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It had been a while, that much he knew.
Even though the sign to Petey's laboratory was still there, all bright and striking — 'doesn't a big sign reading "Petey's Secret Lab" ruin the entire point of it being secret, though?' Dog Man thought to himself — he couldn't bring himself to actually knock on that door.
He shouldn't be hesitant. There was no reason to be! Petey had... 'reformed' a while ago since the Mayor pardoned him, and he returned to his lab as normal.
...Except that a kid was in the picture now.
Li'l Petey was, honestly, the best accident Petey ever had. He wouldn't dare admit such things to anyone out loud, of course, but he was content enough with himself being the only one to know.
And with how suddenly the co-parenting situation transpired, Dog Man couldn't help but wonder why Petey changed his mind.
His first thought, quite literally, was to hope that maybe Petey becoming a do-gooder, a real one, was a real possibility after all.
He hadn't attacked the city even once since his pardon; all he did was take care of Li'l Petey during the weekdays and then drop him off at Dog Man's for the weekends alongside 80-HD.
What did the cat do during the weekends? Dog Man didn't know. He could only pray it wasn't something illegal.
"Dog Man?" a squeaky voice spoke up from below, bringing the hybrid out of his thought bubble with a glance downwards.
"Won't you knock the door? Papa might be inside!" Li'l Petey asked, flailing his little arms around in a way similar to that of a bird.
The sight brought a small smile to Dog Man's face, though it had fast faded by the time he looked back at the door. Petey hadn't arrived to pick up the kid this time, and it was late on a Sunday night.
Dog Man's first assumption, as much as he hated it, was that the feline was up to crime again. He had his reservations — considering how much the kitten had changed him — and yet couldn't bring himself to let those thoughts go no matter how hard he tried.
The hybrid hummed absentmindedly, a delayed response to Li'l Petey's earlier question. He gathered up the remaining courage in his system and firmly knocked on the door, pulling his hand back immediately as if the wood was on fire.
Another likelihood was that of Petey being busy with renovations; he hadn't understood the entire situation yet, but from what Li'l Petey told him, his father had snatched every single item in the lab except for Li'l Petey's comics and fled with a truck (that probably didn't belong to him either).
The story made Dog Man growl in rage, which alarmed 80-HD in an instant as he tried to calm him down for a straight ten minutes afterward.
Despite that, it actually explained why and how Petey decided to abandon the kid at first... Dog Man couldn't help but feel bad for everyone involved.
...Excluding Petey's father, of course. That guy was clearly mentally disturbed.
He was not sure how much time had passed since his first knock, so he just knocked a second time with more force. He exchanged nervous glances at Li'l Petey and (what he could manage with) 80-HD, his worry starting to seep into his facial expressions.
Dog Man let out a loud bark, trying to see if it would somehow grab Petey's attention from the upper floor. The lights were closed from what he saw through the windows, though...
"Papa!" Li'l Petey yelled in succession, bringing his hands to his mouth to project his voice further. 80-HD even lifted the kitten into the air at some point with his arm, bringing him next to the window to investigate.
...It was his dad's bedroom window, and the feline was nowhere to be seen.
"He's not in his room!" the kitten exclaimed, being brought back to the ground by 80-HD.
Ears perked up in alarm, the cop didn't know what to do. He leaned his hand against the door, almost falling in.
He barked softly with a startled look on his face, looking around as if this place was foreign to him.
"The door was open the whole time?" Li'l Petey wondered out loud. "Why would Papa leave the door unlocked?"
Dog Man just shrugged in response, still unable to spot the cat he came here for.
His gaze fell upon Petey's computer; it was left open on some random search engine tab, with letters that he couldn't quite make out from a distance.
Dog Man descended the stairs and approached the glowing screen, illuminating his own face with the white light of the search results.
Then, he took a closer look at the question on the search bar.
'What is White Day?'
The hybrid paused in his tracks, his eyes quickly scanning the results themselves for any short elaboration. 'What is a White Day?' he thought to himself.
