I am too tired to think of actual scenarios and details but imagine Kinkade, Shiro, and Lance have been together and living together for a while and they decide to take the next step: adopting a pet! What do each of them want: cat, dog, bird, snake?? Do they get more than 1? How many places do they look at, do they run into problems? Do they fall in love with something unexpected? What do they name it!
hey anon ok here we go with attempt 2 with answering this question!! i wrote a long ass response to this ask and then accidentally navigated away from the page somehow (typing too frantically? no conclusive science on this) and lost the whole thing :’)
but im bringing the same enthusiasm and mostly remember what i said so here we go again! (came back to say.... this got even longer idk why i am just rambling abt pet meta this is ridiculous)
so, we all know that i want shance to be married with a cat, but moving into ot3 territory things are getting a little bit more complicated.
pet discussions probably open up as a joke, with lance complaining about wanting a little buddy to play with around the house, and the others agreeing that they could use someone to keep their energy up and their laps warm whenever hes away. but whenever lance sighs and moans for a pet, it tends to be a different animal depending on the situation.
so what do they actually want?
starting w lance naturally, i feel like hes a much more traditional pet type of guy. wants a cat to snuggle and play with, or a dog to run and swim with, something soft that he can get his hands on and smother in smooches. something thatll do well in a family home! whatever they get though, he would shower it with love and attention
shiro strikes me as more of a traditional pet guy, too, and we already know that he likes cats. if he had more time, i feel like he would like smaller pets, like a bunny or a bird, something he can keep nearby and speak softly too while just enjoying how cute and pretty it is. but the level of poop from both of those animals requires a lot of upkeep, and they need more specific care, and birds can get loud, which kinkade is not the hugest fan of, anyway
kinkade is the odd one out here, though. i mean, of course he likes your traditional house pet just as much as the next guy, and animals actually Love him for reasons beyond his comprehension, but he actually likes reptiles. we know hes a reflective guy, one who seems to value having control, and idk i think he would find a lot of comfort in the routine of caring for a high maintenance pet like that! he likes reptiles because theyre stoic but full of so much personality, and he just enjoys kind of watching them do their own thing in their habitat, showing his care by keeping their temp and humidity under control, decorating their tanks to a ridiculous degree to make them as comfortable and immersive as he can for them. he spoils them a little with treats, and you might even catch him murmuring softly to them while he feeds and cleans and handles them.
he knows its a weird sort of pet, though, so he doesnt speak up about it when they really start to consider their pet options. naturally, they eventually settle on a cat that they love to pieces. lance loves to play with it, it makes kinkade smile and laugh, it pulls shiro out of his thoughts when he gets lost in them, and they all spoil it!!
lance remembers way back at the garrison, though, that kinkade had a ‘secret’ tank that he kept in his dorm for a while before getting caught, in the earlier days. it was a whole schoolyard scandal, just another layer of kinkade mystery. he brings this up one day, and it all comes out that actually, kinkade just has a soft spot for those scaly little guys, and both lance and shiro want to know why he didnt just tell them that before!
really, kinkade still has trouble opening up, even to them, even after all this time. he just kept it to himself, he couldnt really say why, not wanting to derail the conversation when they probably wouldnt want some gross reptile anyway. but they are on board!! if this is a modern au, they probably get something not TOO difficult, like a bearded lizard or a pretty cornsnake, maybe a turtle if the commitment is real, but omg can you imagine them giving him a cool little alien reptile that becomes his bff??? please!
but yeah they decide they want to learn more about this special interest of kinkades, and get together with him to research different breeds and the stuff that theyre gonna need to take care of their new reptile! shiro is actually, surprisingly, a little more twitchy about them, a cross between being uneasy with them and being wary because theyre small and delicate once kinkade has gently coaxed the little thing into his hand. he warms up to them, though. lance is v enthusiastic to touch it and feed it, even though he puts on a big production of bravado when he has to put his hand close to its mouth and it snatches whatever he has out, jerking his hand back and then putting it on his hip with a big laugh like he meant to do it
theres a bit of an adjustment period as their cat is Fascinated with their new housemate, but they quickly condition her not to stress the lil thing out
also if its a modern au i just decided that they land on getting a turtle and name it atlas, because its carrying the world on its back, and because theyre nerds, and atlas.
so thats it lol, thanks for coming to my ted talk!!
