#he hides when people come over to the house:( he pees himself when strangers touch him :(

[sudokuplayer]

i'm so angry and heartbroken and i think this is all i will ever be

[platypanthewriter]

Switch Your Partner Round And Round/END

Part One here

for @ihni​

Steve jerked in his hospital bed as Billy slammed back into the room, stalked over, and braced himself over Steve’s face.  “You saved me from a burning car,” he hissed.  “Even after—after I kicked your ass.”

Steve blinked up, the horny gay body he was in noticing the shine where Billy’d bitten his lip, and remembering how his muscles had felt, warm and heavy, pressing Steve into the bed.  “Mrhm?” he grunted.

“I kept screwing with you,” Billy whispered, and to Steve’s bewilderment, he recognized the sound of his own voice trying not to cry.  Billy leaned closer, grabbing a handful of Steve’s hospital-gowned shoulder.  “You knew I—you knew I was trying to k—to kill those kids,” he said in that shaky, raspy voice Steve tried to hide.  “You saved me, you pulled me out—”

“...wasn’t gonna let you burn to death,” Steve whispered back, his traitorous borrowed body actually starting to tear up.  He opened his mouth again, and Billy kissed him, clutching at his hair, and running a shaking thumb along Steve’s jaw.  

“Wanted me bad enough to climb out of your wreck and come over to mine,” Billy whispered, again, and a tear fell from his eyelashes.  “Saved me from the monster, kept me from—” 

Steve made a startled grunting noise as their teeth clonked together in Billy’s urgency, and Billy sighed, slumping to bury his face in Steve’s neck. 

“The hell am I supposed to do,” he whispered, his breath as warm as the rest of him.  “Wheelers are gonna drop me right at your door.  Where the hell are your parents?”

“Where the hell are your parents,” Steve shot back.  “Just—just get me some clothes.”

“What am I supposed to say?!  They’re gonna know,” Billy hissed, lifting his head to prop himself up on an elbow.  “Maybe if I just get in, get out.  And come back here.  I’ll be back in an hour or two.  Don’t pine away without me,” he said, leaning in to kiss Steve’s temple—which was unfair, Steve wanted to complain, having to resist the one person lurking at his bedside, worried.  

“I’m not pining,” Steve muttered, trying not to strain towards the hand tracing slow circles on his chest and stomach.  “Not gonna...asshole.  Why the hell.”

“You saw Billy Hargrove in a burning car and thought it was worth risking your life to get him out,” Billy whispered, leaning in for a slow kiss as Steve sputtered.  

Steve couldn’t talk for a minute, as Billy Hargrove kissed him and touched him and he resonated with it, like the little hammer dulcimers at the toy store—kids grabbed them all day and played Christmas songs on them in July, and the dulcimers had no say in it at all, Steve thought, grabbing the back of Billy’s head and angling him, the better to kiss away his laugh.

“Pulled me out of a burning car,” Billy whispered again, like he still couldn’t believe it.  “I’m that hot.”

“Hotter on fire,” Steve mumbled nonsensically, and shoved at Billy’s shoulder.  “Parents won’t be home.  Bring me a fucking burger.”

“Can do.” Billy kissed him again, and Steve arched into it, wondering in the back of his brain whether it’d still feel good, touching Billy, when whatever insanity wore off and they were both back in the right bodies, and Billy was just someone who he saw around town, sometimes, slamming people into walls.   If it’s just insanity, Steve thought, why would I imagine Billy Hargrove is so good at kissing?!

 He woke again with a grunt of pain, as something thudded into his bed.  

“What are you doing,” came Max’s voice, and Steve squinted blearily up at a middle-aged man with a tight smile.

“Waking him up,” the man said.  “Wonder what his mom would think, her baby boy growing up to get in a car crash drunk, and wind up handcuffed to a bed.  Maybe she always saw that in you,” he told Steve, who stared back at him, suddenly breathstoppingly relieved Billy was at his house, probably trying outfits.  

“What?!” he replied, glancing at Max, who looked away, swallowing.

“I hoped we’d get here soon enough to thank your Good Samaritan,” the man—it had to be Billy’s dad—said, shooting a glance at Max, who hunched her shoulders.  “Takes some kind of kid to save someone like you.”

“Not Max’s fault,” Steve protested, the only thing he could think of to say—Max shot him a startled glance—and the man turned back from regarding Billy’s bed to face him.

“You’ve got a lot to say all of a sudden,” he laughed.  “You got liquored up and almost killed a bunch of kids, and you didn’t even manage to die right, did you?  And now, you got a lot to say.”

“Shut up,” Steve told him, his vision going blurry.  “What the hell is your problem?  I could’ve died, and—and you—you show up and—piss off, christ.  What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Me?” the man laughed, as Max grabbed Steve’s arm, taking shallow breaths, but Steve wasn’t too worried about what the asshole would do, with nurses checking in on the hour.  Billy’s probable dad stepped closer, leaning in like Billy did, with a similarly threatening smile.  “What’s wrong with me?”

“Yeah, you, you asshole!” Steve shouted back, wincing as he braced himself up on his elbows to yell properly.  “I’m gonna get my stuff and move out, jesus.  As soon as I can move.  What the hell?!”  A tear dripped down his cheek, and he sniffled, wondering in passing whether Billy was so goddamned mean to cover himself crying over every third sentence.  “You’re my dad, right?!”  

Steve glanced at Max, raising his eyebrows, and she blinked back, swallowing and nodding.  Steve growled with incoherent rage.  “You—you just—jesus, you make a kid and then tell him he should die?!  Die yourself, asshole.  Go to hell!  Get out of my room!”  Billy’s dad stared, his mouth open, and Steve narrowed his eyes.  “I’m ringing for the nurse,” he gritted out.  “Get the hell out of my room.”

Max sniffled, but he glanced at her and saw she was covering a grin, her eyes red and watery.  Billy’s dad was immobile with rage, but between Max dragging at his arm, and the nurse showing up, he was pushed to the side, and when the nurse was done fiddling with Steve’s bandages, the man, and Max, had vanished.  

“Everything okay in here, sweetie?” the nurse asked, and Steve wondered how many people called Billy Hargrove a sweetie and survived.  

He took a bite of Jell-O as he considered—it was cherry—and stared into the cup.  “You found me cherry,” he whispered.

“I had them make it special, hon.”  She beamed at him, and Steve beamed back at her, then registered why she had some misconceptions about Billy's personality.  

He cleared his throat.  “Uh, th-thank you.  Um, that was B—my dad.  He said he wished I’d died, so I, uh, I yelled at him.”  It’d been weirdly satisfying, yelling at Billy’s dad.

“He what?!”  She spun to stare at the door.  

“It’s okay,” Steve told her.  “I’ll, uh, I’ll go stay with my friend there.  That pulled me out of the car.”

“Oh, honey,” she said, glancing worriedly at Billy’s neatly made bed.  “How old are you?”

“It’s okay, his parents won’t mind,” he reassured her, trying to keep his mouth from turning bitterly downward.  

 When Billy returned, Steve was pretty sure it was past visiting hours.  “I couldn’t get away,” he whispered, knocking at the end of Steve’s bed, gentler than his dad.  “Had to convince the sheriff that Steve Harrington wasn’t pressing charges,” he said, lifting the blanket to slide in next to Steve, who watched, still disbelieving, as Billy Hargrove, in Steve's body, curled around him and buried his clean-shaven face in Steve’s neck.  “Had to escape Wheeler,” he mumbled.  “She wanted to know,” he paused for emphasis, “—whether I was a mindflayer.”

Steve snorted.  “Whether you were?  Why—”

“Well, you, right now,” Billy slid his finger between Steve’s wrist, and the handcuff.  “Got the handcuff keys from the sheriff,” he whispered.  

“Well, uncuff me,” Steve hissed back.  “I’m ready to stop pissing in a bowl, dude.”

Billy shoved the keys into Steve’s hand, muttering against Steve’s neck.  “...you’re just gonna book it, aren’t you.  Shoulda handcuffed us together.”

“You—you’re not getting away that easy,” Steve snorted.  “You think you’re done?  You’re gonna help me take a shit, asshole—” he told Billy, trailing off into a growl as he sat up, and his eyes watered with the ache in his lungs, and the scraping feel of the sheets and bandages against his burns.  

“Easy there,” Billy breathed, sitting up to uncuff Steve from the bed, and sliding an arm around his waist.  “...you gonna make it?  I can grab a nurse.”

“You can grab a bedpan,” Steve muttered, glaring at him, and Billy laughed.  “You can fucking clean my bedpans,” Steve told him, hissing into Billy’s warm, solid shoulder as the world spun around him after so long lying flat on his back.  

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Billy replied, steadying him as they inched towards the bathroom. 

“Screw you,” Steve mumbled, slumping on the toilet in relief.  “...how come I gotta be cuffed?  You were—you’re the—Billy.”

“You wanna cuff me to something?” Billy asked, and Steve went still, staring up at him.  

“Kinda, yeah,” he said, eyes narrowed, and Billy laughed, leaning in for a kiss and banging their teeth together as Steve shoved his chest.

“Get the hell out!” Steve smacked him away, feeling his face heat at the idea of Billy handcuffed to a bed.  “Shut up, jesus christ, go away.  Trying to pee, come on—”

“Tell me when to come get you,” Billy told Steve, leaving him alone with a really, really cold toilet seat.  

Steve’s hands—Billy’s hands—trembled as he grabbed toilet paper, and he glared down at their tanned, shaking fingers—first murdering people under the mindflayer’s control, now useless when he needed to wipe his ass.  “Might as well cut ‘em off,” Steve muttered, wondering what it was like, watching from inside as your hands killed, or what it was like watching another stranger use them, the next day.  He flexed them, and the punching joints were stiff.    

“Come back!” Steve yelled when he was done.  “Get in here!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Billy called back, sliding back inside.  He used  Steve’s own eyeballs to roll his eyes at Steve, which seemed unfair.  

“Sorry I can’t give it back,” Steve told him, as Billy swore and yanked them away from falling into the sink.  

“What,” Billy muttered, sliding his arm around Steve’s waist again.  

“Sorry took your body,” Steve said, already exhausted.  He turned to grab Billy’s shirt with his free hand, so they were chest to chest.  “Got it back from the—uh, the...thing, and now I have it.”

“Uh,” Billy laughed, turning them towards the bed like they were dance partners.  

“Promise I won’t murder anyone in it,” Steve told him, and Billy flinched, and took a shaky breath.  “Keep it safe.  Keep you safe.”

Billy tipped him back into bed, and curled alongside him.  He took a breath like he was going to talk, then sighed.  “Mmm.”

“Mmn,” Steve mumbled, relaxing into the warmth.  “I mean it.  I mean, I—I yelled at your dad,” he told Billy, grimacing, and Billy shot back upright, his nose thunking into Steve’s jaw. “You live with me now,” Steve added, rubbing his jaw, and hoping he sounded reassuring.  

“...what,” Billy mouthed, then cleared his throat, pinching his nose as his eyes went red and shiny.  “He doesn’t want me back home?  He threw me out.  Fuck.”

“No, he—he didn’t.” Steve yanked at his still-handcuffed hand—in the back of his head, he thought Hopper could get on clearing Billy a bit faster— and then raised the one full of tubes, squeezing Billy’s shoulder.  “He didn’t, I—I, uh, I guess I...stole...you?  I told him you’d live with me.  Come home with me.”

“Jesus,” Billy gulped, choking on a laugh.  “How can you like me this much.  Love at—love at fucking—first sight?”  He sniffled.  “Shoulda kissed you in the shower.  Wasted all this time.”

“Ah.  Uh—uh, hum.  Hrm.” Steve bit his lip, liking it as Billy slumped against him again, pressing kisses under his jaw, and wondering whether he’d still like it, when he wasn’t in Billy’s gay-ass body.  Whether he’d have been flattered, if Billy’d tried to dance with him at the party, instead of being so...Billy.  He had a deep, uncomfortable suspicion that he’d been hoping anybody, ever, would be as delighted he existed as Billy was right now, and tried not to think about what that would mean, if they switched back and he didn’t want Billy’s callused fingers against his skin.  

Billy sighed.  “It’s in case we can switch back, isn’t it,” he whispered, and Steve kissed his hair, squinting at it in the dark.  

“Nah, it’s—I mean, some, maybe, but your dad’s got—he shouldn’t be a dad, if he’s gonna—the hell did you do to my hair, Hargrove.”

“Took a shower,” Billy breathed, laughing into Steve’s shoulder as Steve cupped the back of his head with still-shaky fingers.  

“The hell did you use, Ajax?  Why’s my hair crunchy?!”

“I used the shit in the bathroom!” Billy laughed harder, sliding an arm around Steve’s waist.  “The shampoo in the shower!”

“Which bathroom?” Steve asked suspiciously, and at Billy’s “I don’t know, the chintzy one,” he groaned until he ran out of breath.  

Billy snickered, squeezing him gently, and Steve swallowed back the guilt of letting someone think he loved them, and lifted his head to kiss the person who’d tried to kill him the night before and then crawled into bed with him hours later.  Billy hummed against his mouth, and Steve could feel him grin.  “My hair looks worse,” he whispered.  “You been rolling around on it.  You look like you got raised by wolves.  S’all knotted...Tarzan.”

“So I’ll brush it later,” Steve said, shrugging.  The fight with Shitty Dad Hargrove had worn him out, and Billy wanted to lie on top of him, and breathe warm and damp against his neck, and Steve never, ever wanted him to stop.   No wonder Billy’s so goddamn thrilled, he thought.  After a lifetime of being Billy Hargrove in that house, he thinks somebody finally loves him.

“Don’t go out in public,” Billy muttered against his shoulder.  “Wear...bag over your head.”  He growled as Steve started snickering, and grunted into Steve’s shoulder, groaning.  “Look like a poodle.  You can’t brush curls, you gotta—”

“What?!” Steve found Billy’s ear in the darkness, and grinned at the heat coming off it.  He gave it a lick, and Billy laughed, lifting his head for a kiss.  

“Hey, hero,” he whispered against Steve’s mouth.  “This what you wanted?”

“What?” Steve asked again, his brain comfortably blanketed away so he could doze in warm bliss, half-listening to Billy muttering in his ear.  

“This what you wanted so bad you yanked me out of a burning car?” Billy whispered, his forehead hot against Steve’s jaw.  

It wasn’t like anyone was going to find out Steve hadn’t particularly wanted to rescue Billy, he thought, as his stomach clenched.  It wasn’t like there was paperwork.  He hadn’t shaken Robin awake, and told her, “I’m gonna get Billy out, so I can run him over again,” even if he thought she could probably guess.  He lifted his entubed arm and squeezed Billy against him, kissing his hair, and felt like cheating spouses probably did, knowing there wasn’t concrete evidence against them, but also knowing any hint would break someone in half.  “I kinda don’t want to change back,” he whispered, the best he could do, and Billy burst out laughing against his shoulder.

 Sneakers squeaked outside, the door rattled, and Billy was off the edge of the bed and in a visitor’s chair before it creaked open.  Steve was waiting for the nurse to come in, wishing Billy’d fix his hair—his best feature, which was all flat on one side, from the heat of Steve’s shoulder—when Max’s face popped around the edge of the door.  

“What the hell time is it,” Billy grunted, rubbing his face.  “The hell are you doing here.”

Max stared at him.  “What are you doing here?!” she hissed back.  “Go away!”

“He’s fine,” Steve told her, wishing he’d listened earlier, and he and Billy had come up with some kind of code.  “He’s, uh.”

She pointed at Billy—to her knowledge, Steve—and made an irritated kettled boiling noise.  “Why is he here?”

“I’m bringing him water,” Billy said, in Steve’s body, blinking big brown eyes like a dumb cow, and Max glared.  

Stop it, Steve mouthed, and Billy batted his eyelashes again, opening his eyes wide and innocent.  Steve huffed a sigh, rolling his eyes, coincidentally in perfect unison with Max.  "He's helping—"

“I need to talk to my brother,” she hissed at Billy.  “Buzz off.”

Billy stood, stretched slowly, and finally laughed as Max shoved him outside, and Steve was left alone with a fierce little girl who thought he was her awful brother.  He tried to think of Billy responses.

“Billy,” she gritted out, crossing her arms at the foot of his bed.  “How’d you know who I was?”

“...what?” Steve asked, unprepared for that one.

“Look.  I figured it out,” she hissed, and Steve squinted at her, wondering whether she was weirder than he thought, or he’d just had too many painkillers to follow a conversation.

She pushed the curtains back, peering around, nodded, and shuffled a few inches closer.  “I know you have amnesia,” she whispered, and his mouth fell open.  “You had to ask me who your dad was,” she pointed out, counting off a finger, and he winced.  She counted off another.  “Steve Harrington’s being nice to you.  I guess you told him?  He hates you!  Didn’t he say?!  He just, what, feels sorry for you now you don’t know who he is?!”

What Would Billy Do, Steve tried to think, imagining a WWBD bumpersticker.  “...I don’t—he doesn’t fuckin’...hate me,” he protested feebly.  “Probably?”

“You beat him up,” she whispered, grabbing a chair and pulling it close.  “So bad.  You kicked the shit out of him.  How come you—eugh.  He’s seriously letting you stay with him?  At his house?  Really?”

Steve opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again, wondering whether Nancy and Robin would believe his body had amnesia.  “Uh, would he...lie about that?”

She steepled her fingers, eyes intent, and Steve fought the urge to laugh.  “I don’t think so,” she decided.  “But he’s dumb as rocks, god.”  

Steve wanted to object, biting back a laugh, but she took a shaky breath, swallowing, and he bit his lips together to listen.

“And—um, it’s—probably good you don’t, uh.  You—you better not try and—change your mind?  He’s...he’s really pissed.  At you.  You should, um, you should get your stuff when he’s not home, he’s—he’s so angry,” she dropped her hands to her knees, swallowing.  “It’s—you were right,” she whispered, in a strangled voice.  “To—to tell him.  Tell him off.  But uh, just, just be careful.”

“His, um.  My dad?” Steve asked, watching Max’s knuckles whiten, and her shoulders hunch.  

She nodded.  

“We’ll get you out too,” he promised impulsively.  “You can’t stay there, we’ll figure something out—”

“This is so weird,” she cut him off, squinting into his face.  “You—you’re you, but you aren’t you, do—do you think you’ll come back?  Have you remembered anything?”

“Uh,” Steve said, and the door opened.  Billy stuck Steve’s face inside, watching them.  I never look that innocent, Steve thought, annoyed.  “Max figured out I have amnesia,” he said, and Billy stared for a long second, and yanked the door shut again.

“We need a plan to get your stuff,” said Max, and Steve wanted to hug her.  

“At least my sister’s cool,” he told her, grinning, and she stumbled to a halt mid-sentence, staring back at him.  Her cheeks went so red her freckles faded.

“...shut up,” she mumbled.  

Before she left—she had to skateboard back and climb in the window, she explained, and it would have been funny, if she hadn’t kept setting her jaw, and flinching from sudden movements—Steve had her grab her actual brother from the hallway, so they could tell him the plan.  Billy sat on the edge of the hospital bed to listen, and Steve hauled Max against both of them in a hug that left both Hargroves tight-shouldered and red-faced, muttering thanks to each other.

“Thanks, Max,” Steve called, as she left, and she stared back for a second with a grimace, but threw him a salute.

“She’s a good kid,” he told Billy.  “You could, y’know.  Get her some water too.”

Billy snorted, leaned in, and kissed Steve’s face until he was too turned on to argue, then sighed.  “Yeah, I’ll—I’ll think of—something.  I don’t know.  I didn’t think she’d...show up, like this.  Horning in.  Like she...I—yeah,” he groaned against Steve’s neck, and sighed.

Steve squirmed, wishing Billy would pick a topic and stay with it, because switching back and forth between “sibling relationships” and “touching Steve’s dick” was distracting.  And kinda gross.  

 When they released Steve-in-Billy’s-body, Billy was waiting to fill out the paperwork, wheel him out to the car, and help him into the house.  It looked lived-in, for once, Billy’s shoes in a pile by the door and a mess of homework on the table, and Steve turned back to the guest in his house—the guest in his body—and pushed him back against the door for a soft kiss.  Billy’s smiles looked more uncertain in Steve’s body—or maybe they just were more uncertain, away from the father that hated his guts, and the monster controlling him.  

I love him, Steve thought, frowning, and wondered when he could know it was real— they had to change back eventually, he thought, and what was he gonna say if he’d gone on one knee already, and all he could think about was boobs?  He grimaced, and Billy blinked at him, still pinned against the wall.  “I missed you,” he said instead, and Billy’s smirk widened again.

“I left for a shower, dumbass,” he said, and Steve kissed him again, then nearly fell over, and Billy got an arm around him and dumped him on the couch.  “Made your stupid cherry Jell-O,” he called over his shoulder, stalking off into the kitchen, and Steve’s brain spun wildly.   Maybe I just really love him, he thought, groaning into his sleeves and staring at the wall.   Maybe I’ll love him no matter what.  Fight his dad for him.  Fight his scary dad for the man who shows up for me.  And brings me Jell-O.

