(no subject)
Fandom: Saiyuki
Theme: Ch-ch-changes
Title: Cold Snap
Author: lady_ganesh
Pairings: Goku/Sanzo
Notes: So many notes. Part of indelicateink's Miami multi-verse. The previous stories I've written for Miami are here. And thanks to indelicateink for looking it over.
Summary: Miami gets hit by frost, and Goku ends up with someone to look after.
It was cold enough they were spraying water on the citrus, letting the water freeze on so the trees wouldn't crack and die. Kane wasn't used to it; the sweater he had was more for looks than to keep him warm in shit like this, and even layering another two shirts under and a wool jacket on top didn't keep the chill out.
Cranking the heat up on the sedan helped, though the blower was insanely loud. Kane cranked the volume up louder and tried to will it all away. What little excuse for an investigation he had at this point was just spinning in circles. Circles around one person and one club, but still circles. You couldn't arrest someone on suspicion, not if you actually wanted them to go to jail.
He had four days off. Mostly when he had time off he slept in, but he'd never had anybody to sleep in with before, not seriously. If serious was what he had. Shit. Life was easy when it was boring, right?
Vidal was probably busy anyway. Spiriting someone off to a new, better life. Kane wondered how many people Vidal hid did all right. He bet a lot of the small-time criminals just ended up fucking themselves over all over again, with no Magician this time to help them escape.
The little chimney on Vidal's trailer was smoking, and the flag was down. Either he was already working or he didn't feel like working in this shitty weather. Truck was in the driveway either way. At least Kane wasn't dressed like a cop. He'd bang on the door and see if Vidal told him to fuck off.
Vidal opened the door. He had on jeans and a sweater that looked about three sizes too big for him.
Kane grinned in spite of himself. "Careful you don't get lost in that."
"Get the fuck in here," Vidal said, "it's freezing. Fucking weather."
Kane got in. Vidal had the sink running so the pipes wouldn't freeze and Kane could hear the trailer's furnace whining. "You're not working," he said.
"I was working on--um," he said, pausing. "Research. It can wait. Warm me up."
"Yeah," Kane said. "Okay."
They started kissing at the door, Vidal shoving the door lock in place with one hand while he pulled Kane closer with the other. Vidal yanked at Kane's shirttail out, found his belt and unbuckled it, and fuck if Vidal's fingers didn't feel right on his cock, already hard, already aching.
"God, yeah," Vidal said. "Come on, you want it, right?"
Kane said, "Seriously, we're doing this?"
"I don't see you getting soft, asshole."
"You're practically jerking me off, idiot." By then they were next to Vidal's bedroom; Vidal had kicked his workroom shut along the way, but not before Kane had caught a glimpse of a stack of IDs. Fake? Stolen? Fuck it, who cared. What mattered was collapsing on the bed next to Vidal, pulling that fucking stupid sweater off, and then loosening enough of Vidal's shirt buttons so he could pull that over his head, and then the t-shirt, and shit he hated this weather. Vidal wiggled out of his own pants, pulled his boxers free.
They'd been doing this for a while, but Kane still got a little thrill from seeing Vidal naked, his thick cock, the smile on his face as he watched Kane pull his shirt over his head. Vidal knew it too, picked up on it. "Whatcha want? Wanna sit on my dick?"
He kind of did. "I don't--"
Vidal's smile got wicked. "Promise I won't tell your friends," he said. "Just our secret."
"Very funny," he said, "but yeah. Okay. Sure."
Vidal nodded over at the lube on the bedstand. "Come on," he said. "Slick me up, baby."
Fuck, he was hard. Vidal's cock was flushed and stiff too, and Vidal squirmed when Kane started spreading the lube over him. "Shit," he said, "can you keep still?"
Vidal giggled. "Feels good, all right? Shit. Come on, Kane. Get on me. I want it."
"Yeah, yeah," Kane said, "but you need the fucking lube, okay?"
"Fine, fine," he said, and stilled a little. "Shit, though, you feel good."
Kane leaned down, kissed him, let his free hand card into Vidal's hair. It did feel good. Shit. He straddled Vidal and sunk down, slow and easy. Fuck, he felt good. Felt perfect, thick, hot.
"Yeah," he said. "Ride me. Hard."
Kane rocked forward a little, looking for the right angle, the sweet spot. Shit. Shit.
