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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 15:33:11 GMT -6
It felt like things had gotten a lot busier for Aubrey ever since he had picked up three Houluh pups. Not that he had actually planned on picking up three at once; he had really only meant to adopt Lyra, and even that had been kind of a snap decision, one that he hadn't put as much thought into as he would have liked. But then Yeo-reum had gotten ideas, and now, well... A whirlwind of training and research had ensued, and now all three were fully grown. Lyra was being entered in a show, Joker had been solicited for breeding - which had been very flattering but also sort of awkward - and that just left... Loki. Aubrey wasn't really sure what to do with him. Aubrey wasn't sure what to do with any of them, really, but Lyra and Joker seemed mostly content to be just... dogs, more or less. 1
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 15:37:21 GMT -6
They lounged around the house, played with toys, tried to get away with sneaking food, occasionally dug up the odd flower bed. Normal dog things. And it wasn't like Loki didn't do any of that, especially when one of the others got into it. Aubrey wouldn't say he followed their lead, but it was like they talked him into a bit of fun sometimes, almost.
But there seemed to be something more going on with Loki, a level of restlessness that sought an outlet, and Aubrey hadn't been able to come up with one for him just yet. Sometimes Aubrey would find him staring out the window, or staring at people - Aubrey included - with such a strange intensity that it was unnerving.
And then, sometimes, he would come home to find something destroyed. Still. Even after all the work he had put into obedience training and exercising the lot of them.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 15:41:57 GMT -6
At first he had thought it could be any of the pups, but when it kept happening, he started investigating... And the evidence all pointed to Loki. He had caught Loki in the act at least once, and tan hairs were also pretty incriminating.
It was upsetting and a little costly, but... Aubrey also couldn't ignore the signs. Loki was clearly bored, and needed something to do. Aubrey just wished he knew what it was.
He still didn't have a solution, but he knew that keeping Loki cooped up at home wasn't the way to do it. And it occurred to him that he hadn't been to the Quest Board in a while, and it was a nice brisk walk to the area... "Come on, Loki, let's go for a walk, huh?" Aubrey called, and Loki showed up a moment later, with an almost expectant air as he waited by the door.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 15:54:26 GMT -6
It was kind of funny, how these things worked out. When they were all just pups, Aubrey had given Lyra credit for being the clever one, but as they got older, he began to recognize a cleverness in Loki too - different, because he wasn't as eager to please, nor as well attuned to people as Lyra was. It was easy, in retrospect, to see how Lyra had been smart, because she had always been paying attention to Aubrey, and had merely been waiting for him to show her what he wanted.
Loki's wits were more apparent in pried-open cupboards and an ability to escape from any confine if left there too long. But he listened too. Mostly. Which told Aubrey that he wasn't necessarily antisocial so much as he needed more of an outlet than he had at present.
He stood still, for example, when Aubrey clipped the leash to his collar.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 15:58:40 GMT -6
And he waited with a quiet patience as Aubrey opened the door, before stepping smartly out to wait for Aubrey again on the steps. Aubrey locked the door behind him before picking up the leash, and Loki heeled without having to be asked to once they started walking.
It really was kind of funny. When they were in public, especially on a good day, Loki looked the very picture of a mannerly dog. Not all of it had been Aubrey's own work. He knew this because he had trained all three pups more or less the same, and the outcome had still been different: Lyra well behaved until she really wanted something, and stubborn when she thought he was being unfair; and Joker, well-meaning but inclined to be distracted, and sometimes more lax than Aubrey would have liked.
But Loki always looked sharp, head high and posture neat, as if he were on display.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 16:12:51 GMT -6
He had noticed it when he had been showing the three pups to get them their proper registry papers, but Loki had taken to it more than Aubrey had expected. Certainly more than the other two had taken to it, though Lyra had been the one entered into a real show first.
... Maybe that was Aubrey's own bias coming into play. Because part of the strange thing about Loki being the one to turn out this way was that he had the least cause for it, having been very close to feral when Aubrey had first met him. It had taken a lot of work to get him to this point, and yet somehow he had grown up into the most... what? Professional-looking? And yet, even so, Aubrey didn't quite trust it, as though this was only a veneer, and when push came to shove, Loki's presentation might not hold up under scrutiny.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 16:16:32 GMT -6
But on walks, at least, they received plenty of compliments, especially when it was just Aubrey with Loki alone. They received some today on the way to the quest board, and Loki stood patiently for them all, though he merely tolerated any entreaties or pets made to him directly with a tense forbearance.
"We're almost there, buddy," Aubrey said, after the third such occasion. Could dogs sigh? Loki certainly seemed as though he would like to, but Aubrey didn't hear one.
Luckily for them, there weren't many people. It was pretty close to the end of the month, so they were cutting it a little close; most people would have finished up their work by now. There were still a few postings to be had, though the selection wasn't large, and Aubrey picked up the first piece of paper that drew his eye, written on stationery with a star pattern.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 16:26:51 GMT -6
He gave it a quick read, and decided he might as well take this one. It didn't seem too demanding; it seemed like the Astronomy Association was basically looking for anyone they can get to do any kind of odd job they thought they might be good at, and Aubrey thought he could at least set up and take down equipment, if nothing else. And the job was still open, thank the gods, so he wasn't too late to apply.
