Asher's patience was thinning. He stood on the dock, facing the boat and waiting for Onyx to jump down out of it. Going from steady ground to the boat was never any trouble for the dog, but disembark from it was always a completely different story. It was embarrassing, Onyx whimpering and whining, preparing to make a leap for it only to have the next wave roll in and then back out again, sweeping away any bit of courage he might have gathered.

After a few minutes of watching the pathetic display, Asher usually found that the best incentive to get him moving was usually to abandon him, to just start walking and leave Onyx to fend for himself. The whimpering inevitably got worse, but by the time Asher made it to the end of the dock, Onyx was usually galloping his way up right behind him.

This time wasn't any different.

"Idiot," he said on a breath, almost a little disappointed when there was no sound of a splash, just nails shuffling over the wooden planks of the dock. Then again, the last thing he wanted to be dealing with was the smell of wet dog.