Shots!
"I can't believe it's snowing again," proclaimed Christian as he quickly entered his house followed by his best friend, Edge.
"Winter's not done yet I guess," said Edge good naturedly as both men stomped their snow caked boots on the front mat and proceeded to talk off all their outer layers. "Man, it's been a long time since I've been to your house," remarked Edge as his sharp eyes noticed a few changes that Christian had made to his home.
"Well we've both been busy with work, plus I got a new puppy a little over a month ago," said Christian as he put his work bag on the kitchen table and went to put on some hot water for tea.
"You got any coffee?" asked Edge as he joined Christian in the kitchen and blew on both of his hands to warm them up.
"I thought you were trying to lay off of your caffeine intake," said Christian as he raised his eyebrows at his best friend who grinned sheepishly.
"I'll start that resolution tomorrow," said Edge as he sat down at the kitchen table and started to take off his heavy boots.
"It's almost March, dude," said Christian shaking his head at his ridiculous friend as he got two mugs out and put two identical tea bags in them, "I'm making an executive decision here and I've decided to help you with your New Year's resolution whether you want me to or not."
"What?!" exclaimed Edge in the middle of tugging off his second boot and looking at his smug friend with alarm, "Come on, man, I really need some coffee."
"It's four o'clock in the afternoon!" said Christian gesturing to the clock on his microwave.
"So?" asked Edge failing to see his friend's point.
"You don't need coffee, you just want some, there's a difference," said Christian as he picked up the steaming kettle and poured it into the two mugs, filling both to the brim. "Besides, I think you'll really like this tea, it's orange and pumpkin spice."
"What I would really like is some coffee," grumbled Edge as he grudgingly accepted the mug his supposedly best friend handed him and took a tentative sip. It was pretty good and warmed him up right away but he wasn't about to verbally acknowledge that Christian had been right. "So why are we stopping at your house, again? I thought we were going to the hockey game," said Edge as he contently sipped his tea.
"I need to give Dean his first round of shots and I need you to help me hold him," explained Christian as he placed some chocolate chip scones that he had made last night on the table in front of his friend and sat back down, "Plus the game doesn't start for another two hours, dude. We've got plenty of time."
"Who's that, Seth?" yipped Dean as he walked down the steps having woken up from his nap when he heard his master walk through the front door, peered into the kitchen and noticed that there was a second human in the room.
Seth scoffed and licked his front paws disinterestedly.
"Edge!" barked Roman happily as he came down the steps behind Dean and walked up quickly to the second human and began to sniff him immediately.
"Hey there, Roman," greeted Edge just as happily as Roman and rubbed the big dog behind his ears, "I've missed you, big guy."
"You smell interesting, like always," barked Roman as he licked Edge's hand in thanks for giving his head a rub. "Hints of baloney, mixed with greasy hot dog, a strong blend of marinara sauce and a dash of mustard. Delicious!"
"In other words, he's a walking refuse pile," stated Seth smarmily as he watched the exchange between Roman and Edge. "That's Edge, our master's human best friend," explained Seth finally answering Dean's question, "Although why he chose that one to be his closest human companion is beyond me," meowed Seth superiorly wrinkling his nose at Edge, "if you ask me, our master could do a lot better."
"Hey there, Seth," said Edge warily as he eyed the cat who slinked into the kitchen, "You better not scratch me again."
"I make no promises," meowed the cat smugly as he bypassed Edge and instead rubbed against Christian's leg and looked up at him innocently.
"Since when has Seth ever scratched you?" asked Christian not believing his friend as he rubbed Seth behind the ears as the cat continued to rub up against his leg.
"When has he not?!" said Edge dramatically as he stared down at Seth who gave him the evil eye, "That little stinker scratches me without fail every time I come over to your house."
"Not my fault you deserved it," meowed Seth as he leapt up onto Christian's lap and curled up in it.
"I think you're exaggerating as usual," remarked Christian as he petted Seth who had spread himself out on his lap.
"Whatever," waved Edge as he rolled his eyes at Christian's willingness to believe his evil cat over his best friend. "So, this is the little guy you were talking about," said Edge as he spotted Dean hovering just outside the doorway to the kitchen.
"Yep, that's Dean," smiled Christian as he gazed at the little puppy who seemed torn and couldn't decide whether to come into the kitchen or keep his distance.
"He's a handsome, little pup, isn't he?" remarked Edge as he got down from his chair onto his knees and looked at Dean who had taken a couple steps back as Edge had moved from his chair. "Come here, Dean, I'm not gonna hurt ya," said Edge soothingly as he inched forward towards the puppy.
Dean was curious as this mysterious human came closer and cocked his head at him.
"He smells different than master," yapped Dean as he cautiously sniffed the human who came even closer towards him.
"Yay, he smells yummy," barked Roman from his position under the kitchen table looking for crumbs.
"He's not worth your time, pup," quipped Seth having now exposed his belly to Christian so that he could rub it. Dean disagreed with Seth, Edge seemed and smelled nice. Plus, Dean, in his short existence, had already figured out that Seth only liked him and Roman and tolerated Christian.
"Hey, Dean," greeted Edge as he gathered up the puppy in his arms and gently stroked his back. Dean lazily settled into Edge's arms. He loved the sweatshirt Edge wore, it was warm and smelled vaguely of potato chips.
"Well, since you're already holding him," said Christian as he put Seth on the floor and stood up rifling through his work bag and pulling out a black case, "Let's get this over with and give him his shots."
Roman and Seth exchanged a worried glance as they recognized the black case. They knew what was coming and they weren't sure how Dean was going to react.
"Bring him over here," directed Christian as he pulled two needles out from the case and prepped them.
Edge, while still stroking a contented Dean in his arms, stood up and walked over to Christian who was already ready with the first shot, not wanting to prolong this unnecessarily.
"Hold him down firmly," reminded Christian as he grabbed a handful of Dean's skin.
"Wait what's going on?" yipped Dean as Edge all of a sudden held him in a firm grip that didn't allow him to move much at all and his master pinched his skin in his upper back and then…pain!
"OWWW!" yelped Dean as he tried to struggle furiously in Edge's grip.
"There, there little guy, we're halfway done," murmured Christian as he rubbed Dean's back where he had just pushed the needle into the little puppy and reached for the second needle.
"Put me down! Put me down!" yipped Dean as he squirmed with all his might, "Don't like! Ow, ow, ow , ow, ow, ow!
"Almost done," promised Christian as he skillfully pricked Dean a second time and rubbed his back again. "There we are! Your first shots are done!" said Christian encouragingly as he put the needle down and then took the shaking pup from Edge's arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know," said Christian soothingly as he held the puppy tight and petted him softly, "It's okay, you're alright now, you have to get shots if you want to stay healthy."
"It hurts," whimpered Dean as he nuzzled into his master's arms, "It still hurts. Make it not hurt."
"Shhhh," whispered Christian into the pup's ear, "Calm down. It's okay. You've been such a good boy."
"We should probably get going soon," said Edge as he sat back down at the kitchen table and grabbed another scone, "we might hit traffic."
"In a minute. Hold your horses," said Christian still trying to calm Dean down, "Dean needs me right now."
Edge scoffed, "He's an animal, Christian, it's not like he has feelings…OWWW!" howled Edge quickly standing up and knocking over his chair as Seth had just swooped out of nowhere and scratched him on the hand.
"That's for helping to hurt, Dean," hissed Seth at Edge.
"Do you see this?!" yelled Edge at Christian as he held out his bleeding hand. "Every time I come over he does this! Every time!
Happy Friday!
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