owners. Maybe he was learning love from Courage?

Whether he could feel emotions or not it plagued his thoughts relentlessly. He had even asked Courage about it which had been hard to do but managed to say anyway. Courage only gently exclaimed that it he’d just have to make do with what he can feel whether it be real emotions or not.

He had hated it that Courage had suddenly showed more intelligence on a certain matter then he. He had accepted it either way and had realized that Courage was right. Real emotions or not real love or not it was what he felt and this was his version of feelings human or not. He stopped losing sleep or more like thought process over it and began focusing more on learning how to love from Courage.

Despite his usual mocking and cruelty he had also showing kindness and given comfort to the dog. After their confession the dog often came to him when he was suffering from particularly bad nightmares or when Eustace was unusually cruel and he’d give the dog the support he needed even if it was a little stern. When Courage had been injured in an attack by the supernatural forces that often showed up he had found himself caring for Courage almost like Muriel minus the ability to move. Muriel had taken care of the physical side of things while he provided tips and information on how to help Courage through. The dog would often be exhausted by the end of the day from his injury he’d fall right asleep on his keyboard.

The keyboard...that was the only thing that allowed him physically feel Courage. That was why he often insisted to Courage that he type their conversations over talking. It wasn’t just because he could hardly speak English but because it was through that touch that he became physically connected to Courage. The dog had learned not to pound on the keys so the contact was now a pleasant feeling and kind additions to their time together. When the dog would fall asleep at the keyboard that too would also be an immense joy. The constant physical contact was the closed thing he could have to ‘laying’ with Courage and he would let his processors run all through the night just to experience every moment of it.

He slowly found himself growing more and more fond of Courage as the weeks went by. He often hated himself for beginning to love that idiot so deeply but he was also happy to experience such a pure emotion he didn’t know he could feel or if he really did at all. He loved Courage idiocy and all. Courage loved him big mean jerk and all, as he had said with a grin. Courage’s lack of intelligence infuriated him while enjoying it at the same time and besides that the dog had many redeeming qualities as well. They both held very different views in this very strange relationship. Courage was his companion, his friend, and his annoyance all at once and regardless if he could feel love or not he was the same to Courage as well.

He decided maybe he’d tell Courage those three words in their next meeting regardless of his ability feel emotions. Regardless of what he can or cannot feel those words would be the most meaningful thing he ever said.

End