Mae was doing good at acting like everything was okay. She went to work, she came home and cooked, and she generally let life return to ‘’normal’. But under the surface, anxiety had started to form and it wouldn’t let go.

Her brain reminded her of the fight in the apartment, of the feeling of yelling and not being able to get help. She remembered the boat, and the water, the helpless frustration when she wanted to keep her other half safe. In the end, she was aware more than ever there was a risk with her powers. She couldn’t hear the outside world when she slept... and that was bad.

The end result was Mae found her way to the animal shelter, scanning the different dogs they had available. The idea clicked unexpectedly when she was at work, and her coworker has walked up next to her. Her sudden jump made the girl sign and put a hand on Mae’s shoulder.

“Have you considered getting a pet? I heard it helps with anxiety. You haven’t been the same since you broke your arm...” she hadn’t questioned all the details, but seemed to understand it had been less than friendly circumstances.

Mae shook her head, ”I hadn’t thought of that... maybe I’ll stop by the shelter after work. It’s not a bad idea.”

Now, she was staring at dogs. Big dogs. Small dogs. Fluffy dogs that shook fur loose every time they walked. Tall dogs that could knock her over with one jump.

Then, she found one kennel near the back, with a square faced mutt, floppy ears, short fur, a happy tail. They made eye contact, and she knew. He was going home with her.

“You can’t have that one.”

”why?!” Mae was astounded by the comment. The attendee signed unhappily.

“Been here too long. Bring put down today. Paper work already filed. Nothing I can do.”

Nothing they could do.

Mae walked back, standing in front of the kennel and frowning. She scowled, she looked around, and then she reached out her powers for the electronic lock.

Whoops, power outage. She casually unclicked the manual lever and caught the big beauty by the scruff of his neck.

”We’re making a jail break buddy. Come on.”

She kept her powers full strength as they moved toward the side door, taking a long way to an exit. With her powers muting their movements, they managed to slip out the front, then, booked it. The dog seemed to sense what was happening and stayed right by her side, tongue hanging out of his mouth in a delighted expression.

By the time she was back at the apartment she had a moment to really process what she had done. She sank into the couch, and the giant dog climbed into her lap and practically squashed her.

Oh, Seven was going to be...surprised.

Things had returned to normal, or as normal as they could be after the whole ordeal with Mae's kidnapping. Seven had been more on edge ever since then, jumping at every stray sound and never really feeling alone or at peace, even when they were. Having to face off with someone they couldn't see really did a number on them, as did almost losing Mae.

As a result, Seven's head hadn't really been in the game as of late. Especially today. There were several close calls just because they hadn't fully been able to focus. As it stood, they were a little beaten up when they walked into the door; there were thankfully no injuries to their face, but their shirt had been torn, there were cuts scattered about their arms and legs, and there was a rip in their pants where they'd gotten caught on a fire escape.

They opened the door to their apartment and trudged inside with a groan. "Hey Mae," the grumbled, walking past Mae and the overgrown dog on the way to their room. They grabbed everything they needed for a shower, and then made their way to the bathroom, stripping naked and doctoring what scratches they had, then starting the water and getting ready to step inside. However as soon as they pulled the curtain aside....

Wait a minute...

Seven walked back into the living room, stark naked, and looked at Mae, then at the horse-sized dog in her lap. "I'm not crazy, right? You got a dog," they said flatly, looking at the big guy.

"They're cute. Got a name yet?"

Mae heard the door open, and watched as Seven entered looking worse for wear. Her initial concern grew when Seven continued on to get showered, cleaned up, and completely ignoring the fact Mae was currently hidden behind a dog heavy enough to make her legs go numb. The bathroom door shut, and both Mae and the mutt looked at each other.

"Maybe it's just a bad time," she commented thoughtfully.

Then, Seven reemerged, butt naked and yes, there were quite a few injuries. Mae looked at the dog, and the dog looked back. "I mean, I'm pretty sure it's a dog. Feels heavier right now. And no name. Right now it's name is just getoffme." The dog gave her a lick across the face that resulted in a good deal of sputtering.