He then noticed the question was written with a capital letter, proper punctuation, and even a question mark at the end; 'very Petey-like', he surmised with a smile.
Generally, he's always had a habit of focusing on the wrong things at the most wrong of times, and he forced himself to face away from the screen with a sigh as Li'l Petey and 80-HD were looking around for Petey.
Dog Man blinked rapidly a few times, still a bit blinded from the computer screen's light, adjusting to the current environment and joining his friends in looking for the missing feline.
All three of them walked around aimlessly, not finding him even after looking at the upper floor for several minutes.
"I didn't find him anywhere, Dog Man," Li'l Petey pouted. "I guess he's probably not here."
The hybrid hummed again, a sound far steadier than the one from before, and moved his hands to sign a response. 'There's a chance he went out to the supermarket,' he said. 'In that case, all we have to do is wait for him and we'll see each other again next weekend, okay?'
Now it was Li'l Petey's turn to hum, looking down momentarily before flashing his usual bright smile. "Okay!"
80-HD walked up behind the kitten, pointing curiously at the computer behind Dog Man.
The dog only shrugged as an answer to the robot's curiosity, before signing again. 'Do you guys want to check it out together? I don't think Petey was looking up anything personal when I took a little peek,' he cheekily winked.
Li'l Petey giggled, clapping his hands in excitement. "Yay! We get to see what Papa might be up to! Maybe he's planning a surprise party for us?"
Dog Man shook his head with a playful smile, picking up the kitten and setting him on the table to be able to see the computer search results.
"White Day...?" the kitten asked, full of wonder. "That sounds fun! Do all colors have their own days?"
Dog Man snickered as he looked back at the computer, his older memories rushing in to fill in the details.
He vaguely recalled that White Day was a day of celebration, mostly that of romantic love, and that it was like a sequel to Valentine's Day a month prior; not to mention it was primarily celebrated in Asia.
Most of his knowledge on the topic came from experiences of his own, fondly remembering how close Knight and Alice were during those days of affection and trust...
"HEY! What're you doing there?!"
An all-too familiar voice boomed throughout the room, making Dog Man and Li'l Petey's ears perk up; even 80-HD turned towards the source of the sound.
A tall cat with a white lab coat and a pair of goggles on his head shoved Dog Man away from the laptop, and the latter could swear he had a blush on his face.
'Everything okay?' Dog Man signed. 'We were really worried about you since you left the front door open and I thought that-'
"Hi, Papa!" Li'l Petey gleefully greeted from the table he was still situated on, his smile growing three sizes.
Petey himself let out an exhaled sigh, grabbing the kid in his own arms. "Hey, kid," he said while feigning calmness. "Finally done with these losers for the weekend?"
Li'l Petey ignored what his father called them, nodding fervently. "Now we get to stay together, and then I can go to Dog Man and 80-HD next weekend again!"
"Yeah, that's kind of the point of a weekly plan," Petey mused, voice dripping with sarcasm. He then put the kitten down on the floor. "Go upstairs and make some comics or something, I'll probably get us some Chinese food to eat."
"Okay!" Li'l Petey agreed ever-so-easily, skedaddling upstairs with unprecedented speed. 80-HD, without putting much thought into it, followed behind in cheer.
"Hey, where're you going?!" Petey yelled at the robot, sighing roughly when he got no response. He plopped down on his chair as he took his goggles off his head and draped his coat over the back of his chair, rushing awkwardly to close any other tabs he had open — including the one Dog Man was reading just earlier — and opening a new one for the food order.
The hybrid let out a soft yip to grab Petey's attention, which only got him a side glance and borderline dismissal. "What is it? You and 80-HD are supposed to have left already, you know?"
Dog Man nodded, looking away.
The tension was palpable.
Too palpable.
In spite of all the different signs he could use to express his thoughts, none would form. After a while of trying, he just dropped his wrists and gave up with a boof! to signal his exhaustion.
