No, I Don't Want A Pony (Josef/Damien)

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony had been hanging out with Tomer for a long while now. And though there were some thoughts...and dare she admit it...feelings she had concerning the boy, there was one thing she was becoming more and more sure of...having a pet was pretty cool.

Of course some lame, fluffy bunny wasn't exactly on Harmony's level of cool. And while she wasn't sure just what pet would fit up to her definition and level, she was sure there was something out there for her. Whether or not such an animal would be on Hammel's approved list for pets in the dorms would be something she could debate later.

Still she was going to need some help. Not only in getting to the store to acquire a pet and then get said pet to Hammel, but perhaps even paying for the animal, its cage, and such. As usual, Harmony hadn't done her homework on this, though she did have some money saved up.

So she'd come to her uncle and Damien's place. She'd even decided to actually use the front door to start things off on a good foot. Hopefully, both men would be home because she had a feeling she could get Damien on her side about the benefits of having a pet. He seemed like a pet kinda guy. And with her idiot uncle, she would need all the persuasion she could get.

"Stop making out in the kitchen and answer the door morons," she mumbled, pressing the door bell repeatedly.

[Josef Muller]

As it happened, Josef and Damien were not actually in the house at all. Instead they were walking the dogs like the well behaved sorts they were. The…sort of well behaved sorts that they were, actually. Considering they’d spent most of the time—and it was Josef’s fault—wandering around and absently discussing things and periodically looking into shop windows with great curiosity, there hadn’t exactly been a lot of walking the dogs. But NPH and Gypsy had seemed to enjoy themselves and Josef was slowly encouraging his boyfriend into healthy activity. Now he just had to persuade him to take runs with him and everything would be swell.

But as a result, Harmony’s doorbell ringings were not to be heard by anyone except the cat and possibly some irritated neighbors.

“Movie night?” Josef asked Damien. He was tempted to hold his hand but was resisting, as public displays of affection had been rejected by most of Josef’s partners and he had grown to live without them. Besides, there was such a thing as too much. The mutual dog-walking was already about as domestic as you could get. “I’ll let you pick this time. I know my tastes are terrible. And I’ll make dinner.” He grinned. “And if you’re lucky, maybe give you a foot rub.” Anything to encourage activity. He nudged his boyfriend with his shoulder. “Thanks for walking with me.”

His steps slowed, however, as he saw a small brown-haired figure at the door. Then they stopped altogether. Damn. So much for a quiet night at home.

“Turn around and take another lap around the block?”

He did love his niece. But sometimes he just wanted to love her from a distance. A far, far distance.

[Damien Tremblay]

It never ceased to amaze Damien about how much better things felt now that he hadn't smoked in months. It was weird to look back and realize how much it had affected him, even with the little he'd actually actively smoked. Yes, he'd probably done some permanent damage, but he wasn't willing to think about that right now.

Instead, he was watching Gypsy and NPH stroll along in the leaves, stopping to sniff things, or each other, and tangle their leads as they went opposite ways. It had become such habit that it was easy to loop one leash over another without tangling them worse, and it really was... nice. Domestic, maybe, but nice.

As Gypsy set her nose to the ground, tracking a scent with her tail wagging, Damien relaxed and glanced sideways at Josef. "All that for just walking the dogs with you?" Giving him a light nudge back, he shrugged. "Movie night and dinner sounds good, though." He'd have to think about what he wanted to put in. Maybe something like Interview With The Vampire, being that Halloween was only a few weeks away.

It took him a moment to realize that both Josef and NPH had stopped, and for once it wasn't because the almost one year old dog was itching to chase something, or sniffing something furiously. Damien followed Josef's gaze, then frowned. He still hadn't quite forgiven Harmony for being such a pain in the butt the last time she'd been over. But still. It was getting cooler out, and they couldn't just leave her, right? "She's probably here for a reason... and she hasn't even teleported in. The faster you deal with her, the faster she's out of your hair?" Maybe? He could hope.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony was still repeatedly ringing the doorbell and getting more and more annoyed. “Hey Bozos!” she yelled, beating on the door with her fists. This was why she never bothered with doorbells and knocking. Popping inside was just so much easier than waiting for he idiots to open the door.

