Puppy training!

[escapedpandora]

Who: All your l'Cie
When: Monday, November 22nd around noon
Where: l'Cie apartment in Sector 4 and outside
Summary: They have a newest member in their family now, don't they?
Warnings: n/a, pretty much cuteness levels unless something happens and then I'll put up a warning.

Comments

[blazingstatic]

When Hope had first revealed that he'd somehow acquired a puppy and wanted to keep it, Lightning had been doubtful. That hadn't stopped her giving her approval: Hope seemed to have needed it for some reason, and if it cheered everyone up, it would be worth the trouble. But it was almost a week in, and here they were trying to teach a small, entirely dependent creature to climb stairs. She wasn't sure what exactly she'd been expecting when he'd started talking about training, but this wasn't close to any of it.

And yet, there she was, wrapped up in mismatched scarf and gloves, being snowed on and watching Faith and Hope and their rather pathetic clash of wills. It's important that it knows all of us... or something. She remained as still as she could barring the occasional shift from foot to foot or folding and unfolding of arms, and was fully resolved not to contribute anything to the exercise if she could possibly help it.

[escapedpandora]

It took a few moments before Faith even attempted to stick a paw down the step, as if trying to gauge the distance he's have to fall for each step. He batted at open air for a few moments with a whine, but then finally leaned his weight forward and fell onto the first step, his legs barely supporting his weight. At his success, he barked and wagged his tail happily, but didn't seem inclined to go down the rest of the way

[yay_us]

"Yay, Faith! You can do it! Go!" Obviously what the puppy needed was an enthusiastic cheering squad. Well, it wasn't likely to get that out of Lightning, standing there like a Lightning-shaped statue or something, so it was up to Vanille. "You're almost there--Santa outfit?" She tapped her chin with a finger as she recalled the many images of a old man in a red suit and adorable hat that had begun to appear in all the store windows. Come to think of it, the puppy would look very cute in an outfit like that...

Maybe she could even find Santa hats for all of them! The way she and Lightning had worn antlers when they'd protector the carolers. Then they'd all look adorable!

She shuffled closer to Lightning, leaning to the side to ask in what she imagined was a stealthy whisper, "Where do you find Santa outfits anyway?"

[blazingstatic]

Lightning thawed out long enough to look at Vanille, arms falling to her sides and head tilting as she considered the question with the wariness it deserved.

"Who knows?" She finally muttered back, making a mental note to be a lot more cautious around Fang and Vanille for the next month. Christmas was only for a month, right? She hoped so. The puppy barked again, and she caved in from sheer impatience. Kneeling next to Hope in one smooth motion, she rapped the next step with her knuckles.

"Just jump," she told it, a little severely. "Right here."

[escapedpandora]

Hope nearly squeaked as he realized what he said in front of Vanille, but managed to refrain from doing so. He did offer a grin to Light even as he continued trying to coax the puppy down.

Faith whined a bit and wiggled to the side, staring at the next step intently as if it held the answers to the universe, leaning down to gaze at the step before backing up a bit, and then looking up at Lightning and wagging his tail hopefully.

"Two more steps and then we can go on a walk!" Hope said brightly, making sure to stay just out of reach so that Faith would have to go down eventually. "You'll get to explore outside!"

Faith just gave a short huffing sneeze in response.

[yay_us]

Vanille understood. Lightning was still a little skittish about the antlers. She hadn't even realized how cute she had looked! A Santa hat would be easier to convince her of, she decided. Optimism was optimism, right?

"He's doing so well!" she pronounced of Faith in the meantime, even though the puppy seemed to be having quite a hard time figuring out stairs. He was still very young, though, so it was no wonder. And he would hardly do better without loving encouragement. "Lightning, I think you really managed to get through to him! Do we have any doggie treats?"

[blazingstatic]

"In the kitchen," she said, recalling that Snow had come back that morning with something covered in nauseating images of pink dogs and bones. Not that treats would do anything if Hope had been at this for as long as she suspected he had. Privately, Lightning thought his plans of a walk were getting less and less likely as the day wore on. Never mind any stairs they encountered on the way, they still hadn't seen what its reaction to snow would be. She glanced at him, then the puppy, then back at Vanille - who had That Look, the one that meant Lighting would conveniently have other places to be for at least the next twenty-four hours - and tried not to find the situation too ridiculous

[yay_us]

"I'll go find some!" Vanille promised, taking little notice of Lightning's private war to tame the puppy without reminding herself of how much like Hope it was. Not that Vanille couldn't see the similarities herself. However, she didn't put much stock in training; it was important just to believe in someone and their capabilities! Like she had believed Hope could resolve his differences with Snow. It had taken a while, but still, it had happened!

Inside, she hurried to the kitchen and found the bag of treats, then brought them back outside, stepping carefully over the puppy on the steps, who whined and pawed at her leg. "Now, don't be scared! Look, don't you want some treats? Yum yum, they're delicious!"

She began a project of laying treats on every step below Faith. Maybe food would work as an incentive where others had failed.

[escapedpandora]

Puppy like him? That thought never crossed Hope's mind at all, and still didn't as he beamed up at Vanille when she brought the treats. He hadn't wanted to start with that in the beginning, hoping the incentive of people down the stairs would be good enough, but Faith still seemed so hesitant... understandable, considering that the steps were just about as tall as him, but... he had gotten down the first one, so the rest should be fine