#the last thing i need is little painted pawprints everywhere

[alwaysinstoryland]

He’s always gotta be where things are happening

[fire-bear]

Familiar Voices

(Working title, from that song that goes “All around me are familiar faces”, etc.)

So, I’ve been doing the AFTG Bingo 2020, as you may have noticed and, since I had a few hours since I posted my last one, I decided to start work on another square. I’m not going to finish it tonight so I decided to just post the part that I’ve got done now and relax before I go to bed (or I won’t sleep well, as per usual). Anyways, I was going to attempt another line, but since I knew I wouldn’t finish, I went with the Musicians AU.

(I’ve put some under the cut cause this is a rather long post, but I wanted to show off the first part, so.)

The summary would be something like:

Neil was happy with his new name, new life, new friends, new home. He still had a lot of pop culture and movies and music to catch up on. Which is probably why all of his friends are excited when the popular rock band that Neil has never heard of - The Monsters - have come to town.

                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There’s a rockstar in town,” Matt told Neil, three months after Neil had finally felt settled in his new life. 

“Okay,” said Neil, placidly. He pulled out a paper cup. “What do you want today?”

“A mocha,” said Matt, distractedly. He was scrolling through his phone, even as he was bent almost double to lean against the counter. 

“Cake?” Neil asked, knowing that Matt liked to have something at this point in the day.

“Hm, yeah. I should be healthy so, like, the carrot cake?”

“Sure,” said Neil, grinning cheekily at Matt when he looked up with a pout.

“Aren’t you interested?” Matt demanded, waving his phone at Neil.

“Nope.”

“Neil!” Matt whined. 

“You know I’m not a big music fan,” Neil pointed out, already starting to work the coffee machine. The clanging and hissing filled the air of The Foxhole, the little coffee shop that Neil now worked in. 

He loved working there. Aside from the delicious smells that bloomed from the kitchen, the shop itself was cosy. There were two types of tables. Some were low for the comfy couches and armchairs. Others were attached to the thin pillars that were dotted around the place, tall stools available for the customers. The walls were painted white with little fox pawprints dotted across it. Napkins with foxes printed on them were available at the tables and every table also had fox salt and pepper shakers. A giant fox looked down on Neil from above the machines, nosing at the menu that was done in orange writing. 

It was home and Neil treasured it.

At the moment, since it was an hour till closing, there were very little people in. Anyone that wasn’t Matt were taking their coffees to go, on their way to back shifts and night shifts. Only a few people were actually sitting in, most of which were students. There was also a couple who were on a blind date, blushing at each other and stuttering through flustered conversation. That meant that Matt could block the counter without annoying anyone.

“I can let you listen to some right now,” Matt said, quickly tapping away at his phone.

Neil glanced towards the students and the date. “I don’t think doing that here is a good idea, Matt,” he said, nodding to them. “Maybe another time.”

Instead of backing off like Neil had hoped, Matt pointed his phone at Neil. “Tonight. After work. Come by my place. We’ll get pizza and we’ll listen to The Monsters’ albums and watch movies. Right?”

Rolling his eyes at the coffee machine as he poured Matt’s mocha, Neil sighed. “Okay, fine. If you want me to listen to them that much, then yes.”

“Great!” Matt exclaimed. “I’ll go pick up Dan and see if the girls want to join in!”

Shaking his head with a fond smile, Neil set down the cup and the bag with the carrot cake. “Okay,” he said. “Now, get lost so I can shut up shop.”

“You’ve got an hour!” Matt protested, pouting. “How mean!”

Neil laughed and swatted at him with the cloth he used to wipe down the counter when he had nothing else to do. Grinning, Matt scooped up his purpose, left more than enough money - a tip for Neil was included, as usual - and left with a wave over his shoulder. Shaking his head, he returned to his work which was mainly cleaning at this late stage. He also stocked up things like the cups and sugar. Half an hour later, he retied his orange apron and began to move around the room, wiping down every table and chair. The blind date decided to move on. Frantic students checked the time and cleared out, too.

He was utterly alone when there were only fifteen minutes left of the coffee shop’s opening hours and the door opened.

