2019-11-15 - Adopt, don't shop

True to his word, Garrett is outside when Kelsey arrives. The jeep is already running and he has an empty leash in hand. He's dressed for the cold that's creeping in with the change of seasons; a pair of jeans and a gray hoodie with a black knit beanie barely covering the tips of his ears, Not paying close attention to much, he leans against the hood, fiddling with his phone.

Obviously. Had been Kelsey's response to his last text. Garrett isn't waiting long. Kelsey emerges with Wishbone in tow. Though, really, he's leading her towards the familiar jeep at a rapid pace and Kelsey does a light little jog things to keep up. "You act like you haven't seem him in a millennia Wishbone." She laughed as they approached. "Hey Garrett." She breathed out as the pair climbed into the car. She's clad in a navy blue sweater with a pair of black jeans and a pair of black leather gloves with matching boots.

"Heya," Garrett replies, smiling wide as Kelsey approaches, bending down long enough to give Wishbone the obligatory pets before getting in the Jeep. "So. I talked to Sparrow a bit about the whole possibky setting you up with someone thing." No preamble, straight to business as he pulls out to set out for the shelter that is... somewhere? His phone seems to think it's about a half hour away, judging by the directions it displays. "She pointed out it's hard to know who you might get on with if we don't know what you're looking for." Pause. "Or how you feel about relatively open relationshios, given the circles she... and I, apparently... run in." He glances briefly over. "...also, how are you?"

Kelsey blinks at Garrett for a moment. "Shit man, is this like a real life version of Match.com?" She asked with a laugh as they settled in. "I'm fine - was just working on a couple articles" Wishbone half on her lap as was customary so he could stick that adorable face out the window once they got rolling. "I don't know what I'm looking for. No. That's not right. Gimme a sec." She thinks on it for precisely two minutes. "Someone who Glimmers - obviously. So I don't have to hide shit. Someone who'd at least be open to my crazy ideas....and who likes the unknown." Kelsey focused out the window, clearing her throat a bit. "I'm not looking for anything serious right now either. So I guess open is fine? Maybe just tell her I want a friend with some extra benefits?" Looking back towards Garrett.

Garrett grins over at Wishbone doing the standard dog routine, but only for a second. Driving, after all. "Anything interesting? The articles, I mean?" he asks, before listening to the what Kelsey is and isn't looking for. "That's... sort of open, not hard to work with. I'm not sure she quite realizes what Glimmer and the Veil and all that really is, so I'm not sure how she'll be able to help narrow that much down." Pause. Sidelong glance towards Kelsey. "And if exclusivity is an utter non-issue, she's going to ask why I'm not offering myself up," he adds, clearing his throat and very deliberately looking not at Kelsey.

"Well, people who are into the 'weird and unknown' should cover that then. Plus - you can sort of spot it because you've got the talent and whatnot. So, you know, if you see these prospects. You'll know." Kelsey maybe got a little red and cleared her throat too, again. "Just tell her that it'd be like kissing cousins or something." A beat of pause before she clarified. "You're pretty good looking. I won't deny that. But you're also like my only real friend? And adding sex to any friendship can fuck things up. I'd rather not fuck it up. That's all."

Garrett breathes a little sigh of what is almost certainly relief. "Thank God. I mean... yeah, you're aware that you're attractive, but it's nice, you know, having a friend that is, like, just a friend," he agrees, then nods. "So more friends with benefits sort than anything serious. Maybe I can try to give her Glimmer 101 and she can narrow that bit down so I don't feel like I'm screening people," he says with a laugh. "She glimmers, so it'd just be a matter of telling her what she's looking for."

Kelsey echos his sigh of relief. That could have gone terribly sideways! "Exactly. And people say that boys and girls can't just be friends." She winked to him, relaxing in the seat and cuddling Wishbone a bit. "Basically yeah. Maybe it'll be something more, maybe it won't. It's just nice to get laid now and then and have some meaningful conversation and whatnot a long with it. I can't do the whole, one nightstand - meaningless sex thing. I gotta at least like the person on some level."

"Hey! I will have you know I have an entire two lady friends that I don't sleep with, thank you very much," Garrett says, laughing."Yeah, I'm sure she'll know someone or other. She knows all the people, so there's bound to be one that you get along with." He nods, then another glance over, more at Wishbone than Kelsey. "How many other dogs has he been around?"

Kelsey laughed at that. "A whole two? Look at you go." She scritched Wishbone's side, nodding. "I'm curious to see what she turns up." She admitted and thought a moment. "Well, he had like 5 other siblings that he was in that box with for a while until Minerva found them. Ruby. He's been to the dog park a couple times? He might get a little excited seeing so many dogs at once if they have a lot...but he'll be good over all. I think." She's pretty sure. "Do you have a particular type of dog in mind? Or just whichever one you feel really connects?"

