Who: Rapunzel and Caleb What: Caleb hangs out Rapunzel and ends up with a new friend Where: Local park When: Today! Rating: G Status: Complete
Hanging out with Rapunzel was always a good time. It was nice to be around someone who got their happily ever after in the dreams, and who was just upbeat in general. Today was a pretty relaxing day. They did the whole park thing and he watched Rapunzel paint more barefoot. As long as he got more artwork for his apartment that was cool with him. Pretty soon his walls would be covered. Now they were just walking around enjoying some much craved ice cream. “So,” Caleb said as he licked his mint chocolate chip ice cream. “What’s it like to have a happily ever after?”
Painting at the park was one of Rapunzel’s favorite activities and it was a lot of fun when one of her friends were with her. She was using Caleb to figure out what exactly to paint until he gave a suggestion that worked for her. The painting had to dry, which gave them time to chat and they discussed about how they really wanted ice cream. Dry painting came along with them as they went to get some and she was happily enjoying her salted caramel cone, “Mmm, it’s not half bad. Kinda strange to know everything ends up all sunshine and rainbows when some people have bad endings. But I like how it ended.”
“I’ll try not to be too jealous,” Caleb teased. For him Hanna was still kidnapped. It had been way too long since he had any new dreams but he didn’t think it was over. It didn’t feel over. And they had to find Hanna and the rest of the girls. “But you are a Disney Princess,” more teasing. “So of course you got sunshine and rainbows. Too bad there are no unicorns.”
“I don’t think unicorns could be a thing in my dreams. Too close to real life. However, if I had one of those dreams in Fantasia land then we’d be set,” Rapunzel pointed out to him. It was hard to think of any Disney movies that had actual unicorns. There was a pegasus in Hercules and all sorts of weird things in Fantasia. However, Caleb’s dreams sucked and she felt bad that he had to deal with them, “I’m hoping that yours will turn out okay for you.”
“Damn,” Caleb commented with a laugh. “That would have been some dream pet to receive. But I guess you do already have a chameleon and a horse.” Caleb on the other hand didn’t have any. Not that he wanted any. “Thanks,” he said giving her a genuine smile before going in for another lick of ice cream. “I guess we’ll see.”
“Yeah, I think it might be a bit much to get a unicorn,” Rapunzel commented with a laugh as she licked her cone, “And you should get a pet or something. They’re a lot of fun. I mean nothing will be as cool as Pascal and Maximus, but they can be friends together.”
“Well why would I even bother then,” Caleb retorted with a smirk. “If I’m not going to have the coolest pet, what’s the point?” he chuckled going in for more ice cream. Who would have thought he’d be having a good time when alcohol wasn’t involved? That was becoming more and more rare these days.
“Because your pet will be the coolest pet to you,” she pointed out with a laugh as they continued to walk and she noticed an animal shelter off in the distance on the other side of the street, “Look! There’s a shelter. I bet you could find a really cool pet there.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think anything can top Pascal,” he teased. Of course Rapunzel would spot an animal shelter while they were having this conversation. “Seriously?” he commented raising his brow at her. “We can look but I guarantee you I won’t be getting a pet.”
“Pascal is a boss ass bitch,” Rapunzel agreed with a laugh as she steered them towards the animal shelter. They were going to definitely take a look and the only thing she knew is that she wouldn’t be getting a pet, but she would bother Caleb to, “Pft, never say never. You might find someone who melts your heart.”
“Do I look like someone who gets their heart melted?” Damn, he was really going to have to work on his image. Although it was a bit of a compliment to know he no longer looked like the hardened criminal hacker that had grown up on the streets. Well foster care and the streets if you wanted to be technical about it.
They entered the shelter and were greeted by an employee who led them to the back. Caleb saw rows and rows of cats and dogs all caged up. He had to admit it made him a little sad. But none jumped out at him ‘melting his heart.’
“Awwwww, Caleb,” Rapunzel cooed as they wandered down the hallway. There were so many sad faces and she just wanted to cheer them all up. There was a really high urge to just go into the cat area and lay on the floor to see who wanted to come play with her, “Do you want to look at dogs or cats or both?”
“Neither.” He was not here to get an animal. “I’m not an animal person. I can barely take care of myself.” Still all the sad faces was pretty damn heartbreaking. Caleb did want to make them better, not matter how much he denied it.
“Don’t make me start singing that Sarah McLachlan song that’s on those awful ASPCA commercials,” Rapunzel threatened as they made it over towards the dog area and she grabbed his wrist. She pushed open the door and brought him along to look at the animals and have his heart melted.
“Please don’t,” Caleb replied shaking his head. “But feel free to sing that flower song again,” he smirked at her as he let her lead him to the dog area. This was probably a bad idea, he had a feeling he would be a dog person.
