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[vaccination]

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[vaccination]

[She doesn't know how else to express how thankful she really is. Words seem weak and words have never been her forte, so she lets the hug convey how happy she is. It's almost too much to really process. The little puppy bouncing around doesn't seem real, even when her paws snag on Ellie's shirt.

Ellie tilts her head into his hand slightly, giving him a vaguely watery smile. Now is so not the time to cry like a little kid.]

What's her name?

[shittybirthday]

[Aww hell, no, don't cry, Ellie. Joel can see the wateriness in her eyes, and he holds her cheek in his hand and give it a reassuring stroke with his thumb. He drops his hand away and looks down at the dog really trying to bite into his fingers. She's teething. Damn it, he's going to have to watch she doesn't start chewing the hell out of everything.]

C'mere, you. [He scoops the dog up and props her on his knee, and briefly holds her snout in effort to make her stop biting. It doesn't work: she just paws at his hand and tries even harder to playfully bite him.

He glances back up to Ellie.] Still tryin'a decide between Lucy or Molly.

[Kind of letting Ellie have the final say on the name of the dog, even if he's picked the names.]

[vaccination]

[This puppy is too cute. It's a good excuse to not look at Joel for a little bit, let the stinging in her eyes fade away. She rubs the puppy's ears, then goes back to playing with her paws. Puppy paws are cute as fuck.]

I think I like Lucy. She looks like a Lucy.

[shittybirthday]

You reckon?

[Anchoring his broad hand under the dog's chest, he lifts her and turns her around to make her look at him. She lets out a playful yap, then suddenly yawns big and wide, punctuated with a groaning whine and a shake of her head at the end of it.

He's hoping focusing on the dog will help Ellie not cry. He's very rarely seen her cry but he hates it when she does. Makes him feel nervous and worried, like he's gotta somehow fix things and make them better and usually has no idea how to go about it other than to tell her to just push past it.]

Yeah, reckon you might be right. She looks like a Lucy.

[vaccination]

Lucy? Lucy it is, then. Hi, Lucy. You get to live with us now.

[It's not a bad place to be. Ellie rubs at her nose and tries to sneakily rub under her eyes. They're dry. It's all good.]

I think she's sleepy.

[shittybirthday]

[He uses the opportunity to hand the dog over to Ellie. He makes sure Ellie's got a hold of the dog - Lucy - and then pushes himself up with a quiet grunt, standing tall.]

I gotta head on out back to the car, grab a few things that I bought while I was out. How 'bout you take her out to the grassy area out back? She's a puppy, so she's gonna pee a lot. Gonna have to keep an eye on that.

[vaccination]

Uh huh. Okay. [Ellie just heard something about going out to the grass, so she very carefully gets up, Lucy in her arms. It's a little difficult when she keeps licking her, but it's manageable.]

C'mon, Lucy. Let's go outside.

[She has no idea how to raise a puppy.]

[shittybirthday]

[He lets Ellie lead the way to the door, stretching an arm past her to open the door when they reach it. The dog is wriggling and squirming about but it's obvious she's starting to tire - she doesn't seem as energetic as she was five or so minutes ago.]

I'll be out back in a minute, alright? Just keep an eye on her, don't let her go runnin' off.

[Joel makes his way down the stairs out to the car, where he grabs out some bags of puppy food, a dog bed, a few chew toys, a couple of dog bowls... He went all out, making sure they have the essentials. When he returns upstairs, he dumps everything in the middle of their bedroom for now to be sorted out a bit later, and he grabs up a stiff tug rope toy to take down with him out the back.

Once he's back downstairs, he pushes open the back door and strolls out, clutching the toy in his hands, and he silently watches Ellie and the dog from where he's standing.]

[vaccination]

[By the time Joel comes back, Ellie is sitting on the grass with the puppy fast asleep on her lap. There's the urge to wake her up, play with her, but Ellie resists and lets her rest. When she sees Joel approaching, she lifts a finger to her lips and points down at Lucy.

Shh. She's sleeping.]

[shittybirthday]

[There's a small quirk of his lips at Ellie shushing him and pointing to the sleeping dog. Coming to a stop in front of Ellie, he crouches down, clutching the rope toy loosely between his knees, and he studies the sleeping puppy for a couple of moments.

He turns his eyes on Ellie.]

Saw an ad in the newspaper when I was down the coffee shop this morning that there were puppies for sale. Decided I had to at least go and check it out.

[vaccination]

So that's where you were. Thought that coffee run was taking a while. [Ellie's voice is soft, as to not disturb the puppy.]

[shittybirthday]

Heh. Was kinda hoping you weren't gonna notice that part.

[Slowly, Joel eases himself from crouching down onto the grass, and he droops his arms loosely around his knees drawn up near his chest.]

She's apparently a Rottweiler-German Sherpherd cross. [Not that that probably means anything to Ellie.] Gonna be a big dog once she's fully grown.

[vaccination]

She's cute. [Good choice, Joel.] You know, if you're trying to secure your spot as my favorite person... it's working.

[shittybirthday]

Thought the pancakes sealed that deal.

[A small quirk of his lips. He's joking.]

[vaccination]

That was a while ago, though. Things change.

[shittybirthday]

[He raises his brows at her.]

Think you're startin' to get a little too cheeky.

[vaccination]

[She pulls some grass and tosses it at him.]

Oh, yeah?

[shittybirthday]

[Thanks, Ellie. He reaches a hand out and gives her nose a gentle, mock annoyed tweak for that.]

[vaccination]

You smell like dog. [Better than blood and death!]

[shittybirthday]

Better get used to it. Doubt you smell any better, anyways.

[And because he's just so glad to see Ellie so happy, so glad to have made her happy, he gives her hair a quick ruffle. Jesus, he loves this kid.]

[vaccination]

[She laughs and leans into it, for once. Can't disrupt the puppy.]

So... have you ever had a puppy before?

[shittybirthday]

[He gives her head a gentle, playful shove, then wraps his arms loosely around his knees again. He looks down at the grass at the question, his expression sobering somewhat.]

Yeah, long time ago. When, uh, Sarah was about four.

[vaccination]

[Ah. Right, Ellie should have guessed. She strokes the spot between Lucy's ears.]

Good, 'cause I don't know anything about 'em.

[shittybirthday]

You just gotta be consistent with 'em. Like kids, I guess.

[Just as he says that, the puppy lets out a long, whiny groan and starts twitching in her sleep on Ellie's lap.]

[vaccination]

A thing I also don't know about. [That's what he's for, she guesses. Ellie looks a little startled at the sounds coming from the puppy.]

That normal?