Ethan Steiner (halfvoltronwolf) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-04-23 23:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, chase stein (talkback), ethan steiner |
Who: Ethan Steiner & Chase Stein
When: Backdated: Early February
Where: Outside Chase's Apartment then inside
What: Ethan goes out for a run and ends up meeting a dinosaur
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Chase was really starting to get tired of the looks he got from the people at the corner market every time he went to buy groceries, well more accurately to buy meat. Old Lace needed to eat a lot and he couldn’t exactly send her out to hunt for her food without getting in trouble with that damn cop on the Network or risking her hurting people. He trusted her but he also knew her instincts might take over and things could happen. So tons of meat were the way they’d have to go for awhile.
He turned the corner and saw a vaguely familiar person jogging on the street and he stopped to just admire the view of Ethan running without a shirt for a minute before walking the rest of his way to the building and trying to balance his bags so he could open the door, cursing out loud as one of them started to spill. And of course it was the one with his tomatoes on top.
***
Since the weather had gotten nice again, Ethan had begun jogging in the mornings once again on the days he didn’t need to be at the construction site and while he’d started his jog wearing a shirt, he’d taken it off halfway through and it was now hanging out of the waistband of his shorts. He hadn’t really paid too much attention to where he was jogging, especially with his earbuds in and it wasn’t until he reached a corner that he looked up and realized that he was near Danny’s apartment. In fact, Danny’s apartment was on the next block.
Ever since he’d met Danny and had that one dream that he’d made an appearance in, Ethan had been thinking about the other man quite a lot. He wanted to see him more, but didn’t want to seem desperate and there was also the fact that he was pretty sure there was also something going on between Danny and his neighbor Chase.
As if on cue, Ethan spotted Chase heading towards their building with a couple bags and he watched as one of the bags started to spill. Not wanting to be that asshole who didn’t help, Ethan headed towards the building once he got the walk signal, “Hey, need some help?”
***
Chase turned his head when that sort of familiar voice spoke and he gave the other man a friendly smile. Their paths hadn’t really crossed since the night they’d met at Danny’s in December but he hadn’t been avoiding him. Things just got crazy living out here. Even without a raptor chilling in his place being picky about who she was comfortable hanging out there. And making it clear that she didn’t like him being gone overnight. That was going to make things a lot of fun when the season started up later in the year and they had to travel for games.
“Help would be great. I either need to start going to the store more than once a week or stop buying so much when I go.” He felt the little stirring in his gut that he was learning to associate with Old Lace getting antsy about being alone, getting bored and he shifted so that he could hand his keys to Ethan as he stepped back from the door. “I can pass you one of the bags inside if you don’t mind.”
***
Ethan took Chase’s keys as well as one of the bags then unlocked the door to the apartment building and positioned himself so that he could hold it open for the other man, “Looks like I was in the right place at the right time, huh?” He waited for Chase to come inside, figuring it made more sense for him to lead the way to his apartment.
***
Chase grinned when Ethan went ahead and helped himself to one of the bags before they got inside. “Definitely looks that way. Elevator okay or should we take the stars so you can finish your workout since I interrupted it?” He hoped that Old Lace was picking up on his attempts to calm her through their bond, he wouldn’t know how effective that was until they got to his floor.
***
Ethan was about to ask how he’d known that he had been working out but then remembered that he was currently shirtless and wearing running shorts. “We can take the elevator, but first…” He set the bag down and pulled his t-shirt from the waistband of his shorts and pulled it on, figuring that not all of Chase and Danny’s neighbors would want to see him shirtless.
“Alright.” He picked the bag up again, “Lead the way.” Sure, he knew where the elevator was as well as Chase’s apartment, since it was next door to Danny’s, but it made more sense for Chase to lead the way to his own apartment.
***
Chase would have been lying if he’d said he wasn’t a little disappointed that Ethan had put his shirt on but he got it. He knew his neighbors and for the most part they were okay but there were a few that he didn’t want to see at all. Let alone see him when he was coming back from a run and had his shirt off.
Chase led them to the elevator, balancing his remaining grocery bags so that he could manipulate the buttons and then stepped into the open doors to keep them from closing on the other man when they got to his floor. “It might be for the best if I go in the door first.” He said over his shoulder as they walked towards his door. She wasn’t roaring or making any loud noises so his attempts to calm her had worked at least that far. “That way I can make sure there’s nothing in the way and that Old Lace doesn’t try to slip out.” He didn’t know if Ethan realized he had a dinosaur or not. He’d posted about her a few times on the network but he couldn’t remember if any of them had been after Ethan had joined.
***
Ethan knew that Chase had a dinosaur from his dreams and while he’d heard about Old Lace, he hadn’t actually seen her and the thought that he was about to see a real life dinosaur was a little overwhelming. “Yeah, sure. That makes sense. Want me to wait out here?” He asked, gesturing to the hallway.
***
“No. She’ll stop when I tell her too. If I have to tell her to. But just in case she’s cranky. I think there should be some meatballs in the top of the bag. They’re her favorite snack and I give them to her when I’m unpacking groceries so feel free to toss her one if she starts to look aggressive.” Chase told him, sending calming sensations through the bond again to her as Ethan got ready to unlock the door.
***
Ethan’s brows rose slightly as he listened to Chase before he glanced into the bag he was carrying to see the meatballs he had mentioned then he proceeded to put the key in the lock, not knowing what to expect when he opened it. Sure, he knew that there would be a dinosaur in the apartment, but would it be like one of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park or something completely different?
