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The thing is, it’s not that Aleks doesn’t like the dog park. He likes seeing all the cute dogs, likes seeing how excited Mishka gets every time they even go near the park; he just doesn’t like how he always seems to bump into that guy with the fucking corgi.
~
It all started a few weeks ago, when Aleks went to the dog park for the first time. He had just moved to LA, and after finally unpacking all of his stuff, felt it would be nice for Mishka to have a run in the park after the long trip from Colorado. He searched the nearest (and, somehow, only) dog park in the area and took Mishka’s leash off once they stepped onto the green. It didn’t take long before Mishka ran up to a small, slightly chubby corgi that was rolling around in the grass, and started playing with her.
“Your dog’s kinda freaking my dog out, man,” a guy next to him had said. Aleks blinked and looked over, eyeing the man that was looking straight at him.
“Sorry, what?” he asked dumbly, having been in his own little world while he was watching the dogs.
“Your dog. She’s yours, right? The fluffy thing?” the guy asked with a grin, nodding over at where Mishka was currently pouncing all around the corgi at top speed.
“Oh, Mishka? Yeah, she’s mine. The corgi is yours?” Aleks asked, letting his eyes roam over the man. He was wearing jeans and a plain, black t-shirt, showing off an array of tattoos running up both of his arms. His black hair was tied back into a tight bun, but was obviously rather curly.
“That’s my baby, Ein! She loves the dog park,” the man cooed, eyes seemingly lighting up as he watched his dog. Aleks simply hummed, nodding slightly as he looked over at their two dogs again.
“She’s kinda fat, dude,” Aleks said casually, not expecting the glare that was immediately directed at him. “I mean,” he backtracked, licking his lips and running a hand through his hair. “Chubby? It’s cute, but, y’know,” he trailed off in a murmur, coughing lightly.
“Fat? Fat? Ein is at the perfect weight, thank you very much,” the guy huffed, eyes narrowed at Aleks in a way that made his stomach flip. “Your dog is just too fuckin’… too fucking.. what kind of name even is Michelle for a dog?” he scoffed, cheeks a light shade of pink.
Michelle. Really? “Her name—she’s not called fucking Michelle. Her name is Mishka. It’s Russian,” Aleks explained, raising an eyebrow at him.
“It’s dumb, is what it is,” the man mumbled, yelping when Aleks threw a dog ball at his feet.
~
For some reason, every time Aleks went to the dog park after that one day, the Corgi Dude™ was always there. That first meeting had sparked some kind of rivalry between them, and they never failed to let it show. While their dogs would be frolicking around the park and playing together, Aleks and Corgi Dude™ would be lamely insulting the other’s dog (“Your dog can’t even roll around properly. Look at her, man. She’s twisting around like a fucking idiot.”) and boasting about how amazing their own dog was. (“At least my dog can jump. What is Ein doing? What is that? Does your dog even have knees?”)
It was the third time they met that Aleks learned that the guy’s name was actually James; somehow, putting a name to the face made him appear in Aleks’ thoughts far more often. He would be making breakfast and would remember something funny James said about Mishka’s bark, or he would be in a store and see something that reminded him of the man.
Of course, with the rivalry and all, it’s not like Aleks liked the guy. He was annoying, and strange, and way too fond of his dog for it to be normal. And if anybody noticed that he seemed happier later, he would just blame it on moving to LA; which is exactly what he did when Brett started hassling him.
“Aleks. My man. Are you in love with the dog guy?” Brett asked with a grin, tossing his empty can of beer at Aleks’ head.
“What the fuck? Am I—no? Why would I be in love with the fucking dog guy? I don’t even know James,” Aleks huffed, keeping his eyes on the screen as his hands gripped the controller a bit tighter.
“Oh, James is such a dick. Did I tell you what he said about Mishka last week? Also, I wanna suck his cock behind a tree and make sweet, sweet love to him while our dogs-” Brett started, cackling when Aleks kicked at his leg with full force.
“Shut the fuck up, Brett. Fuck, dude. I don’t like him, okay? You’re so fucking dumb,” Aleks murmured, cheeks red hot as Brett simply laughed even harder and wheezed out, “Shit, you guys can do it doggy style!”
