Title: Pet Date
Group: EXO
Pairing: Chansoo, sorta xiuris i guess????
Rating: PG bleh bleh
Length: 2,052 words
Summary: catboy Kyunsoo thinks dogboy Chanyeol is annoying, but is pleased to discover a hidden talent of his canine acquaintance.
A/N: for yesi i dont even know
When Kyungsoo wakes up from his fourth nap and smells perfume in the air, he has to choke down a whine of discontentment. He knows well what that particular cologne means - it means that Minseok, his owner, has intentions of meeting Kris, his foreigner friend with enormous hands and a very warm lap. Usually, in cologneless situations, Kyungsoo actually likes meeting Kris, since he always does everything Kyungsoo wants, but the cologne means Minseok is going out of their house and into Kris house, and wants to take Kyungsoo with him, and Kyungsoo really doesn’t want to go. So he pretends to be asleep.
Steps. It’s obvious that Minseok already knows he’s awake. Kyungsoo doesn’t know how his owner manages to notice every detail about his behavior, and maybe he’ll never know. “Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo snores.
A hand in his hair. Ah, no, no, no. Minseok always knows exactly what spot to pet. When his fingers scratch behind Kyungsoo’s ears, Kyungsoo melts, purring against his will. “Kyungsoo,” Minseok’s voice is so soft, with that hint of a melody when he calls Kyungsoo’s name. Ah, no, but he really doesn’t want to go! “Wake up, Kyungsoo. We’re going to see Kris.”
Nnnnnnnoooooooo, Kyungsoo thinks, but, when Minseok starts to scratch his back, he becomes aware that he’s fighting a lost battle.
The problem with Kris’ place is not Kris, or the place. Kris really likes Kyungsoo, always spoiling him despite trying to act cold, and the apartment is nice, large and warm and well-furnished. Going there would be fun and nice
if Kris didn’t have the most obnoxious dog in the world as a pet.
When Kris answers the door, well-groomed and as tall as ever, Kyungsoo can spot the dog from behind Minseok’s back. Chanyeol is tall, almost tall as his owner, and his ears stand up like a wolf’s as he sways from one side to another, trying to get a better look at the visitors from over Kris’ shoulder.
“Hey, Yifan,” Minseok grins at Kris. “Hello there, Chanyeol.”
“Minseokie hyung!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Chanyeol pounces Minseok as soon as Kris steps aside for the guests to come in, and Kyungsoo openly glares at him for it, because, hey, that’s his human he’s hugging. “Minseokie hyung!!!!! Hi!! I missed you!!! You smell good!!”
“Hey, Kyungsoo,” Kris seizes the distraction to approach Kyungsoo, petting the catboy’s shiny black hair. Kyungsoo stares at him silently, emotionlessly, pretending not to like the attention. “It’s been a while. Your coat looks so nice.” Kyungsoo’s ears twitch at the compliment.
Because Kris’ hand is so warm and good, Kyungsoo fails to notice danger until it’s literally sniffing him. When Kris lets go of him to talk to Minseok and Kyungsoo finally notices how close Chanyeol is standing, he jumps in startle, hissing reflexively. Despite that, Chanyeol keeps sniffing, eyes shining.
“Stop,” Kyungsoo protests, trying to swat the dog away with his hand. “You do that every time.”
“You smell different every time,” Chanyeol reasons, getting closer to sniff at Kyungsoo’s ears. “And yet, you smell the same every time!!” The grin Chanyeol gives him exposes his canines, but it’s a friendly, excited one. “You smell good. What is that smell? You smell really good.”
“I hate you,” Kyungsoo deadpans, putting a hand over Chanyeol’s face and keeping it there.
Kris and Minseok start to cook together; Kyungsoo can hear they chatter from the couch, where he intends to take a nap. Unfortunately, even though the couch is big enough for him to get comfortable, he can’t actually fall asleep because Chanyeol just won’t stay still.
“What do you do every night?” Chanyeol asks, sitting cross-legged on the floor, his spine straight like a child’s when they try to impress a teacher at school. “Do you go out? I stay home. I only go out when Kris hyung takes me out. Do you play with toys? Have you seen my toys? Do you want to play with them? Your coat is really black. Can I touch it? It’s really, really black.”
