#i like how i said puppy play and went cat by the end of this

[vodid]

when u wanna give blitzbee certain kinks but those certain kinks are not kinks you are into by any means GHSFSJFS

[vivwritesfics]

Can We Get One

The youngest Leclerc loves baby Leo. So why the fuck won't her boyfriends let her get a puppy?

Norstappen x leclerc!reader

Okay I found out one of 'my' dogs died while writing this

"Hi Baby Leo," she gushed as she scooped her little puppy into her arms. He was like a little shark with the way he went to bite at her sleeve.

But she didn't much mind, gushing over the dog that she had dubbed her nephew (well, if Arthur and Lorenzo weren't going to make her an aunt, Leo it would have to be).

"I'm gonna kidnap you," she said in that baby voice as she stroked under his chin. "Gonna steal you away from your daddy so you can come live with me and Lando and Max."

She was in her own little world as she played with Leo, her brother, her boyfriends, lost to her. Max tried to call her name, but she waved him off to press kisses to Leo's head.

Lando and Max couldn't deny how goddamn cute she looked, holding Leo close to her chest. She scooted around on her ass to face them. "Boys, I'm in love," she said and pouted at them as Leo went to bite her chin.

"Baby," Lando began as he joined her on the floor. "We're not getting a dog."

"Assholes."

She turned her attention away from Lando and looked towards her brother. "Charlie, do you need a baby sitter?" She asked as she placed Leo in her lap. He happily sat there and chewed on her skirt.

"No way," Charles said. "You're not babysitting my dog."

A huff left her lips and she muttered something to Leo, something like 'you'd never be this mean to me, would you angel?' "If I move in with you, cook, clean, pay rent, can I get a puppy?" She asked as she looked at him.

Max couldn't stop the laugh that left his lips. "Um, excuse me," he called and tapped her on the shoulder. She ignored him. "Angel, just because we're not letting you get a puppy..."

"That's not it, Maxie," she muttered and scratched at Leo's belly. "Leo just wants me close, that's all."

The Leclercs had always had dogs growing up. It was one of the reasons Charles had gotten Leo. So, seeing his sister so in love with his little puppy, he knew he had to do something.

Charles picked Leo up and pulled his sister up from the floor. She put Leo in his harness, attached his lead and put him on the floor. "Why don't you take him for a walk?" He said and pointed her towards the door.

But she didn't leave. "Cha," she whispered, looking back at her boyfriend. "What're you doing?"

He whispered something in her ear, something that Max and Lando couldn't hear. Something along the lines of 'I'm gonna try and convince these guys to get you a dog'.

She couldn't help but smile as she walked out, Leo at her heels.

Charles began talking to Max and Lando. But what he was suggesting was unrealistic. How could they have a dog when they already have cats? It wouldn't have been fair to Jimmy and Sassy.

But Charles wouldn't drop it, wouldn't drop how happy she looked when she was with Leo. Wouldn't drop how happy she would be if they got her a puppy.

By the time she came back with Leo, they still weren't convinced. But Max couldn't get it out of his head. They were his cats at the end of the day.

It didn't take long for him to work out that he'd do anything to make her happy, including get a puppy.

Charles took her away for a week. He was in on it, happy to help however he could.

And, while they were away, Max and Lando brought home Baguette. The name was Lando's idea, a 'French Poodle for a French girl'. Which pissed her off because she was not in fact French.

It was Max's job to introduce Baguette to the cats. It wasn't smooth sailing, but the boys knew it wasn't going to be. And, by the time Charles brought her home, Baguette and the cats were coming fast friends.

The memory of the first time she met Baguette would always be ingrained into Max and Lando's memory.

She threw her arms around Lando's neck the moment she walked into the apartment, unaware. But then she heard the barking.

"Is Leo here?" She asked, clearly confused as she looked around for the puppy.

But Max didn't emerge with a puppy. Well, not that puppy anyway. The French Poodle puppy was a stranger to her. "We got you something," Lando said as he watched her expression.

"No." It was almost a whisper as Max approached, Baguette in his arms.

"Baguette, say hello to your mommy," Max said as he passed her the dog.

Her mouth fell open as she took Baguette from Max. "This... this is a joke, right?" She couldn't stop herself from asking as Max wrapped his arm around Lando's waist. "You guys got me a dog?"

"We sure did, baby," Lando said as he stepped out from Max's embraced. He stroked Baguettes head, touched his soft, curly ears. "Baby, meet Baguette."

(Baguette below)

[cheesus-doodles]

It's funny lowkey for me whenever you write about the reader being unable to resist the tears and puppy eyes because since I'm the third oldest out of ten (oldest daughter, just number 3 in the line up) I've become immune to puppy eyes and if my own siblings can't work that on me I doubt that the Founders could. So I was wondering how you think said Founders would be like if Darling was immune to the puppy eyes, especially if said Darling is like me and has a bunch of younger siblings >:3c

Immune to puppy eyes+multiple younger siblings anon here, feel free to ignore that though if it isn't a prompt you want to do! No pressure at all!

aksjdnaskjdnas finally getting round to answering some of the older asks ;-; sorry it takes so long y'all - just disappointed in myself today cause I hesitated to buy Izzy's standee and in that moment he sold out ;-;

‎

Masterlist

Upon reflection, the Toman founders really are like younger siblings huh. Maybe not so much Draken, Mitsuya or Pah, but definitely your needy trio of Mikey, Baji and Kazutora who would be as good as clingy younger brothers with separation anxiety. Or maybe more so like puppies, but same difference in the end.

I think it would only take just the first visit to your house and a glance at all your younger siblings clamouring for you to help them with something for the realisation to set in with the Toman boys that no amount of tears or puppy eyes would work on you. No doubt Mikey and Kazutora would still try, but the boys would be quick to turn to other means to wring out what they want from you.

Draken and Mitsuya find out quickly that annoying you into giving in and doing what they want works pretty well - after all, Misty himself has two younger sisters and he knows what buttons they usually push to get him to do things for them. Though they personally don't want to whine and plead (they are still delinquents with some measure of pride after all), they know who will, and young kids are easily bribed for their help. Sets your younger siblings on you with a small bribe of sweets and with their help, would ultimately manage to force you into doing whatever the two Toman boys wanted just to get the hassling and pestering to stop. Sometimes even pretend to step in to help you stop the non-stop disturbance so that you can get your homework done, no doubt putting them in your good books. High fives all around, no doubt Draken and Mitsuya are the more popular pair around your place.

Mikey and Kazutora, on the other hand, have no such dignity left when it comes to you. The two of them would definitely still try their tears and puppy eye combo a few more times just to be sure it doesn't work before they switch tactics. Would do literally anything to get your attention and affection on them, even if it means blackmailing you - stealing your homework and holding it hostage, refusing to leave the bathroom whenever you need it unless you pinky swear to spend time with them afterwards, dragging you out of class and straight up sitting on you and not moving. Tears and puppy eyes were the easier option if they were honest, but whatever works ain't stupid. Your siblings couldn't get to you when you are in school, but they can, and these baby boys absolutely will, threatening to kick up a fuss and disrupt every class if you don't let them lay on your lap and cuddle. Tried to give you some of their favourite snacks as bribery but obviously didn't work cause they were all half-eaten, so back to disruption they went.

And then there's Baji and Pah - the two who have individually consulted outside persons and have come to the same conclusion. Baji would have asked his mum on advice on how to steal your attention (she thinks he's trying to get a girlfriend), while Pah will ask Peh, and the two airheads will end up bribing and buying your time and attention. Baji would take advantage of the community cats that he cares for and invite you along to feed and play with them whenever he could - none of the other Toman boys can get as close to them as he could, and he knows all the good spots too. The community cats let you pet and rub them since you were with Baji, and this baby boy would use the opportunity to get your attention and affection. Pah is the best out of the six at arcade games, so buying your time with games and prizes was no brainer (or at least that was what Peh told him) - you did enjoy winning a ton while with him, and he got to hang out with you with no complains, so its a win-win.

End of the day, it just makes life more difficult for you if you were immune to their crying and whining, so my recommendation would be to play along when its convenient and encourage the behaviour rather than let the boys come up with their own idea of how to get your attention: the more things doesn't work out, the more desperate the boys become. Wouldn't be long before one of the more desperate ones get the idea that if they hurt themselves, you would be sure to pay attention and fuss. Or worse, if they took out the number of people who wanted your attention, then you'll have to give time of day to them - so maybe just give them the pats and forehead kisses they want and they'll be happy to be nothing more than your clingy baby siblings.

[wosoluver]

Healers got to date protectors - Headcanons

Misa Rodriguez x Physio!reader

When the two of you adopted a pet together.

"I can't believe we are doing this." said Misa.

"You said we could do whatever I wanted today..." by now, you knew her well enough, to know that she wasn't big on making friends, and that didn't only apply to humans. "I volunteered here once. You'll love them, I promise."

Deep down, she was always scared to find love in another being. Kinda how it happened to you. Love scared her. It scared her to become vulnerable.

She had been avoiding pets since moving to Madrid. Her parents had even suggested it to her, so she wouldn't feel so alone.

You immediately went to the kittens.

"Oh my god, look at them Misa!"

You sat there for a while, in love with all the cats coming to you for attention.

Without you noticing, Misa had went to walk around. And you went to look for her, coming across the dog area. Stoping to pet a cute Chihuahua, before proceeding to look for your girlfriend.

You found her sitting and playing with a big dog, chewing on a destroyed toy ball.

"Hey..."

"Amor, look at him! He's only a baby!"

"A very big baby. He's adorable." you sat next to them, petting his head. He immediately turned on his back, so you could rub his belly. "He wasn't here the last time I came."

"They said he came from another shelter, they rescued him as a puppy."

By now at least an hour went by. You checked the time on the phone screen.

"Amor, it's almost time for lunch."

"Yeah..."

"What do you want to eat?"

She didn't answer you, so you looked up from your phone. She had a tear on her eyes, threatening to fall down.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to leave him here." you went soft right away. She was crying. Because of a dog, that she had just met.

"Oh my love" you said wiping her tear away, feeling yourself become emotional.

"Can we keep him? Please?"

"You want to adopt him?"

"I want us to adopt him."

"But we've only been dating for a couple months and we live in separate apartments." usually it was the other way around. You with the emotions and her trying to reason.

"Well, he chose you to be his other mom. Look at him." and you did. And you fell more and more in love with him. He was staring you both with loving eyes, resting his head on her thighs. "And I don't plan on separating from you anytime soon. Do you?"

"No. Not at all. I just didn't know if you wanted everything to go slowly or not."

"The two apartments thing isn't that hard to solve either..."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Is it too much?"

"It's perfect!" you said giving her a kiss. And to top everything off the dog started to jump on the two of you and lick your cheeks.

"He's ready to come home with us, aren't you baby?" you had never seen a doggy so happy in your life. "What are we naming him?"

"Miles!"

"Is it because he looks like he smiles?"

"No..." you said laughing at your terrible joke.

"But he does look like a Miles, so."

"Yes!" and you proceeded to baby talk to him while Misa signed the papers.

Leaving this morning, she hadn't imagined, coming back with a baby and a roommate.

Arriving home the first thing Miles did was grab a football your girlfriend had laying around the living room. One she liked very much.

"Miles! Your going to destroy it-"

But before she could end the sentence, he'd already bit into it. And you only laughed.

"Seems like he want's to be a footballer like his mom." you said, followed up by Misa's laugh.

"I love you. Both of you."

"Yo más, mi amor."

Any ideas for other headcanons, please send them in! 🩷

[f10werfae]

Kittens, Kisses and Nails

Pairing: Husband!Chris Evans x Shy!Wife!Reader

summary: Chris can never say no to his darling wife, she has him wrapped around her newly manicured fingers

- Requests are open!

Likes, Comments and Re-blogs are appreciated♥️

Taglist Form🥰

Chris Evans Masterlist✨

Full Masterlist💫

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

(Chris' P.O.V)

“Hun is that you?” I smiled to myself, seeing a half manicured hand peek around my office door, my wife’s head peeking in like a puppy.

“H-hi” She squeaked out now coming fully into my vision, dressed solely in my shirt and boxers she looked so small and snuggly.

“c’mere baby, what d'ya need?” I said pushing back my office chair, and turning around with my arms open; watching as she walked over and climbed into my lap like she always did. Fiddling around with her fingers, she lay her head on my chest.

“Do you like them?” She asked quietly, her hands stretched out to show me her baby blue nails, the colour I answered when she asked what colour she should use.

“I love 'em” I replied taking her hand in mine carefully and pressing a kiss to the palm of her hand, before pressing another kiss to the top of her head.

(Y/n's P.O.V)

As Chris played with my hands, I slowly regained the confidence to ask my question,

“I’ve been thinkin' recently”

“Yeah? What you been thinkin' about pretty girl?”

“W-well Dodger seems lonely”

“mhm?”

“I wanna get him a cat please” I said making direct eye contact, watching Chris smile at me softly, leaning in to rub his nose against mine.

“Does he want a cat, or do you want one?” He said teasingly, his hand tracing up and down my back.

“Please” I said even more whiney, swivelling my leg around to fully straddle him, his large hands grabbing onto my hip with my arms now around his neck as I leaned forward.

