Pawtners in Crime | Skephalo

.:My life is also yours:.

It was another thing-- another response she was supposed to do. By standing on my feet, it seems to bypass my fight or flight response. That's what it's commonly known as, but there's two others-- freeze and fawn. I, along with many others, tend to freeze up in threatening situations. It makes things difficult if you freeze upon hearing loud noises, such as fire alarms or police sirens. When I first found out that this was a thing that some service dogs do, I was skeptical. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, and I was in a state of denial with my symptoms.

That I'd never get better. I was permanently screwed up, and nothing would be able to help me. 

It's a complex that many people who struggle go through, and at some point you have to realize that instead of doubting things you haven't tried, you have to help yourself by attempting everything. I felt my body relax after a moment, refusing to let my legs go limp under my weight. I took a deep sigh, letting my feet stand together again as I waited.

All of a sudden, there were warm hands on my shoulders. I yelped, turning too fast and tripping over my shoes as I tried to recognize my perpetrator. I stared up, immediately feeling upset as Zak stood over me with a smug face.

He couldn't keep it together and started laughing out loud, bringing his sleeved black jacket to cover his mouth as he did so. I'm pretty sure my face was bright red, but I was too distressed to care. "Zak! Don't do that!" I shouted, feeling a nervous smile creep up on my face when he just kept laughing.

His laugh was addictive, I have to confess to myself. It was like a drug, I wish I could just hear him laugh at all time of the day. "I'm serious..." I mumbled out, deciding to attempt to keep my last bit of pride.

"Sorry, sorry!" He said through dimmed laughter, offering his hand out to me. I quickly noted that his fingers looked pale, and he was dressed in all black with a blue beanie on top of his messy brown hair. I fought back a surprised expression as I took his hand-- immediately realizing it was freezing cold. That was saying something, seeing as he was cold too. How long had he been out here-- why was he this cold? He pulled me to my feet, but I took both of his hands in mine after regaining my bearings. 

"Oh my goodness, your hands are so cold!" I exclaimed, instinctively sandwiching the other boy's hands in my own. "Why are you so cold?"

"It's nothing, I was just doing something is all-" He started, seeming to cut himself off as I leaned over our held hands, breathing hot air onto Zak's hands specifically in order to warm them. I pursed my lips, unhappy with the result- it didn't warm either up very well, which lead me to squeeze our hands tighter. I noticed the silence, turning to glance up at the other. He turned his head to the side, and the most significant feature I noticed was that his face was bright red. I couldn't help but blush too. This wasn't weird, was it? One of my friends back in high school used to do that to me whenever I complained that my hands were cold- but maybe it was just her. I felt conflicted on what I wanted to do-- keep his hands from freezing, or save my dignity while I still had some left?

I decided to go with the latter after a reluctant second, letting his hands go as I shoved my own into the pocket of my jacket.

He turned back to me, less red than he was a few seconds ago. There was a small pause in his tone, before he spoke. "Look, we're matching."

Minutes passed as we sat on a cold round picnic table that had been anchored into the dirt of the park. I didn't feel safe letting Lucy sit on the ground in the dark, so I had her on the bench, right next to me. It wasn't like she was really working right now or anything, so this was fine. Right? Zak sat on the other side of me, and I could practically feel the heat radiating off his body.