~
So, maybe Aleks did like James a little bit. He found himself looking forward to going to the dog park, and even made a point of going at the exact same time every week so there was a bigger chance of James being there. It was stupid, and Aleks hated himself for it, but something about James and his fat (albeit cute) dog made his heartstrings pull.
It was the fifth time Aleks was taking Mishka to the dog park, and he felt like he was more excited than Mishka was, at this point. He walked over to the familiar patch of green and unleashed Mishka, hiding his smile when a corgi immediately came running over.
“She can actually run? Her legs are so short, I didn’t think she’d be able to do anything more than crawl,” he joked as he walked over to James, letting his eyes do a quick scan of him. He was wearing the usual jeans and black shirt combo, but this time his hair wasn’t in a bun; instead, James was letting it hang loose, framing his face with black curls.
“Of course she can run, asshole. Bet she could outrun Patricia any day,” James said proudly, making Aleks roll his eyes and murmur out a ‘Mishka’. He was sure James was doing it on purpose, at this point.
Aleks looked over at their dogs again, noting how much happier Mishka was whenever she was around Ein. It was silly, but the two had truly become best friends.
“I think our dogs are, like.. best friends. Or gay for each other, or something,” he said after a moment, making James snort.
“You think our dogs are gay for each other? Really?” the man mused, pushing his hair behind his ear. He was clearly not used to having his hair hanging loose. It looks good, though, Aleks thought.
“I mean, yeah? Mishka’s all, y’know, fucking depressed or something whenever she hasn’t seen your dumb dog in a while. She brings me her leash and mopes around until I bring her here. It’s ridiculous,” Aleks shrugged, ignoring Brett’s voice in his head going ‘are you talking about the dog, or yourself?’
“Actually.. Ein’s been the same, now that you mentioned it,” James murmured after a moment, head tilting to the side slightly as he looked at the pups. “Should we, uh. Maybe.. hear me out, yeah? Maybe we should arrange play dates for them?”
Aleks blinked once, trying not to burst out laughing. “Play dates. For the dogs. You’re actually serious, James?” he asked, not sure if James was just fucking around or genuinely wanting to arrange play dates for their dogs.
“Yes, I’m serious!” James huffed. “I don’t want Ein to be unhappy, and I don’t want to have to drive a fucking half hour every day just so she can come here and see Natasha—“ “Mishka!” “—at the dog park. I’ll come to your house and they can play, and then we’ll switch the week after; you come to mine. We can just, I dunno… play some Mario kart or something while they fuck around,” he explained with a shrug, decidedly not meeting Aleks’ eyes.
Aleks thought it over for a while, weighing in the pro’s and cons. Pro: he would see James more often, and their dogs would be happier. Con: he would see James more often, meaning this dumb, little crush thing he had going on wouldn’t disappear very soon. “Aleksandr? If you don’t want to, just tell me. We can pretend I never suggested anything,” James said awkwardly, making Aleks realise he completely forgot to actually answer him.
“No, no! I think it would be a good idea. Anything for the pups, right?” he shrugged, a small smile on his lips at how James immediately brightened up.
“Then I guess it’s a date.”
~
James and Aleks saved each other’s phone numbers and agreed that James would take Ein to Aleks’ house next Saturday.
“It’s not a date, Brett. Not—not for us, anyway. We’re doing it for the dogs,” Aleks insisted, on the phone with Brett while he was making dinner that evening. “We live pretty close to each other and figured it’s easier to just meet up like that instead of driving to the dog park more often. It’s logical.”
He rolled his eyes as he heard Brett snort, tossing some of the chopped up paprika into the pasta he was making. “Please suck his dick, Aleks? For me? Make him dinner, wine and dine the dude, then suck his dick,” Brett hummed casually, snickering when Aleks simply hung up on him.
~
When Saturday came around, Aleks had to admit that he was a bit nervous. They had been texting on and off during the past week, talking about their dogs, their dumb friends, and the games they were playing at that moment. It was innocent, and fun, and Aleks was terrified.
