aterat | Something Small And Wrinkly This Way Comes!

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Something Small And Wrinkly This Way Comes!

Who; Whoever wants to tag in!
What; One Closed + Two Open
Where; Apartments, Park, Gullwings Office
When; July 26th
Warnings; Adorable wrinkles (A PUPPER), but otherwise I will update if serious things occur!

Note:If anyone wants something specific they are welcome to let me know!

The Arrival - Closed to Rhy

Llewellyn had left for the office, amusingly dragging his heels the whole time. He had never been much of a morning person, and it was harder still to motivate himself to leave when he woke up curled against his husband.

But gone he had, after breakfast and some light fussing with his notes (there were still several trailing towards the door where they’d fallen) he bid Rhy farewell and wished him a good day… And a small, soft promise that if he was going to be late, he’d call. Something said a little more frequently of late after his run in a month ago, a promise Llewellyn did his best to keep.

What the detective hadn’t expected was staying regularly at Rhy’s building would present a rather odd ‘wrinkle’ in someone else’s day.

Outside his apartment in the blue building, some might have noticed a basset hound pup next to a hat box, pawing at the door and making the most annoyed sounds in an attempt to get in. He was smallish, at that funny awkward stage where his paws were a bit large compared to his legs, and his ears were still dragging so low on the floor that he would very easily trip upon them if he got too excited.

But his attention on the door went on for a good ten minutes or so, before the dog let out an annoyed little sneezing sound and turned his wrinkly body to pad downstairs and waited for someone to open the door with all the patience of a dog who knew the world wasn’t made for someone as short as he. Once the door opened, he bolted across the square. Ears dragging and nose snuffling fiercely as he followed the scent trail of who he was looking for from one building to the next. His patient wait was repeated as he came upon the building that had the strongest scent, dashing under people’s legs as he came to a stop in front of the door he was looking for and resumed pawing at it.

Eventually, he let out one of his more impressive howls in hopes of getting the attention of whoever was inside. He was sure that at least one of his fathers was within!

Burning off some energy - OTA

The park had quickly become one of Llewellyn’s favourite places since the festival. It reminded him so much of his world, in many good ways. He had a lot of happier memories tied to the park there. It had been a bit of a safe space… When he wasn’t feeling welcome at his first place of work, it had become his ‘office’, so to speak. It was open, easy to avoid being crowded. The sun above, and nice scenery to look at.

Now that he looked back on it? It seemed like a missed opportunity on his part that he’d never had a dog before. Pretzel clearly enjoyed it as much as he did, racing around in the grass and sniffing around for all the interesting new scents that definitely had not been present in their last world. There was life here, after all.

At some point, Llewellyn realized he was going to need to get the dog a proper harness and leash again. Even if he was trained to listen to some commands pretty well, it was hard to deter a dog who had never experienced the great outdoors in such a literal sense before. There were so many sights, sounds, smells, and creatures he’d never seen before!

Pretzel, as Llewellyn had noted, was extremely sociable. He delighted in attention and wasn’t afraid to dart up to someone to try to get pats or handouts if he noticed another person around. Aside from people in their last world, he’d even made friends with some very unlikely creatures (including both rabbits and wolves).

So… Say hello to the ridiculous, wrinkly creature tripping over his own ears in front of you!

Bring Your Pup To Work Day - OTA

Llewellyn wasn’t entirely sure about leaving Pretzel cooped up in the apartment all day at either of his or Rhy’s places. If one of them were off for a day, sure the pup would get all the attention he needed. But otherwise, he was a growing dog who was at that awkward stage of growth, reasonably well trained but still prone to puppy-mischief. Plus, it was hard to get stern with the canine for his mischief when he already had the most sad, lethal puppy-dog-eyes in existence. It was probably Pretzel’s greatest weapon, and given how spoiled he was? He knew how to use it.

So… Leaving the pup along would just result in Llewellyn’s shoes being chewed up again and who knew what other kinds of messes that only a dog could think of making.

People working would either look down to see a wrinkly pup staring up at them, maybe hoping for ear scritches or a little piece of whatever they might have been eating. Surely other people kept snacks at their desk like his father… right? Of course, Llewellyn was quick to apologize if he caught sight of Pretzel disturbing someone, or exploring where he shouldn’t. “Uh- sorry, he’s friendly! Just… A little stubborn.”

Like him, maybe.

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Rhy was also not the greatest morning person. He was just lucky because his place of work was not only closer, but started later in the day. So he had the advantage of being home when the scratching noise started. He frowned at first, not as certain about what was going to be on the other side of the door. But that howl...

In his haste to get up Rhy pushed the chair back too fast and it clattered to the floor. He almsot tripped himself up in the thing as he rushed to the door. And when he threw it open he found the dog.

"Pretzel?" he asked in shock. Could it be?"

