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Although it brought Braxton a lot of joy, Garmr regretted introducing him to television, just a bit.
While he was borderline nodding off, his clingy boyfriend had his scarlet arms locked around his bicep, constantly sharing every little thought and question the show was raising about Earthling culture from the kid’s show Garmr put on for him. He would’ve given him something more adult, like a sit-com or a comedy, but knowing how soft Braxton’s heart was it would probably upset him to see characters in extremely tense or bad situations. Once he made the mistake of letting Braxton watch the movie Up, and despite the alien empath being unable to mirror the characters’ sorrows via touch, he was still sobbing and upset in the intro sequence when Garmr explained the old man’s lifetime lover had died, and Garmr proceeded to spend the next few hours comforting him and reassuring him that the characters were fictional and nobody was actually hurt.
So instead, he now puts on extremely light-hearted children’s shows, and makes sure there’s no death in them for sure.
That tiny human in the show, why does that Earthling couple have it? Their home has a tiny human and a wild animal inside, should we also have a tiny human and animal? Questioning the discrepancy between his Earth relationship and the fictional one on the television, he brought his gaze up to his sleepy boyfriend, puzzled.
“That’s their human child, they reproduced to make one, and it’s customary here to raise one’s offspring to adulthood. You and I don't have one because we can’t reproduce. As with the animal, that’s their pet, it’s a docile, less intelligent creature that people raise and care for.” Glancing down at Braxton, he noticed his big round golden eyes broke away from the television to stare up at him, absolutely fascinated.
We can’t make a child if we wanted to? Please, I can try really hard, I can really put in the effort if that’s what it takes. His insistence earned a slight chuckle, Garmr shaking his head.
“I’m a demonic hellhound, I’m biologically sterile. Even if I could reproduce, you would still need to have functional female reproductive organs if you wanted to make a child with me. I’m sorry my love, we just couldn’t make one even if you wanted to.” Garmr left out the possible choice of adoption, though, since he was overall adverse to the idea of having a child in general. Childfree undoubtedly, but he wouldn’t dare dishearten Braxton with the assertion he wouldn’t want a child with him even if they could reproduce.
Although the alien had no mouth, his face looked a tad dejected despite the lack of a frown, brow knitting tight in envy.
Braxton, you got to get better at understanding procreation. I know you enjoy Earthling sex for the fun of it, but they evolved it primarily to reproduce.
At the sentiment shared by Reed, a few others piqued in, also having something to share about Braxton’s subtle jealousy.
Agreed, we aren’t designed to raise offspring, that’s not in our nature. We don’t even have a receptive hole to receive his genetic material in. I know you like to play human, but you gotta take a pass on this one. V15 contributed, only to be interrupted by the ever-complaining Yip, who dreaded the worst.
Oh no, please Braxton, don’t try to find out a way to get his ooze inside you. Reproductive hole or not, that’s disgusting.
At the mixture of repulsion to the idea of sexual reproduction as well as dismissal of the mere possibility of it from the hivemind, Braxton reluctantly accepted that that might be an Earthling experience he was going to be missing out on.
What about a pet? Can we at least make a pet, Garmr? His thought carried an innocent begging tone, like a young child would if they were pleading with an adult for a cookie.
Although he gave a softer shake of his head no again, Garmr reached to affectionately pat his leg in reassurance, amused by his willingness to try anything new and exciting.
“We don’t make pets, Earthlings usually adopt, buy, or find docile animals and begin to care for them.” Pointing to the cartoon dog currently on the screen, he continued, “pet dogs are a very popular and common choice, if you want we can try and get you a dog.”
Beaming, Braxton seemed ecstatic.
Dog!? But aren’t you a dog? I already have one of you, Garmr! Nuzzling into his boyfriend’s arm, the affectionate alien seemed momentarily pleased that he believed he already was living out that Earth experience, killing two birds with one stone by both having a dog and having an Earthling lover.
“Technically I’m a demon, my love. My demonic form is indeed what would be recognized as a dog though, a hellhound. But the kind of dogs you keep as pets are a lot more simplistic, and definitely non-demonic.” Clicking his tongue, he also made another few crucial additions, “plus, you shouldn’t be dating a pet dog, anyways. Think of them more like a non-biological child, people care for and love their pets similar to offspring sometimes.”
Braxton, despite not knowing a concept of familial ties before Earth, has indeed been explained before that romance with blood relatives is wrong, and thus understood Garmr’s comparison of pets to children. However, a sentiment of recognition sparkled in his golden eyes, seeing a pet as his possibility for a surrogate Earthling offspring to care for.
