(Untitled)

[off_the_grid]

Quorra had never met a dog before she came to the island, and she still tended to steer clear of them, for the most part. It wasn't that she was afraid of them, exactly. They just seemed strange and unpredictable and, frankly, kind of weird to her

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[haolehothead]

Danny's played a couple games with Quorra and he's enjoyed teaching the basics of baseball, but he's not sure that teaching her how to communicate with dogs is on anyone's agenda. "I don't know that he's gonna talk back," Danny says with a smile, offering her a sympathetic look. "And, barring some very strange people, no one really speaks dog. You're not alone."

[off_the_grid]

"Then how does anyone ever know what they want?" The dog ran around Danny in a sort of greeting, then did the same to Quorra before dropping his stick at her feet again. He was really not used to it taking so long for anyone to oblige him in a game of fetch.

[haolehothead]

"We guess, mostly," Danny admits, crouching down to pet the dog, scratching behind his ears and checking the collar. "Well, hey there, Simon," he greets the animal, peering up at Quorra for a minute and gesturing to the stick. "Right now? I'm guessing he wants you to throw that so he can show off some fetching prowess."

[off_the_grid]

Simon woofed at the sound of his name. He was nothing if not polite.

Quorra picked up the stick and made a face. "It's slimy," she observed. At least that made her glad to throw it, and then wipe her hand on her leg.

Simon bounded after the stick, barking a few times for sheer joy.

"Looks like that really was what he wanted."

[willimprovise]

"Making friends?" Sam asked, grinning as he approached from down the beach. While the number of pets running around here had a tendency to make him miss his own dog (silly as it might have been, Marvin had been his primary companion for a pretty long time, and that wasn't something so easily forgotten), it wasn't like he could really mind that, and did even less so now, watching Quorra shake hands - paws - with the dog in front of her. Arms folded over his chest, he let out a short laugh, fond. "Pretty sure he's not gonna be able to answer that one. Might be on his tag, though."

[off_the_grid]

"I don't know. It does seem that he wants to be friendly, but I don't really understand him." She noticed the tag then, and gingerly reached under the dog's chin to get a good look at what it said. "It says he's Simon Chicago Tam. Hello, Simon Chicago Tam." The dog licked her hand, and Quorra jerked it away in alarm. He did have very large teeth.

[willimprovise]

"It's fine, he's fine," Sam promised, reaching down to pet Simon Chicago's head in what he hoped might be a reassuring manner. It was easy to forget, sometimes, that there hadn't been things like pets on the Grid - a clear flaw in his dad's design, if one were to ask Sam - and that Quorra still would have been getting used to such things, but Sam was hard-pressed, as he always was, to find it anything but charming. If there was any explaining necessary, he didn't mind at all being the one to use it. "You're not supposed to be able to understand. Not, like, word for word, anyway, though you could probably make some guesses as to what they want."

[off_the_grid]

Simon Chicago wagged his tail. He knew he was a Very Good Dog, but it was nice to have new people acknowledge that fact in addition to his usual pack. Quorra recognized the behavior from descriptions in books, and understood it as a friendly gesture. She mimicked Sam's action, petting the dog's head while being careful to stay clear of the teeth she still didn't quite trust.

"They must have some sort of language," Quorra insisted. "He seems to expect me to understand it."

[dichotomos]

"He wants you to throw the stick." I'd been mid-run, but had paused a few feet away to tug off my t-shirt and wipe the sweat from my face. "It's a game. He'll go get it and bring it back and probably want you to do it again. Super exciting."

This all seemed obvious to me, but for all I knew this chick was from a world where everyone was smoking hot and there were no dogs.

[off_the_grid]

"It doesn't sound very exciting." Quorra was not well-versed in sarcasm, and she was dubious about this claim. She could think of a great number of games filled with actual excitment.

"Do you want me to throw the stick?" she asked the dog, who wagged his tail in agreement. She obliged, and the dog bounded off after it.

"Looks like you were right. I'm glad someone came along who speaks Canine. I didn't understand his language."

[dichotomos]

"It's exciting if you're a dog," I replied as the dog in question sprinted off and illustrated my point. "He doesn't have a language. Just impulses and the ability to bark," I clarified.

[radical_cowgirl]

"He wants to play the 'find it' game."

Edward watched the lady with the dog, wondering if she had ever seen one before. She didn't look like she knew what she was doing, Edward even thought she looked a little scared.

Ein would know, he was smart like that, but Ein was... where was Ein? Ein was somewhere. Doing whatever Ein did when Edward wasn't there. Maybe he was on her computer.

"You throw that." Edward pointed hopefully.

[off_the_grid]

"The stick?" asked Quorra. She was doubtful about this game, but willing to learn from someone who could use words to explain it as the dog could not. "What does it do?"

Stick-throwing didn't seem to be much of a game to her, but the dog wagged his tail and seemed to think it sounded like a fine idea to him.

[radical_cowgirl]

"The stick doesn't do anything, silly-person."

Tilting her head, Edward looked at the woman. Even Edward knew about the game, and all the people Edward met knew about it, they tried to play it with Ein.

"You throw it and the dog-person brings it back. Then you throw it again."

[off_the_grid]

This description did not make Quorra any less confused.

"Is a dog-person different from a regular dog? How can you tell?"

Maybe it had to do with the stick she was apparently supposed to take from the beast so she could throw it.

"Are you trying to give me your stick, Unknown Canine?"

The dog barked.