Steve found himself coming to the 4th pet store he'd been to this week. Even though he was supposed to be studying for the midterm coming up, Natasha wouldn't have it, commenting that Steve spends way to much time studying even though he already knew the information and that he was just going to stress himself out. But that's what Steve was good at, stressing himself out like hell.
This was an old argument, Natasha was all about her facts, mentioning that pets can reduce stress. Steve never really had a comeback for this but he was still defiant. But in the end Natasha always wins, she's too good with her arguments, well it makes sense since she's studying law. She'll be one of those lawyers who gets inside your head and changes your entire way of thinking. And that's exactly what she did to Steve, using her powers to manipulate his mind.
And now he's going to pet stores going on a journey for some kind of animal companion. Natasha already had a cat that chorused between hissing and purring so you never knew if it was happy or not. She named it Clint for some reason, said it was a good cat name but Steve agreed to disagree.
Cats were a maybe, fish were to boring, hamsters are too much work, and birds are a hell no. But this particular pet store had a certain type of animal Steve had yet to explore. Dogs. Lots and lots of dogs. So surely Steve could find something here he liked.
A bell chimed when Steve opened the door to the shop, starting a chorus of barking and whines.
There were dogs beyond the eye could see, little pups scratching at their glass cells, and average to large dogs set up in bigger wire cages. Obviously, Steve wanted to see the big dogs, so he made his way past the glass cages. He almost made it to, until his eye caught the most heart-melting set of puppies that raced over each other towards Steve. How could he say no? They whined and pawed gently at the glass as Steve approached, climbing over each over in eagerness. There were 5 of them, golden little Labradors following Steve's every movement.
He knelt down and placed a hand on the glass, watching as the pups followed the action. They licked at the glass where his palm was, following as Steve moved his hand around. Sooner than later Steve put both hands on the glass, the puppies splitting up adorably to paw at each hand. One pup just looked from hand to hand as he stood between them, looking at Steve confusedly, sending a feeling of mixed happiness and excitement through Steve's brain. He laughed absently before catching a glimpse of something black stir in the cage. It seemed to be another pup!
This one was asleep, burying itself deeper into the puppy blanket. Steve tapped on the glass and the puppy woke up, but this one just squinted at Steve, it was kind of a curious but aggressive gesture. Then the puppy struggled to get up, falling over once before stumbling it's way over to the glass. This one was smaller then the other ones, completely jet black in color, but eyes a shiny steel blue. It was only when the small pup jumped up onto one of its siblings, did Steve realize the pup was missing a front leg.
Steve's heart had completely melted, the little black pup struggling to get to Steve. It gave a bark instead of a whine, starting to wag its little puppy tail. Now the little pup was excited, jumping up and down with its brothers and sisters, whining in unison. The clerk had noticed Steve had found the puppy section, making her way over to open up the glass container for him. She lifted one of the golden ones out, happily giving it to Steve. He greatly accepted it and held this one close, the pup licking Steve's hand consistently.
The black puppy gave an ugly bark, then it barked again, trying to signal Steve's attention. Of course Steve looked back, a little frown forming on his face. It whined loudly before howling, all the while pawing at the glass with its one front paw.
Steve shook his head absently, holding the golden pup away from him. "How much is the black one?"
The clerk's eyes went a bit wide as she responded, "Oh the black one, you don't want that one. Sure he can't walk that well, but he rips apart every blanket we put in there! That one's a real trouble maker. It's a shame he might have to get put down one day."
Steve's heart literally skipped a beat at her words, he just couldn't take it. Every puppy should have a chance to get a good home. Steve instructed for the clerk to take out the black one. At first, she struggled to catch the pup as he fell over failing to run away. He bit at her hands as she lifted him up and was carefully given to Steve, the golden one being taken back.
Steve held the little boy pup close. He stared Steve in his eye's before he growled playfully, wagging his tail and biting at Steve's thumb. One of the happiest smiles grew on Steve's face and at that moment he knew which one he was getting.
~
"Bucky! Bucky no," Steve failed to push the black puppy back into the passengers seat, as they were driving down the road. Bucky was the name Steve decided on for his puppy, and Bucky quickly remembered it, still he was just a defiant little thing.
Bucky climbed into Steve's lap, growling at Steve for not playing with him. Steve already told the pup he had to focus on the road, but Bucky wouldn't have it. He bit experimentally at Steve's thigh, hoping pain would make Steve play. It didn't hurt one bit. But Steve laughed and pretended like it hurt. This made Bucky whine, the black pup lifting up off its haunches to put a fluffly little paw on Steve's stomach, jumping up to try and lick Steve's face.
It only took the pup a couple more tries until he actually fell over. Steve deprived the wheel of one hand long enough to lift Bucky back over to the passengers side. He growled at this, struggling to run towards Steve and jump onto the console. Steve just gave up, helping Bucky over to his side.
The little pup was content with this, sitting square onto Steve's lap, watching Steve's eyes as they focused on the road. It only took about 10 seconds before the little pup began to growl.