xie_xie_xie

Brian shrugged and leaned against the doorjamb. “You could set it free.”

Justin looked up hopefully. “I… could.”

Brian waited.

“Let it rejoin it’s little gerbil friends in the wild,” Justin said. “No animal should be caged. It’s inhumane. I could let it run free!”

Brian raised a brow.

“I’m doing it,” Justin said.

Fifteen minutes later, Brian watched as Justin trudged morosely through the snow to the back door. His jeans were soaked from the knees down.

Brian let him in without a word.

Both Justin and Beatrice were shivering.

“I couldn’t do it,” Justin moped.

“I know,” Brian said. “You’re not that heartless.” He took the cage from Justin’s hand and set it on the counter. Then he smirked. “Want me to do it?”

“No!” Justin said. “He’s domesticated. He’ll die out there.”

Justin leaned against the counter and buried his face in his hands. Beatrice spat and chattered angrily at him.

“Brian--” Justin began.

And Brian sighed.

hounded

The first words out of Brian's mouth when Justin brought it home was, "Get that thing the fuck out of my loft."

"Brian," Justin said exasperatedly. "Hold him, you'll like him."

"I won't like him. I hate him," Brian said, walking away as Justin approached. Justin followed him all around the loft, finally cornering him in the bathroom and pushing the puppy to his chest until he had no choice but to take it or else drop it on the floor. He took it, but only so the damn thing wouldn't get hurt, because then Justin would make him go to the vet, and he wanted to go to Babylon tonight.

Brian held it in one hand. He wasn't sure how old the puppy was, but he knew it was very young. Its eyes were puffy, as if they had only recently learned to open, and it appeared smushed like Gus had when he was a newborn. A camera flashed, and he looked up and scowled at Justin's tender expression. "You're not keeping this mutt."

"I know I'm not," Justin said easily, and took another picture.

Brian's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "So get it out of here."

"I'm not keeping him," Justin continued, ignoring him. "You are."

The story is here and you should definitely read it right away. It is probably the best QAF pet story in history. Especially be sure to read all the extra stuff at the bottom and look at the pictures. It is very amazing.