"No one wants her Alfred, stop bothering with the thing."
"Now don't say that, Arthur, I'm sure someone will."
Alfred held the abnormally small puppy closer to his face, checking to make sure the puppy was okay to be set out for the day. "And don't call her an 'it', her name is Princess Big Bark." Despite the bitch never having let out more than high pitched whines and small whimpers, Alfred found the name fitting somehow.
Alfred huffed, placing the pup down gently in it's display case. As soon as he put her down among the soft towels and blankets her siblings piled over on top of her, attempting to play as they did with the others. A small whine erupted from under the small mass of shaggy golden fur. Alfred's panic spiked as he quickly nudged them off of her and placed her in the furthest corner away from the others.
The blond unnecessarily dusted his hands off on his thighs, a quirk when he was nervous. The denim was comfortable to run his hands over and tried to soothe himself. Princess Big Bark was considerably smaller than the rest of the litter. She had yet to show any significant health issues, but the blond worried for later on down the road for the golden retriever runt.
He heard Arthur sigh from the other room. "Yes, yes, whatever. She only has a few weeks before we leave her with Matthew or something of the we do with all the others, she is not an exception, Alfred."
Alfreds mouth dropped open, "Well-"
Arthur cut him off before he even started , " Well nothing, Alfred! You've grown too attached to her, the store needs to make room for the next puppies coming in. She needs to find a home soon."
The day dragged on, Arthurs dismissal replaying over on repeat for the duration of it. It's not that Mathew would be a bad place for Princess Big Bark to stay, it just wasn't a place where Alfred would be able to see her everyday. Arthur was right, he had grown attached to her. He would have taken her in already if his apartment allowed dogs. It was almost closing and he was preparing to transition all of the dogs that needed to be put into bigger areas back, but something out of the corner of his eye captured his attention and his head quickly snapped in the same direction.
A large framed man was peering into the golden retrievers cage, stunning violet eyes narrowed and looking somewhat conflicted. Alfred quickly paced over the distance to the man,"Can I help you?"
The man jumped, Alfred voice snapping him out of whatever trance he was in previously. Alfred would've thought scaring the man was funny, if it wasn't for the fact that he now had the mans full attention and he was at least a full head taller than Alfred and very attractive.
A few seconds passed as neither of them said anything. Alfreds hands quickly moved to his thighs and started the motion as if he was wiping something onto them as the other man looked down at him, silver bangs falling to the side slightly.
"That one," he put a finger to the glass of the display case and pointed to the back, "the small one in the corner." Alfred himself jumped as the man finally spoke his voice deep and his accent heavily twined into it. It was smooth and off putting at the same time. The draw of his voice had to be something foreign.
"Ah, y-yes? What about her?" Alfred felt himself grow even more nervous, his hands practically dancing up and down his legs, not even looking like a method to clean them anymore.
"Hmm. It's a her?" The man said, thinking to himself, Alfred just standing there wondering what exactly what was happening. The man looked down at him again before speaking, "I'll take her."
Alfred stood before the man frozen for a few seconds, "Her?" He pointed to Princess Big Bark at the back of the display. "Are you sure?" The man lifted a thick silver brow in question. "Is she not for sale?" Alfred quickly scampered to fix the situation, "No, no! She's for sale. I mean I just- Nevermind. Meet me at the counter, please."
The small pup was being sold, finally, something she needed. He still didn't want to give her up, though. Even to the attractive foreign man. Nice looking foreign men didn't deserve small puppies, but his gut told her that he needed to give her up, though. There was no way that he could possibly keep her anyways. His mind became a conflicted ramble or possible ways he could keep her and why he should just let her have her new home.
She looked up at him with bright blue eyes in question as he cradled her to his chest and carried the front of the store.
Alfred took the time to pepper the small pup with kisses before putting her in a traveling carrier, not caring if the man saw him at that point. Arthur was right about her needing to get a new home. She couldn't just live in a small cage her whole life, but this was worse than Mathew taking her. He felt a little piece of his heart break as the man handed over the money and he nudged the carrier closer.
The silvered haired man was about to leave the pet store, puppy in hand before Alfred bolted from behind the counter to catch the mans sleeve, yanking him back a little. Seeing the man leave snapped something in Alfreds mind. "You can't just leave, you're taking a piece of my heart with you!" He practically wailed, it echoing slightly in the empty store.
The mans violet eyes snapped down and Alfred could've sworn he saw a a hint of red tinting the other mans cheeks, but it was no match for his own face that was practically aflame. "I-I mean Princess Big Bark!" Alfred sputtered out as if it explained his previous outburst.
The silver haired man just looked even more confused than before. Alfred brought a hand up to slap his face, he forgot he had never mentioned the name of the dog. He felt his whole face heated and flushed over and his vision was becoming blurry as he felt tears well up in his eyes.
"The dog, the dogs name is Princess Big Bark! Or was. I don't know!" Alfreds hands were dancing up and down his thighs again as he waited for the other to respond to his outburst. He really hoped Arthur hadn't heard it.
"What if I allowed you to see her again?" Violet orbs were burrowing into his as he looked up in shock. "W-what? Really?" Alfred felt hope flare up as the man nodded.
"But why? I don't think many allow a stranger visits for a dog." Alfreds voice was layered in confusion as he looked up questioningly at the other.
"I have never had a dog before. It would be nice to have some help. Also, you seem very attached to her. You seem to be a package deal of sorts. " The other looked away again and Alfred thought he saw red brush the others cheeks again.
"Plus, we don't have to stay strangers." The man coughed into his hand, trying to quell the awkwardness and glanced away from the other.
Alfred stuck his hand out, "My names Alfred." The other shook his hand, not mentioning he already knew the blonds name because he was wearing a bright red name tag.
"Mines Ivan." A grin broke out on Alfreds face, "Great! Then it's a date!" Both of their faces were red after his words registered in both of their minds. "Wait I didn't mean like an actu-" Ivan cut him off looking flustered himself, "I know what you meant."
Sorry this whole thing is a bit of a mess. You said 'do what you think would make me happy' or something along those lines. But ah this is very late and messy. It has a hint of rusame or implied later rusmae? sorry man im a bit rusty with writing and it wasn't my forte to begin with
Butter anon is sorry for lateness, you cant really publish things till after 12 hours