(Chris' P.O.V)

“I dunno honey, I thought we were gonna start trying for a-“

“We still are Chrissy, pleasee” She whined with a frown on her face, leaning forward she pressed small kisses onto my neck. A small smile coming onto my face when I remembered how when we were dating, anytime i’d kiss her she’d get shy instantly hid her face in my chest every time.

Or at our wedding when we shared our kiss, her face went all red and blushy.

However, whenever we cuddle at night it’s a different story. I always fall asleep after her, playing with her hair until soft snores leave her body.

Usually I take this time to pepper soft kisses all over her face and neck, believe it or not but whenever I kiss her lips she ends up responding to it in her sleep. The first time she did that I swear I fell in love all over again.

“Please can we get a cat, please”

She asked again, her kisses now travelling up my neck and onto my face.

“Mm only if you kiss me right here” I snarked pointing to my lips, huffing out she smiled her gorgeous smile and leaned in pressing her lips against mine.

“Peppermint? I thought you hated that peppermint lip balm” I questioned pulling back from the kiss and licking my licks.

“B-but you like it, and I like it when you kiss me” She said shyly now sitting up straight resorting to playing with her fingers again.

“Oh honey i’ll kiss you without lip balm, heck I’d kiss you anytime. You don’t needa wear it for me” I laughed pulling my sleeve and gently running it across her lips to get rid of the balm, a puppy like smile on her face.

“So can we get a cat babe?” She asked again watching as I interlaced both our hands together,

“Yeah alright, I can never say no to you”

“Thank you thank you thank you” Y/n rushed out excitedly, rushing to get off of my lap,

“Ya wanna leave me already babe?” I pouted at her, watching her face fall quick

“Oh I’m sorry, I thought you were working-“

“I’m just kiddin' hun, come on let me finish paintin those nails for ya”

(1 Week Later)

(Y/n's P.O.V)

“How does it taste bub?” I asked Chris after I just spoon fed him my new lava cake recipe,

“I dunno hun let me get another spoonful”

“CHRIS! You’ve already had two slices and you still haven’t given me a verdict”

“Well then there’s your verdict-“

*Knocking*

"Are we expecting anyone today?" I asked confused, watching Dodger sprint from his bed to the front door excitedly.

"Oh it mus be the thing I ordered"

"What d'ya get" I asked following behind him as he opened the door, the man handing him an animal carrier.

"That won't fit Dodger Chris" I said bending down to pick up Dodger into my arms like a baby, he laughed before turning around the carrier to reveal a small white kitten sleeping peacefully.

“omg Chris what the hell” I whisper shouted not wanting to wake the precious thing up, Dodger must have noticed as well because his noises had also died down.

“Come on hun let’s go see her in the living room” Chris whispered, pushing me into the living room as we all sat on the sofa, Chris holding onto Dodger by the collar so he doesn’t rush to the baby kitten.

“She’s so small, I might cry�� I cooed picking her up, her sleeping calmly against my chest.

Chris gently brought Dodger over to sniff the little thing, watching as he licked her almost like a mother would, our hearts softening.

“Dodger this is your little sister” I cooed letting him sniff her even more,

“Have you thought of a name bunny?” Chris asked rubbing my back, his fingers slowly running over her fur.

“hm Ransom”

“Baby you can’t call her that”

“Why not?”

“Ya know what? Do what ya want as long as you’re happy” He laughed out, pressing a kiss to my cheek. Standing up to bring out all the stuff her bought, he set it up in Dodger’s pet room in the opposite corner. Her scratching post, cat tree, food bowls, bed and litter tray; along with the array of toys surrounding her area.

(2 Months later)

“Chris come here” I said beckoning him over from the living room,

“What is it baby?”

“Look at them” I giggled, watching Ransom snuggled up into Dodgers side, his paw slightly over her protectively.

[jrob64]

Pet for Rent, Chapter 1/4 (The Meet Cute) A CS Modern AU Story

For those of you who read "Sowing Seeds of Trust", you might remember that my dog Zeke had a starring role in it. To my great heartbreak, he died of cancer last June. When we rescued him, the shelter had named him Ernie, and he will be referenced with that name in this story.

Life without a dog proved to be very lonely, so at the end of August, we rescued another dog. The sad story of the dog in this story is what really happened to our new dog. He was named Norman and we renamed him Winston, just like in the story. That's actually him in the pic set with his 'ducky'.

This was supposed to be a short, sweet story, but somehow turned into 4 chapters. Updates will be once a week.

Special thanks to my beta @hookedmom and also to @beckettj and @zaharadessert for helping me understand the football (soccer) system in England.

SUMMARY: Emma Swan tries to cheer up her heartbroken son by 'renting' a dog from the local animal shelter. When she attempts to do it a second time, she makes a mistake, and realizes the dog has been rented by someone else the same day - a very handsome man named Killian Jones.

RATING: M (for smut in the last chapter, which can easily be skipped if that's not your thing)

WORDS: 7754

ALSO POSTED TO A03 & FFN

Story begins under the cut

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma Swan flopped down onto her sofa with a sigh. Since their beloved dog Ernie died three weeks ago, she had come to dread her eight-year-old son Henry’s bedtime. Every night when he said his prayers, he ended with, “God, please tell Ernie I love him and miss him, and please send me another dog. Amen.”

Her son knew the chances of getting a dog were slim to none because of his soccer practices and games, and Emma’s schedule for her new job at the sheriff’s station. They had no time to train a puppy.

Understanding why he couldn’t have a dog didn’t make his heart hurt any less. Her heart was just as broken, knowing the sadness and loneliness Henry was experiencing.

After decompressing for a few minutes, Emma’s searching hand located her phone on the end table. She unlocked it and opened her Discord app, selecting the icon representing the parents’ group of Henry’s second grade class. Sitting up a little straighter, she typed a message: Does anyone have ideas of how to help Henry get over the loss of his dog? He keeps praying for a new one, but it wouldn’t be fair to the dog to get one with our busy schedule.

She watched the screen intently for a couple of minutes, but when no names appeared to show that someone was answering, she tossed the phone onto the couch and went into the kitchen to load the dishwasher.

Forty minutes later, after cleaning up the kitchen, going through her nightly routine and changing into her pajamas, she went back into the living room. Television held no interest for her, and realizing she finished her last library book the previous evening, she picked up her phone to mindlessly play a game. Upon unlocking it, her screen opened to the Discord page and she saw three replies to her question.

The first two simply expressed sympathy for the loss of Ernie, but the third one offered a helpful suggestion. Have you thought about ‘renting’ a dog for a day? The animal shelter just outside of town offers that option. We did it for my mother when her Maltese died. The post ended with the web address for the shelter.

Emma immediately pulled up the site and, after searching the homepage, clicked on the tab for ‘services’. Scrolling down the list, she saw ‘Rent-a-Pet’ and selected it. As she read the description of how the program worked, she idly twisted strands of blonde hair around her index finger.

It sounded like a great compromise for their situation. For a donation to the shelter in the form of money, bags of pet food, treats or toys, one of the available animals could come home with them for several hours. The dogs and cats were guaranteed to be docile and house-trained, and could be adopted by the ‘renter’, if desired.

Clicking on the link taking her to the bios of the pets currently housed at the shelter, she filtered it to include only canines. Pictures of nearly two dozen dogs filled the screen, each more adorable and aww-worthy than the last.

Quickly ruling out any that were guaranteed to shed fur all over her house or were bigger than her son, her search was narrowed to nine prospects. She knew her rambunctious son would be keen to play outside with the dog and walk him or her to Storybrooke’s dog park, so a tiny fru-fru pup was out of the question, too. That left six.

She selected one at a time, reading about their breed and temperament. When she brought up the picture of the fourth candidate, the big, chocolate brown eyes and happy expression nearly made her heart melt.

‘Norman’ was a mixed breed and very little was known about him, because he was found tied to a stop sign in the middle of Portland, Maine. He was guessed to be a cocker spaniel mix and was approximately 1-2 years old. His black fur looked sleek and Emma knew he probably wouldn’t shed. A short video showed him romping and playing with another dog in the fenced play yard of the shelter.

Saving the page, she brought up the calendar on her phone and checked their schedule for the rest of the week. Henry had an early soccer game on Saturday, which would be over by 10:30, leaving the rest of the morning and afternoon free. Switching back to the shelter website, she hit the ‘Rent-a-Pet’ button again and began filling in the information, selecting ‘Norman’ when it gave her the choice of animals.

She decided not to tell Henry about the plan, opting to surprise him with it instead.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

“Great game, kid,” Emma complimented her son, ruffling his sweaty hair. “Your pass to Avery was a nice assist. That goal turned out to be the game winner.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Henry grinned around his mouthful of granola bar. “That’s the first time all season we beat the orange team.”

“I know, and I think that calls for a celebration, don’t you?” Emma fished her car keys out of her jeans pocket, before picking up her lawn chair and water bottle.

“Are we gonna get ice cream?” he asked, before cramming the rest of his snack into his mouth.

“You just ate a granola bar and a banana, and lunch will be in just an hour or so,” she laughed. “I have something else in mind.”

“Whaisit?” he queried, the unswallowed food muffling his voice.

“Well, I know how much you miss Ernie, and Violet’s mom told me about a program at the animal shelter that lets you rent a pet for a few hours,” she answered slowly, watching his reaction out of the corner of her eye. “So, I signed up to get a dog for you to play with until three o’clock this afternoon.”

Henry stopped in his tracks, swallowing down the rest of his snack as his eyes grew wide. “Really? You can do that?”

“Yeah, we’re scheduled to pick him up at eleven. What do you think about that?”

His exuberant shout of joy and sprint to the car was all the answer she needed.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma couldn’t keep up with her son once he unstrapped his safety belt, exited the car and bounded toward the front door of the shelter. He was already ringing the little bell on the counter for service before she made it inside and chided him lightly for not waiting for her.

A tall, broad-shouldered man with sandy hair and light blue eyes entered through a door, the barking of dogs stifled when it clicked shut behind him. He gave them a dazzling smile and greeted them warmly with a hearty ‘good morning’.

Emma reached forward to shake his hand. “Hi, I’m Emma Swan and this is my son, Henry.”

“David Nolan,” he responded, shaking her hand, then doing the same with Henry.

“My teacher’s name is Mrs. Nolan, the same as yours,” the boy told him.

“You wouldn’t happen to be in second grade at Storybrooke Elementary, would you?” David asked.

“Yeah,” Henry confirmed.

“Ah, well, that means your teacher is my wife!”

“Wow, cool!” Henry exclaimed. “She’s the best teacher I ever had!”

David’s grin grew even wider. “That’s good to hear. She tells me all about her students every evening and she thinks yours is the best class she’s ever had!”

“It’s quite a coincidence, meeting you here,” Emma commented with a smile.

“I’ll be sure to tell Mary Margaret I met the two of you. Now, what can I do for you today?”

Emma pulled her phone out of her purse, unlocked it, and tapped on the screen a few times. Then she laid it on the counter and turned it to show David. “I signed up for the Rent-a-Pet program. Here’s the email with my confirmation.”

David peered down at the screen and used his finger to scroll down a bit. “I see you chose Norman,” he commented, looking up at her.

“Um, yeah. Is he a good dog? I don’t want any messes in my house or car.”

“He’s a great dog,” he assured her, reaching back to the wall behind him to lift a leash off of a hook. “Gets along well with other dogs, seems to love kids, and is generally a very happy little guy.”

Henry bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. “Can we take him to the dog park? Ernie always loved going to the dog park.” His countenance dropped, a small cloud of sadness passing across his features.

David shared an understanding look with Emma. “Of course you can take him. I’m sure he will love it! Would you like to come back with me to get him?”

The boy turned to look at his mother. “Can I?”

“Sure, kid. I think I’ll come back, too, if Mr. Nolan doesn’t mind.”

“The more, the merrier,” David said cheerfully.

He waited until they joined him on the other side of the counter, then opened the door to the large room full of animal cages. Immediately, the sound of barking, howling and meows filled their ears.

“They get very excited when they know someone is coming back here. I think the animals closest to the door are spies and tell the others,” David joked, raising his voice to be heard over the din.

Emma walked behind Henry, watching him turn his head left and right to peer at the occupants of all of the pens.

“Aw, Mom, look at that little puppy! He’s so cute! Aw, that dog seems sad. I bet he doesn’t like being in a cage. Look Mom, they have cats here, too.” His litany was continuous as they slowly walked down the aisle between the enclosures.

Finally, David stopped in front of a pen and turned to them, gesturing toward the dog inside. “This is Norman. He has a sad story, but he’s kept his sweet temperament, haven’t you, boy?”

As if in answer, the black dog stood up, his tail starting to wag as he realized the man was talking about him. Henry dropped to his knees in front of the cage, placing his hands against the wire. “Hi, Norman! My name is Henry. Would you like to come home with us for a little while?” The dog’s tail was wagging so fast, his entire body wiggled. “I think he understands me, Mom!” Henry said excitedly.

As David slipped inside the pen to clip the leash to Norman’s collar, Emma asked, “Has he ever been rented before?”

“Several times,” David answered, straightening up once he had the leash attached. “He’s always done really well.” Opening the door of the kennel again, he allowed the dog to go ahead of him, out to where the boy still knelt.

“Hi, boy,” Henry crooned, running his hands over the dog’s head.

Emma bent down and stroked the sleek fur on Norman’s back and sides. “He’s so soft,” she commented.

