“So is this the place?”

The next day, Shark and Sinbad were standing outside what was to be their new home. Given the tone of Shark’s voice, he seemed a bit disappointed.

“Yup, this is it,” Sinbad answered him. “It ain’t exactly Buckingham Palace, but given the other houses on the market, this was the best choice.”

“You mean, better than all the swamp houses, right?”

Shark’s inquiry was first answered with Sinbad giving a shrug and grunting, before giving a proper answer.

“There’s that, yeah.”

“Also, one of the houses I looked into had a dead body in it.”

Shark tried not to freak out at that admission. “Really? Who was it?”

“You remember that kooky old lady that used to be one of your neighbors? From what I hear, her daughter shanked her and hid the body there.”

“Yikes…I knew that old woman tended to be a bit overprotective, but wow…”

“Yeah, so…be glad I didn’t choose that one. Yeah, it could be worse, I know.”

Sinbad then paused, before uncrossing his arms. “Let’s just get inside. The dogs are probably already shedding on everything.”

With that, the two men headed into their new home.

As expected, Sagebear and Faridah had more or less already laid claim to the living room. Not that it was anything super spectacular at this point.

Simply staring at the bare plywood floor was something of an eyesore. The couch, television, and dog toy crate did little to help. However, Sinbad told himself that a rug or two would surely help with that particular issue.

“It could be worse,” Shark said after a little while. “At least we have a lot of extra room to work with, right? Get some pictures, maybe some paintings…”

Then he trailed off.

Sagebear, meanwhile, was eyeing the couch rather intently now. It appeared she had found her desired sleeping spot. All she had to do to mark it as hers was shed and possibly urinate on it.

Her daughter could find her own place to sleep, anyway. There were plenty of spaces a tiny puppy could curl up in for afternoon nap time.

In an effort to brighten the dampening mood, Sinbad made his way to the kitchenette right next to them.

“How about you check the second floor, man?” He asked of his husband. “I’m gonna stay down here and try to break in my new toys.”

Shark just made a noise while nodding, and wandered through the living room to the stairs.

As he went up, Shark looked briefly over at the computer situated on a desk shoved up against the wall. It appeared all of them had scraped together enough money to get some kind of working model.

Shark kept it in mind for if he needed to contact one of the relatives via email or instant messaging.

Upon reaching the second floor, Shark was almost taken aback at just how large and empty this room was.

Rather than be unnerved by it, however, he kept walking to the door on the left.

Although the next room he entered was much smaller, it was also much more welcoming.

He couldn’t help but crack a little smile at the very different decorations already up on the wall. It was rather puzzling to think that they’d already been there before moving in, but he tried not to think too hard about it.

“I guess this place isn’t too bad…” Shark then went quiet as he could hear some faint noises from downstairs.

Faridah had somehow gotten hold of one of her new squeaky toys, and was chewing happily away on it.

And Sinbad was already at work making dinner.

Shark couldn’t hear Sagebear, but he assumed that maybe she was still in her spot, or even just laying down.

Laying down sounded like a good idea about now. Shark ended up then laying onto the bed, and closing his eyes.

The bed was certainly comfortable. He was sure it had to be if he and Sinbad were to be doing their sleeping on it, along with more adult activities.

Trying to get his mind to settle down, Shark then curled up on the blanket, and felt himself drifting off in no time.