happiness is a warm puppy [open to all]

[doublethepain]

He's definitely come down with something.

It's hardly cause for panic, really, just a bit of congestion; some coughing that he thinks he's done a fair job of keeping under wraps; maybe a slightly sore throat, a few pressure headaches here and there, a case of the chills; but he's fine, Spencer is sure of it. He's fine because he's got a ring on his finger and a puppy at the end of his leash, so there's nothing at all in his life that he can complain about right now.

John had most generously given him half a day off--"a wedding gift from me to you" is how his boss had put it--so Spencer had stopped back at home to get Huxley before heading in some direction or another, he hadn't really had a plan. It's not very surprising that his feet seem to take him in the direction of Crossroads, as they so often do, but a part of him hopes that he'll run into some people he knows on the way there. He has news, after all, and he's not one to call up all his friends--not that it would take long, he muses--to share even the most exciting parts of his life, but he does want people to know.

He's happy, happier than he's ever been and not just since his mother and Dane had died. He has so much to be thankful for, so much to come to look forward to, and he can't remember the last time he'd felt so optimistic about his future. He smiles to himself as he watches Huxley sniff at the grass on the sidewalk before the puppy scrambles to meet a pair of feet that's headed their way, jumping up on his hind legs to paw at the stranger. Spencer's smile doesn't fade as he lifts his head to look at the other person; in fact, it only grows wider.

"You're in for it now," he says, a teasing edge to his tone. "Huxley seems to grow attached to people far too quickly for his own good."




[OOC: Spencer's a little under the weather right now because I am, too but he's in an excellent mood so it would be a great time to say hello, whether your character has already met him or not :) Find him walking his and Joel's new puppy Huxley or catch him wherever is convenient for your character to be. As long as that place allows dogs.]

Comments

[louise_abasi]

"Aren't you the most adorable little thing?"

Lou - still a bit wobbly, with all that time of lying around - squats down to the dog. "Hello, stranger. I'm certain you're new, because else I would have remembered you."

She knows who Spencer is, she's pretty sure she can remember a connection to Joel and how she had hurt him, but she's still a bit vague on how they left things off before she disappeared and left part of her memories there. Still, she doesn't expect Spencer to be rude or awful to her, no matter what she did or didn't do.

That's what she hopes, at least.

[doublethepain]

He blinks at the sight of Lou before him, and he'd seen that invitation to Sunday brunch when he and Joel had returned but he hasn't seen her in what feels like half a lifetime now, simply because so much has changed, and he feels a bit foolish as he realizes that he's staring at her with his mouth slightly agape.

She looks no worse for the wear, aside from what seems to be a bit of shakiness as she kneels to coo over Huxley, but Spencer doesn't know if it's rude or not to ask where she's been or what she's been doing all this time. He's a bit confused, too, by what she says to him and his forehead wrinkles along with his brow as he tries to determine whether she's simply making a joke or not.

"I'm sorry I missed your brunch," he eventually manages to spit out, cheeks reddening because he's sure that Lou hadn't cared at all that he hadn't attended, but he clears his sore throat and tries to rub its rawness away with a hand on his neck. "Are you-- You look-- You're all right, aren't you? You just... disappeared."

In spite of what had happened between her and Joel--the thought of which still makes him very uncomfortable because of what had been implied--he cares about Lou's well-being, cares whether or not she's doing all right, and he tries to give her a small, reassuring smile.

[louise_abasi]

"I .. - I meant the dog."

Louise feels herself grow uncomfortable under his stare and wonders if she missed a big thing while growing back a memory.

"That's fine, really. It was very awkward at first and pretty emotional later. I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

She lets the little dog play with her hand so she won't have to meet his eyes. "Some magic went wrong. Some people wanted something from me. I'm getting better quickly. But how have you been?"

[asharpertongue]

"Hi boy!" Lara said, scrubbing the dog behind his ears. Osha, who'd been strolling peacefully behind Lara caught sight of the small puppy and walked forward to sniff at him. The puppy yipped and ran back to Spencer. Osha looked up at Lara and whined. "Well you're enormous and he's tiny. What do you expect?" Lara said, smiling at Spencer and winking. "Hi Spencer." She hasn't missed the ring on his finger but she won't ask. Spencer always preferred to share, rather than be confronted. "New addition to the household?"

