#and i saw puppy ear hair clips that look like from a german shepherd...

[bubipuppi]

I bought a small star wars lego set and a small Robin (TIMMM :>) today hanging out with my friend and m older sister , everything else in the pictures is a want though!!! the small puppy the big one is holding is a rattle and omg it was so **soft** i was fighting the urge buy it (i have over 10 plushes on my bed and have no more room)

the princess sippy/bottle has punzie on it and...i love her alot. i really wanted it but i don't have anymore hidey spots for my agere stuff 😭

the batman car is just a dream set i want. it's so big i wouldn't even have room for it, but it looks so cool!!

i also got batman wrapping paper, and a couple more graphic tees at five below. today was really fun, and i'm happy i got clothes and toys i've reallyyyy wanted to buy myself ^^

[swimmingwolf59]

On a Raven’s Black Wing

(A/N) Yo yo yo, I’m writing a multichapter pynch fic on my AO3 and thought I’d post it here as well! :’) There are references to Adam’s abuse, but nothing that’s worse than canon. Hope you enjoy! 

Adam has seen a lot of strange things working at the Henrietta pet store, but this is the first time a customer’s walked in with a raven.

It’s an excruciatingly slow day. Adam had been up until three in the morning working on college essays, AP history essays, and studying for physics, and he’d already had an early shift at Boyd’s and a full day of classes before he came here. He’s exhausted down to his bones, and it’s hard to even stand upright as the minutes stretch into hours of not a single soul coming into the store. Henrietta is small so the store is hardly busy even on a good day, but it’s been a long time since utterly no one has come in. It’s hard to stay motivated, even if this little hole-in-the-wall pet store is one of his favorite places.

Adam gets along superbly with animals; he probably gets along better with dogs than he’ll ever get along with humans. Dogs had been his only lifetime companions back when he’d still lived at the trailer park, and he’d gone outside often to play with them and avoid his father’s rage for as long as he could. The dogs were always happy to see him, snuffling happily as their tails wagged and wagged, piling over Adam in hopes he’d have food with him. He never did, but they didn’t seem to mind; they just loved getting attention more than anything really, and Adam loved them for it. They never cared that he was poor or that he hadn’t eaten since the day before because his dad spent all of their money on booze or that he went out to greet them with a new bruise or cracked rib. It was the closest Adam had ever come to receiving any kind of love, and he’d cherished it.

Landing the job at the pet store had been easy. After he’d moved out of his parents’ trailer for good and took residence in the small apartment above St. Agnes, he’d met Blue while she was on a dog-walking job. The two had become fast friends, and soon enough Adam was joining her on her dog-walks. Apparently the owner of the pet store, a nice old woman with the ironic name of Mrs. Calico, had noticed Adam and how well he got along with animals on one of the days he was helping Blue, and when he’d by chance called her about her help wanted sign she’d enthusiastically given him the job, no interview required. It had been baffling to Adam at the time, and he felt a little like he didn’t deserve it, but when he walked in on his first day and got along immediately with all of the animals in the store it felt a little bit more like coming home.

He spends hours at the pet store even when he isn’t working, using the space in the back to study or help out Mrs. Calico because he likes to and deep down feels like he still owes her for all of her way too generous help. Mainly, though, he’s there for the animals: their company and unique scents always comfort him in a way that nothing else could. He isn’t necessarily happy, but it’s something.

And though he only receives minimum wage, slowly he’s saving enough to get into a good college and get the hell out of Henrietta.

There are times, though, when the monotony of his life strikes him and he can’t fight the scratchy feeling in his throat that he’s just wasting his time sitting around waiting for something to happen. He tells himself he’s working towards it, that he just needs to be patient, but on days like today it’s hard to be optimistic, even with the animals around.

He’s already cleaned out the ferrets’ and rabbits’ pens, fed the fish and turtles, played with the mice, taught the parrots some new words, and restocked the barn animal supplies, meaning he has nothing else to do but wait around for someone to come in. Usually he spends his time entertaining the lizards, but the sun isn’t low enough for any of them to have exited their slumber yet, so Adam is stuck waiting at the cashier counter.