I would like a non-biological pet child! I should go out, the woods have a lot of creatures, I can find one out in the wild.
I’m not sure you should go strolling out in the wilderness looking for one in the dark, last time you were out there you tripped over a log and broke your ankle. I think I speak for most of us in saying we wouldn’t like a repeat of that incident. Reed cautioned, earning a painful cringe of remembrance from some of the other hivemind members. Braxton has lately taken to the habit of wearing human ballet demi-pointe shoes and long flowy skirts and dresses, but has consequently had a fair share of clumsy stumbles and trips getting used to the new Earth garments. The incident in question involved getting his long dress snagged on a log during a forest stroll, and tripping off the balls of his feet in a way that twisted his ankle at an unnatural angle, fracturing the joint. Thankfully, their species were also incredibly resilient and able to recover from most physical damage quicker than a human would, but it still was a painful ordeal the hivemind had to experience together. Just because they can perfectly heal and reform back to their original body seamlessly doesn’t make the injury any less unpleasant for the whole hivemind.
Right, I’m sorry again everyone, maybe I could take the ship around for a fly instead and see if I can spot one from the sky.
Don’t worry about it, it’s no big deal, the other day Baternerlin cracked his skull open, we all make mistakes. You’re fine, Braxton. Yip reassured him, not wanting him to feel bad over his accidental injuries, since they have all been guilty of it from time to time. With a grimace, Braxton shivered when remembering the splitting migraine he had all day from Baternerlin’s head injury earlier this week forcing the whole hivemind into pain, and Garmr peaked a confused brow at him, before recognizing his boyfriend was having internal dialogue amongst his kin.
Eh, speak for yourself Yip, I had to stay off my feet all day after Braxton snapped his ankle. I hate feet injuries so much. Complaining, being amongst the hivemind arguably one of the more sensitive to physical pain in their mindspace, Quinori took a less sympathetic approach. Mentally, Braxton offered them another apology, and a trickle of reassuring voices reaffirmed to him that accidents are accidents, and there’s no need for guilt.
However, deciding upon his methodology, the scarlet red alien gave his boyfriend’s arm an excited shake, despite Garmr being in the middle of once again nodding off asleep.
We can take my spaceship! I can look around for a wild dog in the area, let’s go! Despite finding his boyfriend downright adorable with his overflowing joy, Garmr gave a little shake of the head, slouching down further into the couch they were on.
“Would love to Braxie, but it’s eleven at night, I’m gonna need to sleep for a while. Why don’t you take a look at different dogs tonight, and in the morning I can take you to the local shelter.” Retrieving his phone from the coffee table before them, Garmr googled ‘list of most friendly dog breeds with pictures’, before selecting the most cutesy article off the search and handing the device over to the curious alien. “Here, you remember when I showed you how to work smart phones, right? You can take a look and find something you like, and we can try and see if any shelters or rescues have one.”
Nodding, astonished by the little infinite culture-filled devices that were Earthling cell phones, Braxton gratefully received it, gleefully nuzzling into Garmr’s neck to show his appreciation. Garmr didn’t often let him on his phone, worried that he could stumble upon upsetting information on the internet, but Garmr was fairly certain that his confused alien lover would have difficulty even trying to navigate off the page he was currently on. The most he was taught was to scroll on a page, click buttons, and turn the screen on and off.
Thank you, thank you! I love you so much! Content, and cuddling up real close as he adjusted the screen in his hand, Braxton diligently began reading the article, mentally gushing over the cute puppy and dog pictures in the list, just as Garmr suspected he would. He purposely made sure he picked one with a lot of pictures for his boyfriend to enjoy.
Awe, this one has ears like yours, they are tall and triangular and almost the same color! It just doesn’t have ear piercings like you do, do dogs get ear piercings?
Chuckling as his eyes fluttered closed, Garmr struggled to slur an answer here and there to Braxton, sleep overtaking him gradually.
“Nah, animals don’t really get piercings, that's kinda more of a human thing. Demons like me just copied it from them.” Although he was trying to pay attention to his boyfriend, sleep was getting too heavy in his head. But Braxton understood that, he could feel the pull of sleep through Garmr, and the deep-set relaxation it empathetically reflected in him as well as consequence. Perhaps if he did have the capability of sleep, it would make him drowsy, but as his species had no need for that function it only encouraged a mellow mood into him.