The trouble was just that the place was a little far from where they were right now... But hey, wasn't he just thinking he needed more occasion to get some exercise for poor Loki?
Loki was looking up at Aubrey and the note, but there wasn't much Aubrey could tell him about the contents. Loki was smart, but he was still only dog-smart, and the concept of an Astronomy Association was beyond him.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 16:50:00 GMT -6
The only part of this that was relevant to him was that their walk would be continuing. Aubrey pinned the note back onto the board after committing the address to memory, then said, "Alright, let's go."
Together with Loki, they made their way to the Association. Aubrey went at a faster pace than he had done getting here, and excused himself from anyone who stopped him to chat by saying he had somewhere to be. That was true, and he was a little worried about missing the deadline to apply for this job despite knowing it wasn't yet closed, but some of that was for Loki's sake too. He felt like there was probably a limit to what Loki was going to put up with, and he didn't want to put Loki in a situation where they were going to test the extent of that limit, for a wide variety of reasons.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 16:57:45 GMT -6
He didn't want to cause a scene in public; and he didn't want anything to happen to Loki, which of course it would, if it turned out that Loki went and... what? Growled at someone? Aubrey sure hoped it wouldn't come to Loki nipping at someone, since they had worked very specifically on his not doing that. But even if it didn't come to that, it would be a pretty bad time for everyone involved if Loki had his buttons pushed a little too much. And Aubrey didn't know a whole lot about dog ownership, but he did understand that it was his job as a responsible owner to try and make sure they didn't reach that point.
It should have been a relief to arrive at their destination, with all that in mind, but the Association, when they got to it, was actually more crowded than Aubrey had anticipated.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 17:01:42 GMT -6
He should, in retrospect, probably have realized it would be. After all, the Association had been looking for a lot of people, right? So it made sense that... well, that a lot of people would show up, especially this close to the date of the event. But it hadn't occurred to him, and now he stood there, looking at the crowd, at a slight loss as to what to do.
"You... wouldn't want to wait outside here somewhere, would you?" he said to Loki, as though Loki could offer him some answers of his own.
He didn't really expect an answer, even if he had posed the question, but when he looked down, Loki was looking back up at him with an expression that seemed to say, 'Don't you dare think about leaving me here'.
"... Guess not, huh," Aubrey said. Loki kept his gaze on Aubrey a moment longer before turning it to the crowd.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 17:04:03 GMT -6
Aubrey clocked Loki's body language. He didn't seem especially tense or on edge, actually. Maybe this would be okay? Maybe all Loki needed was a moment to prepare himself, knowing what was coming.
Maybe most people at the Association would be too busy to bother Loki.
Okay. He could do this. They could both do this. Aubrey took a deep breath, steeled himself, and walked on, with the intent of wading his way into the crowd.
It didn't quite come to that, in the end. As he got closer, he could see that what had seemed like one singular mass of people were actually several different lines and knots of gathered folk, some in regular clothes and others wearing lab coats that marked them as some sort of researcher. He didn't think astronomers would need to wear lab coats, but then, it wasn't as though he was an expert on the matter.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 17:06:20 GMT -6
A little asking around and he was eventually directed to the line that he wanted, which was for people applying to work for the event. The line wasn't that long, and there was at least one other person who had come here with a creature in tow, so Aubrey didn't feel as wildly out of place as he could have. That was a nice bonus.
When he got to the end of the line, what was waiting for him was a short man in glasses. The man looked up at first, only to be surprised by the fact that Aubrey was... if not of a height with him, then at least not much different. That... didn't make Aubrey feel self-conscious at all about his own height.
He swallowed the feeling, and offered the man a smile. "I'm, uh, here for---"
"I know what you're here for," said the man, cutting him off.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 17:15:51 GMT -6
"Everyone in this line is here for the same thrice-blasted thing, you don't have to say it." The man waved a clipboard impatiently at the line, which had filled out a little in the time that Aubrey had been standing in it. "So? What are you here for?"
In two sentences, the man had thoroughly confused Aubrey to the point that he was at a loss as to how to respond. "What... What am I here for?" he said, stupidly. The man's eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Right, what role are you applying for? Everyone wants a job but not everyone can do everything... Gods' breath, must I spell out every little thing," he muttered under his breath. "Wait, no, you must be here to apply as a guard, hmm?" He had caught sight of Loki, and before Aubrey could even get a word in edgewise, had evidently come to his own conclusion.
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Post by Briar on Sept 30, 2020 17:24:17 GMT -6
"G-Guard?" said Aubrey, faintly. Of all the things people thought of when they saw him, that had never even once been an assumption that they had made before. He knew that it was Loki's presence that sealed the deal this time, and given a little time to process it, he would even have understood the man's thought process. Guard dogs, right? Why else would anyone bring a dog to a place like this, if not to offer its services?
But right now he just felt overwhelmed, and not at all equipped to deal with what was happening.
The man gave him a once-over. "Well, you're a little short for it, but we've had weirder. Alright, I'll put you down. Name?"
"I beg your pardon?" said Aubrey, still trying to catch up with what was happening.
"Oh you'll beg, alright," said the man, fixing him with a truly impressive glare of undisguised impatience.
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