Chapter Text
"Oh- Coco, no stop that-!"
This big ball of fluff was gonna give him a heart attack one day and Phainon didn't think he'd ever be prepared for that possibility. He'd had Coco (full name Coconut, but the marshmallow menace never responded to her full name so Phainon had to make do with the downgrade) for nearly three years already and from day one she was nothing but a cheeky ball of fluff with a cute face that had you nearly letting her get away with anything and everything. As of current, she was trying her best to reach a large puddle and take a very unclean bath in it, only being stopped by her lead.
"Coco you can't go in the puddle, I only bathed you yesterday..!"
The Samoyed turned around and huffed at her owner. Phainon's hand came up to his chest and his face morphed from an exasperated frown into a teary pout.
"Your attitude wounds me Coco! I just want you to stay clean and pretty!"
She sneezed in response. So much for understanding one another.
"Ah, what am I gonna do with you.." Phainon sighed, walking over to her and kneeling down to fuss her, "Little menace, you are- yes, you are little miss Coconut, don't try to deny it-"
After a bit more fussing, Phainon continued walking along the park path with Coco, taking his time and enjoying the new years' cold air as his pup sniffed around at anything and everything existent.
One of his favourite pastimes at the moment was taking longer walks with his dog. With the new year and work starting up, being cooped up in a building for hours on end really made him irritable, and taking Coco out for a lengthy walk afterwards always helped clear his head and relax some before having dinner. This afternoon was one of those afternoons. He and his co-workers had been allowed to leave at noon as there was a big company event going on that only higher-ups needed to attend, and Phainon's morning hadn't been great, so he took the opportunity to immediately grab Coco and bring her out to the local park. And oh, was it a good idea - it was cooler today so Phainon got to bundle up warm and cozy in his favourite, fluffy clothes and spend time in nature at the same time. Win win.
Coco tugging on her lead hard enough to nearly pull Phainon over jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked up as she barked excitedly and noticed another dog - which was absolutely massive, by the way, good God - and his owner approaching, undoubtedly being the reason Coco decided she wanted to accidentally cause Phainon an unnecessary nose surgery.
"Coco it's just another dog- you see other dogs all the time." Phainon sighs, keeping a good hold of the lead as the two carried on walking. He wasn't risking a possible doggy scaring session as Coco had done many times before. Phainon still felt guilty for every incident, even if all that happened to the stranger's dog was a small fright due to Coco's hyperactive nature. Still, not worth the risk.
Well, much to Phainon's surprise, it was in fact, not Coco who started an interaction. The absolutely huge dog she'd barked about approached them and sniffed at Coco. Phainon stopped to let the doggies socialise, as did the other dog's owner. The stranger-dog made Coco look quite small, which made Phainon smile. 'Cute.'
"Adonis, gentle."
Oh what a voice.
Phainon finally looked up from the dogs at the other man and.. wow.
Gorgeous blonde hair and strikingly red tattoos immediately caught Phainon's attention. The man was absolutely stunning, and ridiculously jacked, which was fitting considering the dog he owned was equally huge. Not to mention his fashion taste was nothing short of insane - Phainon didn't think he'd ever seen so much leather on a man before. Oh and the beautiful stranger was wearing platform boots - platforms.
"..Your dog is huge - what breed is he?" Phainon asked, willing himself to stop gawking over the stranger in front of him.
"He's a Tibetan Mastiff."
Oh great heavens his voice was so hot. Phainon could easily listen to it all day. This dude should start a podcast.
"Tibetan Mastiff.. I don't think I've ever heard of that breed. Are they rare?" The snowy-haired man replied, trying insanely hard to not let his eyes wander down the stranger's chest.
The blonde before him hummed and nodded, "They are, yes - they're an exotic breed. This one is actually on the smaller side of the breed though. They can get a lot bigger than this."
Phainon's eyebrows shot up, "Really-? This beautiful boy's already massive though, wow.."
"Mm. Your own pup's quite large though - Samoyed?"
Phainon smiled, "Ah, yes - this is Coconut. She's nearly four years old now."
The man frowned, confused, "Coconut? I only heard you call her Coco."
"Ah, that's because she takes the gold medal of 'menace' and never responds to her full name, only Coco - and that's if she feels like it." Phainon laughed a little, "I love her though. Even if she gives me enough heart attacks to break medical records."
"I see. I'm Mydeimos, by the way. Mydei for short, and preferred." The blonde offered his hand to shake, which Phainon gladly accepted.
"Phainon." He smiled brightly, hoping to god the other man - Mydei, what a beautiful name - didn't pick up on his nervous shakes.
"Hm.. Adonis, cool it." Mydei said sternly, lightly tugging the mastiff's lead after the fluffy giant jumped at Coco and startled the Samoyed.
Adonis.. this guy knows how to pick names. Fitting for an absolute beast of a dog.
"..Well, if you're not headed anywhere in particular, why don't we walk together for a bit? The dogs seem to like each other." Phainon offered, then spared a few brain cells to catch up on his request and laugh awkwardly, "If you're not busy, of course- please don't let me stop you if so."
Mydei raised an eyebrow, "Not every day a stranger asks for a walk."
Phainon faltered a little - had he come across weird? Oh he hoped not, Mydei was too gorgeous to piss off. Actually, he'd probably be just as hot angry, but Phainon would still hate to upset him.
"Ah.. I apologise if I've made you uncomfortable-"
"No, I have time - a longer walk wouldn't hurt. Besides, Adonis is off duty and probably needs extra time to relax." Mydei shook his head, turning back around, "Lakeside path?"
Off-duty, huh.. Phainon would have to ask about that later. He brightened up again and nodded, "Sure! Coco loves watching the ducks anyway."