But, Braxton was a bit too excited to be mellowed out. Although he wasn’t a fan of breaking physical contact with Garmr, when his boyfriend fell into a deep sleep he removed his interlocked arm with him, turning off his phone and returning it onto the coffee table. Braxton liked the pictures from the list of black dogs, like labs or french bulldogs, since their fur reminded him of Garmr’s black-rooted hair, both on his head as well as thickly covering his body. The more he thought about it, the more excited he got; thinking about a dog made him a bit too ecstatic to wait. Instead, he wanted to show Garmr a streak of independence, and surprise him in the morning with a dog he picked out himself.
As he grabbed the lock controller for his spaceship, a split moment of consideration broke through his tunnel-vision, questioning whether or not it would hurt Garmr’s feelings that he went to find a dog without him.
Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this, he might feel left out. I don’t want him to feel excluded from this. The little worries tugged at his sensitive heart, unsettled by the mere idea of upsetting his boyfriend.
His kin shared a few conflicting opinions, not giving him a clear answer.
It’s your dog, not his, it shouldn’t be his concern if you go without him. Yip argued, trying to validate Braxton’s desires.
No, no, that’s not how Earthling relationships work, Yip. They require communication and collaboration on everything.
Oh, come on. Braxton can’t stop communicating and collaborating with that Earthling. It seems like every moment his boyfriend is awake, Braxton is constantly talking to him non-stop.
Irritated and finding an opportunity to complain about Garmr, Yip spoke up again.
Ugh, and when they’re not constantly talking, it's usually so Braxton could get his thighs slathered with Earthling ooze. Personally, I think this is some much needed us time, Braxton needs some time away from him and just with us sometimes.
A majority of the hivemind agreed, and a pang of sympathy seized Braxton’s heart. He didn’t mean to make the others feel as if they had no personal time with him, maybe he really did dedicate too much of his attention to just Garmr. Although he loved him with all his heart, Braxton will always also have obligations to consider the thoughts and feelings of his kin.
After all, they tolerated his Earthling activities so much, it was the least he owed them: just some personal time away from Garmr every now and again. They tolerated all his wishes even when the majority didn't care for or even flat-out disliked them; they tolerated his newfound love of sexual intercourse with his boyfriend, and they tolerated his silly fascination with wearing human ballet demi-pointe shoes even though he kept tripping in them. They tolerated his strange desire to introduce an outsider into their world, to share parts of himself that were only ever shared with the hivemind before. They tolerated him so much, and Braxton gave his apologetic sentiment across the hivemind, knowing they felt his deep and genuine remorse.
Sensing his wavering opinion on the issue, Quinori saw an opportunity to press it.
Come on, you spend so much time with him, just take this as some personal time with just us. Go out and get a dog, we can help you decide on one.
Obviously guilty— and his kin having full awareness his guilt was present— Braxton ceded, too unwilling to upset the others. They were all aware of his sweet and sensitive nature, arguably perhaps one of the most so out of the species, and they all knew he could be pressed and pressured with enough influence. A characteristic of his that some members took advantage of a little more often than others.
Please, I didn’t mean to be ungrateful or make you all feel excluded. We can all spend some time together, just us.
Quite a few members of the hivemind beamed with glee, especially the ones like Yip who weren’t the biggest fans of Garmr to begin with. Motivated to prove he could dedicate his time and attention to them too, he exited Garmr’s farmhouse-style homestead and hopped into his compact spaceship, ready to peruse the countryside all night until his kin and him found a stray dog to adopt.
By the time day broke around six in the morning, he confidently returned back, coaxing his new shy dog into Garmr’s home since he didn’t have a leash to guide it. It was relatively docile and compliant with following him loosely; even though the dog wasn’t a highly intelligent creature, Braxton was still able to touch and establish a weak telepathic connection to it, and share a sentiment of benevolence and good-will. The creature was far from intelligent enough to understand any thoughts more complex than that, but it was all Braxton really needed to gently guide it. The others in the hivemind were actually ecstatic, more interested than they have ever been to his usual Earthling activities; but perhaps they were honestly just glad to have this private time with Braxton, and found enjoyment in an activity they could have exclusively with him. Despite spending over a million years together in the same mindspace, they still valued time to themselves.
Upon entrance into the living room where Garmr had dozed off on the couch, Braxton’s gleeful entrance roused him awake. He was far from trying to be quiet and discreet, Braxton’s attention was too focused on luring and coaxing his new dog to follow him to notice when Garmr awoke from his not-so-subtle arrival.
Rubbing his bleary eyes, the hellhound tossed a dumbstruck look over at his dog, then to Braxton, and then back to the dog again.
“Uh, my love, what is going on…?”
Turning when acknowledged, it looked as if the bright gold of the alien’s eyes shimmered in delight, gleefully springing over and sitting beside Garmr on the couch, reaching to hold onto his bicep with both hands so he could speak to him.
