Welcome to Gaia! ::

Richard was... really excited about the dogs, actually. He'd seen them in the flyer for the events and had hoped that they would make the rounds around to the rescues. They didn't have a dog with them, of course, so he was less interested in the treats in the kiosks, unless he could buy a treat and feed it to a shelter dog. He would be totally willing to buy a treat for some shelter dogs. How many dogs were over there? He would buy a treat for all of the dogs, if there weren't too overly many of them. They all deserved treats.

Alright, he... needed to calm down and back it up, a bit. He'd never even had a dog. He just really liked animals, and dogs were especially fun. Don't get him wrong, he liked cats, too, but... not many people brought their cat out on a walk or to the studio when picking up their kid. His exposure to cats was mainly making noises at them through windows while they stared bemusedly back at him. The occasional stray or indoor/outdoor cat crossed his path, but most were pretty skittish.

Okay, the dogs. Trying his absolute best to contain his excitement, Richard glanced over to the others. "Want to pet some dogs?"

He laughed as Raina snagged his hands and jumped up and down. Honestly, it was a lot of fun to have her along. Her unbridled enthusiasm was infectious. He was already opening his mouth to say, "yes, yes, if Ignacio's cool with it," when Ignacio voiced that he was, indeed, cool with it.

Raina's squeal hurt his ears a little, but she was adorable, so Richard decided to let that go.

And so, over to the dogs they went, with Richard trying to make sure he didn't get pulled too far ahead of Ignacio and, as a result, that Raina didn't pull an arm out of its socket. He grinned over his shoulder at Ignacio, adjusting his glasses as they slipped down his nose from Raina pulling him along. Dogs! This was going to be great.

Yes, there was a bit of relief when Raina saw the dogs and let go of him. He could actually walk at his own pace, for one. Not at all loathe for Ignacio to join him, Richard chuckled at the siblings' exchange. He wasn't terribly worried about her rushing ahead like that; he could still see her and it wasn't like she was in any danger.

Except from being licked to death or stepped on by a German shepherd.

Once he and Ignacio got there, Richard gave the cursory introduction to the people attending the playpen. Yes, he knew the girl--that there was her brother, even. Yes they were there to pet the dogs. Was it okay to give the dogs the treats that were out in the kiosks? Once he knew how much the treats were, Richard bought a fair handful of them and crouched to offer them to the dogs in the pen. With a broad grin, he had to stand up a couple times to keep one of the larger dogs from bowling him over.

Raina wasn't the only one enjoying herself, to be honest.

Honestly, Richard was delighted. There were dogs. Taking care not to get them too wound up, Richard had started playing with a couple of the dogs that had tried to knock him over for the treats. They were were more interested in the treat residue on his fingers, honestly, but that was fine, too. They were having fun, Raina was having fun, Richard was having fun, Ignacio...

He looked over at where Ignacio had been standing, only to see his attention pulled to a small but very friendly and enthusiastic dog. Richard seconded Raina's assertion that Ignacio should pet the dog, and a moment later saw Richard grinning at Ignacio from underneath a large shaggy dog. This large shaggy dog was one that had caught him in the back of the knees and was currently trying to lick his fingers clean off his hands. Being partial to keeping his fingers where they were, Richard managed to extract himself from the larger dog and make his way back to Ignacio.

"I see you made a friend," he hummed, crouching down to pet the dog.

Richard got up and came back with more treats, and this time started feeding them one by one to the dog at Ignacio's feet. He paused to offer one of the treats to Ignacio. "Here, since the dog seems to like you the best." He said this with a good-natured chuckle, winking at the other man. That being said, Richard had to agree with Raina. This dog was pretty adorable. Richard himself couldn't resist giving it a scratch behind the ears. As he did so, he searched for a tag. Surely, each dog at least had a placeholder name?

“I mean, Raina’s right, you know.” He grinned at Ignacio before continuing to lavish affection on Luz. Though as far as that went... “you know,” he began, “if you name things, they tend to want to stay.” It was supposed to be a goodnatured warning, a “don’t get too attached” reminder. Though, honestly... while Richard didn’t know how Raina’s mother would take Raina bringing home a puppy... he was at least pretty sure his parents would tolerate a dog if he and Ignacio brought one home... At least, as long as they took care of it, and it wasn’t too noisy... Oh, like Lu-

Oh no. With a snort of a laugh, Richard reminded himself not to get attached. Even if the dog was already attached to Ignacio...

It was perhaps for the best, anyway, that Ignacio not take Raina home later with a puppy in tow. Aside from all the other concerns, a lot of rescue and shelter groups made you certify that you had permission from all relevant adults in the household. For Ignacio and Richard, they were adults themselves, but Raina was a kid, and they didn’t have Lorna’s permission. “I think it has to be your mom that signs the paperwork anyway,” he offered with a sympathethic chuckle. They were her brother and dance instructor, but not her legal guardians. The last thing he wanted was for Raina to get super attached to a puppy and bring it home, only to not be able to keep it.

Richard didn’t notice Ignacio watching him, between talking to Raina and being crouched down to pet the dog at Ignacio’s feet. They could call Lorna, he supposed, and ask, but she would probably still have to come down and sign the papers. Would the people running the event be willing to hold a puppy for Raina in that instance? If they knew her mom was okay with it, but just needed to make it down there? He puzzled over how to ask not only them but Ignacio. He didn’t want to get Raina’s hopes up by mentioning a way through it, especially if it turned out that they couldn’t have pets in their apartment at all.

That was the case, sometimes.

And Raina was Ignacio’s sister, not his, so after a moment—hopefully while Raina was distracted—Richard pulled out his cellphone and texted that question off to the man standing right next to him. ’Do you think we could call your mom and ask?’ While waiting on the answer, Richard shifted from crouching to kneeling, still petting the dog at Ignacio’s feet.

That was a fair answer. Richard nodded and slipped his phone back into his pocket. They could always take the information from the folks running the rescue and come back to their main location. That way, if the apartment complex allowed it and Lorna was okay with it, they’d know where to go back to. “Hey, Raina, do me a favour and go snag a flyer, okay?” And Lorna would know where to go. It undoubtedly had the address of the rescue on it. Raina could show it to her mom, and they wouldn’t have to try to remember everything.

The buzz in his pocket surprised him and, once he’d pulled out his phone and looked at the text, so did the question. ...Did he want a dog? He’d been thinking about it, obviously, but being asked directly made him pause for a moment. Ignacio was right in that he’d talked about it before. A dog would make a good running companion, and it might make Ignacio feel a little better about Richard’s midnight runs on his own. Why Ignacio was worried about his late night solo running was a mystery to Richard, because he’d been doing it for years and it was even how they met, but there it was. And the dog seemed super attached to Ignacio, too, so he might end up with a running buddy.

He made enough at the studio to afford vet bills and pet food by himself, so that wasn’t an issue... Did he have the time for a dog? He and Ignacio were out and about a lot, so he didn’t want to leave her at home by herself for hours and hours every day. Of course... Richard was out and about at the studio, and he was pretty sure his mom wouldn’t care as long as—like at home—the dog was well-behaved and looked after.

She seemed pretty well-behaved...