“He appears to have the coat of a cocker spaniel,” David said, “but he’s definitely a mixed breed.” He watched the boy and dog interact for a few seconds before holding out the looped end of the leash. “Would you like to lead him out to the lobby, Henry?”

He looked up at Emma with hopeful eyes. “Is that okay, Mom?”

“How is he on a leash?” she asked David. “He won’t pull my kid’s arm out of the socket, will he?”

David laughed. “He does fairly well, but if he gets excited, he can get pretty rambunctious. He’ll be fine just going to the lobby, but you might have to walk him out to your car instead of Henry.”

“Sounds like a deal, kid,” she said, giving him a nod of approval.

Henry eagerly accepted the leash and started off down the aisle. “Come on, Norman. Come on, boy. You’re gonna like it at our house. We still have some of Ernie’s toys and balls.”

Emma and David trailed behind. “How long ago did you lose your dog?” he asked.

“Almost a month and Henry is really struggling with it. He and Ernie were best buds.”

“I’m sorry. That’s rough, especially for a kid.”

“And his mom,” Emma added. “I never realized how much I loved that dog, until he got sick and I knew we were going to lose him.”

“Hopefully, Norman will give you both a few hours of enjoyment and help ease the heartache a bit,” David said, before hurrying forward to pull the door open for Henry and the dog.

While David printed off the paperwork, Norman sniffed around Henry, who sat cross-legged on the floor, giggling when the dog licked his ears. “Ernie used to do that too, remember, Mom?”

Emma smiled down at him. “Yeah, you must have very tasty ears. Maybe you should start washing them better.”

“I won’t need to, after Norman washes them!”

She turned back to finish signing the papers. “It’s nice to hear him laughing again. He hasn’t done much of that lately,” she confided to David.

“I think this will be good for both of you and Norman. He really likes being around people. I’m very surprised he hasn’t been adopted yet.”

“Do you think there’s a reason for that?”

David shrugged. “This tends to be a slow time of the year for adoptions. Summer is over and school is back in session, so people don’t have as much time to welcome a new dog into their house.”

“That’s the boat we’re in right now,” Emma commented.

“Once it gets closer to Christmas, people will come in looking for pets to give as gifts. That’s good, but also bad, because about a quarter of them are brought back when they realize a pet is more work than they anticipated.”

“We got Ernie from the shelter when Henry was two. He was already five years old, house-trained and had all of the annoying puppy behaviors out of his system.”

“Most people want puppies instead of adult dogs, but there are a lot of advantages to getting an older dog.”

“Norman doesn’t seem to be very old.”

“I’d say at least two, but he’s pretty chill. Once he runs out of energy, he becomes a couch potato.” David collected the paperwork and tapped it on the counter to straighten it. “Well, that’s all I need from you. Norman is yours until three o’clock.”

“Yay!” Henry shouted, causing the dog to start barking.

Emma reached down to take the leash. “Don’t get him all riled up right before we put him in the car, kid.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Henry apologized. “I just can’t wait to get him home! Can he sit in the back with me?”

“Sure, but first you need to thank Mr. Nolan.”

Henry popped up from the floor and looked back at David. “Thanks, Mr. Nolan! I’ll take good care of Norman, I promise!”

“My pleasure, Henry. Have fun!” David grinned.

Mother and son exited the building, with Norman leading the way, tugging excitedly on the leash. “Slow down, pup,” Emma laughed.

Henry ran ahead to open the door of the yellow Volkswagen Beetle, sliding the front seat forward and clambering into the back. As soon as Norman reached the car, he hopped in and sat on the seat beside Henry like he’d done it every day of his life.

“Well, that was easy,” Emma commented, removing the loop of the leash from her wrist and tossing it beside the dog. After closing the door, she circled around behind the car to get into the driver’s seat. She looked into the rearview mirror and choked up at the sight meeting her eyes. Henry had his arms wrapped around Norman’s neck with his eyes closed and his head resting against the dog’s.

Emma was sure the time with Norman was going to be good for both boy and dog, but she couldn’t help but worry about what would happen when it came time to bring him back to the shelter.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma was barely able to get Henry to eat when they got home, and had to reprimand him for sneaking Norman bits of his sandwich. The dog, for his part, sat politely while they ate, not begging or whining. She was impressed with his behavior, remembering how she had to break Ernie from begging at the table when they first adopted him.

Henry and Norman bonded quickly as they chased each other around the small backyard, playing with a tennis ball and squeaky toys from Ernie’s toy basket. Emma sat on their small patio, thoroughly enjoying the sounds of happy barking and her son’s laughter. She pulled out her phone and took a picture, posting it to the Discord group and tagging Violet’s mom to thank her for the idea of renting a pet.

  Just after two o’clock, Emma suggested taking Norman to the dog park before going back to the shelter. They played there for forty minutes, then the three of them returned home and piled back into the car. Once again, she caught sight in the mirror of her son hugging the dog and sighed, but instead of dreading Norman’s return, she decided to enjoy every minute of happiness it was bringing to Henry…and herself.

Their time with the dog was over all too soon. After Emma parked the car at the shelter, Henry got out of the car and trudged to the door with the leash gripped tightly in his hand. Norman seemed to sense the boy’s mood and walked slowly beside him, his head hanging low.

David was at the desk to greet them again, an understanding look at his face at the dejected look of all three of them. “Was he good for you?” he asked.

“He was great,” Emma answered, rubbing her hand soothingly over her son’s back. “Wasn’t he, kid?”

“Yeah,” Henry quietly agreed, his eyes trained on the floor.

“You know, you’re welcome to rent Norman, or any of our other dogs, anytime you want,” David said.

Henry looked up. “But what if someone adopts him?”

“Well, that would be a good thing for Norman,” Emma reminded him.

“I guess,” Henry sighed. He knelt down beside the dog, wrapping him up in another hug. “I’ll miss you, boy, but maybe I’ll see you again.” The dog licked his cheek, eliciting a small giggle. Then Henry stood and held the leash out to David. “Thank you, Mr. Nolan. I had a lot of fun with Norman.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” David said, accepting the leash and moving around the counter. Patting the dog on the head, he added, “I hope we’ll see you again, soon.”

Henry turned pleading eyes to his mother. “Can we do it again next weekend, Mom?”

“You have Avery’s birthday party next Saturday, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Henry nodded, then bit his lip in contemplation. “The next weekend, then?”

Emma laughed. “We’ll see.” She leaned down to pet the dog’s head. “Be a good boy, Norman. You’re welcome at our house anytime.”

After saying their goodbyes, they watched David take the dog toward the door leading to the back. Norman turned and gave them a sad look before following the shelter worker through it, tearing at Emma’s heart even more.

She swallowed hard and said, “Come on, kid. Let’s go home.”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

The sadness soon wore off and for the next several days, Henry talked almost incessantly about all of the fun he had with Norman. Emma checked their schedule and saw that Henry had another early game three weeks later, which would be the last game of the soccer season. She relayed that news to Henry, asking him if he wanted to rent Norman again that day, and was answered with a very enthusiastic ‘YES!’

She nearly forgot to make the reservation, only remembering three days before, while waiting to pick Henry up from practice. Quickly, she pulled up the website and filled out the form, glancing up often to see if Henry was coming off the field because she always liked to meet him as soon as he did, instead of waiting for him in the car.

Emma was especially glad they decided to rent Norman Saturday, since Henry’s soccer team lost their final game by one goal. His downcast look was soon replaced with excitement when she reminded him that they would be going to the shelter.

When they arrived, he bounded out of the car and waited impatiently for his mom to join him, before practically sprinting to the door. It took a couple of minutes before David emerged from the back, beaming a smile when he saw them waiting at the counter.

“Henry! Emma! I’m very happy to see you again!”

“We’re here to get Norman,” Henry said excitedly.

A puzzled look crossed David’s face. “I’m sorry, but Norman is already being rented by somebody else today,” he informed them.

“What?” Henry asked, a slight tremor in his voice. Then he turned to Emma. “But Mom, you said we would be getting Norman.”

Emma was already pulling the email up on her phone. “There must be some mistake, Mr. Nolan. I reserved Norman when I filled out the form. See?”

She turned her phone for the worker to see it. David looked at it carefully, then pointed to the screen. “It looks like you didn’t ask for a specific dog.”

“I didn’t?” she questioned, then looked at her phone more closely, her heart dropping when she saw the blank space beside the ‘requested animal’ inquiry. “Oh, Henry. I’m so sorry. I was in a hurry when I filled it out and I must have missed that question.”

“We have several other dogs,” David consoled. “I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun with one of them.”

“No I won’t,” Henry pouted. “I only want Norman.”

“Henry…” Emma started, but was interrupted when the door behind her opened.

“Good morning, Dave,” said a deep voice with a distinctive British accent.

Emma turned to see the newcomer and nearly swallowed her tongue. The man standing before her had to be a mirage, because surely someone that handsome didn’t really exist. He had a lean physique clad in dark jeans and a maroon henley, with a tantalizing view of chest hair peeking out of the unbuttoned neckline. A black leather jacket completed his ensemble. His chiseled jawline was covered with a pleasing amount of scruff and his dark, windblown hair was falling over his forehead. He sported a wide grin and, between that and his deep blue eyes, Emma was mesmerized.

She was suddenly very aware of her own appearance. Henry’s early game meant she had thrown on a pair of sweatpants, donned an old hoodie and stuffed a beanie over her barely brushed hair that morning. Her face was free of makeup, unless you counted a few stray flecks of mascara that stubbornly refused to come off when she washed her face the previous evening.

“Hey, Killian,” David greeted.

The man’s - Killian’s - eyes had settled on Emma, a glint of curiosity evident in them.

“Oh, um, come on Henry,” she said, after several moments of silence. “Let’s get out of this man’s way.”

“But Mommmm…” he whined.

Emma put her hand on his shoulder and guided him away from the counter. “We’ll figure something out, kid.”

“I’m in no hurry, Miss,” Killian began.

“No, it’s okay,” she hurried to assure him. “I’m afraid I created a problem that might take a while to straighten out, so please, go ahead.”

“In that case, thank you very much,” he smiled. Turning his eyes to David, he asked, “Is Winston ready?”

Emma was surprised to see the genial shelter worker furrow his brow at the other man. “Why do you insist on calling him that?”

Killian shrugged. “He looks like a Winston to me, and he answers to that name when he’s at my house.”

David glanced at Emma and Henry and opened his mouth to say something, but apparently changed his mind. Grabbing a leash off of a hook, he said, “Give me a minute,” then he pushed the door open and disappeared into the back.

“Are you adopting a dog today?” Henry asked Killian.

“Alas, no. I just moved into a small apartment here three months ago and am still trying to get everything organized and put away. Being in a new town has been a bit lonely at times, so I’ve been coming here now and then to borrow a dog for a few hours.”

“That’s why we’re here, but somebody is taking the dog I want,” Henry grumbled.

“Henry, that’s enough,” Emma reprimanded. “You haven’t even looked at any of the other dogs.”

“None of them will be as good as Norman.”

Killian’s brows raised. “Did you say Nor-”

Just then, the door behind the counter opened and David came through, trying to control a very excited dog.

“Norman!” Henry cheered, dropping to his knees. The dog started jumping toward him, wildly licking his face as soon as he reached the boy.

“I thought you said he was already rented today,” Emma questioned David.

“He is,” he replied, looking pointedly at Killian.

Emma followed his gaze and saw the other man watching the interaction between Henry and the dog with a sheepish look on his face. The pieces began to click together and she asked, “Wait a minute - is Norman the dog you’re renting today?”

“Aye,” Killian confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Looks like we’re here for the same dog.”

“But you called him by another name,” Emma continued.

“He’s the dog I’ve rented every time and he just doesn’t seem like a Norman to me, so I started calling him Winston,” Killian explained.

All three adults stood looking at the whirlwind of fur jumping all over Henry, who was giggling so much, he could hardly catch his breath.

Finally, Killian spoke. “It seems as though Win-, I mean, Norman, has made his choice. Please let Henry and…his mother have the dog today, Dave.”

“Emma,” she informed him. “My name is Emma Swan, and you don’t have to do that. You had him reserved first. Besides, Henry needs to learn he can’t always have his way.”

“I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my time with the dog, knowing how sad it would make Henry,” Killian responded. He took a step forward and offered Emma his hand to shake. “I’m Killian Jones, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emma.”

As they shook hands, David cleared his throat. “Um, I have an idea of how to work this out. It’s a nice day, so why don’t all of you take Norman to the dog park together?”

Emma and Killian both whipped their heads around to stare at him. He seemed to shrink back a bit before stammering, “I mean, that way you could all spend time with him and get to know each other at the same time. You’ve been saying you’d like to meet more people in Storybrooke, Killian, and that’s where Henry and Emma live.” Looking at Emma, he added, “I’ve gotten to know Killian pretty well because he sings in the church choir with me and Mary Margaret. He’s a good guy.”

Emma slowly turned her eyes back to the very handsome man whose hand she suddenly realized she was still holding. She dropped it quickly, as she felt a blush heating her cheeks. Then she looked at Henry, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Norman sprawled across his lap. He was looking up at her with hope in his eyes.

Meeting Killian’s gaze once again, she asked, “What do you think?”

“I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable position, Emma.”

“You wouldn’t have to go all the way back into Storybrooke,” David said. “There’s a small dog park at the end of the walking path, where a lot of people take dogs they’re thinking of adopting.”

