Home Again, Home Again (Nick/Lillian)

[Lillian Sita]

Lillian grunted, carrying the bags of dog stuff in one arm, and keeping the fluffy white puppy in her jacket as she crawled up the steps to her apartment home. "Fuck, why are you so heavy? How old are you, anyway?? Like, four weeks or something?" 

The puppy peered up at her with her brilliant, ice-blue eyes, and huffed slightly. It was so strange to her that, no matter how hard she had tried, she hadn't managed to communicate with the little dog at all. She nuzzled her head into Lillian's chest, and she sighed softly, pausing just enough to nuzzle her back.

"At least you're cute, though..."

Finally making it to the door, she realized that her keys were buried deep in the pocket of her jeans, and she would have to set all of the bags down just to get to them. She meshed her teeth together, and then began to kick at the door with her boot. "Nick! Nick, open up. Seriously! It's cold out here!"

[Nicolas Sita]

Nick had spent the day cleaning the apartment while Lillian was out and about. They didn't have any Christmas decorations, so he thought to at least make their living space look somewhat livable so they could enjoy the holidays in peace.

Now, he was laying on the couch with a random manga he found shoved away in his closet. It featured a live, life sized teddy bear and a teenager the size of a box fan going on adventures in...Narnia? It was weird, and he had no idea where it came from, but he was invested.

That was when Lillian started pounding and shouting at the door like she had just been shot. Whatever parts of Nick weren't awake before were DEFINITELY awake now. He shot onto his feet, falling over the coffee table and crushing the manga as he frantically moved to the door. Lillian would hear several 'bangs' and 'ow's before a worried and confused Nick appeared at the door.

Though, the worry would immediately disappear as he noticed the puppy.

"We're parents!?"

[Lillian Sita]

Lillian was just about to kick the door again when Nick opened it. She glowered at him for a moment, but knew deep down that her agitation was more from the store, the idiots, and the cold than it was from him. After all... little Nick could do no wrong. She sighed softly.

"Her name is Nina, and she's cold."

She chuckled softly as the puppy continued to nose her way further into her jacket. Despite the huge, fluffy coat of fluffiness... she was obviously still cold.

[Nicolas Sita]

"What are we doing out here then? I'll get her some blankets." He lightly tugged at Lillian to come inside, closing the door behind her.

"So who did you kidnap from this time? Are they still alive?" He chuckled the last bit as he disappeared into a closet down the way. He was still in earshot.

After a few moments of digging around, he reappeared with a bundle of blankets and towels in his arms, promptly dropping them on the couch as he waited for further instructions. Nick loved animals, but he wasn't super knowledgeable when it came to tending to them.

[Lillian Sita]

"Nobody. That mama dog I went to help rescue this morning asked me to keep this one, to take care of her puppy."

She glanced down at Nina, walking into the apartment and kicking the door closed behind her. As much as she liked the little animal, she was quite heavy for a four week old, and she wanted to get to the stuff she had bought so they could get her all caught up. She brought the puppy over to the blankets and towels, and very carefully set her down.

"You can wrap her up and warm her up. I'm going to get her tag and collar ready," she said, plopping down on the floor and beginning to go through the bags of stuff. "We should also probably get her fed here soon."

[Nicolas Sita]

Nick fell to his knees in front of little Nina, gently pulling her and tucking her into a blanket, wrapping it around her like a burrito. Then another one. Then another one. ...that was probably enough. He cradled her in his arms and ran his fingers through her fluffy head while Lillian spoke.

"How much stuff did you get?" He raised a brow curiously.

[Lillian Sita]

"A collar, tags, bowls, wet dog food, dry puppy food, a couple of toys, a leash, treats, some cleaning stuff, shampoo... Oh, shit, I forgot a dog bed. I knew I was forgetting something!"

She slapped her forehead, sighing softly at her own stupidity, and then began to pull the things out, one by one, until she found the pretty pink princess collar. It was so far outside of Lillian's norm, it was almost comedic. She muttered to herself quietly as she searched for the tag. "I know it's in here somewhere..."