"I, uh, may have...stolen it. From death row. Puppy jail. It's ours now. No take backs. Sorrynotsorry." She peeked over the giant dogs shoulders with look that clearly said 'notsorry' was the stronger statement.

"You stole a dog?" they said with a smirk. "Careful there, Babe. I think I'm starting to corrupt you," they teased lightly, thoughtfully folding their arms across their chest. "Honestly...I think we could use a dog. It'd be nice to have around. Companionship, extra protection, that kind of thing..."

The dog was a bit...slobbery. And freaking huge but...Seven had to admit they weren't the least bit opposed to this idea. They made their way over to the couch, leaning over the dog and planting a kiss on Mae's lips. "I think this was a good idea. And if they were gonna put the dog down anyway, you just saved them some trouble, is all." With that, they made their way back to the shower, wasting little time in getting clean. Once done, they threw on a large shirt as they usually did, and squeezed onto the sofa beside the dog and their girlfriend.

"So...names. Lucky, Blackjack, Jackpot, 8-Ball, Persephone--wait..." They sort of maneuvered the dog to check its underside. "Okay so uhm...Persephone is out," they said, brushing their hair from their face.

Mae pretended to look embarrassed for all of five seconds, then grinned looking awful pleased with herself. "It was a regular jailbreak! Although, disabling a really crappy lock and just walking out the front door isn't so epic. I just, I don't know. They felt like the right one." Mae gave the giant boy a rough scratch behind the ears. His tail thumped happily.

Mae accepted the kiss, now greeted by both her housemates. The apartment was feeling less lonely, and more crowded in a cozy/homelike way. She enjoyed it. She managed to maneuver the dog to a spot next to her by the time Seven returned, and snuggled back up against them. The dog flopped over to join the cuddling like it had been there all along.

Then she thought about the names. "Honestly, I'm kinda digging Blackjack. It was like taking a gamble to get him. And..." She paused, letting a little more of the seriousness settle into the conversation. "After what happened, having a dog seemed like a good idea. He won't be able to hear in the bubble, but dogs can also smell really well, so he would pick up on intruders even without sounds... And, it feels nice knowing someone will watch the house when we're gone so...It's safe. You know?"

Neither of them had said much about the anxiety they had faced. Life had just sort of gone on because it had to.

"I feel like you did a better job than I would have. I'm not built for that kind of thing. My way of getting out would have probably scarred him for life," Seven answered with a shrug. Their arm wrapped around Mae as she snuggled close--and Seven snorted when they were joined by the dog. "I like Blackjack. I think he'll fit right in," they said with a nod and a smile; seeing the dog felt like a burden had been lifted off of Seven's shoulders, if only temporarily.

"Yeah, I know. I've been off my game for awhile because I've been worrying," they admitted softly. "Fighting that invisible prick really ****ed me up, ya know? But...in a sense it's not a bad thing because I didn't used to let things like that bother me but I didn't care what happened to me. If it was my time then so be it." They kissed Mae's temple.

"But now I have a reason to live; I'm not just surviving. I have someone I care about for once. I think Blackjack will be the perfect addition to this ****ed up little family," Seven murmured with a chuckle. They wrapped their arm around Mae's waist, snuggling closer despite the overgrown dog that now took over the couch.

Mae was in the middle of a cuddle pile and it was getting warm very quickly. She could not resist the enveloping affection though. Seven speaking behind her made her heart do little spins and flip flops inside her chest. She breathed happily and sighed. "I'm glad you're okay with this. I know it was sort of a last minute thing. But, we have too much stress. Maybe this will help."

Then she sort of looked at the giant dog and realized there were other new problems that had arisen. "I didn't have time to find supplies though. Like, a leash. And a collar. And food. We should probably think of that. Otherwise I suspect he will have his own ideas what he wants to eat." Blackjack was already eyeing Mae's shoes like he felt one of them could be a great chew toy.

"Yeah. I'm glad you went and did this, Honey," they murmured softly, their voice unusually sweet. "I think this will be good for all three of us, honestly. I just...maybe soon I'll be able to get my nerve back. I just..haven't been able to focus because I worry about you...though that's not a bad thing! No. I mean...I care about you. You're by no means a weakness. You're the reason I can keep going right now."

