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Post by Kristofor on Mar 15, 2021 18:11:27 GMT -6
If he could convince the pup to lay down to move, that would help a lot, in his head. Maybe that was exercising too much control over the houlou? They repeated the up and down motion. Kristofor's silent motion of putting his paw down right between the houlou's paws worked for the most part now. but he wanted to get him all the way.. there we go. He rewarded Dawson's efforts an let him get up on his own. Repeating the motion after a few minutes. Trying with a stick, a treat, a small rock that might also qualify for a ball if it bounced. This would be easier if he had the funds to afford some toys. Or make some himself. Kristofor had a memory of seeing his youngest little fox cousin being very attached to a knotted white towel. Drawing Dawson's attention down with the signal till he was laying down again, 'good' the fox rewarded his effort. Maybe he could find a small cloth to do the same with? 70 -end lay down?
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Post by Jack on Mar 16, 2021 6:50:03 GMT -6
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 4:21:28 GMT -6
He heard the snapping of twigs. They both did. Another killer jackalope? No... last he checked, the creatures didn't speak. He could hear a conversation being held now, of more then one. His wild instinct of being caught being a bad thing had Kristofor bodily pull Dawson close to his body and jump, dive, roll off behind the rock. It had enough girth to said rock to avoid being seen, at least temporarily. Dawson wasn't prepared for being grabbed like this. He squirmed at the tight grip, while the fox waited on three crouched limbs, one holding the houlou tightly to him. Seconds ticked past, and the conversation, between multiple, was getting louder. He couldn't see it, but heard it. Three voices. One exasperated, one joyful and the other... irritated? The fox's mind jumped to the stooges who'd jumped him during the month of spirits. But he'd smell them first right? 71 -start tolerance
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 4:26:31 GMT -6
"Rude man, no matter what day and age he walked into." the irritated voice sounded. "Barely the time of day before having a door shut in my face and being handled by servants the rest of the time. Utterly crude." The voice had a male tone, still young but at the same time quite mature. Almost having found itself. Foxes dont' have cracky voices when becoming from cub fox to grown fox; but a variety of similiarities are there with from child human to adult human. The joyful voice giggled loudly at the other's misfortune. "Is there really a point for these visits? I thought your father did all the negotiation with this particular case." the exasperated voice asked. Female. Older maybe, or just slight. Might be his angle, Kristofor told himself as he listened. Dawson squirmed with the closeness. He wasn't the biggest fan of being held constantly, and let his fox friend know it with a whine, and the slightest nom on his paw 'no' the fox hissed at him. 72
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 4:34:40 GMT -6
"If my father had his way previously, that rude child's servant would be exorcised years previous." exorcised? "Somehow they've managed to avoid this, and stay under the radar. Likely why I'm paying these 'visits', to make sure the progression stays where it is." the irritated male exhaled through his nose, by what it sounded. "isolating a picky and starving creature, what he's thinking, I'll never understand... where are you going?!" footsteps. Fast ones. Suddenly something was on the rock, peering down at fox and hound with nothing short of childish joy. "I found a doggy!" she bellowed. It hurt the fox's ears to the point of covering them, and Dawson scrambled from being hugged like this to being nearby him, barking at the female. Her big round blue eyes were hard to miss, the short pixielike haircut... and the magenta tracksuit. Why did humans wear one piece clothes, it made no sense! "I found a doggy and a foxy!" 73
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 4:41:58 GMT -6
"Get away from those creatures, they're filthy!" the male sounded panicked briefly as more footsteps came. Three humans peered over the rock, only one being on the rock itself, at the startled fox and the barking hound. "Uh-oh-um." the male was the near tallest of the group, his unusually done hair hard to see when illuminated by sun. But his sharp and clever gold eyes never left Kristofor for a second. "What are you doing here, this is a private property." he tried to put on a tone of importance, of 'I'm clearly having business here'. Something felt very off about his humanlike male to the fox's instinct, making his shoulder fur stand up and his tail bush out. He reached to pull Dawson close to him, but the hound danced away from him, still barking at the now laughing female. She hops off the rock after him, barking back at him. "Doggy!" she laughs happily. "Don't touch it, its a stray!" the male's voice escaped him before he finished his thought. 74
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 4:49:03 GMT -6