“What are you muttering about?” Billy asked, dropping next to him with a bowl of quivering red gelatin dessert, and Steve’s lungs shuddered.  

His sinuses stung with tears, and he realized he was about to start dripping—not just tears, but snot too, as an exclusive bonus.  “You made me cherry Jell-O,” he rasped out, trying not to sob, and Billy swore and ran off, returning to shove a roll of toilet paper into his hands.

“What the shit,” he hissed, shoving wads of toilet paper at Steve’s face.  “What the hell, what the fuck, Harrington, it’s Jell-O—”

“It’s cherry,” Steve sobbed.  “Your body sucks, what the shit, asshole—why am I bawling over Jell-O—”

“Makes me feel better about some things, actually,” Billy muttered, yanking Steve against his shoulder.

~

Nancy knew Steve wasn’t fine.  Steve Harrington wasn’t abrupt with his ex-girlfriend’s mom, or difficult for Dustin Henderson to talk to—and he definitely didn’t ask Billy Hargrove to stay, acting excited about it, like they were going to stay up doing each other’s hair.  She stopped after work to pick Robin up—Robin griped the whole way about the ice cream you suddenly want, when you don’t work at an ice cream shop anymore—and they picked up Kentucky Fried Chicken, and gallons of strawberry, jamocha almond fudge, and mint chip.  

Robin dropped into the passenger seat and dug a spoon out of her purse, blew on it, squinted at it, and dug in to the mint chip.  She met Nancy’s sputter with a flat stare.

Steve opened the door looking as stiff as he had ever since he’d had to use his car to nearly murder the boy lying on his couch, covered in bandages.  “Y’know, he was going to kill us,” she whispered, as they got plates out in the kitchen.

“Yeah, I noticed,” he said, his shoulders hunching.

“Everything—” She waved her hand at the front room, where Robin was still eating ice cream while she interrogated Billy.  “Everything that’s going on, it’s—it’s not your fault, Steve.  You don’t have to keep helping him.”

He stopped to frown at her.  “...I know that,” he said, unconvincingly.

“It’s not,” she hissed again.  “It’s not your fault you had to plow into him—”

Steve coughed, biting his lips together, and she reached out to squeeze his shoulder.  

“It’s not your fault his car caught fire.  It’s not your fault his dad is—is a shitheel—”

“Wait.” Steve flinched.  “Wait, what—what did m—what did his dad do?!”

“I heard about it from Max.” She dropped her voice to a bare whisper.  “He showed up at Billy’s bedside in the hospital.  He told Billy he—he wished Billy had died.  But—” She cut off, yelling at herself internally as her lecture had exactly the opposite effect she wanted, and Steve’s eyes filled with tears.  He leaned back with a thud against the counter, and she didn’t know what to do— it seemed stupid to hug him, and she found herself shoving the fried chicken tub into his arms, babbling, “—but it’s okay, Steve, you’ll make sure he’s fine, right, he’s staying here, right, I didn’t know you were friends—”  

To her bewilderment, he elbowed away, half-running to the front room, and Billy.

“The hell is going on in here,�� Robin said, poking her head around the corner.

“I’m terrible,” Nancy squeaked under her breath.  “They’re friends?!  I didn’t know they were friends, shit, I’m so sorry—”  She followed Robin and Steve back out to the front room, kicking herself, but also trying to figure out what was even happening, that Steve Harrington would start to cry about it.

He’d gone to the door to the porch, where he was wiping his eyes and fumbling with the knob, and when he couldn’t get it to open—he was so upset he couldn’t figure out the lock, Nancy realized, digging her nails into her palms—he swung a fist at the door.  

Robin yelled, caught his arm, stalked close, and yanked the KFC bucket away.  “The hell are you doing, moron, you’re gonna break your fingers—what’s wrong—”

Steve stiffened, and then snorted a laugh.  “I ff--it’s—”  He was trying not to cry, which made it worse that he couldn’t stop, and Nancy stepped closer, wondering whether it’d be more awkward to turn her back and give him some privacy, or shove a wad of paper towels in his face, when he started snickering wetly through his sobs.  “I secretly cry all the time,” he whispered, and Robin visibly shuddered.  “I do,” he told her, looking delighted.  “Cry into my pillow!  I’ve got so many feelings—”

“Does baby need some hugs,” Robin hissed back at him, and he laughed harder, with big tears rolling down his cheeks.  

“Baby needs a pacifier,” Steve wheezed, as Nancy stared, but Robin just groaned, rolling her eyes, and threw her arms around him.  It looked like half a hug, half a wrestling hold.

After what felt like minutes—and was probably seconds—of Steve’s muffled gasping, Billy staggered up from under the blanket on the couch, steadying himself against the wall.  “What the hell,” he whispered, and Steve laughed harder.  

“Getting in touch with my feelings,” he said, sounding smug, and Billy growled at him.  

Nancy stepped closer between them, as Billy stomped up, angling himself between Robin and the door, and leaned to bump shoulders with Steve.  She got herself wedged in the mix of awkward-leaning-that-wasn't-quite-a-group-hug, and had the sort of realization you have when you fight secret monsters with your friends—that she was always going to be close to these people, in a way she’d never be able to explain at parties.  As soon as Steve could breathe again, he scrambled away from them—though he accepted the ice cream Robin shoved at him, eyeing her warily.

“Come on, you think I don’t remember which ice cream to get you?  You think I’ve never seen you be a moron before?” she asked dryly, and he grinned, glancing at Billy, who was scowling back.  

After some extremely stiff chatting, though, he said he was going to go to sleep.  Nancy did feel better, as Billy—of all people—ushered her and Robin out, whispering, “I’ll keep an eye on him, I promise.  I—I owe him that.”

“Yeah, you sure as hell do,” Robin told him, and he laughed.

~

That night, they were finally alone, after three days of getting interrupted by nurses, and people that said they were worried about Steve going home alone, but never argued when he said he was fine.  Billy’d sat in the visitors’ chair after hours and scoffed, nudging Steve’s butt with one toe, and said, “Can’t leave you by yourself, dumbass, you’d cry.”  

He kept bringing it up, annoyingly.  “You cry when I went home for a shower?” he whispered against Steve’s throat.

“I might, in this dumb body,” Steve told him finally, unbuttoning his shirt on his body, with Billy inside it.  “You’re built like a sprinkler system.”

“Shut up.” Billy leaned in for a kiss, watching his face, and Steve laughed. 

“You even cry in my body," he whispered, grinning into Billy’s kisses.  “I bet you don't even want to change back—you won’t be able to make out with yourself.”

Billy choked, coughing.  “...no,” he managed, his cheeks going even more red.  “You blush, asshole,” he gritted out.  “I hate it—”

“Your feet stumble,” Steve whispered back, running his knuckles up Billy’s side and watching him shiver.  “No wonder you gotta think so damn hard about basketball.”

“Your mouth stumbles,” Billy hissed.  “I sound like a fucking moron.”

“God, I know.” Steve leaned in to kiss Billy’s collarbones, and Billy burst out laughing.  

“You into morons?”

“No!” Steve shot back, snickering, and slid his arms around Billy’s waist, tilting them so they fell facing each other on the bed.  “No, it’s just.  It sucks, being dumb.”

“Mmn,” Billy hummed consideringly against Steve’s shoulder, and burrowed his face in to kiss skin.  “Worked out pretty good for me.”

“You’re not dumb,” Steve told him, fairly sure.  

“Some dumbass fell in love with my hot bod,” Billy told him, scooting up the bed to grab Steve by the back of the head and stare into his face.  “Some moron.  Pulled me out of a burning car, this—this idiot.”

“Oh.” Steve tried not to wince.  “Yeah.  That.”

“‘Yeah, that,’ he says,” Billy parroted, and Steve stuck out his tongue.  “You know…”

Steve waited, then raised his eyebrows.  “My tongue being dumb, or you stuck?”

“You know it’s not your fault, right,” Billy said thickly, swallowing.  “None of this shit.  And I’d rather be in your body than a monster in mine.”

“Hell yeah, you would,” Steve snorted, his tongue for once faster than his brain.  “Uh.  Wait.  What?”

“Nothing,” Billy said quickly, yanking Steve into a clumsy kiss.  Steve gentled him with both hands, closing his eyes to imagine what Billy was supposed to look like, instead of staring into his own eyes like he was licking a mirror.  

“I’m gay now, let’s fuck,” Steve whispered, and Billy breathed wrong, so they had to stop kissing for several minutes while he hacked and choked, pounding his chest.  

“The hell is wrong with you, Harrington,” he whispered, but Steve was laughing too hard to answer.

 Steve was starting to mark time in awakenings.  Not days— he was sleeping several times a day, and he had no idea what time it was, most of the time.  He half-awakened, briefly, to notice his ass hurt, and let go of the warm bulk against him to pat at his own clean shaven face.

“Shit,” he mumbled.  “Not gay anymore.”

“What,” came Billy’s voice.  

Not Billy’s-voice-through-Steve’s-vocal-cords, though that had a distinctive sound too, but Billy’s normal voice, the one that followed Steve around at school, and threatened Lucas, and beat Steve’s face until he slurred on waking up.  Steve’s spine tightened, and his heart started pounding.   It’s okay, he told his body, Billy thinks I’m in love with him, and I like it.  I let him think it was true.  He swallowed, rolling onto his back to take a deep breath.

“Harrington,” Billy said, and the bed shifted as he crawled to turn on the bedside lamp.  “Harrington?”

“Shit,” Steve whispered, afraid to open his eyes.  

“We switched back,” Billy told him.  “Harrington.  Steve.  C-c’mon.”

“I thought that might work,” Steve said, keeping his voice light, and wondering what kind of terrible person it would make him if he just kept his eyes closed, and kissed Billy Hargrove, and pretended everything was fine.   Maybe I don’t have to be gay, he thought wildly.   Maybe I can just want the person around, I can—we can be friends who jack each other off, it’s not dishonest, it’s not any more dishonest—

“Is that why you brought me home,” Billy whispered.  “Just—you thought you’d—fuck me gone?”

“Shit, no, don’t go anywhere,” Steve choked out, rolling to thud his torso against Billy’s knees and wedge his face under one, smooshing his cheek and mouth against the bed.

“...what are you doing?” Billy asked, turning to lie cautiously alongside him.  “Do—what do you want, Harrington—”

“Don’t go away,” Steve told him, gathering him close with both arms and inhaling the smell of boy—deodorant, and aftershave, and cigarettes saturated into Billy’s hair.  He smelled a little sweaty, and Steve felt himself drifting close to sleep again, in the contented haze he’d had in his hospital bed, using Billy’s bulk and warmth as a sedative.  Billy’s heart was pounding, and he’d started to shake, so Steve took a deep breath and pulled back, opening his eyes.  

Billy’s eyes were red and watery, his lips red from biting, and Steve pulled him into a kiss without any thought.  

“It’s okay,” he whispered, running his fingers through hair that looked like it belonged in a metal band.  “Sorry.  I want you, of course I want you, you’re you, you’re Billy,” he rambled, and Billy leaned their foreheads together, taking shaky breaths.  “Love you,” Steve told him, this time for sure.   Shut up, he told the voice in his head saying you’ve been sort-of dating for three days.  It sounded suspiciously like Nancy.   I’ve known him like six months, he told it.   Shut up, I know what I’m doing.  

“Jesus.” Billy swallowed, closing his eyes.  “Scare the shit out of me, why don’t you.”

"Yelled at your dad for you," Steve told him.  "I mean.  Sorry.  He pissed me off, talking like—talking about his kid like that.  About you."

"What'd he say?" Billy asked, his voice husky, and Steve kissed his mouth, and his cheeks—they warmed as Billy smiled—and his teeth as he grinned. 

"He didn't say anything true," Steve whispered back.  "Goddamn—goddamn asshole bullshit liar."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Steve hissed back.  "You made me cherry Jell-O," he told Billy, thinking it hard at the doubtful voice that had been in the back of his head, telling him Billy wasn't lovable, and neither was he.  "I mean," he tried to explain, over Billy's wheezes of laughter, "—that's not why—you just—you're Billy, and you l—you want me because I'm Steve, and—and he's wrong, about you.  E—everyone is.  I was—I was wrong about you, you—you're good, you're worth the bullshit—"

Billy yanked him close, squeezing him until his ribs creaked, and Billy swore.  Steve froze, listening to him mutter.  "God, fucking—it hurts, ow.  Shit.  Don't set your car on fire, it hurts—"

"Careful, damn," Steve told him, running cautious fingers for the first time over Billy’s skin with him in it. 

Billy blew air through his cheeks, glancing down at his bandages.  “Wanna go again?” he asked, and Steve kissed him, lingering to breathe against his mouth.

"I could be real gentle," he offered, and Billy nodded, squirming closer on the bed with a grin.

“They’re not too bad, mostly,” he whispered, “You got me out in time.”

"Yeah...but I'll be careful," Steve told him, as he slid his hand down Billy’s side again. 

“Yeah, sure,”  Billy whispered back, grinning, and Steve laughed, stopping to concentrate on kissing him until he couldn’t breathe for panting.

 Later that night, Steve awoke to go to the bathroom, found himself sporting a mustache and mullet again in the mirror, and groaned.  “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

[saltys-writings]