Having already wiped everywhere down, he was back behind the counter. He hid a sigh as he looked up, watching the lone man enter and look around. Compared to the cosy, sunny atmosphere of the coffee shop, the man was a black hole. Black combat boots; black skinny jeans with a rip at one thigh and a rip on the opposite knee, a chain hanging from his left hip; black tank top with jagged edges and a deep v-neck; black armbands; a black, dangly earring shaped like a tooth. His hair was the only light colour on him, the blond in it pale enough to reflect the light and make it golden. The man sauntered closer, gazing around as he moved, and his hazel eyes landed on Neil.

“Hi,” said Neil, forcing a customer service smile. “What can I get you?”

“A mocha,” the man said in a deep, rumbling voice. “Extra chocolate, extra cream.”

Neil resisted commenting on his choice. “Sure thing,” he said, pulling a to-go cup off the freshly stacked pile.

“No,” said the man, stopping Neil in his tracks. “To sit in.”

Turning back to him, Neil gave him a baffled look. “Sir. We’re open for less than fifteen minutes now. Wouldn’t it be best to-?”

“No,” the man repeated. He turned away from Neil, heading for one of the many, many tables that Neil had already wiped down. “I’ll sit in.” He stopped and turned back to Neil before he decided where to sit. “And bring me cake.”

Looking him over again, Neil realised what his mistake had been. Though this man had ragged looking clothes, they were clearly designed to be like that. The material of his clothes were good, likely to last, and probably expensive. Neil was interacting with some rich asshole who shouldn’t have been allowed to walk around on his own. Dan would kill him, though, if he didn’t at least try to be nice to him, so Neil smiled a little wider, trying to shake the fact that he probably looked like his father from his mind.

“Of course, sir.” His voice was tight. He was probably going to be told off, at the very least. “Which kind?” Gesturing at the display - something he would have normally been packing away at this very moment - Neil forcefully returned the to-go cup to its pile. Once this man left, he’d have to wash the dishes - again.

“Chocolate. With ice cream.”

“We don’t have ice cream. Sorry. Sir.” Neil was ridiculously pleased that he could actually refuse the man something and focussed on making his awful drink, hiding his amusement.

Behind him, the man sighed. “Whatever.”

Neil rolled his eyes but didn’t respond. Instead, he made the man’s drink, pulled out the cake, got everything ready on a tray with cutlery and napkins, and took the arrangement over to the man. Without looking at him, Neil unloaded the tray and straightened, holding the tray against his chest. It provided him with a shield against the man’s intense gaze, though Neil couldn’t understand why he would want to look at him. He wasn’t particularly interesting, even after he had bit the bullet and returned his eyes and hair to their original colours. 

“Anything else, sir?” he asked, for something to say.

“No.” The man sounded dismissive, but he didn’t take his gaze off Neil’s face. And hair. And eyes. Neil blinked at him for a moment, trying to work out what he wanted or what he was doing. Then he gave up.

“Do you want me to take your money now, or…?”

For a moment, the man stared at him. Then he dug his hands into his pockets, searching, searching, searching. He pulled out a phone. “Google Pay?”

“Uh…” Neil pointed at the sign by the till. The one that read: Google and Apple Pay functions currently not working. We are working to get this fixed. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

The man stilled, staring at it. Then he looked down at his coffee and cake. Finally, he looked up at Neil. “I’ll need to make a call.”

“What do you mean?” Neil snapped, losing his patience. The man raised an eyebrow. “The shop’s about to close. I’m not going to wait for you.”

“If I call now,” the man explained, “my cousin will get here in roughly ten minutes.”

“Sure,” said Neil, sarcastically.

[lilwigglebuttthesecond]

Training Journal - Lily and Alone Time(tm)

So, in light of recent events (aka coming back from my grandma’s funerals after being super sick and leaving her with a friend overnight) I thought my next training journal should be about Lily and Alone Time(tm).

Here is a link to the first Training Journal : What’s the Matter? where I introduce her and the oh so fun behavioral problems/troubles I discovered/caused unwillingly by my (at the time) undoubful ignorance.

Little reminder; I adopted her and she was almost 2 aready, and obviously did not come from the greatest most loving and educated house. Also, her parents are not the most well-behaved/balanced dogs ever. We met her mother a cuple months after I got her by finding the original “””breeder””” by pure luck. Mom is A Mess with so many agression issues?? why she’s not spayed/got in contact long enough with an unaltered male to have a litter (and a 2d one from what I’ve seen on the girl’s fb) is beyond my logic.