Thankfully the tallest one, the female, appears to have a head on her shoulders that doesn't have air between the ears, and cuffs the male very lightly at the ear. "Oww, what was that for?!" he asks her. She nods to Kristofor as he stands up and nearly is his height, including ears, dusting his fur off with annoyed stare, and a satchel clearly strung across his back. "This actually is private property but they did warn about city folk taking walks here. The grounds are open" she hissed audibly in dis hearing range. "Hey, where do you get that." she points at him. The fox just stares. "What?" "Your fox suit. Where'd you get it. The hair quality is incredible." Against the male's growing objections, she comes forth and pats him like he's an animal (which he is). "So soft. Is this real?" "Yes, because that is my fur. I am a fox." he had to place his Common carefully, as to avoid being misunderstood. The smaller female had caught up to Dawson, and was hugging him. He squirmed and whined, he did not like hugs! Let me go! "Please let my houlou go. Dawson doesn't like tight hugs." Distracted, the female turned and yelled at their younger? companion to release the poor dog. She does, and Dawson scampers back to his side, hiding behind his hind legs. 75
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 4:56:23 GMT -6
"Wait, how do foxes own dogs. What sort of upside down place is this plane?" another plane-talker?, thought the fox to himself as the male pointed out the obvious. "He's not even symmetrical, how do you live with yourself so confused!" the female stares at him before he realizes he's yelling at a stranger (and a fox no less) about his 'bad habit'. His shoulders drop, making the pinstriped suit with little baubles adorning the back of his shoulders noticeable. "Sorry, I've been incredibly rude. Are you a guest on this estate, or do you just hunt here." Neither of these statements were particularly kind. "Neither. I walk here. Dawson enjoys the exercise." He motions to the hound, who is more interested in hiding from the loud and boisterous female, who's laughing like its nothing. "The master of this estate, I must agree, has some social problem." the male straightened his posture, glancing slightly upwards at the fox in question. Still holding his gaze, the fox crouched, took hold of Dawson, and picked him up to place back on the rock, which separated them. The houlou whined at being put up on display like this, but got a treat for the movement. 76
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 5:02:30 GMT -6
"Its less of the master, and more of his cursed servants that I and my associates take issue with. They have so much confidence in their position here that its sickening to see in person." the male makes an irritated face. "Position?" the fox inquires, as he holds Dawson in position with a hand-paw gripping his scruff, gesturing for him to stay. The houlou isn't fond of the gripping, but he's not too keen on getting close to this male. He smells... like something he'd never smelled. He isn't 'scared', but something just seems very off about this human. The female behind him is curious though, and comes closer. "Your dog is pretty cute. Can I pet him?" she asks. He thinks a moment before Kristofor gives a nod. The tall female nods in return, offering the closed fist with the top exposed to Dawson to smell. Still held in place, the pup smells her briefly before giving a few licks. The fist opens up, turns over, and gives him a chin scratch. Ooooh, I like scratches. "I am getting him used to being handled." the fox explained with Dawson arching his jaw to get more willing scratches. This female had great claws for scratching. 77
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 5:13:46 GMT -6
"Handled for normal? Handled for show? Or handled for grooming?" the male asked him, his monochrome looks moving with the shift of his posture from tense to a bit more relaxed." Kristofor just nodded, because he didn't know the difference. "I see. How well is he with strangers." A shrug, because these were pretty much the first strangers besides the crow and the afrit that they'd been exposed to. "He seems to like my partner well enough." A noticeable glance in the female's direction. with a softer gaze. "Though her sister's another question." the fox nodded, because now the other female was sitting by a very noticeably round area of flowers and grass, picking them and humming to herself like she was five human-years old. "She shouldn't stay there. That space leads to a giant rabbit warren. They are big enough to eat people." he warns the male, who seems to be the leader of this trio of humans? The male notices where the younger? female is and yells at her to get back over here. Dawson is enjoying the scratches from the elder female, as her claws edge around his jaw, but pulls away when she starts to bother at his ears, giving an audible whine to tell her, and his fox friend, ears not okay! Not okay to pet my ears! Fox friend's paw is delicately trying to feel ear though. and he doesn't like the ticklely feeling that comes with that. There's a treat there though....? 78
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 10:46:52 GMT -6
