The Weirdest And The Wildest

jack 100% starts taking ranger on his morning runs after shift, he wants to keep his boy healthy!!

it’s almost a daily thing—jack running shirtless in the early morning sun, ranger running alongside him. sweat runs down jack’s front & back, his curls are slightly darker at his nape & temples from sweat.

he’s standing in the middle of the path, hands on his hips as he catches his breath. ranger immediately sits down next to him—tongue out as he pants softly, looking up at jack like he’s waiting to know what’s happening next—maybe his next command.

jack looks down at him with a smile, huffing a tired breath out before patting ranger’s large head; “I know bud, almost done. let’s find our tree & then we’ll sit.”

so they start jogging again—ranger moves the second jack does, pulling ahead of him just the slightest. enough that jack looks over at him & breathes out a soft; “fuss”, a command ranger knows without having to think—asking him to heel & keep at his side.

ranger adjusts immediately.

the sound of jack’s blade prosthesis hitting the ground below him echoes around them—helping his residual limp bounce back with a force that matches close enough to the force of his good leg.

when they reach the tree they always end their morning runs at—jack stands with his hands on his hips again, looking around at the city coming to life around them. ranger pushes his nose into jack’s good leg once.

jack looks down, brows raised; “what?”, he smiles, shaking his head; “you wanna go play?”

ranger doesn’t blink, tongue still out—sitting & waiting so patiently.

jack bends down with a grunt & unclips ranger’s leash, ruffling his fur once; “go ahead.”

ranger takes off the second the words leave jack’s mouth, leaving jack laughing as he settles with his back against the tree.

he lets his eyes close as he focuses on catching his breath. he doesn’t know how long he keeps them closed, but the sun against him suddenly feels warmer—& he realizes ranger hasn’t been back to check in with him like he usually does. wherever jack is, ranger is never far.

jack doesn’t panic, just peels his eyes open & let’s his gaze wander until they settle on ranger’s large frame; halfway across the field.

he’s by reader, nudging at their legs & switching between sitting patiently & moving around them.

jack can’t hear what reader says, but he’s sure “where’s your owner?” is going through their mind.

“ranger!”, jack calls out; “hier!”

ranger’s eyes flick from reader to jack immediately, his body moving to follow the command. but the second of hesitation is there—jack doesn’t miss it.

when ranger reaches jack he nuzzles his head into his lap between his legs, jack’s hands coming up to pet both sides of his head behind his ears; “what were you up to, huh?”, jack rasps out.

it takes him a second to register the new shadow standing over them, but when he does he looks up.

reader’s standing there with soft eyes & a smile on their face.

“this your dog?”, they ask.

ranger turns at the sound of the newly familiar voice, trotting over to stand next to you immediately.

“well he was”, jack chuckles; “seems like he likes you more.”

reader laughs with a shrug; “he’s just curious.”

jack realizes then that reader isn’t even looking at him.

normally on his morning runs, women couldn’t keep their eyes off of him when he didn’t wear a shirt. but reader’s not even looking at him. that’s what gets him first, what draws him to reader. their focus is entirely on ranger, who’s nudging at their pocket now.

“ranger”, jack tsks, making the dog grunt at him, casting him a sideways glance but not moving.

reader’s face flashes in realization; “oh!”, they say, reaching into their pocket; “he probably smells these.”

reader bends down then, holding a treat out in their palm; “is it ok if he has one?”

jack nods softly; “yeah. just tell him ‘sitz’”

so reader does, & ranger sits.

“good boy”, reader says, & let’s ranger take the treat from their hand.

a moment of silence passes before reader turns to jack; “all his commands in german?”

jack nods, breathing just back on the cusp of normal, but for some reason—his heart’s still beating too fast; “yeah. retired k-9. took me a while to learn them all.”

reader nods, petting behind ranger’s ears the same way jack had been moments before. jack smirks as a thought passes through his head.

“you always carry dog treats in your pockets?”

reader laughs softly; “i’m a dog walker. just stopped by on my way home from a morning client. i like to watch the morning sun.”

& oh jack’s heart skips a beat, because he does too.

“what about you?….”, reader trails off & jack realizes their waiting for his name.

“jack” he says; “my name’s jack.”

“well jack…what do you do when you aren’t keeping ranger in line?”

that makes a laugh escape him, completely out of his control. completely dangerous.

“doctor. night shift attending across the street”, jack points to the PTMC across the road from them.

reader’s brows go up; “oh? a doctor huh?”

“what?”

“nothing”, reader chuckles; “just figured you’d be like a body builder or something.”

pink heat rushes up jack’s neck to the tips of his ears, suddenly aware how bare his chest is.

“i’m kidding”, reader teases; “…maybe.”

when ranger finally makes his way back to lay next to jack, reader stands, brushing their legs off.

“well jack”, they say, “it’s was nice meeting you both. maybe we could do it again sometime?”

jack freezes.

“i’d love to hear more about him. he’s a good dog.”

jack smiles at the pup pressed into his legs; “yeah…yeah he is.”

then as if the rest of reader’s sentence hits him, he snaps his head back up; “but yeah! we can definitely do that…we’d uh, we’d like that a lot.”

so they exchange phone numbers, & when reader lets her hand linger on jack’s bicep for a moment before they turn to leave—morning sun casting an angelic light over them, jack’s heart skips a beat.