Work Text:
“You promise you’ll be a good boy for me, Rover?”
Leon took his eyes off the road just a second to glance at the big, fluffy golden retriever in his passenger seat. Rover was sticking his head out the window, tongue hanging out and panting against the hot summer sun. He barked as a car with a beagle in its back window drove by, paw nails clicking on the glass.
“Not even listening,” he said with a smirk.
Leon turned his eyes back into the road in time to stop at a red light. He brushed a hand down Rover’s back to calm him down. Of course, trying to calm down his dog was like trying to hold sand in your first. Try as you might, he always got loose.
Leon had had Rover since he was a puppy. Claire’s uncle was a dog breeder, and she brought him over so he’d have someone to come home to after missions. He was the most energetic puppy Leon had ever met, and Rover only seemed to get more so as he got older. Now he was just as bouncy but bigger now.
Which is what made today’s park date even more nerve racking. Ada had suggested it as a chance for them to meet each other’s pets. She had a black cat named Lucky—a slinky thing with big yellow eyes according to the pictures.
Leon didn’t know much about cats, but he knew from watching Rover bark at a few neighborhood ones that they didn’t like him. He brought this up to Ada, but she didn’t seem deterred.
“Lucky’s a big girl,” she told Leon. “She’ll be fine.”
But Leon wasn’t so sure. Rover was a big beast of a dog, and Lucky seemed like the kind of cat that liked to take off and hide in the shadows. Small, delicate thing. He worried he’d have to pull Ada’s poor kitty out of Rover’s gaping mouth before they had a chance to walk the park’s full loop.
Once the light turned green, Leon rolled ahead and then turned into the park entrance. He didn’t see Ada’s red convertible in the parking lot. Once he found a spot for his Jeep, he checked a new text in his phone. From Ada: ON MY WAY.
Leon pocketed his phone and turned to Rover. The dog had turned from the window and looked at Leon with big brown eyes and his sweet golden face. Leon rubbed the top of his head.
“Be good to Ada and Lucky, okay boy?” he said. “No dead or injured cats today, okay?”
Rover just stared at him, then barked and licked his face. Leon wiped the drippy salvia from his cheek.
“I guess that’s as close to a yes I’ll get,” he said.
He stepped out of the car, circled around to the other side, and grabbed Rover’s leash before he could take off running from the car door. Rover immediately began sniffing around, tugging on his blue leash so hard Leon had to hold him back.
“Easy, boy,” he said.
He managed to guide Rover out of the parking lot closer to a small park shelter. A small building with a restroom and a few picnic tables under an awning. Leon took a sip from a water fountain while Rover sniffed at a caterpillar on the sidewalk.
As he wiped his mouth, Leon saw a bright gleam of red in the sun. Ada’s convertible pulled into the parking lot and smoothed right into a spot right in front of the picnic shelter. Rover immediately sprung up and started barking and tugging his leash towards the car.
“Down, Rover,” Leon ordered, but that did little to stop the excited canine. The dog forced Leon closer to the car as Ada stepped out the driver’s side and shut the door.
It was a casual outdoor date, so Leon had picked out some casual clothes. A plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, and hiking boots. Ada, being Ada, had a more glamorous idea of “casual.” White denim shorts, an off-shoulder red shirt, and shiny gold jewelry that winked from her neck, wrists, and sandals. All topped off with a large and expensive-looking pair of sunglasses.
Thank god for the sunshine, because Leon as sweating. Ada lowered her sunglasses and grinned down at the barking retriever.
“Is this Rover?” she asked.
At the sound of his name, Rover bolted so quick that his leash snapped from Leon’s grasp. The golden bounded up to Ada and jumped up to lick her. Leon rushed over to grab Rover’s leash while Ada laughed and pet her hands all over the dog’s sunny coat.
“Sorry,” Leon said. “He gets…overexcited.”
Understatement. Thankfully, Ada didn’t seem bothered. She leaned down to rub her hands over Rover’s head. She held his fluffy face in her hands.
“Such a cutie,” she said. Her eyes flicked up at Leon. “Must get it from his dad.”
Thank god it was sunny out, so Leon could blame the flush his face on sunburn. He grabbed Rover’s leash off the sidewalk and pulled him back before he could jump on Ada again.
Ada circled to the other side of the car and opened the passenger side door. She reached in and bundled up the small black cat in her arms before shutting the door with her hip. Lucky looked dazed in her arms, like Ada had woken her from a nap. She had a red leash connected to harness around the front of her little body.
Ada sauntered up to Leon.
“Say hi, baby,” Ada cooed.
Leon grinned and leaned over to look at Lucky. The cat looked at him with tiny slit pupils and a tired, bemused expression.
“Hey there, pretty girl,” he said.
He lifted his hand to pet her, but his fingers barely grazed her fur before Lucky swiped a claw at him and hissed, baring her pointed teeth.
