Logs:Dogriona

Dogriona
Dramatis Personae Catriona, Desi, Shane, Flèche
In Absentia	2019-12-03 "I don't know that it was entirely the fault of his schooling that led him to cast himself into Ohio."
Location <NYC> Washington Square Park - Greenwich Village
Behind a majestic white marble arch, a smaller cousin of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, this beautiful green space is a popular destination for the young, the hip, and the artistic. A huge circular wading fountain is the centerpiece, ringed by benches, playgrounds, dog runs, gaming tables, and lush green lawns. In fair weather, the park is almost always crowded with tourists, students, chess enthusiasts, and local families come to tire out their children and dogs. It's a crisp evening, intermittent strong gusts of wind making the chill in the air feel even more biting. Not the most popular of times to be out in the park, though even if it is far from crowded it isn't deserted -- a few people hastening through the park as they come home from work, a few more snugly bundled over where the dog run is entertaining a trio of large and fluffy dogs who seem unbothered by the pre-winter nip. Shane is not exactly hastening -- bundled himself in a slim fitting black peacoat, a blue and silver scarf wound around his neck, grey slacks and polished ankle boots, he is at the mercy of a small one-eyed beagle at the end of a rainbowy leash. The pup has been eagerly trotting toward the dog park, despite Shane's tugging efforts to encourage him away from that direction; it isn't until he distracts himself snuffling at a wayward squirrel that he briefly loses interest in bounding parkwards. "-- is just starting out at the school, God fucking help her." His pitch-black eyes are wide in his narrow blue face; his head gives a small shake as he looks uuuup at his human walking companion. "Hive says she can take care of herself but still. Gonna have to keep an eye out." Desi strolls along at a leisurely pace, her slender frame appearing all the taller beside Shane. She wears a smart lilac suede jacket, a long a-line purple skirt, and slouchy brown boots, a purple-pink ombre infinity scarf arranged about her neck just so, long brown hair flowing loose from beneath a purple corduroy newsboy cap. "Mm, I cannot imagine she will have an easy time of it to start, however capable she may be. It's a huge adjustment on more fronts than just the school itself." The lithe black-and-tan mutt attached to her by a brown leather lead is trotting along at a steady pace, keeping pace with the humans, though she perks up when the beagle alerts to the squirrel, her one floppy ear standing almost upright with interest. "I'm sure Matthieu and Gaétan will look out for her, also--each in his own way--but I doubt if it will be much help." It's been kind of a bad week so Catriona's gone out to the park to get a dog fix. She's always liked dogs, but Mom and Dad never let her have any. It was bad for the horses. Which she does understand, but she still likes to just go and pet other people's. Plus, it's good practice for talking to people. Now she can tell Meagan when she calls that she's actually gone out and talked to people. She tucks her grey scarf in tighter around her brown, knee-length coat and wishes she'd worn actual pants instead of just black leggings, but pants don't fit under her boots and she really likes these boots, nice brown leather to her knee that make her feel like she's on her way to a horse show. Cold thighs are worth it. The pit bull she's been petting runs away after a ball, and she straightens up, looking for another dog she might be able to pet, when she spots a very familiar-looking woman. Catriona can't place where she knows her from-- somewhere at NYU, it has to be, but that's like saying somewhere in New York-- but she has a dog, and she's walking with another dog owner, and she'd probably at least be nice. Catriona walks over to them, a tentative smile on her face. "Hi," she said. "I think I know you from school? I was... um.: The other person is a mutant. Obviously a mutant. Don't be rude, she snaps at herself, and clears her throat. "I'm sorry, I was wondering. Can I pet your dogs?" "It takes a lot to really insulate against the administration's fuckshit. I'm sure they'll --" Shane breaks off, vaguely tenser when Catriona approaches. He is already tugging his dog further away, and the hairless ridge of his brow hikes upward when she actually comes towards them. "Nope." It's just quiet, neutral and direct, though still in sharp contrast to his far more expressive conversation with Desi. Obie is clearly happy enough for potential attention, tail wagging as he wanders closer to the humans -- but he's easily enough discouraged from approaching Catriona as Shane tightens his grip on the leash, winding it further around his hand so that the pup has less room to proceed. He glances