[PRP] A Tale of Two Pugs...and a Satyr [COMPLETE]

[kitten]

Who: Doucette, Dolce, Gabbana, Luka
Where: The Park
When: Late afternoon, few hours before sunset
Weather: Crisp but sunny, get your coats out!

"Dolce I swear to all the gods I read about that I will tan your hide and hang it up in my kitchen if you do not get your little cork-screw butt back here right this instant!" the curly red head hollered not quite at the top of her lungs for fear of scaring people away. With her hands on her hips and a frown on her lips the pale woman looked like a force to recon with if you didn't know her personally. Perhaps that was why the pug didn't take the threat to heart and continued to frolic about on her stumpy legs. The little hat Doucette had made for that broad head of hers had gotten a little skewed but her little hand-knit sweater was keeping her warm in the brisk January air.

Her better half, Gabbana (just Gabby for short) sat patiently at Doe's feet, leash still attached to her personalized collar. The paler pug looked pleased as punch about not being the one yelled at, but that wasn't so rare an occasion since Dolce was truly the wilder of the two sisters and often took the heat for any indiscretions. Gabby even gave a polite yip after the woman's rant in encouragement but knew it would do nothing to get Dolce back on her leash. If ever there was a dog that hated leashes, it was Dolce.

And Doucette couldn't blame them. Better they were here, in the park, than back at the house with Liam. Stupid, abusive, a*****e Liam who wouldn't know the difference between a dog and a bean bag as long as he could kick it out of his way. It made Doe's blood boil to think about it, but getting them out of the house helped calm her nerves. Even the minor limp in Dolce's gallop didn't hamper what a beautiful day it was despite all the yelling and cajoling Doe was doing.

"I know one fat puppy that's not getting a scrap of food for dinner if she doesn't get back here right now!" Doe said in a casual but raised tone, turning her head to look down at Gabby as she spoke, "How about an extra portion for you tonight Gabs? Are you super hungry?" Gabbana gave a happy little bark which stopped her sister in her tracks with wide eyes. Surely Doucette wouldn't withhold food!!  

[a crybaby]

Bundled in a warm coat, Luka was enjoying a day outside for once. With the chill of the winter season, he had found himself spending an increasingly large number of days cooped out inside the apartment to get away from the cold. And yet, the white walls had done nothing but make him feel trapped. Not to mention, the lack of sunlight had left the Frei feeding on lights around the house leaving him looking a little more pallid than usual. Tired of the plastic, dry taste building in his mouth from feeding on artificial lights and the blank white walls of the apartment, the Satyr had jumped at the first chance of going outside when he’d seen the sun’s shy beams peeping past the gray clouds.

Floating through the park, Luka turned his head when he heard a woman shouting almost at the top of her lungs.

"Dolce I swear to all the gods I read about that I will tan your hide and hang it up in my kitchen if you do not get your little cork-screw butt back here right this instant!"

The Frei couldn’t help but snicker, find the whole situation too amusing for his own good. His sun-drop orbs fell upon the cute little dog only an arms length away from him looking at Doucette with what seemed to be a rather sassy attitude for a dog. Observing the dog a little more, Luka couldn’t help but smile as he noticed the cute little hand-knit sweater it was wearing. Someone had put a lot of love and attention into the dog. Something in him wanted to watch the scene continue to play out, but he had a feeling it would be hard on the woman shouting for her dog.

Reaching down, he picked up the pug named Dolce. ”You’re a funny looking dog. Cute though.” The satyr mused, seeing a pug’s smooshed faced for the first time. He let Dolce sniff his hand before scratching her behind the ear lightly. A gesture that rewarded him with pleased bark from the dog along with more than a few messy kisses on his fingers. With Dolce cradled safely in his arms, he approached Doucette.

”Your dog, lady.” The Luka said, holding out Dolce for Doe as he gave her a boyish smirk. His voice was surprisingly sweet, refreshing and oddly reminiscent of a warm sunny day.  

[kitten]

Luka was noticed by Doucette before the pug had picked up the hint of someone reaching for her. Silly dog, shouldn't she have better senses than that? Not that one could blame her, out here in the open where she could frolic and let her guard down and just be a contented creature for a few hours. A few short hours before returning to the house where Liam lurked and waited. It was with happy, care-free attitude that had Dolce licking at the Frei's fingers when he picked her up, a little bit of noise made in happiness at the new and interesting taste the man had. Indeed, it was so interesting that even as Luka attempted to give the dog back to Doe she was leaning in, trying to lick at his cheeks with her short, wet tongue.

