fandomtownies | The Park - Monday mid-morning

Entry tags:

The Park - Monday mid-morning

Zack hadn't been sleeping very well over the past week. The twitchy puppy paws, Kaidan could deal with, but the sad forlorn whimpering and occasional bolt out of sleep just about broke his heart. Both dogs had stayed on the bed with him, Zack mostly under one arm because it seemed to help. He'd known Zack had PTSD - it was, after all, why he had Girl. This.. was more than that.

This morning, Zack had awakened them all with forlorn howling as he came out of sleep. Girl all but flopped across him. Kaidan wound his arms around them both and made quiet, soothing noises. Once Zack had fully woken up, he tried to hide by burrowing further under Girl.

There was no getting back to sleep after that, so Kaidan took a quick shower and got ready for the day. He threw together a daypack of Zack's clothing plus dog accouterments. He carried Zack down the stairs, then set him down and took them on a run to the park.

Once there, he pulled out a pair of tennis balls and began throwing them for the doggos.

There were worse ways he could spend his day off.

[Open park is open!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Kaidan was also not walking into that. They would, probably, eventually have that discussion.

"Except maybe what toys and stuff I should have on hand just in case," Kaidan said, "Though I think the tennis balls were ok."

"The tennis balls were fine," Zack laughed. "You really can't go wrong with fetch."

"Well, good," Kaidan said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, "I, uh, don't really know what else to do with dogs."

"You should stop by the shelter one of these Tuesdays for playtime," Zack offered. "There's a lot of wrestling involved, actually."

This was, admittedly, because Zack was a bit of a wrestlemonster himself.

"I'd be worried they'd get hurt," Kaidan said.

Zack tilted his head a little at that.

"Were you worried I'd get hurt?"

"You'll note a remarkable lack of wrestling with you in puppy form that happened this week," Kaidan said dryly.

"I just mean... if I can wrestle with the puppies and not hurt them, you probably don't have to worry about it," Zack replied. "It's play-wrestling. Rolling around, mostly. Nobody's actually trying to pin anyone."

Kaidan looked dubious. "I mean, I hope not? That wouldn't seem fair with little puppies. I'm willing to give it a go but I'm also aware of what a klutz I am."

Only when he was thinking about his actions.

"Well, we could introduce you to a bigger dog," Zack offered. "If you're really worried. You'd have to be trying pretty hard to actually hurt some of those guys. We get some pretty strong dogs in."

He shrugged a little.

"I can bench press a car," he added. "Pretty sure if I can play-wrestle with them without a problem, you'll do just fine."

"Wasn't worried about strength, I was worried about the klutz factor," Kaidan pointed out. "Maybe a bigger dog. I'd be less worried about hurting it."

He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck again, "It was easy with you as a puppy. You could understand me. Like, all the words."

"Sure," Zack agreed, "but Girl doesn't understand everything, and you seemed to do fine with her, too."

Girl was, admittedly, trained a little more rigorously than most dogs.

He ran a hand through his own hair.

"And, I meant, I'm as strong as I am-- and I sometimes forget that, too. But you can't go through life afraid to try everything, you know? So far as actually living goes, playing with dogs is probably one that's a pretty safe bet you won't mess up."

"Girl's not a tiny baby puppy," Kaidan protested, "I'm not afraid to try it. I'm just proper intimidated by it. Puppies are small and wiggly and zig-zaggy. If they zig when I think they're going to zag, I'm likely to klutz them into sad puppy yelps."

And then he'd cry.

"Then the only thing for it," Zack said, his tone going incredibly solemn for a moment, "is to lay down on the floor and let them win."

When puppies won, it was basically the best. A+ would definitely suggest again.

"Heh. Yeah, that'd do it," Kaidan agreed, "Pretty sure you've ruined me for other puppies for awhile though, Zack."

"You're just saying that because you're afraid of other puppies," Zack decided, smile softening a little. "And by extension, probably joy, man. I mean, I'm not going to drag you to play with the dogs kicking and screaming, but you clearly like them, you barely even made eye contact with me when you first met Girl."

"Or I'm one of those jerks who likes his dogs to be pre-trained before he has to deal with them," Kaidan smiled.

Nah. Afraid of hurting puppies, all the way.

"I have another friend who keeps trying to make me take his dog for a weekend," Kaidan explained, "It's a toss-up between whether he thinks I just need dog time or whether he needs a full weekend of sleep without the dog pouncing on him for a 5am run. The dog's not a puppy but still acts like one, you know? I have nightmares that he'll be on the bed and I'll have one of my flailing nightmares and .. kick him off the bed or something. His owner would understand, but I'd feel bad forever if that happened."

There was a whole lot more than 'kicking' he could do, if he wasn't awake enough.

A quiet shrug, "It's one of the reasons I don't have pets right now. I'm looking into getting a fish, though."

Zack considered that one for a long moment.

"We do sometimes get trained dogs in," he noted. "I mean, shelter dogs come from everywhere, you know? If what you're worried about is that you'll get startled by a dog who doesn't know better, we could at least introduce you to a dog who knows their way around... you know. Flailing nightmares. Dogs with training like that aren't exactly uncommon in a place like this, you know? You don't have to take one home, but just to meet, for dog therapy time at the shelter sometimes, while we get you set up for a fish...? It'd be good for you and the dog, they don't get to put their training to much use in the kennels, either."

"Keep me posted when you get trained dogs in," Kaidan suggested, "I'm happy to come play therapy for them if you need me to."

He was almost amused, "I'm still trying to figure out where to put the fish. Other than the kitchen counter or the dining room table, there's not a whole lot of places for a tank."

"I'll let you know," Zack replied. "In the meantime, Girl's always happy to chase a ball." He smiled faintly, and then tilted his head a bit. "And for the fish, what about a tank in the front of the C.I.C? Something for your kids to watch, too? The electronics don't really go into the front area with the counter anyway, right?"

"It's an idea I've tossed around," Kaidan admitted, "The floor's slightly graded, anyway, in case of heavy rain or something."

Shark tornadoes, etc.

"I keep thinking of a salt water tank, but the research I've done indicates they're kind of hard to keep up."

"They're definitely not a beginner tank," Zack agreed, shaking his head a little. "If you don't have someone who can watch it in case you have to leave town or you turn into a wolf-" he was stuck on wolf, here, "-or something, they can go all to hell pretty fast. For a first tank, maybe you'd be better off getting goldfish, or some tetras or cichlids or a betta or something. They're much better beginner fish, and they're still pretty."

But you can't have Belan jellyfish in a freshwater tank!

"I'd probably have to hire a service anyway," Kaidan said, smile turning lopsided, "but you're probably right about the freshwater fish. Here's to hoping I don't turn into a cat. I'd rather not look at my pets as convenient snacks."

"And there's where I got lucky," Zack chuckled. "My pet just looked at me and decided I needed to be sat on."

A lot.

Kaidan grinned at him, "Well, you did and she could when you were that size. Little bit harder to do with you in people-shape. I don't know if you've noticed, Zack, but you're not exactly small."

Just, y'know, in case he hadn't noticed.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject