RP: Walk in the Park

[tyler_ross]

Date: Saturday, September 17, 2011
Characters: Tyler Ross, Ava Byrne
Location: Park off 7th
Status: Private
Summary: Ty takes the kids to the park
Completion: Complete

Comments

[avabyrne]

Her favorite park off 7th street was a little out of her way, but still well within walking distance if the weather was nice. It happened to be Wilbur's favorite too, and on days like yesterday when it was raining, Ava'd swear he would pout at her when she opted to walk him on the much smaller patch of park near her apartment on Henderson. She was making up for it today, and had walked him all the way from her place to the park across from the Tex-Mex restaurant. When they got there, as usual, Wilbur still had energy to burn.

She didn't mind though, mostly she was happy not to have had to go into work. She was going to have to get used to being on call more than she was now, once she actually had to go out and visit crime scenes.

Ava was a bit of a homebody on her best day, but she was still getting a little tired of going back and forth from work to home with little in-between when she didn't get to see Rori. Unexpected side effect of having more of a social life...she was getting used to it. Her circle was widening, a little, and for the most part it was a good thing, but it was bringing new anxieties with it, and new risks. It had been on her mind since finding out that Shosh knew about her too now, and she knew it shouldn't be a problem, she knew that, but something must be wrong with her because she still couldn't turn off her brain and relax.

When Wilbur tugged hard on the lead, she shook out of her thoughts and looked down the path to where he was heading, trying to meet three new friends that were attached to a blond-haired man.

"Whoa, slow down, boy," she said, "not everyone takes well to being pounced on at the first meeting."

[tyler_ross]

Tigger started barking, and Ty glanced up to see a dog approaching them. Rosie was sniffing the air, as if that somehow told her everything she needed to know about the new dog, while Orly was practically bouncing beside him. He'd never hear the end of it from Alex if Orly proved to be a happy and bouncy dog. He liked snuggling, too, and was a little scared of strangers, so he kept himself by Ty while the other two were tugging forward to meet the other dog.

"I don't know about everyone, but I think two of mine are happy with pouncing,' Ty said, grinning at the dog's owner as they got closer together.

[avabyrne]

"Wilbur will be glad to know that. He pouts when dogs give him the brushoff." She smiled at the man when she reached him, cringing apologetically when Wilbur went ahead and pounced anyway, giving an exploratory sniff first.

"You seem more easygoing than a lot of the owners he crosses, at least," she offered, tugging Wilbur back to a more respectful distance.

[tyler_ross]

"Tigger pouts, too. He's friendly, and, until recently, he wasn't around other dogs unless he was staying at my friends' place for a few hours." Ty smiled. "We just got these two, so I haven't figured out yet if they pout or not."

He looked down at the dogs and laughed. "He's not hurting anything, so there's not really any reason to get annoyed. Dogs are friendly, and it's fine so long as he doesn't bite or get mean."

[avabyrne]

Ava tilted her head. "They don't look pouty," she decided. They looked adorable, and she couldn't help smiling at them. "Two new ones? I've got my hands full with just the one, though I can't say I haven't been tempted to find him a sibling. Never got to have a dog when I was a kid, so I suppose I'm making up for it." She looked up at the man. "Probably easier to have more with two people."

"Wilbur didn't really get the mean gene, as far as I've seen. I only worry that he'll pounce on the wrong dog one day, someone not nearly as snuggly as he is." She smiled. "Not that that's a problem with yours, they look very snuggly."

[tyler_ross]

"Dogs can deceive you," Ty said solemnly. "They appear all cute and cuddly, but, really, they're plotting world domination and ways in which to make us do their bidding by flashing those puppy dog eyes. I'm supposed to be getting some work done right now. Instead, I am weak and they are evil."

He grinned. "Well, I've had Tigger for over a year now, and my partner and I moved into a house recently, so we thought he might like some company in the bigger space. We saw these two together, and we couldn't resist getting both of them. So, now we have Rosalind and Orlando in the family."

"How long have you been Wilbur's pet?" Ty shifted the leads to his other hand before squatting down to play with the dogs. "I'm Ty Ross, by the way. Nice to meet you."

[avabyrne]

"I'd say you were full of it, but Wilbur guilted me into walking to his favorite park today instead of the one closer to home. Step one of world domination, complete." She looked up at him and smiled. He was kind of infectious.

His talk of a partner had her looking at him curiously. His own family...dogs or no, it warmed her heart and made her yearn a little, somewhere deep inside. "That sounds perfect," she said simply, then ducked her head as she flushed. "I mean. Sounds like you guys must have a lot of fun together."

"Hi Ty. I'm Ava, Ava Byrne." She smiled down at Wilbur. "And I've had him just shy of eight months," she said, looking down awkwardly before crouching as well so that she was on his level, "I wasn't meaning to get him, but I bought my car from this woman who owned a shelter, one thing led to another...

[tyler_ross]

"See? It's total world domination. Like Pinky & the Brain, only dogs instead of mice." Ty grinned as he nudged Orly towards the other dogs. Homicidal and shy were going on the list of traits for that dog.

Ty looked at her and nodded. "We have a lot of fun. It's perfect for us, which means it isn't always perfect because, well, perfect's boring, isn't it? I prefer the mess of reality, even when it isn't so great. Besides, we have each other, and that makes even the bad stuff not so horrible. Do you have a significant other?" He wasn't sure if she was married or involved, but she'd sounded almost wistful for a minute there.