"Oh no! Dolce no..." Doucette moaned, reaching out and pulling the pug away from Luka with an apology on her lips and in her eyes, "I'm so, so sorry! She's such a glutton, once she tastes something good she just wants to keep eating it. But there's no licking!" she finished, the last words for Dolce stern and heavy with disapproval. The pug whined as she squirmed in the woman's arms for a moment before giving up and just looking up at the Frei with big, sad eyes.

With a sigh Doucette clipped the leash back onto the dog one-handed, unwilling to let the willful creature free for even a moment to do the job with an extra hand. Once leashed Dolce was back on the ground and chewing on Gabby's ear in a slow, lazy manner. For her part, Gabbana just waited patiently with what one could have sworn was a roll to her eyes. "Thank you so much for nabbing her for me. Once she gets loose there's just no calling her back. It's probably my fault for not disciplining them well enough..." Gabbana let out a huff of irritation at the words. Just who wasn't disciplined?

Alarmingly the woman had not yet realized the nature of the man that had come to her rescue, too concerned with the pug fiasco to do much observation, but when she realized what he was she let out a little gasp and her face lit up with excitement. "Oh my...I supposed I should stop getting so surprised the more of you I meet but I can't really help it when you're each more amazing than the next."  

[a crybaby]

Luka chuckled as Dolce gave him several more sloppy kisses on his cheek before Dou took her away. Another smile pulling at the corner of his lips as Dolce gave him a pitiful look. Reaching out, he scratched her under the chin lightly with a svelte finger. He watched carefully as Dou clipped the leash back onto her collar before setting her down; it was interesting considering Winston, Elai's cat, never had one of those long string things. Or, those color little sweater things that this lady's dogs were wearing. "You're welcome." He replied, giving her another sunny smile. "I think it is fine. She is sassy, in a fun away." He replied, watching as Dolce chewed on Gabbana's ear.

He was busy staring at Dolce and Gabbana, when he heard Dou's gasp. Looking at her again with gold orbs, his let out a small knowing smirk upon reading her expression. "You know what I am? Have you seen many of me?" He asked, curious just as well. He'd only met a handful of other raevans, and it was all so long ago that he could only recall fuzzy remnants of faces. The youth let out a small pleased look at her compliment, stretching out his wings in a slight show. Yes, he was enjoying Doucette and her two pugs quite a bit.

"What is your name dog lady? Mine is Luka." Placing a hand over his heard, he gave her a slight bow of the head as an introduction. "I've never seen you before." He replied, cocking his head lightly while taking a moment to observe and commit Doucetter's appearance to memory. She was pleasant to look at.

Brushing his creme colored bangs out of his eyes, he couldn't help but stare once again at the bright colorful sweaters Dou's dogs were wearing. Unable to help himself, he pointed at Dolce and looked up at Doucette with curious eyes."Why is it wearing a sweaters? I've never seen something like that…."  

[kitten]

"Sassy's a polite way to put it, thank you," Doucette said with a long woosh of a sigh. Sassy was not the word most people who were almost tackled by the tiny dog used. Less pleasant, more flowery and creative words were used and Doe was usually left holding her hands over her dogs' ears hoping they didn't pick up any of the words that had been used. Not that they would mind you, but it's the thought that counts! If ever one day scientists figured out how to translate dog barks into human speech, the red head might be the only one with dogs who didn't curse!

With pink blush on her round cheeks and a subconscious little bob of a curtsy in return to polite gesture and bow of his head. Had she just stepped into the gardens of 1935? "Ah, it's nice to meet you Luka!" The reply came hesitant and a little off in tone as if she'd been caught off guard. "My name is Doucette, but Doe is much easier to pronounce. I've met...a few Raevans, not many, but yes, a few" Her lips curled into a little smile as she watched him study the dogs, letting out a short, happy laugh at his sudden question.

And a common enough question it was! People had even called her a sadist for dressing her dogs, but pugs weren't the fuzziest breed so especially in the winter time she didn't want them to catch a chill! How could she be a sadist if she cared about her darling pugs so very, very much? "I don't want them to get cold of course! I make the sweaters for them, and they don't seem to mind, so why not? Don't people wear sweaters when it's cold out?" Doucette pulled her own jacket a little tighter about herself, not that the temperature was dropping, just that talking about it being cold made her feel cold!  

[a crybaby]

"You're welcome." He responded, recalling the words his guardian had drilled in his head. As the young woman introduced herself, he nodded before repeating her name in a surprisingly lush manner. "Dou-cet," It was short. Rolling her name across his tongue a few more times, he gave her a pleased smile. "Doe's name is pretty sounding. Not very hard to say either, unlike other names." At the mention of her having met a few raevans, Luka cocked his head to the side in slight amusement. "Doe is guardian then? Have you a Raevan too? Or, perhaps, Doe has a bottle and jar like Axel? What is soul? Doe has caught one yet? Can Luka see?" He paused, realizing he was barraging the poor woman with too many questions at once.

