Another Day, another bone: Saviour

  It was morning when Charlie woke up, smelling something. It smelled sweet... Kinda strong. He lifted up his head and sniffed the air, then turned on his couch, facing the wall where Itchy's pipe was, the one he went through to get to his room. He hopped down and stretched, yawning widely.  He went to the pipe and started sniffing.
  The smell, whatever it was, was coming from there, from Itchy's room. Wanting to figure out what it was, the mutt left the room and started heading downstairs where the Dachshund's room was located. When he got there the door was ajar, so he pressed himself against the door jam, peeking in. What he saw was Itchy putting cologne on. Trying not to snicker, Charlie gave the door a knock.
  "Hey Itch? It's Charlie, can I come in?" He called. Itchy was so startled that he fell off the stool he had been standing on to see the mirror. Charlie chuckled quietly, shaking his head.
  "Sure Charlie, come on in." He heard from the dog inside, then he entered. Itchy hopped back on the stool and started brushing down his head fur.
  "Whatcha up to Itchy?" Charlie asked. He figured he had an idea, because Itchy only got all spiffed up for one thing: when he was going on a date. But just in case it was something else he decided to hear it.
  "I got a date planned with Bess." Itchy said. "We planned a breakfast at the fanciest place in town."
  Called it. Charlie thought. "So you're making yourself look spiffy?" He asked as Itchy finished brushing his fur down and hopped off the stool, going to find a nice looking shirt other than his usual green one in his closet. "A breakfast date isn't worth getting nice-looking you know."
  "So you think Charlie. It makes someone look more sophisticated." Itchy replied.
  And makes you look like a dork.
  "Anyway Charlie," Itchy continued as he came out of the closet, wearing a dark blue shirt, and grabbed Charlie's chest fur and yanked him down to his eye level. "I want, no, I need you to promise me that you won't mess up the place while I'm not here." The mutt rolled his eyes, then Itchy dragged him a bit closer until they were nosetip to nosetip. "Charlie, I mean it."
  "Fine Itch. I promise not to mess anything up. Now do me one little favor." Charlie said.
  "What kind of favor Charlie?"
  "Off." Was all Charlie said as he gave Itchy a little shove, harder than he meant to, which sent the small dog rolling slightly. This made Charlie laugh a bit. Itchy promptly stood up and dusted his shirt off, staring at Charlie.
  "Well... See ya later Charlie. Remember your promise and try not to get into any trouble."
  "Got it Itch. Have fun." Charlie said, giving a mock salute. Itchy shook his head, as if to say what have I done, then went out the door, going downstairs. Charlie poked his head out and watched his best pal go and smiled.
  Not gonna mess anything up, however I am gonna do some redecorating with a little bit of help. The mutt thought as he followed down minutes after. He had been planning to fix the place up, which was surprising considering how lazy he was. However, he was more in it for the bones he could rake in with more customers. He was gonna head to the Fleabite to see if Joey was open.
  With a big job like this, he was gonna need some muscle, so he was going to get a big group together. Maybe he could get Joey and Zak to help...
  "Lessee... Joey, Zak, Zero, Itchy's on a date, maybe that nice guy Rollie could be helpful..." Charlie muttered as he walked. "Andrew could be of use also, but I'd have to keep him in line..." Since he wasn't paying attention, he bumped right into someone's back.
  "Oof! Oh, hey Charlie, what's up. I was just coming to get myself some breakfast, but its a bit dark down here so I stopped to let my eyes adjust." Charlie looked at the speaker, a black German Shepherd with a white 0 shape right on his noggin.
  "Hey Zero, your just one of the guys I wanted to see." Charlie said, grinning. "I gotta ask you something: have you ever wanted this place to look better or have a kind of pizzaz to it?" Zero looked thoughtful as he walked into the kitchen with Charlie following.
  "Yeah, a little... A bit of color or something wouldn't kill the place. Its all gray down here." Zero replied as he gave a nod.
  "Well I was thinking of getting a few other dogs to give me a hand of making this place look nice so more dogs would wanna move in." Charlie said. "And you're one of the guys I need to help." Zero scratched his chin thoughtfully as he found something to eat.
  "Who did you have in mind to help you?" The black dog asked.
  "You, Joey, Zak, maybe Rollie, my son Andrew, a pretty nice big crew."
  "What about Itchy?" Zero asked.
  "Itch is out on a date, and I figured we could fix the place to..." The mutt scratched the back of his head. "Y'know, surprise him, let him know we appreciate all he does around here." Though when he looked back at the younger dog he had a look of suspicion on his face.
  "What bought about this sudden bit of kindness Charlie?" The Shepherd asked, the suspicion clear in his voice. Charlie quickly tried to think something up, and the idea suddenly popped into his head. "Well?"
  "Zero, though it may not seem like it I care for Itchy very much. And I figured I might as well do something nice for him for once cause he does so much for me, and you too. He's the one who recommended a job at the Fleabite remember?" Charlie said. The part about caring for Itchy was true, the rest was all just trying to convince Zero, since all he wanted was more bones.
  He was using his con-man's charm, and he hoped that he wasn't getting rusty. He was still in his prime, so he was sure he could do it. The mutt watched Zero's face, seeing him thinking very hard about it. The black dog gave a slow nod.
  "True... Alright Charlie, I'll help you with your project." Zero gave a grin. "Itchy won't recognize the place when we're finished." The younger dog's tail was wagging.
  Jackpot... Charlie thought. "Could you go get Zak up for me? I know Joey's working this morning, and Zak'll be snoozing in his room. I don't think Joey would mind helping his old boss fixing up home."
  "Sure Charlie." Zero said, food forgotten as he raced back upstairs. Charlie, on the other paw, went out the front door and headed to the Fleabite. His pockets would be full of bones by the end of the month...