“Please, Mom?” Henry pleaded. “Norman would like that, wouldn’t you, boy?”

Emma took a look at the pair and groaned, “It’s bad enough when you use the puppy dog eyes on me, kid. Now you’ve got the dog doing it, too.”

Killian chuckled lowly, the sound of it making Emma’s stomach flip in a very pleasant way. “I would hate to disappoint the two of them, so I’m game if you are, lass.”

Emma chewed her lip in contemplation for a few seconds, before saying, “Okay, but on one condition - you let me pay half of the rental fee.”

“I already paid the fee online,” Killian said.

“So did I, so I guess that takes care of that.”

“Not really,” David said. “You both paid, but you’re only renting one dog. I should reimburse each of you half of the fee.”

“Keep it,” Emma and Killian answered at the same time, then both laughed.

“The shelter can always use a little extra money, can’t it, Mr. Nolan?” Emma asked.

“Please call me David. And of course we can, if you’re both sure you don’t mind.”

As soon as they affirmed their answer, David walked around the counter and picked up the end of the leash. Handing it to Emma, he said, “In that case, Norman-slash-Winston is yours for the next four hours. You can bring him back sooner, if you like, but I’m sure he’s going to love getting out for a while. Oh, and if you get hungry, there’s usually a couple of food trucks near the dog park on Saturdays. Have fun!”

Emma and Killian thanked him, then went out the door with Norman straining at the leash, and Henry skipping along beside him. They quickly found the sign marking the path and started walking it.

After several paces, Killian turned to Emma and asked, “Is it me, or do you feel like David just set us up?”

“One hundred percent,” Emma laughed.

“How long have you known him?”

“David?” she questioned. At his hum of affirmation, she said, “Henry and I rented Norman three weeks ago and that was the first time I met him. David, I mean, not Norman. Well, it was the first time we met Norman, too. His wife is Henry’s teacher. Again, I mean she’s David’s wife, not Norman’s.” She knew she was rambling, but the thought of spending several hours with the gorgeous stranger was making her nervous.

Killian laughed. “That’s a relief. I borrowed Win-, uh, Norman three times and he never once mentioned being married.”

It was Emma’s turn to laugh - mostly because what he said was funny, but also in relief that he responded to her embarrassing prattling with humor, instead of judgment.

“So, if Dave just met you, he probably doesn’t even know if you’re married or dating anyone. That was a little presumptuous of him.”

“Are you fishing for information, Mr. Jones?” Emma teased.

“Killian will do,” he grinned. “And…perhaps?”

Before she could answer, Henry ran back to join them. “Can I take Norman, Mom? He’s walking really well on the leash, so I don’t think he’ll yank my arm out of the socket.”

She looked at Killian, who raised an eyebrow with a bemused look on his face.

“That’s something I said when we picked Norman up the last time,” she explained. Handing the loop of the leash to Henry, she said, “Don’t get too far ahead of us, kid.”

“We won’t,” he tossed over his shoulder.

Emma turned her attention back to the man beside her. “To answer your non-question Killian, no, I am not married or dating anyone. It’s just Henry and me, and always has been. When I told his father I thought I might be pregnant, he didn’t even stick around long enough to find out if I was or not.”

Killian absorbed this news for a few moments before responding, “If you don’t mind me saying, it sounds as if the two of you might be better off without someone like that, anyway.”

“Oh, definitely. Henry is more mature at eight than his sperm donor was as an adult. I was young and foolish, but I had to grow up fast once I became a single mother.” She watched her son trying to get Norman to walk beside him, then turned to look at Killian. “Sorry, that is a lot more information than I’m sure you wanted to know.”

“No need to apologize, Emma. I did ask, in a roundabout way.”

“So what’s your story? Did you move here from England, or am I misreading your accent?”

“You got it right,” he chuckled, then took a deep breath. “There was nothing left for me in England. My brother moved here soon after our mother died two years ago, and once I found out my girlfriend was actually a married woman, I needed a fresh start.”

“Ouch,” Emma commented.

“Aye, and now I’ve probably shared more than you wanted to know.”

“We’ll call it even, and promise to talk about much lighter subjects for the rest of the day,” Emma said.

“Deal.”

“You said your brother moved here. Does that mean he lives in Storybrooke?”

“Aye, he followed his heart and it led him straight to this quaint little town.”

“Who does he date, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“He’s engaged to the town librarian, Belle French.”

“Liam is your brother? I guess I should have figured that out since your last name is Jones.”

“It’s a very common name, lass. Yes, Liam is my brother. I gather you know him?”

“Belle is one of my best friends, so I know him through her. She used to babysit for Henry quite often, when I was a waitress at Granny’s.”

“Ah, the famous Granny’s Diner!” Killian exclaimed. “I visit that establishment frequently. She makes the best lasagna.”

“I think you meant to say the best grilled cheese and onion rings,” Emma grinned mischieviously.

“I’ve yet to try those particular delicacies,” he smirked.

“Try them,” she advised. “I guarantee you’ll love them.”

Looking ahead, they saw they were nearing the dog park and picked up their pace. They caught up with Henry and Norman just before reaching the entrance. There were about a half-dozen dogs running around the park, some loose and others on leashes.

“I think it would be a good idea for Mr. Jones to take Norman before we go in,” Emma told Henry. “He’ll be able to control him better if he gets too excited.”

“Okay,” Henry said, willingly handing over the leash.

“Thanks, lad,” Killian smiled.

Henry went through the first gate, holding it open for his mom, followed by Killian and Norman. When they were all in the buffer zone, Henry opened the next gate leading into the main part of the park.

“You’re raising quite the gentleman, Emma,” Killian commented, after he entered with the dog.

“He has his moments.”

They all watched Norman as he began sniffing around excitedly, then pulling on the leash when he noticed the other canines sharing his space. He nearly yanked Killian off of his feet with his enthusiasm to meet new friends.

The next twenty minutes were spent chasing the dog and trying to settle him down. After a few of the other owners left with their animals, Henry found a tennis ball and engaged Norman in a game of fetch. The adults sat on a bench to observe the pair, laughing at the clumsiness of the dog.

Emma noticed Killian rubbing his shoulder. “Alright there, Jones?”

“I think he might have pulled my arm out of the socket, Swan,” he quipped.

“Very funny, smart guy,” she said, making him laugh again. They watched for a few more minutes before Emma asked, “Do you have a job in Storybrooke? I started working at the sheriff’s station three months ago and I don’t remember seeing you around town.”

“I’m an architect. I was able to keep my job with the firm in England by working online and attending meetings with clients and my colleagues via Zoom. All of my time is spent in my office at home. It’s not ideal, but I appreciate my boss being willing to make concessions for me.”

“Do you plan to get a job here eventually?”

“Aye, if I decide to stay.”

“You don’t sound very sure.”

“I’m used to the hustle and bustle of a big city. Living in Storybrooke has been quite an adjustment.”

“I get that. We moved here from Boston when Henry was two. Granny’s granddaughter, Ruby, was our neighbor there, and when she decided to move back, she talked me into coming with her. At first, I had a hard time getting used to the peace and quiet. That was one reason why I adopted Ernie - just to have a little more noise in the house.”

“Ernie?” Killian questioned.

“Oh, he was our dog. We had him for six years, but he died a couple of months ago.” She pulled her phone out of the pouch of her hoodie and swiped to reveal her lock screen. “This is a picture of Henry with him.”

“Beautiful animal,” Killian commented sincerely, taking in the photo of the brown and white spaniel. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” Emma sighed, locking her phone and returning it to the pocket. “Henry grew up with him and he’s had a really hard time with it. Someone suggested renting a pet from the shelter to help him work through it, and that’s how we ended up renting Norman.”

“They seem to really like each other.”

“Yeah, they got along great the first time. That’s why I signed up to get him again, but I was in a hurry when I filled out the form and forgot to ask for a specific dog.”

“Ah, that explains the mix-up,” Killian remarked.

Another half hour passed while they chatted easily, until Henry came over and flopped down on the ground, quickly joined by Norman. “I’m hungry, Mom. Can we get something to eat?”

“Sure, kid. Put Norman back on his leash and we’ll go find those food trucks Mr. Nolan mentioned.”

They soon located the food trucks just down the sidewalk from the park. After discussing their options, they decided to get pulled pork sandwiches from the barbeque place. It was obvious that people who took their pets to the dog park frequented the food trucks, because each one had bowls of water set out in front of them and containers of dog biscuits on their condiment tables.

While they waited for their food, Henry tried to teach Norman to sit, rewarding him with pieces of the biscuits when he obeyed.

“He’s very good with him,” Killian noted.

“He prays for another dog every night, but our schedule is so busy right now. Plus, it’s such a big responsibility and I’m not sure Henry is ready for it. I might be wrong about that though, seeing how he is with Norman.”

After eating, they followed the sidewalk a little further and spotted a playground. Emma and Killian sat on a bench, with Norman sitting between them as they watched Henry play on the equipment.

“You know, we’ve lived in Storybrooke for six years and I never knew this playground existed,” Emma commented. “We don’t come this way very often, because whenever we go out of town, we take the road going south.”

“It appears to be fairly new,” Killian observed. “Perhaps they constructed it when they built those apartments over there, because they don’t look like they’ve been there very long.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. I remember when they were being constructed a couple of years after we moved here, which means they’re less than five years old.”

They lost sight of Henry for a few seconds when he climbed a ladder up into a tower. Suddenly they heard him shout, “Hey, Mom! Look what I found!” and saw him coming down a twisting slide with his arms over his head, clutching a tattered looking soccer ball.

He landed at the bottom and came running over to them. “Someone must have forgotten this at the top of the tower. Wanna kick it around with me?”

“Sure, kid,” Emma answered, hopping up from the bench. “It looks a bit deflated. Are you sure it’s even going to roll?”

“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. Placing it on the ground, he gave it a kick and watched it roll across the grass. “See?”

A black streak flew past him, with Killian following close behind shouting, “Wins-, I mean, Norman! Come back here!”

The dog ignored him, but stopped when he got to the soccer ball. He was trying to pick it up in his mouth when the three humans reached him. Killian was able to kick it away from him, directly to Emma, who stopped it with her foot, then booted it over to Henry. Norman ran from one to the other, in hot pursuit of the elusive ball.

The ‘keep away’ game kept them entertained for a long time. They ran, shouting instructions to each other and laughing until all of them were completely out of breath. Norman was able to intercept some of their passes, but they always managed to get it away from him before he was able to pick it up and run off.

Finally, Emma declared that she had to take a break. Picking up Norman’s leash, she said, “I think we should take him back to the food trucks to get a drink and buy a couple of bottles of water.”

“Aww, Mom,” Henry complained. “I’m not ready to go yet. Can’t I stay here? Killian will stay with me, won’t you, Killian?”

“First of all, you should call him Mr. Jones, and secondly, you’re putting him on the spot, which isn’t cool,” Emma admonished.

Henry looked appropriately chagrined. “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones.”

“Thank you, Henry, but if I may be so bold, I don’t mind you calling me Killian. That is, if it’s okay with your mother.”

Henry looked to his mom, who considered for a few seconds, then gave him a nod of approval.

Killian put his arm across Henry’s shoulders and walked him the short distance to where Emma was standing. “I’d be happy to go get the water, Emma.” He took the end of Norman’s leash from her. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

While he was gone, Emma sat on the bench watching Henry continue to kick the soccer ball around. Killian and Norman returned a few minutes later, handed her a bottle of water and sat down beside her.

“Do I owe you anything for this?” Emma asked, unscrewing the lid.

“Not at all. I think I can afford to buy a lovely lass a bottle of water.”

She refrained from rolling her eyes at his use of the adjective, still rueing the fact she met such a handsome man while looking like she just rolled out of bed. As she was getting ready to take a drink, Henry kicked the ball and sent it sailing over their head, causing Emma to duck and spill some of the water in her lap.

Henry ran over, stopping in front of her. “Oops. Sorry, Mom. I was trying to kick it at the teeter-totter.”

Emma brushed at the water droplets, looking around to locate the teeter-totter, which was at least twenty feet away from the bench. “Not even close, kid.”

Killian stood up. “Perhaps I could give you some pointers, lad. I was a rather good football player when I was younger .”

Henry’s forehead creased in confusion. “I play soccer, not football.”

Killian chuckled as Emma explained, “Killian grew up in England and over there, soccer is called football. They call what we play ‘American football’, don’t they, Killian?”

“Aye, lass. Sorry to confuse you, Henry.”

“Oh, I never knew that. So, how good were you?”

Killian rubbed a finger behind his ear, ducking his head a bit. “I played in a semi-professional league for a couple of years and actually tried out for a professional club, before I decided to go to Uni and become an architect instead.”

“Wow! Cool!” Henry exclaimed. “You probably know even more about soccer than my coach!”

Emma laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he knows a bit more than a volunteer coach for a youth league team.” She took the dog’s leash back from Killian. “Norman and I will sit this lesson out.”

Killian attempted to wink at her. “As you wish, Milady. Come on, lad. We’ve got work to do.”

She smiled fondly, watching the two of them passing the ball back and forth for a while, before pulling out her phone to catch up on her social media apps.

When she looked up a few minutes later, she saw Killian giving Henry instructions for controlling the ball as he dribbled it down the field. Apparently, they were using two trees as the goal and Henry was moving toward them quickly, while trying rather unsuccessfully to keep the ball under control. When he kicked it from quite a distance away, the ball hit one of the trees and ricocheted away.

