It was the morning after their first encounter, and Mark was happily walking along the sidewalk with his two favorite dogs ever; Chica and Henry. He was walking them early this morning and decided to stop by Winchester Coffee, the small family owned coffee and bakery shop. He didn't want to leave them outside in the cold early morning, so he brought them in, and tied their leashes to the table closest to the door. Mark stuffed his gloves into his pocket and walked up to the small line before the counter, waiting patiently.

Jack couldn't function without coffee. So, like he did every day, he had gone down to Winchester Coffee to grab something to drink, and maybe a little snack. He was a regular there.

Wrapped in comfy clothes, Jack made his way toward the coffee shop. As he walked inside, he smiled a little when he saw two fluffy dogs tied to a table. He'd always loved dogs, and these two were especially cute. They looked like the type of dogs to attack you with licks and wagging tails. Jack got in line and waited for his turn to arrive at the counter.

When Mark reached the counter, he got some hot cocoa instead of his usual. He wasn't really in the mood for coffee just yet, but he did wake up every morning at the same time. Change was good, though. In his opinion, it was a bit too early for coffee, so maybe he'd stop that habit. But really, when was it not a time for coffee? He would probably have some later when he got to the Police Department, but for right now something warm like hot cocoa was fine for him.

It wasn't long before the barista behind the counter gave him his hot cocoa. He went and sat down at the table his pups were tied at, their tails wagging happily when they saw him returning. He gently pet their heads and started sipping his burning cocoa.

Jack ordered what he usually got, a cappucino, and this time he ordered a bagel to go with it. He gave the barista a smile as he recieved his food, walking over to a table and sitting down.

Mark smiled at his pups, and he couldn't resist reaching over and continuing to pet them. They were too adorable.. Chica and Henry both reached up and licked his hand, their tails wagging as they did so.

Jack yawned, running a hand through his hair as he took a sip of his coffee. He slipped out his phone and began to scroll through it, wondering what the morning buzz was like today.

Mark just looked around, a smile still on his face as he pet his pups. The pups in return continued to lick his hand. He took a sip of his cocoa and realized he saw Jack here, too. That just made him think about what the Chief wanted him to do. It was... well... weird, to say the least, since he had actually talked with him and met him. Jack really didn't seem like the kind of guy to hack into people's business, but they had only met once. Why did his thoughts keep returning to that? He distracted himself, thinking about Jack instead of the case.

Jack glanced up from his phone, having a weird feeling someone was looking at him. He looked around before seeing Mark in the coffee shop with him, and he was the one who was looking at him. Smiling a little, he waved in greeting before taking another sip of his coffee and going back to his phone. Hopefully his acting was enough to keep him from being suspicious to the Lieutenant.

Mark waved back, then looked back down at his dogs. He was still thinking about the whole thing. He really didn't think Jack was a hacker. He just pet Henry and Chica more, drinking his nice hot cocoa, thoughts still going through his head.

Jack took a bite out of his bagel, thoughts running through his mind too. As much as he needed to avoid the Lieutenant, he was actually quite intriguing. It was easy to imagine the two of them being friends, without any knowledge of the hacks Jack performed. But that was dangerous.

"Oh, Chica-Bica, you're just the cutest pupper ever." Mark gave her a good scratch behind her ear. "Henry, you too." He scratched behind Henry's ear too. He needed them as a distraction.

Mark finished drinking up His cocoa, sighing softly in content. Being warm inside was a nice change to be being freezing on the outside.

Jack chuckled softly to himself as he saw the Lieutenant cooing to his dogs, taking another sip of his coffee before just drinking down the little bit that was left. He then focused on eating his bagel, still scrolling through his phone.

Mark checked the time on his phone real quick, seeing how much time he had before he had to be at his desk. He double-checked to make sure his hot cocoa was gone, then rummaged through his wallet for tip money.

Jack eventually finished off his bagel and stood, fishing out his wallet out of his pocket and placing a small tip on the table before putting both his wallet and his phone away.

Mark took out some money and left a tip. He got up, giving his dogs some more good pats and scratches before untying them, and walking out the door. He started walking home at a slow pace, considering he had an hour until work.