  On the roof of the building someone else heard thumping on the lower floors. A few bangs, faint voices he couldn't understand, and softer thumping as someone continued downstairs. He was used to it, but not so early in the morning. Then he heard more thumping, someone coming up. He was to tired to be curious about what the commotion was and fell back asleep.

  "Hey, Zak get up!" Zero said when he reached the tan dog's room. He was curled up on a bed, his nephew Duncan nearby. "Charlie's got a project for us!" Zak raised his head groggily, blinking slowly at Zero.
  "What time is it?" He asked, but since he had just woken up his words got all twisted and muffled, and it came out as "Whaimst," which made Zero laugh. The big guy shook his head to try and clear it from sleepiness. Duncan was still asleep, and one of his large ears gave a twitch as he rolled over. Zak smiled down at him before looking back at Zero.
  "Sorry... What time is it?" He asked again, a bit more clear.
  "Its 9:18 AM." Zero said, having glanced at a clock nearby. The tan Doberman looked at him like he was insane, mouth agape.
  "You have gotta be kidding me..." He said slowly, rubbing one of his claws in his ear to see if it needed to be cleared. "Did you just say you got me up at 9:18 in the morning?!"
  "Well, 9:19 now." The black Shepherd replied matter-of-factly. He had to duck as Zak threw his pillow at his head. "Take it easy Zak, you'll break your back y'old-timer." He said jokingly, knowing Zak was only 24, and not even gray around the muzzle yet.
  Zak just rolled his eyes as he hopped down off the bed and stretched, yawning. When his mouth shut his tongue was lolling out the front of his mouth, making him look silly. Zero laughed at him again.
  "Nice face Zak." Zero said, chuckling. Zak felt his tongue tip getting dry and pulled it back in, grinning a bit. Even if it was morning, the guy had a sense of humor. That's why Zero liked him as a friend, he was energetic in a flash.
  "So what's this project the old mutt has us set to do?"
  "We're supposed to be refurnishing and fixing up the place. You know, invite more dogs to stay." Zero said. His friend scratched his chin thoughtfully with a front paw.
  "And what do we get out of this?"
  "Its supposed to be a surprise for Itchy, to also show what a good job he's been doing for us." Zero explained. "That's why Charlie needs us to help." Zak gave an understanding nod, stretching again.
  "Well, guess I'll go get myself some breakfast, I have a feeling we have a long morning ahead of us." The