J,GoB, Wednesday Afternoon

[puppy_fair]

Zack's slightly off mood from yesterday had held up, and it took him well into today to really figure out why he had slipped back into it in the first place. It had been a message from Kunsel he'd gotten this morning, a simple 'Happy Birthday, Zack. Hope you're okay out there.' And it had hit him in the chest like a freight train. Today was his birthday; the date on his PHS confirmed it. And he was... what... twenty-four? Which was such a strange thought unto itself, really. He hadn't celebrated a birthday in years, hadn't been able to, really. And now here he was, on the island, safe and sound, with a 'happy birthday' message on his phone and no idea what to do with himself.

So, once he'd nerved himself up to doing something, he made two stops in town. The first, to the shelter, to pick up a furry friend for the day. The sceltie puppies that Karla had brought in were getting big, and one of them in particular always plodded over to greet him when he came in, so she was going to be his birthday buddy. From there he headed to J,GoB to get himself a cupcake and some coffee, and to grab a few biscuits for the more puppy-shaped puppy he was keeping company with.

Then he was going to sit outside on the curb with both, kind of halfheartedly poking at his cupcake while tossing treats to the dog. There. Birthday acknowledged.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[2_old_for_this]

Peter paused on his way to the shop and waved. "Hi."

He knelt down to let the puppy sniff his hand. "And hello to you too."

[puppy_fair]

Zack glanced up at Peter and gave him a little smile and a wave in kind with the hand that wasn't currently holding the sad, sad remains of a cupcake. The puppy, meanwhile, was quite happy to sniff at Peter's hand.

"And just like that, you're already her best friend," Zack noted. "Not that she's terribly hard to win over."

[2_old_for_this]

Peter laughed. "What's her name? And how've you been?"

[puppy_fair]

"I've just been calling her 'Girl,'" Zack admitted, looking a little sheepish about it. "All of my usual names don't seem to suit her, you know? And she seems to answer to Girl just fine."

As if on cue, the pup looked up happily at Zack, tongue lolling out, and she gave her tail a waggle.

"She isn't mine, though. I'm just borrowing her for the day. I haven't been bad, really? But some days are just puppy days."

Especially complicated birthdays.

[2_old_for_this]

Peter nodded. "I'm not much of a puppy person - sorry," he apologized to the dog, ruffling her fur, "but I think I still get that. Some days are better than others."

He grinned. "And you've got plenty of puppies, right?"

[puppy_fair]

"I have no shortage of puppies," Zack agreed. "And kittens, and chickens, and rabbits... Basically I never have to be lonely so long as I run the shelter."

Which had probably been the point.

[2_old_for_this]

"Not a bad place to be," Peter said. "Loneliness is never fun." Even if sometimes the alternative was worse.

He shook off the momentary melancholy. "But now you have a puppy and coffee and pastries. That's not bad."

[puppy_fair]

"It isn't," Zack agreed with a tired smile. "I can't complain about any of these things, really. Even if the puppy is on loan and I'm not half the sweet tooth I used to be. It seemed like a good day for a cupcake anyway."

He wasn't about to go out and buy an entire cake, after all.

[2_old_for_this]

"Yeah?" Peter looked attentive, ready to listen if Zack wanted, but not insisting on anything.

[puppy_fair]

Zack nodded a little, looking at the cupcake and wrinkling his nose.

"I mean, I was apparently wrong, I should've gotten something with fruit instead of all this icing. But I guess some things are tradition, right?"

[2_old_for_this]

"Why get icing if you don't like it?" Peter asked.

[puppy_fair]

"Because it came on the cupcake," Zack replied reasonably. "And they didn't have cupcakes without."

[2_old_for_this]

"You could probably scrape it off," Peter pointed out. "why is it tradition?"

[intraspective]

Ino... honestly wasn't sure of her welcome, on today of all days, after Zack's mood had been shaken badly by something that morning. She didn't know for sure what--she guarded his privacy as much as she could--but she'd been unable to avoid noticing.

