"Just when our day couldn't get any unluckier. C'mon!" Ren tugged Stimpy's wrist through the harsh rain as they high-tailed it out of there.

Everybody was trying to either go under cover or leave the park due to the sudden downpour, with Ren and Stimpy doing the latter, their feet PLORPPing as they rushed their way towards the edge of the park, the grass having been soaked in all the water--

SLIP--

"WOOOOAAAAHHH--"

BAM--

Stimpy had slipped and flung himself into the tree they were gushing about. From the hard collision, something pink was exposed on Stimpy's side as his eyes were black and blue, his nose smushed like an accordion, and a giant lump having been  erected from his noggin as stars and tiny birds sparked and tweeted around his knocked-out head.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Ren fell onto his knees as more lightning struck the skies, which struck the leaves of the same tree.

The small doggy scuttled forward, eyes bugged and teary upon seeing his injured buddy. He huddled close, head against Stimpy's side as be softly uttered his name.

He sniffled, feeling so ashamed. Goddammit, it was his fault, he was going to take full responsibility of how he just had to rush out in slippery rainfall all haphazardly. It was his own goddamn fault that he suggested they'd walk outside in the first place, what a dumbass decision that was. He thought he shoulda known better than to be blissfully ignorant to the mere fact that when it was his birthday, right on the seventeenth...bad omens would rear their heads tenfold! Now look at Stimpy--this hurt him harder than any bad omen directly hurting him!

Even if the cat approached things stupidly, it still came from a good place in his heart. He knew Ren would have hated to piss on himself, and he knew it was wrong to just piss anywhere in the park...so he took it upon himself to be responsible for Ren's waste. Even seemed like he delibrately wanted to take the brunt of embarassment, as if to atone the hardship he gave the canine when he acted all strange and apathetic.

Ren thought that, because of all the actions he took today, that it was entirely on him for having the poor manx be so hurt. Yes, yes, yes, oh God Almighty, was it his goddamn fault. Ren gripped the grass tightly in his palms, kneading his shaking head into Stimpy's tummy.

He felt so sad about the whole situation that barely uttered a sound while his tears ran...he didn't care about anything. He didn't care that his toes submerged into the water, nor the noise of the fire eating the tree branches above them...he just wanted to stay with his friend.

Badump, badump, badump....

Ren's ears tore past all the static rainfall, the quaking lightning, the crackling fire, and just focused squarely on the sound of the cat's beating heart.

That was when Ren suddenly had conviction inside him--he knew he couldn't give up on his friend. He was gonna get them out of there. Seeing Stimpy safe and sound, away from danger, that would be the greatest birthday present of all, oh yes, oh yes!

Ren got up, the rain nearly touching his ankles as he knelt and slipped his hand beneath his buddy's belly, and with a loud HHHRRRRRRNNNNNGGGGHHHH, Ren hoisted Stimpy into his arms in a bridal hold, then turned and skipped his feet in the shallow pool of rainwater as a firey branch had fallen upon where they once laid.

Ren let out deep breaths, his gaze was focused on the hill ahead of them, stinging rainwater on his eyes be damned!

The water had risen past his ankles...but Ren wasn't having any of that, and ran across the crosswalk, in the middle of traffic, narrowly avoiding the cars rushing past him.

Finally, as he made it across the sidewalk, the chihuahua was panting loudly...he needed to take a breather, if only for 5 seconds...as his eyes relaxed on the feline, he was soon fixated on something else--the water had rose to his knees!

Ren then put on a look of determination--he was gonna make it, no matter what!

He trudged forward...because of the steep incline, and the weight of the big cat, Ren had to laborously plod one foot after the other. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. Anything was worth it for his Stimpy~

"HHNNNGGGHHHH...C'mon, Hoek...MOVE...," he said through his teeth. He was actually making progress, working his way up the hill...but nature had other plans. The water continued to rise, and there WASN'T one step up the hill where Ren DIDN'T feel one of his big chihuahua feet--particularly whichever one was behind him--submerged in torrential downpour.

"Get your ass up the heell...you're a beeg, strong hunk! GGGGGNNNNNNNHHHHHH..don't you dare give up! Steempy looked out for you, now you do the same for him!"

Now every whichever foot behind him was submerged past his ankles.

Although he was still going up, they still had quite a ways away before they would reach the top of the hill, and much preferably, inside their house.

Lighting tore through the skies again--

"I won't disappoint you, Steempy!"

The water was past his back foot's knee...

"You know I won't ever let that happen!"

The water got past his other back foot's thigh...

"I may be the true eediot here, but my heart will not make me go down!"

Then he felt something wrap around his body, and that same something said--

"I'm with you~"

He looked down, and saw Stimpy smile back at him with admiring eyes, his face still a bit bruised, but his attitude remained unfaltered.

Ren smiled warmly, and gripped Stimpy even tighter.

"Hold tight", he told the feline.

With his conscious boyfriend-in-arm, the canine felt a sudden burst of energy brimming throughout him as he took another step forward along the incline...on the wobbly chunk of sidewalk.

He slipped, and they both were screaming as they flung in the air, falling into the water at the bottom of the decline, which was like a flowing river.

Ren popped his head out of the river, grab onto the pole of a streetlight. "STEEMPYYY!" he cried, frantically looking everywhere--it was hard to see with the water constantly partnering on him, his eyes blasted with feverish raindrops, his ears unable to decipher where from what--

"THERE--I GOT YOU!" He just so happened to catch the glimpse of a glove sticking out of the street-submerging river, and was now pulling the drowning cat out of the rainy river. Stimpy coughed hard as Ren helped him hold onto the streetlight.

"Haahh..hhhaahh..no, Ren! You're too tiny! The water will drag you away!"

"Wha--WHOA!"

His tiny weight ripped him away from the post--Ren's hands frantically waved forth, his mouth wide open as he let loose a fearful yell--but that only happened for about a second.

Ren latched onto Stimpy...the pink of Stimpy's side, specifically.

"OH MY GOD, I'M DEEGING INTO YOUR GASH!"