[cityscape] [a derp crew superhero au kinda]

18 years, and a boy no longer

heck yeah filler chapter to fill the void between chapters. This one is a little wordy compared to the others too and i apologize for that!!!

--

Anthony is a pretty big fan of animals. He can't deny this no matter how hard he tries. He's not trying to sound narcissistic, but the idea of naming a dog or a ferret after him sounds absolutely adorable. Though... he does go by Galm for a reason, simply because the name Anthony is far too common in this city.

Anthony (henceforth referred to as Galm) doesn't want to put any other creature, animal or not, through that kind of torture. That's precisely why he took up this job. 

He's currently sitting in what had been dubbed “the snugglepit” by one of his coworkers. This is simply where they sit with the rescue dogs or puppies and try to get them to open up. It's a vital process to get them to a proper family, not to mention that it's also kinda just a necessary thing in general? Like… it's good for the dogs. It makes people's hearts happy, and it usually makes the dogs happy too.

It's also good for the cats, but cats don't get along very well with Galm so they avoid each other. Right now, he's sitting with a small chihuahua named Snooter. Galm has no idea who names their chihuahua that, but he isn't in any position to question it.

"Snoots, come on," Galm coos, voice soft and as gentle as possible. They had been sitting together in the pit, Galm trying to coax him into coming outside the pit. Snoots has been making some real good progress, and his boss suggested trying to walk the little guy, to see if he's made enough of a recovery to be set up for a foster home, or maybe even adoption.

So, since Galm's lunch break is coming up, Galm decided to walk him down to the McDonald's down the street. It takes a bit of coaxing, but Snoots is placed in a harness, all leashed up and ready to go. There's even a little bowtie around the dog's neck, partially to cover up a particularly nasty scar and also because he looks good as fuck in green.

Man, Galm's so good at this.

They say goodbye to the other workers and animals, and step out into the world. There's no noticeable change in Snoot's behaviour, Galm notes with a smile. He's sniffing and wagging his tail, just like the dog he is. Galm leads him down the block, across the street and down a little more. He walks up to the McDonald's and is about to open the door when he comes to a concerning realization.

It's empty.  Either there's literally zero other customers here, or it's just closed. Considering that it's half past two on a Friday afternoon, however....

Galm sighs. He really wanted a milkshake. And Considering the only other place serving milkshakes is closed today too, he'll have to settle for some other food. Not that McDonald's has anything good, anyways. It's cheap, satisfyingly greasy and close. What more could he ask for?

"Come on, Snot," Galm grumbles. "We'll just stop at the convenience store on the way back and buy some chips. Fuck fast food!" He tugs lightly on the leash, a signal to the dog to come back onto the sidewalk.

They turn around and head back down the sidewalk, weaving in and out of random passerby. There's the few who stop to compliment Snooter and his lovely bowtie. They make it to the small building, Galm lifting the tiny, shaky dog into his jacket so they don't get yelled at. That, and it's oddly cold in here. Who puts the air conditioning on this low? It feels like Galm just walked into a freezer, for fuck's sake!

He goes to the aisle full of chips and other snacks that are all probably far too unhealthy to be consumed in one sitting together. Galm begins by taking two bags of chips off the shelf, followed by a package of cookies, a bag of graham crackers, and even a package of cheap instant noodles. It's a bit hard to hold all his snacks with an entire dog (albeit a small one) in his jacket, though. He isn't even sure if he can eat all this junk by himself, but he's positive he'll make do one way or another.