***
Chase waited until Ethan unlocked the door to reach for the knob. “Ready to meet the best dinosaur in California?” He said giving him a smile as he opened the door and stepped through, hand up to stop Old Lace from coming out into the hallway. “We’re coming in. I brought a friend to meet you. This is Ethan.” He said, rubbing her nose lightly. “He’s a friend and he wants to meet you.” She was turning her head back and forth between the two men, looking over both of them. “Ethan. Why don’t you come in and say hi while I go set these in the kitchen? And grab both of us waters. She’s feeling pretty curious.”
***
While Ethan had thought he was ready to meet a dinosaur, he found that he hadn’t really been quite as prepared as he’d thought. Watching Chase with Old Lace, he couldn’t help but stare at the dinosaur. “I….uh, sure.” Considering everything he’d seen over the last few months, this was possible the strangest and he’d seen those uber zombies a few weeks back. “You’re sure she won’t try to eat me?” He asked as he stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him even though doing so trapped him in a corner on the off chance that Old Lace attacked him
***
Chase sent one last surge of calming thoughts and emotions through their bond as he headed into the kitchen with the bag he held. “I’m sure she won’t. She knows that humans aren’t on the menu. We’ve been over what could happen to me if she does eat someone.” Granted he didn’t know how much of what he’d told her then she’d actually understood but he’d told her. And other than an occasional growl, at Chase generally, she hadn’t seemed to want to hurt anyone.
She sniffed curiously at Ethan and the bag he held, trying to get her head into it once she picked up on the meat inside it. “Old Lace! You know better! Your head could get stuck in the bag remember?” He said coming back in with two bottles of water and trading one for the bag. He went into the kitchen with it, tearing open the meatball package so they could get to them more easily after he put away the groceries.
***
“Wow. I mean….I know you said you had a dinosaur, but hearing it and seeing it…” Ethan took the bottle of water, eyes never actually leaving Old Lace, “Two totally different things.” Even with Old Lace right in front of him, he still couldn’t quite believe his eyes, “How do you keep anyone from finding out about her? I mean, your neighbors have no idea?” Other than Danny of course. However, Ethan doubted that any of Chase’s other neighbors were dreamers and would accept a dinosaur the same way they might accept a cat or dog.
***
“I dreamt about her before she showed up here so it wasn’t that surprising but still pretty surprising to find her in my living room.” Chase said as he came back out of the kitchen with the meatballs for her. “But yeah. I get it. She’s something else when you get to see her. Nothing can really prepare you for it. For her.” He held the package out for Ethan to take. “They all think I just have a really big dog that I walk at weird hours. Except for Danny. I’m not too sure how much longer I’ll be able to keep them from finding out she’s not a dog.”
***
Ethan took the package of meatballs from Chase as he watched Old Lace, not wanting to take his eyes off her. “You’re telling me that you’ve never run into anyone in the halls when you’ve been coming or going with her?” Considering how often he ran into people in the hallways of his building, he found that she hard to believe.
Taking one of the meatballs from the package, he held one out for Old Lace to see then tossed it towards her.
***
Old Lace caught the meatball easily in her mouth, eyes locked on Ethan as she ate it. “Hey now! Not nice Old Lace. If you’d ever let me know you wanted me to toss them for you instead of just handing them to you I would have done it.” Chase said, reaching out to scratch one of her sides to take away any sting from his scolding.
“I don’t take her out as much as I’d like. As much as she’d like. But when we do go out it’s late night or early morning when nobody’s out. And we use the stairs not the elevator. We’ve been lucky though so far. I just got to learn how to do repairs just in case. I can’t exactly have the landlord send a guy in.”
***
Ethan had mostly tossed the meatball to prevent his hand from accidently getting eaten along with the meatball, “Well now you know what she prefers.” Now that Old Lace had a taste for the meatballs he was holding, Ethan thought it was probably a good idea to toss her another one instead of just holding them where she could see them and not have them. The last thing he wanted was to get charged by a hungry dinosaur. “Well, I have to say, you definitely have the most unique pet.”
***
Chase gave Ethan a wry smile as he shook his head, rubbing her side and neck as she sniffed at Ethan’s hand, asking for another meatball after she ate the second one. “Good girl. You’re being really good.” He whispered to her. “I think of it more as a partnership. She’s got my back when things get hairy out here and we’re out there dealing with it.” He smiled at Ethan as he stepped away from the dinosaur. “She wants to know if you’ll rub her neck.”
***
Once again Ethan was struck by just how strange this entire situation was as Chase appeared to relay Old Lace’s request. “Ah...yeah.” Setting down the pack of meatballs, Ethan took a few tentative steps closer until he was standing right beside the dinosaur and Chase and reached out his hand, laying it slowly, onto her neck. He wasn’t really sure what he’d expected her skin to feel like, but it was pretty much like touching any other reptile. “Oh wow…”
***
Old Lace made a soft happy sound that was a cross between a growl and a purr as Ethan put his hand on her neck. Chase smiled hearing it and reached out to cover the other man’s hand. “She likes when you rub this way.” He said, guiding the other man’s hand in a circular motion.
***
Ethan did as Chase showed him and the longer he rubbed Old Lace’s neck, the more he relaxed, “I have to keep reminding myself that I can’t tell my brother about this.” Sure, he could probably tell Aiden, but chances were his twin would think that he’d gone crazy, “Cause I don’t feel like being committed right now.” He smirked as he continued rubbing Old Lace’s neck.