New Chew Toy [Van!]

[Jesse Adams]

“Gambit, come on. We’re getting out of here.”

Kenneth attached the leash to the massive dog’s collar, grudgingly doing as Nathan had asked. He honestly had no problems taking care of the Mastiff cross on his own. Hell, Gambit was the closest thing he had to a good friend, or family member around Pilot Ridge now. It was just that it had been Nate telling him to do it in the first place. The dog nosed at Kenneth’s pockets, begging for the treats he knew his master was carrying. Kenneth rolled his eyes before giving him one of the little Milk Bones.

It left a satisfying mess of wet crumbs on Nate’s carpet.

He was fully recovered, physically, from the gunshot wound. No more painful healing sessions with Nate. No more touching. Now they just co-existed in a tense manner. Once he’d been healed to the point that he could walk without falling against the wall (or worse, Nate), he’d been told he wasn’t going to be granted leave until the damn couch had been repaid.

And all of Gambit’s loose fur cleaned up.

Why didn’t he just die while he was at it?

What was worse, it seemed that Nate was getting a perverse pleasure out of his ward’s discomfort. Kenny didn’t like the living arrangements, he didn’t like the company, and he definitely didn’t like the idea of getting a job.

Still, he could act. One of the precious few things Gabriel had taught him. Oh, he could act. With virtually no intent to follow through, he tapped off a quick text message to Nathan. ‘Taking Gambit for a walk, going to look for jobs.’ Yeah, right. If he wanted to, he could have paid off the damn couch through his healthy bank account, courtesy of his hefty ‘allowance’ from Gabriel. He just… hadn’t.

As much as he hated it with Nate, it was sort of a game to see how much he could make Nate hate him right back.

Gambit nudged at his master’s hand again, apparently eager to go. Kenneth smiled easily at the dog and brushed his hand over his coat. “Yeah, buddy. We’re going.”

In leaving the house, he didn’t have any fear of being recognized. With Nathan’s ‘encouragement’, he’d removed most of his piercings, leaving only one small hoop in each ear. Like his ‘father’, he too had dyed his hair a dark brunette, though he’d refused a haircut.

Okay, so it wasn’t a complete transformation, but it was going to work for now. The only people that knew him were at Hammel anyway. The chances of running into them were nil, right?

After locking the door behind them, Kenneth trudged off, Gambit sniffing eagerly at the grass of every lawn they passed. He knew of a pet store close to the mall, and he was sure Gambit would be able to come in with him. The dog could do with a few new toys, or a new bone. Something. So, that was where they headed. Gambit wagged the entire walk there, pausing only to mark the occasional lamppost, bush, tree, or fire hydrant as his own.

It took longer than he expected to reach the store, and Kenneth was a little too out of breath for his liking. Damn recovery time. He’d have to join the stupid track team at the stupid high school stupid Nate was making him attend. Bastard. But at least he’d be running again, even if it was with humans.

He took no notice of the little jingling bell signalling their arrival, making a beeline for the toy aisle. Nate would appreciate a shredded toy in the living room, wouldn’t he? Probably not, which made it all the more appealing to the teenager. Being out like this was actually nice. Nathan had drilled their cover story into his head during his recovery, and he felt like he was capable of not blowing the cover, stupid as it was. He could totally handle this.

Of course, with all that on his mind, he was no longer paying attention to the beast at the end of the leash he was holding. In his enthusiasm of being somewhere new, Gambit was wagging and knocking things off of the shelves.

Clean up in aisle six?

[Evan Brackett]

Evan needed money. Not to replace a couch or to take care of a dog, but mostly for future expenses. Money for college, money for an apartment, and, now that he had a boyfriend, money for dates. Then there was also the emergency things he needed to take care of, like getting new pants, or a new phone. After losing both to the lake, his parents had refused to pay for a replacements, so he needed to buy them on his own. There was a new, separate fund for that, because he wasn't going to deduct it from his other savings. As much extra work he had done over the break, he refused to screw up his other plans. Besides, it was easy to deal with not having a cell phone for a while when he already lived in the same dorm room as his boyfriend, and didn't want to receive nagging calls from his mother. (She felt the need to mother him much more now, after the brownie incident at the lake.)