"It depends how you define friend, though. Two that I fully anticipate future pleasant social interaction with zero romantic angle?" Garrett shrugs, then shifts back to dog talk. "So you'd know by now if he didn't really like other dogs. That's good." He shakes his head when asked what he has in mind. "Nothing overly specific. Adult, already housebroken. Big enough that it can come running with me and Monica and not run out of steam too soon. Other than that? What you said, whatever connects," he answers. "And likes Wishbone. Obviously."

"True. Friend has a different meaning to everyone I suppose." Kelsey agreed and nodded. "Yeah, he likes other dogs. Don't you Wishbone? You just wanna be friends with everyone." She murmured affectionately to the pup - who barked and wagged his tail at hearing his name and the positive tones. "Obviously." She chuckled. "I hope we find you one. I'm sure there'll be quite a few to look at. Who knows...maybe you'll end up walking away with like three instead of one because you just can't pick." And then added. "Oh yeah. I guess this future friend person have to like dogs too."

"Anyone that doesn't like dogs isn't to be trusted anyways, even if you didn't have a dog," Garrett points out, grinning, but sounding like he's maybe not joking all that much. "Yeah, I'm not overly concerned, I'm sure they'll have something that gets along with all of us." He lets out a sharp laugh at the suggestion of leaving with a pack of dogs. "Your job is to be the responsible one and limit me to one dog," he informs her. "A duty not to be taken lightly."

Kelsey giggled. "Fair, fair. Okay." She nodded. "Only one dog....and it's your job to make sure I don't leave with any dogs." She added. Because Wishbone was enough of a handful! "I promise to be super responsible and only let you leave with one dog. Scouts honor." Giving him a little salute and a grin.

"No dogs for you," Garrett echoes. "Birds, cats, and lizards are all fair game, though, yeah?" He's very obviously teasing and nods his agreement. "We leave, collectively, with exactly one dog." Another glance at Wishbone. "What kind of dog is he? He's going to get pretty big, if I remember right? I should keep that in mind if this is to be his prospective playmate..." he muses.

Kelsey nodded. "Precisely one and no more, no less. And no other animals." She mused. "He's an....American Mastiff I think? Oh yeah. He's gonna get really big." Kelsey fiddles with her phone a moment to show Garrett a brief picture. "Probably don't want any like Chihuahuas or tea cup poodles around him."

"Well, no less is technically allowed, but..." Garrett trails off, glancing at the leash in the back seat. "Seems unlikely." The answer of what Wishbone is gets a low whistle. "I thought you said some sort of mastiff. Yeah. Nothing smaller than, like, a lab, then, probably," he muses. "The tiny dogs were already out. I just can't imagine a chihuahua running for five miles at my pace," he says. "Almost there," he adds in an excited tone, nodding at the phone as he turns.

"That's true. Labs are good dogs too from what I hear. Or maybe a greyhound even. But I think those are rare to find. At least in shelters and stuff." Kelsey pondered on that a minute and grinned agai. "You're adorable when you're excited." Then she looks to Wishbone. "You ready to go meet a lot of potential new buddies? Hm?" Rubbing him down a little. Wishbone's tail was still wagging away. So, a yes!

"Yeah, I think you mostly find greyhounds near where race tracks finally go out of business. And everybody likes a lab," Garrett agrees with a nod, then giving Kelsey a little side-eye. "I'm always adorable," he points out, then grins. "It's why Wishbone and I get along so well," he adds as he pulls into the parking lot outside a rather unremarkable, low brick building with a sizeable section of fenced off yard to the side that seems to wrap behind it. "Well, shall we?" And with that, Garrett is reaching to grab the leash and get out.

"No race tracks around here." She agreed. Kelsey just rolls her eyes and laughs again. "Yeah, yeah. C'mon." She opens the door - letting Wishbone jump down first and then climbing out after him. "Now Wishbone. We're going to be a good boy right? No jumping, no taking off. No barking and riling up the hundred other dogs. All that good stuff." She gave him a little pat and then would walk with Garrett inside!

"Pretty sure they'll still have something that likes to run," Garrett says, chuckling as he walks through the door, holding it long enough for Kelsey and Wishbone to follow before heading for the front desk. A quick explanation that he's looking to adopt and the puppy is mostly there for compatibility reasons and no they are not giving up the puppy and they're directed down a wide hall behind the desk, lined with all manner of dogs with all manner of temperaments, from indifferent to wagging happily to full on spring-loaded-legs jumping around when they see the people. "Well. No shortage of options," Garrett says, not stopping in front of any particular dog just yet. "Anyone standing out?" he asks Kelsey.

