Something Small And Wrinkly This Way Comes!

[gadaboutdetective]

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.

Comments

[gadaboutdetective]

Llewellyn admittedly hadn’t been able to do much to help around the shop for a few weeks after he hurt his arm in the weird garbage-monster-spirit attack. He’d felt quite bad about that, having come to enjoy his time learning from Aerith.

So he would be quite pleased to see her and find out how she’d been once he caught sight of her, but at the moment he was occupied with trying to find Pretzel. The pup was far quicker than he expected that he would be on those stubby legs, and it seemed his progress with obedience training had... backslid a little.

Hard for it to not when there were so many new sights and sounds, though! The pup wiggled insistently at Aerith, little yips in greeting. She was, after all, going to be a new friend in his opinion! Did she like to play? Did she like treats? Did she like to pick puppers up and cuddle them!?

Important questions, you know.

Of course, it wasn’t meant to last, as Llewellyn’s voice could be heard not far off. A slight edge of panic to his tone as he was still trying to spot the dog. “Pretzel?? Pretzel, where have you gotten to, bud? You know this isn’t going to earn treats. I’m going to tell Rhy to not give you upsies for... three days if you don’t come out!” Yes. Llewellyn knew dogs didn’t really respond to full sentences, but it was a habit, and Pretzel still seemed to notice his voice.

When he wanted to, anyway. And right now? He wanted to make a new friend instead.

[cetrary]

After a little tilt of her head Aerith put down what she was holding in order to give her full attention to her excited looking new friend. She started with the ears and then just kept on enthusiastically giving him a generous amount of attention. "You like this?" she asked with a laugh. There was no denying the dog liked it and she couldn't help but smile brightly at it. At least it was nice to see something so happy and innocent for a change. The dog's ears perked up when a voice called out and she stood up to turn to wave at Llewellyn as he came towards them both.

"I guess we found your dad, huh?" at least that was what it sounded like from what he was saying. "Is this your little friend? Could you really deny a face like that...upsies?" No, there was probably no denying this little guy anything.

[gadaboutdetective]

The pup loved the attention, especially on his ears. Yes, Aerith was going to be another one of his new favourite people. Pretzel did adore being spoiled with attention, and she had a nice energy about her that didn’t put him on guard at all, as some people might.

At the words ‘Dad,’ Pretzel seemed to remember he’d been out with someone. His ears perking and his wrinkly face swiveling excitedly to let out one of his louder barks as he spotted the detective. Clearly eager to show off the new friend he’d made, his tail thumping happily against the grass.

Llewellyn’s shoulders sagged a little with relief as he spotted Aerith and Pretzel, ending his rather panicked hunt. They really needed to find a harness and leash set. His training wasn’t quite sticking when there were so many new sights and smells around in this world. At her question, he offered her a grateful smile. “Indeed, he is. Newly arrived a few days ago. So he’s quite excited to explore.” The detective responded with a smile, crouching down next to her to offering a few good ear scratches to the pup’s head.

“I can certainly try to deny him, but it is very hard. Although, Rhy is far more likely to give in on the matter of upsies first.” It was adorable and amusing how much his husband doted on the pup. One day, Pretzel would be quite heavy and it would be a problem.

[cetrary]

"Are you excited, buddy?" she said with a bright smile as she gave him a few more pats. "Lots of places to explore, people to meet, and treats to get, huh?" she frowned slightly and tapped her lip thoughtfully. "I don't have any treats though I'm afraid. Maybe I'll have to start carrying some." She might actually consider that if she was going to have a new little friend running around. She tilted her head inquisitively towards Llewellyn.

"Where did he come from?" Then she put a hand up to try to cover her burst of laughter at the word upsies again. Why was that so funny? "Is that so? I figured you'd both be tied for giving in about upsies."

[gadaboutdetective]

So many things to explore, scents to smell, people to meet, and definitely treats to eat. But Pretzel was a gracious pup, and he would forgive Aerith for not having treats today. She was giving him excellent pats and ear rubs, after all, and that definitely counted for something!

Llewellyn shook his head a little at the question, it was still a bit weird to think about it. "Pretzel is actually a puppy I was granted while at the Sphere. Rhy and I didn't expect we'd get to see the little guy again, but he showed up along with my hat a few days ago." And he got the distinct feeling that Raimon had delivered on the request, but he hadn't gotten back to the curio shop to talk to him about it. He hadn't really believed the man's boasting about getting just about anything before, but he did now.

Llewellyn blinked a little at her laughter, a sheepish smile crossing his face as he realized why she probably laughed. He had learned a lot of fun words that he normally wouldn't have used before, it was the magic of being fascinated with languages and being around people from different worlds and eras. Sometimes? Sometimes he might even break out the word 'cool' if given a reason to. "Well, I've been trying to get his training sorted, and one of us has to be the strict one... right?" Another funny mental image.

"I read that a fully grown basset hound weighs about Sixty-three pounds on average. So it seems rather smart to break him of his need to be carried around all the time."

[cetrary]

"Pretzel, huh?" Why was she not surprised by this name? She smiled though, it was a cute name to go with a cute little buddy. "Wait, it came from the other place you were in? That's..." she rubbed the back of her neck and tilted her head down as she looked at the little guy. "That's weird." Weird seemed like a pretty nice way to put that actually. It was beyond weird and it made her wonder a lot of things about this place and the people that had brought them here.

