Chapter Text
The holidays came and went, and the streets stayed as empty as ever. The now not-so "newly weds" wandered down the city streets, bundled up in winter clothing and masks, hand in hand. Dates were difficult these days, but they did what they could. The store they ordered groceries from wasn't far, so they'd often drive over together, just to get out of the house.
Norton felt a little bad. Christmas was usually a family occasion, for himself and Naib. While avoiding their families and the ensuing drama was nothing to be upset over, he couldn't help but feel as if he was depriving his husband of family time. Video calls were fine but, if they weren't married, Naib would still be living with his mother. He'd have quarantined with her, and been able to see he during the cold winter. She spent the holidays alone, though she spent a lot of time video calls with her son and his husband now.
Naib honestly didn't mind. Living apart meant he could go wherever he wanted and bring his mother whatever she needed without fear of infecting her. She wasn't that old, but she was old enough that he worried. At the same time though, when Norton brought up the idea of a post-Christmas day out, he couldn't say no. Big as their house was, they'd been stuck there too long. Christmas Eve and Day the streets had been uncannily busy. Probably people shopping, in a frenzy to prepare the perfect holiday gatherings despite the dangers. The day after though, everything was quiet.
The two walked hand in hand, sometimes talking quietly about this or that, or stopping by a familiar shop. There was a pet shelter nearby. Every time they passed Naib talked about getting a dog. He'd wanted one since he was young, but his mom was scared of them. Now he just worried over being able to care for one. Every time they had this conversation, and every time Naib put it off. Today though, Norton was the one to stop when they approached the shelter. Naib looked at him inquisitively as the taller man nodded towards the door.
"I don't think they're allowing walk-ins right now."
"I made us an appointment."
Naib could tell his husband was grinning from the way his eyes sparkled as he tugged Naib closer.
"You have something in mind, then?" Naib laughed as they walked inside, only to be ushered into a room as soon as they came inside.
Norton nodded.
"You're free to take your pick, obviously, but you wanted a walking partner, yeah?"
Naib scoffed. "Is this your way of getting out of taking morning walks with me?"
"Yes." Norton replied, causing his husband to scoff. "What?! Win win! You get a friend, and I get more sleep."
"You hate dogs." Naib stated matter of factly.
"Mmmm..." Norton hummed. "...I can compromise, for a price, of course."
Naib didn't get the chance to ask what that meant before two shelter volunteers entered, one toting along a small kennel, and another followed by a medium sized dog. He was mostly black with flecks of orange across his face and white along his underside, a curly tail, short legs, and maybe a little over a foot tall. The pup was maybe a few years old and clearly itching to run, tugging against the volunteer's leash and sniffing enthusiastically around the room.
The kennel was shortly set on the floor and opened to reveal a rather regal looking cat with a squished face Naib couldn't help chortling at when he first saw it. She was pretty low energy, just sitting in the middle of the floor, grooming herself while the pup sniffed her up and down. The volunteers explained that the dog was a former show dog with behavioral issues that could easily be solved in a quiet home with lots of exercise. Naib had no choice but to believe their characterization of "extremely loyal" as after a few pets, the pup was sitting at his feet, sitting up at attention and occasionally whining whenever Naib took his hands off him. The volunteers insisted Naib could change his name to whatever he wanted, but the moment the name was mentioned, the pup looked up expectantly. Naib shook his head. The pup knew his name too well, and it would be confusing to change it at this point. He raised an eyebrow at Norton, who was smirking as little Lieutenant sniffed up Naib's legs.
The cat on the other hand, was old. Not so old as she was on the way out, but old enough she was too tired to run around and play. She got along with other pets so long as they gave her space, and tended to be a bit more hand's off. She'd been a stray they suspected was let loose after the death of a previous owner.
Naib rolled his eyes as Norton lay out his case.
"You get an exercise buddy." His husband explained "And I have someone to hang out with when you're out! We won't be so lonely, and we'll be doing something good too. We can afford this and I know you've wanted pets for a while anyways."
"Still." Naib groaned, causing Lieutenant to whine and stick his nose under the man's hand. Naib patted him absently. "They're strays. What if they have issues we can't handle, or we can't take care of them once I go back to school and you're back in work? We can't take in animals like quarantine's never going to end."
Norton shrugged. "I work from home a lot anyways. I can look after them while you're at work, and if I have to leave we can just work things out so they're never alone for too long. Look at him!" Norton waved to Lieutenant, who was panting happily and nuzzling Naib's hand. "He even has a weird ass military name like you! C'mon, let's give it a shot yeah? It'll be a nice change of pace. Consider it a Christmas gift."
Norton's words fell on deaf ears. But the longer Naib spent with the pup, the worse he felt leaving him in a place like this. So papers were signed, and the couple got some tea and coffee to-go on their way home. They walked hand in hand, Naib's free hand around Lieutenant's leash and Norton's holding their drinks in a sturdy cardboard tray.
And that was it. Their little family now consisted of a petroleum heir, a grumpy college student, an overprotective dog with anger issues, and an old cat Norton had decided to call "Noel", since she wouldn't respond no matter what he called her anyways. They were a little late, but they had a nice Christmas. They watched TV around the fire and laughed at how silly everybody looked on social media, trying to pretend that the holidays now were the same as always. They cooked together and baked, and Naib got his daily mile-long walks and more. Norton got his peace and quiet, as well as a few more people to pass the time with until things went back to normal.
They were happy.
The end.