Vidal moaned, reaching up to put his hands on Kane's waist. They rocked together, then, Vidal pushing into him, and oh, fuck, there it was, it'd been years since he bottomed, and it hadn't been good. Not like this.
"Shit," Vidal said, and then he started getting out of breath, and it was just their breath, their bodies, Vidal's hands on him, waist, chest, cock--
"Fuck," Kane said, "not so--"
Vidal shook his head. "I'm gonna--"
And then he came, grunting, his hand furiously working Kane's cock, pushing him over the edge too, Vidal's fingers digging into his hips, his own hands clutching the sheet over Vidal's shoulders.
"Shit," Vidal said, and pulled him down for a kiss, his softening cock slipping out of Kane. They pressed together until it started getting sticky and Kane's body started cramping. He disentangled himself and headed for the bathroom.
"You wanna stay in bed?" Vidal asked, wiping himself off with the corner of the sheet. "I can change the sheets. Or just take this one off, I guess. Fix it later."
"I dunno," he said. He didn't. He was still a little wired.
"It's warmer in here," Vidal said.
Kane chuckled.
He was washing his hands when the pounding came at the door. "Flag's down," Vidal yelled, but Kane could hear him getting out of bed.
"It's me," someone called.
Kane heard Vidal mutter something to himself as he walked to the door.
Which left him in the bathroom, naked, in a trailer that was fucking cold, thank you very much. He put the toilet seat down, sat, and started flipping through Vidal's magazines, which included The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Spy, and something called Blueboy which featured a shirtless guy on the cover and promised guys without pants inside. He was flipping through the pages for the interview with DeNiro when Vidal called out, "You can come out. He's cool."
Kane wondered what that meant, but it was cold and the magazine could wait, so wrapped a towel around his waist and came out. He ducked into the bedroom and pulled his pants back on while Vidal talked.
"I'm sorry," the guy said. "If there was anything else I could do, I swear I'd--"
"I know," Vidal said. "But I'm gonna have to go back to work, and--"
"It's just for tonight. Cold's supposed to break after that. Please?"
Kane heard a noise. Was it a whine? He grabbed Vidal's stupid oversized sweater and pulled it on, just to keep a little body heat in.
There was a skinny kid, probably late teens, on Vidal's couch, wearing a ski jacket that probably cost more than the trailer. He was super-pale, with dark circles under his eyes. The whining was coming from the old blanket in his lap, which wiggled a little as Kane got closer.
"Kane," Vidal said. "This is Than."
Than turned and nodded, for all of an instant. Then his attention snapped back to Vidal. "Please," he said. "Just for tonight. He'll freeze to death in the shed. That's where I usually keep them, but it's so cold tonight...."
Kane sat on the rocking chair. It creaked under his weight. "It's a puppy?"
Than didn't appear to know the difference between a question and a request. He took the tiny bundle and thrust it at Kane. "His name's Fenrir."
The puppy was pure white and had floppy ears. It might have weighed a pound. It whimpered at him a little and shifted closer, searching for his body heat. He settled it in his lap. What the hell, it was freezing in the trailer.
"Doesn't your dad normally go for classical shit? Zeus and Thor, all that?"
"Fenrir's from Norse mythology," Kane said. The puppy nuzzled at his hand. "Giant wolf. Think he's supposed to kill Odin at Ragnarok."
"Yeah," Than said, his eyes still locked on Vidal. "Will you do it? Please? You weren't working," he said, not quite accusingly.
Vidal sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Of course I'll do it. How often does it need feeding, or whatever?"
"He's mostly eating solid food," he said. "And I'd keep him in the bathroom if you're not watching him, but he hasn't had an accident in a couple of days." He picked up a bag Kane hadn't noticed and handed it to Vidal. "If you give him some puppy formula tonight and tomorrow morning and just leave a bowl out he should be fine, okay?"
"Yeah," Vidal said. "I can do that." He glanced over at the puppy, now happily settled in Kane's lap. It was half-asleep already.
"Thanks," Than said. "I'll owe you, okay? I promise. I won't--"
Vidal shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's just tonight, right?"
"I'll pick him up as soon as I can in the morning," he said. "I swear I will."
"I know," Vidal said. "I know."
Than stood up. "I can't stay. I have--"
"I know," he said. "You get going. I'll be here in the morning. I won't put the flag up until you pick him up, okay?"
