Who: Holden Wilson holdenwilson & Rebekah Mikaelson crazyauntbex What: Adopting a puppy. When: Monday, April 27th, mid-morning Where: Test City Animal Clinic Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Homosexual man adopting a puppy from a vampire adoptions counselor. Status: Closed/Completed GDoc
~*~
Pets were a thing people who had normal jobs with normal hours who lived in normal houses were allowed to have for their normal lives. They required a level of devotion similar to a child only they couldn't tell a person what they needed. Really they were like infants in that sense except, depending on the type of pet, they went from infancy to old age with no middle ground in between to pad the time. It had always been unfair to think of getting a pet with his lifestyle.
Holden had been allowed a dog when he was younger. They'd shared the responsibilities equally in his family from him and his father and his father's other family to his mother and her other family. Everyone loved Lover Boy which had wound up being the name his poor collie had wound up with courtesy of his obsession with Mickey & Sylvia. When the song Love is Strange had wound up on the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing, Holden had seen the thing five times in theaters for the practice scene with the song alone.
It was odd to think of the dog after so long. He'd never had another dog. Lover Boy had lived to be twenty-two years old before lying down on his favorite spot in the kitchen floor to fall into eternal sleep. Holden remembered everyone crying over the loss of his old friend. He'd been away in college. The night he'd found out, he had drank a toast to the collie with all his friends in the college bar. They'd made fun of him for naming the dog Lover Boy. Lots of singing had happened. It'd been fun rather than sad.
That was how Holden wanted to go out: leaving his family and friends with only good memories worth laughing, singing, and drinking over.
Going up to the adoptions counter at the animal shelter, he stated simply, "I want to adopt a dog. A friendly dog. Man's best friend, right? That's what I'm looking for---not Cujo. I want the kind of dog who'll run with an active guy in the park. Chase a frisbee. Not a big barker. I'm sorry if that's too specific. It's just been a long time since I've had a dog. I want this one to be a good one, you know?"
It mattered because it was a big step to get a dog with someone. Sean had just come out to the world. What was he thinking? He was getting a dog? They were barely together. This place was different though, right? It was separate from their life at home. For all Holden knew, he was living in a dream. They could only have a little while here before he woke up. Why not go for the gold?
"Oh, I'm Holden Wilson. Attorney. I work over at the courthouse and I'm new in town. Sorry for not introducing myself. I'm normally better at this."
He was normally better at a lot of things. This place was totally surreal in too many ways to think.
~*~
Bex was glad she’d posted on the network about people adopting pets. She’d gotten a decent amount of interest and she was confident people would start to trickle in over the next week or so. Funds were also a concern, now that she didn’t have access to her accounts from home and that was the same for everyone. Still, she was determined to get as many of the animals adopted as she could. Rebekah had her eye on a cute doberman puppy, that was always quite playful with her. She didn’t want to adopt him until after she and her brother were settled in their new residence, wherever that might be. That was a tidbit she’d be keeping under wraps until she talked to Hayley.
Working at the counter wasn’t one of her favorite parts of the job, but when exceptionally attractive men walked in, she reconsidered her stand just a touch. Particularly when he got right to the point. “Cujo’s someone’s best friend too, you know,” Bex countered with a grin. “I think I’ve got a few of the more friendly types around. Why don’t you come back and take a look?” She pushed away from the counter, the wheeled chair turning to allow her to step around the counter to lead the Mr Wilson to the kennels. It really bothered her to see the animals locked away in cages, but at least the larger dogs had larger cages to accommodate them. She could serve them best by getting them adopted, and Rebekah was determined to do just that.
“New in town, huh? I’ve been here about a month, but the same could be said for me. Not from around here,” she explained as she led the way. There were a handful of animals that didn’t react well to her, given what she was, but Rebekah didn’t think the same could be said for Holden Wilson. She knew humans, knew how delicious they could be, and Mr Wilson was quite tasty looking. Ah well, she did promise to behave after all. “I’m Rebekah, by the way. Rebekah Mikaelson.” She offered her hand as they turned the corner, greeted by a clear wall that showed the various cages, each one holding a dog available for adoption.
Bex unlocked the door, allowing him to step through first. “There’s a room I can take you and one of the dogs to, so you can see if you’ll get along well together. You can spend some time with however many dogs you’d like, given how long we have til closing,” she explained. “None of them are particularly aggressive, but there are a few that don’t like me. I wouldn’t hold that against them, though.”
~*~
"I can't imagine why anything wouldn't like you, Ms. Mikaelson," Holden answered with a grin, clasping her hand gently in greeting before letting it go.
