Permanent Home -@emmettnet 's Shelter Pet AU
CW: Pet whump, implied threat being taken as comfort
Note: This takes place in @emmettnet ‘s Shelter Pet AU, as the title says :>, there's also more under the cut! So please click that to keep reading!
Cyrus belongs to @emmettnet !
~~~~
Bebê’s eyes scanned the large, majorly empty, room as they waited to see the pet the front desk person recommended they meet.
They looked back to the door and stopped tapping their nails on the bench as they heard the door open.
A tall employee with black hair, brown eyes, and a name tag that read ‘Cyrus’ walked in. Clinging to his leg was the pet with white hair, wide blue eyes, and various scars littering his body.
They smiled, despite their own excitement they chose to stay sitting down so as to not startle the pet. “Hello, this is Runa I’m guessing?”
“That’s right.” Cyrus looks down to Runa, he reaches down to very gently nudge him. “It’s alright, little one, you’re safe to say hi.”
The pet glances up to him before looking at the person sitting on the bench. “Hello master..” His voice was soft as he hesitantly moved to sit on the ground beside the employee but continued to hold onto his leg. Now that he was no longer hiding behind him, he couldn’t help but tremble.
“Hi Runa!” Bebê cooed as they would talking to most animals. “I’m going to get off the bench and crouch down, okay?”
He glances at Cyrus again before nodding.
They moved slowly to not scare him as they slid off of the bench and into a crouch to be closer to eye level with him, in an attempt to not look as big and scary. “Are you scared, dear?”
He nodded as he clung to Cyrus a little bit tighter. The term of endearment caught him completely off guard and made him worried. “Mhm.”
“That’s alright. I’m sorry if I scare you.” They figured maybe the pet would find some sort of comfort in an apology of some kind.
They turn their attention to the employee he clung to. “Do you know what happened to him to make him so scarred up and scared?”
Cyrus nods. “Oh yes, Runa had to be removed from the custody of his previous owner.” He moves to pet Runa as he continues to talk. “His previous owner would show him to others and if the poor pet didn’t stay still, quiet, or crawl beside them, they would harm him. He had a glass bowl thrown at him by them while he was being removed from their property. They sounded… Relentless.”
Bebê looks at Runa with a soft expression. “Poor guy..”
~~~~~~
Bebê smiles as they write ‘Bebê Eirlys’ on the line asking for the name of the adopter.
“I’m so glad you decided to adopt Runa! I don’t know if Cyrus got the chance to tell you but we do have in our files a note that he has a dietary preference of vegetarianism. Is that alright?” The front desk lady asked.
They nodded “Yep! I have a few personal chefs so getting him vegetarian meals will be no issue!” They chime as they write ‘social media influencer’ on the line asking what their job was.
‘Do you own any other pets?’ Not humanoid. Animalistic; 1 dog.
‘Do you have experience owning pets?’ Humanoid, not owning but pet sitting. Animalistic; yes.
“I know it’ll take him a while to warm up to his new home but I’m so excited! I hope he’ll like the room I put together for him!” They take a moment to twirl the pen in their hand to help get out a little bit of energy before continuing to write.
“You put together a room for him? How sweet, I’m sure that will help him feel safe as he adjusts.” She shuffles Runa’s records into a neat pile to put them in a folder, before digging out his picture.
“I hope so, he seems like he could be such a sweetie once he can open up!” They finish filling out the paper and add their social media handles at the bottom with a note ‘For if you want to check in on him and see the conditions of his new home’
She accepts the finished paperwork and looks it over. “Alright! Do you also want to buy a crate for the ride home, or are you going to let him roam freely in your vehicle?”
“I’ll buy a crate, it might make him feel safer.”
~~~~~~
The car ride definitely wasn’t the smoothest and that certainly didn’t help Runa’s anxiety as he pressed himself as far back into the crate as he could.
His eyes darted around to look through the gaps in the crate as he was moved through the new building and eventually was settled into what he could only describe as a soft room.
He shook as his new master opened the crate’s door, but then they backed up and sat down on the dog bed?
“It’s alright Runa, we’re home now, no more rough bumps!” They smile. “This is your room!”
There was no way this could be his room, it looks too soft, too harmless, too comfortable. The bars of the crate were starting to hurt his back because of how hard he was pressing against it.
Their smile briefly falters before they light up. “Alright, I’ll be right back, try to calm your breathing down.”
