Fear the Reaper [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty

"Aw," Alaric cooed, "He's so cute! How old is he?"

"A little over eight weeks," Xiphrus answered, "There's a dog rescue place a few blocks from our home and when we walked by, it was hard to walk by without one." Michael gave him a droll look.

"You mean you had trouble walking away without one. He's cute, but we just got the house clean. We'll wait on any pets. And if we decide on a pet, I want a cat. They don't wipe their asses across the floor."

"No, but they lick them."

"If you keep reminding me of reasons why animals can be gross, I'm just not gonna get one."

"Right," Xiphrus said with a nod before he looked up and saw me, "Stanton, hello." I murmured an awkward hello and shifted into the room, looking at the puppy squirming in Xiphrus's arms. He was so goddamn cute, that puppy. His fur was made up of feather soft gold, his floppy ears pricked forward, and those deep chocolate brown eyes staring up at me. That little tail went wild, flinging back and forth. He yipped some more, pawing at Xiphrus's arm.

"He's cute," I commented. Xiphrus held him out toward me.

"Do you wish to hold him?"

"I don't wanna drop him."

"You won't. Just try it."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely." I held my arms out as Xiphrus cradled the pup forward and gently placed him in my arms. And holy shit, I was right, that fur was so silky soft, and he yipped excitedly, climbing up my chest to lick at my chin. He had that stinky puppy breath that I liked. Just something about it made the little guy cuter. I scratched behind his ears and he snuffled against my chin, probably trying to figure out my stubble.

"What's his name?" I asked, rubbing at the little pup's chin.

"I don't know. He's not ours," Xiphrus answered. I blinked and looked up with a scowl.

"You just kidnap some kid's dog?"

"No," Michael said irately, "He's yours." I stared at him, then looked at Xiphrus, who just smiled in agreement. I looked down at the puppy in my arms, then at Alaric, who was smiling so big, it could touch his eyes. I looked back at the puppy again, who yipped and lunged at my face, giving my nose a nip before clearing it all up with a barrage of licks.

"For real?" I asked after a moment.

"For real," Xiphrus answered. I looked down at the puppy. Trying to contain the sudden rush of excitement was like trying to keep a wine corked. I drew the puppy up so I could get a better look at him and his tail went crazy, his paws flinging at me as he barked.

"Max," I stated, lowering him back into my arms where he fell on his back against my arm and pawed at me, "I'm naming him Max."

"Max? For a dog?" Michael asked.

"I think it's a cute name," Alaric laughed. Michael shrugged, like he could disagree, but he didn't say anything. Good, because the name was great. I carried Max with me into the living room and sat down on the sofa while Alaric took some bags from Xiphrus, that I hadn't noticed were sitting by his feet until Alaric brought them in. It looked like stuff for Max. I smiled as Max rolled around in my lap and bit on my finger as I tried to wrestle it away from him. Those tiny baby teeth were sharp, but nothing I couldn't handle.

"I'm going to explain to Alaric how those things work," Michael said to Xiphrus, "You both behave in here." He gave Xiphrus a kiss on the cheek and went to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Xiphrus walked over and sat on the sofa beside me. I let Max jump into his lap, then back to mine. Back and forth like crazy, yipping and nipping at us. After a while, he curled up in my lap and fell asleep as I stroked his fur.