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 Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:24 am
It was a beautiful day for a walk. The air was cold, and Sterling was reveling in wearing the new jacket he had bought for himself, a beautiful cream color and at least an inch and a half thick with fluff alone. It was oversized like most of his jackets and shirts, and he felt quite like a marshmallow.
And loved every moment of it.
He was out on a walk with Yu and the dogs, and had suggested stopping for a few minutes so that he could treat the two of them to hot chocolates, since he was starting to reach the point of being too chilly.
He left his boyfriend outside and went into the cafe, unhappy with the line of people also waiting for drinks, but that was all right. It was warm in here, and by the time the warmth began to be uncomfortable, he was good to go, two cups in his hand.
Yu wasn’t where he left him, and after a moment of confused scanning the area, he finally saw him on a bench, head lulled back...looking sound asleep.
...And the dogs were nowhere to be seen.
Panic took over Sterling at that moment and he hurried over to Yu, putting the cups of cocoa down on the bench and shaking the male. “Yu? Where...where are Penny and Odie?” He knew the line had been long but...he hadn’t realized it would have given the dogs enough time to run off...and for Yu to fall asleep.
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:24 am
“Mmmm…” He struggled to roust himself, shaking never boded well, and hadn’t he just… Blonde hair, that…b*****d who’d been yelling at him to rip out a started… oh… ********… He was so tired but…dogs…where the ******** were the dogs?! “Wh… no… no I was just…” He struggled to right himself. When the hell had he even gotten near a bench?! “N… No, no!! Where…” He Struggled to get up, staring at the hand that had held the leashes. “NO!” He said alarmed, standing and then nearly toppling back to the bench in a wave of tired, like an awful heavy net that just dragged him down. Was this what it was like when he did this to ******** there was, he… god we gotta find the dogs!”
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:16 pm
Sterling hesitated and moved to catch Yu, frowning deeply. Was he really this tired? Were things weighing him down so much? “...Perhaps I should have gotten you some coffee instead of hot chocolate...Yu, if you aren’t feeling well, you should have said something...I could have gone for the walk alone…”
He drew in a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. They were good dogs. Smart dogs...they wouldn’t have run too far away...and how long could it have even been? This was fine. They would find them.
...Priam wouldn’t lose his dogs too...not on top of everything else...Sterling wouldn’t allow it. Couldn’t allow it.
“I can find them if you’re not feeling well, here...take the hot chocolate, or...I can give you money for coffee but...please, if you’re sick...I don’t want you to get even more unwell…”
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:25 pm
“No! No there was…” He started to tell Sterling about getting his energy drained and stumbled over it, was it even safe to say that? “I was fine, and then someone just… touched my shoulder!” He protested trying to stay as vague as possible. “I'm fine! I just… I wasn’t that tired and now It… we have to find them!” He didn’t have time to explain, he could already tell that Sterling didn’t trust him to help with this, and that was the worst feeling in the world.
“I’m not sick, I'm not! I can help!”
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:32 pm
Someone touched his shoulder? Sterling frowned and shook his head slowly, still holding out the hot chocolate. “Well...drink it anyway. I’m going to do a quick sweep, and maybe the sugar will work through you a little and if I haven’t found them in the next five minutes...we can start looking together. You’re really pale, and I’m worried.”
Had...he had his energy drained? Or was this just all of the stress piling up and manifesting as some kind of illness…? More than likely the latter, he couldn’t imagine someone just...draining his energy in the middle of the afternoon but...whatever.
Gently, sterling stroked the male’s cheek. “If you get sick, I’ll be all on my own to cook…” He tried to joke, repeatedly pushing down his rising panic. “We don’t want that, do we? Me, having to take care of you both and cook? We’ll all die of starvation, I bet.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:40 pm
“I…” He started to protest, “I can do both, I’m fine I swear!” He rushed to say. So what, so what if he was only good for cooking, that was important wasn’t it? Keeping them happy was… was something. It was better than bad. “Look…see?” He took a rapid sip of a hot chocolate, which was really….really freaking hot and he regretted it tremendously. He could barely make out the sweet flavor of it over the dead feeling that the heat burned into his tongue and it was all he could do not to swear. “They can’t have gotten far, I don’t think… I swear I was fine, I’m not that tired!” Please… please don’t let them throw him away… “I didn’t mean to!”
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:38 pm
Sterling’s smile faded and he looked at Yu, his expression now one of blatant concern. “I...Careful, it’s hot, Yu…” He stroked the male’s cheek lightly, his brow furrowing. “All right...then...let’s go and look for them together. If you get tired or don’t feel well, let me know, okay?”
It wasn’t that he was more important than the dogs...not that he would ever admit such a thing out loud but…
He was obviously more important than the dogs.
“Hold my hand okay? If you’re sick, we’ll take it slow. You know that Odie will just keep running away if we’re rowdy...he’ll think we’re trying to play with him…” His voice was soft, and he tried to make it soothing. “I know you didn’t mean to. This isn’t your fault.” It was simply another chapter in their own personal series of unfortunate events...