The dog ceased howling when his oversized ears caught the sounds of life inside again, tail thumping lightly against the floor as he scratched at the door a little more insistently. Someone was in there!

When Rhy opened the door, the pup found himself delighted by the sight of one of his two favourite people. The one who spoiled him and picked him up! How excellent. He was tired of running around as much as he had to get from one place to another. Llewellyn lived on the second floor of the blue building. Stairs had been tricky!

So the Pretzel wiggled wildly in greeting, almost folding in half as he let out some excited barks in a joyful greeting of ‘Hello! I missed you!’

Pretzel! Rhy resisted the urge to make a loud, pleased noise. He knew that he had agreed with Llewellyn that carrying had to stop, but to have Pretzel just there? He stooped down and gathered Pretzel right into his arm, picking him up and closing the door with a foot.

"Oh my lovely widdle pupper," Rhy cooed as he headed for the kitchen. "Gonna get you water. Are you thirsty widdle boy? And food. Snacks for Pretzel."

Yes, he might have to beg off of work to get what they might need for their boy. And then taken him to Llewellyn.

Pretzel definitely approved of being scooped up. Really, why wouldn’t he be scooped up? That was just Llewellyn being very silly, in the pup’s opinion. Besides! Now he could rub his fuzzy face all over Rhy’s for proper greeting kisses! His nose pressing excitedly against Rhy’s cheek as he wiggled.

Happy little whines escaping because: Yes! He was very thirsty, and snacks!! Definitely all the snacks for Pretzel! Because that was him!

It was probably a good idea to pick a few things up. They certainly were going to need to have their little fluff-butt around again. There was a lot more in this world that he could get tempted by and thus trouble to get into. Not to mention puppy things around the apartment.

That said, Llewellyn was going to be delighted.

"Ooooh my baby fluffer butt," Rhy praised as he took the dog to the kitchen and put him down on the floor so he could get out bowls. "I don't have much for you right now, but I think I still have some ham meant for lunch. Let me just chop it up into smaller pieces for you."

Once he had a full bowl of water he put it on the floor. Then he pulled the ham from the fridge and found a knife.

"Llew is going to be so happy to see you."

The pup made a silly little half whine, half bark as he was settled on the floor. Sitting next to Rhy's feet expectantly until the water and ham had been placed down for him, then he descended upon both eagerly (though his attention zeroed in on the ham first) to have his fill.

The pup paused, an intelligent tilt of his head and his ears perked up at the name 'Llew', he had not seen his father yet! Which meant the pup darted off with his nose to the floor and his ears dragging around his feet as he tried to catch the man's scent again. Was he hiding somewhere in this weird apartment place?

Rhy was happy to get the little pup fed, and when that was done he smiled and picked up the bowls to clean them.

"Hold on, little one," he laughed as he dried a bowl. "We need to pack for the day. A bowl for drinking, water for you. Money. Bags for clean up."

He had learned some of being a good dog parent. And he knew that they had to prepare for a day.

"You're lucky I don't have a leash. YOu're going to have to be carried."

Rhy had gotten quite good at being a good dog parent. Llewellyn had trusted his husband with Pretzel completely when they'd been at the sphere. So even if he didn't know Pretzel was here now, he wouldn't have worried in the least. Rhy was better at remembering things than he was sometimes, after all.

The pup at least whirled around though when he realized he was being spoken to and tripping on an ear as he made his way back over to Rhy. Pretzel let out a little questioning whine as he righted himself, almost as if to say 'Of course! Uppies!! We must find other father!'

Oh what a cute boy. Rhy knelt down for a nice vigorous petting before he rose again to gather his bag and stuff it with things for the day. Bowls, bottle of water, a few pieces of dried meat that he'd meant as a snack for himself and would now be for Pretzel, and once that was on, he reached down to scoop the little pup up.

"Alright. First I have to go to work and tell them I will be in this evening instead to finish my projects."

Pretzel wiggled happily at the attention before he settled for following Rhy around while he gathered his things. Nose up in the air as he smelled the dried meat being stowed away in the bag. That would be quite a nice treat later! Being picked up definitely got an excited round of puppy kisses again before he settled while the man explained what their day was going to entail, and he seemed to approve as he eventually settled his little head on Rhy’s shoulder in contentment with this whole being carried around thing.

Definitely an excellent start to his first day in this weird new world!

It takes nearly two hours for Rhy to do the work of getting himself ready to see Llewellyn. Talking to his boss and then finding a few shops to ask for some essentials for their little mutt, leaving with an agreement and written instructions for Llewellyn to pick things up either after work or the next morning.

Eventually, though, he got to the Gullwings office, and just outside he put Pretzel down. He thought perhaps the pup might appreciate the being able to scent that his father was around. Only when the pup was ready did he open the door.

"Llewellyn, dear, I hope your boss doesn't mind pets."