Jack walked out of the coffee shop, putting on somewhat of a brisk pace as he began to walk home. He had just gotten a text from someone at the Underground about a potential job, and he wanted to get home so he could check it out. Conveniently, he saw the Lieutenant walking the same way he was.

Mark didn't realize Jack was behind him, but his dogs did. Chica kept looking back at Jack, wagging her tail like it would fall off if she didn't wag it fast enough. Henry just kept up with Mark.

Jack saw that one of Mark's dogs kept looking back at him and smiled fondly, fighting back the urge to run up and pet her.

Chica kept pulling Mark back, even smiling a bit herself.

Mark looked back for a second, trying to see what Chica was so interested in. He was a bit surprised to see Jack behind him. He stopped, looking at him with both happiness and a hint of curiosity. "Hey, Jack."

"Hey, Mark." Jack waved, a smile sliding onto his face as he stopped beside him. "Your dogs are adorable." He complimented with a small grin, looking down at the two fluffy dogs. In return, they looked up at him.

Mark glanced down at them, smiling brightly, then looked back up at Jack. "Thanks, they're just the cutest, aren't they?" Chica padded over to Jack, as close as she could get, smiling up at him. Henry stayed where he was, although still a bit curious about this new human.

Jack leaned down and held out his hand for Chica to sniff. "The cutest pups I've ever seen." He agreed, chuckling as he looked up at Mark.

Mark grinned, both at Jack and his pups. Chica licked his hand, tail wagging even faster somehow. Henry came over and started licking his hand too.

Jack's grin grew wider as the dogs licked his hand, moving his hand and petting their heads. "What are their names?" He asked, glancing up at Mark for a moment.

"This good girl here is Chica, the cutest pupper ever!" Mark looked at Chica, then to Henry, "And this here is Henry, my goodest boy. I love both of them so much. They love meeting new people."

"Aww! Adorable names for adorable dogs." Jack continued to pet the dogs happily for a while longer before standing up again.

They smiled at each other, unintentionally locking eyes for a few small moments.

"Heh, yeah." Mark just loved his cute pups to death, and would do anything for them.

A few silent and very awkward moments passed. Mark didn't know what to say now, feeling as though anything he did or said would make the situation even more awkward. "So, uh... W-where were you headed to this morning?" That wasn't too bad.

"Just heading back home to do some work." Jack chuckled, smoothing down some stray strands of hair. Technically it wasn't a lie, and that made it easier to say it. Not that lying was hard, it was just harder to lie to the Lieutenant. If he didn't lie good enough, he might just question him, and take everything he had worked for away. He didn't want that.

Mark nodded. The answer seemed reasonable. Early morning, working on whatever he was getting paid to do. That sounded suspicious, but he assured himself Jack was only working on a broken hardware system. He pulled out his phone to check the time again. "Sorry, but I've got to get going. See you later?" He did hope that he would see Jack later.

"It's alright." Jack replied, smiling. "See you later!" He continued to walk the way he had been walking before. A small part of him also kinda hoped he would see him later, just not catching him hacking into something.

Mark smiled brighter, chuckling softly. He looked down at Chica and Henry for a moment, then started walking home.

It then turned out that the two of them were walking the same way.

Mark saw Jack walking the same way, not sure what to think. He did think it was a *little* weird that they were both going in the same direction, but he tried not to dwell on it too much.

Jack heard Mark's footsteps behind him, and realized that they were going in the same direction. He tried not to think of it either, glancing down at Chica, who had come up beside him and started licking his hand. It didn't bother him, and he pet her head gently.

There was silence. Lots of silence. The only thing that broke it was the sound of their footsteps on the concrete.

Chica eventually had to stop following Jack, pulling back and giving his hand one last lick.

Mark looked at Jack, waving goodbye as he walked into his home. He let Chica and Henry inside, then followed suit. He didn't dare look back.

Jack waved goodbye as well as he walked into his house. And when he walked in, the realization that he and Mark lived right across from each other hit him hard. He sighed, shaking his head. Now he'd have to be even more careful.