between Catriona and the park, his lips compressing as he nods towards the pitbull. "That your dog?" Less neutral, here: the crisp distaste in his tone is unmasked. "And against the weather, for that matter," Desi adds dryly, her eyes tracking to Catriona as Shane tenses. She does not reel in her leash, but calls the mutt to her side with a soft lateral click. "Assis," she says, and when the dog sits promptly--though her rapid tail-wagging and hopeful chop-licking indicates she'd also be glad of the attention--she drops a hand to scritch behind the one upright ear before adding, "reste." Following Shane's gaze, she frowns. "I should hope it's someone's dog. Someone with a leash." Catriona blinks, and manages a wobbly sort of smile. She hasn't actually... for all she's been looking, she hasn't actually talked to many mutants. "No, he's not. He belongs to that guy on the bench over there. He's very sweet, though. The dog. I don't know anything about the guy. Um." She's babbling. Catriona snaps her mouth shut, looks away from the people and down at the dogs, both of them sitting nicely even with the wagging. Dogs are good. Dogs don't make her feel like she's done something wrong. Which isn't these people's problem. She bites her tongue a moment until she's calmer, then says, "Your dogs are so well-behaved!" "Oh I got her covered on that, Dai and I took her on a whole ass shopping trip. A new country is bad enough without freezing to death or having to look like a white girl -- no offense." Shane's quick grin -- bright and broad and containing a truly spectacular number of very sharp teeth -- doesn't really suggest any type of apology. His posture eases at Catriona's assurance about the dog; he relaxes his grip on Obie's leash, though still keeps his body slightly turned in order to keep the off-leash pup in his view. "Oh, nah, Flèche is well behaved," he tells Catriona -- cheerful, now, with nod toward Desi's sleek pup. His own beagle is snuffling forward to lick at the ground by Catriona's shoe. "Obie is just too stupid to do any badness." In fairness to Shane's non-apology, Desi does not look or sound particularly offended. "That was smartly done. Truly, I know not how I have survived so many winters." She looks Catriona over appraisingly, her expression inscrutable for just a moment before she breaks into a friendly smile. "She's well-trained because she'd be a complete menace otherwise," she says. Then, to the dog, "D'accord, go ahead." Flèche leaps to her feet, tail lashing the air, and snuffles up at Catriona's hand. "Do you go to NYU, by any chance?" "No offense taken," Catriona tells Shane very earnestly, and laughs at his sally about the dog. "I'm sure he's a very good dog." Then Flèche jumps up toward her and she loses track of everything for a few minutes, scritching the dog's head and rubbing her back. "Who's a good girl?" Her voice has gone soppy and soft. "Who's a good girl? You are!" Then she really hears Desi's question and looks up. "Yes, I do. I'm pre-med. Um. I'm Catriona?" "Pre-med? Shit, I'm sorry." Shane's grimace is brief. He wraps an arm around his chest, rocking absently up onto his toes and looking between the other two. Obie is trying to push his way in on some of the petting, now -- not entirely successfully, being considerably shorter than Flèche. "Do you just like, lurk here to accost people's dogs, then?" Kind of light, kind of curious. "Guess we all have our hobbies." "Ah." Desi's tone is light and neutral here, though there's something sympathetic in the slight dip of her head. "Best wishes, then. I'm in the dance program at Tisch, and I doubt if we've had classes together, but I thought you looked a touch familiar." She cocks her head ever so slightly, her bright green eyes suddenly piercing as they catch the dying light. "If you're staying in the city over winter break, there are a couple of places you could work or just volunteer that might satisfy puppy cravings." Catriona shrugs at Shane's words. "I'm only a freshman. It's not so bad yet." It will be, she knows, and medical school will be a whole new level of bad, but at the end of it, she'll be.... well. She doesn't know yet, not really. "But sometimes I need dogs, yeah. People around here don't usually mind letting me pet them." She lets a hand hover over Obie. "Is it okay if I pet him?" Desi gets a shy smile. "I thought you looked familiar too. Maybe we run into each other on campus sometime? But dance, that's so cool." Catriona has always been a very scientific person and she's kind of in awe of artists, who can create something, bring it into being out of nothing. Volunteering would be cool, she thinks, and it would be an excuse not to go home. She's still not sure how to face her parents now that they know she knows about her brother. "I think I'm going to stay, yeah. Are they local?" "Obie's a sweetheart, go for it. One of my good friends