He gave her a sheepish look before muttering a small sorry. The Frei was like a child on Christmas Eve. Curiosity and excitement flashing in his eyes. He approved of Doe, even with her silly looking dogs and their sweaters.

"How Doe make sweater?" He'd never seen Elai make a sweater, let alone any other kind of clothing. The acupuncturist had always taken him out to boutiques and such to do their clothing shopping. "Yes, people wear sweaters." He responded, not quite catching that it was a rhetorical question. But these were dogs, not people. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but stare at Dolce and Gabbanna in their little sweaters with unbridled amusement. "Should Luka go home and put sweater on Winston?" He asked, his question sincere. The cat was old too, so if Dolce and Gabbanna were wearing sweaters to keep from getting cold then maybe the Russian Blue definitely needed one. Perhaps, he would have to tell Elai about getting one for their cat straight away depending on Doe's answer.

"Doe, may Luka hold one of the dogs?" He wanted to see their sweater up close.  

[kitten]

The boy's questions made Doucette break into a warm smile. There was nothing she enjoyed more than unbridled enthusiasm and she hoped very dearly that her newborn would be just as interested and absorbing as this one was. "I hope I have a Raevan soon, but right now I only have the bottle." But the words made the woman pause and for a moment a shadow of unhappiness crossed her features. "Actually...I don't even have that anymore. They're at the Lab." Doe's smile slipped back into place easily and she gave a little shrug as if it wasn't a large matter. All the souls had to go to the Lab. She just missed hers, that was all. "Apparently I captured the soul of...uhm...a bunch of moonstones?"

Not wanting to linger on the embarrassing story of how a jellyfish soul turned into the soul of a pile of rocks, Doucette waved her hand absently and moved on to the next batch of the boy's questions. "I knit them. With knitting needles and yarn that I buy at the store. It's not very hard at all, and rather relaxing to be honest. If you want to learn, I could teach you." The red head beamed at the idea, always happy to put her skills to some sort of use beyond those of ingratitude on behalf of her pugs.

"Who is Winston? A dog? Big dogs don't usually look very nice in sweaters, I should warn you," she said with a bit of a laugh at the though. A rottweiler in a sweater, that would be the day! Luka's next question bought the laughter to a stop, though not in an abrupt, unhappy way. It tends to be very hard to answer questions when one is giggling into one's hand after all! "Oh yes, of course! Gabby tends to be easier to hold just because she's more calm, but Dolce will become jealous if you don't show her any attention as well. So pick wisely!"  

[a crybaby]

Luka nodded his head attentively as Doe answered his question. However, at the mention of moonstones, his head cocked gently to the side. "What is moonstones Doe? Are the moon rocks? Like pale thing in the sky? Rocks from the moon? Stones are rocks, yes?" He asked, trying to figure out what it was she was talking about through association. He'd learned that association was good in figuring out words he didn't know. But, for some reason, this time..... the associations he was making just didn't make any sense. "How do Doe get rocks from night sky?" He asked, eyes laced with genuine curiosity. "Doe can get Luka moonrocks?"

When Doe began to answer his next set of questions, he couldn't help but smile. He found himself rather fond of this woman already. She was very gentle. "Doe knits often? Can Doe knit more than just sweaters? Maybe socks and mittens? Have Doe knit stockings for dogs before?" He asked, slightly amused at the sudden mental image of Dolce and Gabbana slipping around on a wooden floor with their socks. "Yes, Luka would learn. Elai says I am good hands. Very... dex-trex." He replied, trying to pronounce the word his guardian had used to describe his fingers.

"No. Winston is Elai's kitty. Chubby, but not fat. He is old cat." Luka explained. "Cats can wear sweaters yes? Winston is little larger than Dol-chee and Gabby." He explained, inadvertently butchering the dogs names as well. He chewed on his lower lip before leaning down to pick up Gabby, the calm one.

"Doe have more dogs? Or just Dol-chee and Gabby? Elai only has Winston." He smiled as he gave the pug in his arms a gentle rub behind the ear.  

[kitten]

Gabby’s stubby form wiggled in anticipation of being lifted from the ground, her cork-screw tail wagging with such vigour that it made it difficult for the little one to remain on all fours. Once aloft and snug in the satyr’s arms the pug basked in the attention, becoming a big, floppy sack of beige fur and a wet, pink lolling tongue. With eyes half-lidded and content she watched her sister with the sort of expression human’s wore when they were about to say the ever popular ‘neener-neener’.