As for pants, he was always having to replace them. That was nothing new.

The only thing that really dampened his plan was the fact that school had started up again, and he only had a fraction of the free time he had during break for working. Plus, with a new boyfriend and a new season of basketball, there were other things to preoccupy him. He worked after school whenever he could, and most weekends, but it still didn't quite compare to the number of hours he was clocking in before. That just meant it was going to take a bit longer for him to save up.

That particular afternoon was a work day for him. He had gotten out of school early--the advantage of being a senior and scheduling most of his classes for the morning--changed into the khaki slacks and black polo shirt they required him to wear, and walked to the small pet store in town. It was a quaint place and independently owned, basically the pet version of a Ma and Pop shop. All the animals were either bred by local, accredited breeders or from the shelter. The products themselves were of high quality. It was nice to see a place that didn't fall in line with horrors of most pet trades, and Evan certainly enjoyed working there.

He happened to be restocking the shelves, carrying in a box of dog food from the back, when he heard the door chime. He smiled at the other boy as he walked by the toy aisle, but had to pause when he noticed the increasing pile of clutter on the ground. The smile briefly became a frown as Van debated leaving the mess and coming back to it later, or putting down the box and fixing it right away. Eventually deciding on the former, he gently dropped the food at the end of the aisle (out of the way, so no one would trip on it), and scurried over to the mess.

Quietly he began to pickup toys and put them back in their correct locations, straightening them as he went and not acknowledging the owner of the mastiff. He ended up having to follow the pair down the row, however, because as they moved along, more items came down.

[Jesse Adams]

Kenneth didn’t need a job. Not really. He had money in accounts most kids his age could only dream of. Not only was there the money he legitimately held from his family in L.A., and his local account, with money given to him by Gabriel, but there was on offshore account with his name on it. Gabriel had only mentioned it once or twice, but the moment Kenny turned 21, he would have access to the substantial amount there, as well.

In short, he wasn’t hurting for money. But that was his money. And he was most certainly not parting with it in order to pay Nathan back for the stupid bloody couch that wasn’t even his fault. (Granted, even if he’d been conscious for the time he’d spent on the piece of furniture, he probably would have done his best to bleed all over it. But that was beside the point.) At some point, Nate was expecting him to get a job, go to school, like a normal filthy human.

That being said, he wasn’t trying all that hard. It was so much easier to loaf around the house, irritate his ‘father’, and take Gambit for walks. Now that his gunshot wound had healed, he was out of the house a lot, after making promises up and down not to blow cover, get arrested, or do anything stupid.

Going to the pet store was harmless enough, wasn’t it?

Apparently not, when you’re a 200lb Mastiff cross with a knack for making a mess. Kenneth wasn’t even paying attention, until he felt the unfamiliar sensation that someone was looking at him. He glanced back as they turned down the next aisle, realizing that they were being followed. He frowned, ready to snap at the kid, tell him to go away. But that wasn’t very nice, now was it? And Kenny was supposedly a nice guy. So, he decided to actually use this to his advantage. He cocked his eyebrow and paused in the aisle. “Uh… sorry. He has no idea how to control his tail.” As if to prove it, Gambit looked at the boy and wagged harder, whipping Kenneth’s leg. He rolled his eyes and gave the leash a tiny jerk. “Quit it.”

Hey, he actually looked like he worked here. And Nate kept saying that he needed to make friends, or some bullshit like that. Be normal, whatever that was supposed to mean. “Hey, maybe you can help me. I’m looking for a new toy for him. Something he can destroy.” … Did that sound weird? “… If he has toys to wreck, he doesn’t chew the furniture. Gotta keep the old man happy.” He shrugged in a slightly awkward manner and shoved his hands in his pockets. That was human-ish, right?