Even then, Petey barely reacted to the emotional mess going on behind him.
He was pretty much fully immersed in the riveting activity of... ordering food, seemingly unable to budge away from the screen for even half a second.
Dog Man barked, still trying to grab Petey's attention, but failing miserably. He even considered poking at his shoulder, but he knew better than anyone how agitated the cat got with any form of physical contact that wasn't related to his son or his inventions.
'Technically, I was holding Li'l Petey earlier,' Dog Man dumbly thought with a silly grin on his face, 'so it should be perfectly fine to...'
And with that, his tongue touched the top of Petey's head; moving dangerously close to the latter's ear.
"GAH–!" the cat flinched immediately, wiping the saliva off his head and turning around in his chair to properly face Dog Man. "The fuck is up with you randomly licking everyone?!"
'You weren't looking at me when I wanted to talk to you,' he signed back almost instantaneously. Thankfully, Petey's ASL lessons had been paying off, since Dog Man could finally sign at his regular pace without having to repeat stuff or go slower for the cat to understand.
"Well," the feline struggled to defend, "w-well..."
Dog Man's head tilted in genuine concern, unconsciously bringing forth his hand as it grazed Petey's cheek. The cat slapped it away instantly, almost scratching it with his claws, and his fur was seemingly redder than usual. "WELL! I was busy looking for the correct ramen that I get for the kid every Sunday! You know how he is with his... his vegetables and stuff, you know?!" he retaliated, imitating his son's voice at one point.
The hybrid let out a whine, bringing his right hand to his chest and rubbing it in a circular motion. 'Sorry,' he signed. 'I didn't mean to-'
"Yeah, yeah, it's all fine—I've heard enough for one night," Petey dismissed with a paw in the air as he turned back to his computer, hand already back on the mouse. "You can go back home now or whatever."
Dog Man didn't understand how the cat worked sometimes; he seemed so much nicer and relaxed when he first requested to co-parent Li'l Petey after the whole Living Buildings Incident™, yet quickly reverted to his sour and jumpy ways a few weeks later.
He assumed this was just a tactic he used to shield himself from potential harm. Or at least, he did at first, because it clicked a few seconds later:
'If he was being all clammed up, wouldn't that decrease his chances of being accepted in the city as a do-gooder?'
On the one hand, the hybrid understood where Petey came from. Ohkay City has viewed him as a villain since the very beginning, so it's only natural that the feline wouldn't be used to this kind of change so fast.
At the same time...
If Petey himself offered to co-parent Li'l Petey with him, that surely implies there's a level, even if it's below the sea, of trust between the two. Dog Man hated pushing, but it was necessary every once in a while...
He decided to ditch his previous approach and just took up an idea he rejected before, which was to simply tap Petey's shoulder. Gently, to ensure he won't get scared.
...Or so he thought, as the cat still flinched at the action.
Was Petey always this much of a scaredy-cat?
"Cerealously," he sassed with another dramatic turn towards the hybrid, "what do you want from me? Money? Don't got any. Crayons for the kid? They're all old as fuck, no idea if they're as reliable as he claims they are—"
'I just want to talk to you,' Dog Man signed sincerely. A lopsided smile tugged at his lips, shining at Petey with the vividness of a freshly-screwed lightbulb.
But Petey only saw the Sun stare into him, and he had the urge to look away; lest he wanted to be blinded.
"Talk to me? You're doing that right now," the feline replied with a condescending grin awfully similar to his evil face. "What in the world could someone like you want to possibly talk about? Friendship? Rainbows? Please, cut the pretentious shit."
Dog Man's face stiffened with resolve, grabbing Petey's chair as it was starting to turn away again and locking it in place in front of him. 'I want to talk to you about you,' he finally replied.
Petey was utterly confused, but quickly moved to a fit of laughter as he placed a paw on his forehead. "HAW HAW! About me? Listen, I'm sure that I'm incredibly charming and all, but how do I know you won't turn this against me?"