"Thanks," he said again. "I--"
Vidal waved his hand, dismissively. "Go."
The puppy whimpered a little in its sleep. Kane had his hand on the back of its neck. It felt warm, but no warmer than the dogs he remembered from his childhood. He waited until Than had left to ask. "So what was that about?"
"His dad raises dogs at the country club, for security."
Vidal's trailer was just outside the property line for the country club, separated by a line of trees that Kane figured had been planted just to hide the view. Hard to say how well it worked. "I've never heard any dogs," he said.
"Yeah," Vidal said. "They're trained not to bark unless they've got something pinned." He pressed his lips together for a second. "Anyway. They're Rottweilers. Purebred. He gets rid of the ones he doesn't think are growing fast enough. This one must've had a strike against it already, being albino. He used to drown them, I guess. Somehow Than talked him into letting him take care of them. Anyway, he sneaks 'em into the shed normally and then pays the gardeners to take them to a shelter somewhere. He's probably right, it's too cold tonight."
"So the father...."
"Yeah, he's a real dick," Vidal said.
"You think he--"
"I dunno. I've never seen a bruise or anything. Never anything I could call about, you know? Whatever he does, he's careful about it."
"But you think--"
"Yeah," he said. "I think...I think best case scenario he's a shitty parent. Like, best case." He frowned. "Shit," he said. "C'mere, sit with me. Too cold otherwise."
"Yeah," Kane said, and gently lifted the puppy. It didn't stir, but its breathing was steady and low. Just asleep. Just small for his age. He settled in next to Vidal, who slid his arm around Kane's waist.
"I never had a dog," Vidal said.
"My aunt had one," Kane said. "When I was a kid."
Vidal nuzzled at his hair. "What the hell were you like as a kid?"
"A smartass," he said.
"Huh. I would never have guessed."
Kane elbowed him. "He ever bring one to you before?"
Vidal shook his head. "Hasn't been this cold since I got the trailer, though."
"Yeah." He felt Vidal leaning on his shoulder, settling in. Shit, was everyone going to sit on him today?
"When you gotta go back?"
"Not for a while," he said.
"You wanna stay the night? Not like I'll be working."
"Yeah," Kane said. "Sure."
It wasn't any warmer in the morning, but Kane told himself it was, and went out into the kitchen shirtless, following the smell of breakfast. Vidal had "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" playing on the stereo, and the puppy followed at his heels as he fried eggs.
"You like bacon?" Vidal asked it. "I bet you like bacon."
"Don't feed it bacon," Kane said, shuffling toward the coffee. "Unless you like cleaning up puppy shit."
"You like bacon, right?"
"Yeah," Kane said. "Sure." He grabbed his mug (shit, when did he start thinking that fucking Hill Street Blues mug was his?) and filled it dangerously full. That was better. He pulled some silverware out of the drawer and found the napkins.
The puppy looked better this morning, bright-eyed, happy to have someone paying it some attention.
"Kind of too bad," Vidal said. "He's a good little guy."
"Don't look at me," Kane said. "I can't have pets."
"I know," Vidal said into the pan. "I just...I can’t exactly hide him, and Than’s dad will -- I mean, he sees a white Rottweiler that age, he’s gonna get suspicious, right? It’s not like one comes along every couple of weeks." He flipped the eggs over. "Still."
Kane sat down at the table and the puppy padded over to him with its big paws. He scratched at its ears as he drank. Its eyes weren't true pink, more of a weird light blue. "Not sure it's albino."
"Yeah, I don't know. I don't really know shit about dogs."
"I noticed," he said. The puppy started licking his fingers.
"I mean, Than would probably get me through, but if I'm working and he's in Vail or whatever--"
"Do you want me to promise to feed your fucking dog?"
"I don't know," Vidal said, dishing up the eggs and bringing them over. "Maybe. He didn't piss in the bathroom or anything, he went out on his leash just fine."
Kane rolled his eyes and ate.
"It's quiet here," he said. "Sometimes it'd be nice to have something around, you know?"
"I get it," Kane said. "I couldn't promise to walk it every day or anything."
Vidal did a really, really shitty job of hiding his satisfaction. "No," he said. "Course not."
"Don't look so fucking smug."
"No idea what you're talking about," Vidal said. He scooped the puppy up into his lap and started eating.