Killian went to retrieve the ball and took it back to where Henry was waiting. He squatted down in front of the boy and began talking to him, gesturing now and then to different parts of the field.

Henry listened intently, nodding once in a while. When Killian finished speaking, he stood up and did a short demonstration of how to move the ball back and forth from foot to foot. Then he patted the boy’s shoulder, walked the ball further away from the trees and set it down.

Henry lined himself up behind the ball and looked up at Killian. After getting a reassuring smile from him, Henry started dribbling the ball across the ground with shorter, more controlled kicks, while Killian jogged beside him, shouting encouragement. This time, he got the ball much closer to the trees, before giving it a powerful kick that sent it shooting right between them.

Killian whooped as Henry raised his arms in victory, giving a triumphant cheer. What Emma saw happen next put a lump in her throat. Henry flung his arms around Killian’s waist, hugging him tightly, and Killian returned the hug, rubbing his hand over her son’s head as he looked down at him with a proud smile on his face.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

NEW TAG LIST:

@qualitycoffeethings @grimmswan @cs-rylie @wyntereyez @kmomof4 @hookedmom @ultraluckycatnd @paradiselady19 @xarandomdreamx @motherkatereloyshipper @lfh1226-linda @pawshapedheart @vampcoffeegyrl23 @tiganasummertree @bluewildcatfanatic @eleveneitherway @elfiola @kday426 @julieenchanted-swans @gingerchangeling @andiirivera @djlbg @jonesfandomfanatic @snowbellewells @anmylica @booksteaandtoomuchtv @cocohook38 @ilovemesomekillianjones @zaharadessert @lyssapup27 @undercaffinatednightmare @winterbaby89 @jennjenn615 @xsajx @jackieorioncat @teamhook @soniccat @jarienn972 @softkilly @kymbersmith-90

[lolasimms]

Can I request headcanons on the dynamic between Abby and Lila? I love the idea of someone big and intimidating like Abby being all sweet with a mini human

Abby + Lila Head-canons

Abby was really nervous to meet her, as she didn’t like most of her dads girlfriends and was afraid Lila would feel the same way about her.

To her surprise, they ended up getting along really well and the second time they met, Lila clung to her legs, since she was the same height as Abby’s knees.

Lila usually was independent and enjoyed walking on her own during outings but once Abby came around she insisted on sitting on her shoulders or in her arms. Whenever the three of you visited crowded locations, say farmers markets, Lila would insist that Abby carry her on her shoulders.

She loved how easily Abby could throw her up in the air whenever they played, but it always scared you to death because you thought she’d drop her. Or even worse, crush her in the process of catching her.

Sometimes she won’t let you read to her at night, insisting that Abby does, because she’s better at the voices than you are. Thats until you find out Abby had been sneaking her cookies before bed.

The two of them sometimes get lost in their own world. Abby is one of those people who really plays, meaning she’ll loose track of time when her and Lila are having too much fun. You’d once planned on going out for dinner when Lila had begged to go to the park with Abby beforehand, claiming they’d be gone for just 30 minutes. Two hours later you’d canceled the reservation when Abby had claimed they were having too much fun and honestly forgot about the dinner.

You’d never been very fond of pets, which Lila hated as she was the biggest animal lover. Any time the two of you went out and she saw a dog or a cat, she’d ask their owners if she could pet them and play with them. Luckily for her, once Abby had moved in she brought her cat Millie along with her.

Lila wasn’t aware that cats weren’t exactly like dogs, and that some of them didn’t like attention. So when she tried grabbing Millie by the stomach she ended up with a bright red scratch along her arm. After this occurrence, the once self-proclaimed animal lover wasn’t too happy with the family’s newest addition. Abby felt horrible and Lila was hysterical the entire evening. To make up for the mishap, Abby put Millie in “cat timeout” and bought Lila her favourite gelato as compensation.

Despite her intimidating size and height, Lila found that Abby was easy to break. If ever you said no to something or had a strict rule she had to follow, she’d always go to Abby knowing she’d give in. That’s exactly how the cookie fiasco had started. One night you’d baked cookies, promising Lila would have them the next day and she’d thrown a full blown tantrum. You only did this, due to the fact that by the time they’d cooled off, it was already nearing her bed time. Not satisfied with your explanation, Lila clung onto Abby the rest of the evening. She started telling Abby she was the best, trying to butter her up to get what she wanted. And who was Abby to deny the little girl of her desires especially when she gave her those sweet puppy eyes, so she snuck two cookies while you washed up and made her way up the stairs and into Lila’s room.

Everyone knew Lila was sort of an attention seeker, it’s just what being an only child entailed. So when she came home from school one day to be surprised with an ultrasound photo of her so called “baby brother” she wasn’t happy. She ignored you and refused to sit with you. Calling you “mean mommy” and asking you to get rid of the baby. Abby didn’t know what to do, and quite frankly neither did you.

Lila refused to speak to you and anytime you’d try sit next to her and talk through the issue she’d scoot closer to Abby. It had been three whole days of Lila icing you out and with your first trimester morning sickness you were starting to become upset, and this upset Abby. She finally put her foot down and sternly told Lila that her antics needed to stop. She’d explained the perks of having a new sibling, making the six year old finally come around. By day 5 Lila and Abby had made an apology card for you. ‘Sorry Mommy’ it read and all you could do was smile and laugh.

[seradae]

A Day At The Park [TF/NB] [puppyplay] [breeding]

I've never seen you more excited than when we pulled up to the new club in town, the Puppy Park. I had seen the owners posting on Fetlife and decided to take you once it had officially opened. Everyone was required to submit up to date STI tests, among other rules for the safety of the pups; a comforting and reassuring sight.

Once we got inside, we checked in at the reception and they verified our IDs, then I stripped you down and handed off your clothes for safekeeping. The receptionist buzzed us into the main room and you audibly gasped. A dozen or so puppies were walking around on their hands and knees, playing fetch and tug-of-war, rolling around, and just generally enjoying having a safe space.

I detached your leash and you dropped down on all fours, heading over to some of the other pups. With each movement forward, your tail wagged and I couldn't help but grin at how wet you were already, a distinct gleam under your tail.

You went up to a small group and gave a tentative bark of greeting, which they happily returned. One leaned down and rolled a ball toward you with her nose and you caught it with your teeth and growled playfully before rolling it back. She grinned and grabbed one end of a rope with her mouth, coming near you. You took the other end and pulled at it, the both of you fighting for dominance.

A woman in a beautiful floral sundress came up to me and said, "looks like our pups are having fun! That's Trixie and I'm Erica." She extended her hand and I took it, smiling warmly.

"He's Cat, and I'm Emma. They seem to be getting along well; it's so nice that they can just play!"

"She's been counting the days and I don't think she's the only one," she said, smiling. We both looked over just in time to see you licking Trixie's cheek and giggling. She licked you back then nipped playfully at your neck. "Be gentle, honey," Emma said across the room with a snicker.

You pounced on her and bite her neck softly, then let her roll back over, grins on both your faces. She moved behind you and nipped at your butt and rather than yelp, you let out a small moan and pushed your hips up.

She reached up and pushed your tail to the side before burying her face in your slit, lapping at you, eliciting loud moans. The other pups glanced at you, making you blush deeply, closing your eyes to focus on the sensation. Her long tongue felt like a dream and you could help but push back against her.

She pulled her face away and licked her lips, moaning at your taste. She climbed up on top of you and slid deep inside your little puppycunt, both of you half moaning, half whimpering in unison. She wasted no time, fucking you with reckless abandon right from the start. Suddenly, Emma whistled and called, "Trixie, come here!"

She growled and pulled out of you, going over to her owner. Emma said, "the rules of the house apply here too, pup. He gets to cum before you get to mount. Now go eat him like a good girl." You blushed even harder, watching this exchange play out and knowing that everyone there was now going to bear witness to what came next.

She came back to you and shoved her face between your legs, eating you out more fiercely than you had ever experienced. Her tongue danced across your clit in long strokes and you didn't care who heard you moan. You pressed back against her as she did everything in her power to make you cum hard.

With all eyes on you and a very motivated puppygirl lapping at your cunt, it would have been harder not to cum, and it didn't take long before your back was arching and you virtually fucking her face. You came with a loud moan, the orgasm ripping through you as she continued to lap at your clit. She slowed, then eventually stopped and moved around to lick your lips. You gave a sleepy little bark of gratitude, then wagged your hips and grinned at her.

That was all the instruction she needed. She mounted you and began to fuck you senseless, both of you whimpering and yipping. Her nails dug into your hips as she drove hard and fast into you, the rest of the room fading from your perspective; just two puppies in your own little world.

When she started to cum, you clenched down tight and she let out a sweet moan, plunging deep into you and exploding with a force you had rarely experienced before. The pulsations sent you over the edge and a second orgasm made its way through you, causing your little cunt to milk her for every last drop.

You both stayed frozen in place for a moment before she got off you and nuzzled your face, smiles all around. Then you noticed another puppygirl licking her lips and flicking her eyes to your tail suggestively.....

[thewriterg]

♡︎𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐡���𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫♡︎

pairing(s): Tim Shepard x gn!reader, Sodapop Curtis x gn!reader, Dallas Winston x gn!reader

summary: Coming back from your outing never did your boyfriend expect you to come home with a gift that needed receiving than giving

word count: head canons so no need

request(s): Is this the right spot? I never ask for anything so idk. I haven’t seen much of Tim Shepard so I want to ask for a gn reader that brings back a puppy or kitty for the holidays if not for Tim, maybe dally, or sodapop please —anon

warning(s): fluff, kisses, mentions of violence, pet names, grumpy Tim and Dally per usual, and language

A/n:—GIFs @moirailegiance,@tessgifs,& @angelic-stimz— First holiday/winter request! I haven’t done head cannons in such a long time so let’s get to it

♡︎Tim Shepard

You were literally Just going to the store so you could grab some more sugar for you Christmas cookies-

So how the hell you ended up with a puppy is beyond you

“Where the hell have you been!? I was about to send a search party after ya!” Coming from a worried Tim who was having heart palpitations he’d honestly thought the Soc’s had got their grimy hands on you and that made him beyond uneasy

“Okay so when I tell you, promise you won’t freak out” Your now bouncing on the balls of your feat and Tim couldn’t tell if it was from nervousness or excitement you couldn’t tell either

“Okay.. tell me what?” All while looking exactly like this. 🤨

“Never mind”

“Just Tell me!”

“I just said never mind!”

You guys went on like that for a while until you just finally snapped

“I got a puppy! It was the last one In it’s bunch and it was alone!” Cue you taking a little puppy no more than 4 weeks out of your inside coat pocket

“Oh lord Y/n, and it’s one of those little rat dogs!”

“It’s gonna get bigger Tim!”

I strongly believe that Tim is like one of those dads who swear up and down that it’s your dog, your responsibility, and he’s not going to do anything for it.

Scolds you for like an hour about how much time goes into puppies while your just nodding like a child who got caught with their hand stuck into the cookie jar

But then does everything and more under the sun for the little fella

Tim fucking knits!

And he knits them little sweaters and booties because ‘their too little and it’s too cold’

He’s definitely one of those dads who like have a beer in one hand your little puppy sleeping on his chest and is like two seconds away from falling asleep in the reclining chair

Very protective

God Bless one of his guys accidentally step on HIS SON!?

I don’t think they would be very recognizable afterwards…

Refuses to let the little pup walk on their own afterwards for a while…

REFUSES to put HIS SON in a cage/dog house/ restriction of any the sorts

You think his child is going to sleep anywhere other than a doggy bed that’s 100x their actual size?

“If their not drowning in it it’s not good enough”🤷🏽‍♀️ —Tim Shepard for president

Once caught Ted —one of his guys— trying to give his son a bone

He. Let. Him. Have. It.

Because the audacity, his child is held to respect as he is. So to think you were going to give him your scraps it’s disrespectful to him. Puppy get his own chicken torn off the bone 🙄

Does not let them cry or whine for more than five seconds.

Immediately picks them up.

Secret does ‘the baby voice’ he thinks no one know about

Christmas morning he’s sitting on the floor beside you with your son between his legs guiding his little hands to open his presents

It’s the cutest thing.

They play for hours too.

Moral of the story Tim is a proud dog dad🫡

♡︎ Dally Winston

“No.”

The first thing that comes out of Dally’s mouth as soon as he sees you step into your shared home with a cat cradled in your arms

Takes a lot of convincing for you to keep it

Dally Still doesn’t like it though and keeps his respectful distance

Or tries to and fails

Cue to your cat following him around everywhere

It annoys the hell out of him.

Until one particular day

You both visited Dally at work aka Bucks places and Dal was practically rolling his eyes at the little feline attached to your hip

It was in the afternoon and the bar was empty

“Dal watch them so I can go to restroom please” Dally just nods his head so you can stop bothering him about really keeping his eyes on the thing

Buck has a fish tank.

And Dally only looked away for a minute and there goes your kid swatting at the fish as Buck is running around like chicken with its head cut off

*proud dad look while nodding his head

So your kid is into mischief?

Dally claims them now.

Doesn’t move from behind the counter as he watches them jump onto tables pushing glasses off the surface onto the floor

And then as soon as you get back he jumps back onto the floor and snuggle around your feet

He really likes this kid now.