[doublethepain]

Spencer snorts when Huxley retreats, gathering his dog up in his arms not because he's worried that Osha might hurt him but because he suspects that any more time spent on the ground right now would result in Huxley being far more of a terror to Osha than Spencer thinks he can handle right now. He makes a face when Huxley licks at his nose before pressing a soft kiss to the pup's head and grinning up at Lara.

"Hello, Lara," he answers, nodding at her question though he's sure it's clear enough on its own. "Joel and I, we've been out of town for the past week. We made a few... changes."

[fairywren]

Wren is not the most responsible person when it comes to taking care of himself, but Inari - well, she deserves attention (and she knows it). So he gets up a little earlier to make sure she gets out, has food. In this quiet place he dares to let go of the leash once in a while if she's calm and right now she's strolling patiently by him, pausing every once in a while to sniff at something.

He'd never thought of himself as a dog person. Even when he adopted her, it was really just that she was special. Now, with a tiny and objectively adorable puppy jumping up on his boots to greet him, he has to maybe reconsider.

"Hello there," he says very seriously to the pup and looks up to smile at the lanky stranger who seems to be its person, eventually giving in and crouching to give it a scritch behind the ears. "Huxley. Like the writer?" Inari, behind him, runs up to wag her tail cautiously and sniff at the puppy.

[doublethepain]

Spencer's smile brightens when the stranger cites the author and he nods eagerly, perhaps looking a bit too earnest and excitable which really isn't like him at all--at least, not usually, though he still feels quite like he's just been floating above ground since he and Joel had returned from their elopement--but Spencer is always happy when someone recognizes anything related to literature.

"Like the writer, indeed," he says, rolling his eyes when Huxley licks at the stranger's hand before rolling on his back to encourage a belly rub. He doesn't stay in that position long, though, not when the other man's dog comes bounding up to investigate, and Spencer lets out a laugh as the pair begin to circle each other.

"Your dog is lovely. My brother always wanted one when we were growing up, but our mother never did allow it." He surprises himself by saying it, mostly because he barely talks about his mother and brother with the people he cares for most as it is; discussing Dane with someone he's never met, it's-- Well, to be honest, it turns out that it's much easier.

It's likely due to the fact that this man has no idea what Spencer's history in Siren Cove is like, that he'd been accused of killing his own family on the morning of his own birthday, but he doesn't feel the tension in his shoulders like he usually does when talking to someone who isn't Joel about his brother. He's not at ease, exactly, he's never at ease when it comes to being social with much of anyone, but it's a vast improvement from the way he'd once approached meeting new acquaitances--that is to say, he wouldn't have approached anyone at all.

"I'm Spencer, by the way, Spencer Waters." He pauses, shaking his head as his smile broadens further. "Waters-Baker. What do you call yours?"

[fairywren]

"Maybe a little more optimistic," Wren says, ruffling the puppy's fur and smiling as he jumps up to investigate the other dog. He has an eye out but they're approaching He stands up.

"Thanks. She knows it, too," he grins wryly. He notices the past tense, but can't quite read it. "They're a lot of responsibility, I guess," he says, "but sometimes that's something you live up to."

"That's almost a fugue," he says, spencer-spencerwaters-watersbaker , and raises an eyebrow, amused at the stumble and ensuing grin. "Is the last bit recent?"

"I'm Wren," he adds, "And this incorrigible fluffball is Inari." Her ears prick up and she tilts her head as if to figure out what he's saying about her.

[just_another]

Joel is sitting just outside Crossroads with his laptop beside him on the bench as he chews at the end of a pen he has strictly for that purpose. Without the past week away and the wedding itself, this entire thing might have been too difficult for him, overwhelming in ways he wouldn't know how to deal with, but he's relatively relaxed now, balancing his books as he takes into account he'll no longer be paying rent on the store.

