[PRP] Walkies (Hattie/Oliver)

[Grey Dragon]

If there was one nice thing about helping out with minipets, it gave Oliver a much needed distraction from his own work. Not that working hard was a bad thing, he just had an awful habit of working too much, too frequently, and for too long. So when he felt the irritable tug of tiny talons on the leg of his jeans, it broke his concentration and reminded him that it was not just the little Therapoda that needed a walk, but that he should be moving around frequently too.

Oliver stood up and stretched, the miniature t-rex circling his legs in eager anticipation. "Okay, let's go," he muttered to the minipet, and grabbed it's leash. The creature practically pulled him out of the lab and down the hall towards the bright, sunny outdoors.

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

Outside was a dangerous place to be, usually because it lead to all sorts of interesting developments. In Oliver's case, it was a pair of warm hands appearing out of nowhere to cover his eyes, and a purposefully deep and hoarse voice beckoning: "Guess who?"

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Oliver yelped at the ambush, accidentally dropping the leash.

"Oh my gosh, Hattie! You are going to give me a heart attack!" He squeaked, pulling her hands from his eyes. This is why he never left the labs, there were fewer surprises when he holed himself up with his snacks and data.

The freckled boy seemed more concerned over Hattie's silly greeting than the therapoda now taking off down the path on it's own.

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

Harley laughed merrily as Oliver startled and squeaked at her. He had pulled her hands away, and she wiggled out of his grasp so she could pull him against her in a hug instead.

"What's life without surprises!" She proclaimed loudly, squeezing him tightly against her. "I-" With a sudden pause, Hattie looked over his shoulder. "Um." Her grip on him loosened, just a little bit.

"Your little Dino's running away."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Harley was perhaps the one person on the island who could give Oliver a big hug without resulting in blushes, stammers, or downright panic, but even one as nervous as Oliver could grow accustomed to affectionate assault after so many encounters.

"It's much more peaceful," he replied, providing her with an answer for the cheerful rhetoric. Oliver returned the hug with one arm, but it was a light, almost timid gesture. He still needed to work on some aspects of huggy friendship.

The freckled young man pulled back, and glanced down the path. The therapoda wasn't looking back for a second. "Ah, yeah... It's... Sure moving." He smiled with a shy enthusiasm. "Want to see something neat?"

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

"But boring~" Hattie supplied, practically singing sweetly as she held onto him, swaying from side to side. He was learning to hug her back, but she was still quite proud of how far she'd gotten him in regards to physical contact.

Since Oliver wasn't too worried about the fleeing Therapoda, Harley decided that she wouldn't be either. She did let him go though, simply because he had offered a show of something neat.

"Um, only always!" She grinned down at him, and let him do his thing.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Oliver's smile grew a little wider, the kind of expression such a guarded young man rarely had an opportunity to show. "I was working with Racer, the therapoda, even before the collar research. Watch this!"

He took a deep breath, and then shouted loudly in the direction of the disappearing dinosaur. "RACER, COME!"

Even at a distance it was easy to see how fast the little creature pulled a u-turn, and began heading back in their direction. It was like watching Jurassic Park rendered in miniature, a fierce (tiny) t-rex tearing back towards it's (fear candy) prey. Oliver practically beamed with pride as the little thing returned right to his side, still dragging the leash behind it.

"Pretty cool, right?" He asked, crouching to give the eager dinosaur a treat from his pocket.

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

"Racer? That's a cute name!" Especially for a little dinosaur mini pet that was very fast. His sudden bellow though, now that startled her. That was the loudest noise she had ever heard come from the skittish young man. She was so surprised by the noise that she missed the impressive u-turn, but she did manage to look up in time to see the aptly named Racer come tearing back to them.

"Cool? That's amazing! You're like, a tiny dinosaur whisperer!" She crouched down beside him, where he'd likely notice that she was wearing more clothes than usual; in this case, a long sleeved shirt instead of a tank top. It was too big for her, and there seemed to be a weight in the front pocket. A little bulge that shouldn't have been there.

