Troy crinkled his nose at the praise, his eyes shining happily. He hummed softly as he considered the options she offered. He leaned in to nuzzle against their cheek before he moved to lay his head in Fiâs lap, facing towards them. He sighed softly as he nuzzled into them to get comfortable. Bright eyes looked up Fi, complete and utter trust in his gaze. Heâd promised them that they couldnât mess this up⊠And that was true unless they did something very strange. Troy was completely relaxed, and he could probably fall asleep just like this, especially when Fiona started petting him.Â
Fi giggled when Troy nuzzled against her cheek. They gazed back at him fondly, giving him a big smile as he got comfortable in their lap, reaching out to stroke the bridge of his nose very gently, trying not to tickle him. Fiona started what they hoped was a soothing sort of pattern, ruffling his hair, scratching at his scalp, and stroking over the back of his ears gently, down the back of his neck and touching carefully around his collar and then moving their hand back up again, trying to pet him as naturally and absentmindedly as possible. As much joy as she hoped she brought to Troy, she wasn't unaware that adding another person to his life and his relationship was spreading him more thinly as far as time and responsibilities went, so if Fi could provide a soothing extra special experience that he could completely let go in, she would. They ever so slightly hesitantly began to speak to him softly, hoping it wasn't going to sound super weird, and also hoping that it wouldn't make him think more, which was counterproductive to their mutual goal, but hoping he could imagine the scenario they were about to concoct, hoping that at some point, he could focus simply on the tone of their voice, and not so much on the words themselves. Fi began to tell a story about as many things as they could think of that dogs liked, "You know, I was thinking, about the three of us, driving out to the country, so you'd have a lovely ride in the car. And Iris and I would spread out a blanket, on a warm blue sky day, and you'd be able to feel the sun on your back, and roll all around in the flowers and grass. And we could bring a ball or a frisbee or something to play with.". They laughed softly, adding on, "Of course then, the end of the day would probably be the two of us giving you a bath, as there's bound to be mud, but I think it would be worth it.".