“And you’re really, really noisy,” Kyungsoo protests. He gives up on sleeping, sitting up instead. Chanyeol’s tail starts to wag in a rapid pace, and his ears perk up. “What do you want?”
“Can I touch your coat?” Chanyeol has never really touched him. He always hugs Minseok, and Kyungsoo has seen him jumping on Kris’ back at every opportunity, but he has never lain a finger on Kyungsoo. All he does is sniffing.
“No,” Kyungsoo squints at him. Chanyeol lowers his ears in submission.
“Please please please!!” He whines, and his eyes seem to grow even bigger. Dog magic?? His ears suddenly perk up again. “You smell really good today. Like, wow. You usually smell good, but you smell really, really good today.”
“It’s hyung’s cologne,” Kyungsoo says, but he knows it isn’t. He just wants Chanyeol to leave him alone. “Go away.”
“It’s not, it’s different. His cologne is good too. But you smell good. Is it cat cologne?” Chanyeol leans forward, and Kyungsoo will be damned if he lets the dog sniff him again. “Hey, Kyungsoo, how do I smell? Do I smell good too? Hey, how do I smell?”
“Like a dog,” Kyungsoo says it like it’s an insult, and goes to hide in the kitchen.
The kitchen, at first, smells like cake. Then, it starts smelling like something else. Kyungsoo can’t tell what it is at first, but then he spares a look at Minseok and at Kris and oh.
His stomach drops. He has a horrible feeling about that. His superior intelligence is deducing a probability that he really hopes does not come to true. And yet, being an advanced form of life has it downsides; Kyungsoo is never wrong. Not even when he wants to be.
“Kyungsoo,” Minseok crouches next to him and talks to him in that voice that’s already an apology. Kris is at the living room, probably having the same talk with Chanyeol. “Kris and I are… going out. For a while. We’ll come back, eventually, but you’ll have to spend the night here.”
“With Chanyeol?!” Kyungsoo makes pleading eyes at his owner. He’ll understand. He has to understand that he simply can’t leave a cat and a dog alone in the same apartment, specially a cat like Kyungsoo and a dog like Chanyeol. He just can’t!
“With Chanyeol,” Minseok nods, not seeming to fall for Kyungsoo’s act. “You’re friends, right? It’ll be fine.”
Kyungsoo pouts. Minseok keeps smiling. Kyungsoo looks away from him, pouting offendedly at the tiles. Minseok chuckles, giving Kyungsoo’s nape a nice scratch.
“I’m sure you’ll get along just fine,” he says. “Chanyeol is a good dog.” Kyungsoo pouts harder. “I’ll be going, then. Be a good kitty, okay?”
Despite still being upset, Kyungsoo lets Minseok kiss his forehead, and silently makes lonely eyes at his owner’s retreating figure.
The first half an hour with Chanyeol isn’t so bad. Apparently, Kris had reminded him of his portable game console just before he left, and Chanyeol spends a considerable time playing it noisily. It’s enough time for Kyungsoo to make himself comfortable on the couch again, but, unfortunately, not enough to actually fall asleep - just when he’s feeling warm and nice enough, he hears sudden silence, and realizes Chanyeol has probably gotten sick of the game.
Oh no.
His predictions are correct. He hears the dog hop into the couch. He can even hear Chanyeol staring at him. Everything about Chanyeol is loud; his stare, his smile, the wag of his tail, his oddly sweet smell. His very presence. God, Kyungsoo does dislike him.
Kyungsoo sits up before Chanyeol can even make any noise. They sit facing each other, in silence, but with Chanyeol exhaling his natural loud vibration, and Kyungsoo exhaling annoyance in response.
“What is it,” Kyungsoo says, not even sure if Chanyeol wants anything to begin with.
But he does. Of course. He always does. “Can I touch your coat?” That again.
Kyungsoo sighs. Rolls his eyes. Ponders for a second. Perhaps letting Chanyeol touch him won’t be that bad. If he, say, accidentally pulls a hair or anything, Kyungsoo can just scratch him and hiss at him for the rest of the night. No big deal. And who knows, maybe the big clumsy mongrel is good at petting. Shrugging, Kyungsoo lowers his head, flattening his ears against his head, offering his hair to be caressed.
Chanyeol jumps excitedly, as if he was about to play with a new, shiny, super-duper exciting toy. He touches Kyungsoo tentatively at first, fingertips barely brushing against the black hairstrands, but Kyungsoo growls at him and Chanyeol moves into proper petting, fingers threading into Kyungsoo’s coat.
Kyungsoo widens his eyes, and his tail curves up, swaying gently from one side to another. Shit. Chanyeol is really good at petting.
His hand is really warm, and his fingers are long and gentle, unlike his harsh loud voice and invasive ways. Kyungsoo is sure that he’s only being gentle because he’s scared Kyungsoo will hit him or something, but it feels really good, and it leads Kyungsoo to lie down on the couch again, head on Chanyeol’s lap.
Chanyeol’s bounces on his seat, thigh hitting Kyungsoo’s head. Kyungsoo hates life. “You’re purring!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“I’m not,” Kyungsoo denies reflexively, grumpy now that the hand in his hair has stilled. “Keep trying.”
“You’re purring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Chanyeol repeats, voice reaching the stratosphere, and Kyungsoo wonders if he can throttle him.
“I’m going to throttle you,” he threatens, moving his head slightly to wordlessly tell Chanyeol he should shut up and just keep petting him. Miraculously, it works.
It does work very well. Chanyeol starts petting him less carefully, and, for some reason, it feels even better. Kyungsoo does pur, and close his eyes, and stir and melt against Chanyeol’s bony but warm lap, and Chanyeol’s hand doesn’t stop moving. It’s strange, to be petted by another pet, but Kyungsoo is almost falling asleep so he doesn’t care.
“You smell really,” Chanyeol’s low voice suddenly shakes him away, and Kyungsoo hates life once again. “Really, really, really good.”
Will he just shut up!! Kyungsoo grunts in distaste. “I always do.”
“You always do,” Chanyeol’s voice sounds quieter and lower than usual. It’s nice, but weird. Kyungsoo finally notices how weird it is, and sits up, ears still down to give Chanyeol’s hand better access. Chanyeol’s eyes are twinkling, but less in an excited loud way, and more in a quietly fascinated way. “But today you smell reeeeeeaaaaally good.”
Chanyeol doesn’t smell any different to Kyungsoo. He doesn’t know what to say. So he doesn’t say anything, and scoots over to sit on Chanyeol’s lap, leaning against his chest. He immediately feels Chanyeol’s skin heat up. “Pet me,” he commands.
The dog obeys with no objection, and Kyungsoo chuckles. So that’s what being an owner feels like? He peers at Chanyeol through his lashes, a grin on his lips, and watches Chanyeol dilate as he starts purring again. “Scratch my ear.”
Chanyeol is unwavering when obeying, and Kyungsoo closes his eyes in contentment, snuggling closer to Chanyeol’s chest, tail describing a soft curve in the air.
Maybe he doesn’t really hate Chanyeol after all. At least, not at that moment.
But he’ll still complain the next time Minseok tries to take him to Kris’ place. Yes, he’ll definitely complain a lot.
It’s morning.
“I hope Kyungsoo didn’t hurt Chanyeol or anything,” Minseok comments as Kris rummages for the keys, stilling a yawn and rubbing one eye absent-mindedly. “He gets a little moody when he’s near having his heat.”
“He seemed a bit down last night,” Kris offers in accordance, voice pasty with sleep. “I hope Chanyeol didn’t bugger him too much.”
All worries are proved futile when, upon entering the apartment, both owners notice two familiar figures on the couch, coiled against each other, sleeping like babies in each other’s arms.
Kris grins. “Aaawnn.”
Minseok grins too, but with a hint of malice. “Do you think you could drop Chanyeol at my place, say… two days from today?”
Kris’ grin vanishes, and he glances at Minseok with shock. Minseok fails to display any shame. “I am scandalized.”
“But you’ll do it,” Minseok points out correctly. Kris groans.
“You’re such a cat person,” he grumbles, and Minseok merely laughs.