Theme: Ch-ch-changes
Title: Cold Snap
Author: lady_ganesh
Pairings: Goku/Sanzo
Notes: So many notes. Part of indelicateink's Miami multi-verse. The previous stories I've written for Miami are here. And thanks to indelicateink for looking it over.
Summary: Miami gets hit by frost, and Goku ends up with someone to look after.
It was cold enough they were spraying water on the citrus, letting the water freeze on so the trees wouldn't crack and die. Kane wasn't used to it; the sweater he had was more for looks than to keep him warm in shit like this, and even layering another two shirts under and a wool jacket on top didn't keep the chill out.
Cranking the heat up on the sedan helped, though the blower was insanely loud. Kane cranked the volume up louder and tried to will it all away. What little excuse for an investigation he had at this point was just spinning in circles. Circles around one person and one club, but still circles. You couldn't arrest someone on suspicion, not if you actually wanted them to go to jail.
He had four days off. Mostly when he had time off he slept in, but he'd never had anybody to sleep in with before, not seriously. If serious was what he had. Shit. Life was easy when it was boring, right?
Vidal was probably busy anyway. Spiriting someone off to a new, better life. Kane wondered how many people Vidal hid did all right. He bet a lot of the small-time criminals just ended up fucking themselves over all over again, with no Magician this time to help them escape.
The little chimney on Vidal's trailer was smoking, and the flag was down. Either he was already working or he didn't feel like working in this shitty weather. Truck was in the driveway either way. At least Kane wasn't dressed like a cop. He'd bang on the door and see if Vidal told him to fuck off.
Vidal opened the door. He had on jeans and a sweater that looked about three sizes too big for him.
Kane grinned in spite of himself. "Careful you don't get lost in that."
"Get the fuck in here," Vidal said, "it's freezing. Fucking weather."
Kane got in. Vidal had the sink running so the pipes wouldn't freeze and Kane could hear the trailer's furnace whining. "You're not working," he said.
"I was working on--um," he said, pausing. "Research. It can wait. Warm me up."
"Yeah," Kane said. "Okay."
They started kissing at the door, Vidal shoving the door lock in place with one hand while he pulled Kane closer with the other. Vidal yanked at Kane's shirttail out, found his belt and unbuckled it, and fuck if Vidal's fingers didn't feel right on his cock, already hard, already aching.
"God, yeah," Vidal said. "Come on, you want it, right?"
Kane said, "Seriously, we're doing this?"
"I don't see you getting soft, asshole."
"You're practically jerking me off, idiot." By then they were next to Vidal's bedroom; Vidal had kicked his workroom shut along the way, but not before Kane had caught a glimpse of a stack of IDs. Fake? Stolen? Fuck it, who cared. What mattered was collapsing on the bed next to Vidal, pulling that fucking stupid sweater off, and then loosening enough of Vidal's shirt buttons so he could pull that over his head, and then the t-shirt, and shit he hated this weather. Vidal wiggled out of his own pants, pulled his boxers free.
They'd been doing this for a while, but Kane still got a little thrill from seeing Vidal naked, his thick cock, the smile on his face as he watched Kane pull his shirt over his head. Vidal knew it too, picked up on it. "Whatcha want? Wanna sit on my dick?"
He kind of did. "I don't--"
Vidal's smile got wicked. "Promise I won't tell your friends," he said. "Just our secret."
"Very funny," he said, "but yeah. Okay. Sure."
Vidal nodded over at the lube on the bedstand. "Come on," he said. "Slick me up, baby."
Fuck, he was hard. Vidal's cock was flushed and stiff too, and Vidal squirmed when Kane started spreading the lube over him. "Shit," he said, "can you keep still?"
Vidal giggled. "Feels good, all right? Shit. Come on, Kane. Get on me. I want it."
"Yeah, yeah," Kane said, "but you need the fucking lube, okay?"
"Fine, fine," he said, and stilled a little. "Shit, though, you feel good."
Kane leaned down, kissed him, let his free hand card into Vidal's hair. It did feel good. Shit. He straddled Vidal and sunk down, slow and easy. Fuck, he felt good. Felt perfect, thick, hot.
"Yeah," he said. "Ride me. Hard."
Kane rocked forward a little, looking for the right angle, the sweet spot. Shit. Shit.