“You don’t need to be healed,” that was the only good answer she had for him with a smirk and shake of her head. There were cages lining the hallway and she could hear the barks, whines, and whimpers of them as they approached and she had a frown on her face, “I want to play with all of them right now. Call out if one of them appeals to you.”
“I will if my heart melts,” he teased but then saw the frown on her face. In a twisted way all these abandoned animals reminded Caleb of himself. He did know what it was like to be abandoned. Fuck, he had a feeling he’d be going home with something. “Go ahead, play.” Was that allowed? Caleb had no idea he had never been to an animal shelter before.
It really hurt Rapunzel’s heart, but she knew she couldn’t come home with an animal at this time. Maybe some day in the future, one that wouldn’t eat Pascal, but today wasn’t it. So, instead she was going to try and brighten up their days just a little bit by giving them some much needed love. She squeezed his wrist gently before moving away from him to go to the first dog for some pets.
Caleb wandered around on his own while Rapunzel went to go play. He was trying to keep his head down and not look at all the sad looking dogs. But then he spotted one, a brown pit bull staring right at him with those puppy dog eyes. Ugh. How could he not want to take this guy home?
Rapunzel was getting all sorts of love from all the dogs and she really hoped that it wouldn’t break her heart to leave them alone. She kept an eye on Caleb as he wandered around and she saw him stop in front of a cage and she couldn’t help but grin. She bet that he had finally found a dog to catch his attention. Instead of bothering him about it right now, she was going to let it ride out for a moment.
Caleb called the employee over asking about the dog and how much it would cost to adopt him. Not that money was much of an issue for Caleb, he made more than he needed working for Stark. But then he had always been used to living on a budget. Before he knew what was happening he had paperwork and a dog leash in his hand. No what? Thanks a lot Rapunzel.
If Rapunzel could do a maniacal laugh she totally would, but this was going to work out for Caleb and the dog. She skipped over to him near the end of his conversation and then suddenly he had a leash in his hand and they were going to head up to the front to fill out paperwork. “Oh my gossssh, you’re getting a doggie!” Rapunzel teased as she leaned down to make friends with her new friend.
“Yeah, yeah,” Caleb replied in attempt to shrug her off. But you could hear the laughter in his voice. “You’re going to have to come with me to buy supplies.”
“Fiiiiiiine,” She reached down to pick up the dog and snuggled with him as they walked. She wasn’t going to let go of his dog until Caleb brought it to his own apartment, “Your buddy and I are gonna cuddle while you fill out the paperwork. Have you thought of a name?”
“A name?” Shit he was going to have to name the thing wasn’t he? How the hell did he get himself into this situation. “Can’t I just call him Dog?” Caleb asked only half joking. “But yeah keep him company,” he said handing Rapunzel the leash. As weird as it was he was already attached to the little guy and he didn’t want the dog to feel lonely.
Caleb went to fill out the paperwork, got information about the dog and the shots he already had and the ones he needed. Once that was all taken care of he called for Rapunzel and Dog.
“No, you can’t call him Dog,” she retorted quickly as she continued to snuggle with the dog as she waited for Caleb to finish all his stuff up. He was quite an adorable puppy and she was getting her fix instead of having to get her own for the moment. She would have to get Pascal extra treats later. When he was finished she let the dog get back onto the ground as she went over to him, “We’re best friends now. Auntie Rapunzel.”
“Come on Dog, come on Auntie Rapunzel,” Caleb teased as they made their way back out of the shelter. He’d be dog until Caleb thought of a name at least. “By the way, when exactly did you get promoted to Aunt?”
“As of the moment you picked the dog,” Rapunzel quipped as they began their walk out of the shelter, “I’m not his mom, that’s Hanna’s job, so I get to be the fun Aunt. So, are we gonna go to the store before you go home? You gotta get some essentials for the poor guy.”
Was Hanna the mom? He had no idea. He wouldn’t mind sharing Dog with her. He briefly wondered if he should have told her first. But shook it off. It was his dog. It was going to stay at his place. Hanna had no control over that. “Like food,” Caleb agreed as they headed back in the direction of the park where their cars were. No way was he gonna starve the guy. He could probably use some toys too. And dishes for food and water. That seemed important.
“Do you want me to come with you for that stuff or can you handle it on your own?” She didn’t want to assume that Caleb needed her to come along. But at least the little guy seemed absolutely thrilled at being adopted and he was moving along happily and wagging his tail, “He is SO cute, seriously. I’m excited for you to have a doggy.”
Caleb probably could handle it on his own. He was a grown man after all. But it wouldn’t hurt to drag “Auntie” Rapunzel along. At least then he could get a second opinion on what to get. “You got me into this, you’re coming,” he teased. Although he had a feeling Rapunzel had no issues with that.