She was about to give up with her pretend pleasantries act and just invite herself in when she heard a noise behind her. She was expecting some noisy, annoying neighbors so she was a bit surprised to see Josef and Damien, even though this was their house. Sure, she knew that her uncle and his boyfriend had jobs and such, but sometimes it was impossible to picture them out and about. With real lives. That they for some reason seemed to actually enjoy. So it was weird to see them just randomly walking around town.

Grinning, she teleported away fro the door to right in front of them. “Hey dweebs,” she said, through instead of her usual bite and glare, Harmony somehow made the term sound semi-endearing. She was trying. It helped that she was paying more attention to the dogs, actually kneeling down to pet them, than looking at the two men. Maybe a dog would be a cool enough pet, if she got the right breed like a pit bull or a Doberman.

[Josef Muller]

Josef laughed. “It’s not just that, and you know it. It’s more complicated than that. Part just because you came out with me, and I like that a lot.” He smiled at him and then took his hand to squeeze it. “Good. Can’t wait.” He already had a menu in mind. But Josef always liked cooking so perhaps that was no surprise.

Josef hadn’t thought about the fact that she wasn’t inside. Then again, perhaps there was a reason for it. Perhaps she’d tried going inside, hadn’t found them, and had decided banging on the doors to disturb the neighbors would be better. Nah, that didn’t make sense. She would’ve gone through the food instead. He would have to think about this more. “You have a point,” he muttered. But judging by his expression, he was seriously considering Damien’s statement. Then he sighed. “Oh, all right. Fast. It’s definitely gonna be fast.”

And then Harmony had to continue to be herself by popping into appearance right in front of them. Josef stared at her and seriously debated—but no. She was his niece. He had to behave. Yup. Had to. But what was that tone in her voice? It almost sounded like she was trying to be…nice? Well, while still being demeaning. Josef’s eyes narrowed. This was certainly going to get interesting.

“Harmony,” he said calmly. He had his Zen-Master mask again. “Nice to see you. I have a cell phone, you know. For calling. To let me know you’re coming. Maybe that way you wouldn’t be left outside.” He tugged NPH to the door and opened it, slipping inside. “So what’s up? I’m not signing any more report cards.” He’d stopped doing that after her mother had screamed at him for a good long while.

[Damien Tremblay]

After her last visit, Damien had been holding onto a small amount of hope that Harmony’s drop ins would have ceased. Josef hadn’t even been home for quite a while the last time she’d invited herself over. A call, a text, something to warn them that she was planning on coming wasn’t too much to ask, was it?

Well, if her presence now was any indication, yes, it really was.

At least he had Josef with him this time. Granted, he was a lot less on edge these days, but it still wasn’t much fun to do battle with Harmony on his own. Squeezing Josef’s hand back, he smiled. “I like it too.” Were it not for Harmony’s unannounced visit, today might have gone on into perfect territory.

He tried not to jump as Harmony teleported right in front of them, though he did grip Gypsy’s leash a little tighter. The Border Collie didn’t seem to mind, though, happily playing into the girl’s petting. It was hard to be too annoyed when the dogs were clearly so happy, but he was fully aware that Harmony generally only appeared when she wanted something.

Leaving the talking to Josef, Damien simply followed them inside and let Gypsy off her leash. Charlie trotted out from one of the back bedrooms and stretched in the hall before greeting both dogs. Harmony got a look before the little Burmese cat leapt onto the back of the couch to observe everyone. Gypsy dashed to her water bowl for a drink before coming back to Harmony and thrusting her wet muzzle against her leg, seeking more attention. Keeping an eye on both pets and boyfriend, Damien pulled off his jacket and draped it over the back of the couch and headed to the kitchen. “Does anyone want a drink?” Might as well play nicely.