Senseless

Second Try

Tense seconds passed with all eyes on Terra and Jana. He tried to nudge it away several more times, but the dog was determined. When it finally looked like he was getting truly angry, Jana snatched the ball from the dog and pegged it toward the hallway. Jade could hear it bounce multiple times against the walls as Terra darted after it.

"That dog is so annoying." Jana grumbled, his eyes narrowing on the hall. "Watch, she'll be right back to bug me as soon as she finds the dumb ball." 

Needless to say, he was right. The dog came bounding back into the room, tail going at twice the speed it had been previously. The normal thing would be to ask where he'd gotten the dog to try and continue the conversation, but Jade had been warned about that question before coming. Tommy had told him that it had come from Christopher's deceased brother, and that the topic had to be avoided.

"What kind of dog is she? She looks like a retriever of some sort." Jake said suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to him as he slid from his chair to sit on the floor. 

Seeming to finally notice that there was another person vying for her attention, Terra dropped her ball near Jana's feet, turned, and walked over to sit in front of Jake. She sat just close enough to be able to pet, but far enough away to show that she wasn't too comfortable with Jake yet. 

He offered his hand out to her to sniff when Jana didn't respond, but Terra just eyed it with her ears tilted back a little. When Jake glanced up at Jana, Terra did the same, lifting her ears slightly. Jana raised an eyebrow at both of them and crossed his arms over his chest. "What?" 

Jake licked his lips nervously but spoke with a decent tone. "Can I pet your dog, please?" 

Jana tilted his head, eyes narrowing on Jake. 

"Can you?" 

Leaning over slightly, Jade reached down and gently brushed Jake's shoulder. It was just the faintest touch, but he meant it as encouragement without taking Jake's attention away from the situation at hand. Jade felt him lean back into the touch for just a moment before reaching forward and touching Terra's nose with his pointer finger. "Poke." 

The dog almost looked indignant at the gesture. Her ears went back and she tilted her head forward with widened eyes. Jade held his breath as Terra responded by reaching up with her right paw and swatting at Jake's cheek with a grunt of a growl. 

"Can't we be friends?" Jake asked, a sheepish look on his face. 

Terra grunted again, then looked back at Jana. 

"I don't care, dog. We aren't friends anyways, so why do you keep looking back at me?" He stated with a roll of his eyes. 

Terra returned her attention to Jake with a determined look on her face that Jade wasn't sure how to interpret. Why does she look like she's about to deal with this entire situation on her own? Jade wondered right as Terra stomped forward and plopped herself down right in Jake's lap, then rolled over for a belly rub. 

The dog was a little big for Jake, but she managed to find a comfortable position that Jake could still rub her belly in. She was very picky about how he did it, too, and smacked him a few extra times when he did it too hard or accidentally scratched her with a nail. 

After a minute Jade noticed another hand join Jake's, and looked up, catching his breath. His muscles tensed as he realized that Jana had joined Jake on the floor, but the man seemed to be keeping control of himself decently. He could tell that Jana was arguing with himself, or telling himself something, because his lips were moving feverishly but he wasn't actually speaking loud enough to be heard. He also appeared to be focusing much harder than would be necessary to rub the belly of a dog, but Jade didn't comment, just watched carefully.