“She’s prickly around strangers,” Ada said, adjusting the cat in her arms. “She’s nicer once she gets to know you.”
Leon looked at the three claw scratches on his fingers. They weren’t bleeding, but they left three red lines in his skin. He looked at Ada and smirked.
“Must get it from her mom,” he said.
Ada returned the smirk, then lowered Lucky onto the ground, leash in hand.
“Say hi to Rover, baby,” Ada said.
Miraculously, Rover had stopped barking. He stood there staring at Lucky like he’d never seen a cat before. Lucky took a few curious, tentative steps towards the much, much larger dog.
Please be good, Leon begged Rover in his mind.
Lucky sniffed Rover’s paw, then the retriever started growling. Deep in his throat.
“Rover, calm down, boy,” Leon warned.
But before Rover could do anything else, Lucky hissed and launched at him. Both animals yanked their leashes from their owners’ hands as they took off towards the bushes. Rover barked and Lucky hissed as their leashes trailed behind them.
“Rover, no!” Leon yelled.
Then, he realized Rover wasn’t chasing after Lucky. The small black cat bolted after the golden retriever through the brush towards the trees dotted along the running path. Leon stood there with his mouth open as he watched his dog pursued by a much smaller feline.
“Are you seeing this?” Leon asked.
He turned to look at Ada. She stood there calmly with her arms crossed and a proud grin on her face.
“I am,” she said. “She’s fast when she hasn’t had her claws trimmed in a bit.”
Before Leon could even respond, Ada took his hand and pressed a red kiss to his cheek.
“Come on,” she said. “As long as they stay in our sight and don’t run towards the parking lot, they’ll be fine.”
Leon wanted to say something, but Ada’s kiss on his cheek and her hand in his made him a little dizzy. So he let her pull him towards the asphalt trail that looped around the park. Rover and Lucky mostly ran in circles by the path, so they never disappeared from sight. They passed bikers, joggers, and other dogs, but Rover didn’t stop to bother any of them for fear that Lucky would claw him by his tail. People stumbled out of the way to let the chase pass by.
“Is she always like this around dogs?” Leon asked.
“Only some of them,” Ada said. She squeezed his hand. “Dogs excite her more than humans.”
There was a warmth of pride in her voice. Leave it to Ada Wong to be the proud first woman to raise a cat that chased dogs.
“I’m a little relieved,” Leon admitted. “I was afraid Rover might hurt Lucky, so…I guess this is the better alternative.”
The two walked the length of the park’s loop, watching Lucky and Rover as they ran, clawed, and growled at each other. Leon thought at one point they’d both tire out and get along, but Lucky was a persistent little beastie.
By the time they made a full loop, Ada seemed to be sufficiently entertained by her cat’s harassment of Leon’s dog. She stood with Leon by the picnic shelter and whistled.
“Come here, girl,” she called.
Lucky immediately paused, then darted towards Ada. Ada dropped Leon’s hand, leaned down to the ground, then opened her arms for Lucky to leap into them.
“Good kitty,” she cooed.
Leon watched Ada cuddle the cat in her arms. He was so distracted he didn’t notice Rover barreling towards him until he fell flat on his back with his dog on his chest. Rover licked him all over until Leon’s face was slobbered.
“Easy, boy,” Leon said.
He gently pushed Rover off and stood up, dusting the soil off his clothes. Ada cradled Lucky in one arm and kneeled down to pet Rover’s head with her free hand.
“Thanks for the playtime, baby,” she cooed over the dog. “You’re such a good boy.”
She kissed Rover between his eyes and the golden retriever started wagging his tail. He licked Ada’s cheek while Lucky fell asleep in her arm.
“Good boy,” she cooed. “Such a good boy.”
Leon watched Ada kiss and pet his dog. His neck hair prickled every time she said, “Good boy” and he felt a surge of jealousy.
It must have showed on his face, because Ada gave him a look after she pulled her attention away from the dog.
“Wish you were a puppy, Leon?” he asked.
Leon’s face went pink.
“Rover’s not a puppy,” he said. “He’s three years old.”
“All dogs are puppies,” Ada said as she showed up. “Just like all men are boys.”
She stood in front of him and lifted a hand to ruffle his blonde hair. Leon instinctively leaned into her touch.
“Maybe I should put you in a collar and leash next time,” Ada teased.
Leon’s face turned from pink to red. He chuckled shyly and scratched his neck.
“There’s a new ice cream place across the way from this park,” Ada said. “They’re pet friendly. Leave out water bowls for cats and dogs.”
She traced her hand from his neck, down his chest then to his hand, where she twisted her fingers with his. The hair in Leon’s body stood where she brushed him.
“Care for a treat?” she asked.
Leon gave her teasing smile.
“Woof,” he said.