In response, Dolce let out a long, low whine and paced back and forth in short circles before Luka, impatiently waiting for her own turn.

"Moonstones are...” Doucette started, before pausing a moment and casting her gaze elsewhere, searching for the most appropriate answer for the Frei. One which would not confuse him, but could keep a bit of that mystery alive for him. A rock from the moon, now wouldn’t that truly be nice? "Moonstones are just little, smooth stones that are very pretty colours, mostly light blue or pale gold.”

Another pause was taken as she waited for the satyr to soak in her words. The red head did want to make sure the truth was one hundred percent clear before she leaned forward, one hand moving to the side of her small mouth which grinned as one conspirator to another would. "But they say that moonbeams live in the stones, so I think that makes them much cooler than if they had come from the moon, don’t you?”

Straightening again Doucette laughed lightly at the thought of her poor pugs playing slip-n-slide across the kitchen floor. Cruel to animals she had been called for her enjoyment in decorating her pets in sweaters, but the Irish woman would never consider such a deliberate torture! "If I have a pattern, I can knit pretty much anything. Socks, gloves, hats, sweaters. But I’d never do something like that! They’re the only pets I have, so I’d hate for them to run away for fear I’d put socks on them!”  

[a crybaby]

Luka nodded slowly as he absorbed Doucette's explanation. "If moonbeams are from the moon, and they live in the rocks. Then, does that mean your Raevan will be my opposite?" He asked slowly. "Since I'm like the sun, so the moon would be my opposite? Can I meet... it later? When it's born from the doctor? When Doucette has taken her Raevan home?" He was curious to know what a Raevan made of rocks containing moonlight would look like.

Would it be a girl or a boy? Would he or she be pale as moonlight? Or, would they be dark light the night sky with hair light as the moon?

"I bet Dol-chee and Gabby would like socks. Keep their toes warm when the floors are cold." He smiled and ruffled the pug's ear all the more. He kind of wished that Elai would get a dog now. While Winston was nice and warm; the cat was old. And, while he used to play occasionally with Luka when the Frei had first arrived, over the years the cat had taken more to himself. Sleeping, and simply lying on people's laps.

"Does Doe want a boy or a girl?" Luka asked, looking at her with curious eyes. It was a question he'd never really asked his guardian, but one that he was curious of the answer as well. If Doucette had wanted a boy but ended up getting a girl, how would the lady react? Or, what if the reverse happened? "Doe is nervous for her new raevan friend?"  

[kitten]

A laugh escaped Doucette’s lips with all the questions, but the way it was so light and effervescent the satyr could no doubt tell the Irish woman was plain delighted with his enthusiasm. It was refreshing and nice to talk with someone so very interested in...well...everything!

"You are more than welcome to meet them when I bring them home. I have met so many wonderful Raevans, I would be so happy if some of you became their friend.” Doe blushed at his question on the gender. Although she had no preference, truly, for a beautiful, elegant woman or a dashing, handsome man, in her mind she had always referred to the vial in the feminine context. Perhaps that was simply because of living in a very female-central home between herself and the two pugs. "Male or female, I will love them with all my heart,” she assured Luka.

Many nights she had laid in bed and looked up at the sky and wondered what her new charge would look like. Would she be more like the aurora or more like the moonstones? A beautiful mixture of both? There were so many options and possibilities, her mind could never settle on just one idea! Dark, light, glowing. Doucette could not imagine that there could be any combination her Raevan could be born with that she simply didn’t love. It wasn’t an option.

Despite this, she was still very, very nervous. But she didn’t want to confess that to the boy.

Thankfully the pugs were starting to grow anxious, wiggling in Luka’s arms and making tight circles on the ground. Those two never stayed still for too long!

"It looks like I should be off...” the redhead said apology written heavy in her voice. "It was so nice to meet you Luka. I can’t wait for my newborn to meet you as well. I hope you two could become friends.”  

[a crybaby]

"Yes, I want to be their friend." Luka said with a smile. There was something about meeting a new Raevan that made him exceptionally giddy. It had to do more than meeting another of his species, but the fact that each and every single of them were all so different. Personality and appearance, it seemed no to Raevans were the same. Raevans were almost like rocks even. All different colors, sizes, and shapes. "You will love them like you love your dogs. Very warmly." Luka chuckled and set the writhing pug in his arm back on the ground.

"Yes, it was nice meeting you Doe." Luka gave the woman a warm smile. He was rather fond of her already. She kind of reminding him of his grandmother. Very warm, and simple. He liked simple. "Have a good day Doe! I hope you will meet your Raevan soon!" Luka said, giving the woman a wave.

He would be looking forward to seeing Doe again in the future. Hopefully, with her new charge.