ArchivedLogs:Well Aimed

Well Aimed
Dramatis Personae Chloe, Clint
In Absentia	2015-12-24 "{He wields that precious face without shame or mercy.}"
Location <NYC> Central Park South
Central Park South is home not just to the park itself, but also to the Belvedere Castle, the Alice in Wonderland statues, and the Central Park Zoo. These areas tend to draw tourists like a magnet - it is, perhaps, for that very reason that places like Bethesda Terrace tend to attract more New Yorkers than not, if just to escape the press of tourism that infiltrates the whole city. It's definitely not shaping up to be a white Christmas, temperatures balmy and springlike even well into the night. The park is alive with lights, finally festive despite all that has gone on in the city lately; trees have been strung with string lights, streetlamps decorated with bright red bows. Somewhat south of turtle Pond, one large dog is also looking very festive -- a muscular Rottweiler is loping across the grass, a large gold and green bow on her/ collar, too, the tinkling sound of bells jingling lightly as she runs. There's kind of soggy single-serving pizza slice box dangling from her mouth that she is eagerly shaking at to tear open. Behind her the knobbly colorful plastic toy she /had/ been loping after to fetch is forgotten on the ground in favor of this newer more exciting discovery. A leggy dark-skinned woman runs after her, scooping the toy off the lawn with a laugh. Her head shakes, spilling a mess of long puffy dark curls down over her shoulders. She is dressed in tall boots, slim tan trousers tucked into them, a long-sleeved crimson blouse, a knife at her hip and a large carrying case over her shoulder. "{You don't even know where that's been,}" she carols after the dog, not that she seems /overly/ concerned. A shaggy brown mutt with a bright purple collar comes bounding out from one of the winding paths leading from the relative shade of a nearby copse of trees. His large ears flop comically as he runs, and slows to an easy trot as he nears the Rottweiler. He finally stops, lifting one forepaw, tail wagging /kind/ of hopefully as he eyes the pizza box. A moment later, a solidly built man comes sprinting after him, wearing black jeans and a gray corduroy jacket, a purple leash clutched in hand. "Arrow! You're such an addict." Though exasperated and maybe a little embarassed, he also doesn't sound particularly concerned. "{Sorry,}" he tells the woman as he's moving to grab his dog's collar. "Saeta, {leave it.}" The rottweiler drops the pizza box with a small whine, pawing at it to scratch the soggy cardboard open. Her tail wags with a fierce swoosh-swoosh-swoosh at the other dog's approach, ears pricking up. Chloe pauses at the dog's side, a bright laugh bubbling up from her as she looks from her dog to the other. Points at the second. "/Arrow/?" Her smile is bright, immediate and warm. "Is that you, aren't you just the cutest." Clint looks up at Chloe when she speaks, looking briefly perplexed enough that he forgets to actually clip the leashe to his dog. "Saeta?" he echoes, looking at the Rottweiler eyebrows raising up. "{Yes, this one is Arrow. Uh, I mean,} Arrow." He chuckles, straightening up and repositioning the black sling bag across his back. Arrow, for his part, stares mournfully at the pizza box, but remains at his human's side. "{I'm Clint. You...look familiar.}" "Arrow." Chloe's laugh comes again, bright and amused. "{Yes. This is Saeta.}" Who is currently sneaking her head down to nibble at the pizza, nibble nibble nibble. Chloe rocks forward onto her toes, offering a hand out to Clint. "{I'm Chloe. I'd /certainly/ remember /that/ precious face --}" Her eyes are locked on Clint's -- though at the last moment she dips her head down, nodding to the dog and his wistful stare at the pizza. She looks Clint over -- then the bag. Hefts her own bag higher on her shoulder. "{Do you shoot? Been doing /kind/ of a lot of /that/ lately. Saeta's just been so glad to have the parks back safe -- ish -- to run around in again.}" Clint watches Chloe /almost/ as closely as Arrow watches Saeta's pizza. "{He wields that precious face without shame or mercy.}" His Spanish is not /excellent/, but it gets the point across. The callouses on his hand give away the answer to the question before he actually replies, "{Oh, yes. Been /mostly/ doing that, really. Good to be doing it...less. Him, though?}" Gesturing at Arrow. "{Escape artist. Gets /himself/ out, even when not safe.}" He breaks into a thin smile, looking down at Saeta now. "{Very pretty, she is. Glad you both made it through safe. You live around here?}" "{I was out with the patrols a lot,}" Chloe explains, patting at the case on her own back. "{Still am, honestly, though I can't say I'm sad to be seeing them cut back.}" She crouches, reaching a hand out towards Arrow to sniff. "Troublemaker, are you? You look like a pile of mischief." Tipping her head back up to Clint: "{Glad you two did, too. This thing was such a nightmare for pets, I can't even -- oh! Harlem. A bit more north. But she's been so stir-crazy cooped up at home for weeks, we're getting all the running in we can. Are you two around here?