"Mark, we should get a dog."
"No Roger."
"But why not?" the musician whined.
"No!" Mark said again, getting up from where he was seated.
"We could name him FlufflePuss!"
"First of all Roger that would be a name for a cat. Second of all, are you drunk?"
"No"
"Okay then…"
Roger took a swig of coffee from the mug that he held.
"Aha!" Mark yelled as he grabbed the mug away from Roger.
"My coffee!"
"You have had too much caffeine!"
"Mark…"
"Yeah?"
"That's decaf."
Mark's face fell. "I give up." He threw his hands into the air and fell onto the couch beside Roger.
"See Mark, if we had a puppy, you wouldn't be so grouchy all the time." Roger put his arm around his friend's shoulder.
"No puppies! They mess all over and never stop barking!" Mark shrugged Roger's arm off.
"Are you done…?" Roger looked at Mark.
"No, I'm not done! Puppies bite you! When I was little I had a puppy, and it bit my mom. She got mad and made him go live 'On a farm'."
"Shit Mark that sucks."
"I don't like to talk much about it."
Roger saw that Mark needed some cheering up.
He quickly reached under Marks shirt and began tickling his ribs.
"Roger! No! Bad Roger! Ah...Sto…ah!!!" Mark's giggles filled the loft.
Roger moved his tickling to Mark's stomach. "Come on Marky, let me get a puppy!"
"No…ahahaha…Roger! Stop!"
Roger stopped, deciding to use another tactic. He reached his hand down Mark's pants.
"No Roger!!! Not now! Stop!" Mark slapped Roger's hand away.
"Don't blame me for trying."
"Oh well. Come on Rog; let's go to the pet store…"
Roger's eyes lit up.
"…maybe we can get a goldfish." Mark said as he walked out the door.
Roger got up and followed him. "Wait a minute! I want something I can cuddle, like a hamster! Hey, are you even listening to me?"
"Maybe." Mark said as he ran down the stairs.
Roger sighed, he would convince Mark soon enough.