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Now, Tim quitting the vigilante thing shook up his entire schedule, Bernard knows. But, in all honesty, he really likes having his boyfriend around more.
Tim’s not going out in the middle of the night, safe, no more patching up the black haired man in the middle of the night, no more worrying constantly about him, no more having to leave at least one of the apartment’s windows unlocked for Tim to come in from patrol (that was really a big security issue, thinking back on it).
Bernard’s been thinking of all the possibilities that have opened up to them now that Tim quit. They could get a dog — or maybe a cat, they could go to the gym for a little workout date, they could walk around and spend time together without Tim running off to fight some criminal. It was great, this is great.
The blonde smiled to himself as he flipped his dippy egg to cook the other side, he added some pepper to it, and moved to put some bacon in the microwave for 45 seconds.
A simple breakfast, not as ‘extravagant’ as he’d normally make, but it’s a nice and quick breakfast. The toast was sitting in the toaster — a golden brown color on it.
He could hear the sound of Tim waking up in the bedroom, soft groans paired with the occasional cracking of his back as Tim stretched.
Bernard is 60% sure his boyfriend is a glowstick in disguise.
He should really invest in a heated blanket for Tim, a nice little retirement gift. Or maybe one of those stuffed animals you can shove in the microwave…
“Or both,” he mumbled to himself.
He made a mental note to check the prices of electric blankets later.
Soon, he turned off the stovetop and plated the dippy egg on one of the pieces of toast and put some bacon on the side. He sat at the kitchen island to eat, the warm yolk running down onto the second piece of toast and some on the bacon too.
It was warm, comforting, a breakfast you’d eat the day of some final exam, and you just want to be relaxed before it.
He used his free hand to scroll through the nearest shelter’s website, looking through the dogs purely to see what the names were. Some shelters had really funny ones, it always brought a smile to his face.
He then saw a little beagle puppy, biggest smile imaginable and tail a blur behind him in the picture.
Name: Morty
Age: 3 weeks
Description: a clumsy little dog with a big personality looking for a forever home.
Bernard felt his heart swell as he looked at the picture. The dog was a little bean, cute, not a single thought behind those brown eyes. How could he not want to adopt the little guy? It’s not like Morty would be home alone very often, Tim doesn’t exactly work (not like he would need to, he’s rich), and Bernard’s school and part time job doesn’t keep him away for absurdly long hours. Plus, Tim wasn’t a vigilante anymore, they’d be a perfectly stable home for the beagle.
Plus… maybe, just maybe, the dog would be just the distraction Tim needs to stop paying so much attention to the passing sirens that played as background noise in the city, the dog would be a nice distraction to keep Tim from obsessing over the news.
Tim walked into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Morning,” he yawned as he went to grab his medicine from the cupboard.
“Morning,” Bernard replied, softly smiling at his boyfriend.
He watched as Tim dry swallowed the medicine, washing the taste down with some water. Tim grabbed some leftover chicken wrap from earlier that week.
“Watching something fun?” he asked, taking another sip of water.
Bernard shook his head and set the phone aside, “I think we should add another member to our little family…”
The blonde looked back up at the sound of a choked cough where Tim was standing, the other now coughing up his water in the sink before looking at him with wide eyes, “what?!”
Bernard raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend’s alarmed expression, what was so bad about a dog? Oh–
“No! No no, I mean, like — a dog. I think we should get a dog.”
Tim’s shoulders dropped as relief took hold of him, his lips twitched into a smile as a small laugh escaped him, “oh.”
“Yeah, I found this cute little beagle, his name is Morty but he is young enough to not be terribly confused if we changed his name.” Bernard turned the phone to Tim, showing him the puppy, “isn’t he the cutest?”
Tim sat across from him at the island, leftover wrap in front of him, and his smile slightly bigger now. He nodded and took a bite of his food, “the cutest.”
“Wanna get him?”
Tim stared at the picture for a few moments before nodding, “we can go over later.”
Bernard’s smile grew and he messaged the shelter to let them know they’d be over later.
…
Three days later, they sat in the waiting area of the shelter while one of the volunteers brought out the puppy. The little beagle bounded towards them with his wagging tail and ears flapping around.
Bernard leaned down and put his hand out for Morty to sniff — which the dog didn’t and instead decided to crouch under the hand and stand up so he could get some pets.
“Someone’s friendly,” the blonde smiled as he scratched the dog’s little head and back.
Tim smiled and scratched under Morty’s chin, the dog smiled widely and his tail looked like a blur behind him.
“Yeah, he’s really friendly,” the volunteer said. “He's amazing with other animals, if you have any.”
Morty tried to climb on Tim’s leg, nearly falling backwards. Tim caught him and picked him up, setting the dog on his lap. “You okay, lil guy?”
Morty curled up on Tim’s lap, panting with excitement. What else could Tim do if not continue to pet the little guy?
Bernard scratched behind the beagle’s ears and looked at Tim, “so… should we get him?”
Tim nodded, his smile grew. Bernard swears, he looks so much lighter than he had been the past couple of weeks. “Are we keeping his name?”
Bernard looked at the dog and tilted his head, “maybe. How about Finn?”
The puppy tilted his head.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then,” Bernard chuckled. “How about Apollo?”
The puppy immediately perked up and let out a bark, much more excited than he was a minute ago.
“Apollo it is,” Tim said.
Bernard got up and followed the volunteer to the counter to start the take-home process. He looked over his shoulder a couple times, watching Apollo and Tim.
They looked adorable together.
Getting a dog was definitely the right call.
…
The next week was spent with all the little things for Apollo, stuff like food, a medium sized bed, toys, a harness and leash, pet insurance, finding a good vet in the area, getting him neutered.
Currently, the dog was sitting at Bernard’s feet as the blonde cooked, hoping Bernard would drop something.
“You know I’m not gonna drop anything, buddy.”
Apollo let out a whine and shifted on his feet.
“You already had a treat five minutes ago.”
Bernard could hear Tim laugh from the couch, “aww, but he’s been such a good boy in those five minutes.”
“You’re gonna spoil him rotten,” Bernard leaned down and scratched the top of the dog’s head.
“He’s too cute not to spoil.” The dog ran over to Tim and jumped up on the couch, completely ignoring the stairs they got him. He ran onto Tim, poking the ex-vigilante with his snout as if to snitch on Bernard to him.
And obviously Tim indulged, scratching Apollo’s sides. “Oh, is Papa bullying you? How dare he!”
Woof!
“He’s so mean, not giving you a treat. Oh, the betrayal!”
Bernard shook his head lightly in the kitchen, arms crossed as he leaned against the oven, “you’re being dramatic.”
“You love it.”
Bernard smiled before turning around so he could stir the spaghetti.
“Yeah, I do.”