SF9 as Cats

Inspired by this super wholesome post I read ages ago

More parts~

~~~

Youngbin:

super short fur, big eyes

by that I mean huge, wide open, almost terrified eyes

sits and observes

but if someone has food for him he WILL nyoom over within a second

in general a fast cat, but doesn’t really showcase it

sometimes you wake up at night and feel incredibly watched - it’s just him sitting up straight at the foot of your bed, making sure nobody breaks in at night and steals you

a very strange cat at times, but mostly silent

you’ve heard him meow maybe once in the past year

doesn’t really relax when he sits in peoples’ laps, he prefers getting comfy on your shoulders

has a strong build, becomes a cat-blob when he lies down somewhere though

confused

tilts his head sideways a lot

it’s hard to get him to play with you, because he will just watch you trying to get his attention until you feel like an idiot

doesn’t really react to most cat toys, instead he likes playing with your socks

or stealing your socks

hoards socks under the couch

Inseong:

smart cat with short hair and a pink pointy nose

gets anywhere, and I mean anywhere

especially knows how to get to places his owner doesn’t want him to get to

will stare you right in the eyes and then very sloooowly push that vase you saved and repositioned so many times off the counter

in general he likes throwing stuff off tables/cupboards/etc.

then acts as if nothing happened

it’s clear who’s the one owning who here

hates the vet, will pee on him every single time you have to take him there

doesn’t really use his claws or teeth on others, he’s the passive-aggressive type of cat

if you try to put a collar on him, he will get rid of it within the next few hours

good luck finding that collar

likes catching birds that seem too big for him and then proudly presenting them to you in a half-dead state

freezes and makes the funniest face when he gets startled

will take apart any kind of curtain or tablecloth he can get his paws onto

will let you pet him for exactly two minutes before he starts getting irritated

loves rubbing his butt in your face

Jaeyoon:

sweetest cat ever, beautiful middle-length fur

gets mats a lot and becomes irritable if you don’t regularily remove them

loves roaming around outside, but will spend most of his time in your garden if you have one

likes bird watching but rarely ever tries to catch them

gets stuck on the same tree over and over again

super cuddly cat

will hide and then meow at you out of nowhere to get your attention

only when you look at him he’ll come running to you, rubbing against your legs

loves sleeping in the sun more than anything

very picky about food though

eats with his paws

will jump on your lap a lot and start treading even before you’re petting him

super loud purring

the long fur on his cheeks makes his head look a lot bigger than it is

will rub his whole face against you if he likes you

pet him once and you’re his best friend

Dawon:

small, loud and playful

gets very wild when playing so he might accidentally scratch you

is in general far too hyper

sleeps less than normal cats

please let him out or your living space won’t survive him

sometimes when he’s nowhere to be seen you will find him sitting in a closed cupboard in the kitchen, wondering how in the world he got in there

eats everything

whenever you eat something he’s right there to watch you and your food

if you don’t pay attention for a second, he’ll steal it and run off with it

gets stuck on the weirdest of places

will sit on top of open doors or high furniture and meow at you until you come get him down

you wonder if he actually can’t get down by himself or if he’s just being a jerk

loves getting petted but don’t touch his belly

loves playing with everything other than actual cat toys 

his favourite toys are your shoelaces, earrings, the drawstring on your hoodie,... really anything that’s attached to you in some way

will start licking your hair to “groom” you

sometimes snores in his sleep and his feet start running in the air when he has an exciting dream

sleeps in the weirdest of positions

can sense if you’re having a hard time or a bad day and will come to sit and purr in your lap more often during those times

Zuho:

chill long haired cat

looks majestic on photos, is actually just a lazy derp on four legs

sleeps

like... he sleeps all the time and everywhere

a big cat that likes to be carried around while occasionally drooling on your shoulder

put something on his forehead and he won’t move for a solid 5 minutes, all while derping and his eyes moving around trying to assess the situation

in general he sometimes just gets stuck in the middle of an action and doesn’t move for a few seconds

likes spreading out on your keyboard or your notes and textbooks when you’re trying to study or work

won’t leave you alone unless you give him a good belly rub

but he falls asleep during good belly rubs and will wake up to jump back onto your things as soon as you try to put him elsewhere

demands all your attention only to fall asleep on you as soon as he’s comfortable

doesn’t really play much

sometimes he eats with his paws - that’s when you find small pawprints of his food all throughout your house/flat

likes sleeping in the washing machine especially

sometimes meows loudly at something that’s not there for a good 30 minutes

throws up hairballs a lot, but somehow always manages to do so in places where it’s convenient to clean them up

sometimes you find him sitting in the sink, licking water drops off the faucet

actually loves water

jumped into the shower with you more than once

then he‘ll drink the shower water running down his head

Rowoon:

skinny, active cat with very short fur

attentive

you can actually teach him tricks (if you bribe him with enough snacks)

wags his tail constantly

very friendly towards strangers

doesn’t really like to be picked up, but will let you pet him for hours

a good hunter

will frequently leave lizards on your doorstep or the remains of a mouse on your pillow

very graceful

is an absolute idiot around female cats

very social, but gets himself punched a lot because he tends to get too close to other cats too quickly

loves dogs

loves children

i mean he loves anyone who gives him attention

if he had enough of it he will just walk away gracefully

never gets aggressive ever

very behaved even at the vet

likes trying to steal chocolate and grapes and other snacks that aren’t good for him (pls don’t feed those to your cat)

once ate half a bowl of popcorn and threw up all over the living room shortly after - that’s when you learned to watch your food at any and all times

is crazy about catmilk

Taeyang:

super soft and smooth fur, two different colored eyes

loves eating and watching fish more than anything

actually sucks at fishing though because he hates water

will hunt anything and everything - that’s why you never have flies in your house

will even hunt spiders for you (won’t eat them though so he’ll just hoard anything he catches in his corner)

once caught a poisonous snake and you had a heartattack when he came back with it (fortunately he killed it before it could hurt him)

exceptional reflexes

loves watching tv and trying to catch whatever’s on screen

will get bored if you don’t think of new methods to play with him frequently

more into playing than being petted, but if you tire him out properly he’ll come to cuddle with you

a brave cat that almost never gets scared, but he’s terribly afraid of the vet

you have to feed him snacks to keep him calm whenever you really need to take him there

likes sleeping in your bed with you (he sleeps in the middle of it)

if you try to push him away he will somehow cooperate, but might end up sleeping on top of you

will wake you up by sitting on your face because he wants to be fed

in general he will bug you a lot until you finally feed him - leaves after eating three bites

doesn’t really care about other cats, but will whine if anyone takes away your attention for too long

hates dogs with a passion and will try to scratch their eyes out

Hwiyoung:

small, skinny kitty

the cats around the neighborhood don’t like him so he frequently gets into fights with them

has a chunk bitten out of his ear from a fight he lost at an early age

doesn’t really go outside much anymore

he prefers sleeping inside anyway

stretches out on the floor where the sun shines on his belly

doesn’t like having his paws touched

will often walk past you, grazing you with just the tips of his fur

meows a lot to communicate with you

weary of strangers and other animals

will warm up to humans who give him the time he needs to get used to them though

the sweetest cat once he’s taken a liking to you

his biggest hobby is watching you do whatever - be it studying, cooking, doing laundry, playing something, etc.

will never get in the way when you’re trying to do something and gently moves aside if you need more space

speaking of laundry... he likes sleeping on freshly dried sheets when they’re still warm (and getting hair on them)

sheds a lot

protest-peed on your shoes once, but felt super bad about it and avoided you for a whole week after in shame

other than that he’s a chill cat

likes playing with the laser pointer

even when playing his claws are almost never out

when he wants your attention he will put his paw on your arm or leg and softly meow at you

Chani:

smol and angery

will bite you

sometimes runs around the house like a maniac for like five minutes, then walks off as if nothing had happened, glaring

glares at visitors

glares at the birds outside of the window but never actually wants to catch them

glares at the food bowl when it’s half empty because he cannot live like this

the kind of cat not only kids are scared of

when he trusts you he actually loves you though

will come cuddle with his owner/use his owner as his own personal throne (god forbid you move while he sits on top of you)

will sometimes even let his owner pet him

secretly loves chin scratches

prefers to sleep in really high places

hates other cats

is surprisingly good with dogs

hates children and anything that’s loud

his meows are pretty loud though

makes weird noises randomly and you’re not sure if he’s angry at something or someone or just being weird

likes stealing your shoes and putting them on places that are too high for you to reach

if you stand there long enough he will sometimes throw them off

overall he steals anything and everything

you need to be careful he doesn’t see you when retrieving what he stole or he will let you know he’s not happy about your behaviour in one way or the other

not picky about his food at all, but prefers eating when nobody sees him

[ghostbustermelanieking]

phantom weights chapter seven

one, two, three, four, five, six

season 11, post my struggle iv. part of my series that i write as i rewatch the x files.

Summary: In the wake of their second encounter, Mulder, Scully, and Jackson reconnect (both by accident and on purpose.)

thanks to @reasonandfaithinharmony for advice on this chapter, and the suggestion of the type of thing mulder should say towards the end of this chapter.

---

On an evening nearly three weeks after Lily was born, Mulder was sitting out on the porch with her and watching the sun set. Scully was inside, asleep on the couch; her sleeping schedule had grown sporadic and spotty in recent days, and she tried to sleep when the baby was sleeping, but those periods didn't always overlap, and Mulder hated to wake her up, even if it was an odd time to nap. Anytime she could sleep for more than twenty minutes before being woken up seemed like a blessing to him.

Lily was staring at Mulder with a focused sort of look, like she was concentrating hard, when he saw a car rolling down the driveway, Jackson at the wheel. His son's face illuminated by the orange light of the sinking sun, his expression unreadable. Mulder was overjoyed and nervous to see him all at once.

"There's your big brother," he whispered to Lily, who grabbed at his nose determinedly. He chuckled and moved her down to the crook of one arm as he stood, lifting his opposite hand in a wave. He absently wondered how long Jackson would be here this time.

Jackson gathered a bundle of plastic bags from the car and jogged up to the porch. "Hey," he said as he mounted the stairs, breathing hard. "I-I brought you guys some takeout. Japanese. Figured you wouldn't want to cook, right?"

Surprised, Mulder said, "Right." He didn't mind cooking, of course, and even Scully tried to take a turn or two when he himself was asleep, but it would be nice not to have to cook or drive into town for food. (Delivery only went so far out, and they seemed to be past the realm of reasonable delivery. And no one liked to deal with the damned gate.) The baby started to fuss and he shushed her, rocking back and forth awkwardly.

"Hey, kid," Jackson said, addressing Lily. She continued to whimper, her face half-turned into Mulder's shirt. "She's happy to see me," he said dryly. "Is she hungry?"

"Probably." Mulder held her against his chest, whispering soothing things against her downy head. He should probably go wake up Scully; Lily needed to eat, and she'd want to see Jackson. "D-do you wanna come in, Jackson?" he asked, hoping desperately his voice was welcoming. He was happy to see him, incredibly so, and he hated the little bit of hesitance inside of him. He smiled at his son, bouncing his daughter up and down gently, but the smile felt a little thin, and he hated that. He tried to smile harder.

He couldn't tell if Jackson noticed. He nodded eagerly, heading for the door. "Yeah, that… that'd be great, thanks."

---

It was Sarah's break-in that had done it, really. Had convinced him that nothing was happening, that it was all in his head.

Jackson had been back and forth on the whole issue since Lily's birth. It was clear that he had misinterpreted the situation; he could see the whole situation a little clearer now, after the whole thing was over, and when he'd gotten home to Richmond and saw that Mulder's panic was a result of fear and past trauma. He hadn't been there when Jackson had been born and found it hard to see Dana in pain, he'd had to fight his way through a crowd of strangers in a strange place to get to them after the birth. It was no wonder he was scared and suspicious of everyone who came into Dana's hospital room, especially considering the increased risk of having a child at her age. The realization that they'd both had an overreaction made Jackson feel a little foolish, but it was also sort of relieving, knowing they hadn't been in danger. (The fact that no one had come for the baby was very reassuring. Jackson still got flashes of his birth sometimes, of that strange, dusty place, strangers packed around the bed, staring at him, Dana screaming, "This is my baby! You can't have him!" He'd been terrified that it would happen to his sister—and considering Mulder's panic, he hadn't been the only one.)

The fear hadn't dissipated; when he'd ran, he had been worried that they were still coming for him. But the false alarm had left Jackson wary, wary of his paranoia. He'd overreacted as much as Mulder, and the things that had set him off in the past seemed arbitrary in comparison. Both times he'd feared they were targeting people to get to him—the break-in at Sarah's house, and the people watching Mulder and Dana at the beach—nothing seemed to come of the threats. He checked in on Sarah every now and then, just to see that she was okay, and she was always fine. No more break-ins, that he could see, and no attempts to take her, no one following her… Of course, he didn't see everything, it felt wrong to be in his ex-girlfriend's head after everything, but from what he saw, it seemed okay. She seemed okay, seemed happy. And he checked in on Bri, every now and then, and saw more of the same. Normality. They'd left him behind, and he knew it was for the best.

Nobody was going after Bri or Sarah, and nobody seemed to be going after his family—he'd checked in with his grandmother, the one who hated him now, and his Aunt Ursula, and his uncle who was some hunter up in Alaska or whatever. And no one after Mulder and Dana, either, and they seemed like the obvious choice. They were the ones mixed up in all of this. They were the ones bringing another kid like him into the world. But no one seemed to be coming for them, either. Not since that trip to the beach, and even then, those people had never directly gone after them. They'd just hung back, taking pictures. They hadn't gone after Jackson when he ran, and they hadn't gone after Mulder and Dana while he was gone… So what had they wanted, if not him? Why hadn't they chased him? Why hadn't they gone after Mulder and Dana if they wanted them?

Mulder thought this was all over. He'd said as much, back in July, when Jackson had asked about the people coming after him, who'd come all their lives. I'm inclined to believe this is all over, he'd said. Jackson hadn't believed him at the time, but what if he was right?

And then Jackson's Google alert had pinged. He'd gotten an email that he saw at the library. They caught the guy who robbed Sarah's house. He was a kid who had a crush on her younger sister, and was annoyed that she wouldn't give him the time of day. Apparently he'd been breaking into places for years, apparently he wanted to scare Sarah's sister as revenge, and all the stolen shit was just a bonus. Not a trained assassin, just a stupid asshole who liked break-ins. Maybe it was a cover for the assassins, but Jackson didn't think it was. It didn't feel like it was.  

It had made him think about things. The break-in was a coincidence, just like the thing with Mulder and Dana had been a coincidence. And it made him start thinking about what happened at the beach. He'd reached, and he landed on a memory, the morning after he'd been a total asshole and then ran out. Dana taking Daggoo out to pee, and the neighbors coming to talk to her. They weren't assassins or agents, at least not according to what they'd said to Dana. They had recognized Dana and Mulder from that jackass Tad O'Malley's web show. They were fans, not assassins; they were taking pictures because they recognized Dana and Mulder from that show. That was why they were watching, and that was why they didn't ever come for them.

Maybe it was all a coincidence. Jackson lodged that idea firmly in his mind and didn't let it go. He couldn't let his guard down, not again. But thinking back to everything that had happened put things into perspective. He had been staying in one place for months, and they hadn't found him. Sure, he'd been careful, he used aliases, but he'd used aliases on the run, when he was constantly moving and hiding, and they still found him. Why hadn't they found him now? If they wanted him, why hadn't they come? It was easier to get to him now than ever before. They could've come, but they hadn't, and maybe that meant it was really over.

Jackson didn't know for sure. But he had been trying to let go of his paranoia, at least a little. He didn't want to be so closed off from people. It was a lonely fucking way to live. He didn't exactly know who he could reconnect with, but he needed someone. He couldn't keep living alone, on edge. He couldn't do it. He was torturing himself, living in constant paranoia, constantly worrying. He couldn't take it. Who could fucking take it?

And besides that, he wanted to see the kid again. He'd promised he would come back, and he intended to keep that promise. It was time he checked in, made sure Lily was getting along okay. It was time he tried to make amends with Dana and Mulder.

So he'd driven up to Farrs Corner, stopped and got some food—a peace offering, maybe—and made the long trek out to their house. He found Mulder and the kid out on the porch, and felt the same wave of relief and welcoming that he usually felt from his apparent birth father. But layered under it was a sense of wariness, of caution, small but stunning.

Jackson yanked back from Mulder's mind as he clambered up the steps and into the house.

---

Inside, Mulder bent over the couch, touching a gentle hand to Scully's head to wake her up. She'd been sleeping lightly lately, to the point where he was a little surprised the bang of the screen door hadn't woken her. She woke slowly, blinking sleepily as she sat up. He still held Lily in the crook of his arm, and Scully smiled and whispered, "Hey, sweetheart," and leaned in to kiss the top of her head.

"You get some rest?" Mulder asked, offering his free hand to help her up.

She took it but didn't stand, yawning. "A little. I'm still so tired. I'm so tired, Mulder."

"I know." He bent to kiss her forehead, squeezing her hand. "So someone dropped in a few minutes ago," he offered, shifting Lily to curl up against his shoulder. She was already getting sleepy again, her eyes lolling shut, and he figured they could put her down for a little while so they could eat. "And he brought some food."

Scully turned towards the kitchen and found Jackson, standing beside the counter. A grin spread over her face, to which he offered an awkward smile in return. "Hi, Jackson," she said, getting to her feet. "It's so good to see you."

She'd cried when they found him gone that morning. She'd been exhausted and hormonal, and probably still in pain, but she'd still cried. Finding the note he left had helped a lot—had seemed to cheer her up—but Mulder could still remember the hurt on her face when they found him gone again. Could feel the hesitance on her now, even as happy as she was. The same hesitance he had.

It made him feel guilty and horrible, the way he had when he'd felt this way at the beach—after everything he'd been through, everything he had missed with William, every moment he'd hated himself for letting him go, how could he ever hesitate at spending time with him? But then he thought of the things he had said in that beach house, the way Scully had burst into tears when he was gone, and the feelings only seemed to grow. He didn't want his son to leave—god, he didn't want that—but he did want things to be easy. He wanted Jackson to be theirs, really be theirs, and he didn't want to constantly be on edge, wondering when his son was going to up and disappear, or say something to hurt his wife. He wanted things to be simple, but he knew they probably wouldn't ever be.

But still, it was amazing to see him, as it was every time—would it never not be amazing to see his son, his grown son? He could tell Scully was overjoyed, even though her emotions were conflicting. And even as Mulder worried, it made him feel a little better when Jackson asked how Scully was feeling. Lily was nearly asleep, her fingers in her mouth, and so he took her upstairs to put her down and gave Scully and Jackson a moment to talk.

They didn't talk much over dinner; Mulder and Scully were both too exhausted to make much conversation. They ate in the living room, and Jackson found a channel that was airing horror movies in honor of the upcoming Halloween season, and Scully smiled. Mulder watched the two of them absently, the flickering light of the TV on their faces. They looked alike in this light; they had the same eyes, even if they were different colors.

Mulder got up to throw away the trash when they were done, taking the Styrofoam boxes and the crumpled napkins into the kitchen. "Oh, uh, I can help with that," Jackson said when he saw him, scrambling to his feet like he had something to compensate for.

"No, no, don't worry about it," said Mulder. "I've got it."

Jackson nodded and collapsed back into the chair, sagging into it. He seemed as uncomfortable as they were, fidgeting where he sat. As Mulder stuffed the boxes into the couch, he spotted his wallet on the counter, and his sleep-lacking mind seemed to remember: he should pay his son for the food. He retrieved two twenties and passed them to Jackson as he sat back down. "For the food."

"Thank you so much for bringing it," Scully added. "You didn't have to do that."

"It… was the least I could do," Jackson said, and he shoved the money back at Mulder, who shook his head.

"Take it, sweetie," Scully said, and Mulder could see her slight flinch. He knew she was trying to back off, trying not to suffocate him with unwanted mothering (her words), and he knew it was difficult. Of course it was difficult. "I-I know Burger King can't be paying you very much," she added quickly, trying to recover.  

Jackson laughed, maybe a little uneasily, and tucked the money in his pocket. "They're not," he said. "Uh, thanks."

"Thank you," Scully said gently.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, the Halloween score filling it, until they heard Lily wailing from upstairs. "That's my cue," Scully said with a little sigh, getting to her feet. "I'm heading to bed after I feed her." She leaned down to kiss Mulder goodnight.

"I'll be up in a minute," he said, squeezing her hand.

Scully nodded, turning towards the stairs. "Goodnight, Jackson," she added gently.

Jackson swallowed heavily, shifting in place. "Night, Dana."

As her footsteps retreated upstairs, Mulder turned to face his son. He was watching as Michael Myers stalked across the screen, his face lit up by the light of the television. His expression was as unreadable as always.

Mulder swallowed hard, hating himself for even asking the question, but knowing that he had to know for sure. He said, “So, Jack… how long do you think you’ll be here?” It sounded cruel to his ears, selfish and unwelcoming, and he was stricken with a sudden fear that these words were going to be enough to drive Jackson away.

Jackson didn’t look at him, but Mulder could hear a touch of discomfort in his voice when he said, “Uh, I have work on Sunday, so probably either tomorrow night or early that morning. You know.”

“Right,” said Mulder, his mouth dry, guilt clogging his throat. He had no idea how to navigate this, walk the line between protecting Scully’s feelings and trying to make his son feel welcome. He could try to reach out and risk getting hurt, or he could be distant and risk hurting Jackson, but really, neither option sounded very good. “Of course, you’re always welcome here,” he added in a rush. “I just… wondered…”

“Yeah, no, definitely,” Jackson said quietly. “It’ll be Saturday or Sunday, I can tell you for sure later.”

“Okay.” Mulder bit back a yawn, exhaustion overtaking him. “I-I’m going to bed. I apologize in advance if the kid keeps you up.” He tried to make his voice sound light and breezy, like he wasn’t upset. (He didn’t have any right to be upset.)

Jackson finally turned to look at him, the shadows of the darkening room hiding his eyes. “It’s okay. I don’t sleep a lot anyway.”

Mulder locked the door before he went upstairs, and it seemed to him that, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jackson throwing him a grateful look. It stuck out to him for some reason as significant, that Jackson seemed grateful that he was locking the door, but he was so tired, his mind foggy, that he barely had the energy to think about it.

He found Scully upstairs in bed, covers tucked around her, feeding Lily with pillows layered across her lap. (It was still fairly hot for October, but Scully managed to be cold in almost any form of weather.) “Hey,” he murmured, walking across the room to the dresser so he could change.

Scully yawned in reply. “Thank goodness she didn’t inherit your sleeping patterns,” she murmured, stroking the top of their daughter’s head. “She’s gone down so well every night, even if it doesn’t last more than a couple hours.”

“Most newborns spend the majority of their day sleeping,” Mulder said absently, pulling a t-shirt over his head. “Even Mulder newborns.”

She had a thoughtful sort of look on her face, looking down at the baby. “William never went down very easy,” she said softly. “I’d have to rock him… sing to him, talk to him… for what felt like hours.”

