A few tricks up his sleeve. [ota]

[an_openwound]

Scott was on his way towards the hotel when he heard the growling. Freezing in place, he frowned as he turned around and looked for the source. He wondered briefly if it was another someone like him but dismissed it quickly when he heard the whispers of a crowd on top of it all

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[deathtotoasters]

Kyla had seen the crowd, too, and came in near the tail end of the event to see the guy seemingly comfort the dog and get the dog under control. Once it happened, most of the crowd seem to disperse since the 'show' was over.

Kyla, herself, was framed on either side by dogs. On her left was Ripper, a mostly Bullmastif mix and on her right was Ginger, a red-haired Husky. Both sat obediently when she came to a stand still.

"That was nice of you." She appreciated people who could deal with animals. Kyla had not seen the whole eye thing.

[an_openwound]

The dog relaxed further once the crowd started to part, the tension easing out of him as Scott gave him another little scratch behind the ear before standing and turning to look at the woman with dogs standing nearby.

For a moment he looked almost uneasy, like he was worried he had been caught at something, but then he relaxed with a small smile. "He was scared, it made sense to step in."

[deathtotoasters]

"Sometimes people don't get dogs are just like people... no one wants a bunch of people staring, pointing, and murmuring about you." Kyla actually felt annoyed when thinking about it.

[an_openwound]

"Pretty much." He glanced over at the dog again, patting a hand against his thigh to call him over which the dog listened to happily as he moved to Scott's side. "I'd probably snarl too if I just wanted to be left alone."

Looking at her again, he smiled as he nodded towards her dogs. "What's their names?"

[deathtotoasters]

"Ripper." She nodded to one side, then the other. "and Ginger. Been with me since they were puppies." Kyla had trained them.

She up-nodded at the dog. "Looks like you might have to name that one." Kyla smiled a little.

[an_openwound]

Scott smiled at the dogs, nodding a bit, before looking at the one beside him in surprise. "Oh, uh..."

He hadn't thought about what he was going to do with the dog after calming it down but it certainly hadn't crossed his mind to take him in. His mother had always been against the idea of having one before...which seemed funny now, all things considered. "Any ideas?"

[deathtotoasters]

Kyla looked at the dog for a moment. It looked like a strong dog. Her eyes moved back to the kid. "I've always thought the person who has the strongest connection to an animal is the one who should name it."

[an_openwound]

"Uh, I've never had a dog before. Just worked with them." He glanced down again, rubbing a hand lightly over the dog's head before the corners of his mouth twitched. "I'll call him Wolf."

[deathtotoasters]

"Not a bad name." Kyla was more familiar with names like that, than names such as 'Fifi' or 'George'. Some of the older people said those had been common names for dogs back before Judgement Day and Kyla couldn't really understand why.

"Taking care of a dog is easy, as long as you're attentive." She looked at the guy. "Could help you train him, if you want."

[an_openwound]

"Thanks." He smiled a bit, wondering how things had changed so quickly to the point he suddenly, seemingly, had a dog. Not that he didn't know how to look after one but still...

"Yeah?" He looked up again. "That would be great." A brief pause. "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you my name is Scott."

[deathtotoasters]

"Kyla." She was more comfortable with first-names only even if lots of people here seemed to enjoy introducing themselves with their full names.

"Is this your first time owning a dog?" She tilted her head a little.

[an_openwound]

"Pretty much, yeah." He confirmed with another nod of his head but then he smiled. "But I work in a vet clinic? So I kind of know what to do?"

[deathtotoasters]

"Oh yeah?" That caught her interest. "I work at the shelter here. It's my first time... but my mom was a vet for a long time." Working at the shelter kind of made Kyla feel close to her mother Kate.

[an_openwound]

"You do?" He brightened. "I would like to work there. I've talked a little bit to the manager." He liked working in the vet clinic back home but that was probably because he was close to his boss too.

[deathtotoasters]

"It's a good place. The animals are well cared for." Which was the most important thing to Kyla. "If that's something you like, you should do it."

[an_openwound]

"Good." He looked pleased to hear the animals were well taken care and then he smiled a bit more. "I think I will."

After a moment, he looked at her curiously. "So where are you from outside of the village?"