I found myself a stray dog! The others helped me pick one out, I hope you don’t mind. They wanted some us time, so we went to decide on a dog together. Although he could feel through Garmr there were no upset feelings directed at him, he could feel his lover’s mind masked over and cloudy with a veil of sleep and confusion, impacting the empathic alien’s ability to get a clear reading. So to verify, he attempted to confirm there were no ill-feelings. You're not mad at me, are you? I hope I didn’t make you feel bad. I’m sorry, the others just really wanted some personal time with me. The dog was out in the middle of a field without a collar, so we assumed it was a stray.
“I...I’m definitely not mad at you at all, love. I’m just very incredibly confused…” There were no feelings of jealousy for Braxton wanting to spend some personal time with the hivemind, Garmr understood his boyfriend’s special situation. And while he was quite the protective type over him, he was still very trusting with Braxton and not prone to jealousy whenever the alien did depart from his company, knowing he had too pure of a heart to ever abuse Garmr’s trust in him. Thus, jealousy over him spending personal time with the others wasn’t an issue at all. “I don’t mind that you picked one out with the hivemind, but I just think you all might not have been the best judges to pick one out.”
Geez, of course he doesn’t like our dog, he’s just jealous we picked one out and not him. Peeved, Quinori griped, taking it personally despite knowing through Braxton there were no envious emotions coming from his empathetic connection with Garmr. Not that Braxton believed her complaints for a second, in confident belief his boyfriend would never lie to him.
Calm down, he’s the one with thousands of years of Earth experience, not us. Maybe he knows a bit more about picking out a good dog. Reed interjected, liking Garmr quite a bit more than Quinori or Yip did.
I would think so, I mean he is a dog after all, right? V15 offered.
No, no; a demon. A demon dog.
Regardless of his internal conversation, Braxton cocked his head at Garmr, confused. His dog began sniffing around the living room, curiously shoving its nose into every nook and cranny it could reach.
What do you mean, Garmr? Do you not like the dog we picked out?
Tensely, the hellhound swallowed, hoping he wasn’t going to dishearten his boyfriend, nor irritate the hivemind members that he didn’t hold the most favor with. Braxton was transparent with him before that a few of the others weren’t exactly his biggest fans.
“Well, um, I’m not sure how exactly to tell you all this, but that animal isn’t a dog. That’s a pig, Braxie.”
Blinking thrice up at him in confusion, Braxton turned to look over at the rummaging creature in the living room, and then back at the hellhound.
Are you sure? I’m pretty sure pigs are pink, and this dog is black. They’re a little overweight, but that’s okay. I think they are a black lab or a french bulldog, that’s what they kinda looked like from the internet list you showed me.
Sighing, Garmr really started regretting exposing Braxton to television, knowing his perception of pigs only being pink had definitely came from the children cartoons he watched. When he returned an affirming shake of his head no, sticking to his claim the animal was indeed a pig, Braxton abruptly stood up and broke their line of communication via skin contact, stepping up to the pig rummaging around the living room and crouching down beside it, patting it affectionately. Despite this pig most definitely being stolen livestock from a nearby farm, it seemed remarkably trusting of Braxton, but Garmr knew his sweet telepathic boyfriend was probably able to establish a rudimentary empathetic connection with it when he petted its skin, in which he could convey benevolent and caring thoughts. Either way, the creature didn’t recoil from his touch, and instead returned a curious grunt to Braxton.
With an energetic and overjoyed stand, the alien bounced over gleefully to the couch again, plopping down beside Garmr and grabbing back around his arm to speak again.
See, it is a dog! It barked. My dog barked!
Almost more amused than anything else, Garmr broke out a chuckle, finding his boyfriend’s confusion downright adorable at this point. He’ll definitely make a mental note to curb his tv habit for the future, but at the moment he couldn’t even keep himself from smiling, at both the hilarious confusion as well as Braxton’s sweet yet clueless innocence.
“It oinked, actually. I don’t mind if you want to keep a pig as a pet, but it’s probably good to understand it’s definitely not a dog, silly.” Playfully, he nuzzled into Braxton’s neck and gave him a couple affectionate kisses over his shoulder. “Trust me, if it were a dog I would definitely be able to smell canine from it. Also, notice how it doesn’t have paws; it has hoofs, right?”
Blinking twice in recognition he was correct on the paw situation, he took a glance to his dog again, and then back.