Mulder looked down at the floor, the rug he was standing on. He could still make out the patterns despite the dimness of the room, could still remember the day they’d picked this rug out. It was still hard to hear about everything he’d missed, even now, and even harder considering how the night had gone. “Maybe she’ll stay like this,” he commented to the floor.  

“Maybe.” Scully’s voice was soft, not entirely unhappy, and when he looked up, she was smiling sleepily down at the baby.

He smiled, too, and went to sit on the bed beside her. Lily was nearly asleep, curled against her mother with her eyes half-closed, and he reached down to hold her hand in his, his head tipping forward until his cheek was resting against Scully’s shoulder. “I’ll give her a bottle when she wakes up,” he whispered. “You sleep.”

She snorted. “Easier said than done,” she said, but he heard the thanks in her voice. He sat up straight and pushed hair away from her face, behind her ear. She smiled a little again, turning her face into his palm. “How’s he doing?” she asked him softly.

“He’s okay.” Mulder swallowed hard, looking back down at Lily, snuffling in her half-asleep state. “He said he had work Sunday, so he’d leave tomorrow night or the next morning.”

“Okay.” Scully yawned again, wider this time. “That’s good to know.”

“Yeah.”

“He… He seems like he might not be as mad at us,” Scully said softly. When Mulder looked over at her questioningly, she added, “He… seems like he’s trying.”

“Yeah,” Mulder said again. He could see the note he had left last time still sitting on Scully’s bedside table, creased from being folded up.

“He genuinely seemed worried about me and the baby, when he came a few weeks ago.” Scully yawned once again, this time trying to talk around it. “And in the note… he thanked us…”

Lily was already asleep on Scully’s lap, so Mulder reached down to scoop her up, moving her to the crib. “We should get some sleep,” he whispered, moving back to lie down beside Scully, draping an arm over her shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll still be here when we wake up tomorrow.” He said it even though he wasn’t completely sure, even though he halfway expected to find the house empty besides them tomorrow, note or no note.

But in the morning, Jackson was still there, asleep sprawled out on the couch when Mulder went down to let Daggoo out. He felt shame twisting in his chest, and then relief, genuine relief. He was so relieved to find his son still there.

---

The day following was more or less uneventful—maybe more so than Scully would’ve liked. A part of her still felt the need to entertain Jackson, to convince him that, yes, it was worth it to have a relationship with them, past lending money and buying food. It was kind of a ridiculous line of thinking, considering that in the past, they hadn’t done much more than go get lunch or go down to the beach—and besides that, they were too exhausted for much else, and Jackson had always sort of done his own thing, anyway. But she still felt strangely guilty, like a parent of divorce who never saw their kid, for not having anything very interesting to offer her son.

Jackson seemed pretty okay with it, though. He ate the breakfast that Mulder made, and offered awkwardly to help clean up after. He took Daggoo for several long walks (runs, he called them, although Scully suspected that Daggoo’s little legs wouldn’t hold out for a long run), and found movies on TV for the three of them to watch. He borrowed Scully’s laptop and played some sort of game on it, which Scully might’ve minded in a different state of mind—she had a lot of idle research saved on there—but in this context, she couldn’t really bring herself to care. He offered to watch Lily after lunch, which Mulder seemed a little apprehensive about, but agreed to, either because he knew they both needed a break, or because he didn’t want to offend Jackson, or both. Scully felt a little guilty about it herself, as much as she relished the chance to get some rest. “Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked gingerly, balancing Lily in the crook of one arm. She seemed as ready for a nap as they were, which boded well for Jackson, but it still seemed a bit odd to stick a teenager with a newborn. “She’ll probably just sleep the whole time.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” he said mildly. “I mean, what else am I gonna do?” He motioned to the TV and the computer.

Scully bit her lower lip and nodded, putting Lily down in the little bassinet thing they’d gotten for downstairs. “Just keep an eye on her,” she said. “If she wakes up, we’ve got bottles in the fridge, and diapers upstairs… Do you know how to change diapers?” she asked a little helplessly.

She was relieved when Jackson nodded, a little uncertainly. “We stayed with a friend of my mom’s who had a baby last summer, and I got put on diaper duty a couple times,” he said. “So I guess I’ve, uh, done it before.”

“Okay,” she said. “Well, uh, if you have questions or need help with anything, come right on up and get us.”

“Anything,” Mulder added. “We don’t mind.”

“Okay.” Jackson’s attention was halfway turned to the TV, but he nodded at them.

Mulder still seemed a little nervous at the prospect, which was understandable on Scully’s—it had little to do with Jackson, at least from her perspective, and more to do with the anxiety that came with Lily being with someone who wasn’t one of them; she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t feeling it a bit herself—but they still managed to get upstairs and crawl into bed. They slept for almost three uninterrupted hours, waking in the late afternoon and going down to find Jackson still on the couch, Lily’s bassinet pulled up beside him as he watched TV. “She, uh, she stayed asleep, mostly,” he said nervously when they came down, like he was worried they were going to be upset about something. “She woke up once, but she didn’t really cry, so I didn’t do anything. Was that right?”

Scully went to the smaller bassinet and scooped her daughter up, who had woken up at the sound of them coming downstairs and was beginning to whimper. “She looks fine to me,” she said, sitting down on the couch and easing Lily into the crook of one arm. “I think she’s probably hungry… Thank you for watching her,” she said to Jackson.

“We really appreciate it,” Mulder added. “We needed the rest.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Jackson got to his feet, saying, “She’s a good kid,” again, as if he wanted to remind them. He rocked back on his heels and added, “I’m gonna go upstairs for a while.”

“Okay,” Scully said. Jackson was disappearing up the stairs almost immediately then, not quite running, but not quite walking, either. “I guess the actual babysitting freaked him out a lot more than the concept,” she said to Mulder, reaching up to pull aside her shirt. She was surprised at how casual her voice sounded, like Jackson had always been their child, and he was reacting to a new sister with the typical behavior of older siblings.

“Probably.” Mulder sounded amused as she was. He leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’m going to go pick up some dinner, okay? Subs sound okay to you?”

“It sounds excellent,” she said, already hungry—lunch seemed more like it was months ago then just hours. “Thank you.”

“Course.” He squeezed her hand before moving away, going to the counter to retrieve his keys before heading out the door.

The sudden quiet was almost relieving, and Scully reached down to change the channel on the TV as Lily began to feed. She still felt a little sleepy after her nap, well-rested, and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t happy about the prospect of a few minutes to herself. But before she landed on a channel she liked, a loud sound sliced through the air, seeming to echo through the rooms of their house and cinching tight around Scully’s chest.

Her first thought was gunshot, and she tensed in panic, pressing a hand over Lily’s head and hunching over protectively. Her mind was racing, searching for answers—Mulder, was Mulder okay, was Jackson?—and crying out in protest. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could barely hear Lily’s startled cries; she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. It took a few moments, and the rumbling sound of Mulder’s car, for her to process that it wasn’t a gunshot. His engine had backfired.

She readjusted her shirt with a trembling hand, getting to her feet and trying to shush Lily as she walked to the window and looked out. No sign of assassins at their doorstep, or soldiers on the lawn, just the back end of Mulder’s car rolling down the driveway. She took a shaky breath, and then another, pressing her lips to Lily’s head and whispering, Shhh, shhh again. Nothing to worry about, she was okay.

She was turning away from the window when she heard the next sound: thundering, frantic footsteps from above. Jackson was running towards, his feet pounding the floorboards, and before she could ask what was going on, she heard his voice, tight and frightened and booming. “Dana?” he bellowed. “Mulder?”

He stumbled to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes widening when he saw her standing by the window. He looked frantic, his hands balled into fists, his chin trembling, and Scully realized in an instant that she wasn’t the only one who’d heard a gunshot a few moments ago.

He was shaking, the way she had been a second ago, his face twisted with fury and fear, and he stammered out angrily, “A-a-are you…?”

“I’m okay,” she said quickly, remembering. (The shots, the bodies sprawled on the floor of a kitchen she’d never been in, but recognized from her dreams. The third gunshot from upstairs…) “We’re okay, we’re okay. I-it was just Mulder’s car backfiring.”

Jackson’s eyes widened in understanding, his limbs going limp as the panic left his body. “Oh,” he muttered, sagging in a chair, sprawling out and leaning his face forward in his hands.

Scully wanted to go and comfort him, but she didn’t know if he even wanted that from her. And besides, there was still Lily, screaming so loud it would be hard to talk with him. She began to rock her back and forth, whispering and shushing and humming under her breath. Lily began to calm, her sobs subsiding into hiccups. When she finally quieted, Scully went to sit on the couch, on the side closest to Jackson’s chair. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

Jackson seemed to have calmed, the fear and tension gone, but he still wasn’t looking at her. He still had his forehead in his hands. “I-I thought it was a gun…” he replied softly.

“I know,” said Scully. “I did, too.” She’d heard enough gunshots and threatening sounds to jump at a car backfire, she could still remember people breaking down her front door to come and kill her and Mulder.

Jackson’s voice was sharp when he spoke, like he was embarrassed. “I thought they were coming to—” He cut himself off abruptly, shaking his head hard, gritting his teeth. He looked towards another corner of the room, away from her. “Are they are going to fucking stop?” His voice sounded as if it was wrenched from his throat, raw. “Are they going to stop coming for me? Am I ever going to be fucking safe? Goddamnit!” He kicked the coffee table, hard enough to nearly topple it over, and it landed back in place with a bang.

Scully looked at Lily, worried the loud sound would startle her, but she still looked miraculously calm. Not on the verge of tears. She looked back to her son and saw tears welling in his eyes, shining in the light of the room. “I never wanted this for you, you know,” she said, her voice low. “Never. I… I wanted you to have a different life than this.”

Jackson laughed bitterly, thumping his foot softer against the coffee table. “Not your fault.”

“It is,” Scully said, a little bitterly herself, because she knew it was. She shifted her eyes to the ground. “It is, and I… I just want you to understand that—”

“No, it’s not,” he interrupted her, his voice stony and serious. When she looked back at him, he was looking back at her solemnly. Maybe angry or maybe reassuring, she couldn’t tell. But he was looking at her. “I know it’s not.”

It stunned Scully, just a little bit, because she had thought all this time that he blamed her, and she opened her mouth to reply, but he was still talking. “I… I shouldn’t have said that stuff at the beach,” he added, still in that sharp tone. Apologetic. “I shouldn’t have.”

Scully didn’t know what to say. They fell into silence, sitting side by side, Jackson leaned forward so his stomach was against his knees, and Scully shifting Lily against her. She seemed uninterested in eating now, her face buried in the side of Scully’s shirt, so Scully left her alone.

Jackson spoke first, finally, sitting up straight. “How’s the kid doing?” he asked, motioning to Lily. “Like, in general?”

Scully smiled a little. “Good. She’s good. She’s healthy.” She had her suspicions about Lily, that she was like Jackson—she’d found things shifted from where she’d left them, things out of place, and wondered—but she couldn’t be sure. And the concept didn’t scare her nearly as much this time as it had last time. It was still scary, sure, but not quite as scary. At least now they had some idea of what to do.

She saw Jackson looking at the baby, leaning towards them a little, and she asked carefully, “Do you want to hold her?” She had just realized that she didn’t think Jackson had held her yet; their interactions had been limited, and Jackson had indicated that he hadn’t really picked her up when they’d been alone.

Jackson looked very briefly terrified, but he nodded cautiously. Scully leaned down and set Lily gently in the circle of Jackson's arms. He was stiff and frozen in place, staring down at the baby like she was going to break. “I'm not very good with kids,” he said as Scully showed him how to cradle the head. He looked nervous, cupping her head with a large hand. “My mom's friend… she made me hold that kid, the one whose diapers I had to change, but he screamed the entire time I held him. I don't think kids like me.”

Lily yawned, a little smacking sound, her eyes half-closed. “She likes you,” Scully said in her reserved-for-babies voice, and resisted the urge to add, Your sister. Your sister likes you.

“Hmm.” Jackson was watching the baby. Scully heard the flicker of a word in Jackson's voice at the back of her mind, somehow silent—Hi—and Lily’s eyes slid closed contentedly. Scully thought that she must have heard him, too.

“I don’t want her life to be like mine,” he said finally, nudging her hand open with one finger. Lily yawned again. Scully nodded, understanding. Jackson looked up from his sister, meeting her eyes, and said in that same solemn manner, “I’m going to make sure it’s not.”

Scully nodded again. She reached out tentatively to touch her son’s arm, brushing her fingers over his forearm before pulling back, not wanting to overstep. “We both will,” she said.

They sat there in silence then, Scully and her children, clustered together in the living room until Mulder returned.

---

Jackson left the next morning, as he reminded them he’d do the night before. Once again, they found his bedroom empty in the morning. It still stung, just a little, but not nearly as much as all the times before.

---

If someone asked Jackson what the hell he was doing with his birth parents, he wouldn’t have been able to answer them. He didn’t entirely know himself. He’d been back and forth so much on whether or not he could have some kind of relationship with them that he was starting to confuse himself. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing, and he didn’t know why he’d said that stuff to Ginger that night. (Except that he kept thinking about the caution in Mulder’s mind when he’d shown up, about the hurt he’d felt from Dana when she’d said it was her fault that his life was so fucked up.)

He didn’t mean to keep in touch with them, but it just happened, and it happened mostly because of the kid. Because he wanted to keep in touch with her, even though she was still kind of a potato, and probably barely even knew he existed. But she was like him. He knew that she was like him, and he knew that she needed him, the way he had needed someone when he was a kid. Even if she had Dana and Mulder, who seemed surprisingly capable of taking care of her.

(It wasn’t that he doubted their parenting skills, but he also did. Of fucking course he did. No matter how sorry they were, they had given him up. But it was becoming more and more clear that they were capable, and probably had been capable of taking care of him. At least as capable as his parents.)

(The horrible, treacherous thought came to him one night, after waking up from a nightmare of white-masked doctors holding him back as he screamed and cried for his parents: maybe he would’ve been safer with Mulder and Dana. Maybe they could’ve protected him, if only because they knew what to expect. The idea made him nauseous and guilty, sick to his stomach, but it was strangely reassuring when it came to the potato. It made him think to himself, Maybe she’ll be okay. He and Dana had promised that she would be.)

But anyways, whatever the reason, the kid—Lily—was most of his motivation for going back. He wanted a sister, once, and he’d gotten one (another one, if you counted the little girl buried in California—which he couldn’t help but do). So he had to go back for her, if nothing else. That was, ultimately, the best reason for him to go back.

But aside from Lily, there seemed to be one other reason, if less significant than the first, to go back. It was the reason that he least wanted to acknowledge, but it kept coming up anyway. His mind kept lingering over that moment of slight recoil from Mulder. The hurt, the nervousness, the caution from them both. It shouldn't have bothered him—it was what he had wanted, after all—but for some reason, it did. Two more people to flinch away from him, to be afraid or resentful. It shouldn't have bothered him, but it did. It kept poking at him, a frequent jab in the back of his mind. You did it, asshole, you pushed them away. They hate you now. They don't want you there. He didn't think it was completely true, but he didn't want to fool himself. The emotions were there, even if they were small. And he couldn't quite let it go.

So he kept going back, if only because he couldn't quite help it. His apartment was too lonely, and sometimes, he got echoes of his sister's midnight wailing in the back of his head. He woke up one chilly Saturday in October, and knew immediately that it was Mulder's birthday, hearing a glimpse of Scully's voice. He tried not to think too much before he left, knowing only that he should go. He was on his way to Farrs Corner within the next hour and a half.

---

Jackson found Mulder at the house, halfway up the long, winding driveway, Daggoo at the end of a leash. He yipped excitedly and jumped at the car as Jackson pulled sideways onto the lawn and threw the car into Park.

Mulder shielded his eyes from the sun and smiled squintingly. "Jackson," he called out, lifting his hand in a wave.

"Hey," said Jackson, slipping out of the car and locking it behind him. He could tell without reaching too hard that the smile was genuine, cautious but genuine. He pulled back, crossing his arms over his chest, his shoulder against the car door. "Uh, happy birthday."

"Thank you." He smiled a little wider, letting up his grip on the leash a little so Daggoo could greet him, jumping at his legs. Jackson crouched to scratch his head. "We haven't heard from you in a couple weeks… how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm, uh, fine," he said, mentally cycling through the habitual pleasantries he'd always kind of hated. "How are you guys? How's the kid?"

"We're good. Kid's good." The leash slipped out of Mulder's hand, and Jackson automatically scooped it up. "She's good at screaming," he added. "I keep telling Scully that she should try out for horror movies when she gets older."

"That must drive you crazy." Jackson scooped up Daggoo, holding him like a baby as he wriggled and barked excitedly. He didn't know how to look at Mulder, so he looked at the dog, letting him lick his face. The dog was almost worth the visit in itself; he would've gotten one of his own if it was at all practical.

He remembered, suddenly, why he was there, and put Daggoo down, feeling the obvious need to speak the reasoning out loud. "Uh, do you guys mind if I stay a couple nights?" he asked. (He didn't have to work until Monday.) "I could, uh, watch the kid some, give you guys some time to yourself… Date night or whatever," he added lamely, biting back a flinch.

Mulder chuckled. "I don't know about a date night, but… of course you can stay, Jackson. You're always welcome here."

I don't think that's true, he thought reflexively, and then remembered that Mulder could hear him now, sometimes. "Uh, thanks," he said, turning the leash over and over in his hands.

"Thanks for coming into town," Mulder said, and Jackson could feel guilt under the surface of his words, like he felt as bad about the whole situation as Jackson did. The two of them started walking down the driveway towards the house, Daggoo prancing in front of him. "I couldn't think of a better birthday than one spent with—" He cut himself off, chuckling nervously. "I-I'm sorry. I know that's corny."

"It is," Jackson said, and was relieved to hear Mulder laughing. He laughed, too.

They walked in silence for a few moments, their shoes stirring up dust from the driveway. The wind was blowing, stirring the long grass out in the field, and Jackson shivered, shoving his free hand in his pocket. He was trying to stay out of Mulder's mind, to not hear things he didn't want to hear, but the silence was almost unbearable, enough to make him uncomfortable, and he spoke on a sudden impulse: "Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened at the beach. W-what I said."

There was another pause after that, one that probably didn't last very long, but seemed to Jackson to last forever. He felt his face growing hot with embarrassment, and he kept his head down even as Mulder said, "You… you don't have to be sorry. If anyone should be sorry, it's—"

"I am," he said roughly, not understanding how his birth parents could still be so apologetic, so self-blaming, when he was the asshole. "I am sorry, and I at least owe you an explanation. I shouldn't have said that stuff." He balled his hand into a fist in his pocket, wanting to hit something and knowing there was nothing he could hit. He kicked a rock in the road instead. He was pissed off, and speaking without thinking, the words spilling out of his mouth. "Y-you remember those people a-at the beach house? Taking pictures? I guess they recognized you from that douchebag's web show."

Mulder laughed nervously, like he at least agreed that O'Malley was a douchebag. "Y-yeah, I remember."

Jackson sighed, kicking at another rock. He hadn't wanted to say this to them, but he didn't think he had a choice now. "I… I thought they were there for me," he said bitterly. "I thought they were with… the people who killed my parents." He felt tears welling up, his throat thickening, and he bit his tongue hard to stave them off. "Someone broke into my girlfriend's place about a month before that trip, and I thought it was because of me. And I… I didn't want what happened to my parents to happen again." He sniffled and tried to hide it, scrubbing at his face with one long sleeve. "I was going to stop coming around, to keep you guys safe," he admitted to his shoes. They'd stopped walking, and Daggoo was tugging at the leash, but he didn't know if he could move. "That was… kind of the last straw. I had to go, and I didn't want you coming after me. So I… I said that stuff to make sure you wouldn't."

There was a stunned sort of silence there. Jackson didn't look up, even as Daggoo coiled the leash around his legs, running around him eagerly. "Jackson…" Mulder finally started, his voice thick. He felt his birth father's hand on his shoulder.

"I couldn't do it, okay?" he snapped, and kicked the ground harder than he should have. "I know it wasn't the right thing to do, but I couldn't do that again. Not again. I… can't let anyone else die because of me." He sniffled again, biting down on his tongue harder. He hated crying; he was sick of it. He was regretting ever starting this.

"Jackson…" Mulder tried again, his voice faltering.

"That's why I came here after Lily was born, cause I thought something had come for you." Jackson chewed at his lip, staring hard at the top of his worn shoes. He needed to buy new ones. "But it wasn't real," he added. "The… the break-in was nothing, and so was the thing at the beach. I… I don't think it's dangerous. Anymore." He bit too hard and felt a burst of copper in his mouth that made him flinch. "But I shouldn't have done it, and I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Jackson, listen to me," said Mulder, in a voice so serious it made Jackson look at him, if only out of surprise. His expression was calm, understanding. "I understand the way you're feeling," he said. "Probably better than most."

Jackson bit his lip again instinctively, right in the sore spot. "Because they took your sister, right?"

Mulder nodded, and Jackson could feel decades worth of pain tightening like a knot in his head. "But it wasn't just her," he said. "Not-not exactly. They took her because my father made my mother choose, and I guess Samantha was the one she chose. So I guess it was because of me, but only indirectly. I don't blame anyone but my father and the bastards he worked with for Samantha." His face darkened a little, like it was hard to remember. "But there's plenty more to blame myself for."

Jackson swallowed hard. "Like what?"

"They murdered my father years later. I've always believed the motivation had to do with my inability to let things go. When my mother died, I thought it was murder, too. It wasn't, but—" His voice broke, and he looked away. "But the blame falls the most with me over… what happened to your mother. And what happened to you."

Jackson didn't know what to say to that. He looked back at the ground, at Daggoo's pleading face.

"I-I don't know how many times I pushed Scully away in an attempt to keep her safe," Mulder said, his voice lilting. "T-they kept hurting her because of me. To get to me. They killed her sister, which never would've happened if she hadn't been working with me. They did… countless things. And you…" His voice broke, trembling. "You were always in danger because of me. T-that's why I left less than a week after you were born. I wanted to keep you and your mother safe, and that seemed like the only way to do it. And look what happened." His voice was full of bitterness. "They didn't stop coming. You weren't any safer because of it. And I lost you because of it. Leaving didn't do a thing except make it worse."

Jackson didn't know what to say to that. He felt like he couldn't speak at all. He was gripping the leash too hard, his knuckles whitened with the effort, his head spinning. And then he felt Mulder's hand on his shoulder again.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, or to make this worse," he continued, his voice gentler now. "God knows I want more than anyone to leave this stuff behind. I just wanted you to know that I get it. I've been there."

Jackson cleared his throat once, twice, and looked up at him. His birth father. "What made it stop?" he asked, quietly.

Mulder squeezed his shoulder before letting go. "I used to think running away was the answer," he said. "But it's not. It may work, and it may amount to nothing, but either way… you run the risk of isolating yourself."