"Can I pet him?"

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Oliver blushed at the praise. "I-it's no b-big deal... I um, started teaching a couple minipets to come when called, I heard they had a really hard time catching the ones I let loose when... um... when the lab was destroyed. I was in the infirmary so I couldn't help out, but if more of them were trained to come on command..." He trailed off and stared down at the little dinosaur, somewhat embarrassed to have said so much all in one go. He often worried about going overboard with his enthusiasm, talking too much about inconsequential little things.

He was only too happy to shift the focus to something else. "You can try, sometimes he likes scratches on the back of his head. He won't bite or anything though." The freckled young man reached a hand out as though approaching a small dog, palm up until his fingers came in contact with it's neck, and then gave it little scratches up to the top of it's head. The therapoda seemed amenable enough, although it's predatory eyes darted across the grass, distracted by the outdoor environment.

"How is your minipet doing, is the collar working out?" He asked, completely oblivious to her particular state of dress. It wasn't just a defence mechanism to protect him from Hattie's lack of modesty, he really didn't pay much attention to what people wore at all.

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

"Oh my god, you did that?!" Harley's voice pitched with laughter. "Oh my god!" She repeated, still in disbelief, though she really should have known. "You have no idea how long it took me to catch one of the pygmy dragons? Forever!" She cackled happily anyway, reaching out to dig her knuckles playfully into the top of his head. "You gave me quite a work out that day, young man!" Harley was not good at scolding people. Especially when she was laughing.

When she was allowed to pet the Therapoda though, she let out a happy keen and mimicked what Oliver had done. The cautious reach out, the gentle neck scratches, and finally to the top of the head. It was adorable. The only thing that stopped her what Oliver's question about her own minipet. Otherwise, she would have gone off forever.

"Yeah!" She wiggled in excitement for a moment, leaning back while the crouched to both show off the bulging pocket, and to pull one of the sides out, to allow him to see in. "Pocket kitten!" A jazz-hand gesture was given to the peephole into said pocket, where a grey kitten faded from fuzzy cute to nothing more than a glowing skeleton, and back again. It had its tiny paws curled around a tuffed party hat, which it had snuggled against its face.

"Turns out, Party Cat does stop sometimes." There was a proud grin that followed, and she returned an earlier question right back to him: "You wanna see something cool?"

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Unfortunately, Oliver was easily scolded. He took the gentle ribbing a bit too seriously, the whole situation with the labs was a sensitive topic, and not just because his life had been in danger. Many minipets had dissipated that day, and although it hadn't been an ideal solution, using the collars and letting the little creatures find their own way to safety was the best option he had to save any lives at all. "S-sorry..." he stammered, uncomfortably focusing on the ground in front of him.

The amusement didn't reach him as dramatically as much as the mock chiding had, but he had time to mentally patch those sensitive spots in his ego while Hattie gleed at the little dinosaur. It was a pretty incredible little thing, a perfectly pet-sized little T-Rex, the kind of animal a very young Oliver had once wanted more than a dog or a cat or even a pony.

He leaned over to look at the party cat, it looked quite happily pooped. "Ah... It's asleep, I've never seen it asleep before," Oliver muttered, surprised. "You have something more cool than this? How did you wear it out?"

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

"Magic~" Harley wiggled her fingers at Oliver as if casting a dramatic spell. She settled down a moment later, because she had the something cool to show Oliver. The fingers that had once been wiggling instead help up to gesture for a pause and silence, and she pulled the opening of her pocket again, to show the snoozing ghost cat.

Then, quietly, she started to make a tune with her voice. A little un-tiss, un-tiss, un-tiss tune. The kitten's shoulders started to twitch, it's hips started to sway, and it slowly woke up dancing to her goofy attempt at music. It danced its way out of her pocket and boogied down at her feet. Harley had joined it not long after, doing a little boogy of her own right along with it.

grey dragon