counting stars

Owen tapped his foot lightly on the ground as he waited for Jackson to join him again. And when he finally did, he let out a soft laugh in reply. "It's about time," he teased him, although it obviously hadn't been that long. "I was beginning to think Bigfoot had finally shown himself to you and you had ditched me to watch the fireworks with him instead." At Jackson's question, he hummed. "I think... we go get ourselves a good spot and wait it out," he decided. "Besides, I kinda had something I wanted to talk to you about, so we can keep ourselves busy until the show starts, I'm sure." He lifted a hand up to cup Jackson's face, leaning in to press a series of soft kisses to his lips. "Sound like a plan?" he grinned against his lips before pulling back, gently taking the cooler from him and holding it against his own hip instead, his free hand grabbing for Jackson's and threading their fingers together.

Jackson huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. "Bigfoot? Really? I'd at least introduce you before running off with him," he shot back, giving Owen a playful bump with his shoulder. "Seems rude otherwise."

Glad I could help boost your cryptid confidence. Personally still think that scouting the perimeter would count as actively searching, but I've done all that I could and will just support you with whatever you choose to do. Maybe you'll get lucky and find that it was actually an alien that fell out of it's UFO.

Okay, fine — maybe scouting the perimeter is still technically searching, but it’s lowkey searching. It’s totally different. I’m just being respectful of his personal space while also casually checking if he left any other clues to his whereabouts. Totally normal stuff. But you know what? An alien that fell out of a UFO is actually a solid theory. I’m adding that to the list.

Multiple trail cams, overlapping angles, high-def night vision, the works. Although that does seem like it would get pretty pricy, pretty quickly, hmmm. My sense of adventure is mostly limited to tent camping in the woods where bears are NOT, but I could probably be convinced, the more my caseload starts to pile up at work, ha.

I get the whole “I have dogs and a will to live” thing but “Yeah I sat in my backyard and watched grainy footage” doesn’t hit the same as “yeah we almost shat ourselves when we heard something huge moving through the trees.” Work’s piling up though, huh? That just means you need this even more. Fresh air, possible cryptid sighting... I’m telling you, this is basically self-care.

Of course, I’m happy to help! Honestly, I always like getting to make something a little more specific for people instead of just general pieces, it makes it feel more personal. So yeah, I’ll put a few ideas together and we can go from there and then I'll let you know when I’ve got them ready for you to look. From there, you can pick what feels right for her!

Sounds good! I really appreciate you taking the time to do this, Tina. For real. It’ll mean a lot to Amber. Whenever you’ve got some stuff put together, hit me up and I’ll come by the boutique to check it out. Thanks again, I owe you one.

No. Absolutely not. Honestly, bro? Even on the super tiny, miniscule chance that your fave big, hairy man actually exists somewhere out there in the woods, I'm convinced that he's probably scared of you at this point and is probs avoiding you at all costs.

You and Julia are seriously no fun at all, you know that? You say he’s avoiding me like that’s supposed to discourage me? Nah, that just means I’m getting closer. If Bigfoot’s out here dodging me specifically, that’s basically confirmation at this point.

I'm generally always up for a hike, my dude, but I also have a healthy sense of self preservation. How massive are we talking, here? I have two dogs and a will to live, seems like it might just be safer to set up a trail cam.

Trail cam is smart and all, but you know those things only catch like half the action. Where’s your sense of adventure, man? We’ll bring bear spray and everything, it'll be fine.

At this point, I feel like even if bigfoot is hanging out in the wilderness of Pennsylvania, he's probably actively hiding from you. Truly, I wish you could find him and live out the movie Harry and the Hendersons, but maybe you should just stop chasing him and give him space? Let him come to you, bro.

Dude, if Bigfoot is actively hiding from me, that means he knows I’m close. Which is basically a win in my book. But fine. Just so you know though, just because I give him his space, it doesn't mean I can't and won't go scout the perimeter.

Keep me posted. Hmm, I think I can work with all of that, it's definitely giving me ideas and it does help that I know her almost as well as you do, probably. I'll probably be working on my own ideas for her, too, of course. But I can't say much right out in the open. How about, I'll put together a few pieces and see what you think? Most of my work can be undone and re-modeled, at least with the jewelry. Sometimes with the clothing, depending on what the alterations were to start.

Sounds good to me! I trust your taste way more than mine anyway, so whatever ideas you come up with I’m sure Amber will love. And yeah, I get the whole “can’t say too much out in the open” thing. Surprise and all that. Just let me know when you’ve got some pieces put together and I’ll come by the boutique to check them out. I really appreciate you doing this, by the way.

Well, Owen seems to be a pet whisperer, maybe he can channel it towards wildlife, too? Make it kind of a team effort thing. Couples animal therapy...nevermind that sounds weird, moving on! And of course, her birthday is just a couple months away! What do you have in mind?

We'll see if Owen can work his magic. As for Amber, that’s the thing—I have absolutely no idea what to get her. Maybe some kind of statement jewelry? Maybe big dramatic earrings or a necklace with like theater masks or something sparkly? Or is that too much? I'm the worst at this, I'm telling you.

Is there something that raccoons would eat that other wild animals wouldn't? I've only really seen videos of what people put out, but for the most part all that they eat also attracts opossoms and skunks, possibly even stray cats. Which, at least with the cats Owen could take them to the shelter!

Yeah, honestly I’m not entirely sure. I know the basics from training, but I’m definitely no wildlife whisperer. I’ll figure something out though, I’m sure. Hey, I actually had a question for you. Is there any way I could commission you for a birthday gift for Amber?

Yeah, I'd say best bet might be to just set up a small feeding station and hope for the best? But honestly, how could it have been a bad impression when you clearly didn't act malicious or anything towards him? Sure you might have startled him in an unsuspecting moment, but you didn't shoo him away, at least, or worse.

You're probably right — I didn't chase him off or anything, so maybe we're cool. Though, maybe I'll leave some kind of peace offering that doesn't tempt other wildlife to take up residence instead. As much as my fiancé would love that, I don't think we have the space for a full blown sanctuary.

Okay, but what if it was less of a standoff and more like you interrupted him mid-task and he was waiting to see what you were going to do. Like you were the unpredictable one in that situation. Also, raccoons can actually remember faces, so if you suddenly start finding your trash left alone or, like, weirdly organized, I’d take that as a sign you made a good impression.

The facial recognition thing is exactly why I’m concerned! That’s high-level intelligence. And now I’m worried about the flip side—if I actually made a bad impression, am I going to get pranked? Are my car keys going to end up in a storm drain? I feel like I need to start leaving out "peace offerings" just to stay on his good side.

It depends on what happens next. It could go either way, really. Very much depends on if the raccoon decides you're friend or foe.

Well, seeing as how he's seemingly taken up residence in my trash, I"m taking that as a good sign?