Kelsey very much made sure that they knew this puppy was not going anywhere except back home with her. "Let's see." She looked over the dogs and loosened the hold on Wishbone's leash a little. He was remarkably calm. Either Kelsey trained him really well...or she cheated just a little bit. Probably the latter. Wishbone sniffed around, coming close to come of the cages and then backing up or the other dogs backed up. There was a bark here or there. Tail wagging. "He seems to be partial to the few over in that set of cages." She motioned . Upon further inspection, there was a Great Dane that was definitely still on the younger side because it was not as big as Great Danes get normally, some kind of Bulldog mix, and also a German Shepard mix.

"Hmmm..." Garrett diverts his attention to the dogs Wishbone seems to have taken a shine to, looking them over. "...Danes aren't known for life expectancy," he says with a sad little frown. He gives a glance over his shoulder, looking at a pair of huskies in the same kennel for far longer than he should before forcing himself to look back to the other side. "You two might still be able to keep up with an all grown up Wishbone, though, right?" He kneels between the bulldog and the shepherd, glancing between the two and smiling. "Which of you wants to come meet Wishbone?" He stares at the two, just sort of silently waiting to see if anything 'clicks' for a few moments.

Kelsey looks over to Garrett, and then to the huskies. Oh gosh. They're adorable. Kelsey wants to pet one of them. NO! No. Bad Kelsey. Focus. Wishbone is sitting in front of the kennels, though there's a fair bit of space there - wagging his tail and waiting patiently. The two dogs seem to look back. Curious maybe. The shepherd looks like he's about adult age. The bulldog looks like he's getting to adult age. They both seem friendly enough buit the Bulldog seems a bit more eager. He comes up to the door of the kennel and just about presses his face into it, rear wiggling a little. "He seems up for the challenge!"

"Suppose I went home with two dogs...." Garrett starts, then shakes his head. "No. Willpower, Garrett. Willpower." He looks between the shepherd and the bulldog and stands up. "Let's just see if they get along with each other and see if we can introduce them both to Wishbone and once, see how things work out that way," Garrett decides, heading for the counter. A quick chat, and Garrett, Kelsey, and Wishbone are being pointed towards a door that leads to the fenced in yard. "Let's meet some friends, Wishbone!" he tells the pup, holding the door for Kelsey and her pup before following them outside to wait for the potential adoptees.

"Then we'd have both failed at our jobs." Kelsey mused idly. Nodding at Garrett's suggestion about letting both dogs out. "Works for me." Kelsey agreed with a grin and led Wishbone out to the fenced yard after their talk with the employee. Not too long later, one of the volunteers comes out with both dogs on their leashes. They seemed to listen, more or less. And didn't seem to hate each other at least. No aggressive barking or biting attempts or anything. So, good start!

"Okay, so, I'm going to bring them closer - and we can just let the three of them sniff each other out and all." The volunteer, Becky, explained. "This is Edgar," The bulldog, "And Zeus." The shepherd. "Then if all goes well from there - we can let them run around some if you want. " The dogs started to get closer to Wishbone. All three of them a bit cautious of each other, but curious and starting to sniff around some.

"You don't have room for two dogs. You don't have room for two dogs. You don't have room...." Garrett murmurs it like a mantra under his breath, even as he smiles wide at the two approaching dogs. Sniffs are exchanged and... still no signs of immediate dislike, so things are off to a good start! Even if a sign of dislike might have made this process easier.

"Zeus is an excellent name," Garrett says with a glance towards Kelsey, then Edgar. "...no offense, Edgar," he adds to the bulldog. "Think they're okay to run around a bit?" The question is directed at both Becky and Kelsey, since it's effectively their dogs in this case. He clearly thinks so, though, or he wouldn't be asking.

Kelsey watched carefully, nodding finally. "I think it's okay if you do." She offered to Becky. "Seems like it." She agreed and soon all three dogs were off their leashes. Becky stood a little bit off - within talking distance if they needed her but otherwise they could talk amongst themselves in private. "Why are dogs all so freaking cute?" Kelsey asked with a sigh, watching the three dogs start to play around a little. "Those huskies...I mean. Between both of us we have room for 4 more dogs right?" It's a joke. Mostly. That wants to be a reality.

"I did just fence in my yard," Garrett points out. Totally joking. Pointing things like that out definitely doesn't make it worse. But despite the fact that they clearly want to do something they really, really shouldn't, Garrett can't help but smile. Hard not to smile when the three dogs are clearly having some much fun playing with each other. "Soooo, I suspect Wishbone isn't going to be disappointed with either of them," he guesses. "I'm leaning slightly towards Zeus, but could easily be compelled the other way if you have thoughts on the matter?" He glances towards Kelsey.