And of course, Gambit, being a complete and utter ham, sat at his master’s feet and continued to wag, offering a paw to the stranger. If he was cute, maybe, just maybe, the stranger would give him a cookie.

[Evan Brackett]

Evan dumped an armful of toys back on the shelf, and made sure they were neatly sorted before continuing to follow the pair into the next aisle. When the other boy stopped to address him, he froze as well and idled for a moment in awkward silence. "Oh," he finally uttered with an apologetic smile, "No, it's okay. Not a problem."

Even with the small stumble, the boy's story sounded perfectly legit to Evan. "Sure." He crouched down in front of the mastiff, shook his paw, and scratched behind his ears. "Do you need something to chew? Yeah? Yeah?" he cooed in a stupid voice that probably should have embarrassed him to use in public. The dog was cute, and the phaser was totally falling for it.

Van looked up at Kenny and asked, "Is he allowed to have treats?" Reaching into the pocket of his slacks, he pulled out a couple of small milkbones and offered them to the mastiff. There were the kind meant for small dogs and obviously weren't going to satisfy the large mutt in front of him, but it was all he had at the moment. Then he got up and wandered back to the shelves, took a moment to scan them, then pulled out a stuffed squirrel. "Here, he should like this one." Evan squeezed it once to show that it had a squeaker, then tossed it on the floor in front of the dog to see if he'd take it.

"You might want to get him a rawhide or a dental bone if chewing's the big problem, though," he added, grabbing one off the rack and handing it to the other boy. He disappeared into the next aisle for a moment, and came back with a large kong and a can of peanut butter spray. "Or a kong. These are great, and you can put all kinds of treats in it, including peanut butter," he added, wiggling the can. "It'll distract him for hours."

[Jesse Adams]

Oh, good. If the other boy’s reactions were anything to go by, Kenny was actually doing a convincing job of coming off sounding normal. Even the stumble hadn’t seemed to have phased him. He managed a little smile back at Evan. He was going to try to be good in public. No slips, no swearing, just calm and polite. The kind of kid Nate probably wished he had.

He was really banking on those acting skills now.

Gambit seemed delighted with the attention, thumping his tail harder on the ground and licking Evan’s hand energetically once it left his ears. Even Kenneth had to bite back a smile. His dog wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box, but when he was happy, it showed. “Yeah. He wrecked all his toys, so he started on my Dad’s recliner.” Lies, but they all flowed smoothly. “He was pissed, so we’re trying to stay on his good side.” He rubbed Gambit’s head, ignoring the slobber on his jeans. And trying not to burst out laughing at Evan’s baby talk at the Mastiff.

“Yeah,” he agreed with a nod. “He likes treats.” And he watched as the dog devoured the cookies, actually grinning when he licked his hands clean. As Evan left, Gambit made a long, drawn out whining noise, his tail wafting in the aisle. As soon as he reappeared, there was more wagging. Even Kenneth couldn’t discipline him. At least one of them had a right to be happy. The Mastiff’s eyes lit up as he saw the toy, his head cocking at the squeak. The moment the toy was on the floor, he pounced, happily mouthing it. Kenny winced slightly. If the toy wasn’t his before, it was now. There was no way that he was leaving without the slobber covered thing now.

“Yeah, maybe.” He tucked his hair behind his ear and nodded, fingers brushing his piercings. He took the bone and ran his fingers over it. It would probably be a good idea. And if nothing else, the thought of the dog leaving it on the floor, all soaked and squishy with saliva, and Nate stepping on it was appealing. As was the Kong, and the idea of filling it with something messy.

Really, all he was thinking was how much damage Gambit could do with them all.

“He’d like that.” Then he remembered his manners. Or, his faked manners. “Hey, I’m Kenneth, by the way. I just moved here from….” Where? “… My mom’s place.” He finished lamely, deciding he’d think of a place later. Anywhere but Los Angeles. “Spending some time with my dad, going to the high school here. It’s… a pretty tiny place. What do people do for fun around here?”

Was he talking too much? It seemed like it. Maybe he should shut up.