Tattooed

Park Friend

Gren gave a sigh of relief as he sat himself on his usual park bench, his cup of coffee in his hands as Ginger sits at his feet with her head resting on top of her paws. It was rare for him to leave the bookshop so early in the day, but hardly anyone had came so he decided to take a break and come to the park for a bit and have some coffee and time to think. Right now he was still trying to process the events of the other night during his birthday celebration.

Since then he ended up befriending Amaya's friends and coworkers, and they would often come around to his shop to say hi and browse the place, which was nice. And he was actually quite happy about it, glad to see so many different people he'd never dream of meeting getting along so well with his own friends.

And as he promised Amaya, he opened his present when he got home later that night. It was a pair of dark red hoodies, one meant for him and the other was a smaller one meant for Ginger to match with him, which he found quite touching and immediately put his on before putting Ginger in hers. Of course he had to send a picture of it to Amaya with the caption "it fits!" to let her know he loved it. Right now they were both wearing the hoodies, though Gren was wearing his under his winter coat. Ginger seemed to enjoy it, especially since she wasn't really a big fan of putting on dog sized clothes and just tolerated certain outfits and bandanas Gren would put on her.

"You really liked that don't you?" He asks the corgi. "Is it because Amaya bought it for you?"

Ginger responds to this with a single bark before getting up and tugging at her leash, wanting to go off running. The park seemed empty right now, save for the random jogger and a pair of women pushing two strollers around the place, so maybe it wouldn't hurt to let her off the leash for a bit and run some circles, and he could always whistle for her to return if he decided she had been off leash long enough.

"Okay, behave yourself now and don't mess up your sweater." He says as he kneels down to unclip the leash from her harness before giving the corgi a little push. "And do not approach strangers either, you hear me?"

Ginger gave another bark before taking off. Gren sits back on the bench, watching his dog become a small zooming figure that darted around the thin layer of frosted grass.

I should really thank Amaya for this, like actually thank her in person instead of over text. Gren thought as he picks up his cup of coffee to give it a sip, enjoying the warmth that was spreading down his throat. At least for both the sweaters and -

Gren was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of a two dogs barking in the distance. He immediately jumps to his feet and whistled loudly, hoping the barking dogs were nowhere near Ginger. Where was she anyways? He whistles again, still getting no response.

"Ginger? Ginger!" He yells, abandoning his cup of coffee to run into the grass, frantically yelling for his dog.

He found Ginger with another dog, a large doberman, and the two seemed to be fighting over something. Well, Ginger seemed to be fighting, the doberman was just standing still and keeping an iron grip on whatever Ginger was trying to pull away from it. While Gren knew dobermans weren't violent dogs, he still couldn't help but feel worried every time Ginger got close to strange dogs that might not be as friendly as she was. This dog was holding what looked like a plush toy in its mouth and trying to gently pull it away from Ginger.

"Ginger let go, that's not yours!" Gren scolds as he hurries over to the two dogs. At the sound of her name, Ginger immediately releases the toy, allowing the doberman to yank its head up and step away from them. Gren immediately scoops the corgi up from the ground and steps away from the doberman, which made no attempt to follow, just laid down on the grass with the toy between its paws and watched Gren with a curious look in its eyes.

"Boris! Oh there you are!" Gren looks up to see a young woman with short dark hair wearing an aviator jacket rushing towards them. The doberman immediately jumps it it's feet and eagerly trots over to her, wagging it's stubby tail in excitement. "You didn't get into a fight did you? You know your daddy and I don't like it when you get into fights with other dogs at the park. Were you being a good boy?"

"Uh actually, my dog is just fine. Yours wasn't even growling at at her." Gren spoke up, gesturing to Ginger. "Sorry about that, I think they were just having some kind of tug of war fight with the toy."

"Figures, every time we go to the park he takes this with him and nearly ever dog seems to want to play with it." The girl laughs as she bends down to pry the toy from the dog's mouth to show him, a small black and white grinning cartoon character. "Guess Boris isn't the only doggy fan of Bendy."

"I guess." Gren agrees with a laugh. "Sorry about that. I promise Ginger won't do that again."

"It's fine, and lucky for you Boris is an absolute angel and wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm Reyna by the way."

"Gren." Gren extended his hand out to her to shake.

"Oh you must be my boyfriend's neighbor!" The girl says, her face lighting up. She must have seen the confused expression on Gren's face and quickly started to explain herself. "My boyfriend lives in the same apartment as you, he works at that medieval tournament arena, you may have seen him before. Kind of fluffy hair, a semi permanent frown on his face, dressed in yellow and black and rides a black horse, his name is Kasef."

"Oh- oh! I remember him! Dark hair pulled into a ponytail with fluffy bangs, kind of wears a stoic expression most of the time." Gren responds, finally understanding. "I officially met him at the bar Soren and I had our birthdays at, he mentioned you and your family. Is this your dog?"

"Nah, this is his dog." Reyna laughs as she ruffles the doberman's head affectionately. "He may look big and scary but he's a big baby like his human daddy, isn't that right Boris?"

"I got a bit worried when I caught them fighting over that toy, I wasn't sure if he was going to bite her to get it back."

"Oh Boris hardly ever fights other dogs if they take his toys, but if you get ahold of this one he'll clamp onto it like his life depends on it." As if to prove her point, she hands it back to the dog and grabbed it, only for him to immediately clamp his teeth tightly. "See? Never get between him and his Bendy toy, he loves it too much."

"That's...that's a demon." Gren comments, now getting a better look at the toy.

"Yeah, it's a character from a horror game." Reyna laughs. "A little present from me when Kasef and I actually started dating."

"I'm guessing you're his... soulmate? I recall one of his friends mentioning you at the party."

"Yeah I am, we met during one of the performances when he won that night's tournament and crowned me queen of love and beauty. It was absolutely the best night of my life."

Gren gives a laugh. "I'm sure he's mentioned that one night one of his coworkers flung three flowers at different occasions to the same person and crowned them in the same night?"

"Oh yes! He wouldn't stop laughing about it and said she kept claiming it was just a friend of hers." Reyna laughs. "Let me guess, you saw it happen?"

"Actually, I'm the guy who got the three flowers and the crown in the same night."

Reyna's eyes widened in surprise before she burst out laughing. "Oh my god, I can't believe it! Let me guess, that's how you found out you were Amaya's soulmate?"

"Uh... we're not soulmates. We're just friends." Gren admits as he puts Ginger back down on the grass. "Just friends."

"Really?

"Yeah, and I can't be her soulmate because...I don't have a...you know."

"My adopted dad doesn't have one, and neither did my mother." Reyna says with a shrug. "It's a rare thing to not have a soulmate mark, but it didn't stop my mother from trying to find love on her own instead of letting some random bit of ink tell her who she had to love. If she hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here. From what I've heard from Kasef and Janai, you and Amaya seem quite close. Who knows, maybe you two are actually meant to be together."

"Maybe." Gren says with a small smile. "I think I should probably get going, I have to get back to work. Nice knowing you."

"Don't give up yet, and this is coming from someone who gave up years ago on ever bothering you find her soulmate." Reyna says with a small laugh. "Come in Boris, say bye-bye to Ginger now."