The hybrid briefly raised an eyebrow at Petey's logic, but minutely shook his head and kept signing. 'You've been acting different.'
"Yeah," he scoffed, "so? I'm some ex-evil cat who only avoided jail because a moron decided it'd be good for her election results, what more is there to talk about?"
'Your current mental state,' Dog Man replied flawlessly with a stern look, but no real anger was behind it. 'You were different when you asked me about the two of us co-parenting LP, and you're different now in your refusal to answer my questions.'
Petey wanted to snap back, but even he could tell that Dog Man wasn't actually upset. "I... uh..." he scratched the back of his neck with the hand that was on his forehead, avoiding eye contact desperately.
Dog Man pulled a second rolling chair next to the cat, sitting slowly. He rotated Petey's just enough to face him, getting another hitched breath from him.
'Just talk to me about yourself,' he finally signed with a smile. Nothing large, but it was still genuine.
Petey couldn't gulp down the lump in his throat.
"Wh-Where'd this suddenly come from?" he interrogated with a puffed laugh, cursing at himself internally for the stutter. "Listen, you and I are very different. Whatever drugged dog food you've eaten right now, I assure you, is not enough to feed you the will to deal with me right now. Or ever, actually."
Dog Man's ears drooped at this, his entire expression coming down with them. 'What makes you say that, Petey?' he asked with a careful attentiveness to his facial expressions. 'I could never not deal with you if you're willing to talk to me.'
"I have my reasons," he crossed his arms as he looked away for a split second again. "You're in no place to know them."
'I'm not asking to know them,' Dog Man confessed. 'I'm asking to help you work through them. You've been distant recently, and it hurts. I'm starting to think Li'l Petey noticed too.'
Petey's ears twitched at that, only to flatten mere seconds later. He looked down at the floor, then at his own hand, and huffed out another sardonic laugh. "How ironic! You have every reason in the world to be hating me right now, to be walking away with the kid, and yet you don't. I'm the one creating distance, not you. How... does that work?"
That got another head tilt from Dog Man. He wasn't following, and he wasn't even sure if he should ask for an elaboration or if...
"Can I order the damn food now?" he spoke sharply, a decision he quickly regretted. He started to move his arm towards the mouse again, only for Dog Man to grab it and pull it towards himself.
"L-Legitimately," the cat spoke again with a cautious tone, teetering on the line of frustration. His face was redder than usual, just like before. "Do you have nothing better to do than just show up here and act all clingy?"
Then, Dog Man did the most unexpected thing; in Petey's eyes, at least.
He moved his hands down Petey's arm, resting on his paw and then wrapping his digits around his.
Petey's tail stood on end behind him, and he prayed Dog Man wouldn't say anything about it. His whiskers, too, went up, as did most of his fur. He barely bit back a rebuttal, choosing to remain quiet and merely observe the hybrid's next move.
He brought one of his hands up, the other still remaining tightly wrapped around Petey's. He struggled to sign with one hand only, but tried his best in spite of that. 'Is this about Knight?'
There it was; the name hanging in the air that Petey never dared to say again.
He visibly tensed up at the mention of him, clenching his free paw into a fist and almost digging his claws into his own flesh. "I—"
'It's okay,' Dog Man interrupted with a reminiscent grin. 'I knew that it was you who planted the bomb since I smelled it for about half a second.'
"Unbelievable," Petey muttered out loud, shocked he had somehow missed just how strong Dog Man's sense of smell is. "You... You've known this entire time?"
The hybrid nodded.
Petey's gaze flew over to the computer every other sentence, still aching to escape this conversation. "So this whole time, you... you teamed up with me, and agreed to raise the kid with me," he trailed off, "...while knowing what I did to you? To..."
He was cut off by a sob.
"No," he thought to himself. "I'm not about to cry in front of Dog Man, of all people."
