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Katriel followed Vince into the enclosure and started changing newspaper as quickly as she could. Better to get this over with as soon as possible--ESPECIALLY since everything smelled like food. She would love to take home a few of the older bunnies to her puppies. Together they managed to clean every cage in record time. Hopefully they were fast enough that Vince didn't see her drooling.

"Aliright," she sighed in relief. "So, dogs, cats, birds and rabbits. Anything else to do?"

"Um..." Katriel looked around uncomfortably. She could sit still for a while. Hopefully. "Ok, sounds good."

Being alone was always a bit weird, but she twiddled her thumbs for a grand total of 15 minutes before she gave up and started bagging the trash and cleaning surfaces. Then she went back to the kennels. She looked around for the leashes to take some of the dogs for a run.

When Katriel got back from the run, the dogs were happily exhausted. She felt better after taking a decent sprint. She took the second shift of dogs out--including Dobie--and went for a second run. She came back and ran into Vince with six dogs in tow.

"Oh, hi again!" she said. "Almost done with exercise for the day. We just took a quick five-mile spin."

"I like to run," she admitted. "Um...no, no lunch. I don't really need anything--big breakfast and all." Her stomach interrupted the conversation with a loud growl. She smiled sheepishly. "I'll have a big dinner to make up for skipping lunch."

She blushed but gratefully accepted the sandwich. She smothered it with mustard and wolfed it down in a few bites. Then she licked her fingers.

"Thanks so much. That was delicious. Maybe when I get my paycheck, I can return the favor," she offered. "I'm not much of a sandwich maker, but I can grill up grub on the barbie better than anyone."

"Maybe the next time I have elk--elk are great for sharing. Bison too," she babbled. "I could bring a few bones by for the dogs too--and Dobie can have an antler. The antlers are really the best. As soon as I get a chance to bring down another buck, I'll bring something for everybody."

Aww, crap, had she said too much? Katriel's mind raced for something to make it all plausible.

"Well, my grandfather was a First-Nation medicine man, so I learned most of the hunting arts from him," she half-lied. "First-Nation" was technically true, since were-packs were often part of native tribes, but most of the "hunting arts" came from instinct. "We'd hunt as a group and use traditional means, not the cheep-skate cheater's way of setting up a blind in a tree and picking off the prey with sniper rifles. I have my fare share of scars from getting too close to a panicked animal. And yes, we used to have massive parties every month, with food and dancing and...other stuff. We weren't really sheltered kids, if you get my meaning. But..well, it's been a while since I've been a part of something like that. So maybe we will have to settle for deli-meats."

Ugh, processed food that had been dead for days. Not that she hadn't eaten roadkill before--when she had been desperate--but it was something she liked to avoid. At least mustard covered up most of the flavor.

"Oh, arrows usually did most of the dirty work--a clean slice through the jugular and game over," she commented absently. "But you'd be surprised at how small that target can be from 100 yards away. And once you hit an animal, you can't let it get away--it's cruel to let it slowly bleed out over hours or even days from a bad shot." She noticed his slightly green pallor. "I'm kind of an extreme-outdoors kind of person. It was nice, being in that kind of a community while growing up. I really miss it. I haven't managed to stay in one place for more than a week or two, and I don't expect to stay too long here. When my truck gets fixed, I'm heading west again. So we'd better have our BBQ before then. Do you have a favorite cut that I can save for you?"