2019-08-25 - Puppy in the Park

It's a clear cloudless Sunday morning in Addington Park and Justin wanders along, a small tan and dark brown pup trotting along at his side with a dark blue collar and leash. He pauses, leaning up against a tree to tap something on his phone while leaving the puppy enough slack to explore the area immediately around him. He keeps one eye on the pup, having told Stefano where to find him.

Stefano arrives at the park not much after Justin does. Spotting the pair, he just watches them for a few minutes. After all, a hot guy with a puppy is almost as good as a hot guy with a kitten. Then walking over, he asks "What's his name?"

Justin glances up from his phone as he sees Stefano approaching and grins. Puppies are attention-getting. He'd been stopped at least three times just walking across the park by people wanting to check out and pet the puppy. He glances from the little dog to Stefano when he gets close enough and says, "I don't know. I haven't figured out what to call him yet."

"What? You've been calling him 'hey puppy' for over a day now?" Stefano shakes his head and focuses his attention on the dog. "What's he like? What's his personality? What does he like to do?"

"Pretty much," Justin admits with a little bit of a laugh. He tucks his phone in his pocket and crouches down, scritching the pup behind the ears. "He responds to it, at any rate." He chuckles, "He's pretty energetic. He likes to run around the back yard, chase everything that's back there -- birds, squirrels, me." He laughs a little bit and then says. "And he likes to sleep on my feet when I'm working in the office, or with me on the couch when I watch TV. He's a good boy. A bottomless pit."

"You just described every puppy ever." Stefano points out. He sinks down into a tailor position on the grass then whistles softly to the dog. "How about Cavall? That was the name of King Arthur's dog." After a moment, he adds "Actually, he kind of looks like a Butch."

"Okay well, it's not my fault that he's like every puppy ever. He's a puppy," Justin says with a laugh. The little pup runs over to Stefano and sniffs at him, then climbs over his legs, or at least makes an attempt to, to get into his lap. "He is definitely not going to be a Butch," Justin vetoes. "Cavall is a contender. I was almost thinking Chase."

Stefano is happy to let the puppy climb onto him and sniff and lick his fill. In return, he gets petted and scritched. ""Chase isn't bad. Though he's going to be stronger than fast. Look at his paws; he's going to be a big boy. And he's thick. Not built for speed but power."

Justin sits down beneath the tree, stretching his legs out in front of him, watching the puppy as he delights in the skritches and attention, occasionally running back over to Justin before returning to Stefano. "Yeah, he's part doberman, part rottweiler, I think. He's probably going to be a bruiser when he grows up."

"I suppose Bruiser is also out. Though I like Butch better." Stefano puts his hands on either side of the puppy's head as it licks his face and asks as he looks him in the eyes "So, what's your name?" After a minute, he looks at Justin. "He says it's Caleb." Pause. "Joking. I can't do that. I don't think anyone can. But I do like the name and it seems to fit him."

"Butch sounds like a bulldog from a cartoon," Justin says with a shake of his head. "I can't do it. It would bug me." The puppy licks Stefano's face and wiggles, letting out a little whuff and whine. He raises both brows when Stefano tells him the puppy gave him his name, and for a moment, just a moment, he almost asks if Stefano can /do/ that until he smirks, realizing it was a joke. "I like Caleb," he does concede, though.

"How do you like Caleb?" Stefano asks the dog, leaning forward to rub his face against the side of the dog's head. "I think it suits you very well so long as you don't get fat. I can tell you're a food hound so you better exercise a lot."

Justin leans his head back against the tree and watches Stefano and the newly named Caleb, unable to suppress the broad grin that grows on his features. Caleb seems delighted with the name, or at least with the attention that he's getting from Stefano at any rate. Justin chuckles and says, "Oh, don't worry. He'll be getting plenty of exercise. Just more excuse for me to remember to get out of the house and not get sucked into work for days on end."

"Then you should have gotten a puppy years ago." Stefano says, grinning over at Justin. "I've thought about getting a dog but I'm out of the house too often. Maybe a couple of cats instead since they can entertain each other and use a littler box."

Justin smirks at Stefano and says, "Maybe. But that's what I got the roommate for." He chuckles. Not really, but it sounds good. Then he nods and says, "Cats are cool. I never really had a pet before. But these little guys were abandoned, rescues. And I couldn't resist that face." He grins as the puppy looks at him, as though knowing he's being talked about, and climbs into Justin's lap.

Stefano nods. "I might once I get more settled. I haven't decided on a more permanent place to live yet, just renting by the month as I continue to look around. Most of my stuff is still in boxes. Once I do, then I'll consider a couple cats. Though I also need to think about what would happen if something like the party happens again, except with a worse ending. I could just disappear and they'd be left alone."

"I'd just say you could come stay with Dahlia and I, it's not like I don't have room, but that's probably too much too soon, especially since I already made the assumption we're going to be taking a trip in the spring," Justin says with a wry smile, remembering his hasty planning of the other night, as he scritches Caleb's ears with both of his hands, trying to resist the urge to make faces at the puppy, and failing just a little bit. "You are so damned cute," he chuckles, and then glances up. His brow furrows slightly and then he says, "Yeah.. you'd probably need someone to check in on them from time to time, just to make sure. I at least have people at the house pretty regularly. If I disappeared, someone would be around to make sure he was okay. Not that I plan on disappearing on him but.." Yeah. Gray Harbor.

