Work Text:
Seth arrived home with groceries that he never envisioned himself getting. Oats, feed, bridles, brushes, and other horse supplies made sense, as he owned a horse and was happily caring for Eirika and Ephraim's as well.
Not a five pound bag of pet-friendly peaches and two mystery bags of fruit. Not accessories like an attachable butterfly, bandanna, or even a wig. But here he was, unloading the trunk of his car all the same, wondering how he got to this point.
Well, the answer was simple. Eirika found it pretty difficult to say no to people. One of these people was a sweet coworker of hers named Alear, who was going home for the summer and needed someone to watch Sommie. Sommie who was a curious cat-dog critter, with fur sprayed light blue and a fantastically dopey face.
It took professional grooming to get the critter's tail into a fan shape. Grooming tools, at least, had been provided by Alear.
Eirika, being independent as she was, accepted the request without even consulting with Seth. Which was fine, of course. He had no interest in dictating her life and making her ask permission to do any little thing. But a heads up at least would have been nice.
Sommie at least announced its presence by way of adorable pitter patters as it trotted around. It followed Eirika around with little whines and yips of joy, but seemed to find its most comfortable home in Seth's arms.
This included wiggling between him and Eirika at night. After the first night, Seth tried to have the bedroom door closed — the sad whining and pawing at the door won over Eirika's heart, and Seth had to learn how to cuddle two sweethearts at once.
He only complained when he grew a little too warm thanks to them. Sommie was quite a space heater, even when it laid on its back with tummy on full display.
"I've returned," he called into the house as he pushed on the door. The bags hung in multiple off his arms. One trip was the most effective, an argument he made that often had Eirika sighing and rolling her eyes affectionately at him. Or exasperated. A healthy blend of both, perhaps.
"Welcome home!" Eirika padded into the room, Sommie and its tippy-tappies following behind. "By the Stones, Seth, you are … hopeless." Grabbing several of the bags herself, Eirika pulled them off his arm. Seth leaned over, a little exaggerated, at her tugging. With a giggle, Eirika leaned up and met him halfway with a kiss on the cheek.
"Sommie's been begging for lunch for hours," she said. "Will you do the honors?"
Glancing at the clock, Seth raised a brow. He felt the patter of round paws on his shoes. "Hours, hm?"
He hadn't been gone hours.
Still, Seth knelt down, picking the excited critter up. Immediately, it snuggled and squished perfectly into the shape and cubby formed by Seth's arm. It cooed, giving him beady little blinks that Seth surmised was just a nonverbal expression of affection. "All right, you. Do you eat your peaches whole, or….?"
The answer, he found out later as Sommie licked his fingers clean of peach juice, was whole. Pit and all.