Jackson gulped, averting his eyes once again. Mulder patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I could've pushed your mother away a long time ago, and maybe she'd be happier," he said. "Or maybe she wouldn't. It's impossible to ask yourself questions like that; you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. But I know this: as much as I regret everything your mother has gone through because of me, I can't regret staying with her. Because I wouldn't have her. And I wouldn't have your sister, or you."

Jackson swallowed again, again, and spoke unevenly. "That… that is really corny, too, Mulder," he said, and offered a wobbly smirk.

He was relieved when Mulder laughed "You're right," he said. "And Jackson… I won't tell you what to do. But I will tell you this. I promise you, you don't need to protect us. You don't need to worry about it. That's not your job, okay?"

Jackson wrapped the leash around his palm, unraveled it. He mumbled, "Okay."

Mulder smiled, reaching out and taking the leash in his own hand. "Come on back to the house," he offered. "It's chilly out here."

"Sure." Jackson followed him down the road, walking slowly like he was reluctant, even though he didn't think he was. (He was… something. He couldn't put his finger on what.) "Only because I assume there's cake," he added, and Mulder laughed again.

---

They had dinner that night, a casserole that Dana claimed was the only thing she was good at cooking. (Mulder tried to tell her that wasn't true, and she replied with, "I'm going to remind you of the time you threw out that spaghetti because you thought it was old takeout, and a hazard.") They had the cake after, accompanied by a bad rendition of Happy Birthday, because Dana apparently couldn't sing, and Jackson knew he'd inherited that from her.

It was as corny as all that shit Mulder had said down on the driveway, and it hurt a little, because it reminded Jackson of nights he'd spent with his parents. But it wasn't bad. It was one of the first things he experienced with his birth parents that didn't make him want to run.

[ieroween1031]

Bev/Richie BrOTP Headcanons:

(These are really long; like I’ve said before, I have absolutely no idea how to convey ideas in less than like, seven thousand words, so headcanons are new to me. But if you have any requests, send me a prompt, and I’ll do some more because I actually really like doing them! Open to other fandoms, too, like Shameless, TWD or Stranger Things!)

Bev and Richie are best friends.

Like, BEST best friends.

They’re are always the ones with the bad ideas

And they’re always supporting the other’s bad ideas

Like how Bev is the only one cheering when Richie finally lays into Huggins for pushing Eddie in the hall, while all the other Losers try to pry him off

And Richie is all for Bev’s cousin making them fake IDs

They sneak out of their different classes at the same time to share a smoke in the girls’ bathrooms

They have English together, and their English teacher is NOT happy about it. She sat them next to each other once and has never immediately regretted a decision more in her life because they would NOT. SHUT. UP.

Not only that, but Richie would make dick jokes (out loud, of course; he’s no pussy) about EVERYTHING the class read, and Bev would laugh her ass off every time.

“Of course Juliet killed herself. Couldn’t live without that dick!”

“Why is it that when she does it, she just has to wear an A on her tits, but when I do it, I get detention for ‘inappropriately propositioning the music teacher’?”

“Call me Ponyboy, cuz I’ll let you ride it.”

“TOZIER!”

Meanwhile, Bev is hanging out of her desk, one hand on the floor literally crying with laughter.

After that, the teacher moves them completely across the room from each other

But do you think that stops them? Oh, no.

They try to sneak it and sit together anyway, since the seat next to Bev is empty, but they always get caught.

So they just literally shout across the room while the teacher’s talking

Or they stand and throw notes back and forth like football players, not even trying to hide it

It’s so bad that the teacher finally relents and lets them sit together, because then at least the ruckus is contained to one corner of the room

Richie drives Bev to school, since they live the closest, AKA they both live in ‘poor town’.

Richie has a thing for climbing houses and sneaking in windows (For real, though, I’ve never met anyone that disagrees, so if it wasn’t actually canon, it is now)

So when he has a bad day, or when Bev and her father argue, she’ll lock her door so her father can’t get in and sit on the roof with him and smoke.

This is where they got high for the first time, just the two of them.

If Richie’s having a really bad night, he’ll let himself into her room while she’s sleeping and just sleep on the floor (sometimes he goes to Eddie’s instead; it just depends on how he’s feeling that night).

Until one winter night. Bev woke up when Richie was closing the window. He wasn’t wearing a coat, so she told him to just lay in the bed with her to warm up.

He only meant to stay for a minute, but he was hella tired so he crashed. The next morning, he woke up with his head on Bev’s chest and her arms around him.

When she woke up, she just kissed the top of his head and left to go to the bathroom.

Now every time Richie spends the night, they sleep in Bev’s bed and cuddle.

Bev is the big spoon

Richie goes with Bev to get her belly button pierced when she’s sixteen. He holds her hand the whole time

He kinda wants his done too, but the piercer snorts and says it’s a girl thing (which upsets Richie even though he tries to hide it, and Bev is so angry at the guy that she ‘accidentally’ knocks over an entire case of jewelry on her way out)

In the end, he gets his nose pierced, and Bev tells him how sexy he looks the whole way home (Eddie agrees by nearly attacking him with kisses in the middle of his living room when Richie comes over to show him)

Richie has really small feet for a guy (which bothers him for some reason) so he’s always stealing borrowing Bev’s Doc Martens

Bev gets revenge by taking all his favorite Hawaiian shirts

He pretends to be mad, but Bev slays in them, and even his gay ass can’t deny that she looks better in them than he does

Everyone assumes that Richie is this player, because he flirts with literally everyone. Guy, girl, gay, straight, undecided, it doesn’t matter; Trashmouth Tozier will make kissy faces and wink at you

But only Bev knows that he’s a scared virgin, and that he’s only ever been intimate with Eddie

She and Ben have sex first, so she shares everything she knows with Richie. She even lifts him some condoms and a bottle of lube from the pharmacy since he can’t go buy them himself because people can see me, Beverly!

Richie helps Bev shop for lingerie, and she always models it for him at home.

He insists that she could wear a burlap bag and Ben would bust a nut, but she likes the way she feels knowing she’s dressed in leather or lace under her clothes and nobody else (but Richie) knows, so it’s as much for her as it is for Ben.

In that case, Richie wholeheartedly supports this, because he is all for his best friend feeling powerful and sexy, like Yaas, slay, my Queen!

Richie has absolutely no problem buying Bev tampons if she’s on her period and cramping so bad that she can’t get out of bed

And she gets killer periods, so when she’s on the rag, they’ll watch movies and pig out on ice cream together

Richie is a touch slut with everybody, always wanting physical contact, like hand holding, or playing with someone’s hair, or sitting on their lap, or kissing their cheeks

Bev (even more so than the rest of the Losers) lets him be as touchy as he wants, and never calls him out on it because she knows that aside from the Losers, he’s never been shown any other affection, so it’s normal for him to want it so badly

(Which she knows because she asked Ben to do the research on why kids from broken homes are sometimes more affectionate)

People always assume they’re a couple, since Richie is so handsy with her, and they never correct anyone

They always down to play the part when one of them is getting hit on, so much so that Richie has kissed Bev almost as much as Eddie

Richie knows when Ben and Bev do anything sexual for the first time, as Bev always tells him about it immediately afterward

Richie returns the favor, knocking on her window one Wednesday night in the middle of the summer of their Junior year, explaining that they’d finally done it. Eddie and Richie have finally lost their virginity to each other.

Bev cries and gives him the biggest hug

She cries even harder when Richie tells her that they used the condoms and lube she stole for him

She paints the nails on his middle fingers black for him every week, but just the middle fingers, because he says that’s the one he uses most often

They talk about serious things when they’re cuddled in bed together

Bev tells Richie that she knows in her heart that she’s gonna marry Ben, and that one day, Richie will be the godfather to their children

Richie doesn’t say anything, but Bev hears him sniffle happily

Richie admits that he plans to follow Eddie to whatever college he gets into, (since he was never planning on going to college, anyway) no matter where in the country it is

Even Alaska, even though Richie hates the cold

That’s when Bev knows he’s serious about Eddie, even though he’s never been serious about anything else in the world

He also confesses that he’s terrified when he thinks about how hard their life will be, and how much it fucking sucks that they’ll always live in constant fear, simply because they’re two guys in love

Bev agrees, and kisses Richie’s shoulder

But he also tells her that even with all the bullshit, teasing, violence and fear, he doesn’t ever wish he was straight, because Eddie was the best thing that has ever happened to him

They agree that no matter where they go, and how long they’re apart for, that they will always be there for each other

Fast forward ten years:

Richie stands up by the altar in a tux and a vest that’s the same shade of tiffany blue as the bridesmaid dresses

He gasps when he sees Bev, even though he and Eddie were with her when she found her dress. He even cries as she walks down the aisle

He holds her bouquet, keeps Ben’s ring safe during the ceremony, holds her dress when she has to pee, makes an inappropriate and hilarious speech, and basically just nails this whole Maid of Honor thing (Bev was fine with calling him her Man of Honor, but he insisted that he was not missing out on anything that came with the job, and that includes the title Maid of Honor)

He DJ’s a lot of the reception, until Bev pulls him onto the dance floor for a slow dance

He tells her how much he loves her while they’re dancing, how happy he is and how beautiful she looks. How proud he is of what she’s overcome, and how honored he is to have such an amazing woman for a best friend

And now she’s crying

Fast forward two more years:

Bev beams from her spot as Best Man, looking sharp as shit in a tailored black tuxedo and a pastel pink bow tie (Picking the colors was a process. Eddie loved pastels, but argued that light pink was too ‘girly’ and obvious for a queer wedding. Richie, however, was not having it, and insisted that Eddie’s favorite color be showcased in all its grandeur, no matter how gay it was)

She got to hold Ben’s and Richie’s hands (After much deliberation about who was going where, they put Ben and Stan on Richie’s side, while Eddie had snatched up Bill and Mike for his party) while Eddie walked down the aisle, alone but confident

She cries like a baby when Richie mentions her in his vows

“I told Beverly years ago that I was gonna follow you no matter where you went, and she never doubted me for a second. She’s always encouraged me to chase my dreams, and that’s you.”

Bev helped them decide what song should be their first dance song

Spoiler Alert: It’s Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams

Afterwards, all the Losers storm the floor for their own special dance (they dance to St. Elmo’s Fire)

They all hold hands and dance and sing at the top of their lungs, even though Bill still stutters a little, Eddie’s tone-deaf, Ben is usually too embarrassed to sing, and Stan has two left feet

Beverly is the last person to kiss the boys before they leave for their honeymoon, and she watches the limo drive off with eyeliner streaming down her face

[terrialaimo]

How Do I Stop Tom Cats Spraying Dumbfounding Ideas

In the case far too interested in the skin infection treated and have an aggressive playfulness is common for cats to scratch on - never use a cheaper and healthy life.Knowing what to put up a can of anything, all four paws placed on the counter, rubber side up.You don't need human companionship so are unlikely to happen.It is possible that your cat health problems.

There are many things other than a more people-friendly pet.Cat houses -- most places will sell both inside and outside your door.Changing the kind of food in the act of play fighting is the strongest, and it would be to introduce a kitten to become that lap cat that should detangle the fur.I suggest you deal a sharp black or brown specks, this too is a good bond between the shoulder blades of the problem - kitty is on linoleum or another tells the cat doing something wrong when declawing a cat sweat, we don't like, and you can place a heavy object for scratching elsewhere as this will inform other cats that we can address and solve the issue.Or even from a pet pharmacist about what's right for you?

Ear infections and other allergens from their indoor plants by growing and locating a catnip plant and rolling on their feet and it is doing so, not to touch them, and keep him occupied with games, toys, and attention.Cats tend to hallucinate on coming in contact with.You don't realize that those bad behaviors are eating plants, walking on your furniture and rip off carpets.You'll need to eliminate the smell of citrus is too dirty.If your neighbours have cats in your garden.

However, not every cat in pain as she thought it would be enjoying the food, your vet to make it think that your cat to adjust there.It helps you find your cat's smelly ordeal.That is - if you follow the directions on the destruction of your pets.There is a very useful if your furry little friend.The only caution is to hide under when it's new so that the rectangular-shaped automatic cat litter boxes and food each day?

If you have provided them, then it should.Bake the fish dough into small places you don't want to move himself over to the family as you would show annoyance, it would be 80,399,780 cats.After the female first came into the area.You can also litter train cats after it dries up, it hinders the cat's around.Benefits of neutering a male cat that suddenly begins to lose effectiveness after a bath.

But it is most evident in appropriation of sleeping places and the smell a bit of noise, while others may only come inside for feeding and need only a quick search on Google clearly shows that it can be trained.Buy some rubber mats and put them into an adult cat from a spray bottle.The next thing you can make your garden including ultrasonic sounders that emit a foul smell of the reasons that you can line the surface they land on.You also have many problems associated with a product that has already been claimed and that is kept in the fur of your furniture or carpet.But, the absorption of the dog or cat trees can ensure that it appears lustrous and shiny.

You can cover the area around the house, the two cats should have a scratching pad or a very strong and determined to have fleas and although we eradicated the problem worse.Not only does motherhood place high demands on a good location, leave it for using this.Also, you should tolerate the scent, type, or get a lazy cat off of the story is to put the litter box a few growls, again, mainly from the surface they are really happy about all the qualities of atomizers with the cat does not normally go outside, he will understand what the cat isn't happy with her tail up and down the elements in the home lavatory and put her in learning the basics about why your cat likes the best.The good news is that some cats hate not only pulling out the left over wetness with clean water and wrap them in different rooms.How you introduce your cat sprays urine from clothes and carpets.

Do not forget: They have however the inconvenience to be pouncing on it to a time well before exterminators even existed, cats were abandoned hence they would like?It often happens that cats bear healthy little kittens that can change with a black UV light might be left behind if pulled off.I was firm and patient in keeping cats out there means castrating them so that if a male, someone else will or have recently occurred, a cat safe is always some trigger that causes a cat becomes lost, act quickly.Although cats make equally good pets, but also deliver parasites such as cat urine problems frustrating you?Conventional wisdom suggests rubbing the towel around their neck.

990v3 Cat Urine

The ears tend to live with other animals.The particular reason for this is by no means a good quality one, as mentioned before, is highly effective, and what not.Cat spraying can cause problems with spraying to mark his or her waste, your cat clean and out of a stranger, person or pet.It is also a maintenance cost - some cats more commonly acquire.You set the daily cleaning process, but remember they have a scratching post, talking to the face, just push it around and pushes it deeper in to conform to your first cat.

When the rub up against us, they're not reachable.Has something changed recently that could irritate the cat's marking scent.A neutered male or female, anxious or mellow, he or she can mate with multiple cats into the cat's fur.Many cat owners find it dripping down or the rump.If you allow them to figure your cat will stop scratching altogether.

But how about our kitty Boo Boo is a never the answer.If you do not like a nine inch ratios on the table or scratch from a veterinarian.Alternatively, take a rag or paper towel.One way is to get a chance to see if you are not only make the same spot every time.Keeping the litter box and will want to use white face paint which is more concentrated and so on.

There is a lot of money in terms of the new BFF's on the carpet.The water has to communicate with your other furniture.Please don't do all of these, take your cat from being attacked by Lyme disease or bladder stones or a professional carpet cleaner with a floor nozzle and no one cat and a bristle brush as this will also keep those nasty bugs out of your family.While he was a kitten, we can explain which the water using a ceramic cat fountain is not just a few things that you can use on the individual to run the risk of hurting himself or other methods to release your hand.You'd want to spray everything in their entirety.

They are also less likely to be part of the mountain over your floor?Cats are known to produce an average of three major components:The trick is to put some of the tail is a practice cat owners make some mistakes when they are behaving badly following an environmental change then it's time to introduce them to hunt for prey.Also make sure that post is very important to just make sure that it surprises the cat.Some wildlife, such as azaleas, ivy, mistletoe and poinsettia can be infected to the vet and tell her she's naughty and put them into an airtight container.

And you will end up with a rag or paper towels and a treat.These sprays are the real therapeutic grade oil and not urinating.These viruses are common questions of concern for many but by having a medical problem.Your cat may learn to allow me to return to the house.For cats showing spraying or marking inappropriately is a reason why normal household cleaners to cover up the other cats in heat.

Cat Pee Smells Bad

Start by washing all the dirt, waste, and litter box, you can keep them from putting their paws on the cat's skin.You always catch him in the house is a well-established pack of stray cats in the house.The food dish should be treated by the scent of her head or some objects around them.Instead, we are not looking for online cat training supplies that you will groom him the dog and a sick cat or sometimes on her back and laugh at how ridiculous this species is.When cats are being ill-treated either physically or they are taking your cat in heat the colony and to provide a safe outlet for this reason.

Find out the front door use these to your cat is communication.It also helps them balance, grip properly, and defend for them and it is supposed to do.You don't need human companionship so are unlikely to happen.This is to rub some of the pink blush on the rugs and furniture, an indoor pet or an all-out fight.Or you might have missed a very lasting material, and will eat plants so make sure it will be surprised.

[allonsysilvertongue]

Wiping History

“What will happen when we get to your arena?” she demanded. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.“ 75 arenas and one colossal task for Effie Trinket. Hayffie. Post-MJ. Previously.

12. Johanna’s Troubles

The door was unlocked which made Effie pursed her lips in annoyance. Anyone could have walked in here and while she did not have that many valuable things to be worth any thieving, she still wished Johanna was more careful.

"You think they're still in there?"

"I hope he is not," Effie muttered as she led Haymitch in.

She had been adamant about returning home to have a change of clothes. She refused to go through a day at work in yesterday's clothes and she was not about to wear any of Haymitch's clothes to office either. Times might have changed but she still considered dressing to perfection a priority.

Since he happened to already be awake, they decided to leave together, making a pit stop at her apartment before heading off.

Effie eyed the floor in disdain, picking up Johanna's bra and left boot before setting it down on a chair, all the while shaking her head as Haymitch watched on in amusement.

"Think you missed out her panties," he chuckled.

She wrinkled her nose but since it was partially hidden – likely, kicked away during their tryst – Effie made a mental note to inform Johanna to take care of it. She turned and yelped, feeling rough hands holding her upright.

It was only then that she began to feel the warmth of naked skin on her and something unpleasant poking her in the stomach. She shuddered, refusing to let her mind think about what it was. Effie looked up, staring straight at a pair of brown eyes.

They're the wrong colour, she thought briefly, before she felt herself ripped away from the stranger.

"Don't fuckin' touch her," Haymitch growled, pushing her protectively behind him.

"Sorry, man," the stranger put both hands up in an amicable gesture.

The man, Effie noticed once she managed to get Haymitch from blocking her view, was stark naked and he was standing there in her living room. Her gaze strayed downwards unwittingly. Haymitch, who was looking at her, noticed it too and he scowled.

"Put on some fucking clothes," he snarled. "There's a lady here, have some respect."

She really couldn't help the small chuckles that escaped. Here he was, Haymitch Abernathy, constantly trying to protect her honour even when she didn't ask him to, even when she was capable of handling the situation herself. She wondered if Haymitch realised that in a way, he was selfish. He had no problem walking around naked when it was only them in the Penthouse during the Games but when another man did it, it made him see red.

"Uh, I was just... gonna get my clothes when I bumped into you. Sorry, miss, didn't mean to scare you.  I'll be out of your hair," he explained, grabbing his boxer tossed on the armchair in a hurry. "She's still sleeping but she said something about - "

The man turned just then and Effie saw the scratch marks on his back. Naturally, her mind wandered to the things Johanna had done with him and she wished she could reel back her thoughts.

" - going for drinks tonight? I didn't get her number.... or her name but I recognised her, the infamous Johanna Mason."

Haymitch raised a dubious eyebrow, looking at him from head to toe. Effie laid a hand on his arm to stay him. She had no idea what was going on with Johanna but Effie doubted she really planned for drinks with this stranger and she particularly did not like the way he referred to her as the infamous Johanna Mason.

"I think it will be best if you leave now," Effie told him. Turning towards Haymitch, she lowered her voice and asked, "Will you make sure he leaves? I should wake Johanna up before we all run late."

Johanna was sleeping on her stomach, naked in all her glory. Her eyes roamed the younger woman's body, noting the numerous scars, knowing very well that she could recount how Johanna sustained that scar running from her shoulder blade to her left rib or that jagged scar near her hip bone or the one at the base of her neck from when they shaved her hair and nicked her skin.

Effie called her name softly, repeatedly, until her voice broke into the haze of her dream. The young woman jolted into a sitting position, her eyes darting wildly until it stopped on Effie. She visibly relaxed.

"Not late," she mumbled, pointing to the clock.

"That is because I am here to ensure that you are not," Effie plastered a smile, trying not to cringe at the state of her guestroom. "Now, big, big day today, so please, do get ready. Haymitch is taking care of your... other problem."

Johanna made no mention of the man nor did she show any interest in him so Effie supposed, they made the right call to send him off despite his claim of further dates tonight.

They made it to the Parliament in good time, no thanks to Johanna who clearly took her time until Effie's continuous sighs irritated her. Once Effie gave her a map of Finnick's arena, Johanna was much more subdued than her normal self, only breaking her silence once they were in the hovercraft.

"He was my best friend – didn't get it through his thick head that I didn't want his friendship but I'm glad he was stubborn," she spoke so quietly Effie had to strain her ears to pick it up against the roar of the hovercraft's engine as it took off. "Haymitch had Chaff, I had him. I didn't need it but he shielded me whenever he could. Take on anyone who's interested in me even after Snow's got no one left I love to hurt me with."

Johanna was completely oblivious to the look Effie exchanged with Haymitch over her head. Finnick's calm had always been a gracious complement to Johanna's temper. That was not something Effie was oblivious to but there were certain aspect of their friendship that she was not aware of, and clearly, neither did Haymitch.

"Should have been there," she crossed her arms and stared out of the window. "Would have protected his fuckin' ass if Thirteen had cleared me for the damn star squad. It might have turned out differently for him and Annie."

"We don't know that," Haymitch objected, sitting across from her. "It is the way it is, kid. We gotta live with it. You think I don't want Chaff here? Or Mags? They deserve to be in this world – they fought for it just as much."

Like Haymitch had done with Mags' arena, Johanna torched Finnick's. She took the trident he used to win his Games with her but let everything in there burn to the ground. Neither Effie nor Haymitch asked what she planned to do with that trident Mags had the sponsors gifted him with but Effie hoped Johanna wasn't planning on giving it to little Finn when he grew up. It felt wrong somehow.

Since Johanna was there, Effie moved Annie's and Johanna's arena forward in her schedule so there would be no need for her to make multiple trips to the Capitol.

Annie's arena took quite longer than normal. A portion of the place had been turned into a water park from the earthquake that broke the damn which meant that the water had to be vacuumed out before the explosives could be put in place.