He can afford to start to do other things now. Renovate the basement for better storage. Maybe turn the locked room into something else as he moves his more dangerous books and magical items to his new home. He has high hopes for the store and it's Spencer who has made that possible.

The sound of the puppy's collar is what draws him out of focused state and he looks up, pushing his glasses up onto his head as he smiles at Spencer drawing closer with Huxley. "How are you feeling?" he asks. He knows Spencer has been trying not to let on that he hasn't been feeling well, but Joel sees him every single day and it's been obvious to him that he's feeling a little under the weather.

[doublethepain]

Spencer shrugs mildly at the question, hoping that the way Huxley paws at Joel's leg is going to serve as enough of a distraction from the way his complexion is just the slightest bit paler than usual and the circles under his eyes just the tiniest bit darker. "Could be worse," he says vaguely, leaning down to unclip Huxley's leash from his collar and letting out a laugh when the puppy jumps into Joel's lap.

He hovers closely without making any actual moves to try to join his husband on the bench, wanting to give Joel a kiss but also wary about getting him sick because it wouldn't do to have them both out of commission and unable to work. He notes the laptop and then Joel's chew pen--and the fact that Joel actually has a pen specific for chewing the end of had come as such a delightful and endearing surprise--before offering a small smile.

"Somebody's been putting his mind to work," he says, tilting his head to give the other man a quizzical look. "Giving thought to what you want to do with the store?"

[just_another]

Joel makes a face at Spencer's response, using one hand to corral Huxley against his chest so he doesn't go walking all over the laptop. With the other hand he reaches up, hooking his fingers in one of Spencer's belt loops and tugging gently, trying to get him to sit down on the bench as well. Could be worse is as vague an answer as he can give, but Joel will let him have it, so long as Spencer lets Joel take care of him when they head home. Which he'll actually have little choice in, given the fact that Joel already has all the ingredients for homemade chicken noodle soup as well as several movies he'd rented earlier, in hopes he'd be able to convince Spencer to take the night off from helping Raleigh at the bakery.

"Come here," he says, lifting his hand from Spencer's belt to the back of his neck, tugging him in for a kiss. If he gets sick as a result, he'll get sick, he doesn't care, but the idea of greeting Spencer without kissing him is unacceptable. It's not the sort of thing he ever went without before, but he's fairly certain that being married means he's always required to greet Spencer with a kiss, which is exactly the sort of rule he's more than happy to follow.

"Thinking about what we might do with the store," he corrects, glancing down at the spreadsheet he has open on the laptop before looking back over at Spencer. "I don't... I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, but you really... you've opened up a lot of doors for things to get done with it." He's thanked Spencer already and he'll probably thank him a hundred times more, but he thinks it's important Spencer know exactly what he's given Joel. The extra money doesn't seem like it would be a lot, but it makes a big difference.

[aoife_coombs]

Aoife can see that Joel's working, but she's glad to see him again. She waves at him before walking over, keeping her body half-turned so she can excuse herself if he turns out to be doing something really important.

"Hey, Joel."

[just_another]

"Hi," Joel answers, looking up at the sound of Aoife's voice as he pushes his glasses up on top of his head. The spreadsheets can wait and although he's a little nervous, he's excited, too. Besides Raleigh, Aoife will be the first person he'll have told about what he and Spencer have done and it's the first time in his life he's had news like this. Hopefully it won't be the last, not with their plans for the store and for a family one day, but it's the first and he shifts on the bench, unable to stop himself from smiling. "How are you?"

[keirasullivan]

"Oh my god Spencer, how dare you." Keira muttered at the world's tiniest little puppy dog she has ever seen. Keira might be a cat person, a girl needs a familiar, but that puppy was freaking adorable. Keira bent down to pick world's tiniest up before tickling his ears. "You are freaking adorable, you are the worst Spencer look at this puppy how could you?"

[doublethepain]

Spencer can't help the delighted laugh that escapes him, and he has to admit that he'd shared that reaction when he'd first seen Huxley. He'd only meant to pass through Wilton's Human Society, which had been very inconveniently located just a block away from the cofee shop that had been his original destination, but Spencer had known he could leave without the pup the second he'd let eyes on him. The fact that he'd married a man who'd felt the same way had made the adoption all the sweeter.