They are going to be good adults damnit! "Zeus might be the better choice. Edgar is adorbs." Yes, she just used that word. "But - you want a runner right? Shepherds are like trained to be police dogs and shit. So he probably has better stamina than Edgar does." She kneels down a bit as the dogs come over there way. "Even though Edgar's got an adorable pancake face. Don't you Edgar?" Petting the dog for a brief second before they were off again.

"Yes, you are adorable, aren't you, Edgar?" There is no shame in using a baby voice when talking to a dog, right? But then he's standing, a thoroughly conflicted expression on his face because, well, choices are hard, especially when both choices are very good boys. "...I think you're probably right," he eventually says. "Zeus!" he calls, squatting down a bit to try calling the shepherd over for pets and general seeing how well they click, hands held out for prerequisite sniffing.

Zeus looks alert at the sound of his name. He seems momentarily conflicted - but he is the oldest of the three dogs and seems to know to come when called. He bounds up to Garrett, tongue flopped out. He sniffs at Garrett some and then will allow Garrett to pet him and does seem to enjoy it. Though he isn't as outwardly excited as Wishbone or Edgar may be. But his tail is indeed wagging and his head is pressing into the hand!

"Awww, yeah, who's a good boy?" Garrett smiles at Zeus, giving him scratches behind the ears. "Yeah, it's you, isn't it? Are you the one that's gonna teach Wishbone over there some manners and how to be a good boy?" As if Wishbone isn't /already/ a good boy. "What do you think, Zeus? Wanna come have your own house and yard and some pup friends to visit?" he asks the dog. That click he was waiting for seems to have been found, even if he does still occasionally glance towards Edgar with barely concealed longing.

Kelsey grinned as she watched Garrett and Zeus interacting. Zeus is clearly loving the attention and gives a happy kind of bark like Yeah man, what are we waiting for? Kelsey's attention is back on Wishbone and Edgar - who are tumbling around like they totally have been best buddies forever. "...So. Like...clearly these guys are destined to be the three musketeers in dog form or something right? We can't like...break up the three musketeers..." All while still looking at the dogs. For all the tough act she puts on a majority of time, Kelsey is really just a big softy. At least where animals are concerned apparently.

Garrett continues to idly scratch at Zeus, who seems pretty content with more of that for the moment, even as he looks from Kelsey tinEdgar and Wishbone back to Kelsey. "They /do/ get along really well," Garrett says slowly, biting his lip. "And I do have enough yard for them to play around. And running with two dogs probably isn't any harder than running with one...." Being responsible is so hard!

"I mean. We could totally share custody." Kelsey added. "It's not like we don't literally just live up the street from each other..." She pushed a hand through her hair as Wishbone and Edgar came running up to them. She cut a glance over to Garrett. "I literally can't say no to that face." She admitted, reaching down to pet at the pups again.

"We are practically neighbors," Garrett agrees, and you can see the resolve on his face, what was left of it, melting away as Wishbone and Edgar come bounding up together. "Zeus. What do you think? Be rude to get Edgar's hopes up and not bring him home, too, right?" The dog is perhaps not the best choice to serve as the voice of reason. Garrett looks up at Kelsey from where he still kneels down at dog level. "You didn't do a very good job of stopping me from making irresponsible choices," he points out. He does not sound even a little disappointed by this fact.

"You didn't really help me either." Kelsey counters, though she is grinning a bit. Zeus licks Garrett's face and then noses down at the other two when they start crowding him. Tail wagging still. "Then it's totally officially. Zeus is yours and Edgar is Ours and they're one big happy family." Kelsey nodded matter of factly. "Look at that Wishbone. Come for one friend and end up with two! Can't get better than that."

The dogs are definitely the winners here, though nobody really loses in a situation where the outcome is more dogs. By now Becky has no doubt realized what was decided upon and looks perfectly pleased to see not one but two dogs going to good homes. And adults, no less, rather than the puppies that are so easily rehomed. She leads the group inside for the paperwork formalities. "Which of us wants to be all official-like for Edgar?" Garrett asks Kelsey, nodding at the paperwork. "Doesn't matter to me, I'm pretty sure we'll both see him plenty enough for it to not matter." He starts filling out Zeus's paperwork.

"I can do it. " Kelsey offered, starting to fill out Edgar's while he took care of Zeus's. "Yeah, there's going to be tons of play dates and sleepovers and such I'm sure." She mused and then paused. "Oh god...I'm becoming a mom all over again." And then chuckled a little. "...What's the term?...Fur babies?" She asked. It would take too long before the i's were dotted and t's signed. The two new additions to the Wade-Marcus party loaded up and Kelsey was suggesting they probably needed to stop at the pet store before going back to Elm.