is in med school here," Shane informs Catriona glibly, waving one clawed hand in a nondescript arc around them. "He ran off and threw himself into this mutant torture camp just to escape from it. And even worse --" He leans just slightly forward, voice dropping to a conspiratorial stage-whisper, his black eyes -- which had already been improbably large -- growing to swallow an even larger portion of his face. "The place was in goddamn Ohio." He glances over toward the dog park, then up at the sky. "New Leash on Life is a great rescue. They do good training for their volunteers." Desi's smile remains firmly in place. "Mm. It's a big school, but I do keep busy," she admits. At Shane's description of Flicker's summer, she side-eyes her friend, one eyebrow arching higher and higher. "I don't know that it was entirely the fault of his schooling that led him to cast himself into--" She pauses for half a beat. "--Ohio. But I do understand it to be a rather stressful pursuit." She tilts her head. "There are plenty of organizations which you might find online, but New Leash is in Hell's Kitchen." After a moment's consideration, she adds. "Also known as Clinton. Only a few stops away on the 1 or the A train." Obie gets the same treatment as Flèche, scritches and belly rubs and baby talk reminders that he is a good boy. Catriona goes on scritching Flèche's ears to be sure she doesn't get jealous. Her eyes go big at Shane's words, though not as big as his, are they growing? She almost wants to jump and go look up mutant physiology, but that would be rude. "He... what? That's awful!" She bites her lip a little. "I didn't think... I thought... that's awful. Is he okay now? Your friend?" Catriona may have been brought up to believe that mutants were dangerous, but no one deserves to be tortured, no matter what her parents say. "New Leash on Life sounds great," she says, and gives both of them a shy smile. "Thank you very much for recommending it." "Please, I've seen his textbooks, I'd sign up for vivisection again rather than sit through some of those classes. Anyway, sure, he's fine, he's survived worse things than Ohio." Shane's shrug is dismissive. His head rolls to the side, eyes tipping up towards Desi. "Just a little busy, yeah." Sliiightly dry. "If you want to earn money and hang out with dogs you can do, like, Christmas dog sitting on Rover. There's always people looking for holiday dog sitting." Flèche doesn't seem to mind sharing her pettings. For that matter, she transfers some of her licking and leaning to Obie, her enthusiasm undimmed. "His experience in that area is, unfortunately, not altogether unique," Desi says, her slender brows gathering. Then, after brief consideration, "I meant the consensual medical experimentation, but I suppose that applies to medical school, as well." She sighs, shaking her head. "I am precisely as busy as I mean to be, of course," this demurely. "I do hope you can find suitable access to puppy playtime in your life, even if only on a short-term basis." Desi clicks again, and her dog cranes her neck around in a profoundly uncomfortably looking way before relenting and coming (reluctantly) to her side. "I'm sure we'll see each other around campus, here and there." Catriona feels guilty taking a job when she doesn't need one, but these nice people in the park don't need to know her life story or her neuroses, and honestly what Desi said was a pretty clear dismissal. So she smiles at both of them, gives both dogs a last pat, and stands up, brushing off the edge of her coat where it hit the dirt. "I'm sure we will," she tells Desi. "Thank you for letting me pet your dogs. And," she adds, to Shane, "for the, um, encouragment? I'll definitely look up New Leash on Life. Thank you." And she's babbling again. She bites her tongue quickly, a reminder to stop. "I'll, um, leave you to your walk now." Shane just clicks his tongue against his teeth, tugging gently at the leash to encourage Obie along. "How's your schedule feel about some cocoa about now?" He's bumping lightly against Desi's arm with this, only giving Catriona a polite passing nod as he starts back out of the park. Desi smiles again, "I think the dogs were very glad of it, as they seem to think no one ever pets them or feeds them." She leans back into Shane's bump slightly and follows him. Her dog resumes trotting at her son "There's always room on my schedule for cocoa," she replies, then waves at Catriona. "See you around, then." "It was lovely to meet you both," Catriona says. "Definitely see you around." She waves quickly, then turns away to head back to school. She's had a good dog fix, and some things to think about, and she actually spoke to people-- to a mutant and she barely stammered and she didn't say anything stupid or wrong! Maybe she might even have sort of made... she doesn't want to say 'a friend.' An acquaintance. Definitely a good day.