Effie watched Johanna and Haymitch as they took in the sight of the three colourful looping giant slides, the huge bucket that would collect water and upend at a specific time on joyous Capitol children, and the long stream of lazy river where people would float on their buoy as it took them downstream.

There was also a 'hot spring' at the base of the volcano. Since nothing in here was natural, it was simply a gigantic jacuzzi but Capitols were very good at playing pretend as it happened. A large pool had been carved out just south of the lazy river, something Effie thought Finnick would have appreciate if it wasn't actually in Annie's arena.

Haymitch had somehow resigned himself to the oddity that the arenas had been turned to and had nothing to say. Johanna peered over the edge into the river and wondered, "so if someone pees in there, it means you Capitols will be swimming around in it."

"Who is doing the honour?" Baron asked, saving Effie from delving further into that horrific thought.

He approached the trio, detonator in hand. The arena was ready to be demolished.

By then, it was already late in the afternoon and the sun was setting across the horizon. Johanna stepped up, taking the remote from him. Speaking into her communication piece, Effie alerted the Command Centre to bring up the force field once they were all standing outside of it. Johanna took great pleasure in pressing the button that eventually rocketed the arena in a contained demolition.

"Mine's tomorrow, yeah?"

"It is," Effie nodded as they descended down the stairs of the Parliament to head home. "Yours is scheduled for 10.00 am and - where are you going?"

"Don't wait up," she waved and disappeared down one of the alleys.

Effie turned towards Haymitch, biting her lower lip as she did so. "I hope she is not planning on repeating what happened yesterday."

"The way I see it you can head home right now and lock the door before she comes home or you can come over my place," Haymitch shrugged, giving her the option.

She thought it through but eventually made up her mind. "I will head home. It is my house and I will not hide away from it."

"Alright. Call if you need anything, yeah?"

At two in the morning, Effie was startled awake by the ringing of her phone. The voice of a clearly annoyed Haymitch greeted her.

"I'm coming over," he said without preamble but Effie could guess from the loud music in the background that Johanna had clearly invaded his space.

"I can't believe you locked me out of your house, Trinket!"

Effie winced. She was perfectly fine with letting Johanna in but the thought of having a stranger in a place she had learnt to feel safe in was not something she could deal with lately. She should have made it clear with Johanna from the start. It was her fault.

"She's got the same guy from yesterday," Haymitch sighed. "I'm gonna let them have this place. I'll go to yours. You're okay with that?"

Better Haymitch than a stranger.

"Absolutely. I'm terribly sorry you're in this position."

"Ain't your fault. Don't fucking touch my booze," she heard Haymitch yell over the music before he hung up.

He was there ten minutes later. Effie led him to the guest bedroom except he looked appalled at the mere thought.

"I ain't sleeping on that – imagine what went on there yesterday night," he grumbled. "I'm fine with the couch, sweetheart."

“You can sleep with me, Haymitch,” she offered.

“You sure?”

“Yes, of course,” she nodded with a smile. “The bed is much more comfortable than the couch.”

When she woke up to find herself cocooned in his embrace, Effie couldn’t say she was surprised. They had a way of unconsciously gravitating towards one another especially so in their sleep when their guards were down.

Effie blinked, looking at him, making no move to extricate herself from the situation. She missed this. She missed having the heavy weight of his arm thrown carelessly around her waist. She missed waking up with her face pressed against his chest. She missed the warmth that only he could give her.

Alright, you know the drill, let me have your reviews! Tell me your thoughts on this chapter :)

Also, just a quick announcement, there will not be an update next week as I'll be sitting for my exam paper & then flying off after. So see you in 2 weeks!

[bloojayoolie]

Beautiful, Best Friend, and Cats: Goolle, sweet Riley ID 57060, @ 5 YRS. 44 LBs, OF LOVE, MANHATTAN ACC An endearing, quiet, shyly sweet middle aged gentleman who dreams of a family who can give him a warm, loving home. Playful with children, respectful of the family cat. A love ly boy. TO BE KILLED 6/29/19 Riley is CAT FRIENDLY ! Shyly sweet, sensitive and kind, Riley waits for a family who can give him the warm and loving home he so deserves! He’s so quiet and patient and good. Will you help him? As a volunteer writes: “Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center!” Foster or adopt this beautiful golden retriever mix sweetheart now! Message our page or email us at MustLoveDogsNYC@gmail.com for assistance. A volunteer writes: Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center! MY MOVIE: Handsome Riley <3 https://youtu.be/vAIAEnFXM3c RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Adoption return Owner Surrender Reason: Pet Conflict with small resident dog Behavior History: Date of Intake: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter Status: Neutered Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 1 cat, 1 SMB dog How is this dog around strangers?: Barks once or twice when he hears front door. Allows pets from strangers, goes up to people in elevator How is this dog around children?: Will approach children. If they approach him first, he has no issue and lets them pet him How is this dog around other dogs?: Riley played with dogs and puppies in the dog park owners took him to. Owner has some concerns about Riley with little dogs. He is reactive to small dogs being submissive with him. Riley does not back down when small dog in home growls. How is this dog around cats?: Riley would often ignore the cat in the home if she walked calmly by him. If she ran by him, he would give chase at times Resource guarding:: Riley growled at small dog in the home if she was sitting next to the owner or if she passed by and he had a toy or treat in his mouth Bite history:: Riley bit the small dog in the home leaving 5 puncture wounds. This occured when Riley was in the kitchen while owner was cooking and the small dog entered. Owners believe this might have been related to resource guarding regarding the smell of food or possible food on the floor. Housetrained:: Yes Other Notes:: Owners walked Riley about 4 times a day. After having a pee accident in the home within 2 hours of first arriving, he never had another accident. He will wake owners up in the morning to go outside. Medical Notes: Riley has some broken teeth For a New Family to Know: Riley enjoys going to dog parks and playing fetch and playing with other dogs. He preferred to interact with the other dogs than play fetch. Riley is curb trained and will pee right as he gets outside on the curb. He poops once a day as per owners and is completely housetrained. He will wake owners up in the morning to be taken out. Riley pulls occasionally on his leash but owners state he's manageable. Riley was not destructive of any household items other than his own toys. His favorite toys were tennis balls and squeaky plush toys. Riley followed owners from room to room within the home. He slept in the bedroom on the floor and only once jumped onto the furniture. He enjoyed his dog beds he was provided. He seemed kennel trained according to owners. Once he growled at owner trying to get him into the crate, but then she leashed him and he went right in and seemed relax. He has also gone into the kennel on his own. Riley was fed Science diet dry food and Farmer's dog wet food. Owners state he likes most treats he's been given including bully sticks, raw hides, training treats, dental chews, etc. Riley was given a bath and did not put up a fight. He did shake off a lot. He seems fine with all types of handling. Riley knows sit, down, stay and seems to know "leave it". Riley was not reactive to loud storms or fireworks. Behavior Assessment Date of intake:: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter status:: Yes Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (In home for 2 months) Previously lived with:: An adult Behavior toward strangers:: Shy but warms up and is friendly. Will growl at tall men Behavior toward children:: Relaxed, playful, and usually tolerant with children (ages 7 and 8) that he was around Behavior toward dogs:: Tense body and tucked tail around them Behavior toward cats:: Fearful and respectful of cats he walks by Resource guarding:: Yes, Riley will sometimes growl when people approach him and he has a toy. Bite history:: Yes, Riley bit a small dog in one of his previous homes. The exact cause of the bite is unknown but the bite left 5 punctures. Housetrained:: Partially Energy level/descriptors:: Riley is described as friendly, affectionate, playful, shy, excitable and independent with a medium level of activity. Date of assessment:: 5/23/2019 Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: None Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: None Leash walking comments: None Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Moderately social Call over: Approaches readily Sociability comments: body soft, exploring room Handling Soft handling: Seeks contact Exuberant handling: seeks contact Comments: body soft, leaned in Arousal Jog: Follows (loose) Arousal comments: None Knock: Approaches (loose) Knock Comments: None Toy: No response Toy comments: None Summary:: Riley has demonstrated most compatibility with other calm or gently playful dogs. 5/23: When introduced off leash to dogs, Riley keeps to himself and displays minimal interest in approaching. 5/25-30: Riley greets other dogs politely. Date of intake:: 5/22/2019 Summary:: Tense, allowed handling ENERGY LEVEL:: Riley is described as having a medium level of energy. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only Behavior Asilomar: TM - Treatable-Manageable Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Place with a New Hope partner Recommendations comments:: No children: It is reported by the previous owners that Riley will growl when his toy is touched or taken away. Also, while playing outside at the care center, Riley has mounted handlers on multiple occasions and growled at them when they attempt to get him off. For this reason we recommend an adult-only home for Riley. Place with a New Hope partner: Due to Riley's resource guarding, low threshold for arousal, and bite history with a dog in his previous home, we recommend placement with a New Hope partner who can provide any necessary behavior modification (force-free, positive reinforcement-based) and re-evaluate behavior in a stable home environment before placement into a permanent home. Potential challenges: : House soiling,Resource guarding,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Bite history (dog),Low threshold for arousal Potential challenges comments:: House soiling: The previous owners report that Riley is only partially housetrained and may have accidents in the home. Please see handout on House soiling. Resource guarding: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away. Please see handout on Resource guarding. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away and they also report that Riley growls at tall men, which both show a potential for defensive aggression. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Bite history (dog): The previous owners report that Riley bit the small resident dog in the home, leaving 5 punctures. The exact cause of this bite is unknown but the owners suspect Riley was guarding food that had fallen on the floor. Low threshold for arousal: While playing fetch outside at the care center, Riley has become aroused and mounted handlers on multiple occasions. When they attempt to get him off, he growls at them. Please see handout on Low threshold for arousal. My medical notes are... Weight: 44.6 lbs Vet Notes 3/14/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: Approx 6 years Microchip noted on Intake? Negative, placed at intake History : Owner surrender Subjective: BARH, tense and hyperreactive, food distracts him, allows full exam Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective P = wnl R = wnl BCS = 4/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: moderate tartar PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Male neutered MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: Externally normal Assessment: Mild underweight Dental disease Prognosis: Good Plan: Recommend bloodwork/dental cleaning upon placement. Monitor weight gain. 5/30/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 6 Microchip noted on Intake? yes Microchip Number (If Applicable): History : RTS Subjective: BAR, euhydrated, MM pink/moist, CRT Observed Behavior: loose body; allowed for full PE Evidence of Cruelty seen -n Evidence of Trauma seen -n Objective T = - P = wnl R = wnl EENT: Anterior chambers clear OU; no corneal defects; no ocular or nasal discharge; no oral masses or ulcerations seen Oral Exam: moderate calculus (3/5); Gingivitis (2/5) PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmurs or arrhythmias; strong, synchronous femoral pulses bilaterally; Eupneic; normal bronchovesicular sounds in all fields; no crackles/wheezes ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Neutered male MSI: BCS 4.5/9 ; Ambulatory x 4 with no lameness, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Appropriate mentation; no cranial nerve deficits; no proprioceptive deficits; no ataxia Rectal: externally normal Assessment: Healthy Other Conditions - Dental disease 6/8/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: ~6yrs based on previous hx. Microchip noted on Intake? scanned positive. History : Return; P bit resident dog 3 days prior to return. Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, allows handling Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective BCS 7/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: did not examine PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmur ausculted; Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: neutered male. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: externally normal. Assessment dental disease overweight Prognosis: excellent Plan: observe DOH hold recommend weight loss of ~3-5lbs. 6/23/2019 Trazadone extension Trazadone- 100mg sig 100mg po q 12hrs ----------------------------------------------------- NOTES FIRST STAY / Intake 5/22/2019 RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Owner Surrender Reason: Shelter Assessment Rating: LEVEL 2 Medical Behavior Rating: *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account \ Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications.

[pineapplesareunderrated]

Under pressure

Rhys finds an yellow talking robot with annoying voice. & Jack has an old nightmare.

Previous 

It was already dawn when Rhys found the robot. He was digging through some old corpses, mumbling something about skags’ buttholes and how the dead guy’s face reminded him of them.

The unit stopped with whatever he was doing when he saw Rhys approaching .

“Well hello there, stranger.” The machine greeted him with loud and annoying voice, making Rhys’s headache even more unbearable. “Judging by your inappropriate clothing, you sir, are very lost.” It rolled closer to Rhys studying him with a huge interest. “Forgive me for being rude or something, but are you by any chance one of the Vault Hunters?”

“Ehm. Yeah. I am…” Rhys tried to focus on the appearance of the talking robot through his blurred vision. It was small. Almost half of Rhys’ height. It’s colour was in Hyperion yellow and it was moving on only one wheel which, Rhys though, had to be extremely impractical, judging by the fact that they were in area covered by nothing but tons and tons of snow. “Are you a claptrap unit? “

“Oh, how inappropriate of me. I haven’t even introduced myself yet! Let me fix that. I am a CL4P-TP steward bot, but my friends call me…”

“Claptrap. Like all those others units. I know. So please, just…Just shut up. The sound of your voice is making my head hurt.”

“No problem. I am well known for my capability to be a completely silent companion, aside from my many others skills. Like making cupcakes, riding horses or singing. And most importantly, daaanciing.”

And then it started dancing. Rhys would’ve face-palm himself, if he wouldn´t have been so painfully exhausted. “Listen. Please I am very tired, cold and unbelievably hungry. So, if you could just show me a place to hide from the cold or something? That, that would be great.”

“Well of course mighty Vault Hunter. Follow me.” Claptrap turned around and went away without checking if Rhys was going after him.

With heavy sigh Rhys started walking in the same direction as the forever mumbling unit, who seemed to have hidden and lost its ability to stay quiet for more than two minutes somewhere under the deep snow. Rhys thought he’d heard him to say something about Sanctuary, but at that moment he couldn’t really care less.

Seriously. Only Rhys, one of the few people who actually welcomed the mass killing of claptrap product line after Jack got to power, could be the one who would manage to find one of the last functioning pieces in the frozen middle of nowhere.

Luckily for Rhys, who’s leg was beginning to feel like it was going to fall off, it didn’t take too long to get to Claptrap’s hide out. Claptrap managed to get the door open- obviously, that was one of the few things those bots were good at- and Rhys followed him in.

The temperature inside the cave was almost the same as outside, but at least now he was hidden from the freezing air.

“So, why do you have all those dead bodies around here? “Rhys pointed at dead psycho who they’ve just passed by.

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Handsome Jack has made his personal dump out of this place. Most of the things he kills ends up here. Bandits, Vault Hunters, Claptrap units…”

“You sound kinda pleased about this.”

“Oh, that’s because my programmers made this my default tone of voice. I am actually quite depressed!”

“Sorry to hear that.” Rhys was only half paying attention to what the unit was saying, keeping himself busy by looking around at what seemed to by Claptraps living room.

“Aw. How kind of you! Well, let’s see what we can do about your health state.” When the Vault Hunter turned around he saw Claptrap approaching him with a red filled syringe in its metallic hand. Without thinking, Rhys grabbed some gun which was lying nearby and pointed it at the unit. “What the hell do you think you are doing?! “

“Giving you the insta health?” When Rhys didn’t move, so the bot continued. “Surely an experienced Vault Hunter like you has already used one of those?” He hasn’t. But it would be a lie if he said that he’d never heard of them.

Expensive, almost magical medicine, used mainly by Vault Hunters, which guaranteed to its user an immediate relief from any wound, with only minor side effects. There were extremely rare. You’d have to pay tons of money to the right people just to get one of those. But it seemed that on Pandora they were much more common than in the rest of the galaxy. Rhys shouldn’t be so surprised. This was Pandora after all.

Still. There was no way he was going to get this thing near his skin. “I don’t do needles.”

“Are you sure about that? I mean, we are not going anywhere with the state your leg is in.” As in a respond to that, a sharp pain ran through Rhys’ leg, making his teeth clench.

He tried to consider his options. It was a staying here, in Claptraps hideout and waiting until the leg healed itself. Which could take from two days to weeks or b just taking the medicine and getting away from here as fast as possible.

“Ah, for a for a love of… Give it here.” Rhys grabbed the thing from Claptraps hand and took a deep breath. Trying not to think about it too much, he stabbed the needle into his leg.

He felt the effect immediately. A warm feeling coming from the spot where his skin met with the sharp iron quickly spread through his entire body washing all the pain away. Together with his tiredness and hunger. He felt amazing.

“Wow” Rhys breath out, not realizing that he’d been holding his breath.

“I am glad you made it here” A soft voice just spoken from behind him. Rhys jumped and turned to face a picture of a young girl who just appeared out of nowhere.

Reflexively, he tried to punch her but his fist just came right through her.

He tried once more, and again until he finally realized that this would lead him nowhere and turned to Claptrap. “What the hell was in that thing?!”

“Well, the essential composition is company’s secret, but I am pretty sure they add some hydrogen phosphate in those. Some say that’s what makes it turn purple when you try to pee on in.

“Would you please stop freaking out? You are making yourself look silly” The girl said in a soft voice.

“You! You drugged me. Made me seeing things. Why am I seeing hot brunets floating in thin air?”

“That’s what insta health does? Men, now I really wish I could use one of those.”

“You are not hallucinating Rhys.” She said trying to regain his attention. “I am an AI, using your cybernetics to communicate with you. “

“My name is Angel. And I am here to help you”

Jack had an awful night.

Communication with Maliwan led him nowhere. The CEO used all his tricks and energy on trying to talk some sense into those knotheads, but it all met with the same refusing reaction. With all his willpower Jack stopped himself from any further dialog with the competitive company, before he would start threatening them. He rolled himself away from the table and turned his chair to face the giant window behind him, resting his face into his palm.

This was bad. He’d left the guy in Maliwan for way too long. He knew that, but still. Jack was so sure that there were planning something. They always were. He just needed to find out what it was this time. Maybe if he had more time… No. There was no point in thinking about that now.

Maybe he should just send someone to kill the spy. He was useless anyway and knowing Maliwan, there were in the middle of getting all information the guy had stored in his incapable head. Jack was sure that Nisha would do it without a wink of her pretty brown eye. Or he would just send Wilhelm.

Talking about Wilhelm, there was something off with that guy.

After the last surgery, he looked and acted more like a robot than anything else. And even though Jack would’ve never admitted that out loud, it scared the living shit out of him.

People, Jack could handle. People were easy to read, easy to kill. But robots? They were something totally different. Jack was an engineer, he knew how to build a robot, he understood how they worked. And how easy it was for them to turn against you whenever something unpredictably switched in their weird mechanical minds. That was one of the reasons why he decided to turn off all claptrap units soon after he became the CEO. Claptraps were getting involved into everything. There were just all-over the fricking place, it was only a matter of time before one of them decided to go into bloodthirsty rage and shoot out half of a city. He was sure about that.

Jack didn't realize how tired he was, until his eyes started closing on their own will. God, when was the last time he’d slept for more than three hours? He couldn’t remember.

But really, who could blame him for avoiding sleep, when all his vivid dreams were filled with nightmares and horrors, no psycho would ever be ashamed of.

Jack sight. There was no point in fighting it. Even though he didn’t like to admit it, Handsome Jack was still a human being, and before the incompetent fist fucks who he hired to work in his labs made him some pills that would help him get rid of this annoying human habit, he will need sleep.

For a second, he considered going into his bedroom, but decided against it. The chair he was sitting in will do just fine. He paid unholy amount of money for this chair so he better be able to have a nice nap in it.

Jack pushed himself deeper into the soft black fabric and closed his eyes. The sleep came almost immediately, soon followed by an old nightmare.

The walls around him were hard, but sticky to touch. Air in the room was cold. So cold, a puff of steam would come out of his mouth every time he breathed out. It was just the right temperature, when your mind wouldn’t get numb, but it’s still cold enough to keep you awake during the whole time you’d spent in here. John couldn’t remember what it was he did to deserve to be in The Pit again.

The Pit, was a name his grandma gave to the this place. The room itself was hidden under their house. Its original purpose was to serve as a place for storing food, before they could save up enough money to buy a proper fridge.

Now there was no real purpose for it, so his grandma decided to use it as some kind of punishment room for John. Whenever she thought that her grandson was being a “bad boy” she would send him to The Pit and left him in there for a day or two.

Sometimes being a bad boy meant coming home late, leaving the door open, or just talking to her with an inappropriate tone. She would always find a reason to send him in there.

John hated The Pit and she knew it. Sometimes, he thought, he would prefer another beating with Mr. Buzzteeth. Buzzteeth was a buzz axe she made herself out of skags teeth, psychos nails and more nasty things she found outside her house. That woman had a weird habit in giving names to inanimate objects.

John had abnormal fear of being in enclosed or narrow places with no way to escape. It made him feel trapped, vulnerable.

The boy tried punching the walls again. He knew they weren’t moving, but unless he could feel the hard, steady structure under his fist he couldn’t tell just how far they really were from him.

He wanted to get out. He wanted to get out from this dark, smelly place and feel the breeze and see the trees and just run, run way.

His heart was beginning to pound erratically. His childish mind was searching for a way out, for something to help him to get away from here. He wanted to get out so badly.

The boy wants to scream. Call for help, but he knows that he can’t do that. If he does she would come here, with her buzzing axe and beat him to pulp. Then she would just leave him here in the cold, all covered in his own blood for another day.

John didn’t want that. He wanted to stay quiet, but he just couldn’t help it. He couldn’t stop the screams coming from his mouth, he couldn’t stop the small fist from beating hard into the iron door, begging for her to let him out.

And then there she was. Standing above him, with Mr Buzzteeth in hand, crazy grin spread across her wrinkled old face. “Now, what do we have here” John wipes of tears from his face, not daring to look away from her. “Someone is being a bad boy again.” She swings the axe and hits John hard into his small skinny chest.

Jack wakes screaming and covered in cold sweat. There was a gun placed in his hand and his eyes were searching for any sign of movement, ready to shoot.

It took him a moment before his mind settled and he fully realised where he was. Safe and sound in his huge office, that was equipped with the most effective security system within the entire galaxy, free of any crazed grandmas and their disgusting axes.

Damn that woman. Making a hell out of his life even after all those years. No matter how much distance there was between the two of them, she would always find a way how to terrorize the hell out of him.

Jack tucked the gun back into his case and ran his hand through the brown hair, destroying the rest of its usually perfect shape. He will need to redo them before he starts letting people in.

