can I request some fluffy Jasper x Kyle? I need some good domestic vibes lol maybe them browsing a pet store (looking at kitties and puppies seems like good date energy XD) or having a date night in? <3333
Awww yes absolutely!! Thank you so much!! <3333
____ Ruff N' Tumble
Word Count: 1.4k Tags: domestic fluff, established relationship, literal puppies and kittens
Crossposted on AO3
____
"Now remember, we're just here for cat food." Jasper insisted, as much for himself as it was for Kyle. The sign was plastered up all over the outside of the pet store:
PUPPY BOWL
All Adoption Fees Waived! Sponsored by Royal Canin
"Right. Just cat food." Kyle repeated the same mantra. Jasper knew, realistically, that mantra would last about two seconds. They'd get inside, see all the little monsters galloping around on their too-big paws, tripping over floppy ears they hadn't grown into, spraining their tails wagging at everything that moved, and they'd end up walking out with a box of supplies in one hand and a puppy in the other. The only real question at this point was who would fall in love first: Kyle or Jasper.
"Just a bag of Purina, we'll be in and out."
Besides, getting another pet right now was a big maybe. They maybe could afford it, especially with that adoption fee waived, but that money could also be used to replace the air conditioner that was currently hanging by a thread. Columbia maybe would be okay with another animal in the house, she was a sweet cat, but she'd never been around a dog before. And maybe training would be a breeze, as both Jasper and Kyle had grown up with dogs, but one busy week at the hospital and suddenly Jasper was at work more than he was at home.
The maybes didn't really matter any more than the mantras. It was an inevitability at this point. If Jasper believed in fate, he'd have wondered if that puppy bowl (with waived adoption fees) was destined to fall on the same day Columbia ran out of kibble. They'd leave this place with another member of the family, and no attempt to convince themselves otherwise was going to work.
The doors slid open, and the two of them were immediately hit by a wall of sound. The center of the lobby had been cleared, and a temporary pen had been set up up in the middle of it all. At least a dozen puppies were tumbling around inside, chewing on the shoelaces of the store employee attempting the hopeless task of wrangling them all. Three more puppies had been pulled aside for the puppy bowl itself: a short mock-raceway where the pups pawed clumsily towards a soggy green tennis ball.
Kyle began to drift almost immediately.
"What about-"
"C'mon, Jazz, let's just watch for a minute."
This was the beginning of the end, Jasper thought. He hadn't even made it two steps in the door.
Amused more than he was really annoyed, he trailed after Kyle. There didn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the puppy bowl - the tennis ball had been caught by a gangly gray Great Dane puppy, and the other two were making their best efforts to get it back. One, a mixed-breed with mottled brown fur and a squished-up bulldog face, was having more luck than the other.
The third puppy was by far the smallest, though what it lacked in size it made up for in fervor. It was a dappled sausage-roll of a dog: long snout, long body, long ears, but stubby little legs like a living piggy bank. It seemed to be holding a wrestling match with itself, tripping over its own legs as it tried to snatch the tennis ball back from its much larger counterparts.
It was that puppy that drew Kyle's attention. He watched it bumble about for a minute or two, then bumped Jasper playfully with his hip. Bright sparks of pure, undiluted amusement popped in Jasper's chest- it was rare that he got anything so concentrated from Kyle these days, and it made him smile even before Kyle spoke.
"Aaaaaand here comes Ruff N' Tumble!" he crowed, doing his best impression of Jasper's roller derby announcer, "Weighing in at two pounds, three ounces, this dog is small but he is mighty! Just like someone else I know..."
Jasper snorted and nudged Kyle right back, inwardly reveling at the smile on his face. It wasn't that Kyle was particularly unhappy these days, but he was much more withdrawn in his second life than he'd been in the first. He was wearing a high-necked sweatshirt to hide the scars, but he still didn't like drawing attention to himself anymore. Let alone smiling. Let alone laughing. Let alone allowing his voice to carry through the store and draw eyes like it was.
They were bringing that dog home. It was certain. Jasper wasn't going to walk away from anything that made Kyle really feel alive again.
"Oooh, and a missed opportunity from the Grey Ghost as Ruff sneaks in!" Jasper jumped in as the little dachshund made a renewed pass at the tennis ball. The ball was just as quickly snatched away by the bully-mix, who tumbled away in triumph like an overgrown meatball, and the dachshund let out an indignant yip!
"Chunky takes control, and Ruff's down for now," Kyle said, as the dachshund sank down into a clumsy play-bow, "But I'm sure it won't be for long!"
Instead, a pet store employee promptly scooped up the dachshund and deposited it in the pen with the rest of the puppies. The other two dogs quickly followed - save for a brief standby as the employee pried the tennis ball out of the bully-mix's jaws.
"Oh, well... I guess that's the end of this week's match-up!" Kyle crooned, laughing to himself as he tried to pivot, "So let's hear a word from our sponsors!"
Then he dropped the act, and tilted his chin towards the back of the store.
"Gonna go get the cat food." he said, back to the quieter tone of voice Jasper had grown familiar with, "Be right back."
The cacophony of puppies had him out of earshot within about twenty steps, and Jasper seized the opportunity.
"Is the dachshund puppy still available?"
"You wanna take him home?"
"Yes. Please." The words came out so quickly they almost sounded desperate- but in a way they were desperate. Animals did Kyle a lot of good: they didn't care about the scars, they didn't care if he spoke or not, they didn't care if he was something different than he used to be. And this here, today, that was something special. It brought him out of his shell more than Jasper had seen in months- maybe even more than he'd seen since the accident. He'd hold onto that. He was bringing this dog home.
"Alright. I'll have the paperwork up at checkout for ya. And we've got a starter package, food and a bed and a leash and all that, twenty percent off."
"Perfect. Can I carry him?"
"Sure, man. Just don't take 'im outta the store until you sign the papers."
The employee (probably extremely underpaid for the amount of dog slobber on their shoes) picked up the dachshund and shoved it into Jasper's arms, where it promptly tried to wiggle its way free. Jasper adjusted his grip, careful to support the dog's torso and back legs with his arm, and beamed as he walked off in Kyle's wake.
"Finding everything?" Jasper asked, wanting Kyle to turn as they approached. He just shrugged, his eyes still trained on the shelves.
"They're out of the Purina chicken and rice," he said, "Do we want the Purina salmon? Or the Rachael Ray chicken and rice instead, do you think?"
"Get the Rachael Ray chicken," Jasper replied, "Salmon'll give her death farts for days. Oh, and grab a bag of puppy food while you're at it."
That last line finally made Kyle look over, and his face lit up like the sunrise when he saw the dachshund in Jasper's arms. He immediately held out his hands for it, a bloom of warmth cresting through Jasper's chest as he passed the dog over.
"He's ours?"
"Yeah- well, he will be, they've got the papers up at checkout for us."
"Oh, Jazz..."
The dachshund twisted in Kyle's arms and unleashed a volley of slobbery licks to his cheek. Kyle laughed so loud it echoed through the store. Jasper's smile only widened. He felt more and more assured of his decision by the second.
"You got a name for him?"
"Ruff N' Tumble, obviously," Kyle replied, and shifted his grip so that he held the dog under the forelegs. The puppy was so small that Kyle's hands enveloped it, and only its head and the tip of its furiously-wagging tail were visible as he lifted it up. "The puppy bowl underdog champ of the world."
