woof woof motherfluffer

[windbreak]

1

Wherever you are in the Holy City on the eve of martial law, whatever business you were going about, something catches your attention: a high-pitched yelp, a loud crash, or maybe just the frantic blur of paws. The point is, you are now looking at a small orange dog crawling out from behind an overturned bin. Asgard does have strays, but whether or not you're familiar with the ones in this area, this one might be hard to recognise. Besides, it looks a little too well-groomed to fit in with them even as it scrabbles to remove a discarded paper bag from its head, and a lot too disoriented. And it seems to have a collar -

- wait, is that a collar? Some collars do have stones inset into them, but...

2

One way or another, you have successfully identified the strange dog, which he's pretty relieved by, and life goes on. Unfortunately... well, life goes on, and biological processes with it.

Not necessarily that one, though. This whining and pawing at your ankles could mean anything, after all.

3

The metalworks scattered around town have been getting more and more business as tensions rise and more people sense the need to protect themselves. For the young native woman at this particular shop, today hasn't been too different. But right now it's quiet, so, she's on break: her door is propped wide open, for whatever little respite it offers from the heat of the forge, and she's lounging just outside.

She gives you an amicable nod as you pass by, completely ignoring the small fluffy dog nonchalantly padding up to her from the other side of the street. Sure, you don't usually see many pets or strays in this area, but it's not a suspicious sight or anything, is it?

4

All of a sudden, the door handle you were reaching towards turns by itself and bursts violently outwards.

Once you recover from the surprise or worse, you imagine you can hear a small squeak, which might sound almost apologetic or might just be the canine equivalent of snickering, but you can't see the source. How mysterious.

5

idk look he's a Pomeranian now let's just do this thing

Comments

1

[detects]

[She might have otherwise ignored him all together had his racket not startled her. She rounded the corner just in time to watch him careen into a pile of trash. She has to pause for a moment in a brief instant of fear because she didn't quite catch of glimpse of what had just crashed. However when the tiny dog emerges she relaxes a bit and sighs.

Just a stray dog, apparently. She doesn't bother to get a decent look at it as she plans to continue her path home, fresh food for dinner in hand.

But Naoto isn't as nonchalant as she might want people to believe and watching him struggle with that paper bag fills her with a familiar sense of pity. She steps close to him, hoping not to startle him, and pulls the bag off its head. It was probably a poor idea. Stray dogs might bite, but... well. It was so little she wasn't all that worried.]

[windbreak]

[Oh, thank god, this rubbernecker has hands. Jeez, of all the things that had to be nearby when he slipped... Shaking itself off, the small dog lets out a yip before remembering its current lack of vocal cords, at which point it looks up.

And then jumps in surprise.]

Woof!?

[Holy - at least give him some warning!]

[detects]

[Why would she warn a dog about anything? Weirdo.

Ah, well. The dog seems totally fine if not weirdly familiar. Those spastic movements remind her of... .... Nah. It looks startled that she's there though. She watches it for a moment before realizing it was probably hungry. It had been colliding with trash cans, after all. What dog does that if it isn't hungry?

So Naoto reaches into her bag and pulls a chunk of meat off one of the pre-cooked streak skewers she'd gotten for herself to eat later. She offers it to the dog.

Here you go Fido eat up so she feels less guilty about almost just leaving you with a bag on your head.]

[windbreak]

[It smells pretty good, and come to think, he hasn't eaten since he woke up like this... But he catches himself just as he starts padding up to her. Argh, he's getting sidetracked!]

Woof! Woof woof.

[Jeez, who knew how difficult it is to pronounce the name "Naoto" without vocal cords?]

[detects]

[Huh. Maybe... it isn't hungry? She places the meat on the ground anyway. Actually on closer inspection it doesn't seem to be a stray. It's too well groomed for that... is that a collar?

She ignores the barking and reaches for him, pulling him forward a bit by the collar to examine it. Hm... no name tag though.]

I wonder if you're someone's pet or... if you were actually brought here to serve one of the houses. [The collar indicates it could be either. The stones certainly look the same... but that doesn't mean they are.]