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Damn. That was the first thought that popped into Babe’s head when he spotted Him. Him being Trevor, the last boyfriend, known cheater and all-around awful person who could still make Babe swoon a little with a smirk and a laugh. After a second of alarmed staring, Babe ducked back into the dog food aisle of his local Target.Trevor should not even be at his Target, he thought. Babe was very territorial about his Target, he had worked here for a few years after college and had created a solid reputation. A reputation that was not about to be ruined by Trevor. And, Babe realized as he peered around the corner, Trevor’s new girlfriend. Babe should not be surprised, as he had only broken up with Trevor a month ago, immediately after he found out that Trevor was sleeping with another guy. Who seemed to not be known to the current girlfriend, as Babe had reliable information that Trevor and his sidedude were still screwingBabe turned back to the business at hand, grabbing a large bag of dog food as he watched Trevor and his girlfriend kiss lightly and then continue making their way to the pet food aisle. Babe’s aisle.Slightly panicked, as he still needed at least one more new toy and a new collar for Bagel, he glanced at the end of the aisle to see a stranger turn the corner and begin perusing the cans of cat food. Babe blinked, because this had to be one of the best developments of his life.The man had pale skin and jet black, almost blue hair that stuck up fluffily, with a red basket in one hand. He was gorgeous, in a way that the man did not seem to realize it himself. Babe watched as he grabbed a can of cat food, looked it over, and set it back.Babe swallowed, looked back to see Trevor and the girlfriend even closer than before, and took a few steps forward until he was in front of the stranger.“Hey,” Babe said, haltingly, his voice sounding awfully squeaky to his own ears. “Listen, I know we’ve never met, but can I ask you a favor? I’ll do whatever you want, buy you a coffee or something, but I really need your help. In, like, under a minute.” He paused, waiting for the other man’s reaction. The stranger nodded cautiously, looking Babe up and down.“Okay, awesome. So my ex is walking over here with his new girlfriend and I really need to not look like a total loser or like someone whose life totally went down the drain as soon as I found out that he was cheating on me and subsequently dumped him. My life didn’t go down the drain, by the way. I mean, there were a few bumps and pitfalls, but it overall got better. Anyways, I need you to pretend to be my super awesome boyfriend for just as long as he’s in the store. Oh, and my name’s Babe,” he finished, taking a long breath.The other man blinked. “Okay,” he said, slowly. Babe swallowed, because the man had what was possibly the most beautiful voice he had ever heard, low and slow and accented just right. “My name’s Eugene, but people call me Gene. Nice to meet you.” Babe nodded and smiled tensely.“Great, he’s just–shhh!” Babe cut himself off, turning briskly away from the end of the aisle and towards Gene, as if they were in deep thought over the right brand of cat food to get. Kitten food, Babe corrected himself as he noticed kitten crunchers. He smiled, because he could imagine just how adorable Gene would be with a small kitten curled up on his shoulder, because Gene looked like the softest person Babe had ever seen and cats of all ages would adore him. Which is a totally rational thing to think about someone he just met who he asked to be his pretend boyfriend. The guy might not even be not straight, and that was a situation Babe did not care to think about at the moment.“Hey! Babe, is that you?” called Trevor from the middle of the aisle. Babe looked up and turned to face him, eyeing the new girlfriend with distaste.“Yeah, it is me. How’re you, Trevor?” asked Babe quietly, unsure how to proceed.Trevor laughed, looking down at the girl hooked on his arm. “I’m doing great, Babe. This is Clara. Clara, introduce yourself.” Trevor nudged Clara, who smiled thinly at Babe. “So, Babe, how’ve you been? I totally lost contact with you; I haven’t been able to see what you’ve been up to. Still hanging out in your apartment alone every Friday, or…?” Trevor left the question hanging, openly mocking him. Clara snickered loudly.“Babe, do we want Purina ProPlan or Purina One for Snickers?” Gene asked, turning around with a can in each hand. He looked up at the standoff and shrugged, putting both of them in his basket. “We can just buy both, see which one he likes better. Who are they?” Gene asked as he sidled up to Babe and put his spare hand around his waist.Babe glanced at Gene briefly, a small smile on his face. “This is Trevor, my ex-boyfriend, and this is Clara, his new girlfriend.”Gene made a noise and looked again at Trevor and Clara. “Hello. I’m Gene, Babe’s boyfriend. I don’t remember him talking about you, although I’m sure you were a fine person. Nice meeting you.” Gene smiled and leaned in closer to Babe, resting his head on Babe’s shoulder for a split second. Babe’s breath caught as his nose was suddenly flooded with the scent of strong coffee and honey, a wonderfully alluring blend that was obviously entirely Gene.Trevor’s mouth dropped slightly and Clara had a distinct look of distaste as they watched. Gene unwrapped his arm from Babe’s waist and moved back towards the kitten food, tugging gently on the hem of Babe’s shirt as he walked.“Nice talking to you, Trevor. I hope we never see each other again,” said Babe coldly as he turned away to help Gene with the cans, steadfastly not looking at Trevor or Clara while they grabbed a big bag of dog food and left the aisle.Babe waited for a few seconds after they left and then exhaled loudly. Gene looked over at him, one eyebrow raised and his head tilted a bit. Babe swallowed again.“Hey, Gene, thank you so much for doing that. You’re a great actor, by the way, and you smell amazing.” Babe shut his mouth abruptly, having not meant to say the last part. Gene chuckled and looked down, staring again at two slightly different cans of food.