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Piper finished up putting a few stitches in a young pup's leg and gave him a little scruff behind his ears for being such a good dog. The little thing yapped happily and wagged his nub of a tail in return. Chuckling, the young woman picked the dog up and tucked him gently under one arm as she began to bandage the wound. Piper had been in animal medicine for only a few years now, but it seemed not many were in the field, so she had constant work. The daughter of a lawyer, as a child she was never short on money to buy whatever books she wished, and while they tended to lean towards the mystical Hounds of years past, she did discover a desire to help animals in need. She was only a quarter of a century, but her sharp wit had helped bring her to the forefront of her (granted, small) profession.

"Sampson is all set," she announced as she moved back to the waiting room. An anxious little girl waited for the puppy and, when he jumped into her arms happily, there were tears of joy in her eyes. Piper smiled and nodded at the thanks that was given, and motioned for the girl to go along out the door. Money was hard to come by for some and she had enough paying customers that allowed her to help the poorer people in the city. It was all passed along by word of mouth, though, so no one would come looking for free services.

Heading back into her office, she was greeted by a flurry of wings. Her own pooch, much larger than the pup she had just helped, settled to the ground beside her and tucked her wings neatly against her back. A feeling of anxiousness swept over the human as she reached down to pat the brown head before her.

Oh, was he okay? Aelira asked, whimpering very softly in concern.

"Yes, he was perfectly fine," Piper returned with a nod and a fond scratch behind the Hound's ear. "Nothing a few days won't see completely healed." Piper was very good at the mystic type of magic and had come to find that by casting little healing charms over her instruments, it saved a lot of her energy as far as healing went. Charmed thread and needles slowly infused wounds with healing energy, so they took only days to fix rather than weeks, and very little scar tissue would remain.

Aelira sighed softly, obviously relieved. Oh, good...the poor thing's little whimpers were too much for my poor heart. With a quick jump and with a spread of her wings, the Hound landed neatly in a little bed that Piper had attached to the wall above her desk, so her bond could watch her while she worked without getting in the way.

Aelira heard the footsteps before the bell sounded at the door. A voice carried, muffled, through the office door, causing both human and Hound to look up from their work and nap, respectively.

"Oh...another pooch in trouble," Piper said as she set her pencil down and moved to her coat rack to grab her veterinary lab coat and tug it on over her own simple but stylish pants and long sleeved shirt. They were black to offset the white of the coat, which she took pride in not having one drop of blood on it.

"Stay here, my dear," she said, turning to Aelira who had jumped from her bed and glided gently to the door. The Hound looked up nervously for just a moment before smiling very slightly. But this isn't a normal dog, Piper...it's another Hound.

Piper's eyes widened in surprise, then glee. "Are you quite sure?"

Oh yes, I can smell him. If you don't mind...it's just...I haven't seen another Hound here before and...well...

"Of course, of course, you may join be if you wish." Piper said as she pushed open her office door and headed down the small hallway to the waiting room. Indeed, there lay a large brown hound, bigger than her own, but wingless. He did have two tails, though, and a rather serious expression on his face. "Oh...what a sight," she whispered softly, clutching at the clipboard she had grabbed from the wall.

Realizing there was a human in the room as well, she quickly turned her gaze to the dapper man before her. "Sir! So sorry...is this your Hound?"

True to her shyness, Aelira hung back behind Piper, wings folded tightly against her body as she peered around her bond to look at the other Hound. He was big, and in pain from the smell of blood in the air. She didn't see any on the ground, though, so that was good.

Piper smiled slightly as the man spoke, nodding just a bit. It was so exciting to meet someone else with a Hound! She hadn't yet, even though she had heard whispers of incredibly large dogs walking around the streets. Now, it seemed, she could prove she wasn't alone. This was hardly the time to talk about Hounds, though, as they had obviously come here for a reason.

The exclamation made both Piper and Aelira glance back to the human, as they had both turned to look at the approaching Hound. The human laughed softly and Aelira ducked her head, pressing her wings tighter against her body.

Do I really look like a bird? she asked weakly.

Well, wings are generally only on birds...but he didn't mean it in a rude way, my dear, Piper told her gently as bobbed her head in thanks. She knew Aelira was special - if only because she'd been the Hound to pick her for Summoning - and was gracious whenever anyone thanked her. It seemed wings weren't required for Hounds, though, which she was very interested to learn. And when Titanius came over, she noticed he had not one, but two tails! Very, very interesting.

She crouched down in front of the large Hound and leaned in to look at his paw. She hissed softly in sympathy and looked up at the man. "It looks like it's in pretty deep. If you two would come back to the examination room I'd be able to get it out in a jiffy with very minimal bleeding."

Curious now, despite herself, Aelira poked her head around Piper and moved closer to Titanius. She cast a worried look up at the larger male, tail quivering in mild anxiety. Oh...does it hurt very badly? she asked him hesitantly.