Pretzel definitely enjoyed it. He spent a great deal of his time sniffing the air while they were out and about. Smelling around for Llewellyn, perhaps, but also curiously at the world in general. It was odd. There was so much more to smell than there was where he was before! So many odd sounds, the large birds running around giving him a start now and again.

But when Rhy put him down, he shoved his nose to the ground and started doing his little tracker thing again as he had around the apartment. There was definitely a familiar scent to this place, even from the doorway outside!

Llewellyn had his nose buried in a pile of papers, and while Jagger could definitely tell who was whose, Llewellyn sometimes squinted at one and set it aside for his colleague to return to his desk where he’d probably accidentally grabbed it from or borrowed it. He hadn’t expected to hear from Rhy that day, not unless he stopped into the tailor shop when he went out for lunch in the afternoon. So his head shot up, brow furrowing lightly at the question. “Rhy? Uh- I’m not sure, I’ve never asked- “And then he stopped, because Pretzel had made a mad dash inside as soon as the door was open.

The pup took a direct route to the desk, tripping a few times and ultimately skidding to a wiggling, rolling halt at Watts’ feet. “What...? Rhy? That’s?” Give him a minute, his surprise softening to something that was a mixture of joy and relief to see their little wrinkle was really there.

He wasted no time in scooping Pretzel up to give him a delighted hug, scratching behind the dog’s ear lightly in just the way that he liked it. “You little sneak, I can’t believe it!” The pup didn’t answer other than to let out a series of excited yips and barks as he had with Rhy, greeting him in much the same fashion as he tried to smush his face against Llewellyn’s cheek as the man finally looked to his husband, both delighted and bewildered. “How is he here? I’m really seeing him, right? When??”

Rhy closed the door behind him and chuckled before heading further into the office. He made his own way over to his husband's desk and offered quite a quite to him.

"Love, he followed me home. Can I keep him?" Rhy teased.

"Hey- now stop wiggling so much before I drop you, bud." He mumbled at the puppy's antics a moment later, but Pretzel only got more excited when Rhy joined them. His head darting from one to the other as he sat in Llewellyn's arms. His family! He had both his favourite people! This was the best day for a pup!

A small laugh escaped at his husband’s teasing. “I uh- don’t know, dear. He could be a troublemaker for all we know> Look at how he wiggles! I bet he steals food and hearts.” He tried to keep his tone serious, but ultimately failed when he felt a cold nose pressed against his cheek again with a whine. “Oh, I missed you so much...” Llewellyn mumbled, “I don’t understand how he got here, but it’s the best surprise.”

Llewellyn got to his feet, keeping Pretzel cuddled close as he moved over to Rhy. He was definitely not working now, Jagger would have to forgive him, but... Their little family was together, and it had been months since they got here... He wasn’t going to be able to focus.

"He was at my door this morning, howling for attention like he does if he's been looking for us for a while and we've been ignoring him," Rhy answered, leaning against the edge of the desk. "He's already had ham for breakfast."

Then he was reaching into his pocket to pull out paper receipts. "I've started putting in orders for things to help us keep him fed. It seems no one does the dry food like the Sphere provided. So I've been to the woman in the market that has that old bloodhound that sleeps at her feet, the one at the good produce. I asked for her advice. She adored Pretzel, by the way. Said carrots are safe to feed him and let him nibble on one."

ALready their pup was doing the greatest friendship work.

"She instructed me on the best place to get feed and how to put it together. So I put in orders for supplies at a few stands. Ours will last longer than hers because of the fridge. These show what stalls and shops to go to that I've already paid at and we'll need pick ups from."

“Ham for breakfast, well aren’t you a lucky pup.” Llewellyn said, holding the pup carefully to give him a few more good ear scratches as he listened to his husband explain. “But this morning? I must have just missed him...” He murmured, still staring at the little creature like he might disappear on them. “I assure you, Pretzel. We definitely didn’t mean to miss you or ignore you, hm?” The pup let out a little whine, finally settling enough to hang in the other’s hold comfortably.

But that was... Quite a lot of work that Rhy had done, and Llewellyn’s eyes widened at the receipts and lists. “You two have clearly been very busy, my love.” The detective smiled softly. Of course Pretzel would be making friends already! He was a friendly little dog, in a world with much that he wasn’t used to. The mental image of the small basset hound tripping over himself to make friends with a large bloodhound was rather adorable...

Taking the list of places they’d need to pick things up from, reading over it. “I can certainly grab these later once they’re ready.” It was only right, after all. Rhy had gone to all the trouble of finding this stuff for their little fluff-butt.

“This is amazing though, Rhy. Can’t have our little Pretzel going hungry, now can we, buddy?” He added with a glance to the pup, whose tail thumped against him lightly. “We’ll need a leash, I think? Something for walks again. He was starting to do well back at the Sphere with not bolting but... There’s uh- an awful lot more for him to see here.”