Probably because it’s quite literally him in the form of a cat but yk thats just a guess🤷🏽‍♀️

They are the biggest trouble together

But they know they’re both adorable so they can’t get into too much trouble

Dally swears up and down he doesn’t know what your talking about when you ask him about the missing tuna cans

I mean his child has to eat something Y/n 🙄

Sometimes their so bad together it gets to a point where you put both of them in a timeout in separate corners. Both. Of. Them.

*cat meowing

“Yea man I know.”

Moral of the story Dallas ends up falling hardest 🤭

♡︎ Sodapop Curtis

Being honest

Soda was the one who actually brought your puppy home-

“She’s so cute can we keep her Y/n pleaseeeeee!”

“Soda honey, a puppy is a lot of responsibility”

“I’ll feed her, and walk her, and everything! You won’t have to lift a finger I swear!”

You lift lots of fingers.

But they both go great together! They have so much energy they will be outside all day if you let them

All. Damn. Day.

Once you called them both in for dinner just to see them standing on the porch both covered in mud. Head to toe. Snout to paw.

You had to wash them off with the hose.

Soda takes her everywhere.

To the store, on walks, even to work!

They’re the best duo on the block 🙄

She has like four beds all around the house and still sleeps in the middle of the bed between you guys

Everything soda eats they eat too

“Soda no!”

Cue sodas hand pausing in mid air as he tries to give the pup chocolate

Catch and Tug of war is the only game they play

Religiously.

Moral of the story they’re your favorite people!

[wjehfshs]

Follow up to this post of mine @smol-opal-2001 for the idea of making this a fanfic

Price being a dad kinda, I literally love cats sm, Ghost showing a softer side if you squint with huge ass nerd glasses, reader, Gaz, and Soap fawning over the kitten

“For Christ’s sake we are not getting a cat! Who’s gonna take care of it? It’s gonna end up being me!” Price argued with the three of you

You, Gaz, and Soap where trying to convince Price to get a cat for the team

Ghost wasn’t saying anything as he knew better but he wasn’t opposed to the idea

You tried everything, offering to take care of it, paying for it, even puppy dog eyes. None of it worked

You all eventually gave up trying to ask him, but you knew you all still wanted a cat

Eventually one day you saw Ghost walking back inside the Barracks, cupping something small in his hands

You asked what he had in his hands before he looked around to see if anyone was around and leaned down

He showed you his hands and what he had made you want to explode

It was a kitten, small, teary eyed (fun fact kittens are usually always just teary eyed not because they’re crying or sad, I can’t remember why tho) and shaky

You wanted to cry it was so cute

Immediately you told Ghost to follow you

You knew Gaz and Soap played poker sometimes in Gaz’s room so you rushed there

Thankfully from the sounds of the deep Scottish male accent and deep but higher pitched British male accent, they where both in there

You flung the door open, startling them, and pushed Ghost inside as he was carful to keep the kitten safe

“GHOST GHOST SHOW THEM SHOW THEM NOW” from the looks of it you where almost about to burst, tears in your eyes

Ghost sighed and lowered his cupped hands in front of Gaz and Soap

They looked at the kitten, ghost, you, and then back at the kitten wide eyed

“There’s no way, how did you get a kitten?!” Gaz asked

“I didn’t get it, I found it outside in the dirt with some trash and old clothes, poor thing” Ghost answered back

“Little thing looks like she’s starving, we need to get her something to eat” Soap added

The question was, how would you get kitten milk formula without alerting price?

“We need some formula for her, but Price will probably catch on…” you said sadly

Everyone thought for a moment before Ghost spoke up

“Look I think we’ll just have to tell him, I mean he wouldn’t let a starving dirty kitten go hungry would he?”

You all looked at each other before silently agreeing

You had to tell price

You decided it was best Ghost told him

Ghost knocked on Prices door with his foot and waited

“Come in” you heard the older man reply from behind the door

Ghost went in and the three of you waited with baited breath

After a few minutes Ghost walked out with Price

Price sighed, “I just put in an order for kitten formula from Laswell… should be here in about an hour. In the mean time we need somewhere warm to keep her” he said crossing his arms and looking down at the ground and back up at you three with that look of a father who just gave in to his kids.

You all sprung into action, you tried to find a pillow for it to sleep on and maybe a heater as it was winter at the time

Soap ran to get some bedding as Gaz found a spot to set up a bed for it

After you had set everything up you, Soap, and Gaz where circled around it, leaned down like kids who where too short for the front counter at a toy store

You all watched it intensely

Occasionally you would give it a little pat on the head or it’s back

Maybe readjusting the bedding sometimes

You couldn’t take your eyes off it

Price and Ghost stayed back, leaned against the wall on opposite sides, watched you three watch this poor little kitten like it was some mesmerising video

You hadn’t even realised that an hour passed until you heard the landing of a helicopter

Soap got up quicker than you could blink and ran faster than you’ve ever seen for the door

He ran back with the formula and wasted no time making her a bottle

After he finished you all took turns feeding her, even Ghost looked happy to be feeding such a tiny thing

Eventually he passed her to price carefully as he looked down on her as if she was his newborn child

He couldn’t help but let his heart melt as he watched her suck on the bottle he held for her, her tummy full and round, her eyes closed

He originally wanted to get someone to take her to a shelter but seeing her like this made him feel like she was his actual baby daughter

“Alright I’ve made a decision, we’re keeping her and her name is Mittens, no arguing, I’ll take care of her” price said firmly

You all looked at each other before you, Gaz and Soap and cheered and hugged each-other like a bunch of middle school girls

After that moment Price set up a bed for her in his office on his desk, a bed in his room, and a special spot for her at the dinner table, like a mini high chair for her with the name mittens plastered on the back in gold paint

You caught him multiple times talking to her in baby talk, and every time she yawned, fell asleep, or basically did anything you swore you saw him shed some tears

Price loved this new cat and would literally take a train covered in lava and acid spikes for her

[cerriddwenluna]

Congratz @special-bc-ur-part-of-it!

I really tried to write you a drabble, but this fic just demanded more, and more, and more, up to the point where I even asked the fabulous and talented @datshitrandom to create some fanart because we ALL deserve Klaine Puppy Piles, damn it!

I hope you like it, Iz! ♡♡♡

You can read it under the cut, or on Ao3 and S&C.

“Hi, can I help you?”

Kurt looked up from the brochures that were neatly displayed in a stand next to the front desk. “Oh, yes. I’m here for Puppy Paradise?” 

The man behind the desk beamed. “Oh, that’s great! Are you looking to adopt?”

“Unfortunately not. I’d like to, someday. I just don’t have the space for a pet just yet. College life, you know?”

“Yeah, I do know. That’s why I started volunteering here. There’s never a shortage of adorable animals to play with. My name’s Blaine, by the way. Blaine Anderson.”

Kurt shook the hand that Blaine held out to him. “Kurt Hummel. Nice to meet you, Blaine.”

“You, too. If you’ll just fill this out for me, then I’ll take you to the playroom and you can meet your new best friends.”

Kurt took the form he was handed and quickly filled it in, eager to get started. He and Rachel had discussed getting a pet, but she was allergic to cats, and neither of them was home often enough to properly take care of a dog. They tried fish, but after the first five betta fish went belly up, they gave up on that idea as well. Luckily, the local animal shelter regularly had special days where you could come and play with the animals. 

Kurt had seen the flyer hanging up on the notice board in the lobby of their building as he came home from class, and, seeing that they had one scheduled that day, he had rushed upstairs to throw on some old clothes that he did not mind getting dirty and made his way to the shelter. 

As Blaine waved Kurt ahead of him, he was glad for the foresight. He thought he’d seen Blaine give him a once over in the front office, and he put an extra sway in his hips, glad he chose a particularly flattering pair of yoga pants that did wonders for his ass. 

The first thing Kurt noticed as he walked through the door was the noise. The room was filled with all kinds of puppies running around and yapping excitedly, and Kurt crouched down to give head scratches to the bravest of them, a tiny little chocolate labrador who had come running up to him and Blaine and tried to jump up their legs. 

“Hi there, little guy. Who’s a good boy? Yes, you are!” he cooed to the puppy, doing his best to dodge the overenthusiastic licks hello the puppy tried to give him. 

“His name’s Charlie,” Blaine said as he crouched down next to Kurt and scratched the dog behind his floppy brown ears. 

“How did he end up here?” 

“We always get a few pregnant females a year, but this year we had three at the same time. It was the usual story, people get a dog, fail to get them spayed, and then end up not wanting the responsibility of taking care of them when they get pregnant. So they bring them to us. It’s not great, but we’d rather take in a hundred pregnant dogs than for them to end up dumped in some dark alley, or worse.”

“God, that’s awful.”

“It is, but we do what we can,” Blaine said with a shrug. “C’mon, we’ve got a couple of beanbags in the corner that’ll be a lot more comfortable than crouching all the time.”

*

Thirty minutes later, Kurt was extra glad he had changed out of his normal clothes. After he and Blaine had sat down on the beanbags, the other puppies came running and tried to climb all over them. Bit by bit, Kurt had slid down until he was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him and his back resting against the beanbag. Blaine was lying next to him, spread out on the floor, and they both had dogs climbing all over them, licking their faces and begging for scratches. 

“So, how long have you been doing this?” Kurt asked Blaine, gently freeing one of the puppies from inside the hooded sweatshirt he had taken off a bit earlier. 

Blaine slowly turned his head to look at Kurt, doing his best not to dislodge the puppy that had decided Blaine’s unruly curls were the perfect place to lie down. “About a year now, I suppose. I started out as a volunteer dog walker, taking the more active ones for runs on the weekends. One of the receptionists recently went on maternity leave, so I applied to be her temporary replacement.

“These play dates were actually her idea, so I’m glad I can help keep them going until she returns. Even if nobody ends up adopting one of them, at least they’re getting plenty of attention.”

“That’s really admirable, Blaine.”

Blaine quickly ducked his head, but not fast enough for Kurt to miss seeing his blush. 

“What about you? What keeps you too busy for one of these adorable balls of fluff?”

“I’m double majoring in Fashion Design and Management at Parsons, and I work at Vogue.com. Just don’t judge me by this very basic outfit,” Kurt laughed as he gestured down.

“I think you look great, Kurt.”

Kurt could feel the blush heating his cheeks. “Thanks.”

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, one of the puppies chose that moment to try and play tug of war with Blaine’s shoelaces, and the moment was broken. 

Blaine grabbed a squeaky ball and successfully distracted the dogs by throwing it across the room, making them run after it frantically. 

After playing with them for a while and wearing them out, Blaine and Kurt ended up lying starfished on the floor, covered in tired puppies. Charlie, the chocolate Lab had curled up on Kurt’s chest, and he had two of his friends lying on his arm and legs, respectively. Blaine had laid down with his head next to Kurt’s hip, and the puppy on Kurt’s leg decided to take advantage of that by lying down with his body on Kurt’s leg and his head atop Blaine’s. 

“I didn’t know how much I needed this until I got here,” Kurt admits quietly, feeling as if speaking too loudly would break the spell that had fallen over the room. 

“I get that. I was the same, to be honest. I was stressing so much, trying to keep up with my classes and making rent, that I was burning out before I even hit twenty. But these animals, they don’t care about what you’re dealing with. They only want one of two things from you, attention or food. Give them a bit of both, and they will be your friend forever.

“Since I started working here, I’ve been feeling so much more relaxed. Whenever I have a bad day, I only need to cuddle a puppy or kitten, or go for a run with some of the older dogs, and nothing will seem quite as bad after.”

Kurt reached down to gently pet the puppy lying on his leg. “I’m glad you have that. I think I might have to make this a regular thing as well.”

“We would be happy to have you, Kurt.”

Kurt ran his hand down the dog's curly head. “Thanks, that means a lot.”

“Um, Kurt?”

“Yeah?” he said absently. 

“That’s not the dog…”

Kurt’s head flew up, and he was shocked to see his hand buried in Blaine’s curls, instead of the dog’s curly fur like he had thought. “I - what? Oh, shit. I’m so sorry, Blaine. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Blaine reached up as best as he could without dislodging the dogs napping on him and gently patted Kurt’s arm. “Really, I only said something because I didn’t want you to be unaware. It felt kinda nice, actually. It’s been a while since I had a cute boy play with my hair…” 

“Oh…I - you think I’m cute?”

“I think you’re gorgeous, Kurt. And if you’re not opposed, I would love to take you out on a date sometime.”

Kurt blushed fiercely, but made no effort to hide it this time. He looked Blaine right in the eye as he told him, “I’d love to.”

*♡*♡*♡* The End *♡*♡*♡*

Thanks to @quizasvivamos for the beta! ♡

Title: Puppy Paradise

Author: Cerriddwen

Artist: @datshitrandom

Rating: T

Summary: Kurt has never felt better. The Puppy Paradise play dates at his local animal shelter do wonders for his stress levels, and the eye candy certainly doesn’t hurt either…

Word Count: 1375

Chapters: 1

Status: Complete

Part of a Series: No

Life Stage: Young Adult/College

Other Ships: N/A

Warnings: Some minor and very much not graphic references to people who don't take good care of their animals.

Genre(s): Fluff, Romance

Trope(s): Alternate Universe: Different First Meeting, PUPPIES!

[thefreakydeaky]

Good Girls Go To Heaven

Negan x Plus sized reader

Negan Smith x Plus sized reader

Summary: If there is one thing you have never been accused of it's being good. And while Negan finds this entertaining at first, the day comes when he reaches his limit.

