"Hey, man, don't put that responsibility on me," Russell says, laughing and holding his hands up before he unlocks the cruiser, then goes around to the back so he can open the door to let Reid put the cat carrier inside. He does feel a little bit responsible for this, like maybe he should have tried harder to talk Reid out of it, but it had happened to suddenly and he isn't even sure if he had time to convince his partner it's a bad idea. It might not even be a bad idea when they get down to it. Maybe his burly boyfriend won't care one way or the other or maybe he's just a big goddamn softy and won't say a word even if he hates cats. Whatever the case, Russell doubts this sort of thing is going to end their relationship and he's grateful for that, because he'd feel a little bit like it was his fault if it did.

"C'mon, man, get in. I'll drive you home and get outta there like a bat out of hell before your bookstore guy can decide I'm the one who talked you into getting these," he says, nodding toward the front seat before he slides behind the wheel and turns on the car. He misses having a regular partner, but the new guy, someone named Will, he's supposed to start soon and Russell is looking forward to having someone else to sit in the cruiser with him. It's always better having someone else on board for patrol.

In the back seat, the cats are surprisingly quiet as Russell heads back toward the park. It's not that far a drive and he hopes Reid isn't nervous, because there sure as hell isn't much time for him to collect himself before Russell is pulling alongside Petros Park. The bookstore is only a block or two away and he glances over, his mouth twitching up into a grin. "You ready for this?"