"He's a bit of a heartbreaker, isn't he?" he asks with a broad smile, shaking his head at the way Huxley relentlessly tries to squirm out of Keira's hold, though his tail wags with excitement. "The library is a perfectly acceptable place to act as a doggy day care, don't you think?"

[keirasullivan]

"Yes heartbreaking, like you and Joel. Shacking up, breaking my heart the pair of you. Whatever am I going to do once I turn thirty now? You know I was going to marry slash have one of your babies. Now, I need to rethink the plan." Keira replied dryly, rubbing the cute tiny little thing's tummy as he wiggled about in her palm. It was like the size of a teacup or something. Putting the puppy down, she patted his head fondly. "If you mean the library then you mean the basement and by the basement I mean my office then yes. Perfectly acceptable."

[ofcatsandfate]

"What a beaut of a dog," Fabrice grins as he bends down to pet the excited creature at his feet. He seems filled with a boundless sort of energy; it's hard not to feel a burst of happiness at the sight of such a happy puppy. "How old is he?"

He glances up to find himself faced with Spencer; he realizes he hasn't seen the other man in quite some time. "And how have you been? Doing well, I take it?" He gestures to the puppy with another smile.

[doublethepain]

"The Human Society in Wilton guessed about five months," he answers, and it's with a pang in his chest that he thinks of how devastated he would be to have to give Huxley up. The puppy has only been with him and Joel for a few days but the connection had been undeniable from the get-go, it's the very reason he'd insisted they couldn't leave without the dog, and he's so glad that his husband is the kind of man who'd agreed.

The smile easily returns, though, when Fabrice asks if he's doing well. There are so many ways he could answer that, the most instinctual of them to throw his his hand under the other man's nose to show Fabrice the ring on his finger. This is, quite obviously, a route he opts not to take and instead just nods. "Very well, yes, thank you. It's been a bit of a busy week. How about yourself?"

[ofcatsandfate]

"Wilton, huh? Well, he certainly looks happy to be here," Fabrice muses, scratching the dog behind the ears. He's considered getting himself a dog, at some point, but, again, with his three cats, he'd have to be careful. At least, he has plenty of love and affection for other peoples' dogs, at the moment.

"A good kind of busy?" He asks, taking in the man's grin along with the dog. He certainly seems to be glowing. He thinks about his own week, the tumultuous nature of it and all the time he got to spend with Demetri. "I'm doing well. Definitely glad it's September, now."

[sirenstoryteller]

"Well, I can't say I blame him." Alex said as he squatted down to get on the puppy's level with a grin. He scratched the puppy's ears as he looked up at the owner. "With a face like that, people would get attached to him just as quickly."

Once again, Alex had been using an excuse to get out of the house. But he'd had a good one. He'd been at both the library and the coffeehouse with his laptop, sorting through research and sending e-mails back and forth to Cam. There was so much to go through and he was beginning to realize how much he relied on his assistant for organization as he was just no good at it. Now, he was just wandering a bit to stretch his legs before heading back to the Senator's estate.

[doublethepain]

Spencer had seen Alex earlier in the day at the library, and it's actually quite rare that they run into each other outside of his workplace so he offers what he hopes looks well enough like a friendly smile. He's had much more practice over the past few months being as close to social as Spencer can possibly be, but he has to admit that he still very much prefers curling up on the couch or in bed with Joel, watching that dance show or reading a book whilst enjoying each other's company.

Still, Spencer can't say that Alex has ever been cruel to him and has always been a regular patron at the library, so it's not as if he feels as awkward as he might talking to a stranger. "Don't fall for it," he warns, a teasing edge to his voice. "He makes you love him then works slowly but surely at making you a servant to his every whim. And I've only had him for a few days." His smile grows wider, easier. "Taking a break for the afternoon, are you? You looked hard at work at the library today, I would have said hello but I didn't want to disturb you."