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"So, you mentioned Adonis was 'off duty'.. is he a working dog?"
Phainon and Mydei had reached the lakeside faster than anticipated - likely because Coco decided to try and kidnap at least three squirrels and a magpie already. It was still light out (due to Okhema's geographical location making night time hours very short even in colder months) and the ducks were still all in and around the lake, making both the dogs very excited and interested in continuing forward.
The two men had made casual conversation a few times along the way and it turned out they had quite a few shared interests, and were close in age too. Phainon considered himself very lucky for the interaction to go further than a brief hello and goodbye, because he only fell deeper into his interest in Mydei the more he found out about him. The man's tattoos, for example, were actually his first and only ones, and were the result of a barely legal adult deciding 'fuck it, I want to look cool'. Phainon thanked younger Mydei for that - they did look cool.
Realistically, Phainon just thought the red looked amazing on the other's skin. Titans.. was he really so lonely a stranger made him want to drop all his plans for the next five years just to admire this man he'd met less than an hour ago?
"He is, yes. He's a service dog."
Ah, Phainon had entirely forgot he'd asked about Adonis. He shook himself out of his, probably a little concerning, train of thought and brought himself back to the present.
"I see.. so does that mean you have some sort of.. uh.. wait is that rude to ask?"
Mydei huffed a quiet chuckle, "You worry too much. No, it's not rude to ask if I have a condition - we're already on the topic anyway."
"A-ah, right, of course.."
Curses Phainon you really are fumbling.
"Anyway, yes. I have chronic pain, mostly - fibromyalgia to be specific, and probably another issue or three somewhere along the line too considering I've had more unusual symptoms begin showing up in the past few months. Adonis helps me with mobility, getting things for me when I lack enough motor functions to do things by myself, brings me medication when needed through the day and picks up on when I overexert myself and need a break."
Okay this dog was amazing. Coco could never.
"Wow.. I knew working dogs were good at their job but I didn't realise they're trained to do so much.." Phainon looked at the giant dog ahead of them, seemingly having found a very interesting.. pinecone? "I assume he's not on duty right now then? Don't service dogs usually wear vests?"
Mydei nodded, folding his arms and sighing fondly at his dog, "He's off-duty, yes. My symptoms have been mild the past few days, so today's his off-duty walk day. Though he'll automatically work if necessary."
"I see.. you're quite lucky to have him, then. I bet he's a great help." Phainon smiled at Mydei, who replied with a quiet nod.
"What about your pup, then? Anything interesting?" Mydei asked after a short bout of quiet.
"Honestly, aside from her.. quirks, and the fact she was a rescue before I got her, not really." Phainon laughed, "Sometimes though, I fear owning a ferret would've been the same as having her as a pet."
Mydei snickered at that, "I don't doubt it. She seems to be quite the chaos magnet."
"Oh definitely. She reminds me a lot of a friend of mine, actually - that girl never knows when it's time to stop with her mischief. They get along well."
Mydei raised an eyebrow, then startled slightly alongside Phainon when Coco yelped and some very loud splashing and quacking came along with it.
"Coco leave the ducks alone for goodness' sake!" Phainon pretty much whined, getting up to go and stage an intervention before the Samoyed could commit a crime against the duck that had nipped at her nose when she got too close. He shook his head, gently took hold of her collar and walked backwards from the lake to do so, "Seriously, dog, when will you learn your lesson.."
Mydei looked down as Adonis left the noise and approached him, deciding to jump up onto the bench next to him where Ohainon had originally been sitting. The giant mass of fluff let out a big huff and rested his head on Mydei's legs, looking up at him. Mydei chuckled softly.
"You tired, buddy?" He asked, petting Adonis gently. He was met with another huff! "I thought so. Only so much chaos you can handle, hm? Your new friend's quite the chatterbox."
"Ah, I see my seat has been wickedly stolen from me."
Mydei looked up as Phainon spoke, the white-haired man sporting quite a bright smile and his troublemaker dog sat next to him with her tail wagging ferociously.
"So it has. Though, I didn't see anything."
Phainon let out a soft scoff of mock-offense, "How could you do this to me? And here I thought we were getting along, Mydei."
"I'd only defend you against Adonis in your dreams, Deliverer." Mydei rolled his eyes, making a point of petting Adonis more than before.
"Deliverer?" Phainon tilted his head to the side, confused, "What do you mean by that?"
"..You sure fit in with the dogs, you know. You look exactly like a confused puppy right now." Mydei replied, raising an eyebrow and very clearly avoiding the question.
The white haired man could only splutter at that, "Did you just call me a puppy-?"
Standing up with a small wince and Adonis immediately jumping down from the bench to stand at heel, Mydei offered Phainon a polite smile and clipped his dog's lead back onto his collar, "I should head off. See you around, Deliverer."
"Oh, uhm, okay." Phainon nodded, still quite confused, "See you around.. if it comes to it."
"It will." Came Mydei's response as he started up the path from the lake and back to the park.
Phainon waited until the man and his - holy shit Phainon still couldn't quite believe how much so - enormous dog were out of sight, before gently tugging on Coco's lead, "Let's head home too, Coco, come on. We can see the ducks again another day."
The Samoyed harrumphed in disagreement, but got up anyways.
"Sulky much." Phainon shook his head fondly and began the short trip home.
What a day.. he needed to have dinner and mull over this until he fell went to bed. He kinda hoped he and Mydei would cross paths again - not only was the man the dictionary definition of gorgeous, but he was attentive and kind. Phainon didn't receive much of that anymore.
Anyway, home time. Coco would try and eat his shoes if she wasn't served her dinner within the next hour.
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