#smts

You woke to knocking on your front door, sitting up suddenly with a sense of disorientation. You felt gross and sticky, clothes clinging to your body in uncomfortable ways. You swiped at the dried drool track down your chin and hopped out of bed with a nearly panicked energy, though you weren't certain why. Rowdy rolled off of your chest and onto the bed as you shifted to your feet, but otherwise he didn't pay much attention.

You pulled open your door to the sound of Rowdy yawning behind you and stared with wide glassy eyes at the man before you. Gustafa stood there, staring back silently with his hands in his pockets. His gaze shifted up to your hair, then back behind his purple shades, and you smoothed your hand over your hair self-consciously. Just as you expected, it was wildly unkept.

"Oh my Goddess." You broke the silence, grabbing your hair in your fist while Gustafa just broke into a smile.

"You forgot?" He asked calmly and you were so relieved he at least didn't sound hurt.

"No, I took a small nap cause I felt so exhausted after meeting Carter and I--"

"Slept too long?" Gustafa's grin was even wider.

You dropped your hand in defeat. "Slept too long..." You confirmed, disappointed in yourself. You turned on your heel back into your house, waving Gustafa in after you. "Come in while I get ready. I'm so sorry for this." You called over your shoulder, opening your dresser to collect a suitable outfit for your activity.

"Carter is a bit excitable." Gustafa's continued, voice resonating a little bit louder as he entered your home.

You scoffed. "You're telling me." You took your clothes into your bathroom, closing the door behind you. You still called out to Gustafa casually through the door as you began to undress.

"So, are you excited?" You asked, taking a moment to scrub the sleep sweat from your face off with a rag.

There was a contemplative pause before he replied. "Well, in a way I am. The mysterious nature of where you intend to take me is exciting."

You chuckled in response, dressing up quickly and brushing through your hair. "Well we're going to keep it that way." You stated happily, finishing up your preparation and exiting your bathroom to find Gustafa sitting on the edge of your bed with Rowdy in his lap.

He looked up at you and shrugged. "He licked my hand, I couldn't resist."

You grinned in return. "Understandable."

"We can bring him with if you want. The only time he gets to get out and play is on the farm, so I'm sure he'd love this."

Gustafa raised his eyebrows pointedly, stroking the small dog. "So we will be outside at this mystery destination. Good to know."

You snorted and shook your head as Gustafa burst into a happy smile. "Yeah, yeah, okay it's outside that's correct." You threw over your shoulder as you turned to grab Rowdy's leash, aka a long piece of white rope. You turned back to the two boys and found Gustafa still cheesing at you relentlessly. You rolled your eyes, amused, and stooped down to tie the leash around Rowdy's collar while Gustafa held him still.

"You know, you shouldn't have him on your lap." You bit your lip for a moment. "Well, who am I to talk really... The point is, he's going to be a pretty muscular dog when he grows up. Not huge, medium in size really, but heavy as all get out. If you have him in your lap, he'll get used to it."

"You say that as if I'll be around often enough to make this a habit." Gustafa muttered, and you had to pause for a second at his tone.

You ended up just shrugging in reply, and very confidently stating, "Yes, you will." You picked up Rowdy out of Gustafa's lap, scratching him behind the ears as you stared at the ground. The air between the two of you seemed to have shifted suddenly, into a space of tension; and yet, you couldn't figure out why it all felt so tense. You just knew you wanted Gustafa around for a long time, but at the same time you had no clue what Gustafa might want.

"Won't you?" Your voice was soft as the question came out, the silence afterwards growing painfully long. The clench in your chest was all the proof you needed that you really did want Gustafa around. Even if the other villagers lost interest, you thought maybe... You'd be okay with only Gustafa's companionship.

"Yeah, I will." Gustafa snapped you out of your thoughts and you looked up at him again, finding him standing in front of you now, smiling. You stared up at him for a long moment, chest thumping chaotically in your chest, and smiled back.

"Good."

Rowdy wriggled from your grasp then, hopping to the ground to run around excitedly. He stopped and yipped at the two of you. You laughed and bent down to grab his leash.