He’s bored, a little lonely, and badly in need of coffee. It’s hard enough working three jobs (if one counted the occasional dog-walking) and going to his shitty high school all the time even without worrying about staying awake. Usually Blue bounces in at some point with the dogs, painfully reminding him that he doesn’t have as much time for them anymore, to bring him some concoction from 300 Fox Way and chat with him for a while to keep his spirits up, but even she’s strangely absent today.  

Leaning his forearms on the counter, Adam lets his head rest down for a moment. It’s taking all of his energy just to keep his eyes open, and he wonders if it would really be such a bad thing if he just closed his eyes for a little while. No one’s here; it should be fine for just a second…

He doesn’t know how long he’s been asleep when the door to the shop suddenly slams open. Adam jolts, his spine straightening so quickly he feels a muscle in his lower back pull. He fights back the grimace of pain and replaces it with a welcoming smile as the customer walks in. “Welcome! Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”

The customer just glares at him, and Adam’s neck flushes bright pink with embarrassment as he tries not to make a face. Did he catch him dozing? He stares back at the customer, his smile wavering as the awkward stand-off stretches on. The weak part of Adam can’t help but notice how strangely beautiful the customer is. If one had to pick an overall adjective to describe him, it’d be sharp – sharp jawbones, sharp mouth, sharp nose, sharp eyes. He’s tall and has a buzz cut that strangely looks good on him, the little hairs still showing suggesting that they were once curly and dark. He’s attractive, in the dark and dangerous sense of the word, and Adam doesn’t know how long they stand there staring at each other (it’s ridiculous – he’s stared at boys before but not for this long) before the boy abruptly juts his chin away and stalks off down the aisle.

It’s only then that Adam notices the raven. It’s a small thing, looking barely old enough to fly as it sits on the customer’s shoulder, burrowing its body into the curve of his neck. Adam stares at the bird, wondering why it doesn’t just fly away; it doesn’t look like its wings are clipped.

Has this customer really already trained such a young bird so well?

Adam realizes he’s still staring, his eyes trailing the customer as he hesitates in front of some fresh hay and alfalfa before heading into the back area of the store where the birdseed is. He tells himself it’s just because this is the only person who has come in all day, and not because he can’t stop staring at the faintest trace of a tattoo curling out from under the customer’s raggedly cut black muscle tank.

The boy’s not even his type – he’s more for the adventurous type like Blue, not someone who looks ready to start a fight at any given second.

Just the thought of that makes him think of his dad and he cringes before finally tearing his gaze from the customer.

At least until he hears the unmistakable sound of a bag ripping and thousands upon thousands of tiny seeds cascading onto the floor. A loud shout quickly adds to the cacophony, “You motherfucking—!”

Adam stands from his stool, exasperated more than alarmed, his service dog Holly also standing from her cushion just behind the cash register, ears perked and alert. Holly’s another example of how well Adam gets along with animals: after he’d lost his hearing in one ear from a particularly hard fall due to one of his dad’s slaps, a neighbor had off-handedly commented that he should look into getting a service dog, the closest anyone in the trailer park had ever come to helping him in some way. He’d debated it for a long time, but eventually decided to get one because people snuck up so often on his deaf side that he would actually get severe anxiety attacks.

So, behind his parents’ backs, he’d looked into it. He’d sent in an application to a local agency, and after painfully dipping into a large chunk of his savings ended up with the sweetest German Shepherd puppy. The trainer had warned him that sometimes it took a while for service dogs and their owners to get accustomed to each other enough to work well, but Adam and Holly had clicked immediately. Training had only lasted five days of Adam going to the facility, too afraid to have them at home, and soon enough Holly was his.