}" "{Me, too. With the patrols.}" Clint nods. "{Maybe that is where I have seen you.}" Arrow's tail wags faster as he stretches out his head to nose at Chloe's hand and give it one small lick, his huge brown eyes /so/ very hopeful. Clint scruffs at the back of his head with his knuckles. "{He's learned people out with dogs are more likely to have treats.}" He nods, soberly. "{People who had to go to the shelters, or who couldn't even get enough food for themselves.... I'm very lucky, and Arrow too. We're down in Hell's Kitchen. The uglier side. Where do you practice?}" Indicating her carrying case. "{...When the targets aren't coming to you?}" Chloe reaches around to scratch behind Arrow's ears once he licks at her hand; briefly, her knuckles knock against Clint's with this scritching. "{Oh, little beggar, are you?}" With an amused shake of her head she turns her case around, reaching into a front flap to pull out a small pouch; she digs a couple small scraps of jerky-looking treats from inside to offer them to the dog. "{It was hard to know what to do sometimes, on patrol. People who were in places that were so unsafe and we wanted to get them to shelters but they wouldn't leave their pets -- not that I blame them, it'd take an army to pry /me/ away from my girl. I just wish there was more we could've...}" She trails off, scratching again behind the dog's ears. When she looks up again, though, it's with a smile. "{Oh, there's a nice place down in Brooklyn. Who would ever have thought my weekend hobby would get put to /this/ kind of use? I've run into so many friends from there out in the streets, ths time.}" Arrow's ears perk up /almost/ enough to un-flop on one side when Chloe starts rooting in her case. His tail whips excitedly as he accepts the treats, and he leans into the scritches with relish. Clint nods stoically, but there's a enough of a furrow between his brows to suggest he's had similar experiences on patrol. "{Arrow's a survivor, but I wouldn't have left him either, even if our builder were unsafe.}" He rubs the side of his head. "{I'm always on the lookout for new ranges, especially outdoor ones. To keep up practice in different surroundings, different conditions. Making friends over archery, though? Not my strong suit.}" "{These past weeks been enough outdoor practice for you?}" Chloe ruffles behind the dog's ears again, standing just as Saeta finishes scarfing down her slice of pizza, nosing at the scraps of cardboard in hopes of one last lick of cheese. Finding none, she busies herself sniffing at Arrow instead, now, tail wagging. "{I know what mean, though. There's a great place just north of the city that I love. Outdoor. Out in the woods. And I,}" she tells Clint brightly, "{have this /terrible/ habit of making friends over everything.}" Arrow circles Saeta, just curious sniffing now that the pizza has gone. "{Plenty, but I have high hopes that I'll be getting less by way of patrols.}" Clint's expression is neutral, unaffected. "{But if the quarantine keeps up, I'll want to be getting out to the ranges again.}" Tail wagging high, Arrow drops into a play bow, then gives a quick little hop to the side, an invitation to chase. Hard to say whether it's this or Chloe's admission that makes Clint smile again, but he does. "{There are worse habits.}" Saeta answers the bow with one of her own, follows after Arrow once he hops off. Her growl is low and playful as she she pounces him, paw batting towards his shoulder. Chloe digs a phone out of her pocket, her smile warming as she watches the dogs. "{She gets it from me.}" She taps at her phone before turning it around to hand it to Clint -- it's already opened up to a new contact, 'Clint' in there under first name. "{Quarantine or no quarantine, with fewer patrols -- should get out there more often again now. If you've got the time.}" Arrow rears up onto his hind legs, then drops back down again under Saeta's paw, playful but still backed with her muscular bulk. He breaks into a gallop, incribing a tight circle around the humans, his mouth hanging wide open with glee. Clint accepts the phone and taps something in. "{Email, goes straight to my phone.}" He finishes typing and returns the phone to Chloe. "{Sometimes I disappear into work, but mostly, I have time. And I'd love to go shooting with you.}" "{Fantastic.}" Chloe nods to herself, saving the contact and tucking her phone back into her pocket. "{You'll be hearing from me soon, then.}" Her shoulder hitches, pulling the strap of her pack higher. "{Though we may see each other in the streets before then.}" Saeta is following after Arrow at an eager bound; Chloe spins on a heel to watch the dogs circle around them. "{We should get on home. Saeta, girl, to me. -- You two stay safe.}" Clint watches the dogs play, shaking his head very faintly but smiling. "{Whether we run into each other or not, may your patroling go nice and dull.}" Arrow is starting to circle out farther, but breaks off looking slightly deflated when his playmate is called away. His tail still wags, slow and hopeful. "C'mon, let's go." Clint waves Arrow toward him, and the mutt trots to his side only a little reluctantly. "{You, too. See you both around.}"