This is what happens when you delete notifs!!!
John shrugged it off, not really wanting to get bogged down by the completely depressing situation that was his home life. It didn't matter. The army was where he belonged, the army was his family. The army was where he thrived, where he felt alive, where he felt like himself. It was the long gaps between deployments that were difficult for him.
Despite the figure currently looking nothing like a dog, John smiled and nodded enthusiastically, as if he could see now that it was exactly as Mitchell said.
"Oh, very nice. The- gift, I mean, not the dog dying. Jesus," he mumbled, a little tongue-tied. "Is it nearly Christmas already?" he asked, the cold weather suddenly making more sense.