*Not Beta read (but when is my shit ever beta read? if any body wants to the position is open 😉😛 message me/send an ask)

Warnings: Smut, Unprotected Sex, Dub-Con, Strong Language

"What did you do?"

It was like a scene right out of a cartoon. At the sound of Negan's raised voice every wife and savior in the room froze.

You knocked back the shot of rum you were holding.

"What the fuck did you do?" Negan seethed.

"I do a lot of shit. You'll have to be more specific." You began pouring yourself another shot.

You heard his foot steps coming up behind you, they picked up speed as they got closer.

You were quick to lift both your glass and the bottle. A second later Lucille came swinging over the table. Tanya cried out in surprise. Glass and liquor went flying, splashing you and the other people sitting on the sectional.

"What the fuck did you just say?"

"I said, be. more. specific."

The growl he emitted would have set a wise man to asking for mercy, but you had never been accused of being wise.

His hand seized the back of your neck. You bit back a gasp as he forced you out of your seat and onto the floor. The bottle you had been holding went rolling across the floor.

"This is not a fucking game." He thrust Lucille in front of your face. "I'm only gonna ask you one more time. What did you do?"

Having no idea which thing you had done to piss him off, your only option was silence. You didn't lift your gaze from his boots. Seconds ticked by and you remained stoic.

"Not so mouthy now, are ya? Get up!" His large hand grabbed hold of your arm.

He hauled you to your feet. Negan led you away from the drawing room, his hand at the back of your neck like you were a misbehaved puppy. You passed the bewildered faces of some of the other wives before he shoved you into the bedroom ahead of him. You would have thought they would be loving it, seeing your day of reckoning had finally come. You tripped and landed on your knees on the rug. You heard the door slam and thought back on your offenses.

There was the pair of earrings you had taken from Tanya's room. They were pretty and she didn't wear them often. Why shouldn't you enjoy them?

The four oxycontin pills you had pinched from Carson's cabinet. You still had two. You were saving them for a rainy day.

There of course was the game of cat and mouse you had been playing with Simon for a while now. You weren't on the short list of girls that was allowed to indulge on those free pass days, but you flirted anyway. From that flirting came the gift Simon had given you, a rechargeable vibrator. That contraband was wrapped in a bandana you had taken from Negan's sock drawer and hidden in the one place it would never be discovered, behind that very dresser in Negan's bedroom.

If it was none of these then someone told him about your recent altercation with Frankie. The bitch was talking shit. Slapping her was technically self defense.

"Hey!" He snapped his fingers in your face.

You blinked up at him.

"Where do you get off cheatin' on me?" He hissed. "Do I not provide for you? Do I not dick you down often enough?"

Your brow furrowed.

"Answer me!"

"I'm not."

He held his hand up to his ear as though he couldn't hear you.

"I didn't."

His hand closed tightly around the neck of his bat.

"I didn't cheat on you."

He lifted the bat higher off the ground and you flinched.

"I haven't cheated on you. I don't know why you think I did, but I'm telling you, I didn't."

"I heard him, your loverboy talking about how hot you sound when you cum."He said angrily.

You sifted through his words to try and make sense out of them. You hadn't slept with any man, but Negan since before you ended up in the sanctuary.

"If it was any of the other girls, I would know it was him at fault, but you? You're an evil fucking mastermind. Nobody can harass you into doing shit you don't wanna do."

You eyed Lucille, swallowing nervously.

"You're the only man here I've fucked. If anyone says otherwise they're lying."

Negan's dark brow raised.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"And knowing what the fucking punishment for an offense like this is, why would someone lie about that?"

He was right. What kind of crazy asshole would put themselves in danger of getting their face melted or worse, having their head bashed in? Unless...

"Did you ask him?"

"Excuse me?"

"Did he actually say he had sex with me?"

"He didn't have to." Negan scoffed. "How else would he know what you sound like when you cum?"

It hit you and you experienced about thirty seconds of relief before you realized your saving grace would also be your downfall.

You let out a sound of frustration.

"I masterbate sometimes." You mumbled.

You hated having to admit such a personal thing to him, but it had to be done.

Negan pursed his lips.

"You what?"

You took a deep breath and let it out. Your face heated with shame.

"I touch myself sometimes. Maybe he heard me."

Negan's jaw clenched.

"He didn't see me and he sure as hell didn't touch me." You added in desperation.

"Hmm..." He mulled it over. "So you're sayin' he didn't fuck you, you fucked yourself."

"Yes and that's the only way he could have heard me."

"And just how often do you fingerbang yourself?"

You stared at him.

His eyes narrowed as he peered down at you suspiciously.

"It would be one hell of a coincidence for him to hear you the one time in a blue moon that you-"

"I do it all the time."

"What?" His expression quickly went from surprised to offended.

"A couple of times a week." You admitted through gritted teeth.

Negan laughed darkly.

"Well hell, honey. Am I just not doin' it for you anymore?"

You looked away from his piercing gaze.

"Get on the bed."

You sighed.

"I'm not a fan of fucking repeating myself."

You got up off your knees and went to the bed. With all the enthusiasm of someone waiting in line at the dmv, you crawled onto the bed.

"Stop." Negan commanded. "Turn around."

You got onto your back, but kept your eyes on the ceiling.

His hands slid under your skirt and up your thick thighs. He found the waistband of your panties and tugged them, you lifted your bottom so he could take them off.

His big fingers fumbled with the straps of your heels as the satin fabric got caught around your ankles.

"Fuck." He gave up on it and lifted your dress. He spread your legs as best he could. Negan leaned over you and cupped your sex.

"Look at me." He ordered.

You looked him in the eye.

"This is mine. Nobody can fucking touch this pussy, but me."

Your eyes widened when he gave your pussy a light smack.

"Mine." He said and smacked it again. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Wrong answer."

He spanked your pussy. His hand came down over and over on your sensitive flesh.

Your breath hitched.

This time when he swatted you his hand came away wet. Negan looked at his glistening palm and then at your pussy.

His eyebrow raised.

"Damn, you're gettin off on this shit aren't ya?"

You turned your face away.

"You dirty girl." He chuckled. "You like it when Daddy gets rough, like it a whole damn lot, don't cha?" He slipped his index and middle fingers through your labia then brought them to his lips. He sucked his fingers clean.

"Mmm...Sweet.As.Pie."

You clenched and more of your cum seeped out of you.

Negan managed to untangle your panties. He spread your legs wider.

"Maybe I've been a little selfish lately." He mused. "Maybe you need something different than what I've been giving you? Hmm?"

You shook your head, unwilling to find out what fiendish ideas were on his mind.

"Why else would you need to touch yourself?"

His whisky and olive eyes were fixed on your nervous gaze.

"I want you to show me." His serious expression made you gasp.

"Wh-what? No, I-I can't."

"I wanna see what you've been doing that makes you cum so good people can hear you moaning in the next room."

You turned away.

Negan took hold of your wrist and set your hand down over your pussy.

"Show me." There was still anger in his voice and though you knew you would hate every second, you forced yourself to accept what you had to do.

You couldn't bare being watched this way. You closed your eyes. Hesitantly you ran your index and middle fingers through your folds. You repeated the same motion twice more. Then ran your finger tip lightly over your clitoris. You alternated between caressing your labia and stimulating the slowly engorging bundle of nerves at the apex of your sex. You breath quickened as you touched yourself, but Negan was dissatisfied.

He stopped you mid-motion, touching the back of your hand. You opened your eyes and looked up at him questioningly.

"I'm not saying I don't enjoy watching you rub one out, but that's not what I asked you to do. I told you to show me exactly how you touch yourself when you are alone. I wanna see everything you do just the way you would do it if I wasn't here."

Wasn't it enough to humiliate you the way he already was? You thought about what you would normally do and though it wasn't the sort of step by step process it sounded like he wanted, you knew how to get yourself there.

Then a problem occured to you. You tried to keep the panic off your face as you remembered what exactly it was that reliabley made you cum. The vibrator.

You sat up, but he was standing close, keeping you from raising.

"I-I need to get something."

He backed away just two steps, but it was enough for you to stand and go to the dresser. You could feel him watching you carefully as you bent down and retrieved your contraband from behind the piece of furniture. Before you got back onto the bed you undressed completely. You unwrapped your small vibrator and held it in your palm. Then you lay back and closed your eyes again.

You pressed the button for the lowest setting, it buzzed to life in your hand. You pressed it lightly to your folds, You moved it slowly across your pussy, circling your clit with it before taking it lower again. It felt incredible. You released a moan at the sensation. With your other hand you caressed your body, running your fingertips over your hip, your belly and then your breasts.

"Open your eyes." His voice had taken on the husky quality it had when he was turned on.

You obeyed. Your eyes were on his as you touched the vibrator to your clitoris this time. You pinched the nipple of one breast between your fingers then the other. You were breathing harder as you massaged your breasts in your hand.

You noticed Negan palm his erection through his pants. His eyes roamed slowly over your body. You whimpered as you reached down and slid your index and middle finger into your warmth.

"Oh fuck." Negan murrmured.

Slowly you began sliding your fingers in and out of your wet hole. You moved slowly deliberately drawing out your pleasure until you could feel yourself tightening around your fingers, clenching around them.

The sounds coming out of you now were beyond your control. You circled your clitoris with the vibrator before pressing it directly to your tender flesh. Your vision blurred. You squeezed tight around your fingers as an intense wave of pleasure coursed through you. Closing your eyes, you held the buzzing toy to your tender flesh as you reveled in the moment of exhaltation.

When it began to fade the stimulation became too much. You removed the vibrator and turned it off. You lay there panting, enjoying the feeling of lightness even as it ebbed.

You heard the clink of Negan's belt as he unbuckled it, heard him pull down the zipper. When you felt him brush against your thighs, you looked up at him.

The hunger in his eyes ate up his irises, pupils wide with lust. The head of his thick hard cock pressed into your entrance. You spread your legs wide and let him sink into your sopping wet heat. A pleasured sound, purr like in nature came from you as his length stretched your walls.

"Fucking heaven." He groaned as he buried himself in you.

He started moving in and out of you at a leasurely pace. From the half dazed expression on his face you knew he was enjoying every second of it. You rocked your hips toward him, meeting his every thrust as he began to speed up the pace.

A breathy groan fell from your lips as his curved shaft began to hit that particular spot inside of you that started a wave of heat radiating through your body.

He fucked deeper into your dripping pussy. You cupped your breasts with your hands and began massaging the soft skin, your nipples stiff against your palms. Negan's large palm stroked your skin, his finger tips skimmed over your round belly.

You could hear the suction noise of your pussy clenching around his cock. It made you whimper. He pulled one of your hands away from your breast. He leaned down covering your nipple with his mouth, lapping at the tight bud, sucking on it. The pressure building within you seemed to reach an impossible amount.

You whined with need. Negan pumped into you grinding his pelvis into yours, again, and again, and again. One more stroke of his shaft against your g spot set stars to bursting in front of your eyes. A sensation a kin to electricity shocked your senses, filling you with the sweet euphoria you craved. Negan continued to fuck you until he shuddered, reaching his peak and spilled into you.

Your breathing was harsh as you lay there with him bent half over you. You were startled to feel him brushing his lips against your breast. The gentle kisses he placed along your chest, bewildered you. Your eyes were trained on his face. With a satisfied sigh, Negan pulled out of you and stood. He straightened his clothing and you kept looking at him, staring, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I won't ask where you got this." He picked up the toy from beside your thigh. "because I get the feeling, I won't like the answer. I don't want to ruin the good mood I'm in." He observed the object in his hand for a moment and then he placed it on his night stand.

You rose and picked up your panties and bra with the intent to redress.

"Give them to me." He held his hand out.

You hung your panties and bra on his fingers and went to pick up your dress instead.

"And the dress."

You gazed warily at him, uncertain of his intentions.

"Hand it over." He said again.

Hesitantly, you held the dress out toward him. He took it, draping it over his arm.

"You don't need these anymore.This is how you're going to stay."

Your eyes widened.

"For how long?" You asked forlorn.

"Until I say otherwise." He grinned, a wide entirely too pleased with himself grin. "You are gonna wait here for me all day, every day. And I expect you to be ready for me whenever I feel like fucking you."

Your eyebrows raised, your mouth falling open as you understood your punishment.It seemed your sins had finally caught up with you after all. You were no longer his wife, you were his whore.

[babyapocalypse]

…..baby Trent (as I just saw the agere beam and fell in love), Courtney, and Heather play date?

IM ON IT 🫡 !! im not too good with writing baby Trent so I really hope this is okay.. my apologies

Trent, Courtney and Heather were all currently having a play date. Gwen was suppose to keep an eye on them, but got busy with Duncan and left them alone, which could eventually turn into something chaotic. All three littles were playing with their own toys, pretty peaceful for the time being. Heather was currently the youngest out of all of them, but she was still in a toddler headspace.

“Dos u guys wan play wif legos?” Trent asks, making puppy eyes at both of the little girls. They both nod, running over to get the big legos for little kids. “I say we build a castle.” Courtney scoffs, crossing her arms. By this point, Trent was already building a guitar, pretending to play it and giggling. “I wan castleeee” Heather whined, laying down on the floor. Trent noticed how they were both whining, waddling over to go help them.