[sirenstoryteller]

It was friendly enough to be met with one of his own. While being social was part of being a Cabot, Alex too preferred the more quiet methods of relaxing.

The town librarian was the last person Alex would dream of being cruel too. Whatever people said about Spencer, he wouldn't believe it. "Only a few days? Clearly he has you securely under his thumb. I'll have to be careful not to share your fate." He scratched the pup one more time before standing up. "I would have welcomed the distraction to be honest. I'm not used to quiet. But I needed a place to go over things without well intentioned parents and brothers looking over my shoulder." Then he shrugged. "But I have to go home sometime."

[callmeemily]

"I hope he's gonna end up attached to me like velcro," Raleigh said with a smile. She's walking out of the bakery - it's changed a lot since the last time Spencer's seen it, largely due to the fact that it's no longer filthy. There's some actual construction projects that Joel's helping with, but mostly Raleigh's spent the last day scrubbing down every bit of existing counterspace or cupboards with bleach, and she needs to get a break from the smell.

Still, if Spencer looks through the open windows? It's a world of difference from the last time he's seen it. She hasn't picked up on how he sounds, yet, that he's not feeling well - but she can't stop giving Huxley a scratch behind the ears. Between Lucy, Sunny, and Huxley? Raleigh's going to have to start setting aside more biscuits. "You're not at work?" She glances up at Spencer in surprise.

[doublethepain]

"Careful what you wish for," he tells her, smiling wryly as Huxley starts to yip at her. "I think he wants you to pick him up. How on earth did I end up with a puppy who loves this much attention?" He holds the leash out for Raleigh to take before turning his head to cough against his shoulder. It's a hacking cough, the kind that hurts, and he thinks it probably sounds worse than it is until tries to speak again but it only comes out hoarse and raspy. He cringes, coughing again to clear his throat and taking a deep breath so he can try again.

"John gave me a half day," he explains, pointing at his throat. "Turns out that having a cough is a bit of a turn-off for patrons in what's meant to be a quiet library. Strange, isn't it? Actually, it's probably best that I don't stand too close to you, I don't how how contagious I am." He'd tried his best to keep a bit of distance from Joel but that had lasted all of two seconds before his husband had insisted on pulling him close.

"Don't worry, though, I'm still planning to come by to help." He gestures at the bakery, taking a few curious steps closer so he can peer inside and his eyes widen when he does. It's clean, there are surfaces that are actually shining, and he can't believe the change in the place between the last time he'd seen it and now. He turns back to her, looking nothing less than impressed as a wide smile spreads across his face. "You did all of this in a week? You're sure you don't have just a little bit of magic in you?"

[callmeemily]

Laughing, Raleigh loops the end of the leash around her wrist just as she lifts Huxley up into her arms, the tiny puppy wriggling like he's trying to burrow into her chest just because he wants to get closer before he huffs out the biggest sigh for such a tiny dog, looking back at Spencer with bright eyes.

While Huxley's adorable, Raleigh's far more concerned about the cough. "I thought it was just allergies," she said with furrowed eyebrows - but that cough? So not allergies. "C'mon in, have a seat, I'll get you some tea." Because he's getting sick, or is sick, and she's not going to have him just standing around.

He doesn't have a lot of choice about it, because Raleigh's already moving into the bakery with Huxley in her arms, and she plugs in the electric kettle she's got on the front counter. She's got help, but she also did a lot herself and she didn't want to keep leaving to get coffee and tea. "You're not helping me do anything besides getting better, for now." She busies herself, and even with the gait problems, she's still efficient, putting the water on, getting a mug, holding (and petting) the dog.

He comments on the store, and she looks around at it, pulling in a breath. "I mean- it's been a little more than a week, but... I guess I had time to kill?" She flushes a little - when she'd been staying at Coop's, she'd tried to stay out of his hair most of the time (er, when she wasn't specifically trying to be in his proverbial hair) and also when he was at work? She pretty much just decided that she was going to throw herself into getting this place cleaned up. There was still a lot to do, but at least it was clean, right?

"Amazing, what was under all that crap." There's pride in her voice, without her even meaning there to be.