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Stupid park being closed! Ellie was mentally grumbling about the fact her usual shortcut through the park had been cut off. If she had been a better Sailor Scout, she might have given more of a damn, but she really didn't. It was just annoying.

However, now instead of walking through the park, she had to walk around the park to go anyplace in the city. It just meant if she was pressed for time, she would have to leave earlier by at least 10 minutes. Which actually was very hard to do when she was so accustomed to leaving at particular times. The time would come, and then she'd realize "oh wait, I WAS SUPPOSED TO LEAVE 10 MINUTES AGO!" It was not the ideal dilemma.

Fortunately, today was not exactly a rushed day. Mom and Dad were staying late at work again, and so the blonde tomboy knew the procedure. Go downtown, kill some time over at Hank's garage, then get some food before heading home again. She was at phase 1, walking to the downtown area. The path she was taking this time was nowhere as awesome as the park route. In fact, there were too many pigeons in the area. Pigeons were such ugly little gray birds. Ugly poopy birds.

"Scat, ya stupid birds!" she grumbled out once as she used her foot to try and clear a path for herself from the pigeon flocks. Of course, the birds only waddled off as fast as they could or made a half-hopping, half-flying attempt to move ahead of her by a few feet. She would have sighed in aggravation, but her efforts managed to encourage someone's dog to pounce up right in front of her pathway.

Birds were stupid.

Dogs were awesome!

If Ellie was a considerate person, she might have asked if the dog was friendly, asked to pet the dog, etc., etc. That wasn't Ellie's style. Instead, a big grin spread across her face as she rather swiftly knelt down to the dog's level to get a good look. It was a goober of a dog, at least based off looks, but it was a real dog. Not a sad excuse for a dog like those stupid purse dogs. "Lookit ya!" she said with a chuckle. "Who's that? Who's that? Ya wanna sniff?" She held out her hand, offering it to the dog. Did she care that there was a person on the other end of the leash attached to the dog? Not so much.

"Oh, ya like what ya smell?" Ellie grinned, leaving one hand out for the dog, and using her other hand to scratch behind the dog's ears. In all honesty, the blonde tomboy could have easily spent the full afternoon like such, but a voice cut in to spoil the perfect mood.

It was a very familiar voice in fact, and glancing up, she spotted a familiar redhead.

"Oh, Price, ya son'ova b*tch!" she chuckled out, giving the dog a rather loose ruffle to the ears. Dog ears were fun to flop around with playfully, and Ellie seemed right at home. As she continued to occupy herself with the adorable dog (oh yes it was), she pointed out "Ya probably didn't know because ya probably never asked."

The girl then leaned in and teasingly offered her face to the dog, as if encouraging it to give her a big sloppy kiss. Some people didn't like such, but Ellie adored dog kisses. They might have been sloppy, messy, sticky, or gooey, but they were always welcome with Ellie. At least, when they came from dogs. She had no stance on people kissing in such a way, because she wouldn't let anyone attempt kissing her like such.

"Dog gotta name?"

Ellie was well trained in the ways of dog kisses. After her face was thoroughly slobbered up, she hugged the dog close and literally wiped her face off against Minnie's fur. By the time she looked back up, there was a big grin on her face.

"Yer mom... is a riot, Price!" A large laugh escaped her as she continued to give the dog's ears just the right amount of attention. "How old is she?" "She" meaning the dog, and in an effort to make this point clear, she ruffled the dog's ears some more.

While waiting for an answer, she finally answered his question. "Yeah, totally cut off my usual route downtown. Gotta go th'long way now if I wanna go anywhere."

The girl then hugged onto the dog almost like a child who just got a puppy for Christmas. "Ya know, I'd love t'take 'er home with me. Always wanted t'get a dog." She sighed before confessing "Parents won't allow it though... they ain't home enough fer pets, and I'm pretty busy as well."

"Oh, so she's a big girl, eh?" Ellie grinned before doing something rather stupid. She placed her arms under Minnie's stomach, and on the count of 3, she attempted to lift the dog up. She was a good strong girl, but this dog definitely wasn't about to budge under her efforts. Though the tomboy was stubborn at times, this was not one of those times she was going to push it. The last thing she needed was a bad back at the prime age of 16.

