"Zoe?" Maya called, letting herself into the unfamiliar apartment the same way she expected her friends to feel welcome in her own. She had Tristan with her, the two of them having volunteered to come over and help unpack. The three of them- Tristan, Maya, and Zoe- had been hanging out together more without Grace being around recently, Zoe having fully integrated into their group.
"Through here!" Zoe called back, and the two wandered through to one of the bedrooms.
"You settled the bedroom choosing then," Tristan noted, Zoe sitting in the middle of the floor with very little around her. The room was mostly the bed positioned how Zoe wanted it, with little personality or stuff.
"Yeah, Grace's room is bigger but this one has the bathroom. Pass me that box?" she gestured to the stack nearest the door. Tristan passed the box down to her.
"What can we do for you?" Maya asked.
"Make the bed? Or you could pick a box and empty it?" Zoe suggested. She was thankful to have help, but she didn't know what to do with it.
"Hoping to sleep here tonight?" Tristan asked, unfolding the fitted sheet from the pile Zoe had set out on the bed earlier. He gestured to direct Maya to the other end of the bed so they could wrestle the sheet on together.
"Yeah, make it official."
"Official like moving in with your girlfriend?" Maya teased. Zoe rolled her eyes.
"We have two bedrooms, it's not like we're moving that fast."
"Lesbians are known for moving in together quickly. Next thing you'll adopt a cat," Tristan said.
"Maybe when I'm not so busy. Work has been crazy lately. I was filming this scene with-"
Tristan put his fingers in his ears. "I can't believe I have access to the biggest West Drive spoilers pipeline and I don't even want to hear it." Zoe laughed.
"You know you could come visit the set if you wanted, but I can't be responsible for ruining it." The internal conflict that Tristan was having then was written all over his face.
The kitchen at Zoe and Grace's new apartment only succeeded at being unpacked enough to give them the bare minimum for breakfast so that they could stay over- the toaster, the cutlery, and the bowls and plates. Tristan and Maya persuaded Zoe that she had to come back to whichever apartment was chosen to eat dinner, having no faith in her ability to feed herself and not just keep unpacking until she went to bed. Where Grace had been all day was still a mystery; her room had even less unpacked than Zoe's.
All three were stopped in their tracks upon entering Tristan and Miles' apartment and seeing the pair of puppies being played with in the middle of the living room where their coffee table usually was, with it evidently pushed to the side to make room for the puppies. Miles, Zig, and Grace were all sitting around them, entranced by the two pups.
"Why are there puppies in our apartment?" Tristan said by way of greeting, moving round to greet Miles properly with a kiss.
"No need to freak out, they're not staying with us," Miles replied, only sounding mildly disappointed.
"Who are they staying with?" Maya asked, joining the little circle around the puppies. One of them wandered over and nipped her fingers playfully. Zoe sat down beside Grace.
"Aww, he likes you," Zig commented, "that's Noodle. And this," he said, scooping up the other pup, "is Pumpkin. At least that's what they're called at the moment, we can change that."
"Someone was hungry," Zoe commented.
"Noodle is coming home with us," Grace said, trying to lure him over, "Zig thought we needed a man of the house."
"And Pumpkin?" Maya asked.
"…Is my daughter and I love her," Zig replied. Really, they should have known that when Zig and Grace had said that they should get puppies that they would follow through with it sooner or later.
"Why didn't we get a puppy?" Tristan asked Miles, "I feel left out now."
"They only had these two left from their litter," Miles explained, "and getting a dog from another breed would have felt like settling. But…"
"But?" Miles stood up and extended his hand to Tristan, helping him up and leading him through to their bedroom.
"Tristan, meet Napoleon," Miles introduced, gingerly picking up the kitten from their bed. "He's a bit shy."
Tristan took the ball of fluff from him. "Oh my god," he said, "We're the lesbians." Miles draped his arm around him.
"Come on, let's leave him in here where it's quiet," Miles said, letting Tristan place the cat down with a final little tickle.
"I can't believe you got a kitten without me."
"Are you mad?
"Not really," Tristan said with a shake of his head, "There are worse ways to be impulsive."
"And you signed up for all of it when you agreed to marry me." He pressed a kiss to Tristan's cheek, and they left the tiny cat in peace to join their friends again.
"We should eat," Grace announced, to the agreement of her friends, "and then can someone drive me home? I don't want to put Noodle down."
"You mean this isn't home?" Zig asked. Grace couldn't argue with that. None of them could.
