Chapter Text
Lance taught himself how to sew when he was young. His older brother had ripped the fin off his favorite shark, and Mama had been too busy to fix it before bed. His first memory of sewing is being four years old, searching through his Abuela’s sewing box for the right color thread. His stitching was uneven, but his shark’s fin was firmly attached once more, and with minimal finger pricking. After then, his family supplied him with plenty of shirts, pants, jackets, anything that needed repair. Soon enough, one of his desk drawers was full of thread, needles, scraps of fabric, anything he could need to fix the clothes he was given. When he was 7, he made his siblings and himself their halloween costumes, and that was the start of a lifelong obsession with tailoring.
When he got his own apartment, Hunk took him to the shelter to get him a dog as his house warming gift. He found a scared, hairless xoloitzcuintli, and was attached in an instant. She was white and brown, and started off curled in the corner of her kennel and shaking. He spent an hour sitting with her, speaking in both English and Spanish. Slowly, she comes over to lay in Lance’s lap, and Lance smiles.
“Look at you, you really are such a sweet girl. Mi pequeña dulce.” he looks over at Hunk, smiling. “I’m gonna name her Dulce.”
“That's adorable. Did she just fall asleep in your lap?” Hunk asked. Lance nodded. He carefully picked her up, carrying her to fill out the paperwork. They speed through it, Hunk pays the adoption fee, and takes Lance to get Dulce her food, beds, toys, and everything she needs. Lance spends a few days at home with her, and she quickly grows to be a huge daddy’s girl.
A few weeks into having her, Lance finds Dulce asleep on a pile of scrap fabrics, and when he tries to move her she whines. He gets the idea of making her a cute little dress out of them. She leaves the pile on her own eventually, and Lance scoops them up to make her a dress, and that starts the new trend.
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Two years have passed since Lance got Dulce, and now he has a line of pet clothes in a local pet store, where he works part time. Keith is his boss, which isn’t as bad as it would seem. They work well together, and Kosmo and Dulce get along well. Keith also lets Lance sell his pet clothes in the shop too, and Dulce is the best model. He’s been working at the shop for a few months when an absolute beefcake of a man comes in with an equally beefy grey-blue Pitbull.
Lance has always been a sucker for pitbulls, and he drops to the floor to give them love, the owner smiling above him.
“They are SO cute, what’s their name?” Lance asks.
“Her name is Andromeda, I call her Andy though.” the owner smiles, and Andy wiggles and licks Lance’s face.
“You are sooo cute, Miss Andy!” the pup wiggles more, and Lance slowly stands. “Anyway, hi! Welcome to Kosmo’s Cabin, is there anything in particular you’re looking for?” he asks, leaning on a display of pet clothes.
“Actually, a friend of mine told me that you guys have pet clothes, and Andy gets really cold easily, I was hoping you had some big jackets or sweaters?” the man says. Lance thinks for a moment, tapping his chin.
“I haven’t put out my winter stuff yet, hmm, this way is the other stuff, though. This first rack is leftovers from spring, they're on clearance.” He leads the man and the pittie to the back of the store, whistling for Dulce. “Mi dulce bebé, ¿dónde estáááás?” The Xolo comes prancing out from the back room, tail wagging. “There's my sweet girl!” Lance lifts her, straightening her outfit and kissing her head. “This is my baby girl, Dulce.” Dulce’s tail wags and she leans into Lance’s chest, Lance cooing at her in Spanish. Another dog, a Husky, follows her, rapidly circling Lance’s legs. He whistles and the fluff stops in his tracks, instead rubbing his head against Lance’s thigh. “This is Kosmo, bossman's dog. He’s super hyper.” Kosmo turns to sniff at Andy, who sniffs back. Kosmo then sits neatly. Lance pats his head. “He approves.”
“What breed is Dulce? I’ve never seen any dog like her.” the man asks.
