WHO: Jasper Sampson Spencer & Ryan Comley. WHEN: Friday, July 21st. WHERE: Their Apartment. SUMMARY: Lola enters their lives. STATUS: Complete.
The thing about buying a dog for a boyfriend who lives with you is that you need to stow away the materials that you’ll need as soon as you get said dog. Especially when this boyfriend usually got home before you did. Jasper had switched the pet store bag for a bag from the convenience store that held the leashes and treats he’d bought since there was a good sale.
“Hey,” He called into the apartment, in an attempt to gauge where Ryan was.
“Hey!” Ryan’s muffled call came from the direction of the bedroom. More specifically, from under a pillow, where said boyfriend’s head was sandwiched between it and the bed in blessed darkness. He was going to have to lay off the caffeine, he’d realized mournfully: the crashes only seemed to get worse with age, and fighting it just meant short micro-naps when he got home from work.
Jasper couldn’t have asked for Ryan to be in a better place in apartment. “Were you napping again?” He called, while looking through the closet to figure out what Ryan probably wouldn’t go into. Quickly, he stuffed it into his camping bag.
Ryan nodded, only to belatedly realize that Jasper couldn’t see him. “Why does caffeine hate me when I love it? I’ve been nothing but good to it.”
He laughed, then closed the closet - mission accomplished. Once he reached the bedroom, Jasper leaned down to kiss Ryan on the forehead. “How about I make you dinner to make up for the caffeine's betrayal?”
Fingers curled at the hem of Jasper’s shirt - the only warning before Ryan was tugging him onto the bed with him. He placed a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek before settling his head on his chest. “That sounds good,” he replied, knowing full well that he wasn’t letting Jasper get up for at least another fifteen minutes. “Can you also make the caffeine love me again?”
Jasper grunted, though he didn’t try to fight Ryan’s pull, a smile on his face. “Unfortunately, the Tale fates didn’t actually give me powers to control the effects of caffeine. We should keep an eye out for that though.”
The brunet sighed dramatically before lifting his head to grin at Jasper. “You got a better power, anyway.” Lightly, he brushed his lips against the other man’s. “I should cut back on the caffeine anyway.”
“We could try to start you on smoothies instead,” Jasper suggested, his grin only getting wider since he was sure that wasn’t the kind of replacement his boyfriend wanted to hear about. “Get some greens to wake you up in the morning instead.”
Ryan grimaced. “I thought you were supposed to love me, Jasper.”
Jasper pulled Ryan chin up so he could kiss him. “Very much,” he said, then leaned in.
* * * * *
Rarely did he wake up in the mornings before Jasper had returned from his run, but this happened to be one of those rare occasions. He’d tried to go back to sleep - he was on day two of limited caffeine, and a world without limitless caffeine was not one he wanted to be a part of when he first woke up - but eventually restlessness won out, and he’d padded barefoot into the kitchen, glancing wistfully at the coffee maker before pouring himself a cup of juice.
About halfway through his cup, he managed to upend it onto his tshirt and the table. When he went to mop it up with paper towels, he noticed the roll was empty. Sighing, he went to the closet to grab a new one.
Jasper entered the apartment, sweaty, but also slightly surprised, since his boyfriend didn’t usually make it out of bed this early. “Ryan!” He greeted the other man, hoping that he wasn’t inside of Jasper’s camping bag. Or looking through the top shelf, where there was a bag of dog food shoved to the back. “What’re you doing?”
“Grabbing paper towels,” he replied, frowning at the closet. Why was it so hard to be awake without coffee? How did people live? Finally, he found them - bottom shelf, in the corner, next to Jasper’s camping bag. He held the roll up victoriously. “Found them!”
He was immediately flooded with relief when Ryan showed him what he’d found. “Oh, paper towels. Right.” He nodded his head. Jasper peered into the closet, to assure himself that everything was still carefully hidden from view. “Of course.” He laughed. “Can’t expect a coffee-less Ryan not to spill something.” He motioned to Ryan’s shirt.
Ryan nodded absently, settling his free hand on Jasper’s waist briefly before walking back towards the kitchen. “I got through half the cup this time,” he said around a yawn. “Want me to make breakfast while you shower? I was thinking maybe omelettes.”
Jasper walked to the middle of the living space, before he started stretching his legs out. “You could, if you think you’re awake enough,” he responded.
“I can make eggs without burning them.” A beat. “Probably. I’ll drink more juice.” Eventually the sugar would wake him up, right?
Methodically, he cleaned up the OJ puddled on the table while Jasper stretched, pausing every so often to watch.
“No pressure,” Jasper called, then leaned down to touch his toes. “I can get it after my shower.”
He tossed the soiled towels into the trash bin and leaned against the counter. “I can make eggs, Jasper,” he said in fond exasperation. The more he moved around, the more awake he was becoming, although it was still a slow process. “Finish your stretches, shower, and I’ll have food ready when you’re done.”
Jasper stood back up. “Okay, okay.” He walked over to Ryan, then kissed his cheek. “I’ll go shower and not worry about you burning yourself.”
“Okay.” Ryan kissed the tip of Jasper’s nose before turning to start gathering eggs and veggies for their breakfast.
* * * * *
In what had to be an amazing feat of luck neither Jasper’s hidden objects or Eddie’s mouth had spoiled the surprise of Ryan’s anniversary gift. There was still a couple days until their real anniversary, but the rescue needed the space.
Jasper opened the front door just an inch, wide enough to call through. “Are you sitting on the couch like I asked?”