He wasn’t sure if that was an order or not as he watched them get up and leave the room. …His breathing?
He didn’t realize it before, but he was breathing pretty hard and loud, and it was pretty shaky as well. He squeezes his eyes shut as he recalls the breathing exercise Master Cyrus taught him.
Inhale. 1… 2… 3... 4…
Exhale. 1… 2… 3… 4…
Doing it one more time made it a lot easier to breathe. What was that other exercise he taught him? It started with looking for five things, right?
He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He could see the black bars of his crate, the orange dog bed in the middle of the room, and there was a pink soft looking rug on the floor… He could also see the wooden door and….
The door opened, and now he could see his new master.
“I’m back!” They announced, moving to sit back on the dog bed again. “I have treats too!”
Runa looked to their hands to see they were holding a container, he looked back up to their face.
“They’re krispie marshmallow squares! Vegetarian and sweet!” They explained, taking one out of the container. “Do you want one?”
Could he say no? Was that an option? Then again… He couldn’t remember the last time he had something sweet like a marshmallow. It did sound pretty good. He nodded.
Master takes a piece off of the square they were holding and tosses it into the crate, causing him to flinch as though it was going to hurt him.
They then took another piece off and carefully tossed it so it’d land outside the crate. Then another, farther away from the crate and closer to them. And another. “There! When you get to me, you can have a whole one!” They chimed as they took a whole square out of the container before setting it off to the side.
“Take your time, we have all day!” They say, taking a phone out of their pocket to scroll on it with their free hand. They kept the hand holding the square held out.
Runa looks down to the piece in his crate. It felt like his tense muscles creaked as he moved to kneel down and pick it up off the ground with his mouth to eat.
Marshmallows were a lot sweeter than he remembered, and the soft crunch from the krispie was really nice. It tasted really good, and he was already starting to inch more to the front of the crate so he could get the piece that was just outside of it.
He glances up to Master, who seemed to just be on their phone and not focusing on him. He grabs the small piece and ducks back into the crate to eat it.
He stares at the next piece that sat on the edge of the rug. If he wanted that piece he’d need to step outside the crate… He took a moment to build up his courage.
He very slowly crawls to the front of his crate. His hand shakes as he sets it down outside the crate, and so does his other hand. He lowers himself as close to the ground as he could as he grabs the next piece, but doesn’t retreat completely back into the crate.
The rug brushes against his face, the fibers were soft and tickled at his nose. Maybe… It’d feel nice against his hands?
He moves one hand to the rug and runs his finger through the fibers. It feels really nice, it’d probably be warm to sleep on too. He looks up to Master, who was looking at him but then looks back to their phone.
He.. didn’t get a warning? Or a scolding?
He moves more out of the crate to the next piece of the marshmallow krispie. His mouth was already watering before he even got it in his mouth.
“There you go, you’re doing good.” Master’s voice spooked him but it was soft. They didn’t look upset, they had a smile. So far, so good!
The next one… Was the full square in Master’s hand. He hesitates. He moves closer but nudges their hand with his nose first, as if checking it’s not a trap.
“It’s alright. You can have the square.” They reassured.
Runa glanced at them, was.. Their phone camera pointed at him? He looked back to the square, the small pieces were really good.. So the full piece must be good too, right? And Master did praise him…
He leans forward and takes a bite of the square. It was just as good as the small pieces, but it felt so rewarding.
“Good! Good job!” Master’s voice praised.
…
Bebê’s fans were going to love this video of their new pet already eating out of their hand, how brave of him!
~~~~~~
It’s been about 2 weeks since Runa was brought to his new home, and so far it’s been great.
He didn’t understand Master’s fascination with their phone and cameras, but it made them happy, and they said it also makes other people happy. They didn’t hurt him, so he didn’t mind. He actually liked it when they would use their phone or camera and then read to him what other people say from their posts.
Right now him and Master were laying down on the couch, and they were allowing him to hold onto them while they relaxed.
Their fingers running through his hair felt so nice that it felt like he could fall asleep at any moment.
“You’re such a good boy Runa.” They praised.
He liked it that they praised him so much, it meant that he was doing things right and he wouldn’t have to go long worrying if he was or not.
“I promise you, that you’ll never have a new owner again.”
What a weird thing for them to say, but he couldn’t help but smile. He finally found his permanent home, and it was so nice. He hoped it would stay like this.
~~~~~
General: @emmettnet @thebluejayswhump
Runaverse: @whumpsday
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