So, Lily did not get a good start in life, plus she got dealt some pretty shitty genetics as far as I know. Add to that the fact that when i got her, i was a single introvert working full time with crippling anxiety and depression knocking at my door. Needless to say, she’s not the super DONOTLETMEALONEOROUTOFYOURSIGHT dog for nothing. I recognize my responsiblity in this since I basically used her as an emtional crutch until I got the meds I needed, and got the help I was so desperate for. So, check on owner’s responsibility for enhancing what was an already unsure/easily anxious dog into this utmost disaster of separation anxiety.

(Like right now, we’re both in the living room eating, and she’s in her crate, with the door closed, a bowl of kibbles and a Kong with cheese in it. She’s still crying like a martyr at the door, driving us crazy, and gf is having a HARD TIME not shushing her off. I am too, but I know I have to wait until she’s quiet. And it’s not like it’s uncomfortable. She has the biggest cushion ever.)

So, yeah. Here are the different things I’ve tried, and their resulting catastrophes, in the 2 appartments we’ve lived in. To be noted, in all the scenarios, she’s been fed, went potty/was walked beforehand and was alone for a normal work day of a full time working person who commutes (aka 8-9 hours/day monday thru friday).

1. Free roaming : this was when I lived alone, in my old appartment that had a little office like room, where I kept my art stuff, and my bedroom, which had doors. It had a long hallway with the living room giving to a big window (1st floor level with a balcony) right at the entrance, and the kitchen at the ther end, with a backdoor leading to a parking lot. The bathroom was at opposite end of the front door, and it was always closed too. Free roaming meant all doors open, and it resulted in a lot of precious art supplies being chewed, lots of colorfoul pawprints and couches being chewed A LOT and also pee and poop in the hallway an stepped on contiuously. Free roaming was combined with a half hour walk every morning, and a usual day of 8hrs being left alone. That lasted a whole... four days because i wasn’t going to have all my art stuff destroyed.

2. All doors closed: this came with even more couch chewing and destroying, dinner table jumping, trying to jump through the living room window and, still, pee and poop. Oh, and now, book and dvd chewing (RIP horse encyclopedia and New Girl s1 dvd case these never recovered from the intense hatred). I tried to block couch access with the coffee table on one.. she said fuck you and dragged THE ENTIRE 2d COUCH in the middle of the living room, pooped behind it and tore off the back leather piece. Also tried blocking living room access with kitchen chairs + coffee table... she just pushed her way in and made it impossible for me to come in after work through the front door.

3. Closed bedroom: now, let me explain my reasoning on this one. She slept every night with me, and my bedroom smelled like me, and I figured if she was anxius because I wasn’t there, then being in the room that smelled the most ike me would be an okay thing. Oh, how was I wrong. I lost three shirts the first day; one to smeared pee and poop, one to being simply torn and the third to being on the wrong hanger that got chewed (and thus, the shirt too). I was not going to have her rip through all my clothes, so that did not at all fit.

4. Closed small office with furniture, no crate : all of the above was before I got a crate from a friend, and this one is the last without one. I decided to put all her blankets and cushion stuff in the small office, clearing everything (shoving all loose stuff in the closet) from reach. Paint was stored away. Pens and pencils were tucked in cases. Drawing pads were on high shelves. There were drawings on the wall, but I didn’t think much of that. There was still piss and crap everywhere when I got home, and most day, I’d have to wash all he blankets bc she’d either soaked them in her water bowl, or peed on them. I tried to make this become her room by playing and training her in there. Also, food and treats were only dispenses in there. I tried one (1) time to have her sleep there by herself.... i didn’t make it to midight without her. Oh, and scratched so much with her nose that she got it all bloody and crusty and it was gross and the back of the door was covered in blood strikes and some of my most prized drawings were... shredded. So, yeah. Fun. Times.

I’m going to have to cut this post in 2 parts because it’s getting super long, and I’m probably only half way to it. But, next attempts at managing Lily and Alone Time (tm) are all with a crate, so I figured that,s a good place to stop this one. Also, safe to be noted that it’s around this time I REALLY started learning and educating myself on dog behaviors and how to properly train. Beforehand, I’d use mostly emotional stuff, so, even though I,m not proud ot admit this, I did yell and get mad at her when I tried different things for her alone time and she still ended up destroying a lot of things and I ad to pick up and clean alost every room every night. Also, these were all tried and failed during the time I was going through a very veeeeery rough anxiety patch, right before I went to see a professional and got diagnosed and medicated. So, a lot of feelings from both of us were involved, and also, some shitty training before we get to the actual education.