"I may have taken the morning off of work," Rhy admitted. "I'll have to pull my work in this evening instead. So I'll have to give him over to you. I don't know where we're going to get a leash or a collar. Perhaps a leather worker? I could ask the master at the shop where that might work out unless you have other ideas."

“I was going to ask about that. I know you’re usually at the tailor shop by now.” He commented, but smiled gently. “I’ll certainly be able to take him, though. We can pick things up and have some one-on-one time as you did this morning, right?” He rubbed Pretzel’s snout lightly before glancing back to Rhy. “I admit, I may not be able to focus much now myself...”

Llewellyn grinned a little, “Besides, puppy fur all over a tailor shop would probably be frowned upon.” As much as he was sure that Pretzel thought it would be quite in fashion. “But I expect he won’t be a problem here? No one will mind if he curls up on a pillow or something for a few hours.”

The comment gets a hum. “A leather worker probably would be our best bet. I don’t know if I’ve seen many stores for animal-care beyond the ones for some of the larger ones in the city. Maybe I’ll have a word with the woman at the market as you did, though? She may have more advice for use yet.”

Until then... “I guess this means the ‘pick up and carry Pretzel around less’ rule will have to be put on hold for a bit.” Does he sound bothered? No, how could he when they hadn’t seen the wrinkly puppy in so long. “We should take him to the park though... He hasn’t ever seen a proper park before.”

Well, a lack of focus made sense. Rhy laughed in delight over the idea.

"I don't know if he'll be allowed at the shop before his obedience training finishes," Rhy continued. Because they couldn't risk the dog chewing up the stock there. So no doubt the pupper was about to become a detective doggo. But Rhy would figure it out sooner or later.

"Oh yes, he was very pleased with a drop of that rule. The way he looked at me for upsies was rather intense. I expect he noticed the lack of leash by the door and knew he could get away with it."

“Yes, I’ll have to work on refreshing is training in general, I expect. We’ll have plenty of time for that, though.” It would be nice, even, to get back to teaching Pretzel. Sometimes the little dog caught on incredibly fast (if it was something cute to use to get treats or attention later) or slower if it seemed boring.

Llewellyn couldn’t help but laughing a little, “You are a little operator, aren’t you?” He said with a little glance at the pup and pat to his head. “He’s he was already pretty incorrigible when it came to begging to be carried around before, he’s going to take advantage of this for as long as he can.”

Llewellyn grinned a little, “Maybe once he’s better trained and can follow you to work, he can model some little doggy-coats for you.” He joked a little. A detective doggo with a flair for fashion. It was almost story-book worthy.

"He absolutely will. I would say, though, that with your work here he might be more useful than he was in the Sphere. Given the city doesn't move around all the time, he could actually use his sniffer well here."

Doggy. Coats. Rhy's eyes light up.

"Doggy investigation vest and hat!

Llewellyn had to admit, Rhy might have a good point there... Pretzel’s favourite game was already ‘find the toy!’ when they’d been working on scent tracking. Maybe he could help with missing people around the city. “He just might. He did manage to find you this morning from... Wherever he came from?” The Detective’s brow rose a little. He really couldn’t fathom how this worked.

At his husband’s excited tone, Llewellyn felt another warm smile cross his face. “He did have that little rain coat back at the sphere, even if it hadn’t been necessary for weather there. Maybe there might even be a market such things here, hm?” Laughing a little, he tilted his head at Pretzel. “You would probably look good in a hat and coat, wouldn’t you, Pretzel? All professional and stylish.”

"I don't know. I really don't. I'm impressed that he managed the stairs," Rhy answered. Because it was clear the little one had, from how he'd reacted to going down them. The Sphere hadn't exactly had a lot of stairs.

Which makes him realize something.

"He'll need a doggie bed."

Oh all the things they could do to spoil him.

“I don’t know if I ever had an occasion to see him using stairs, the sphere was very single-leveled for its buildings. Or at least I didn’t frequent any that had more than one floor.” He adjusted his hold on Pretzel, still cuddling him. Honestly, it was just so nice to have the little guy... Settled his nerves, to have everyone back together again.

A doggie bed! A very good idea, “I wonder what we can find, maybe a basket with some pillows could work? For now, anyway.” Llewellyn shook his head a little, “Because he’d have a harder time getting into our bed given it’s taller here than the one at the sphere.” He chuckled a little. Pretzel did love sneaking in to cuddle with his people when he could get away with it.

"Well, he's definitely not going ot be able to get onto the bed without help now," Rhy agreed. Even when he grew up that didn't seem likely. For now he offered a smile and leaned in to kiss Llewellyn's forehead.

"Now if only my brother were here."

But he knew better than to hope for that when he was already doubly blessed.

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