He had actually put in the effort to clean his living room up a bit; he threw away most of the boxes that were left over from his move, and made sure there were no dirty plates and cups hanging around. His living room was still pretty bare, but it was homely enough to make Aleks feel comfortable. He had some pictures of his friends and family hanging up, a big, plush blanket hanging over the couch, and (of course) a corner filled with Mishka’s toys and bed.
Around three o’clock his doorbell rang, and Mishka started barking excitedly while jumping up at the door. Aleks checked his hair one more time and took a deep breath before opening the door, smiling at the sight of James and Ein. “Hey, chubby. Come on in,” he cooed to Ein, stepping back with a smirk and snickering as James flipped him off and walked in.
“You have a backyard, right? I brought some of Ein’s toys for them to play with,” James said, holding up a small bag filled with dog toys. Aleks gave him a small nod and walked James and the dogs over to the doors at the back, opening them up. Eind and Mishka immediately ran out, Aleks hiding a small, fond smile behind his hand as James threw the toys out into the backyard, cooing at the pups and telling them to have a good time before closing the door again.
“What?” James asked self-consciously, straightening out the bun at the back of his head. Aleks grinned, shaking his head a bit.
“Nothing. You’re just... a loser. You just told our dogs to ‘have fun, sweethearts’,” he murmured with a grin, snickering as James rolled his eyes with a shrug, though there was a small smile on his face as well.
“Oh fuck off, Aleksandr. Who are you, calling me a loser when I’m about to beat your ass in Mario kart?” James said, wiggling his eyebrows challengingly. Aleks raised an eyebrow, shaking his head and leading James over to the couch.
“It’s on, motherfucker.”
The two spent the rest of the afternoon playing Mario kart, sitting right next to each other on the couch and drinking cheap, leftover beer Aleks had found in his refrigerator. Aleks lost almost every match, to James’ delight, but Aleks couldn’t even find it in himself to be mad; James just got so excited, yelling and cheering and shoving at Aleks’ side to throw him off every time he was about to win.
Aleks spent half of the time doubled over laughing at James’ dumb jokes, shoving him back and letting their knees touch. The two threw insults at each other left and right, but none with actual malice. It was light-hearted and almost a bit flirty, the way their hands would linger and James would lick his lips every time he caught Aleks looking at him.
After playing Mario kart for a while they switched to playing some Call of Duty, James calling him a motherfucker every time he caught Aleks screen cheating. Aleks laughed brightly as he sniped James time and time again, pinching his cheek playfully when the older man pouted at him.
Aleks felt like a giddy teenager experiencing his first crush, and didn’t even notice that it had started getting dark outside until he felt his stomach rumbling. “Oh, fuck. It’s getting kinda late,” he said, a bit astounded that he had really lost track of time that easily, all because of fucking James.
“Oh. I, uh. I should probably start heading home, then,” James murmured sheepishly, putting the controller down and letting his hand brush Aleks’ knee as he got up and padded over to the back doors to collect Ein. He put the toys back into the bag and picked Ein up easily, the pup knackered after a long day of playing.
Aleks led James over to the front door slowly, leaning against the doorframe as James opened it and turned around, shuffling his shoes slightly. “So,” Aleks murmured, smiling as James raised an eyebrow.
“I think the dogs enjoyed the date,” James said slowly, scratching under Ein’s chin and glancing up at Aleks from under his eyelashes. “I also think the dogs would really love another date.”
Aleks grinned, ducking his head and running a hand through his hair. “Mhm, the dogs. I’m sure they’d love that,” he hummed in agreement, James grinning now as well.
“Next Saturday, my place?” James suggested, shrugging slightly. “I’ll even make you dinner, if you’d like? To make up for beating your slow ass in Mario kart today, obviously.”
Aleks snorted, rolling his eyes lightly before nodding. “I’d like that. And I’ll make sure to practice some more so I can be the one doing the ass-beating next week,” he teased.
“Oh, Aleksandr, how kinky of you,” James drawled, bursting out laughing as Aleks swatted at his arm roughly.
“Alright, out. Get off of my property, you dick,” he huffed, though he was grinning as he shoved James towards the porch.
“See you next week, Aleks!” James said happily, about to step down before he stopped, turned, and swiftly pecked Aleks on the lips before quickly turning around again and walking towards his car, leaving a stunned Aleks in his place.