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He watched the girls play their own game of hide and seek. Charlie ran into a bush, and Echo chased after her. He noticed Blue had stopped playing and was instead watching something. He followed her gaze and found Owen coming over with the bottoms of his pants ripped.
“What happened to you?”
“Blues claws got stuck, and she accidentally ripped my pants.”
Owen sighed, looking at another one of his clothes that had been destroyed.
“Do you want me to cover for you while you go get new pants?”
“These are the last pair of pants I own. The Raptors have destroyed all my other ones.”
He raised an eyebrow, giving him an unimpressed look and trying to ignore the image of Owen in nothing but his underwear.
“You should have ordered more, especially if you were down to your last pair.”
Trying to hide his embarrassment, he fell into the familiar routine of lecturing him.
“I did, but there was a storm on the mainland, and the shipment has been delayed until tomorrow.”
He shrugged. Even with his pants torn, Owen was still unfairly handsome.
“I guess you're wearing those then. It's not like I haven’t seen you in worse, and I don’t think the girls care.”
They both glanced at the raptors, who were happily playing. When Blue noticed them watching, she looked over and barked, her tail wagging happily.
“I know she destroyed these on purpose. She's usually more careful.”
“Why would she do that?”
He frowned, giving him a confused look. Blue didn’t usually have something against pants.
“I told her I have a date with Claire today.”
He burst out laughing. Unable to imagine Owen with someone like Claire. She’d never give him the time of day, no matter how handsome he was. Something he was secretly glad about. When he realized Owen wasn’t laughing, his heart sank.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes, of course I’m serious.”
“You.”
He pointed at Owen in disbelief.
“Asked Claire Dearing out on a date.”
“That’s right.”
He shuffled his feet, looking embarrassed.
“I know what you're thinking, and I think I have a chance.”
He nodded even though he felt his heart break a little. Part of him secretly hoped it was a disaster so Owen could finally move on. He felt ashamed right after thinking that. Owen was straight, and he deserved to be happy. He shouldn’t wish his dates ended poorly because of his crush.
“Maybe Blue was trying to save you from embarrassment.”
He offered when he noticed Owen looking at him.
“By leaving me with nothing to wear?”
“You’re still going?”
He gave him an incredulous look and had to remind himself to be more supportive and stop letting his crush get in the way of their friendship.
“Of course. Claire is a busy woman, and it took me forever just to schedule this date.”
He shook his head and looked down at Owens' pants.
“You can’t wear those.”
“I know that.”
“What are you going to do?”
Owen gave him an embarrassed look.
“I was wondering if I could borrow your pants.”
“I don’t think they’ll fit.”
“Please, Barry, can we at least try? You might have one pair that will fit me.”
Even though he was reluctant, he found himself unable to say no to Owen. Especially when he looked adorable asking to borrow his pants.
“Fine, you can try them on even though I don’t think they’ll fit.”
“Thank you.”
Owen hugged him, and he blushed.
Down below, Blue was attracted to the noise and watched the two of them. Her intelligent eyes wet back and forth, and at first she seemed happy. Until Owen started talking about getting new pants.
She huffed, clearly unhappy that her plan had been thwarted. He watched her in surprise and wondered if she also thought Owens' date with Claire was doomed to fail and was actually trying to protect him in her own way.
After feeding the girls lunch and dealing with Blue's sour mood, they went on their own break. He silently apologized to Blue for undoing her hard work as he drove Owen to his little apartment. It was the closest to the raptor padlock while still being in civilization. Unlike Owen, he didn’t feel like ruffing it all the time in the middle of nowhere.
He dug through his closet trying to find pants that might fit. He found one that was too sizes too big from a long time ago and gave it to Owen.
“Try these on, they might fit.”
Unlike the others, Owen managed to get both legs inside the pants' holes, which was promising. Although he struggled a little, he managed to pull the pants up. Now the only problem was buttoning it. He watched Owen struggle, knowing it wasn’t going to work. The pants were too small, and no matter how he pulled, they wouldn’t button.
He watched Owen and didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was checking him out. His friend was too busy with his pants to notice and he’d never get a better chance to admire his toned body. He was brought out of his thoughts by Owen looking at him, and he blushed wondering if he’d been caught staring.
“Can you help me?”
His friend gave him a desperate look, and he sighed. Even though he knew it wasn’t going to work. He still tried buttoning the pants for him because he was not passing up the opportunity for anything in the world right now. His heart raced as he worked realizing how close his hands were to certain anatomy. Eventually, they both had enough, and Owen finally admitted defeat. He knew Blue was going to be pleased and went to grab his phone so Owen could call Claire.
Instead, he was surprised and horrified when he learned Owen wasn’t going to give up, and for a moment, he wondered if he was going to start going around Main Street asking to try on people's pants.
“Do you think the gift shops would sell pants?”
“No.”
“What about the hotel gift shop? I’m sure people have forgotten pants before.”
“I highly doubt that, and I haven’t seen any gift shops that sell pants.”
Owen leaned back, groaning in defeat.
“I can’t believe I can’t find any pants.”
“I still think you should cancel.”
“No way. I’m going on this date.”
“You know Claire is our boss, and if she doesn’t like yo,u then she can make our lives miserable.”
“It’ll be fine. Claire is a professional; she won’t take her anger out on us because of one bad date.”
“Uh huh.”
He highly doubted that but decided not to say it out loud. When he got back from his failed date, Blue would do all the talking for him.
“What are you going to do now?
“I’m thinking. Maybe I can ask someone else if they have pants I can borrow. That one Gallimimus trainer looks like he’s my size.”
“He doesn’t like you.”
“What? Why not? He challenged me to that drinking game. Is it because I won?”
“He challenged you to that because you two were fighting.”
“He started it by talking about our girls like they were monsters.”
“I know Owen. Although you didn’t have to thoroughly humiliate him like that. His date left him right after he lost.”
“Oh…”
Owen looked slightly guilty until he remembered what the man said about his girls.
“Whatever, I don’t need that jerk's pants anyway.”
He tried not to roll his eyes and went to make himself lunch. To most people, Owen could be kind of standoffish and rude. He was charming when he wanted to be, but he could also be completely oblivious and not give people the time of day. One of the things he loved about him was how fiercely protective he was of the people he loved. Owen would do anything for them, and just like his girls, he saw them as his own kind of pack. He knew Owen considered him his best friend, and his loyalty and friendship were something he cherished, which is why he’d never confess his feelings, not wanting to ruin their friendship.
Owen followed him into the kitchen, and he quietly gave him things to do. He knew Owen was working through something, and he left it alone, knowing he’d figure it out. Hopefully, it would end with him cancelling his date. The two of them fell into an easy rhythm, both of them knowing each other so well from all the time they spent together.
He was in the middle of eating lunch when Owen suddenly announced.
“I’ll just wear my board shorts. I’m sure Claire won’t mind, and pants are overrated anyway.”
He suddenly recalled Owens' bright orange board shorts and desperately tried talking him out of it before he could go on his date looking like a highlighter. Of course, he didn’t listen to him, and he was forced to watch as Owen made up his mind, and nothing he could do or say would stop him.
All he could do was hope that whatever happened didn’t affect him too much and that once the date was over, he could give those board shorts to the raptors so Owen could never wear them again.