[Nicolas Sita]

"Hmm, I can pick up a dog bed next time I go out... she probably needs to sleep with one of us for now anyway, don't you think?" He guessed as he pat little Nina's head. She seemed confused, but content. He lightly bounced her in his arms to see how she would react to it. He was more familiar with cats than dogs, and cats... did not like being held, so he was prepared for retaliation.

When Nick noticed the collar, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Were they out of spiky black? I thought that was the only look you knew," He said with a shit eating grin, fully prepared for a swat on the head. She was probably used to his sarcastic humor by now... at least, he would hope with the twenty plus years they'd known each other.

"How are we gonna take care of her anyway? You're always at work and... I have no clue how to dogsit. Plus, I'm still looking for a job."

[Lillian Sita]

"I work at a vet clinic, Nick. I can take her to work with me."

Lillian seemed distracted as she finally found the adorable, pink crown tag. She began to struggle slightly, trying to get it onto the collar. Nina seemed content to just lie there in Nick's arms, like a giant, fluffy teddy bear. She was young, and by the time she was full grown... she'd be huge.

She held up the collar in victory, and then turned to Nina. "She didn't like the black leather collars. Or, she didn't seem to, anyway. She doesn't really talk to me."

Taking a deep breath, Lillian tried to speak to Nina again. Usually, the language of whomever she was focused on came to her naturally, without active thought. However, each time she tried with the little puppy, she just... drew a blank. She shrugged.

"I wanted a black leather collar with grooves and a wicked cool o-ring. But she kept nosing the pink one... so we got the pink one."

[Nicolas Sita]

"Ohhhhh," Nick nodded enthusiastically as if Lillian being a vet was new information to him. He held Nina up to her as it seemed like she had finally gotten the collar situated.

"I wish I could talk to animals. They seem like a better alternative to people..." He shrugged. Animals could have very well been dicks too, but only Lillian would really know. Case and point, she liked animals a lot more than she liked people... he shrugged again as he thought about it.

"Anything important I should know? I've never had a dog before. If it's anything like a fish, I'm screwed." He chuckled at his comment. Even if she said no, he was going to do plenty of research on dog maintenance so he didn't risk screwing anything up. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Lillian.

[Lillian Sita]

"Talking to animals typically is better than talking to humans. They make so much more sense." She smiled, reaching out to lightly pat Nina's head before slipping the collar on her carefully. She made certain it was just the right size: a little loose, so she could grow into it. Lillian was fairly certain she was about four weeks old, which meant that she had a lot of growing to do over the next few weeks.

"I'll take her into work to get her shots and everything tomorrow. She's been outside this entire time, so she probably won't catch, like, parvo or something... but we are going to need to be careful so she doesn't get sick. And she's a working dog, which means that we are going to have to figure out something for her to do as she gets older. We are going to need to keep her busy or she is going to end up tearing shit up."

[Nicolas Sita]

Nick nodded enthusiastically and carefully set Nina down after Lillian got the collar on. He unwrapped the blankets so she could explore the apartment. Good thing he cleaned it earlier, otherwise she would get into all kinds of who knows what...

...that was still probably a risk, if anything he knew about dogs was true.

"If you ever wanna leave her here I can walk her around whenever I go out and do my stuff." He suggested with a shrug. She couldn't be that high maintenance. Healthy diet? Easy. Attention? Easy. Walks? Easy. Grooming? ... he would leave that to Lillian. What else was there?

[Lillian Sita]

Lillian stared at Nick blankly for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know what he meant by all of his stuff. She had a feeling he probably got himself into more trouble than he admitted, but if she dwelled on that too much, she wouldn't ever go to work. Sighing softly, she rubbed the puppy's head, flopping her ears around slightly.

"Walks will be good. We will also need to find a dog park or something, so she can socialize. I have a feeling she hasn't done much of that." She smiled at the puppy, then looked back up to Nick. "Thanks for cleaning the apartment."

[Nicolas Sita]

Nick smiled triumphantly when Lillian acknowledged that he had cleaned the apartment, and pumped his fist into the air like he had something to show her.

"I found this really cool manga in my closet, it's abou--" He stopped when he realized it wasn't in his hand anymore. Then he swiveled his head around the room, looking defeated when he couldn't find it. He just cleaned the place and he was already losing stuff.

"I no longer have this really cool manga." He mumbled at the floor.