Dog Man whined in concern, leaning a bit closer and squeezing Petey's paw. 'It's alright to feel this way,' he signed. 'But I'll have you know that I'm not mad at you.'
"Why?" he asked breathlessly, abruptly getting up from the chair and breaking his link with Dog Man's hand. "Why?! I've done so much harm on this city, Li'l Petey, Knight, and you! How the fuck are you just... okay with that?!"
Dog Man got up too, albeit in a more careful manner, rising slowly from his seat so as not to alarm the cat further.
"I've basically been a villain since my life went to shit forever ago! I always claimed, with full honesty back then, that I absolutely hated yours and Knight's guts! And... and you still like me after all of that?! How do you do that?!" he held back another choked sob. "I killed Knight, Dog Man! He's gone and it's because of me! How the fuck are you even tolerating talking to me right now?!"
The hybrid took a small step closer, noticing just how shaky Petey's arms were as he hugged himself tightly. "I don't get it..." he spoke in a quieter tone, as if his previous fit had taken all his strength with it. "How are you filled with so much... kindness?" he asked with pain coloring his voice, tears still threatening to spill.
Dog Man let out a soft sigh, smiling briefly to comfort the cat. 'Allow me to tell you what Knight told me before the surgery.'
Petey only tensed further, eyes darting everywhere else but Dog Man as he waited for the next signs.
'He said,' Dog Man began, looking right at Petey to ensure he's paying attention, 'that I should treat his body as my own and take care of it as my own. He didn't mind anything I'd do with it beyond that, as it's mine now.'
He took another step closer to Petey.
'And Alice leaving did hurt... but all he asked me to promise to him was to protect her, not stay in a relationship with her. Besides,' he smiled again, this time wider, 'this admittedly gave me some valuable things in life despite what was taken away being just as precious.'
"Like what?" Petey asked. "Your previous life was great, I'm sure you had nothing to worry about with Knight on your side all the time."
'Not completely wrong,' Dog Man winked, 'but what I mean is the things I got after I became Dog Man and the things that remained from before. Li'l Petey, 80-HD, the support of Chief and Millie, as well as...'
Petey's arms completely laxed when he saw the last sign on the list, adorned with the biggest smile he's ever seen on Dog Man's stupid, stupid face.
'...You,' Dog Man pointed at the cat in front of him. 'You're one of the few things that had remained the same before Li'l Petey came along and changed you for good, and you kept me motivated to even get up in the morning at all. Because I knew there'd be a city worth protecting, and a villain worth reforming.'
A single tear escaped from his eyes despite himself, and Petey could only laugh. "You're an absolute cornball, you know that?"
'You like me better that way,' Dog Man giggled. 'Besides, Knight also told me that he forgave you; his last words from him to me, and now to you. He never held any grudges, and neither did I.'
"Unbelievable," Petey said again, "unbelievable! Both of you were saps!" he continued crying even as his laughter overlapped, and Dog Man pounced forward.
The cat knew what was coming, and he was honestly in no state to receive a licking session after embarrassingly crying in front of him. "No, no! Wait–!"
But the slobber never came; instead, it was just a warm and tight embrace around his waist and a head resting on his chest.
Petey could feel Dog Man's smile even on his own body, and he only laughed more as he hugged him back reluctantly. "You really are full of surprises, Dog Man."
'They call me a Supa Cop for a reason,' he mused with a satisfied smile as he pulled away from the warmth. 'But, besides that, are you feeling better?'
"Much, admittedly," Petey said after a few beats of silence. "Thanks, Dog Man."
Dog Man signed a thumbs up in response, his mouth clammed shut as if trying to suppress something.
Wait a minute...
"Dog Man, no..." Petey placed his hands above his head defensively, taking moderate steps away from the hybrid. "Don't you–"
Too late.
The cop pounced on the cat at lightning speed, covering his entire face with dog drool. "Ah– wait, stop, stop! Come on!" Petey complained, laughing all the while.