She helps him in several ways, all having to do with his partial deafness and anxiety. She reacts and looks to things that approach or are around Adam, notifying him of something’s presence even if he can’t hear it. Whenever he has bad anxiety, she lies down on his chest and licks at his face until his breathing evens and the worst of the attack is over. She’s also technically trained to find someone who can help him when things take a turn for the worst, but even she realizes that there is no one like that in Adam’s life, besides Blue who didn’t live close enough for it to be practical, and so takes it upon herself to calm him and protect him.

She’s the best thing that has ever happened to Adam, but it made him feel bad when he had to make her sit outside at night, pretending she was just one of the neighbor dogs so his father wouldn’t get enraged and turn his beatings to her, too. He saw her as much as he could and took her with him wherever he went, but he missed her dreadfully at night when he had to nurse his own bruises and anxiety and repeat over and over to himself that everything was fine.

Everything was obviously not fine, as Holly’s very existence was proof of, but she helped him more than he could ever thank her for and now that they live together in their own apartment things are better. He still feels the anxiety grip him when he’s trying to sleep, and he never will be able to hear out of his left ear again, but she and Blue continue to support him and he’s never felt luckier. He feels like he’s able to handle more now, which is a big step up from where he was before.

Though he doesn’t think even the best service dog in the world could help him handle the mess he finds when he and Holly trot over to the back aisle of the store.

The boy from earlier is kneeling on the ground, surrounded by a ginormous pile of birdseed. The bag is still sitting on the second shelf, a giant rip in the bottom continuously raining more and more seeds onto the floor. The customer’s raven is picking at the hole, trying to catch seeds in its beak as the boy grumbles and curses and tries vainly to pick up the giant mess.

It’s obvious enough what happened. For a while Adam just stares, the weariness in his bones intensifying at the thought that he’s going to have to clean that all up. Holly leans forward to sniff at the raven, who caws in warning; Adam draws his dog back with a sharp whistle that also gets the attention of the boy.

He glances up sharply, something akin to embarrassment on his face for a split second before he neutralizes his expression. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it covered! Dammit, Chainsaw…”

The raven just caws at him before flapping onto his shoulder and picking at a loose thread on his shirt. Adam raises an eyebrow as the customer goes back to cursing and picking up seeds one by one. He so obviously doesn’t have it covered that it’s almost amusing. “It’s not a problem; let me just go grab a broom—”

“I didn’t ask for your help!” the boy snarls before Adam can leave, his eyes narrowed in a seemingly permanent glare. Adam narrows his eyes back.

He doesn’t know what he did, but it’s obvious the customer doesn’t like him. Maybe it’s just the way he looks; the second-hand button up that he’d washed so carefully to remove the dried blood stains, the slacks that are frayed at the bottom if one looked close enough, the shoes that have only seen better days before Adam was even born. He’s not stupid – he’d seen the BMW outside. This customer is an Aglionby boy, a rich boy who likely scoffs and looks down his nose at the likes of Adam. Even if Adam was the kindest person on Earth, which he isn’t, it wouldn’t matter, because no raven boy would ever look past anything but his poverty.

If he wasn’t so angry, he would ponder on the irony that a raven boy has an actual raven. That is apparently named Chainsaw.  

He has to physically bite his tongue to prevent himself from snapping back. He’s always been terrified of his anger, afraid that he’ll someday turn into his father, but more than anything he knows it’s inappropriate for an employee to snap at a customer and he doesn’t want to lose one of the only safe places he has. “I’m sorry, but it’s in my job description to clean up any messes. I’ll be right back.”

He doesn’t let the boy retort or even make a face at him before he turns around and storms to the back room. He tells Holly to lie down on her cushion so she won’t trouble anyone as he grabs a broom and dustpan, taking one moment to compose himself before heading out again. Unsurprisingly the mess is much how he left it, if not worse because Chainsaw has moved back to pecking at the bag and chewing at more seeds as they fall out. The customer has a pile of seeds in his hands, but he obviously doesn’t know what to do with them as he stares between them and the floor with a complicated look on his face.

“Do you think you could distract your raven with those while I clean this up?” Adam asks as politely as he’s able to as he approaches them again, nodding at the seeds in the boy’s hands. The customer glares at him, looking like he’s about to snap something back, before he just nods tightly and calls Chainsaw over to the pile of seeds in his hands.