There were almost too many dogs for him to consider how he'd narrow his search. He knew they would need an active dog. Some kind which would be able to keep up with Sean when Holden was working on cases. It would be good if their dog was also okay with just lying down in the house for companionship. He liked dogs even if he wasn't nearly as active as his lover. Something active yet loving? Sure. They sold dogs like that.
Names of breeds drifted through his head as he looked over the cages. The room felt oddly enormous even though it was so small his shoulder brushed Rebekah's in the space. Holden was surprised at how tall she was when standing. She'd looked smaller behind the desk. Women had a tendency to make him feel uncomfortably large in comparison. It was something left over from when he'd been in high school and trying to avoid all the girls who thought they could "change" him if they just got him to go out on one date with them.
Holden pointed to a golden puppy with shaggy fur, "He looks pretty friendly. I'm thinking he's some kind of retriever mix? I can't see a lot of the breeds named on them. I know this is a shelter so it's unlikely I'll wind up with a purebred dog, but I'd like to have a general idea of what I'm in for with one. Some things are a part of the breeding, I know. I've read a little about dogs. A long time ago. I wanted one when I was a kid."
He'd never gotten a dog as a kid, but he'd spent years trying to convince his parents all the same. They'd not wanted him to be saddled with a pet which would require him to be out in the neighborhood unattended as a young boy. Holden had been different enough to warrant unwanted attention from his peers. He'd gotten his ass kicked more times than he could count before he'd hit a growth spurt. It wasn't always about his sexuality either. Sometimes it was because he had ruined the curve on a test or he dressed too proper or he didn't act enough like a "real boy."
For a while, he'd nicknamed himself Pinocchio. It had been his way of coping with the worst of childhood's traumas since he'd been able to focus on the fact one day he'd grow up and he would be a real boy. Grade school only lasted so long. High school had been much better. By the time he'd gotten into college, he'd been flying in his life. Everything had been perfectly fine. He'd been accepted, loved, respected. Holden couldn't have asked for anything more.
It was why he was only now getting his first dog: he could finally allow himself to ask for more with Sean. This place had given him that.
"Can you pull him out so I can see if the little fellow wants to play?"
~*~
“Oh, I’ve my fair share of bad qualities,” Bex replied with a grin, flirting easily with the other man. It was entirely harmless, more because she could than anything else. Being friendly was part and parcel of being a saleswoman, and she was determined to get these animals adopted and into homes instead of cages. She stayed out of the way while he looked through the different dogs they had, ensuring that she was as out of sight as possible for the ones that were made uncomfortable by the fact that she was a vampire, but the space was so small that they ended up bumping shoulders a few times.
She really wished they had more room for the dogs to have more space. Rebekah knew that adoption was the only pathway to a reasonable life for the dogs, cats, and rabbits under her care. “Knowing the mix of dog he is with certainty can be determined with a test, but that’s an additional fee. Just looking at him, I’d say your guess is probably right.” Grateful that the puppy was one that wasn’t afraid of her, Bex pulled him from the cage and carried him securely in her arms.
“If you’ll follow me?” They were only going around the corner, and from the way the pup was squirming in her grip to keep his eyes on the handsome man, Rebekah was confident this would work out well. Her strength came in handy as she shifted her grip on the puppy to open the door, showing off what used to be an exam room. It had been carpeted, and there were a handful of toys strewn about as well. There were two plastic chairs for them, so she inclined her head towards one for him to take a seat before letting the pup down on the floor. She shut the door behind them with her foot, just a careful tap, and then took the other chair.
Mere moments after the puppy found himself on the ground, he’d run over to Mr Wilson and started sniffing his legs. She smiled at the sight. “He quite likes belly rubs,” Bex offered, hoping to entice more interaction between the pair.
~*~
The fellow also liked to bite. Holden found that out the hard way after he tried to pet him, rub his belly, play with him with some of the rope toys. It was as if the little guy couldn't get enough attention no matter how much he gave him. Holden tried to imagine how he'd fare in his place with Sean. They weren't inactive guys, but they weren't constantly up and at things either. Their age had hit them enough to make it nice to have a few afternoons spent only sitting, watching television.
He gathered the puppy up, wincing as it nipped at his chin, "He's a little more than I think we can handle. I think he's fun, don't get me wrong, but I saw another one which had retriever on the label. It was a little younger, I think. Brown. Could you swap with me? Not that I think dogs are swappable, but could you trade puppies with me so I can see if the other little guy is a little more laidback?"
Holden had wanted to pet the brown puppy, but he'd worried it would be a lazy dog given its almost sad face. He liked the sweet look to it. Considering how rambunctious the last dog had been, he hoped this one was more mellow yet still playful enough to want to catch a frisbee on the weekend with his football-star.