“Les build a castl den!” Trent exclaims. They all work on a beautiful multi-colored castle, shockingly using teamwork. It ended up to be beautiful and tall. It fit all three of them, like a little play pen. “Otay now Twent.. you has to b a pwincess!” Courtney says, grabbing out the makeup and dresses.

They started by putting a Princess dress on Trent, then placing a crown on his head. Heather grabbed the makeup, putting it all over his face everywhere. He sat there, giggling at how it tickled. Once it was smeared on about every area of his face, they both clapped. “Wow twent, ur a real pwincess!” Heather says, grabbing out glitter glue. “Stay still..” she says, making his face glittery. He sat there, letting them absolutely destroy his face. Baby Trent wasn’t bad behaved at all, he just wanted everybody to be happy!

After Trent looked like a ‘real princess’ it was finally time to show everyone. Courtney held his hand, walking him down the steps. Heather was behind them, running quickly with her pacifier in her mouth and stuffed cat in her hand. Eventually, all three of them walked around the camp, showing off Trent’s new look.

“Uh.. who’s this? Are you new here! Hi im Lindsay!” Lindsay cheered, sticking out her hand ready to greet this mysterious person. “S just twent.” Heather says, giggling at Lindsay’s stupidity. “Ohh… it’s who?” Lindsay said, tilting her head like a puppy dog. Leshawna pulled Lindsay away before she could say any further.

Next up, they went to Bridgette. “Well, what do we have here little ones?” Bridge said, giggling the second she saw them. “Oh boy Trent!” She laughed, clearly amused by the horrific make up job. Trent giggled, knowing he looked horrific.

After everybody had seen Trent’s ‘fab look’ they went back over to the cabin. “We had fun wif u Trent!” Courtney and Heather said, waving as he went back over to his cabin.

“Les hab anofer play date soon!”

[5sos-saucyy]

————

You made Louis nervous, in a way he didn’t understand. Usually he always had something to say, it was hard to get him to shut up really. But with you, it was like he magically turned mute. When he first saw you, you were just standing there, watching him play piano. You were so quiet, he didn’t even realise you had come in. When he realised, he froze, there was just something about your stare. Your eyes. God he loved them. Then when you spoke, he swore he felt his heartbeat speed up ten times faster, for a second, he didn’t really process what you said.

“You’re really good.”

His cheeks went up into flames, no one’s ever actually complimented him on his piano skills, or on anything really. But he sat frozen, still in a daze.

“Um.. hello?”

“Oh! I’m sorry, i just- i- im sorry, thank you.”

And when you smiled at him. God, he thought you were so beautiful when you smiled, he felt lucky, out of all people, you were smiling at HIM? LOUIS? He thought he was going crazy.

————

“It’s unbelievable how you get him so shy and quiet.” Violet laughed,

“I don’t understand, usually we can’t get him to shutup.” Second Ruby, southern accent strong.

“I’m just special.” You said matter of factly.

“You are special…” finally spoke up Louis.

“Don’t make me puke.” Violet rolled her eyes saying so.

She got up, walked away making puking sounds.

“Me too,” the redhead followed.

“Guess it’s just me and you then.” You turned to Louis with a smirk. Seeing him shy away and shrink in the spot made you wanna laugh out loud. The power you had over him was impeccable. He didn’t seem to mind either.

“You’re so cute, you know that?”

He blushed, hiding his face in his freckled hands.

“Shut up..” he managed to muffle.

Your smirk just turned into a wide Cheshire Cat smile. You sat up, climbing onto his lap, knowing it would make him even more flustered. Anytime you touched him, in any way, goosebumps would just spread up his arms. Blush would spread up through his neck to his face, to the tip of his ears. It made your heart melt seeing the affect you had on him.

He stuffed his lit face into your neck, hiding it from you.

“You’re so evil.” He mumbled, his lips moving against your neck.

You grabbed his face, forcing him to look at you.

“I hate you..” he muttered.

“Do you thoughh” you giggled.

Slowly leaning in closer, he wrapped his arms around your face, looking like a touch starved puppy dog. Soon, your lips met. He made a little noise that sounded like relief. It made you giggle. You both smiled into the kiss.

————

Louis didn’t know what he was getting into the day he met you. But being with you, you were full of adventure and mystery. You lit something in him that he didn’t know was there before, but he was thankful. Because before you, it always felt like there was just something there, cold. But then there was you, and that cold spot within him lit up with warmth.

Yeah, the world ended, and he went through a lot to get to where he is now, but he’s never been happier.

The world may have ended, but he wouldn’t want to be with anyone else in the end of the world.

————

Written by muah

-Barnie.

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Biweekly Media Roundup

- All Saints Street (Anime) - All Saints Street is on crunchyroll now! I like how they consolidated the episodes into 6 normal length ones, as while I enjoy the theme song it's so much nicer to be able to marathon the show without having to skip past it every 3-8 minutes. A new season will be airing soon so I figured this would be a good time for a rewatch and to hop back into the comics, as last year I considered this series to be an incredibly underrated gem given how cute its art style is, how good its comedy can be, and how likable all the characters are. It helps of course that I adore monsters, and this upcoming season will be including Crystal, one of my favorite characters from the webcomic. I hope they include the running plot of Nick accidently dating his coworker as well, as any scenario involving Nick being a cringe fail pathetic mess is top tier.

- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Video Game) - I've been aware of the shoot a man war simulator franchise that is Call of Duty for a long while now and never in a million years did I think I'd ever be interested in playing one. And I still think that, as I haven't played one and never plan to. But. Some monster-loving blogs I like have been posting a lot of monster AUs about this particular cast so I went ahead and checked out some of the relevant canon plot/character interactions that would let me understand the context of the cool art and fics that I wanted to check out. The monster ones ended up being pretty fun so I checked out some of the non-monster ones too and again, some pretty solid fan works out there.

- Nimona (Movie) - I just watched this today so I do need some time to stew on it, but my first thoughts are that it's super cute and I had a lot of fun with it. I love how it looks, Ballister's design with his big puppy eyes and wet pathetic cat energy is great as is Nimona's with her pointy teeth and fun expressions, and how odd but fun the medieval yet also futuristic setting is. It's great to see a solid mlm couple in a movie aimed towards children as typically only wlw get that luxury, and as a non-binary/trans narrative I think it works pretty well. The found family aspect between Ballister and Nimona is of course great to see as well. There are some things I think could have been executed better, I wasn't too crazy about at least 50% of the comedy and I think the movie could get a little too predicable at times, but those are pretty small complaints for what was a very cute, wholesome, and visually impressive movie.

- Heavenly Delusion (Anime) - Probably my favorite of the season, This was a really solid first season - It's an interesting world and mystery, they don't overexplain things and are good at letting moments sit, the main characters were likable, and the pacing was really good considering how often we would receive satisfying foreshadowing that answered just enough to keep us invested while opening up all sorts of new questions.

- Oshi no Ko (Anime) - Once again I find myself at a crossroads of acknowledging that a piece of media not going in the direction that I wanted it to doesn't make it bad, but also being unable to separate my feelings of disappointment on the lost potential from my feelings on the show as a whole. I did enjoy this show, and I appreciate the behind the scenes looks at celebrity culture/show business and how it doesn't shy away from the darker and commercialized nature of it all, but with it springing between a reincarnation story to a murder mystery to a revenge plot to an actor career drama to an idol show, I just never felt like the focus was a strong as it needed it to be to keep me invested in the overarching plot. The weird age gap + First love but also new mother/brother/sister thing was also. A lot. That really didn't feel necessary when they could've just made the twins oddly intelligent children and gone from there. As I said before, I do love Skip Beat style narratives of actors working out how to get into character and affect the acting of those around them, so if it keeps doing that I will be interested in sticking around, but while I like the female characters more as characters their idol storyline is far less interesting, especially given how much the narrative is pushing that being an idol and idol culture is kind of awful actually, so maybe y'all should work towards a less toxic dream. Oh well, I don't mean to be so negative, the show did a lot of interesting things, including surprisingly portraying Youtuber and steamer culture in a realistic manner, and I did quite like the pseduo-main character of Kana Arima. I'll likely watch more but it's such a weird mix of ehhhhh and ehh actually maybe? That I wouldn't really recommend it to someone who isn't warned of a lot of weird stuff in advance.

- Ranking of Kings (Anime) - In retrospect it would have been nice to know that this season was more of a "additional content leading into the true continuation of the story" rather than a true second season from the beginning, as it would have saved me from watching the whole thing through a lens of "this is nice but uh when is plot going to happen?". Separated from that I am glad I watched it, it was nice to see Queen Hilling again, they did some fun things with the animation, and the last few episodes where we got some context for the Underworld brothers and the way demons work was pretty solid.

- Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (Video Game) - Alright, so getting back into it, the 3rd and 4th cases were pretty neat. I don't much care about the optics of HOW the murders were committed, as I feel like that aspect is far more interesting from a player standpoint when you yourself are figuring out vs the observer standpoint where you just want to see the story play out, but the characters this time were pretty fun, and I like the way the plot is progressing as far as the main characters are involved. For the 3rd case, the 3 friends all confessing to a murder they didn't commit in order to protect the other ones who they think could have done it was quite sweet and made for a good story, and for the 4th case the lesbian mad scientist robot lady Blackquill was a great addition. Going into the last section of the game I've unfortunately already been spoiled to the true culprit, but it's still very satisfying to see Athena and Blackquill and other Blackquill play off each other and deal with their trauma. I'm still excited to see how the game will end, after which I'll probably put a hold on the mainline series to look at the Investigation spin-offs before finishing up with Spirit of Justice, which a lot of people claim is the series highlight.

- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Video Game) - Okay actually now that I'm willing to explore it more the Depths are pretty neat. Also Tulin is my son and I love him.

- Crazy Ex Girlfriend (TV) - Yup.

Listening to: Let's Get This Over With by They Might Be Giants, Read Between the Lines by Tom Cardy, Ways to Go By GroupLove, Deathly Loneliness Attacks cover by SirHamnet, LosT by Bring Me the Horizon, Comatose by Skillet, Human by Gabrielle Aplin, Good Girls and Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer, Nothing Good by Lea Salonga, That's What I Want by Lil Nas X, After Everything You Made Me Do and I Give Good Parent from Crazy Ex Girlfriend.

[w-i-m-p]

Visit

Thank you for your visit on the night of June 3rd, 211 days… I wonder if that’s significant. I’m so grateful that you could find us after the move. I was so worried. I love you.

The dreams was so mundane but… I would take any old mundane over the harsh reality that you’re gone. I was always so jealous that you went to see Mama so many times. Maybe she needed it more? To ground her in this reality and to verify that what we did was the right thing to do… I just chalked it up to the fact that I wasn’t ready. That maybe… maybe you didn’t visit me to save me more despair. But after we fully moved in… not even a full week afterwards, you came to tell me you found me. I miss you my sweet boy. I still cry from time to time, but don’t worry. It’s just because of how much I love you. I hope you’re doing well, making friends, updating your uncle about his two daughters maybe, eating roast pork and grilled cheese, chasing all the squirrels. Maybe you even caught up to them and made them into your buddies.

Ever since you came here, I noticed that my thoughts of you aren’t as painful. Like I said… I still cry but my refractory time is longer. We all miss you. Mama’s thinking about getting another puppy. If we do, it’s not to replace you okay? It’s so that your sister is not so lonely. She’s growing up so fast. I wish that I could have loved you the right way from the beginning. I wish I could have shown you how good I can be. I’m sorry my sweet boy. We love you and we’ll never not think of you fondly and of how much you did for our little family. See you soon okay? Don’t be a stranger. But have fun and enjoy yourself.

My first dream with him after it happened, on June 3rd, 2023

I was traveling to South Korea but it seemed like Los Angeles. I was with some family at my old apartment. Boomer and Luna were doing pretty well. Not like when he was young but definitely before syringing him food and water. We were all joking about stuff like everything was normal. I walked Boo and he was still pulling on the leash like he was looking for a squirrel. Later he was sleeping and then he woke up to immediately poop so I just held my hands under his butt and carried it over to the toilet. There were some red blotches in the poop so I asked you if someone could check if it was blood. I flushed it. And I felt the urge to tell my grad schoolmates that he made a full recovery. That 11/4 never happened and he was all good so far.

Postscript.

As I was showering.. flashes came into my mind of all the little moments I wish we could have had. Running around us while we’re taking care of the lawn. Playing tag with your sister. Using the turf (who am I kidding, you wouldn’t have used it lol). Running up and down the halls when you hear crinkling plastic. Sun bathing in the living rooms (if your sister hadn’t marked it yet). Sitting in the restroom with us. Chasing the squirrels around. Getting scared by/scaring the neighborhood cats. Taking a walk to your favorite auntie’s house.

But then I have to live with the reality that if you were still here… you wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of it. Mama would have been VERY overworked. And very tired.

Then… I think about all the what-ifs…

What if we caught it sooner?

What if I was compliant with the medication for you?

What if we opted for the surgery?

What if I went to school earlier?

What if I decided to stay home and take care of you?

What if I helped out more at the wedding?

What if we didn’t stall on getting the venue?

What if I proposed earlier?

What if we started looking for a house earlier?

What if we saved more aggressively?

What if…?

What if.

The only thing I can sit in comfort knowing is that we spared no expense and we focused on your comfort (maybe less so in the end, but we were sleep deprived and weren’t ready to say our goodbyes… sorry =\)