While the raven is distracted eating, Adam grabs the mostly empty bag and tosses it into the trash before returning to sweep all the remaining seeds into the dustpan. It doesn’t take as long as he had feared, and by the time he’s done Chainsaw has eaten the remainder of the seeds and has now fluttered over to stare at a cockatoo through the bars of its cage.

The customer is staring attentively at her, as if he’s considering calling her off, and Adam for some dumb reason remembers how attractive he is. Now that he’s closer he can tell that the boy forgot to shave today, the small, coarse hairs more potently defining his sharp jawbones and chin. He has a sort of dark and wild aura to him that makes Adam’s pulse race unexplainably, and he frowns. He doesn’t know why he’s so drawn to this boy, but it bothers him. He should hate him; he’s no doubt the kind of person that throws his money around without a care in the world and laughs in the faces of people like Adam.

And yet the way he’s looking at Chainsaw right now is almost affectionate, gentle in a way that seems so against every prejudice Adam has for this boy.

He can’t figure him out.

He realizes he’s standing there for too long staring when the customer’s sharp gaze lands on him again, and he flushes as he pointedly looks elsewhere. He doesn’t know why he’s getting so worked up – it’s not like he’ll ever see this guy again. He forces himself to look at the boy’s eyes, which are so unbelievably blue that they end up being worse for his heart, and clears his throat.

“Now, are you sure there’s nothing I can help you with?” He doesn’t even bother to hide the teasing lilt of his voice.

An implausibly sharp grin etches across the boy’s features and Adam’s heart stutters a little bit. “You know, I’m usually much more competent than this. That damn bird always manages to get the better of me.”

Adam almost smiles before he catches himself and looks around, suddenly noticing a certain bird’s absence. “Where is your raven, anyway?”

“What the—?!” The customer looks around himself wildly before cursing and scrambling to his feet. “Chainsaw, you dumb shit, get back here!”

The only answer they receive is a loud, shrill squawk and Holly’s sharp barking. Eyes narrowing in barely constrained annoyance, Adam rushes back to the front, the customer hot on his heels. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but he’s suddenly irritated at the customer. Why can’t this guy control his damn baby bird, or at least hold onto her after the first disaster? If Holly is in danger in any way there’s definitely going to be a problem.

However, when he rounds the corner he finds the two animals engaged in what looks to be a one-sided game of tug of war. Chainsaw had apparently pecked at the rope of one of Holly’s chew toys and now holds onto it with her beak as Holly, her jaws clamped on the other end of the toy, drags her around the store. The dog’s haunches are lifted, a growl in the back of her throat, but Adam can tell it’s playful as her tail is wagging and she’s almost gently pulling Chainsaw, as if hoping the raven will pull back.

Adam can’t help but laugh – this is the most ridiculous thing he’s ever seen, even more so than the boy sitting in that pile of birdseed. There’s no way Chainsaw, the young raven that she is, would have any hope of being able to pull against Holly’s strength, and yet they’re both trying hard to win a game that is so obviously in Holly’s favor.

“What the hell…?” the boy mutters disbelievingly under his breath; Adam flinches away, as the customer had come up on his deaf side. He feels immediately embarrassed about it, but if the customer noticed he doesn’t say anything.

Instead, he’s walking towards Holly.  

“Hey, mutt!” The words and the shout are aggressive, and for a moment Adam thinks the boy’s going to hurt Holly rather than just calling Chainsaw. He’s about to step in to interfere and protect his dog when the customer surprises him. Getting down on his knees, the boy roughly rubs his hands along Holly’s pelt, the dog immediately dropping the toy as she barks and rolls over in happiness to give him access to her belly. Chainsaw pecks at her hard-won toy as Adam just stares, dumbfounded. This boy looked like he was about to start a fight, not lean down and give rough belly rubs to Adam’s dog.

…He just can’t figure him out.

