[Open]

[thirdshiner]

Characters: The Disreputable Dog and anyone else who happens to be around, for whatever reason.
Content: The Dog is on duty guarding the hangar. The Dog is bored.
Setting: In and around the plane hangar.
Time: Any time before the race.
Warnings: Nothing beyond what you bring with you.

Comments

[fire_water_wood]

Harlequin has been wandering around and comes across a really big building with a lot of people and activity. Nifty! He doesn't see any "Restricted" or "Keep Out" signs or the like, so he decides to go in and check it out.

He's marveling at all the planes - he's never seen planes like this close up must.resist.temptation to climb up and go exploring orz - and making sure to keep out from underfoot of all the hustle and bustle. But he comes around the landing gear of a plane only to nearly bump into - AH!

His eyes go wide and he backpedals, eyes darting around for a place to hide - no place he could get to before the dog can get to /him/! "A-ah . . . n-nice doggie . . . p-please don't decide I look like a chewtoy...." He's continuing to back away slowly.

[thirdshiner]

The Dog was prowling around the planes, wearing one of her more menacing faces - and perhaps a few inches larger than usual, too, for the full 'guard-dog' effect. But nonetheless, she wasn't expecting anyone to be this scared of her, and nor was she expecting this sort of 'someone'.

Was it even a 'someone'? It looked like a someone, if not a very large someone, but it didn't smell right at all - things that smelt of wood shouldn't talk and act like people. She reached out a paw to prod at the whatever-it-was, experimentally.

[fire_water_wood]

Harlequin considered making a dash for it, but he remembered hearing somewhere that dogs like to chase things, so that he'd only be inviting it to do so, and besides, he knew he couldn't outrun it. Weren't guard dogs supposed to be more intelligent than other dogs? Maybe it wouldn't hurt him if he was nice to it - it seemed...more or less friendly so far. It wasn't growling at him at any rate.

OH! Paw! He backpedaled another few steps before making himself hold his ground. "N-nice to meet you too," he ventured, reaching to just barely touch the paw held out in his direction.

[thirdshiner]

The Dog grinned at the thing - it certainly didn't seem dangerous, and it looked like it was even trying to be friendly, so she turned her poke into a delicate 'handshake' as he reached out to touch her paw.

"Nice to meet you. What are you?" she asked bluntly, sniffing at him - curiosity over pleasantries, for now, until she could be sure she could trust him not to be or do something unpredictable or dangerous.

[fire_water_wood]

"Oh! You speak! Wonderful!" Relief and delight washed through him - his chances of getting out of this without bite marks had just bounced up another few notches. "Nice to meet you as well. My name is Harlequin, at your service." He offered a bow. "I am a Living Marionette - the last of my kind, in fact." Despite the inherent grief in the statement, it was also something he was proud of. The gods had spared him from the fire, and so he lived to continue the memory of the others.

[thirdshiner]

The Dog nodded her head in response to the puppet's bow. "A living marionette? Were you made, then, or are you some sort of demihuman?"

Realizing she'd let her curiosity get in the way of her manners, she smiled at Harlequin again - a smile she intended to be friendly, though more teeth than might be comfortable to someone as small as him were involved. "Ah, my apologies, I should introduce myself, too. I'm the Disreputable Dog."

[fire_water_wood]

Harlequin started to reply to the first question, but then her name caught him off-guard and he attempted to work it out, though it didn't sound like something good to him, his tone one of confusion as he spoke. "D-dis....reputable? Not a good reputation? Ah! S-sorry . . . I don't mean to be rude...." It just seemed like such a very odd - even mean-spirited - thing to name someone!

[thirdshiner]

The Dog nodded, grinning. "Disreputable indeed! I mean, it depends how you want to define 'reputation'..."

She didn't consider it rude - few people questioned her name, but she was aware that, descriptive as it might be, it wasn't precisely normal.

[fire_water_wood]

[Sorry, catching up from several days of health FAIL.]

Harlequin suppressed a flinch, resisting the urge to pull back again. After all, from her tone, he supposed that the show of so many more teeth again was meant to be a grin. H-he hoped.

"Yes, I...I suppose that would be true." He laughed softly, then looked around the enormous room full of planes. "So . . . are you a guard dog? Um....a-am I not supposed to be in here?" he added nervously as the thought occurred to him.