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 8:06 pm
“I'm ok! I promise! you can trust me!” He said, though god… GOD, he knew they couldn’t. He couldn’t even give a good reason for the dogs running off. He should have double looped the leash around his wrist or… or something. “I promise, I’m not sick.” He wanted, needed Sterling to believe. He wasn’t as -weak- like that, he wasn’t useless or so easy to take down. “We’ll find them.. we will... I… I really wasn't tired.” He stammered. Though he was already casting about to find the dogs. God… He wasn’t even sure how to call them other than … food. The one thing he was good at. He took Sterling’s hand… not because he was sick, he wasn’t… absolutely wasn’t sick. He didn’t get sick. You didn’t get that pass in life if you couldn’t afford it. But because he wanted, needed to hold on. Like clinging desperately to a cliff edge. Sometimes the fall seemed soothing, and final... Today was not one of those times.
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:04 pm
Sterling nodded slowly. “Of course I can trust you...I’m just...just worried about you.” He slid his fingers between Yu’s and sighed, tugging his hand. “They can’t be far, love. We’ll find them, and then I want to get you some hot tea and tuck you into bed when we get home...just in case. I’ll handle dinner tonight. Sick or not...you have way too much on your plate and I don’t want you to keep stressing yourself.”
He began walking, his cup of hot chocolate forgotten back on the bench, and not remembered until they were several steps away...it didn’t really matter. They had to find the dogs. He could get more later...honestly, his stomach wasn’t in the mood to take in anything right now.
Until Penny and Odie were back in his arms, or their leashes in his hands...he didn’t want to do anything, if he were being truly honest. He felt terrible. How could he have not…
No. This wasn’t the time for self pity.
It wasn’t the time for the tears that decided to spring to his eyes. Trying to make light of them, he rubbed his eyes, clearing them and sighing. “I wish I had thought to bring treats with me…”
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:10 pm
Yu fumbled in his own coat pockets, It was his normal coat, after all, layered over other warm shirts. Half a biscuit in one pocket, so he swapped to checking the singular pocket of his hoodie. “s**t… ********…” He swore
“Y..You don’t think they’d come for … half a biscuit that’s been in my pocket for… I don’t know how long?” He said desperately. “I can do dinner, I swear I’m fine!” He added. “Do you think they’d come if I yelled for them?” The thoughts were a tumble, each one tripping over the other. They couldn’t take making food from him if they did…. it was all over He was sure of it. If he could keep things focused on the dogs, maybe he could make Sterling forget the idea of keeping him out of the kitchen.
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 6:13 pm
Sterling squeezed his hands, whistling softly for the dogs and stroking the back of the male’s hand with his thumb. “They’ll come. They know us. And I’m sure they’re freaked out right now, don’t you worry. They’ll come. But, if you have a biscuit, we can try that.”
It was a good idea.
“Odie loves them, right?” His voice faltered and he scanned the area, calling for the dogs and whistling again, praying that they hadn’t done something foolish.
Like run into the street and get hit by a car...that…
That would utterly destroy Priam. And everything. The very thought made his chest constrict, but this was neither the time nor place for a panic attack, not when Yu was already falling to pieces.
“Penny? Odie? Come here you two!”
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2020 6:39 pm
“Penny! Odie! Come on!! Here horse!!” He was hoping they might respond to his only half absurd nickname for them. Please… please let them come back. He didn’t t think he could face Priam if he let anything happen, no matter what the reason. He was absolutely not, fighting tears. The look of fear on Sterling’s face, the falter in his tone, he could just imagine that the beautiful man was bracing for what he’d say if they couldn’t find them. Please…please let them come back. For the sake of the poor animals, if nothing else.
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Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 4:40 pm
There was no sign of the dogs, and Sterling was getting a horrible, sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach the longer that they looked.
It felt like they were out there for hours, and he only paused when his voice was hoarse and it was growing dark. “We...we should go home, Yu…” Sterling couldn’t stop the tears as they slowly oozed down his face. “...We can’t see in the dark and...and Priam will be worried about us.”
It was getting so cold too, the temperature dropping as the sun dipped further down in the sky. He couldn’t imagine the two pups lasting through the night with it being this cold...and he knew that he would be out first thing in the morning to find them he just…
Oh god. Priam was going to utterly die when they told him.
“...I don’t think there’s anything more we can do tonight…”
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Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 4:53 pm
“No…nonono… I can stay out, I can keep looking!” He protested. He rubbed his face, wanting to sink nails in because god, he deserved to suffer for losing the dogs. The look on Sterling’s face though, the tears, he couldn’t let Sterling go home alone, he’d just… he’d come back out on his own. He WOULD find them He’d return them and…. And well he’d see how it went from there. They didn’t need to know he was looking in a strange costume. “I….” His shoulders sagged. “It’s my fault, I’ll tell him.” He swallowed hard, already imagining the look on Priam’s face, the disappointment, the loss. “Maybe… someone found them, maybe… I can call the shelters.” It was a thin hope, that they would find better shelter than people could at times. But he had to hope, even if it was hard to do so.
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