"Mm...someone has to be the dad, right?" It was always the dad that was the strict one, wasn't it? "Put their finger down and lay down the law." Though, in all honesty, she really couldn't see him being that person. She didn't know Rhy well enough to be able to tell if she could see him being that person either. Somehow she just kinda figured the dog at the run of things.

"Ooooor maybe you two just need to start working out more. Get ready to do some heavy lifting!"

[gadaboutdetective]

“Yup... I admit, some questioned me on that name.” He responded with an awkward chuckle. He hadn’t really had to name something before. But it was short and cute, like the pup, and he’d been told shorter names were good for training purposes. “I know I probably should have questioned his appearance here a little more after everything that’s been happening of late... But we were so happy to see him?”

Llewellyn hummed a little, crouching down to give Pretzel some attention himself. “So, it’s weird, but It’s also nice to have him back.” The detective fussed with one of the dog’s ears a bit. “I didn’t really understand before how easily attached people got to their animals, but Rhy and I found ourselves a bit lost without him around.”

The dad, huh? Llewellyn found that kind of funny to think about. He supposed Pretzel was kind of like their kid with how they treated him. A fuzzy, silly, adorable one. “Hm... I suppose you make a good point. He makes laying down the law a bit difficult, though, too darn cute. But! I do have to try. Otherwise he’ll be running things, won’t you, bud?” He already did, in a way. Those sad eyes were horrible weapons. Llewellyn was only marginally better at ‘being the dad’ than Rhy was most days.

... There had been a child back in his own world that he tried to look in on at the local boy’s home. He never would have been able to adopt him, but he liked to make sure the kid was okay and bring him books and stuff. To provide what the people running the place certainly wouldn’t.

Llewellyn was soft at the end of the day, even when he tried not to be. “Weight training, hm? That’s an uh... a rather funny mental image.” He added with a small laugh. “I suppose If I did, I could lug some of the heavier things around for you when your bodyguard isn’t around.” He added, maybe joking, maybe not.

[cetrary]

“Did they? Maybe they were just concerned about your pretzel addiction," she said with a finger tap to her chin as she tried to hide her smile. It was nice to tease a bit after so much had happened. Especially since Aerith tended to go with hiding her negative emotions 9.9 times out of 10. She gave a little sheepish shrug at his follow up statement. "Maybe. But....I don't think this place itself actually means us harm. So maybe it's possible it was a gift meant to be nice?" At least nothing about her very small interactions with the planets spirit had given her the impression it wanted to harm them. There was something else here that might want to, maybe a few things actually, but the planet itself? It seemed pretty innocent and young. Too young to really have malicious motivations.

She smiled down at both of them. "I met someone back home recently who was very attached to his cats. Some people are just animal people, I guess." There was a considerable amount of fondness in her voice.

"Awww," she tilted her head to the side. "Do you really have to try though? Can't you just let him have his rightful place as the leader of the household? Look at that face. That's the face of a leader." Or at the very least it was the face of someone who would use their adorableness to force themselves into the position of leader.

"Something tells me he might be happy to have someone else take the job."There was no denying she bossed Cloud around here and there. Or maybe a bit more than just here and there. Someone had to keep him out of trouble, right? "But I might appreciate the help. I'm getting close to getting everything together to open up!"

[gadaboutdetective]

“I don’t know that I’d use the term addiction.” He responded with an awkward grin. Which, was to say, he did have a pretzel addiction. Everyone would say so, and he corrupted Rhy with them as well. He kept stands in business with his habit and absurd appetite, honestly. “They’re a convenient and delicious breakfast, or lunch, or snack…”

Llewellyn at least knew well enough now to know that Aerith was probably right. She did have her way of knowing things about the world itself. It was good to know, of course, but it was hard to not worry about the other powers that influenced the world. And… Running into people you knew, who weren’t the people you knew, had shaken him up a bit. Pretzel could have been one of those things for all he knew, but he and Rhy had been so happy to see the pup, the thought had gone from his mind. Maybe he was getting a little too lax, in some ways, or maybe he’d been doing better at learning to trust than he used to be. “Mm… You make a very good point, Aerith… And if it was a gift meant to be nice, I am grateful for it... We really did miss the little guy, as much as we tried to not think about it.”

Llewellyn raised a brow curiously, “Is that so? Cats are rather charming in their own way. I had more experience with them growing up than with dogs.” Which was why Pretzel had been such an interesting change. “The landlady had one, it was a bit aloof… But sometimes it liked attention.” The detective stifled a small laugh as she gestured to Pretzel’s face. “I suppose it would save us all a lot of time if we did let him run things. Rhy does treat him like a little prince already.” He’d taken care of everything they could possibly need for a puppy in a very short time. It had been quite sweet.

“I’ll just be glad if we can get his training sorted. This world has so much more to see and smell that he’s been pretty distracted.” Although it helped some, Llewellyn thought, to have it all laid out as a game with treats for rewards. 

But at the mention of her getting close to opening the shop, he offered a brighter smile. He really was looking forward to it, “Well, I’m quite ready for any work you have to give me, Aerith. I know I was uh- absent in the last month after my little… accident.” Yes, that’s what he’s calling it now. “But I’m doing much better, and I’ve missed helping out.” A lot… There was something about helping with planting things, or arranging flowers that left him feeling a little more relaxed than other things did. It would be good to get a little more into it.