"Does he have an ear infection? Your dog, I mean." the elder female asked the fox as he tried to pacify the hound with treat while handling his ear. The ear looked healthy on the outside to him. "Or has he been bitten?" "Cat, possibly." She talked with more words he'd picked up wth common then he actually knew. Couldn't actually feel anything beneath his fingers on the ear itself, but the houlou makes himself difficult when handling his ears. Tossing one over his head, the fox peered into his ear, even sticking his nose in it briefly. This is something other puppies, even fox kits, do when discovering big ears. Giving a reward every time he didn't immediately pull away from the weird sensation of having a nose in his ear. "I feel no bites though." "Depends on the animal. Sharp teeth the younger they are, it seems." the male muttered, walking around behind the two as they handled the hound. The female had moved from his ears to drawing her claws down his back in kind of a ticklely sort of feeling. It made the pup antsy. 79
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 10:48:14 GMT -6
This was true; he remembered being bitten by his littler cousins when first meeting them. Their teeth were sharper then being bitten later on. Less damage, but more the ouch factor. As he carefully massaged the long floppy ear in his fingers, Dawson couldn’t decide if this felt good or if it bothered him enough to start snapping at the fingers bugging his ears. It felt like many little things crawling up and down his ear and it made him want to shake his head vigorously. The fox made hushed noise, putting his signal in the houlou’s sight so he’d at least stop moving. Finally, the itchy crawling feelings left his right ear, and moved ot his left! No! But a treat presented itself to nose, and Dawson got distracted by this long enough for Kristofor to feel his other ear for any damage. Nothing specific. Maybe once he’d seen the tailypo try to take a nibble, but that was it. 80
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 13:43:51 GMT -6
The trio of people seemed, or at least two, interested in Dawson’s handling. The fox noticed a funny fluttery happy feeling inside himself when the female’s long claws arched over Dawson’s spine, making him arch further with a wiggly butt and a happy expression. So much so that he toppled over and lay on his side, tail wagging madly while she scritched his back. “Aww, whose a good puppy. Whose a good puppy? You are! You are!” The tall female cooed, all hearts and girly about the puppy who clearly lavished the attention (if it wasn’t his ears or a big hug). The male hung back a bit, his body language a bit nervous about the animal. Was he afraid of dogs? No, he would have run then, right? “Such a good baby boy you are.” He went a bit pink with all the attention being paid to the puppy. Or was this jealousy? She did try to handle his paws briefly but he pulled away from her again. mmm, that woudlnt’ do. 81
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 14:21:51 GMT -6
The happy feeling in the pit of his stomach seemed to keep flitting between joy and unease, specifically with being handled like that. “Done now” the fox spoke up finally, unable to figure out just why he felt like this. “Dawson not happy.” “Oh!” The female withdraws her claws from his hound who just lays out on his side, rubbing his back on the rock some like a lion rolling in dirt for an itch. “Sorry, I get a bit carried away around cute animals.” She saw the unsubtle facepalm of her male partner. “He’s super cute though. Thank you for letting me pet him.” “He likes attention.” The fox mentioned as he stepped away from her. Dawson got up, shook himself and went to his fox friend without a signal, rubbing his head happily against the fox’s stomach before standing at his side with a wagging tail. The fox offered him a treat which he took. “I think we’ll be going now. Good day... uh, yes. Sir.” The male swooped around, collecting his female companions, who left with him. The younger one waved at them loudly before they left the grounds behind. ‘Weird humans’ the fox thought to himself. The houlou snorted in an agreeable sound. 82
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Post by Kristofor on Mar 17, 2021 15:07:46 GMT -6
Did he have that still? Reaching into his satchel, the fox felt around for something before Dawson perked up from the triumphant feeling that he didn’t hear specifically but smelled. A meaty bone, wrapped in a waxy feeling paper in his paw. He signaled for the hound to stay. Whine... he wiggled, he shuffled, but the signal remained until he finally quieted down. The fox nodded, dropped his hand and unwrapped the bone. ‘Hold still’ he wants the hound to do, as his puppy jaws latch onto the bone. Laying down on the rock, Dawson went to work on gnawing on his prize. He loved this bone. While he chewed and entertained himself, the fox carefully petted the hound for what he could reach. Occasionally picking up his ear and peering in it. The hound paused in his chewing when his ears got handled, again. The fox reached and and scratched his head, praising him for the allowance. Reluctant, he went back to his bone. What was so interesting in his ears?! 83
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