"Exactly. The downside to living alone." Stefano agrees quietly, making sure no one's in ear shot. "At least if it was a medical thing, there'd be a body for someone to notice." Not that he looks like he's having any health issues. Then "Do you have a spare room? It's definitely too soon to share a bedroom but a separate room... And I'd pay rent. It would let us find out if we'll get along at close quarters. And most important, I'd get a puppy to cuddle."

"Yeah, I didn't mean sharing a room, just, like Dahl, a room of your own. It's a big house. I have a few spare rooms. But wasn't sure if that would be weird or not," Justin admits. "And you can pay rent if you want. And if you do find a place that you like and decide to get it, I won't be offended or anything, either." He laughs at the mention of the puppy. "I see how it is. It's all about Caleb." He picks up the little guy and rubs noses with him, getting a lick in return. "You are pretty irresistable." He nods. "There're some folks around here who just.. disappeared without a trace, and who knows how long they were gone, since they didn't have anyone to notice." His expression fades to something a little more serious. "Another benefit to just having other people around, in general."

"Of course it's about Caleb." Stefano agrees. "I already get to cuddle you when I want to. Tell you what, think it over a few days then offer again if you haven't changed your mind. Also talk it over with Dahlia and makes sure she doesn't have a problem with it."

"Dahlia will just be excited at the prospect of seeing you wandering around with your shirt off," Justin points out with a laugh. "She's all but told me I should have you over all the time. But yes, I'll talk to her about it, and I'll ask again after she tells me what she thinks. I did already spring a puppy on her this week. Good thing she likes dogs."

"Point out I'm house broken." Stefano suggests with a grin. "And like wearing as little as possible so she'll get her wish in that respect. So yeah, if you both are good with it, I'm willing to give it a shot." The grin turns into a smile as he adds "Gotta admit, I won't mind being around you more so we'll both find out if we're actually compatible or just enjoying a good time. Which is also fine."

"Housebroken massage therapist, looks good in very little clothing, speaks fluent Italian, and likes puppies. I mean, who can really complain about that?" Justin laughs as he lets the wriggly puppy jump down from his lap once more and settle somewhere on the grass between them. Then he nods and says, "Yeah, no pressure, just more time around and we'll see how things shake out." He smiles a little wryly, "I think in part it's this place, too. Back in L.A. I never even had a roommate. I always lived by myself unless I was actually moving in, moving in with someone. Here, in part it's kind of a safety in numbers thing. Feels better not to be alone. If that makes sense."

"Perfect sense." Stefano agrees. "Living here... I knew what to expect since I was told what to expect. But knowing it and feeling it twenty four seven are very different. It makes me wants to keep looking over my shoulder and makes me itch between my shoulder blades. So yeah, it's nice having someone around to scratch it"

"Oh, my buddy Easton invited us out with him and his girlfriend, Bennie, sometime. He was the guy that I ran into in the Dream.. and we were kids.. and then we ended up outside of it in the woods, and not..kids.. anymore. Anyway, we finally caught up and talked a bit. Guess he actually owns Two if By Sea now," the bar that Stefano and Justin went to the day that they met. "He used to be a summer resident like me, but guess, like me, he's settled in for the long haul."

Stefano laughs at the invitation. "We're a couple already to be invited out on double dates? How'd that happen so quickly? Did you tell him we were seeing each other or is there some grapevine I haven't been made aprt of yet?"

"He asked if I had a girlfriend," Justin chuckles. "I told him no, I was seeing a guy this time, and so yeah, I told him about you. It just came up in conversation. No secret squirrel network that I'm aware of, unless that's another superpower that I don't have, like dog whisperer."

"Well, yeah. We can do that, some better than others. Hyacinth is probably good at it." Stefano suggests. "It's one of the things that goes with electricity just like fire goes with healing. Or hurting. Also putting things back together. Anyway, yeah. It is possible to speak mind to mind. Easiest with other like us but possible with those without any ability at all."

Justin pauses for a moment and then says, "Seriously? There are mind-readers?" Because that's a disturbing thought. His brows knit just a little bit. "I'm not sure I like the idea of Hyacinth reading my mind. I'm pretty sure if she could, then I would have had a lot more sharp pointy objects thrown at me over the years."

Stefano shakes his head. "It's not like that that I know of. You can think at someone, project emotions, illusions, etc. But reading someone is much more limited as far as I know. You'd have to ask her since I'm not certain."

"That's not something that you can do?" Justin asks, curiously, but then he nods and says, "I'll have to ask her next time I see her. Though, I'm not sure if I want to open that whole can of worms in the event that she decides to start trying." A grin slips back over his lips. The puppy lets out a big yawn and then starts to gnaw a bit at Justin's fingers when he scritches him. "I think it's time to take this little guy home, though." He slowly begins to pull himself up. "Want to come back to the house for a bit? I can make us some lunch."