“She’s a xoloitzcuintli. Or if you don't know Spanish, a Mexican hairless. I got her from the shelter.” he rubs Dulce’s head. “She’s what started the pet clothes thing. She liked some of the fabrics from my other projects, and hairless xolos are sun sensitive, so I made her some dresses.” Dulce sniffs and licks Lance’s cheek. “She’s the prettiest little princess- yes you are!” Dulce’s tail wags and she visibly preens.
“She seems to be a little spoiled. Not like I can say anything.” the man kneels, and Andy shuffles to receive his attention. “We’ve been all over the place trying to find something that fits my chunky gal, haven’t we Andy?” the pittie seems to nod, and licks his face.
“Well I don’t have anything in stock here, but I do take commissions! They aren’t much more cost wise than these, and they'll be sure to fit.” Lance sets Dulce back on the floor, and she trots over to the man, sniffing and observing. “My name’s Lance, by the way.” He turns to the rack of pet clothes, snatching up a card with his business email and the Kosmo’s Cabin logo. The man gives Dulce and Kosmo a pat before he stands and takes the card.
“Shiro. Do you need measurements now? We don't have any other plans today.” Shiro says, looping Andy’s leash around his wrist.
“Sure thing, lets go to the back.” Lance picks up Dulce again, heading for the door to the offices. He knocks on the first door, “Keeeith can you man the front for me? I’ve got measurements to take.” the door swings open, and Kosmo zooms inside. Keith nearly trips over the mass of fuzz, but gives Lance and Shiro a nod. Lance turns into his office, flipping the lights on and setting Dulce on his chair. She curls up comfortably, and Lance clears his desk until it's just his laptop and measuring tape. “You can put her on the desk, please and thank you.” Lance opens a document on his laptop, typing a few things in to start. Shiro lifts Andy onto the desk, and Lance rubs her head, still looking at his laptop. “Hi Miss Andy, I’ll be with you in a moment.” she huffs, seemingly in understanding. Lance types a few more things, and then picks up the tape measure.
It doesn’t take long to get the measurements, and Shiro finds himself watching the man measuring instead of his dog. At some point he notices Dulce has relocated in front of him, and is looking at him with expectation. He kneels, and the xolo wags her tail, wiggling appreciatively when Shiro pets her. She seems to smile, and rolls over for belly rubs. Shiro grins.
“Aww, she likes you. She doesn’t let many people give her belly rubs.” Lance says from his desk. “It’s pretty much limited to me, my roommate, and my Mamá. And you now.” Shiro smiles.
“I guess dogs just like me. She is a very good girl though, definitely deserves all the belly rubs she wants.” Dulce wiggles happily, her tail still wagging. Andy chuffs from her place on Lance’s desk. Lance laughs. “Oh c’mon Andy, you know you’re my number 1 girl.” Andy’s tail wags in appreciation, and Lance pats her head.
“Don’t worry Miss Andy, you’re a very good girl too, held nice and still for me to get my measurements.” he praises. Andy wags her tail harder and licks Lance’s face. He laughs. “Alright big girl!” Shiro laughs too.
“I take it you're done then?” Lance nods affirmatively, and Shiro stands. Dulce rolls back onto her feet and trots over to her bed in the corner, curling up comfortably. He picks Andy up off the desk and sets her back on the floor, where she stretches and wiggles. “I really appreciate it. It seems like nowhere else makes dog clothes big enough for Andy.”
“Glad I can help. I’ll have some designs drawn up by this weekend, if you send me an email tonight I can email them to you when they’re done.”
“That sounds great. I’ll send one when we get home.” Shiro smiles warmly, and Lance feels his heart twitch.
“Good to know. Anything else I can do for you today?”
“I think that’s all.”
“Cool, I’ll walk you to the front.” he leads Shiro to the front of the shop, Dulce trotting behind and taking her spot in the windowsill. “Thanks for coming to Kosmo’s Cabin, and thanks for commissioning me. Have a good rest of your day.” he flashes a winning smile that takes Shiro’s breath away.
Shiro makes a note to remember what dog food he buys Andy, and to see if they have it here, just so he can see that smile again.
“You too, Lance.” with that, he and Andy head off down the street.