"Guess that means yer a middle-aged lady, Minnie!" Abandoning the location she had been attempting to lift off the ground, she just ruffled the dog's ears some more. After another satisfying session of dog-love, her golden eyes glanced up to the redhead.

"So where did ya live before Destiny City? I've personally been 'ere all my life." There was a small pause, and then soon enough the girl was laughing as well. "Well, my parents don't have an issue with the house bein' a mess. It's a mess all th' time. It really is just a time issue. I'm lucky if I get t'see both of my parents fer 2 hours a day." She turned to face the dog and sighed slightly, almost as if she was used to having a failing amount of time with her family.

"And none of those other animals are nearly as awesome as dogs. Isn't that right, Minnie?" If there had even been a hint of sadness or seriousness on Ellie's face, it soon enough disappeared as she offered a renewed grin to the dog. Oh yes, dogs really did seem to have an effect on this teenage girl.

"Wow... yer well traveled, Price!" The hand kisses were somewhat returned back to the dog, the girl tastefully deciding to use the newly slobbered hands to ruffle the dog's ears again. It was a never ending cycle, but Ellie didn't mind. The mention of his previous place of residence did manage to spark up a bit of interest in the girl.

"Oh... didja live by th'beach then? That's kinda nifty I guess!" She turned to the dog and pressed the dog's fluffy face up close to her own, as if speaking solely to Minnie.

"I bet the gulls were bigger targets, eh? Probably much more fun t'chase!" If the tomboy wasn't careful, the dog was going to end up licking her teeth with how much she was grinning.

The mention of getting a dog of her own managed to get a big laugh in turn. "Oh god... with how much money my parents spend on me with car parts... I doubt that would fly!" There was that, and she needed the time to at least get her vehicles together before getting a dog. One baby getting her fully devoted efforts at a time.

If she had any inkling to keep a straight face, it completely vanished with the mention of the "wonder" that was Minnie at the beach. It was a wonderful mental image, and in all honesty, it was something the tomboy would have loved to see.

The girl began to hoot and holler, unable to pass up a good laugh for a worthy cause. The worthy cause being Minnie, of course. Of course, the whole time she laughed it up, she was petting the dog and speaking to the dog.

"Oh yes, I woulda loved t'see that! Yes I would'a! Price is damned lucky t'have ya!"

And then, the redhead screwed things up. The laughter cut itself off rather suddenly at the mention of the most horrible dog breed in the world.

"No," her voice flatly stated. "Those ain't dogs. They're powder puffs that bark." Obviously Ellie's stance on poodles was very obvious.

"Ya see this?" The blonde pointed to Minnie, finger directly in front of the pooch's nose. "That's a real dog."

"Ya ever teach Minnie how t'speak? Cause, that'd be awesome if she already knew how ta bark on command!"

The barking part obviously wasn't what bugged Ellie about poodles. Again, this was Ellie, and the girly factor was indeed an important one to keep in mind. Absentmindedly, the girl began to pet the dog some more, eyes drifting up to the sky. She was obviously giving this a lot of thought for something that should have just come from the gut.

"Lessee 'ere... I hate purse dogs... anythin' smaller than a medium-small dog is too small. And again... poodles ain't dogs..."

The sky apparently had the answers written up in the clouds or something. Eventually, her eyes returned to the boy's face and a big grin spread across her cheeks. "Well, I guess easiest route t'go would be a mongrel, wouldn't it? Can't go wrong with one'a those, right?" Obviously the tomboy could care less about show-dog quality dogs. Any dog would be good enough in her eyes, as long as it wasn't a failure priss-dog.

Once more, the blonde stood up and leaned down, as if prepping to try to pick the dog up again. However, this time, instead of putting her arms under Minnie's stomach, she simply just nabbed the dog by the paws and stood the dog up nice and tall on her hind legs. "It would be nice if I could keep yer dog though! Ain't gonna, 'cause I still can't get a dog."