“…Um?” he says, almost hesitant to interrupt the moment. The boy has a sharp grin on his face that’s making Adam’s insides roll and churn like he’s on a roller coaster. “Did you come in here for anything specific, or…?”

“Hey, don’t rush me okay?!” the boy shouts back, and Adam has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s not like you’re doing anything useful!”

That stings a little bit more than it should and Adam bites back, “I did offer my help—”

“Okay, look!” The customer stands up abruptly and stomps back towards Adam, who steps back habitually.  To his slight annoyance, Holly is ignoring his obvious discomfort, too busy basking in post-belly rub heaven. “I’ll pay for the destroyed bag, or whatever, but I just came in here for some fucking birdseed, so you can help me by grabbing me two bags of it.”

Adam grits his teeth, hating the way the customer addresses him like a servant, but turns to head back down the aisle anyway. He has no choice, after all, as he is the employee, but he wishes that someone so unfairly attractive didn’t have to have such a terrible personality. He seems to treat animals differently, though, which Adam can’t help but feel a kinship towards. He wonders if the customer has an easier time interacting with animals than people like Adam does, and then wonders why he cares.

This raven boy doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, and he certainly doesn’t deserve any sympathy from Adam.

He grabs two unbroken bags of birdseed and hauls them back to the counter where he starts ringing them up plus the spilled bag. The customer had finally gotten his bird under control, Chainsaw tucked contently in the crook of his arm again, and Adam wonders sourly why he didn’t just keep her there in the first place.

The customer tosses his credit card at Adam before he can even tell him the total price, and it irks him. He’s insanely jealous that this boy can just toss around his money without carefully counting every penny and doing the mental math in his head to make sure he can afford it like Adam does.

What he wouldn’t do to have that same kind of luxury.

Adam swipes the card, trying hard to make sure none of his irritation shows on his face. Despite his frustration at the other boy, he casually glimpses at the name on the shiny gray credit card, telling himself that it’s only because he’s curious.

Ronan Lynch.

The name alone stirs a strange fire in Adam’s blood that he ultimately doesn’t know how to address. He wants to say it out loud for no reason, but he doesn’t and instead just wordlessly hands Ronan back his card and receipt. He tries not to think about the way their fingers brush clumsily during the exchange but he does anyway, wondering why Ronan’s hands are so sweaty.

His opinion of this boy is fluctuating so much that Adam has no idea what to think.

“Hey!” Ronan practically shouts suddenly, his voice louder than Adam, who’d been spacing out, had expected.

He flinches; it’s a habit that he’s never quite been able to shake. To his surprise, though, once again Holly barely flicks an ear at the customer’s loud and rowdy behavior. Usually she is the first to snap and growl if someone comes near enough to make Adam uncomfortable, or sneaks up on his deaf side. She’s trained to watch people just as closely as Adam himself does and respond accordingly, all to keep Adam safe and in a calm state of mind.

And yet she doesn’t even raise her head from her paws as Ronan stomps closer, nor had she earlier when Ronan had walked up on his deaf side. She must still be appeased by his rough belly rubs, Adam notes irritatingly.

“…Is there anything else, sir?” Adam puts on his best customer smile, but he honestly thinks Ronan and his raven have caused enough trouble for one day, both on the store and on his mind.

The aforementioned raven flutters onto Ronan’s shoulder, pecking at the loose string on his shirt again. Adam sees a hint of a smile on the boy’s features, astonishingly, but he’s turning his head away to tuck the bags of birdseed under his arms before Adam can tell if that was even real or not. Ronan nods at him sharply, once, before he heads for the door.

“…Thanks.” And then he’s gone, rushing out the same way he rushed in.

Adam lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, reaching out to grab the counter for balance. Now Holly is at his side, whining at him as she leans her body against his legs, stabilizing him. Adam closes his eyes and counts down from ten. However, even that simple task proves difficult.

Ronan Lynch. A boy who had insulted him, yelled at him, and yet smiled fondly at his raven and spoiled Holly, who didn’t see him as a threat as she had every other person who had treated Adam in such a way.

…How very strange.