Ryan looked up from the book he’d been reading, the curiosity he’d managed to push off at the earlier request coming back in full force. He nestled the bookmark between the pages and set it on the cushion next to him. “I am,” he confirmed. “What’s up?”
This time Jasper opened it up wide enough to poke his head through. “Your anniversary gift is here early.” He disappeared behind the door again, kneeling down in front of the crate, then opening it and setting the dog, a jack russel terrier, inside the apartment. She took off running, exploring her new surroundings.
The protest died on his lips - their anniversary was still a few days away - and turned into a large, surprised grin as he watched the puppy tear through into the living room, tail wagging and sniffing around. Ryan stood up. “You got me a puppy?” he asked, incredulous, kneeling down and holding out his hand for her to sniff at, only to have her nearly bowl him over in delighted excitement.
Jasper set down the crate inside the apartment, locking the door. “It would look like I did, wouldn’t it?” He watched the two of them interact, glad to see the dog wasn’t barking at Ryan as if it saw him as a threat.
“Have you picked a name, yet?” Ryan asked, falling onto his butt and dodging the puppy’s exuberant attempt to lick him clean.
Jasper took a seat next to Ryan, the puppy moving to jump between them, unsure of how best to divide her time between the two of them. “I am going to leave that up to you, since it’s your gift.” He left out mentioning Eddie’s vision and the name his brother had told him about, just to see how it played out.
He looked at his boyfriend, delighted. “Really?” The puppy grabbed his attention again, looking up at him with big, warm eyes. “I’ve never” had “named a pet before,” he warned, but he eyed the puppy, considering. “She looks like a Betty or a Lola.”
Jasper couldn’t help but smile when he heard the name Eddie had already told him about. “I think you’ll do a good job naming her,” he encouraged. “Both of those names are good.”
“Lola,” he pronounced, and she cocked her head at him for a second before scrabbling her way back into his lap. “Well, I think that settles it,” Ryan said, lifting a hand to pet the soft fur between her ears.
“I think it does.” Jasper nodded his head. He shifted his legs so that he could take out the engraved dog collar he’d gotten. The name ‘Lola’ already inscribed on it. “Eddie, apparently, is going to have a vision about us every year around this time.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Ryan replied, but the smile was still on his face, and when he reached for the collar, he paused to squeeze Jasper’s hand. “But at least I know I chose the right name. Would we have broken something if I went with Betty?” He grinned slyly at his boyfriend. “We should tell him we named her Betty.”
Jasper laughed. “Well, if we do, you’re in for a very dramatic treat.” He kissed Ryan’s cheek quickly before continuing. “Eddie didn’t realize Lola was in reference to a dog.” He could feel his own face heat up a little bit, not sure if they were really ready to talk about kids, even in a joking way.
“Oh.” Ryan felt his own cheeks start to burn. “I don’t know if I’d name a kid Lola, though.” He kept his eyes resolutely on Lola the Dog, who was most definitely not Lola the Kid. Briefly, he wondered what, exactly, Eddie had seen that had made him think something other than pet. And, less briefly, if he’d told Helena and Helena was lying in wait somewhere.
“But, uh, I think it’d be a pretty good trick.” Jasper shrugged his shoulders. Then, diverting around the children discussion, he continued, “But I hope you like Lola. I wanted to make sure she was the type of dog you liked but also be a breed who would still enjoy going on runs with me.”
Ryan breathed a quiet sigh of relief that the conversation had circled back to the dog. “I love her. She’s perfect,” he assured his boyfriend, leaning forward to kiss him. “And I love you.”
It was hard to determine if Ryan’s reaction meant he wasn’t ready to talk about kids or didn’t want them. But it was something that Jasper wasn’t quite ready for either so he couldn’t blame him. But it was a topic they’d have to talk about eventually.
“I love you,” Jasper returned, then kissed him again. “Also, it’s amazing that you didn’t find any of the dog stuff I’ve been hiding around the apartment.”
Bemused, Ryan coaxed Lola out of his lap and back into Jasper’s. “You were hiding stuff around the apartment? Now I feel like I should have found at least something.” He shook his head. “Where did you hide them so I know where to look for holiday presents later this year?”
Jasper scratched Lola’s neck, which she leaned into, happy to have all of this attention. “No way.” He shook his head back and forth. “I gotta have a few secret hiding spots. I’m sure this won’t be the only time I try to surprise you.”
A small, soft, affectionate smile tugged at Ryan’s lips as he laid his head on Jasper’s shoulder. “You often surprise me,” he said quietly, and then, with a normal tone of voice, added, “but you know this means I’m going to try to find your hiding places, right?”
“You do remember that I grew up with Eddie and Jemma, right? Those two forced me to develop decent hiding skills. And I have close to a million hiding spots because of it,” Jasper boasted.
He reached his arm around Jasper’s middle, hand settling at his waist, watching Lola. “I’m sure Lola will help me find them, won’t you?”
“Hmmm, her breed was originally a hunting breed. I might be in trouble.” Jasper chuckled.
“Just means you’ll have to try harder,” Ryan pointed out cheerfully. “We’ll leave you post it notes when we find your hiding spots.”
“That would be very kind of you both.” Jasper turned to look directly at Ryan. “Though, that leaves the question of whether or not I should leave post-it notes when I find your spots.”
Ryan grinned. “It would be nice of you.” He reached his free hand out, petting Lola, who wriggled around to lick his palm. Then he looked up at Jasper hopefully. “Can I take her for a walk?”
Jasper laughed, then nodded his head. “Yes, of course you can. That’s going to feel like a chore, eventually.”