Vidal moaned, reaching up to put his hands on Kane's waist. They rocked together, then, Vidal pushing into him, and oh, fuck, there it was, it'd been years since he bottomed, and it hadn't been good. Not like this.
"Shit," Vidal said, and then he started getting out of breath, and it was just their breath, their bodies, Vidal's hands on him, waist, chest, cock--
"Fuck," Kane said, "not so--"
Vidal shook his head. "I'm gonna--"
And then he came, grunting, his hand furiously working Kane's cock, pushing him over the edge too, Vidal's fingers digging into his hips, his own hands clutching the sheet over Vidal's shoulders.
"Shit," Vidal said, and pulled him down for a kiss, his softening cock slipping out of Kane. They pressed together until it started getting sticky and Kane's body started cramping. He disentangled himself and headed for the bathroom.
"You wanna stay in bed?" Vidal asked, wiping himself off with the corner of the sheet. "I can change the sheets. Or just take this one off, I guess. Fix it later."
"I dunno," he said. He didn't. He was still a little wired.
"It's warmer in here," Vidal said.
Kane chuckled.
He was washing his hands when the pounding came at the door. "Flag's down," Vidal yelled, but Kane could hear him getting out of bed.
"It's me," someone called.
Kane heard Vidal mutter something to himself as he walked to the door.
Which left him in the bathroom, naked, in a trailer that was fucking cold, thank you very much. He put the toilet seat down, sat, and started flipping through Vidal's magazines, which included The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Spy, and something called Blueboy which featured a shirtless guy on the cover and promised guys without pants inside. He was flipping through the pages for the interview with DeNiro when Vidal called out, "You can come out. He's cool."
Kane wondered what that meant, but it was cold and the magazine could wait, so wrapped a towel around his waist and came out. He ducked into the bedroom and pulled his pants back on while Vidal talked.
"I'm sorry," the guy said. "If there was anything else I could do, I swear I'd--"
"I know," Vidal said. "But I'm gonna have to go back to work, and--"
"It's just for tonight. Cold's supposed to break after that. Please?"
Kane heard a noise. Was it a whine? He grabbed Vidal's stupid oversized sweater and pulled it on, just to keep a little body heat in.
There was a skinny kid, probably late teens, on Vidal's couch, wearing a ski jacket that probably cost more than the trailer. He was super-pale, with dark circles under his eyes. The whining was coming from the old blanket in his lap, which wiggled a little as Kane got closer.
"Kane," Vidal said. "This is Than."
Than turned and nodded, for all of an instant. Then his attention snapped back to Vidal. "Please," he said. "Just for tonight. He'll freeze to death in the shed. That's where I usually keep them, but it's so cold tonight...."
Kane sat on the rocking chair. It creaked under his weight. "It's a puppy?"
Than didn't appear to know the difference between a question and a request. He took the tiny bundle and thrust it at Kane. "His name's Fenrir."
The puppy was pure white and had floppy ears. It might have weighed a pound. It whimpered at him a little and shifted closer, searching for his body heat. He settled it in his lap. What the hell, it was freezing in the trailer.
"Doesn't your dad normally go for classical shit? Zeus and Thor, all that?"
"Fenrir's from Norse mythology," Kane said. The puppy nuzzled at his hand. "Giant wolf. Think he's supposed to kill Odin at Ragnarok."
"Yeah," Than said, his eyes still locked on Vidal. "Will you do it? Please? You weren't working," he said, not quite accusingly.
Vidal sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Of course I'll do it. How often does it need feeding, or whatever?"
"He's mostly eating solid food," he said. "And I'd keep him in the bathroom if you're not watching him, but he hasn't had an accident in a couple of days." He picked up a bag Kane hadn't noticed and handed it to Vidal. "If you give him some puppy formula tonight and tomorrow morning and just leave a bowl out he should be fine, okay?"
"Yeah," Vidal said. "I can do that." He glanced over at the puppy, now happily settled in Kane's lap. It was half-asleep already.
"Thanks," Than said. "I'll owe you, okay? I promise. I won't--"
Vidal shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's just tonight, right?"
"I'll pick him up as soon as I can in the morning," he said. "I swear I will."
"I know," Vidal said. "I know."
Than stood up. "I can't stay. I have--"
"I know," he said. "You get going. I'll be here in the morning. I won't put the flag up until you pick him up, okay?"