That’s correct, but some dogs don’t have tails, like bulldogs. So maybe some dogs don’t have paws. Although he would never usually question his boyfriend’s firsthand Earth knowledge, Braxton knew that picking out this creature was really important to some of the members of the hivemind, and could feel the irritation coming from both Quinori and Yip that the animal’s species was being called into question. Braxton tried to mentally assure them it was a simple mistake, but they brushed him off.
Regardless, he turned his attention back to Garmr to respond.
Well, if it were a pig, hypothetically, what do I have to do to take care of it?
“Can’t feed it dog food for one, that’s for sure. We can go out today and get some supplies for it though. First thing before that, though, is you probably need to pick out a name.” Chuckling again, Garmr leaned down to try and beckon the pig over. It glanced up at him, but only hobbled its way to the couch when Braxton leaned down too and patted the floor. The hellhound was unsurprised; Braxton had a naturally affectionate and trustworthy nature, it was hard for anything in the same room with him not to feel it.
I don’t know which name yet, maybe you can help me pick? Maybe something like Steven, or Christina. Sarah sounds pretty too. And Kyle.
Garmr had to bite back a little smile; those were all very human names, he wasn’t sure he'd ever met a single pet with any of those names.
“Not exactly common pet names, but any of those will work. Do you want to find out if it’s a male or a female first?”
Braxton seemed momentarily confused, and then remembered that naming conventions here tend to align with gender identity. He picked his name and pronouns based on what the humans here saw him as; a monstrous man they dubbed the Flatwoods Monster, or depending on the source, the Braxton County Monster. When he had first arrived on Earth and met Garmr, he was informed that only one of those words out of his two titles, Braxton, was an actual name humans use here. A masculine one, usually indicative of masculine pronouns. And since then, Braxton happily adopted the new name and pronouns, since his name amongst the hivemind was very conceptual and borderline impossible to translate into any Earthling languages. As with the pronouns, it just came with the name, as well as the pronouns the town of Flatwoods used for him; their species were naturally sexless and genderless, after all. Most of his kin learned vague notions of human gender from him, and arbitrarily selected their own individual identities to go by.
Braxton later learned he didn’t quite fit the traditional masculine gender role; he enjoyed long flowy dresses and skirts, both garments that were more common among female attire. In addition, his sensitive demeanor and sweet nature has been mocked as being ‘unmasculine’ before by other cryptids and monsters, but Garmr had reassured him that he can continue liking whatever he likes, and needn’t change his name, pronouns, or identity based off of what others perceive him as.
Braxton liked thinking of himself by the name Braxton, and he liked being addressed as a him. And he was certainly glad Garmr told him he was free to make that choice, to keep these little bits of himself that he had learned and identified with from Earth.
Encouraged by this line of thought, he decided his dog— or pig, as his boyfriend keeps insisting— didn’t need to have a name aligned with whatever it was. He wanted it to pick out its own name and pronouns, too.
I don’t need to know if it’s a boy or girl. They can pick themselves a name!
Before Garmr had a chance to question, Braxton had jumped up to his feet, hurrying his way over to the desk in the living room corner. After a few moments shuffling through the drawers, he scribbled something onto four pages, and returned towards the couch.
When he laid out the pages on the floor, Garmr noticed what was written on them— in neat print, Braxton had etched the four possible names: Steven, Christina, Sarah, and Kyle.
Unable to verbally call for the pig, he patted the ground beside him to get its attention, and the rooting animal turned away from whatever smell was interesting it beneath the couch, making its way over to the alien sitting in the middle of the room.
Before reaching Braxton, it stepped mindlessly on the paper labeled with the name Steven, and he beamed in joy as he leaped to his feet so fast he nearly stumbled, collapsing without warning into Garmr’s lap on the couch, his thoughts coming through so fast the moment their skin made contact.
It’s Steven! He goes by Steven, he picked the name himself, he saw all the options and picked Steven!
Trying to support his klutzy boyfriend, Garmr wrapped one arm around his upper body and his other around his long skinny legs, pulling Braxton up from his lap into a much more comfortable cradle in his arms.
“Is that so? Looks like Steven likes his name,” at the comment, they both glanced back over to the pig, who was hunched over and rooting into the sheet of paper, beginning to chew the corner.
Mentally squealing to Garmr in delight, Braxton hooked his arms around his neck, joyfully cuddling against him. Returning the affection, Garmr gave him a kiss on the forehead, before sinking down to give a subsequent kiss on the expansion of skin beneath Braxton’s nose where his mouth would be if he had one.
Before they got too entangled with one another, Garmr made a mental note to himself. When they are done cuddling, they need to go shopping for pig supplies.
Although it wasn’t the dog he expected, Braxton seemed to have gotten a pet he loved regardless.