"N-Not the inside of my mouth again!" he yelled as he turned his face away from Dog Man in a futile attempt to escape his affection festival. His face was a darker shade once more, eventually resorting to grabbing either side of Dog Man's face with his own paws. "That's enough now, isn't it?"
But the answer never came.
For the first time that night, Dog Man stayed completely still in Petey's hold. Then, it all kicked in; the close proximity, the heat of their combined breaths, the slight exhaustion from the emotional baggage and the licking just minutes later...
And, at last, the hybrid noticed just how much redder Petey's face was in comparison to his normal color. His ears flattened again as he looked away, Dog Man later doing the same in a fit of mutual awkwardness.
They stole occasional glances at one another, and eventually came to face each other properly again.
"How long have we been on the ground?" the cat wondered, voice sounding dazed.
Dog Man shrugged, smiling down at Petey. 'You know,' he started signing.
"Yeah?" Petey replied.
'You look very nice like this...' he instantly regretted his choice of words, pinning his attention on something he randomly saw on the wall while he was looking for the cat earlier.
"Oh, do I now? This is the worst I've been in a while," he snickered, concealing his fluster. "Not like you're any better."
'Can I tell you something, since this is apparently the most emotional night of our lives?' Dog Man randomly signed after half a minute of silence.
"Go ahead," Petey gave a shrug of his own.
'I never thought we'd end up here. Did you?' he pondered, hands moving lazily now.
"I mean, the floor doesn't feel as bad as I thought it would, so this is totally believable to me right now," Petey smirked.
Dog Man let out a quick snicker, before putting on his serious face that he only reserved for combat (it always got the cat worked up in the prettiest of ways, as he'd put it). 'I mean, here with you, talking about feelings and having a very romantically charged staring session.'
The cat only huffed out a laugh of his own, though lacking the edge his previous sarcastic cackles did. "Look at you, being all observant. Don't go detective mode on me, I think that would actually kill me."
The lightness Dog Man felt in his chest was incredible. Petey always brought out the best in him, whether it be wit for a cheerful conversation or brute force for non-stop hours of playing cat-and-mouse in the streets of Ohkay City.
'Have you been reading any books recently?'
"Too many for me to remember," the cat whispered out. Even he looked confused at himself, unsure of why the statement came out as shy and quiet as it did. But Dog Man made no remarks either way.
'I'd like a recommendation or two sometime,' he excitedly signed. 'I'm up for reading with you.'
"Next thing you'll tell me is to start a book club with you," Petey scoffed. "Or do we share a chaste kiss to cement our ambiguous relationship now that we established our connection through books?"
That shut both of them up immediately.
"Who the fuck talks like that?" the cat thought to himself with various obscene images flashing through his head, making him look away from Dog Man yet again. The hybrid in question was surprised at the randomness of the statement, but said nothing; just like before.
A minute or two later, which definitely didn't include a single tense glance into each other's eyes, Dog Man got a bright idea. His face looked alleviated and he was smiling dumbly in the same way he would when he slept and had a fun dream.
"What?" Petey asked suddenly, breaking him out of his trance. "What did you think about this time? You're doing that stupid look again."
Dog Man chuckled, then signed as if he was saying the most casual thing in the world.
'Can I kiss you?'
"Wha–?! Cerealously, do you never get tired of being this forward?" Petey cleared his throat, the spontaneous question bringing him closer to this plane of existence.
Dog Man shook his head no — as much as he could for someone who was still being held by the cat he had trapped below him — with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"You're ridiculous," he rolled his eyes playfully as he... actually leaned in with little hesitation despite his outburst seconds earlier.
His face got more and more red with every centimeter closer, and Dog Man took this as a sign to lean in too.
Their faces inched closer and closer, both of them inhaling before the contact could truly begin. They already had a vague feeling of what it'd be like; messy but loving, a neat equivalent of their current relationship at this point in time.