"Thanks," he said again. "I--"
Vidal waved his hand, dismissively. "Go."
The puppy whimpered a little in its sleep. Kane had his hand on the back of its neck. It felt warm, but no warmer than the dogs he remembered from his childhood. He waited until Than had left to ask. "So what was that about?"
"His dad raises dogs at the country club, for security."
Vidal's trailer was just outside the property line for the country club, separated by a line of trees that Kane figured had been planted just to hide the view. Hard to say how well it worked. "I've never heard any dogs," he said.
"Yeah," Vidal said. "They're trained not to bark unless they've got something pinned." He pressed his lips together for a second. "Anyway. They're Rottweilers. Purebred. He gets rid of the ones he doesn't think are growing fast enough. This one must've had a strike against it already, being albino. He used to drown them, I guess. Somehow Than talked him into letting him take care of them. Anyway, he sneaks 'em into the shed normally and then pays the gardeners to take them to a shelter somewhere. He's probably right, it's too cold tonight."
"So the father...."
"Yeah, he's a real dick," Vidal said.
"You think he--"
"I dunno. I've never seen a bruise or anything. Never anything I could call about, you know? Whatever he does, he's careful about it."
"But you think--"
"Yeah," he said. "I think...I think best case scenario he's a shitty parent. Like, best case." He frowned. "Shit," he said. "C'mere, sit with me. Too cold otherwise."
"Yeah," Kane said, and gently lifted the puppy. It didn't stir, but its breathing was steady and low. Just asleep. Just small for his age. He settled in next to Vidal, who slid his arm around Kane's waist.
"I never had a dog," Vidal said.
"My aunt had one," Kane said. "When I was a kid."
Vidal nuzzled at his hair. "What the hell were you like as a kid?"
"A smartass," he said.
"Huh. I would never have guessed."
Kane elbowed him. "He ever bring one to you before?"
Vidal shook his head. "Hasn't been this cold since I got the trailer, though."
"Yeah." He felt Vidal leaning on his shoulder, settling in. Shit, was everyone going to sit on him today?
"When you gotta go back?"
"Not for a while," he said.
"You wanna stay the night? Not like I'll be working."
"Yeah," Kane said. "Sure."
It wasn't any warmer in the morning, but Kane told himself it was, and went out into the kitchen shirtless, following the smell of breakfast. Vidal had "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" playing on the stereo, and the puppy followed at his heels as he fried eggs.
"You like bacon?" Vidal asked it. "I bet you like bacon."
"Don't feed it bacon," Kane said, shuffling toward the coffee. "Unless you like cleaning up puppy shit."
"You like bacon, right?"
"Yeah," Kane said. "Sure." He grabbed his mug (shit, when did he start thinking that fucking Hill Street Blues mug was his?) and filled it dangerously full. That was better. He pulled some silverware out of the drawer and found the napkins.
The puppy looked better this morning, bright-eyed, happy to have someone paying it some attention.
"Kind of too bad," Vidal said. "He's a good little guy."
"Don't look at me," Kane said. "I can't have pets."
"I know," Vidal said into the pan. "I just...I can’t exactly hide him, and Than’s dad will -- I mean, he sees a white Rottweiler that age, he’s gonna get suspicious, right? It’s not like one comes along every couple of weeks." He flipped the eggs over. "Still."
Kane sat down at the table and the puppy padded over to him with its big paws. He scratched at its ears as he drank. Its eyes weren't true pink, more of a weird light blue. "Not sure it's albino."
"Yeah, I don't know. I don't really know shit about dogs."
"I noticed," he said. The puppy started licking his fingers.
"I mean, Than would probably get me through, but if I'm working and he's in Vail or whatever--"
"Do you want me to promise to feed your fucking dog?"
"I don't know," Vidal said, dishing up the eggs and bringing them over. "Maybe. He didn't piss in the bathroom or anything, he went out on his leash just fine."
Kane rolled his eyes and ate.
"It's quiet here," he said. "Sometimes it'd be nice to have something around, you know?"
"I get it," Kane said. "I couldn't promise to walk it every day or anything."
Vidal did a really, really shitty job of hiding his satisfaction. "No," he said. "Course not."
"Don't look so fucking smug."
"No idea what you're talking about," Vidal said. He scooped the puppy up into his lap and started eating.