Sean needed an active dog. Holden wanted an active dog.
They were going to make a life in Test City. He'd already been looking at houses. Both of them were too old to live in the apartments they'd been placed in with any level of comfort. Neighbors listening in on them at all hours of the day and night? No thanks. They'd pass on that immediately with a side of not-interested-in-listening-to-other-people-having-sex on the side. Voyeurism had never been his thing. College had been a nightmare until he'd gotten his own place.
Waiting until Rebekah came back with the other puppy, Holden grinned to himself, "I'm going to have a dog. A real dog. This is a big step. It's a lot bigger than a piece of jewelry. Don't I feel all grown-up?"
His parents would likely have laughed themselves sick at him. They had tried to get him to invest in so much as an aquarium with no luck. Holden didn't like the idea of being tied to some other being who relied on him for its survival. It bothered him to think anything could be so dependent on him. He wasn't the guy people wanted to invest their trust in for the long haul. They wanted to trust him with their problems, but their actual lives?
Holden hadn't wanted that responsibility before.
Sean made him want it.
~*~
Bex knew the younger ones needed more socializing than the others, but there was only so much time in the day. She’d thought, at first, that maybe the active puppy wouldn’t be a turn off. It was just too much energy to match appropriately. “You’re not offending anyone,” she assured him as she took the pup back into her arms. “I’d rather you have a dog you’ll keep for however long you’re here.” Being blunt was something she preferred, especially when there were lives at stake.
It was only a few minutes before she was back with the puppy he’d described, cautiously optimistic about this one. He’d been there for as long as Bex had been working at the clinic, but his file indicated he’d been there for longer than that. Perhaps this one would be better suited for Holden’s lifestyle in Test City. She had already decided on adopting, though she wanted to wait until the living arrangements were sorted out with Elijah and Hayley. Knowing that it would take some time, Bex purposely hadn’t bonded with any of the dogs, to save her the trouble of having to compel whoever it was to forget about adopting her dog. Too messy for her place of work.
Responsibility was new, and though rather boring, it was fulfilling on some days. If she couldn’t have a child, a pet would do.
“I should think you do,” Rebekah replied with an amused smile. “We all must grow up sometime.” And wasn’t that the truth? This place would force everyone to grow up, or be a miserable burden. She set the puppy down and watched as they got to know one another. Already, he was less hyperactive than the golden furred one. She took that as a good sign and tossed Holden the squeaky toy, as a way to interact with the chocolate pup.
~*~
Laughing, Holden turned bright eyes on the brown puppy in Rebekah's arms, "Sorry. I was talking to myself. I do that sometimes. Thanks so much for bringing him out. He looks like a friendly little guy."
The brown dog was slightly older, leggier than the golden puppy had been. He was hesitant at first to move around. It was almost as if he'd forgotten how it felt to have enough space to move around in. Holden tried not to think what that meant. This shelter wasn't a kill shelter, was it? How long did they keep their animals? How long could this little guy have been in that small cage, waiting on someone to love him enough to give him a chance at a real life?
He offered the toy to the puppy who carefully bit onto one edge of the toy, tugging only enough to let Holden know he'd gotten a grip on it. Holden stroked his free hand between the dog's silky ears, back over its neck and down its flank. Teasing, he pulled at the toy to hear a tiny growl of annoyance as the dog got a better grip to shake at its prey. He didn't want to let go. That was a good sign. Dogs who were interested in playing tug-of-war were supposed to be sporting dogs. He'd read that somewhere when he'd been trying to decide if he wanted the responsibility of a dog.
"I think this guy likes me pretty well."
Holden got the toy away after a brief struggle and tossed it only a little away from the dog. He held his breath as the young dog seemed to wilt, shrinking down nearly into a crouch at his side before looking up at him. Holden nodded toward the toy. He tried to keep his smile wide, his eyes wide, his face encouraging. Dogs could read expressions from what he knew. Cats certainly could. They were evil bastards for the most part.
It took his breath away as the dog went for the toy to bring it back and lay it on his shoe. His shoes were expensive. They'd come from a designer shop which catered to men of means. Holden couldn't care less about the mess of the dog's wet mouth on the toy. He was too happy at having found someone who could share his life with Sean. This little guy was the one. He was sure of it. No matter how long he'd spent in a cage before, he wouldn't be spending time in one now. He was coming home.
"I'll take him. He's perfect. Thank you, Rebekah. You've just made a pair of guys very, very happy."
He hoped she had any way. Holden loved the dog too much to think Sean wouldn't.
Test City was their fresh start. This would work out for them. He would make sure of it.