It would not be perfect, not even close; the air between them had already grown hot, and they could visualize the slanted angles at which they'd turn their heads, crashing into each other with fervor. Again, not perfect, but at least it would be real.
But right as their lips were to touch, electricity coursing through the parts of their bodies that made even the slightest of contact, a magical–
"Whatcha doin'?"
"AH!" Petey flinched upwards, effectively pushing Dog Man off to the side and running up to his son; reminding the hybrid of his insane feline reflexes. "Li'l Petey, don't scare me like that! What are you–"
"Why were you on the floor? Were you kissing like the grown-ups in movies?" Li'l Petey asked his dad not with irritation, but with curiosity and joy.
"N-No, we just had a little accident— wait, how the f... heck do you know that term?!" Petey interrogated, self-censoring for his son's sake.
"I watched them with Dog Man and then asked Molly since he wouldn't tell me!"
Petey's head instantly snapped upwards, turning slowly towards a still tumbled over Dog Man. "Is that so...?"
"Yeah!" Li'l Petey cheerfully spoke, bringing his little hands up to his chest. "Anyways, did you guys get food? I'm starving!"
"RIGHT! Right." the cat stood upright, pacing over to the computer to finally order that damned Chinese food. "The usual ramen, right?"
"Yep! Thanks, Papa!" he waved before heading back upstairs with tiny jumps for each step, his tail making an exaggerated bounce alongside his body every time.
Petey let out a huge sigh of relief, propping up his elbow and placing his head in his hand. His other clicked out and about on the website, emptily looking for his son's favorite order.
Dog Man suddenly appeared next to him with a groan, feeling his back.
"You okay?" Petey inquired, voice gentler than before. "Sorry I pushed you like that, I..."
Dog Man shook his head and gave a thumbs up, a bright smile on his face.
"Y'know that's contradictory, right? Shaking your head no while signing and saying you're okay..." he huffed out a hearty laugh.
'Well,' the hybrid argued, 'it's more like I'm saying No, it's all good, and I'm okay.'
"I guess you got a point there."
The two remained in a silence much more comfortable than the previous few, only interrupted by Petey's rampant mouse clicking around the site.
Dog Man tapped on Petey's shoulder again, grabbing his attention on the first try this time. "What is it?"
Then, it was the cop's turn to blush; only his first time to do so that night. 'What does this make us?'
"What does what make what?" Petey asked, laughing at his own nonsense. Dog Man joined in, and the two enjoyed a nice peaceful laugh together.
'I mean, we were about to... you know...'
"Insane," Petey cackled sassily. "The city's Supa Cop can't even sign out the word 'kiss' after all that shamelessness? Who would've guessed he's such a shy gentleman at heart!"
The cat swiftly realized what he said there at the end, and Dog Man brought his fingertips up to his mouth with a smirk, only to bring them down as if blowing a kiss. 'Thank you!' he proudly moved his hands with confidence.
"I hate you," he said with the most loving voice he had ever uttered. "Well, I don't know yet... probably partners, I guess?"
Dog Man jumped up and down at the confirmation, about to tackle Petey to the ground; the cat stopped him with his hand before he could.
"Just kiss me now and leave the slobber-fest for later," Petey smirked knowingly.
Both of their faces were red as they finally closed the distance between them properly, Petey leaning down a bit to compensate for the height difference.
"I knew you two were kissing!"
"LI'L PETEY!" the cat yelled, breaking the kiss within a second. He chased after his son as the latter giggled his way up to the stairs. "Seriously, where did you learn that—argh, YOU SAW NOTHING!"
Dog Man laughed in pure appreciation, finishing the food order by himself instead.
'Maybe he was planning a confession, but he was scared to do it,' Dog Man thought to himself as he recalled the search from earlier.
He looked up at the stairs, where Petey was descending with his son in his arms, and was filled to the brim with love for his newfound family in a fit of merriment.
'I hope he's not scared anymore,' he told himself as he pounced on his two favorite cats yet again.