One perk of having lost him, though, meant that certain days were engraved in her brain like they'd been burnt there. She knew what day it was. And that it was likely what was bothering him. Maybe. Maybe not.

Wondering when she'd gotten to be such a coward, Ino didn't wander up to him first. Instead, she crossed her ankles on the roof a street and a half over, and sent him a text first.

Happy birthday, Zack.

Gods, but she was glad he was around to say that to him. Ino hesitated a moment then, shrugged a little. What the hell. He deserved to know that too.

There ain't no words to say how happy I am that you're 'round to say that to. I'm so glad you're alive and here.

It still embarrassed her to hit send but, well, no one needed to know that.

[puppy_fair]

Zack was still picking at his cupcake when his PHS buzzed, and he hesitated a moment before pulling it out to check it. Not many people sent him messages, these days. It was either Ino, Kunsel, or old fan club mail. Zack... really didn't want to see 'in memoriam, happy birthday' mail from his old fan club today, which was something he was halfway dreading the possibility of.

So his smile when he saw Ino's messages were halfway relief, halfway something else a little softer.

"Hey, look," he said, glancing at the pup. "More birthday wishes."

The pup just kind of panted happily at him until he tossed her another biscuit, and then returned his attention to his phone, pausing for a minute to think before replying.

Thanks. It's good to BE alive and here.

He could have left it at that. It would've been so easy.

I'm at J,GoB. Join me for a cupcake?

But when did he ever do things the easy way?

[intraspective]

Neither of them had ever been any good at that.

Ino hadn't really expected to be invited over but, at the same time, she was relieved that she was. It would have hurt if he hadn't, despite her intentions to give him his space.

Sure. I'll be there in a few.

There wasn't much she could do on today of all days for him but there was one thing. And that was at the very least not slapping him in the face with what her uniform meant. She'd go change first.

[puppy_fair]

Sounds good. Should I order you something in the meantime?

He was already getting up to order a hot chocolate, giving the puppy a gentle 'stay here' before heading inside and being followed in by her anyway.

Stubborn dog was going to be stubborn, but fortunately nobody inside seemed to care much.

[intraspective]

Because puppy, honestly. Puppy.

Ino disappeared, leaving behind a few wisps of smoke and leaves and landed in her bedroom. She was halfway out of her shirt by the time Zack replied to her.

That'd be great, thanks. A hot chocolate, please.

And, since she was supposed to be having a cupcake too, she added, Some kind of strawberry cupcake?

[puppy_fair]

I'm on it!

It was funny how easy it was to toss in an exclamation point when he was texting, wasn't it? Ino probably hadn't heard him sound that gung-ho about anything in ages, but if he didn't have to muster more energy than it took to hit a different key...

[intraspective]

See you soon!

If you only looked at their texts, it was easy to think they were doing fine.

Still, she smiled to herself as she shimmied into a pair of jeans (black) and a tank top (lilac). Her shoes, she didn't bother to change. Of all the things likely to bother him, her shoes were way down the list.

Then, because there was no need to rush, she walked there.

It gave her time to try to (and fail to) settle her nerves.

[puppy_fair]

And it gave Zack time to order and make his way back outside with the drinks, the cupcakes, the dog...

Girl was nothing if not bent on tagging along. Zack smiled faintly at that. He was starting to understand why Angeal used to call him the puppy.

By the time Ino made it there, he was back outside, feeding another biscuit to the dog.

[intraspective]

Of course there was a dog. But this time, Ino was glad he hadn't been a lone.

"Hey," she said, still feeling a bit (stupidly) jittery. "Is this seat taken?"

[puppy_fair]

"Actually, I've been saving it for this really cute girl I know," Zack replied, smiling up at her. His smile became that little bit more genuine at the change of clothes, though he didn't want to admit it. "But I don't think she'd mind if I let you have it."

[intraspective]

"Oh?" she asked, smiling back at him as she took a seat. "Is this girl anyone I know?"

[puppy_fair]

"You might be familiar with her," Zack replied, nudging the hot chocolate and the cupcake her way. "She's about so tall, super long blonde hair..."