Seven laughed, melting into Mae a little as she spoke. "You didn't think beyond the actual heist? Amateur." They re-positioned a little so Mae could see their face as they teasingly stuck out their tongue. "I'll go change and go get what we need in a minute, but....right now I just wanna stay here for a little while," they said, holding Mae close and kind of getting used to sharing Mae with a gargantuan dog.

After a few moments, Seven groaned and struggled to their feet, making their way to their room and just throwing on some random clothes; namely a pink hoodie that they were *sure* used to be white, a red tee shirt that they may or may not have washed with the hoodie(oops), and their usual cargo pants paired with the dirty white sneakers they always wore. They walked back over and gave Mae a goodbye nuzzle, and a good rough scritch for Blackjack, then headed out of the door, pulling their hood and headphones over their head.

The trip to the store was mostly uneventful, though every noise that wasn't a radio-frequency made them jumpy. Voices in the next aisle. Someone dropping a jar of pickles on the floor. Baby crying--actually that last one wasn't so bad, in comparison. Babies usually didn't signify danger. Unless you smelled them coming. They rushed down the aisles, overwhelmed by options on top of the prison that was their own mind.

When they finally came home; they had bags upon bags of stuff.

"I uh...didn't know what to get so I got a bunch of ****..." they said as they set everything on the table and started taking it out of the bags for Mae to go through: A few collars, leashes, toys, several kinds of food...enough for a *few* Blackjacks...

Seven was affectionate. It was nice. Mae didn't need encouragement to stay for a second and just enjoy the contact. It was strange to think that they had grown close enough for this after what just started as two dysfunctional roommates. Now they were, as the other called them, a 'family'.

She laughed at the 'amateur' jab, leaning over and kissing Seven's cheek. "Not all of us can have your amazing heist abilities. I can learn." Blackjack let his tail thump in agreement, and rolled over onto his back, squashing them more. It took a little bit, but Seven de-tangled from them and went to get ready. and Mae was left behind with her giant pet.

Seven returned with...what looked like the entire pet store. Mae came over and laughed, picking up a squeaky toy and throwing it to the dog, who caught it and pranced around with evident delight at the gift. "Well, at least you didn't forget anything. Hardest part will be getting used to taking him outside. First time he needs out at 3am I feel like we will regret this." She laughed.

Family. They'd used that word, and it felt...right. They'd started off as dysfunctional roommates but now Seven couldn't imagine things any other way.

When they'd gotten home their arms were loaded with bags; teleporting had been their friend on the way home, if one was being honest. "I figure we'll make use of this **** somehow. I have no idea what the **** I'm doing here, but...I haven't really known since you told me to date you," they said with a smirk, indicating that the verbal jab was playful. They liked to think they were doing okay here, in uncharted territory. Though they were becoming more and more comfortable every day. At least until Mae brought the dog home, but they were good at going with the flow. Usually.

"I'm normally up about that early anyway so that probably won't be too much of an issue," they said as they started taking things out of bags and sorting them on the table. Three different styles of collars: a basic black one with skulls, a black one with studs, and a white one with card suits on it. Three leashes: One of the retractable ones, a basic one, and a chain. Several types of food, a nice big food and water dish, brushes, shampoo, and toys. So many toys.

"Now...the real question is where are we gonna put all this ****?"

Not knowing what the hell they were doing did seem to be a running motto. True, Mae had been the one to ask if they could date, but she wasn't exactly in familiar territory herself. Now there was even a dog involved. A very large, very energetic dog that was bouncing around the living room, flinging the toy in the air and catching it.

Looking over at the rest of the supplies, Mae considered it. "I have a bit of space in my room, the side table doesn't have anything in it, we could store some of it in there. Or we can get a bin for out here in the living room?" There really was just the bookshelf and tables out here. Heck, they might be able to get a container and stash it under the coffee table.

"The food is the only thing we will want a safe spot for. I have a suspicion any place accessible will be an invitation for him to have a dog food buffet." She collected a water dish to fill up and set it on the floor. Blackjack bounded over and started drinking from it, sloshing water all across the tile. Ah, they would need a towel out here it seemed. Noted.