Friday September 6th 2019
Who: Garret and Mal What: Running into one another Where: On campus When: Morning Rating: PG most likely Status: In Progress
Pais was the biggest pain in the butt in the entire universe. Even though Friday was the day that Garret was supposed to be in his office all day, Pais had decided that he was lonely, and that he needed a walk just as Garret was trying to run out the door. It might've had something to do with eating Garret's entire bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, something else that made the boxer mix the biggest pain in the butt in the entire world.
Leash in hand, grumbling, Garret put on his jacket and his running shoes and headed out into the day, grumbling the entire time as Pais tugged on the leash and sniffed all around. "You've smelled and peed on everything on campus a hundred thousand times," Garret mumbled, annoyed. Today was not a good day to annoy him because thinking about tonight was making him all out of sorts. "Why are you pulling so hard, just find a spot and HEY!" Standing a moment, staring as Pais tore off across the lawn with his leash dragging behind, Garret growled and then took off running behind him. Stupid mutt.
Mal was out and about after getting his work done and set up for classes next week. It was time to take the rest of the morning and the afternoon to just relax and run. He was on his way to his favorite spot on campus to shift and then run through the woods for a good stretch. Pausing in his tracks, he sniffed and smiled. Pais was coming. Well, Garret called the dog Pais and the animal thought it was an okay name so he took it. Crouching down, he welcomed his friend into his arms, quickly learning from Pais' growled and barks that his master was on his way. Great. Schooling his features, Mal waited for his ex-husband to round the corner.
--- Jogging now, because eventually Pais would find something to sniff and just stop running, Garret came around a group of bushes and right into Mal and the dog. Oh, God, this was not what he needed today.
Coming to a walk, and straightening himself up, Garret gave Mal a friendly wave. "Good morning," he said simply, shooting the dog a secret look of anger. "Sorry he's... bugging you. Or whatever it is he's doing."
--- "Good morning, Garret," Mal returned the greeting casually, staying crouched to idly scratch Pais. "He's not a bother. We were just chatting." No reason not to admit it when Garret already knew what he could do.
--- "Oh." Wiping his forehead with a hand, he sighed, his breath finally catching up with him. "Well... um... don't let me interrupt." It would just figure that his dog had a rapport with Mal. Of course he did. Pais probably told Mal all kinds of things about him, like how he'd burnt the chicken yesterday so Pais got the entire thing.
--- Mal gave Pais another scratch behind the ears and stood. "No, that's fine. I'm sure I'll see him around and talk to him later." Pais looked rather upset at Mal, but he walked to plop down between them. "Friendly sort, isn't he?"
--- "Yes," Garret sighed, "he is. Friendly." Part of him wanted to ask what they talked about, what Pais could possible say that was of any intelligence or interest. But Mal had a way with dogs, so maybe they talked about doggy things.
"Have you seen, um... Rorie about?" They kept in touch, but he didn't know how much Rorie might say to Mal, if he had said anything.
--- Mal shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets to stifle the urge to reach out and run his hands through Garret's hair. It was getting a little long and needed to be trimmed again, but that forgetfulness was almost endearing. Almost. "No, I haven't. He's been with his daughter most of today from what I know. Why?"
--- Shrugging, Garret said "Nothing, just... wondering, is all." A person might think that, after eight years of this, Garret would be able to look Mal in the eye and talk to him like a normal human being. But he couldn't. He couldn't look into those eyes because it was too cimplicated, and it drudged up too many thoughts and memories. So instead he looked out over the grounds, down at his dog, anywhere else but at those eyes.
"He talked to me yesterday," he finally confessed, almost blurting it out. "Um, asked if I wanted to go out. You know, I mean, not... not a date or anything like that. Just a social thing. He's lonely, I guess. I thought maybe you'd... maybe he'd said something to you. That's all."
--- Mal shook his head again. "No, we don't talk anywhere near as much as we used to. Remember, Rorie and I never were as close." It was the most he'd said that mentioned their past relationship, and already he was regretting it. Garret would close off and run. Mal expected it to happen.
--- Nodding, slowly, Garret stayed quiet for a moment. A part of him wanted to just stop this right where it was, because brining up the past wouldn't do any good. Mal was obviously fine with everything, he never seemed to have a problem meeting this way. He was always calm and aloof, indifferent. He healed faster than all of them. Sometimes Garret wondered if Mal had ever really been in love like he'd thought.
"He needs friends," he said after a moment. "He's sort of turned into... everything I thought he would. It's hard to see." Why was he saying this? Why was he having this conversation with Mal, of all people? Mal was a loner, and saw no use for sentimentality, so why would he care right now? He wouldn't. And Garret probably sounded like a moron to the hound. "So, anyway."
--- "And what were you expecting? Something different?" They were all changing when they were together, and then it was ripped. Whether the leaving was for the better was still to be determined, but Mal at least knew how to move on from it. The only problem was, he hadn't. Which was why he was still in Danvers, teaching when there were other places he could go.
--- With a small hum, Garret frowned. "I guess not," he said softly. Pais rested his head against Garret's leg, and the pathfinder patted his head absently. "I guess if I had been expecting anything else I... would have stayed," he finished with a mumble. They had never spent this much conversation on their past before. Hell, they hadn't spent this much conversation on each other in eight years. Biting the inside of his lip, Garret looked up at Mal, meeting his eyes and holding the gaze for a moment. He looked exactly the same, not a physical difference, but in his eyes... There was something in his eyes that didn't hold true to the rest of him.
--- Whenever it was the two of them and Garret wasn't looking, Mal didn't guard himself, looking at his now ex-husband with love and longing. But it immediately closed down the moment he noticed Garret was looking, which is what happened this time. Garret didn't love him now, and so it was better to just pretend everything was status quo. "Well we know how that turned out," Mal said smoothly, no accusation in his tone.
--- Ouch. The remark, however even and unbiased it was, cut deep. Garret looked away, nodding in agreement. "Yeah," he said. It wasn't that Mal had moved on, because Garret had expected him to. It wasn't that he might have been bitter about things, or still angry at the way Garret had acted. That was expected to. It was Mal's trademark indifference, how things that affected Garret so deeply seemed like absolutely nothing to the hound. It had always been that way.
"I should go," he said after a moment. "I'm supposed to be in the office already." Bending down, he grabbed Pais' leash off the ground, slipping it around his wrist. "I'll see you later, Mr. Hardy." It was hard to even say his name sometimes, to form the word that Garret had said so many times, but in vastly different scenarios. Surnames were easier, they were professional. They were indifferent.
--- Mal nodded a goodbye to his friend Pais, and looked up at his lover. "See you around, Garret." He didn't have near the trouble Garret did saying names. Though with Garret, the trouble wasn't saying it, but saying it too much. Saying too much of anything. He shoved his hands in his pocket, watching Garret leave. Again.