“No problem, glad to be of help. He seemed like a real dick.” Gene paused. “Do you know anything about kitten food? I’m not sure which would be best for Snickers, I’ve never had a kitten before.”Babe snorted and walked closer, peering over Gene’s shoulder at the choices. “I have no idea, I’ve only had dogs my entire life. What kind of name is Snickers, anyway?”Gene shrugged self consciously, again putting both cans into his quickly filling basket. “A nurse at the hospital named him, I’m awful at names. He comes when he’s called, that’s really all I care about.”“Your kitten comes when he’s called? Man, that’s impressive. Bagel only comes when I have food, and he’s a dog. They’re supposed to listen.”Gene laughed, looking amusedly at Babe. “Bagel? You insult Snickers and yet you have a dog named Bagel?”“Yes, I have Bagel and he’s a beagle. Bagel the beagle, it’s perfect.” Gene snorted and Babe smiled before looking down. Gene looked at his phone and sighed quietly.“While I would love to talk to you about how Bagel is the worst name for a dog, I actually have to go. Snickers can’t be left alone for very long and I’ve been gone a while already.” Gene grabbed another can and walked out of the aisle, waving at Babe.A moment later, Babe jogged down the aisle and through the store, finding Gene a few aisles over. “Hey,” he said, grabbing Gene’s sleeve catching his attention. “I said I’d buy you coffee in exchange for a favor and I completely forgot to. Here’s a few bucks, it should cover a venti at Starbucks,” he said, reaching in his pocket for his wallet.Gene stopped him. “No, you don’t have to do that.”Babe gave him a look and continued reaching for his wallet, which was not in the pocket he originally thought it was. Gene sighed and shook his head, smiling slightly.“If you’re so insistent on buying me coffee, how about we make it a date? Is 3 next Tuesday good for you, at the Starbucks near Coldstone?”Babe looked up, eyes wide. “Seriously? Are you asking me out after I made you pretend to be my boyfriend?”Gene nodded quickly, looking earnestly at Babe.“Then yeah, that works. I’ll see you then!” Babe waved and walked away, back to the collars, smiling to himself.
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Babe’s phone vibrated cheerily from where it sat on top of the fridge. He could not remember why he had put it there, but it was probably for a good reason. He reached up and grabbed it, unlocking it as he walked out of the kitchen.[From: Gene] u want a snickers n bagel playdate? i think snickers is old enough jsyk[To: Gene] YES!!!!!Two days later, Babe and Bagel arrived at Gene’s apartment. Bagel was on a leash and, for once, sitting quietly next to Babe. His tail started wagging excitedly when he heard footsteps, and soon his whole body was wriggling. He yipped happily when Gene opened the door, a brown and white cat perched elegantly on his shoulders. Babe grinned widely and was pulled through the door by an enthusiastic beagle who immediately began on a circuit of the first few rooms of the apartment.Babe reached over and unattached his leash, letting Bagel free to complete his once-over. Once he stood up, he leaned over and kissed Gene on the side of his mouth before scratching Snickers lightly on the top of his head. By this time Bagel had completed his circuit and had noticed Gene, whom he sniffed up and down the legs before noticing the cat curled on top of his shoulders. Bagel panted happily at the sight of the unknown cat and stared at Snickers expectantly. Gene scratched Bagel behind the ears before leaning over and letting Snickers jump down.“You want coffee or something?” murmured Gene, gently pushing Babe to the couch.“Yeah, that’d be great. Coffee, thanks,” said Babe, intent on watching the animals’ interaction.Bagel sniffed Snickers warily, as if waiting for him to suddenly attack. Thankfully, Snickers did no such thing; instead, he waited for Bagel to finish and then slowly sniffed the beagle.There was a moment where both animals stayed still, waiting for the other to make a move, until Gene arrived back with fresh coffee for Babe and himself. He silently handed it to Babe, both of their eyes now focused on their animals.Suddenly, Snickers hopped forward and lightly batted at Bagel’s nose. Bagel enjoyed this immensely and began to wriggle again, his tail wagging happily. He bowed down with his butt in the air and then began to hop forward and back, doing his best to evade Snickers’s playful bats at his nose. Satisfied with the general happiness of their animals, Babe and Gene leaned back and watched, sipping their coffee.After a little while, Snickers tired of their game and curled next to Gene on the sofa. Bagel followed and leaned on Babe’s legs, his tail wagging softly.“They get along really well,” started Babe. Gene raised an eyebrow and gestured with his mug for Babe to continue.“I mean, they seem to have fun with each other and they’re not terrorizing each other, you know? I think it’s good. Plus they look really cute next to each other, just look at them.” Both Babe and Gene looked down at the pair of animals, content to rest on as much of their owner as they could.“Yeah, we should do this more,” murmured Gene.Babe nodded enthusiastically. “Bagel needs all the socialization he can get. And I want him to meet Joe’s kitten, Rocky? Apparently she’s really sweet but he won’t let me near her unless Bagel’s nicer to cats. I don’t know what that has to do with me, exactly, but his kitten, his rules.”“What do you think about having Snickers and Bagel play all the time?” Gene took a sip of his coffee, watching Babe’s reaction over the lip of the mug.“What do you mean?” asked Babe, looking up from where he was scratching Bagel behind the ears.“I mean, they get along well, and your lease is coming up soon. I know you’ve been complaining about your landlord a lot lately, so maybe you’d like to move in?” Gene paused, assessing Babe’s expression. “We’ve been dating for a while and I really like you, Babe.” Gene looked down, his hands wrapping tighter around his mug.“Are you asking me to move in with you?” asked Babe, surprised.Gene nodded and looked at Babe hopefully.“I would love to, absolutely! That’d be great because I love you and I love your apartment and Snickers is great and I think Bagel likes it here and this is actually closer to the bar so I don’t have to drive as far and there’s a dog park down the street and…” He trailed off, smiling hugely. Gene smiled softly and leaned in, cupping the back of Babe’s head and kissing him.