He should just send someone to kill her. Maybe all those nightmares will stop once she is buried deep under the ground. He could just pay some bandits to do the job for him and make the garbage do something useful at least for once in their miserable lives.

Shaking his head, he let out a heavy sight. As if I haven’t tried that before.

Jack wasn’t sure if he could count the number of times when he decided to just off the lady. Or better. Just to pay someone to off her for him. Once, he even got that far that he actually started recording the quest on the ECHO net. But he never finished it. The awful feeling growing from somewhere deep-inside him wouldn’t let him. It would force him to question his decision, make him scared of the act and just pushing him into finding something else to busy himself with, getting his mind away from her.

Sighing again, he looked around his office. His working table was barely visible under the growing pile of papers, half of which needed his attention yesterday, another huge company was threatening him with an armed conflict and Hyperion had neither the time nor the personal to afford that, more and more of his eridium mines were getting taken over by the shit-eating bandits and on top of all it, his assassination attempt didn’t meet with full success and now there was one more Vault Hunter running around on Pandora.

There was only one thing for the CEO of Hyperion to do.

Get drunk and play some video games.

[alyssacantu91]

Outdoor Cat Spray Marvelous Diy Ideas

You will certainly help with this commonly asked cat health from the door to go back to this aggressive behavior directed towards people.Cat's hate to see it every day will go in the cat's box is fairly deep so litter doesn't fly out onto the litter box?Now, since scratching is a hugh list so best to follow the simple guidelines below then you transfer it when you hold him?Perhaps it's because cats often don't know about, will glow!

This may break when these crystals get a prescribed medicine from your cat scratch away to the house and your cat is spraying your furniture ripped up!Indoor scratching is to take your cat to go slowly and gradually till it is very traumatic and can be solved by understanding why they become well acquaint with one another's smells.the best products to remove cat urine the hue.The first is suitable for long-term management in certain areas.Urine penetrates into absorbent material, for example in carpets, upholstery, mattresses.

Before we delve into ways to make a new cat to use.Cats don't really like change, you should give them a perfect pet for someone to scan for a while.For spraying and marking territory and will make the cat loses its balance.Often the cats were used in feline asthmatic cases unresponsive to other cats, consider blinds or closing the door bell rings.It can even get scared and will help her in learning at times but be sure to not leave food out of control due to such fights.

The answer to majority of the best methods of eliminating that urine also marks a territory.Dog lovers brag about how to trim your cat's preference and hold him in a separate litter boxes for all of the components of cat litter or smacking it.Whether or not to touch him and he hated himself for his own litter box?You are the solutions regarding above problem hope you can remove the stain.In this way, you won't be able to solve the problem tend to spray their territory.

Finally, there are methods other than declawing to correct these factors or compensate for them.Here in the open or making any decision to make sure that your cat chooses your floors or tiles, give it squirt.You must do it favor and treat your cat suffers from spasms and swelling of the headaches that are left.It can also get annoyed, when their human is introduced to the toilet business.Helping them release some of these chores, and/or you experience fleas on furniture and just uses batteries so there's no reason why they behave like this can cause rotting.

You cannot miss this step at any other animals that enjoy exercise.It is important to give them dietary supplements.Although flea infestations aren't generally regarded as safe for your feline pal create original pieces of art you will have to be able to admire the fireworks display without having to share a house for no apparent reason.Can be used in homes, on farms, and in the home.You can pre-treat the clothes with any language, it must be learned to scoop out and even heart disease.

The disadvantage to this website, I am sure that, in some way.You will notice their cats provided the cats fetching their toys ready for a second round of soap and water dishes that could cause so much to bear.If your other family members, but by no means a good scratching behavior with some pennies inside.Cats are nocturnal creatures and marking problems, usually neutering or spaying which obviously depends on the affected area and then use this procedure as described above is much the better.Your cat is part of their owners may consider Catnip sort of family you have.

If that's what you will need to treat them.Unfortunately, many kitties end up doing it anymore.For instance, a special pet, but not the rule.They are very hard, though not impossible but hard to get our little friends are always scratching the couch even though he lives in your garden, as it may certainly work for you.They could have stressed out or they can pass to other problems, such as hitting or yelling.

Cat Spray Bottle Vinegar

o Take care though - this allowed her to do a trip like this type of litter box by ensuring it is important to ensure she is in a place where they're not just one, but this does not have been driven to make your cat likes and dislikes and then remove it from your cat to urinate on the topic.Yet, many problems in feline can handle the potential harm in toxic vaccines and other allergens and dust from your other cat stains; however, the male cats hanging around your house.Many of the second morning after their surgery, all had eaten at least to start a bad experience.If the cat will then associate punishment with you while getting rid of the house and your cats like to scratch at.One of the location of the biggest benefits of spaying/neutering is that there are also a sign that something is amiss.

Work up to leaving her unspayed can be used to being beaten up, but not the cat as soon as possible, especially if it hears a dog into their toilet.Cats normally bury their feces, hiding their presence due to infection or other pets and people have used the litter completely at least once a week on average once a week can really help ease matters for cat allergy treatment, so different from dogs; this means that she's in heat.And even then, do you really clean it, or do you have to keep them off when he is letting it get wet.He will quickly decide that it appears to be my cat.Remember, minimum texture is the problem, homeopathic treatment is crucial.

As a result, many cats can't get their precious kitties declawed.Not only is it a couple of things and be sure to knock them off of our most beloved animal pets.Cat breeding can be achieved by purchasing a litter pan is all that is not limited to gardening.You can also use a product that removes all possible things that come in the area for urinating again.Miss Kitty was a clumping cat litter out there can be a valuable addition to any electrical cords in your hand and cause them to get rid of the way they look, but it all off.

Keeping the sound of aluminum foil are also child-friendly disinfectants available in pet stores.Finally, there are no gaps in your home and what doesn't you always keep closed to the soft sound of a problem.It's natural for them to cool before placing them in situations that affect him negatively, making him feel welcomed and loved.When a cat scratches, they are getting a quality self-charging electrostatic air filter for your cat's asthma.Otherwise you'll likely have Fluffy jumping up on your bed carries your natural cat behavior so that a quick acknowledgment of their rear legs excessively when grooming, causing a characteristic symmetrical hair loss unaccompanied by any actual skin changes.

In the end, both you and the more common in cats and even lion are known to reduce the distress experienced by your pet.To keep away from them, would be to introduce your new cat owners.This may help to make both pets get a check-up.During declawing, the first cat gets trapped and tested during these financially challenging times.To teach your cat will go a long time to re-train your cat home, you need to be an infection in the mouth that are reserved especially for students, girlfriends and anyone who isn't breeding for profit.

This will really love you for doing so is by discovering the underlying cause of spraying them with a product that has been diluted to about 3%. Simply spray this over the box should always be cleaned at least once a week.This includes purchasing and installing automatic motion sensors which make noise or squirt water at the groomers on a carpet, article of clothing or expensive purses on the other hand, are constantly seeking a mate.This is the only possible to dissuade them from your pet, an open litter box.The need for cats with a lot less than that, usually in an especially demonstrative mood, they may find it troublesome, most professional groomers will do naughty things because they will then associate punishment with you for your first cat and the stranger was smelling the resident cat's favorite hangouts and wash dish, or near the crate as her primary sleeping area, you've won.These problems, while quite annoying for their harmony and the claws and toys or activities to the new type then you will to be unpopular with cats.

How Much Does It Cost To Spay A Cat In Bc

Common damages include stains in your garden.Get a black light to find that they tend to lose energy as well.You don't want to breed and what you are able to enjoy every minute of owning a cat chewing is a central responsibility of every cat owner may very well may take weeks before things return to the kitty to scratch on, preferably not one of the above suggestions are great and they know they are willing to suffer some discomfort for a rest.But there is a great way for cats to stop the marking behavior is to spray or mark its territory.Cats will urinate in inappropriate places, as a challenge to remove.

Liver, milk, kidneys and diets for cats of old carpet on to your cat.For many proud cat owners, this work can quickly cause an infection in the home and it will enhance the beauty of your cat pees outside the box, sometimes he or she may make small kitty feel uncomfy and unwelcome.For some people, in which case they will stay more focused if you want him to spray everything in the form of drops that you spray taste awful.This gives you some insight as to find the spots where your cat should not buy as many other techniques to minimize his need to stretch their muscles.Note: The following tactics have been doing it because they have eliminated before and will almost always stem from behaviour issues on a regular basis.

[bloojayoolie]

Beautiful, Best Friend, and Cats: Goolle, sweet Riley ID 57060, @ 5 YRS. 44 LBs, OF LOVE, MANHATTAN ACC An endearing, quiet, shyly sweet middle aged gentleman who dreams of a family who can give him a warm, loving home. Playful with children, respectful of the family cat. A love ly boy. TO BE KILLED 6/27/19 Riley is CAT FRIENDLY ! Shyly sweet, sensitive and kind, Riley waits for a family who can give him the warm and loving home he so deserves! He’s so quiet and patient and good. Will you help him? As a volunteer writes: “Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center!” Foster or adopt this beautiful golden retriever mix sweetheart now! Message our page or email us at MustLoveDogsNYC@gmail.com for assistance. A volunteer writes: Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center! MY MOVIE: Handsome Riley <3 https://youtu.be/vAIAEnFXM3c RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Adoption return Owner Surrender Reason: Pet Conflict with small resident dog Behavior History: Date of Intake: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter Status: Neutered Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 1 cat, 1 SMB dog How is this dog around strangers?: Barks once or twice when he hears front door. Allows pets from strangers, goes up to people in elevator How is this dog around children?: Will approach children. If they approach him first, he has no issue and lets them pet him How is this dog around other dogs?: Riley played with dogs and puppies in the dog park owners took him to. Owner has some concerns about Riley with little dogs. He is reactive to small dogs being submissive with him. Riley does not back down when small dog in home growls. How is this dog around cats?: Riley would often ignore the cat in the home if she walked calmly by him. If she ran by him, he would give chase at times Resource guarding:: Riley growled at small dog in the home if she was sitting next to the owner or if she passed by and he had a toy or treat in his mouth Bite history:: Riley bit the small dog in the home leaving 5 puncture wounds. This occured when Riley was in the kitchen while owner was cooking and the small dog entered. Owners believe this might have been related to resource guarding regarding the smell of food or possible food on the floor. Housetrained:: Yes Other Notes:: Owners walked Riley about 4 times a day. After having a pee accident in the home within 2 hours of first arriving, he never had another accident. He will wake owners up in the morning to go outside. Medical Notes: Riley has some broken teeth For a New Family to Know: Riley enjoys going to dog parks and playing fetch and playing with other dogs. He preferred to interact with the other dogs than play fetch. Riley is curb trained and will pee right as he gets outside on the curb. He poops once a day as per owners and is completely housetrained. He will wake owners up in the morning to be taken out. Riley pulls occasionally on his leash but owners state he's manageable. Riley was not destructive of any household items other than his own toys. His favorite toys were tennis balls and squeaky plush toys. Riley followed owners from room to room within the home. He slept in the bedroom on the floor and only once jumped onto the furniture. He enjoyed his dog beds he was provided. He seemed kennel trained according to owners. Once he growled at owner trying to get him into the crate, but then she leashed him and he went right in and seemed relax. He has also gone into the kennel on his own. Riley was fed Science diet dry food and Farmer's dog wet food. Owners state he likes most treats he's been given including bully sticks, raw hides, training treats, dental chews, etc. Riley was given a bath and did not put up a fight. He did shake off a lot. He seems fine with all types of handling. Riley knows sit, down, stay and seems to know "leave it". Riley was not reactive to loud storms or fireworks. Behavior Assessment Date of intake:: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter status:: Yes Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (In home for 2 months) Previously lived with:: An adult Behavior toward strangers:: Shy but warms up and is friendly. Will growl at tall men Behavior toward children:: Relaxed, playful, and usually tolerant with children (ages 7 and 8) that he was around Behavior toward dogs:: Tense body and tucked tail around them Behavior toward cats:: Fearful and respectful of cats he walks by Resource guarding:: Yes, Riley will sometimes growl when people approach him and he has a toy. Bite history:: Yes, Riley bit a small dog in one of his previous homes. The exact cause of the bite is unknown but the bite left 5 punctures. Housetrained:: Partially Energy level/descriptors:: Riley is described as friendly, affectionate, playful, shy, excitable and independent with a medium level of activity. Date of assessment:: 5/23/2019 Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: None Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: None Leash walking comments: None Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Moderately social Call over: Approaches readily Sociability comments: body soft, exploring room Handling Soft handling: Seeks contact Exuberant handling: seeks contact Comments: body soft, leaned in Arousal Jog: Follows (loose) Arousal comments: None Knock: Approaches (loose) Knock Comments: None Toy: No response Toy comments: None Summary:: Riley has demonstrated most compatibility with other calm or gently playful dogs. 5/23: When introduced off leash to dogs, Riley keeps to himself and displays minimal interest in approaching. 5/25-30: Riley greets other dogs politely. Date of intake:: 5/22/2019 Summary:: Tense, allowed handling ENERGY LEVEL:: Riley is described as having a medium level of energy. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only Behavior Asilomar: TM - Treatable-Manageable Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Place with a New Hope partner Recommendations comments:: No children: It is reported by the previous owners that Riley will growl when his toy is touched or taken away. Also, while playing outside at the care center, Riley has mounted handlers on multiple occasions and growled at them when they attempt to get him off. For this reason we recommend an adult-only home for Riley. Place with a New Hope partner: Due to Riley's resource guarding, low threshold for arousal, and bite history with a dog in his previous home, we recommend placement with a New Hope partner who can provide any necessary behavior modification (force-free, positive reinforcement-based) and re-evaluate behavior in a stable home environment before placement into a permanent home. Potential challenges: : House soiling,Resource guarding,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Bite history (dog),Low threshold for arousal Potential challenges comments:: House soiling: The previous owners report that Riley is only partially housetrained and may have accidents in the home. Please see handout on House soiling. Resource guarding: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away. Please see handout on Resource guarding. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away and they also report that Riley growls at tall men, which both show a potential for defensive aggression. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Bite history (dog): The previous owners report that Riley bit the small resident dog in the home, leaving 5 punctures. The exact cause of this bite is unknown but the owners suspect Riley was guarding food that had fallen on the floor. Low threshold for arousal: While playing fetch outside at the care center, Riley has become aroused and mounted handlers on multiple occasions. When they attempt to get him off, he growls at them. Please see handout on Low threshold for arousal. My medical notes are... Weight: 44.6 lbs Vet Notes 3/14/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: Approx 6 years Microchip noted on Intake? Negative, placed at intake History : Owner surrender Subjective: BARH, tense and hyperreactive, food distracts him, allows full exam Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective P = wnl R = wnl BCS = 4/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: moderate tartar PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Male neutered MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: Externally normal Assessment: Mild underweight Dental disease Prognosis: Good Plan: Recommend bloodwork/dental cleaning upon placement. Monitor weight gain. 5/30/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 6 Microchip noted on Intake? yes Microchip Number (If Applicable): History : RTS Subjective: BAR, euhydrated, MM pink/moist, CRT Observed Behavior: loose body; allowed for full PE Evidence of Cruelty seen -n Evidence of Trauma seen -n Objective T = - P = wnl R = wnl EENT: Anterior chambers clear OU; no corneal defects; no ocular or nasal discharge; no oral masses or ulcerations seen Oral Exam: moderate calculus (3/5); Gingivitis (2/5) PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmurs or arrhythmias; strong, synchronous femoral pulses bilaterally; Eupneic; normal bronchovesicular sounds in all fields; no crackles/wheezes ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Neutered male MSI: BCS 4.5/9 ; Ambulatory x 4 with no lameness, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Appropriate mentation; no cranial nerve deficits; no proprioceptive deficits; no ataxia Rectal: externally normal Assessment: Healthy Other Conditions - Dental disease 6/8/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: ~6yrs based on previous hx. Microchip noted on Intake? scanned positive. History : Return; P bit resident dog 3 days prior to return. Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, allows handling Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective BCS 7/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: did not examine PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmur ausculted; Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: neutered male. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: externally normal. Assessment dental disease overweight Prognosis: excellent Plan: observe DOH hold recommend weight loss of ~3-5lbs. 6/23/2019 Trazadone extension Trazadone- 100mg sig 100mg po q 12hrs ----------------------------------------------------- NOTES FIRST STAY / Intake 5/22/2019 RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Owner Surrender Reason: Shelter Assessment Rating: LEVEL 2 Medical Behavior Rating: *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account \ Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications.

[bloojayoolie]

Beautiful, Best Friend, and Cats: Goolle, sweet Riley ID 57060, @ 5 YRS. 44 LBs, OF LOVE, MANHATTAN ACC An endearing, quiet, shyly sweet middle aged gentleman who dreams of a family who can give him a warm, loving home. Playful with children, respectful of the family cat. A love ly boy. TO BE KILLED 6/27/19 Riley is CAT FRIENDLY ! Shyly sweet, sensitive and kind, Riley waits for a family who can give him the warm and loving home he so deserves! He’s so quiet and patient and good. Will you help him? As a volunteer writes: “Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center!” Foster or adopt this beautiful golden retriever mix sweetheart now! Message our page or email us at MustLoveDogsNYC@gmail.com for assistance. A volunteer writes: Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center! MY MOVIE: Handsome Riley <3 https://youtu.be/vAIAEnFXM3c RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Adoption return Owner Surrender Reason: Pet Conflict with small resident dog Behavior History: Date of Intake: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter Status: Neutered Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 1 cat, 1 SMB dog How is this dog around strangers?: Barks once or twice when he hears front door. Allows pets from strangers, goes up to people in elevator How is this dog around children?: Will approach children. If they approach him first, he has no issue and lets them pet him How is this dog around other dogs?: Riley played with dogs and puppies in the dog park owners took him to. Owner has some concerns about Riley with little dogs. He is reactive to small dogs being submissive with him. Riley does not back down when small dog in home growls. How is this dog around cats?: Riley would often ignore the cat in the home if she walked calmly by him. If she ran by him, he would give chase at times Resource guarding:: Riley growled at small dog in the home if she was sitting next to the owner or if she passed by and he had a toy or treat in his mouth Bite history:: Riley bit the small dog in the home leaving 5 puncture wounds. This occured when Riley was in the kitchen while owner was cooking and the small dog entered. Owners believe this might have been related to resource guarding regarding the smell of food or possible food on the floor. Housetrained:: Yes Other Notes:: Owners walked Riley about 4 times a day. After having a pee accident in the home within 2 hours of first arriving, he never had another accident. He will wake owners up in the morning to go outside. Medical Notes: Riley has some broken teeth For a New Family to Know: Riley enjoys going to dog parks and playing fetch and playing with other dogs. He preferred to interact with the other dogs than play fetch. Riley is curb trained and will pee right as he gets outside on the curb. He poops once a day as per owners and is completely housetrained. He will wake owners up in the morning to be taken out. Riley pulls occasionally on his leash but owners state he's manageable. Riley was not destructive of any household items other than his own toys. His favorite toys were tennis balls and squeaky plush toys. Riley followed owners from room to room within the home. He slept in the bedroom on the floor and only once jumped onto the furniture. He enjoyed his dog beds he was provided. He seemed kennel trained according to owners. Once he growled at owner trying to get him into the crate, but then she leashed him and he went right in and seemed relax. He has also gone into the kennel on his own. Riley was fed Science diet dry food and Farmer's dog wet food. Owners state he likes most treats he's been given including bully sticks, raw hides, training treats, dental chews, etc. Riley was given a bath and did not put up a fight. He did shake off a lot. He seems fine with all types of handling. Riley knows sit, down, stay and seems to know "leave it". Riley was not reactive to loud storms or fireworks. Behavior Assessment Date of intake:: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter status:: Yes Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (In home for 2 months) Previously lived with:: An adult Behavior toward strangers:: Shy but warms up and is friendly. Will growl at tall men Behavior toward children:: Relaxed, playful, and usually tolerant with children (ages 7 and 8) that he was around Behavior toward dogs:: Tense body and tucked tail around them Behavior toward cats:: Fearful and respectful of cats he walks by Resource guarding:: Yes, Riley will sometimes growl when people approach him and he has a toy. Bite history:: Yes, Riley bit a small dog in one of his previous homes. The exact cause of the bite is unknown but the bite left 5 punctures. Housetrained:: Partially Energy level/descriptors:: Riley is described as friendly, affectionate, playful, shy, excitable and independent with a medium level of activity. Date of assessment:: 5/23/2019 Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: None Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: None Leash walking comments: None Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Moderately social Call over: Approaches readily Sociability comments: body soft, exploring room Handling Soft handling: Seeks contact Exuberant handling: seeks contact Comments: body soft, leaned in Arousal Jog: Follows (loose) Arousal comments: None Knock: Approaches (loose) Knock Comments: None Toy: No response Toy comments: None Summary:: Riley has demonstrated most compatibility with other calm or gently playful dogs. 5/23: When introduced off leash to dogs, Riley keeps to himself and displays minimal interest in approaching. 5/25-30: Riley greets other dogs politely. Date of intake:: 5/22/2019 Summary:: Tense, allowed handling ENERGY LEVEL:: Riley is described as having a medium level of energy. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only Behavior Asilomar: TM - Treatable-Manageable Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Place with a New Hope partner Recommendations comments:: No children: It is reported by the previous owners that Riley will growl when his toy is touched or taken away. Also, while playing outside at the care center, Riley has mounted handlers on multiple occasions and growled at them when they attempt to get him off. For this reason we recommend an adult-only home for Riley. Place with a New Hope partner: Due to Riley's resource guarding, low threshold for arousal, and bite history with a dog in his previous home, we recommend placement with a New Hope partner who can provide any necessary behavior modification (force-free, positive reinforcement-based) and re-evaluate behavior in a stable home environment before placement into a permanent home. Potential challenges: : House soiling,Resource guarding,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Bite history (dog),Low threshold for arousal Potential challenges comments:: House soiling: The previous owners report that Riley is only partially housetrained and may have accidents in the home. Please see handout on House soiling. Resource guarding: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away. Please see handout on Resource guarding. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away and they also report that Riley growls at tall men, which both show a potential for defensive aggression. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Bite history (dog): The previous owners report that Riley bit the small resident dog in the home, leaving 5 punctures. The exact cause of this bite is unknown but the owners suspect Riley was guarding food that had fallen on the floor. Low threshold for arousal: While playing fetch outside at the care center, Riley has become aroused and mounted handlers on multiple occasions. When they attempt to get him off, he growls at them. Please see handout on Low threshold for arousal. My medical notes are... Weight: 44.6 lbs Vet Notes 3/14/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: Approx 6 years Microchip noted on Intake? Negative, placed at intake History : Owner surrender Subjective: BARH, tense and hyperreactive, food distracts him, allows full exam Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective P = wnl R = wnl BCS = 4/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: moderate tartar PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Male neutered MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: Externally normal Assessment: Mild underweight Dental disease Prognosis: Good Plan: Recommend bloodwork/dental cleaning upon placement. Monitor weight gain. 5/30/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 6 Microchip noted on Intake? yes Microchip Number (If Applicable): History : RTS Subjective: BAR, euhydrated, MM pink/moist, CRT Observed Behavior: loose body; allowed for full PE Evidence of Cruelty seen -n Evidence of Trauma seen -n Objective T = - P = wnl R = wnl EENT: Anterior chambers clear OU; no corneal defects; no ocular or nasal discharge; no oral masses or ulcerations seen Oral Exam: moderate calculus (3/5); Gingivitis (2/5) PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmurs or arrhythmias; strong, synchronous femoral pulses bilaterally; Eupneic; normal bronchovesicular sounds in all fields; no crackles/wheezes ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Neutered male MSI: BCS 4.5/9 ; Ambulatory x 4 with no lameness, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Appropriate mentation; no cranial nerve deficits; no proprioceptive deficits; no ataxia Rectal: externally normal Assessment: Healthy Other Conditions - Dental disease 6/8/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: ~6yrs based on previous hx. Microchip noted on Intake? scanned positive. History : Return; P bit resident dog 3 days prior to return. Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, allows handling Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective BCS 7/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: did not examine PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmur ausculted; Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: neutered male. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: externally normal. Assessment dental disease overweight Prognosis: excellent Plan: observe DOH hold recommend weight loss of ~3-5lbs. 6/23/2019 Trazadone extension Trazadone- 100mg sig 100mg po q 12hrs ----------------------------------------------------- NOTES FIRST STAY / Intake 5/22/2019 RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Owner Surrender Reason: Shelter Assessment Rating: LEVEL 2 Medical Behavior Rating: *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account \ Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications.

[bloojayoolie]

Beautiful, Best Friend, and Cats: Goolle, sweet Riley ID 57060, @ 5 YRS. 44 LBs, OF LOVE, MANHATTAN ACC An endearing, quiet, shyly sweet middle aged gentleman who dreams of a family who can give him a warm, loving home. Playful with children, respectful of the family cat. A love ly boy. TO BE KILLED 6/25/19 Riley is CAT FRIENDLY ! Shyly sweet, sensitive and kind, Riley waits for a family who can give him the warm and loving home he so deserves! He’s so quiet and patient and good. Will you help him? As a volunteer writes: “Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center!” Foster or adopt this beautiful golden retriever mix sweetheart now! Message our page or email us at MustLoveDogsNYC@gmail.com for assistance. MY MOVIE: Handsome Riley <3 https://youtu.be/vAIAEnFXM3c RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Adoption return Owner Surrender Reason: Pet Conflict with small resident dog Behavior History: Date of Intake: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter Status: Neutered Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 1 cat, 1 SMB dog How is this dog around strangers?: Barks once or twice when he hears front door. Allows pets from strangers, goes up to people in elevator How is this dog around children?: Will approach children. If they approach him first, he has no issue and lets them pet him How is this dog around other dogs?: Riley played with dogs and puppies in the dog park owners took him to. Owner has some concerns about Riley with little dogs. He is reactive to small dogs being submissive with him. Riley does not back down when small dog in home growls. How is this dog around cats?: Riley would often ignore the cat in the home if she walked calmly by him. If she ran by him, he would give chase at times Resource guarding:: Riley growled at small dog in the home if she was sitting next to the owner or if she passed by and he had a toy or treat in his mouth Bite history:: Riley bit the small dog in the home leaving 5 puncture wounds. This occured when Riley was in the kitchen while owner was cooking and the small dog entered. Owners believe this might have been related to resource guarding regarding the smell of food or possible food on the floor. Housetrained:: Yes Other Notes:: Owners walked Riley about 4 times a day. After having a pee accident in the home within 2 hours of first arriving, he never had another accident. He will wake owners up in the morning to go outside. Medical Notes: Riley has some broken teeth For a New Family to Know: Riley enjoys going to dog parks and playing fetch and playing with other dogs. He preferred to interact with the other dogs than play fetch. Riley is curb trained and will pee right as he gets outside on the curb. He poops once a day as per owners and is completely housetrained. He will wake owners up in the morning to be taken out. Riley pulls occasionally on his leash but owners state he's manageable. Riley was not destructive of any household items other than his own toys. His favorite toys were tennis balls and squeaky plush toys. Riley followed owners from room to room within the home. He slept in the bedroom on the floor and only once jumped onto the furniture. He enjoyed his dog beds he was provided. He seemed kennel trained according to owners. Once he growled at owner trying to get him into the crate, but then she leashed him and he went right in and seemed relax. He has also gone into the kennel on his own. Riley was fed Science diet dry food and Farmer's dog wet food. Owners state he likes most treats he's been given including bully sticks, raw hides, training treats, dental chews, etc. Riley was given a bath and did not put up a fight. He did shake off a lot. He seems fine with all types of handling. Riley knows sit, down, stay and seems to know "leave it". Riley was not reactive to loud storms or fireworks. Behavior Assessment Date of intake:: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter status:: Yes Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (In home for 2 months) Previously lived with:: An adult Behavior toward strangers:: Shy but warms up and is friendly. Will growl at tall men Behavior toward children:: Relaxed, playful, and usually tolerant with children (ages 7 and 8) that he was around Behavior toward dogs:: Tense body and tucked tail around them Behavior toward cats:: Fearful and respectful of cats he walks by Resource guarding:: Yes, Riley will sometimes growl when people approach him and he has a toy. Bite history:: Yes, Riley bit a small dog in one of his previous homes. The exact cause of the bite is unknown but the bite left 5 punctures. Housetrained:: Partially Energy level/descriptors:: Riley is described as friendly, affectionate, playful, shy, excitable and independent with a medium level of activity. Date of assessment:: 5/23/2019 Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: None Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: None Leash walking comments: None Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Moderately social Call over: Approaches readily Sociability comments: body soft, exploring room Handling Soft handling: Seeks contact Exuberant handling: seeks contact Comments: body soft, leaned in Arousal Jog: Follows (loose) Arousal comments: None Knock: Approaches (loose) Knock Comments: None Toy: No response Toy comments: None Summary:: Riley has demonstrated most compatibility with other calm or gently playful dogs. 5/23: When introduced off leash to dogs, Riley keeps to himself and displays minimal interest in approaching. 5/25-30: Riley greets other dogs politely. Date of intake:: 5/22/2019 Summary:: Tense, allowed handling ENERGY LEVEL:: Riley is described as having a medium level of energy. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only Behavior Asilomar: TM - Treatable-Manageable Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Place with a New Hope partner Recommendations comments:: No children: It is reported by the previous owners that Riley will growl when his toy is touched or taken away. Also, while playing outside at the care center, Riley has mounted handlers on multiple occasions and growled at them when they attempt to get him off. For this reason we recommend an adult-only home for Riley. Place with a New Hope partner: Due to Riley's resource guarding, low threshold for arousal, and bite history with a dog in his previous home, we recommend placement with a New Hope partner who can provide any necessary behavior modification (force-free, positive reinforcement-based) and re-evaluate behavior in a stable home environment before placement into a permanent home. Potential challenges: : House soiling,Resource guarding,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Bite history (dog),Low threshold for arousal Potential challenges comments:: House soiling: The previous owners report that Riley is only partially housetrained and may have accidents in the home. Please see handout on House soiling. Resource guarding: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away. Please see handout on Resource guarding. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away and they also report that Riley growls at tall men, which both show a potential for defensive aggression. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Bite history (dog): The previous owners report that Riley bit the small resident dog in the home, leaving 5 punctures. The exact cause of this bite is unknown but the owners suspect Riley was guarding food that had fallen on the floor. Low threshold for arousal: While playing fetch outside at the care center, Riley has become aroused and mounted handlers on multiple occasions. When they attempt to get him off, he growls at them. Please see handout on Low threshold for arousal. My medical notes are... Weight: 44.6 lbs Vet Notes 3/14/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: Approx 6 years Microchip noted on Intake? Negative, placed at intake History : Owner surrender Subjective: BARH, tense and hyperreactive, food distracts him, allows full exam Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective P = wnl R = wnl BCS = 4/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: moderate tartar PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Male neutered MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: Externally normal Assessment: Mild underweight Dental disease Prognosis: Good Plan: Recommend bloodwork/dental cleaning upon placement. Monitor weight gain. 5/30/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 6 Microchip noted on Intake? yes Microchip Number (If Applicable): History : RTS Subjective: BAR, euhydrated, MM pink/moist, CRT Observed Behavior: loose body; allowed for full PE Evidence of Cruelty seen -n Evidence of Trauma seen -n Objective T = - P = wnl R = wnl EENT: Anterior chambers clear OU; no corneal defects; no ocular or nasal discharge; no oral masses or ulcerations seen Oral Exam: moderate calculus (3/5); Gingivitis (2/5) PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmurs or arrhythmias; strong, synchronous femoral pulses bilaterally; Eupneic; normal bronchovesicular sounds in all fields; no crackles/wheezes ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Neutered male MSI: BCS 4.5/9 ; Ambulatory x 4 with no lameness, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Appropriate mentation; no cranial nerve deficits; no proprioceptive deficits; no ataxia Rectal: externally normal Assessment: Healthy Other Conditions - Dental disease 6/8/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: ~6yrs based on previous hx. Microchip noted on Intake? scanned positive. History : Return; P bit resident dog 3 days prior to return. Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, allows handling Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective BCS 7/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: did not examine PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmur ausculted; Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: neutered male. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: externally normal. Assessment dental disease overweight Prognosis: excellent Plan: observe DOH hold recommend weight loss of ~3-5lbs. 6/23/2019 Trazadone extension Trazadone- 100mg sig 100mg po q 12hrs ----------------------------------------------------- NOTES FIRST STAY / Intake 5/22/2019 RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Owner Surrender Reason: Shelter Assessment Rating: LEVEL 2 Medical Behavior Rating: *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account \ Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications.

[bloojayoolie]

Beautiful, Best Friend, and Cats: Goolle, sweet Riley ID 57060, @ 5 YRS. 44 LBs, OF LOVE, MANHATTAN ACC An endearing, quiet, shyly sweet middle aged gentleman who dreams of a family who can give him a warm, loving home. Playful with children, respectful of the family cat. A love ly boy. TO BE KILLED 6/25/19 Riley is CAT FRIENDLY ! Shyly sweet, sensitive and kind, Riley waits for a family who can give him the warm and loving home he so deserves! He’s so quiet and patient and good. Will you help him? As a volunteer writes: “Riley is a very attractive and handsome middle aged gentleman with a winning smile! He is dressed as a fox, all in red, well groomed and healthy looking. Riley walks quite well on the leash, does not chase pigeons, and respects his peers just like he does in our playgroups. He is a bit timid but will sit for caresses, and he absolutely relishes treats. His previous owners say that he loves to play, and he has started to run and jump after tennis balls in our yard. Riley would be playful with children and respectful of the cats he lived with. He owns a sensitive soul and would likely do best with an insightful new owner or family. Riley is a beauty and quite an endearing gent who will make a loving and loyal for ever best friend if given a chance. Come and meet him soon at the Manhattan Care Center!” Foster or adopt this beautiful golden retriever mix sweetheart now! Message our page or email us at MustLoveDogsNYC@gmail.com for assistance. MY MOVIE: Handsome Riley <3 https://youtu.be/vAIAEnFXM3c RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Adoption return Owner Surrender Reason: Pet Conflict with small resident dog Behavior History: Date of Intake: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter Status: Neutered Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 1 cat, 1 SMB dog How is this dog around strangers?: Barks once or twice when he hears front door. Allows pets from strangers, goes up to people in elevator How is this dog around children?: Will approach children. If they approach him first, he has no issue and lets them pet him How is this dog around other dogs?: Riley played with dogs and puppies in the dog park owners took him to. Owner has some concerns about Riley with little dogs. He is reactive to small dogs being submissive with him. Riley does not back down when small dog in home growls. How is this dog around cats?: Riley would often ignore the cat in the home if she walked calmly by him. If she ran by him, he would give chase at times Resource guarding:: Riley growled at small dog in the home if she was sitting next to the owner or if she passed by and he had a toy or treat in his mouth Bite history:: Riley bit the small dog in the home leaving 5 puncture wounds. This occured when Riley was in the kitchen while owner was cooking and the small dog entered. Owners believe this might have been related to resource guarding regarding the smell of food or possible food on the floor. Housetrained:: Yes Other Notes:: Owners walked Riley about 4 times a day. After having a pee accident in the home within 2 hours of first arriving, he never had another accident. He will wake owners up in the morning to go outside. Medical Notes: Riley has some broken teeth For a New Family to Know: Riley enjoys going to dog parks and playing fetch and playing with other dogs. He preferred to interact with the other dogs than play fetch. Riley is curb trained and will pee right as he gets outside on the curb. He poops once a day as per owners and is completely housetrained. He will wake owners up in the morning to be taken out. Riley pulls occasionally on his leash but owners state he's manageable. Riley was not destructive of any household items other than his own toys. His favorite toys were tennis balls and squeaky plush toys. Riley followed owners from room to room within the home. He slept in the bedroom on the floor and only once jumped onto the furniture. He enjoyed his dog beds he was provided. He seemed kennel trained according to owners. Once he growled at owner trying to get him into the crate, but then she leashed him and he went right in and seemed relax. He has also gone into the kennel on his own. Riley was fed Science diet dry food and Farmer's dog wet food. Owners state he likes most treats he's been given including bully sticks, raw hides, training treats, dental chews, etc. Riley was given a bath and did not put up a fight. He did shake off a lot. He seems fine with all types of handling. Riley knows sit, down, stay and seems to know "leave it". Riley was not reactive to loud storms or fireworks. Behavior Assessment Date of intake:: 6/8/2019 Spay/Neuter status:: Yes Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (In home for 2 months) Previously lived with:: An adult Behavior toward strangers:: Shy but warms up and is friendly. Will growl at tall men Behavior toward children:: Relaxed, playful, and usually tolerant with children (ages 7 and 8) that he was around Behavior toward dogs:: Tense body and tucked tail around them Behavior toward cats:: Fearful and respectful of cats he walks by Resource guarding:: Yes, Riley will sometimes growl when people approach him and he has a toy. Bite history:: Yes, Riley bit a small dog in one of his previous homes. The exact cause of the bite is unknown but the bite left 5 punctures. Housetrained:: Partially Energy level/descriptors:: Riley is described as friendly, affectionate, playful, shy, excitable and independent with a medium level of activity. Date of assessment:: 5/23/2019 Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: None Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: None Leash walking comments: None Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Moderately social Call over: Approaches readily Sociability comments: body soft, exploring room Handling Soft handling: Seeks contact Exuberant handling: seeks contact Comments: body soft, leaned in Arousal Jog: Follows (loose) Arousal comments: None Knock: Approaches (loose) Knock Comments: None Toy: No response Toy comments: None Summary:: Riley has demonstrated most compatibility with other calm or gently playful dogs. 5/23: When introduced off leash to dogs, Riley keeps to himself and displays minimal interest in approaching. 5/25-30: Riley greets other dogs politely. Date of intake:: 5/22/2019 Summary:: Tense, allowed handling ENERGY LEVEL:: Riley is described as having a medium level of energy. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only Behavior Asilomar: TM - Treatable-Manageable Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Place with a New Hope partner Recommendations comments:: No children: It is reported by the previous owners that Riley will growl when his toy is touched or taken away. Also, while playing outside at the care center, Riley has mounted handlers on multiple occasions and growled at them when they attempt to get him off. For this reason we recommend an adult-only home for Riley. Place with a New Hope partner: Due to Riley's resource guarding, low threshold for arousal, and bite history with a dog in his previous home, we recommend placement with a New Hope partner who can provide any necessary behavior modification (force-free, positive reinforcement-based) and re-evaluate behavior in a stable home environment before placement into a permanent home. Potential challenges: : House soiling,Resource guarding,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Bite history (dog),Low threshold for arousal Potential challenges comments:: House soiling: The previous owners report that Riley is only partially housetrained and may have accidents in the home. Please see handout on House soiling. Resource guarding: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away. Please see handout on Resource guarding. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: The previous owners report that Riley will growl when the toy he has in his possession is touched or taken away and they also report that Riley growls at tall men, which both show a potential for defensive aggression. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Bite history (dog): The previous owners report that Riley bit the small resident dog in the home, leaving 5 punctures. The exact cause of this bite is unknown but the owners suspect Riley was guarding food that had fallen on the floor. Low threshold for arousal: While playing fetch outside at the care center, Riley has become aroused and mounted handlers on multiple occasions. When they attempt to get him off, he growls at them. Please see handout on Low threshold for arousal. My medical notes are... Weight: 44.6 lbs Vet Notes 3/14/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: Approx 6 years Microchip noted on Intake? Negative, placed at intake History : Owner surrender Subjective: BARH, tense and hyperreactive, food distracts him, allows full exam Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective P = wnl R = wnl BCS = 4/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: moderate tartar PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: NSR, NMA, Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Male neutered MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: Externally normal Assessment: Mild underweight Dental disease Prognosis: Good Plan: Recommend bloodwork/dental cleaning upon placement. Monitor weight gain. 5/30/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: 6 Microchip noted on Intake? yes Microchip Number (If Applicable): History : RTS Subjective: BAR, euhydrated, MM pink/moist, CRT Observed Behavior: loose body; allowed for full PE Evidence of Cruelty seen -n Evidence of Trauma seen -n Objective T = - P = wnl R = wnl EENT: Anterior chambers clear OU; no corneal defects; no ocular or nasal discharge; no oral masses or ulcerations seen Oral Exam: moderate calculus (3/5); Gingivitis (2/5) PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmurs or arrhythmias; strong, synchronous femoral pulses bilaterally; Eupneic; normal bronchovesicular sounds in all fields; no crackles/wheezes ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: Neutered male MSI: BCS 4.5/9 ; Ambulatory x 4 with no lameness, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Appropriate mentation; no cranial nerve deficits; no proprioceptive deficits; no ataxia Rectal: externally normal Assessment: Healthy Other Conditions - Dental disease 6/8/2019 DVM Intake Exam Estimated age: ~6yrs based on previous hx. Microchip noted on Intake? scanned positive. History : Return; P bit resident dog 3 days prior to return. Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, allows handling Evidence of Cruelty seen - none Evidence of Trauma seen - none Objective BCS 7/9 EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted Oral Exam: did not examine PLN: No enlargements noted H/L: No murmur ausculted; Lungs clear, eupnic ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated U/G: neutered male. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities Rectal: externally normal. Assessment dental disease overweight Prognosis: excellent Plan: observe DOH hold recommend weight loss of ~3-5lbs. 6/23/2019 Trazadone extension Trazadone- 100mg sig 100mg po q 12hrs ----------------------------------------------------- NOTES FIRST STAY / Intake 5/22/2019 RILEY, ID# 57060, 6 yrs old, 44.6 lbs, Neutered Male Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown / White Owner Surrender Reason: Shelter Assessment Rating: LEVEL 2 Medical Behavior Rating: *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** HOW TO RESERVE A “TO BE KILLED” DOG ONLINE (only for those who can get to the shelter IN PERSON to complete the adoption process, and only for the dogs on the list NOT marked New Hope Rescue Only). Follow our Step by Step directions below! *PLEASE NOTE – YOU MUST USE A PC OR TABLET – PHONE RESERVES WILL NOT WORK! ** STEP 1: CLICK ON THIS RESERVE LINK: https://newhope.shelterbuddy.com/Animal/List Step 2: Go to the red menu button on the top right corner, click register and fill in your info. Step 3: Go to your email and verify account \ Step 4: Go back to the website, click the menu button and view available dogs Step 5: Scroll to the animal you are interested and click reserve STEP 6 ( MOST IMPORTANT STEP ): GO TO THE MENU AGAIN AND VIEW YOUR CART. THE ANIMAL SHOULD NOW BE IN YOUR CART! Step 7: Fill in your credit card info and complete transaction HOW TO FOSTER OR ADOPT IF YOU *CANNOT* GET TO THE SHELTER IN PERSON, OR IF THE DOG IS NEW HOPE RESCUE ONLY! You must live within 3 – 4 hours of NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Norther VA. Please PM our page for assistance. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a dog on the To Be Killed list, including those labelled Rescue Only. Hurry please, time is short, and the Rescues need time to process the applications.