Chapter Text
The animal shelter wasn't usually somewhere Planet spent his weekends. If he was being completely honest, he wasn't even sure why he agreed to come.
Planet had been under the impression that they were only stopping by for ten minutes. That was the agreement, drop off the donation box, look around for a little bit, and lastly, leave. Simple right? Unfortunately, Spoke was gone.
Planet started to panic, he was just right here by his side moments ago. Planet just looked away for a few seconds, now this kid just vanished out of thin air? He tried searching everywhere, even asking random strangers despite them giving him strange looks.
No one had seen him. Or at least nobody had seen a very specific, very energetic teenager running around an animal shelter. Which honestly felt impossible. Spoke wasn't exactly hard to miss.
Planet checked the front lobby, nothing. The cat room? Nothing. The outdoor play area? Nothing! At one point he genuinely considered announcing Spoke over the intercom. Which would have been humiliating for both of them.
Eventually, he rushed down a random room and froze. There he was, he finally found him! Unfortunately.
Spoke was sitting on the floor. Surrounding him were three small dogs. One was sleeping against his leg, another had somehow managed to shove its entire head into his lap, the third was attempting to lick his face. Spoke looked like he was having the best day of his life.
Planet just stood there, staring at the puppies before looking right at his boyfriend. Spoke sensed that he was being watched, he whipped his head and spotted Planet right at the doorway. "Dude!" The younger boy exclaimed, his eyes sparkling. "There you are.." Planet muttered, his panic started to die down. "Look! Look!" Planet looked at the sight beneath him. "I think they like me!" One of the dogs immediately rolled over onto its back. Spoke gasped dramatically. Planet felt a headache coming on.
"Spoke." The younger lets out a quiet hum, not even acknowledging the other. Planet pointed directly at him. "You disappeared." Spoke blinked. "I got distracted." Planet looked at the dogs, then back at Spoke. Spoke grinned. The dog currently occupying his lap chose that exact moment to rest its head against his stomach. Planet watched in horror as Spoke's expression somehow softened even more.
That was never a good look, not once in their entire relationship had that expression led to anything reasonable. The last time he'd made that face, Planet ended up helping assemble George's fish tank at eleven o'clock at night! He never got sleep after that. Honestly Planet was convinced George never appreciated his effort into fixing that stupid tank.
"BabeJust look! Please.." Planet sighed, getting down on one knee to inspect the dog even closer. The dog kept giving Planet puppy eyes, if he was being honest the dog looked awfully like Spoke, that was not an insult! Planet sighed dramatically. "Dude." He answered firmly.
Spoke looked at Planet "I didn't say anything!" He exclaimed, while petting the dog beneath him. "But I knew what you were gonna say." Spoke inhaled sharply. "No you don't—"
"You want the dog, Spoke."
Spoke immediately looked away. Planet narrowed his eyes. The dog chose that exact moment to place its head in Spoke's lap. A terrible mistake. Spoke visibly melted. Planet was not having it right now, how did he even get into this situation?
The dog sleeping against Spoke's leg suddenly woke up. Immediately, it climbed into his lap, or at least attempted to. Considering the dog was roughly the size of a loaf of bread, it mostly succeeded. "Hello." Spoke coos, the dog sneezed. "Bless you!" The dog sneezed again. "Bless you! Multiplied by two!"
The volunteer nearby laughed. "His name is Peanut." Spoke absolutely adored the dog. "Peanut?" He shouts, almost startling Planet, unfortunately he was used to this. The volunteer nodded. Spoke looked down, Peanut looked up. "Planet." The other glared at Spoke. "No."
"Spoke you have a fish at home." Spoke looked back at Planet tearfully, is he really gonna cry in a situation like this..? Hopefully not.. "George Junior is a fish!" Spoke emphasized on the word Junior. Yeah he kinda underestimates how much Georges he bought..
"Yet, hes still a pet." Spoke looked back at him, offended. "That's different tho..." Planet just sighed before huddling closer to Spoke, the younger then leaned his head on Planet's shoulder. "Planet are you suree..?? Look at Peanut in the eyes!"
Planet sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Darling, dogs are expensive." Spoke huffed. "I have money!" He defends himself. "You spent twenty dollars on trying to recreate the Bikini Bottom for George's tank, which already broke within days."
"Obviously, he deserved it!" Planet points at him. "Exactly, you love George! Why replace him with a dog?" Spoke genuinely stared at Planet with disbelief. He opened his mouth, tried to say something before just settling on muttering a tiny "Its George Junior. Okay?" Planet just chuckled from that. "Well, Who's gonna walk it? Definitely not me."
Before Spoke could answer, The dog wagged its tail. Spoke immediately got distracted. Planet watched the entire conversation leave his brain in real time. Honestly, that was probably for the best. Because Planet was starting to get the feeling this wasn't going to be the last time they had this discussion. Planet just sighed. Spoke was making this conversation difficult than it has to be. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Spoke gently scratched behind the dog's ears. The dog leaned into the touch without hesitation. The sight almost made Planet feel bad, almost. He was not giving in immediately.
"Spoke." The younger boy looked up. Planet sighed. "We're not getting a dog, already made my mind up." Planet was being dead serious. The smile on Spoke's face faltered slightly. Not completely. Just enough for Planet to feel guilty.
"Oh." Planet hated that response significantly more than arguing, no whining, no complaining, no attempts at changing his mind. Just a quiet little "oh." Spoke looked back down at the dog. His hand continued petting it absentmindedly. The dog happily rested its chin on his leg.
"Okay." Planet blinked. "Okay?" Spoke shrugged. A small one, the kind people did when they were trying really hard to pretend something didn't bother them. Planet wasn't sure if Spoke was doing this on purpose.
"Yeah." The dog licked Spoke's hand, Spoke laughed softly. It sounded different than before. Smaller somehow. Planet suddenly felt more guilty than earlier, he wasn't used to Spoke being this upset. Which was ridiculous! They were not getting a dog. That was a completely reasonable decision. A responsible decision even. Spoke buried his face into the dog's fur for a moment.
Planet let out a slow breath, then stepped closer. The dog looked up at him, then immediately went back to Spoke like Planet was just some random. Great! How polite. Planet crouched down beside them. "Hey." Spoke looked at him again.
"You can keep sitting with him for a bit." Spoke’s eyes flicked up. "Really?" "Yeah," Planet said, looking away slightly. "It’s not like I’m dragging you out." The dog immediately flopped back into Spoke’s lap like it had been waiting for permission. Spoke let out a small laugh again, a real one this time. Planet relaxed a little.
"...We’re still not getting a dog though."