"Nice to meet you Ava. Where're you from? Definitely not Texas," he said, drawling out the latter bit of his sentence before winking. "We got ours from a shelter, too. It's where I got Tigger last year, and these two were in a cage together so Alex gave in and let us get them both."

[avabyrne]

"The Brain was so misunderstood," Ava said sadly. "But I have a soft spot for fellow scientists."

"Reality's definitely a mess sometimes," she agreed, though she couldn't say she was always happy about it. "But...god, it's so much better when you're not alone with it, you know?" Her expression brightened when he asked her whether she had a significant other. Not do you have a boyfriend, not the kind of thing people asked all he time, the kind of thing that made her feel erased in a million different ways every day. "I--I do," she said finally, smiling as she thought about Rori, probably out having a good time with her brother right now.

"Boston," she said with a sheepish laugh. "People look at me and see East Coast from a mile away, I guess. I've been down here for nine months or so, and it's not a culture shock anymore. You know, I meet nice people in parks, and such."

[tyler_ross]

"He was! I always wanted to help him take over the world. In exchange for an island or mountain of my own." Ty let out a nostalgic sigh before smiling. "You're a scientist? With like, uh, burners and tubes and stuff? Oh! Dexter's Laboratory? You're like that evil mastermind planning to take over the world, huh? Probably in cahoots with the dogs. I've seen through you plan, Ava Byrne. Just let me have an island for me and my man, and I won't tell anyone." He laughed before getting a puppy kiss from Rosie.

"I'm glad you've got someone. Being together with the mess of reality is definitely better than being alone. How long have you had your partner?" He wasn't sure if the significant other was a husband, boyfriend, wife, or girlfriend, so he figured partner covered it all. "I've had mine since February, but we were best friends for like six years prior to it becoming what it is now. I don't know what I'd do without him."

Ty nodded. "Figured it was East Coast. One of my best friends is from New York City, so I recognized some of the general sound but I've never been anywhere but Texas, so I wasn't sure about like the specifics." He laughed again. "I bet it's a bit of a culture shock, isn't it? I'd be the same if I went up to Boston, I figure." He tried to say Boston the same way she did.

[avabyrne]

"Oh god, Dexter's laboratory was my favorite," she admitted, laughing as Tyler went on about world domination. "Might have been how this all started. I'm designing a warhead from the cover of the forensics lab where I work. Since I like your dogs, I might save you an island." It was silly, maybe, but he was easy to talk to.

"Um...I guess four months or so? It's hard to pinpoint, we danced around each other for a long time. And I've probably been into her since we first met in February," she continued, not even realizing that she'd specified a gender as she rambled. "Kind of crazy, the time you can waste. But...yeah. I'm glad too, really glad."

"Well you pegged me pretty well." She smiled and watched Wilbur and Tigger play with each other, then laughed again as he flattened out 'Boston' for her benefit. "It just sounds silly when you do it."

[tyler_ross]

"Oh! A forensics lab? So like Dexter of the crazy murderer fame then." Ty laughed. "I was just comparing Orly to the character earlier, funny enough. That's cool. I just take pictures, so nothing all world dominating. I'll have to rely on smart people to do the hard work. I'll just laze around my island looking pretty."

Ty listened and smiled when she said it was a girlfriend. It was nice running into people who were open about their relationships like that, especially considering how small-minded his dad was. Meant the world might be changing for the better. Of course, this was Texas, so it'd probably still lag behind.

"Sounds like a good basis for a relationship. I think it makes it stronger when you're friends first, you know? And there's nothing wrong with a dance, so long as she found out before too much time was wasted."

[avabyrne]

"I love that Dexter too...from a distance," Ava said, then eyed the dog he'd called Orly. "So one of your dogs is a sociopath? And everyone's okay with this?" She smiled when he said he was a photographer. "I don't know. I think it's pretty brilliant to be able to study the world the way you do. Totally different from how I study it, but amazing. Do you sell your work?"

Her eyes widened and her hands tightened on Wilbur's leash. She hadn't meant to say that much, had got so caught up with talking, and it had been so easy...she glanced up at Tyler's face, who was talking so easily, like it didn't even matter. But of course it wouldn't, he was like her, like Rivkah.

Her mind tracked to a conversation she'd had with Tobias in this very park.

Community.

She relaxed her hands on her leash, breathed, and focused on the conversation. "Friends, yeah. We got to know each other, which was good. And in the end, I think we didn't waste too much time. It's a little hard to worry about it now anyway...it's amazing." She flushed and bit her lip. "Difficult sometimes, but like you said, life can't ever be perfect."

[tyler_ross]

"I think he was trying to kill me by tripping me," Ty whispered, as if confessing a secret. "Or else he's just hyper, kinda like me and Tigger. I'm hoping that Rosie is calmer and takes after Alex. Too much hyper can be a bad thing, I figure."

Reaching into his pocket wasn't too easy while holding three leashes, but he managed to get his wallet out. He handed Ava one of his business cards. "I own Shutterbug, where I do like events, advertising, weddings, that kind of thing. I also enjoy taking photographs for fun, and I've had an exhibit and sold stuff before. I'm probably gonna have a set-up during Arts Goggle next month to sell some of that."

When she got quiet, he looked at her curiously. "Amazing is definitely a good thing. If she makes you blush like that and smile, it's all worth it. Good and bad, difficult and easy. It's what love is, really. Being together and surviving it."