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It was safe to say no one expected Ash to bring a dog into the station. Attached to the leash was a golden retriever sticking his tongue out, absolutely thrilled to be in this new area.
"Well aren't you the cutest?" Shorter cooed as he scratched the dog's ear. It was a good thing he cleaned the floor earlier. Most of the team crowded around the dog, already fawning over him.
"He's not ours." Ash told them, and he swore someone muttered damn it (probably Sing) but he couldn't tell who said it. "He's for Eiji."
"He always wanted a dog. I thought the building didn't allow pets." Yue said, admiring the creature from a distance. He had a feeling Eiji would adore him.
"They don't," the blond kept holding onto the leash despite the dog's best attempts to run into Sing's arms ("He loves me, boss. Let him go!"). "But I may have bribed them to let us keep him if he behaved."
"Where'd you get him?" Sing asked, a little closer so he could pet the dog.
"Found him in an alleyway about a month ago. Some asshole left him there. I was just going to leave him at a shelter but I knew Eiji would love him and," he sighed. It was clearly a spur of the moment decision. "Now we have Buddy."
"You named him Buddy?" Shorter laughed. Ash flushed. "Eiji said if he had a dog he'd name them Buddy."
"You are so fucking whipped for him dude." Shorter continued laughing as Buddy wagged his tail. "Yeah yeah," Ash said as he led the dog upstairs, mainly so they wouldn't notice how his ears were red. He took the leash off and watched Buddy hop onto the couch and roll onto his back. "Eiji's coming by when my shift's over so I just need him to stay here for a few hours. He's a good boy, he'll be fine." He rubbed Buddy's exposed stomach, which made the dog very happy.
The sirens rang and the team collectively groaned. Shorter quickly pet Buddy's head. "Wait for us, alright?" He told him before heading for the truck. Ash looked at Buddy. "Please don't destroy anything." He said before leaving Buddy who simply closed his eyes, content with where he was.
Today slowly became one of their rougher days, where everything seemed to go wrong and they'd blame themselves for it even when they couldn't have done anything. Usually on those days they'd be greeted with the smell of whatever Eiji was cooking and they'd allow themselves to forget what they experienced for just a moment so they could enjoy a meal. Today wasn't like those days. Instead they were greeted by Buddy running up to the closest person, which happened to be Sing, and started barking like he was trying to say "welcome home!" Sing bent down to give him a hug, which the dog happily accepted. "Hey boy. How do you have so much energy?"
Buddy couldn't respond, (how could he respond? He was a dog), so he licked Sing's face instead. When his hold on Buddy lessened the dog ran to the next person, barking and smiling when they pet him. It was like he knew they were feeling like shit so he was trying to do everything he could to make them feel better. It was working.
"Good boy." Ash said when it was his turn. "Are you sure we can't keep him?" He heard someone ask and honestly he would love having this somewhat small dog greet them like this everyday but he knew he couldn't. "I'm sure Eiji will bring him here occasionally." The blond answered. Shorter groaned, "You only say that because you live with Eiji and can see him everyday!" Buddy, sensing Shorter's distress, licked his hand. "You're a blessing." Shorter told him.
With their spirits a little higher than when they arrived, everyone went off to do their own thing. Kong was attempting to cook, Yue undid the bun his hair was in and started combing it (no one knew where he kept his beauty supplies but it was somewhere in the station), and Ash was showing Buddy pictures of Eiji. He smiled as he watched Buddy lick the screen. "Don't worry, you'll see him soon."
Instead of using the table everyone sat on the couch near Buddy, who was lying down in the middle and waiting for them to secretly yet not so secretly hand him bits of food. Ash already knew this dog was going to be spoiled. Eventually Ash got a text from Eiji. "He's almost here." The news excited Buddy, who began wagging his tail. He wasn't sure how Buddy sensed Eiji walking inside but he did and started running down the stairs.
By the time Ash made it Eiji was on the floor while Buddy was busy licking his face and wagging his tail. Eiji had the biggest smile on his face as he looked at Ash. "No one told me you guys we're getting a dog!"
"Lover boy got him for you!" Shorter yelled from above. Ash gave him the finger as he helped his boyfriend up. "I named him Buddy."
He was pleasantly surprised when Eiji pulled him in for a kiss. "Thank you." Eiji whispered, ignoring the team pretending to be grossed out. "An adorable dog for my adorable boyfriend." Ash replied, breathless.
"Get a room!" Yue yelled. Eiji shushed him before bending down to pick up Buddy. "I got two babies to take care of now." He smiled as Ash pouted. "I'm not a baby."
"You whine like one everytime I wake you up in the morning."
Ash swore he was going to fire whoever laughed. He kissed Eiji again. "Let me get my stuff and we'll go?"
Eiji nodded and tried to wave to the rest of the team with Buddy still in his arms. "I'll make you guys something to eat tomorrow!"
"Please do, Kong's cooking is shit." Yue complained ("Hey, I've been improving!" Kong yelled). Eiji laughed one last time before heading to the car, not putting Buddy down.
"He can walk, you know!" Ash said as he went to grab his stuff. Buddy was barking behind him and he couldn't help but smile. He was going to enjoy coming home to see them every night.