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 Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:39 pm
Nathan Darrow was walking Dogby. This was a strange event: Nate never did anything for Dogby because he was not much of a caretaker and certainly did not care for the dog enough to want her to be healthy and happy. Tony showered all the love in the world onto the thing: it wasn't like she didn't get enough exercise.
No, Nathan must have had an ulterior motive for this benevolent event.
He was taking Dogby out because his dad was at work and Dogby had been a little sniffly that morning, so Tony hadn't wanted to take her with him. He wanted her warm and safe inside the house, really. But Nate saw the opportunity to go and visit Yvette.
His favorite target for bullying and mocking.
And she liked Dogby a lot.
So his plan was to swing by her place and see if he couldn't get her to come out. If not he didn't really care, he'd just go find someone else to hassle. Or Dogby would bring out a lot of chicks who wanted to pet her. Something was bound to happen. In either situation, Dogby was simply bait. As they walked down the street, she sneezed.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 6:25 pm
Yvette was practically hopping out of the door, tugging at the back of her shoes to make sure they were on nicely. She was in her uniform for work and making her way to the bus stop. It wasn't too bad as a work uniform, but the neckline for her jacket was a bit lower than she was comfortable with. The girl had tried to tell Mrs. Ortiga about her discomfort, but somehow that sort of conversation had turned into her boss just fawning over how adorable she looked in the work uniform.
So the girl was effectively stuck feeling awkward at work.
Once her shoes were both on as they should have been, the girl was on her way to the nearby bench. However, a stray sneeze managed to catch her ears.
"Hmmm?"
Spinning on the heels of her shoes, Yvette found two familiar faces there to greet her. One she adored, one she kinda-sorta did NOT like. Though she was not a fan of Mr. Darrow's son, the girl still minded her manners in a nearly sulky manner. "Oh... um... hi..."
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 6:53 pm
Dogby was not feeling very well, but she immediately forgot about it when she saw yvette, stump of a tail immediately wagging furiously at the sight. She bounced toward the young woman, as much as the leash would allow, and Nate, annoyed, let her off of the leash. Dogby ran over to Yvette, yipping excitedly.
She sneezed again, but it didn't daunt her much.
"Well well, if it isn't my almost adopted sister. Not out wooing Tony, huh?"
He grinned at her, tilting his head as Dogby acted like Yvette was the best person in the whole world. She was always happy to see Nate, but not that happy. Dogby loved everyone. She just loved Yvette a little bit more than most.
A lot more.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:10 pm
The girl actually let out a bit of a squeak when Nate unlatched Dogby from her leash. "Y-you know they have leash laws, r-right?!" Yes, the corgi was mild mannered enough where she would probably go to whoever was nearby, and at the moment Yvette apparently had her attention. Yet, there was a reason for those laws.
The girl was really in an awkward predicament now though. She had a Dogby at her ankles, demanding attention (and desperately needing to be picked up due to a lack of a leash). Yet Yvette's work uniform wasn't very good for just casually kneeling down to pet any sort of animal.
Awkwardly, the girl tucked her knees tight together and began to crouch down so that her skirt wouldn't ride up. It was a slow, painful process of a girl trying to remain modest in such a normal situation. She even had to put an arm across her chest with such concerns in mind.
Of course, Mr. Darrow's son wasn't exactly making the situation any easier. His snide comments were easily able to cut through any sense of dignity and confidence. Her face was quite red by the time her fingers were barely able to touch the back of the corgi's large ears. "...I... I'm not your sister! That is... that's the worst thing I could ever imagine! W-why are you even here?!"
Her words might have had more bite to it if she wasn't so quiet, or if she wasn't keeping her eyes off of the boy so she could watch Dogby in a nearly careful manner.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:27 pm
"Why, you gonna turn her in?" He shook his head. "Look at all that misplaced trust she has in you. And you're just going to turn her in to the cops for their leash laws."
He sighed, as if he weren't surprised by her outrageous behavior.
Dogby sneezed.
Nate grinned broadly at Yvette's work outfit, tilting his head theatrically as she knelt down. He shook his head.
"I'm seeing you in a whole new... light. And I know we're not faux siblings, but you sure do chase after Tony a lot. If you don't want him to adopt you, then what is it? You like him? He's like three times your age. Thats' gross."
He wrinkled his nose in distaste.
Nate was basically just there to hassle her. he hadn't picked on anyone like this for a while and it was just one of those things he had to do every now and then, or face going mad with boredom and being pent up. Poor Yvette was just the easiest target.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:46 pm
"I'm just saying... i-it's not smart to have her off leash... you never know when the cops are out and about!" She tried to crouch ever so slightly lower, but her skirt really wouldn't have any of that. So instead, she whispered to the corgi "...you should hop into my lap, Dogby!" Not that the dog would understand completely, but with the flat of her free hand, she patted her momentary lap that was still quite a leap away for the Corgi.
It was about that time she finally looked up to see Nate looking down at her. If her face hadn't already been so red, that look would have probably made her cheeks turn even redder. "P-please... stop that..." she lamely whimpered out, seeming to forget to specify what that happened to be. It was just easier to keep her eyes on Dogby, so once more her purple eyes darted to the small animal.
"... Mr. Darrow is a family friend... that's all! And I know that h-he's not 60 years old!" Dogby sneezed again before the dark-haired girl seemed to notice it.
"...I h-have to go to work... b-but... is there a reason why she's sneezing so much?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:21 am
Nate laughed as she eeped pathetically at him. She really was too easy sometimes, to pick on and embarrass. There was something cruel in picking on her, and he did not consider himself a particularly cruel kind of guy. Still, it wasn't enough to make him stop.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess she's allergic to you now. Allergies can pop up randomly, you know." He grinned, tilting his head. He had mentioned allergies to her before, when he was lying about what to feed Dogby. It seemed to be one of his go-to lies.
Dogby was oblivious to the conversation, just wanting to be cuddled and still too short to really jump anywhere or do anything she wanted to. And her head felt a little funny, in a dog way. She didn't like the way her nose itched.
She whined softly, but her attention was drawn as a large bus rolled through the street. Her ears went flat against her head, as she had never seen one before, and it made a strange noise that scared her so badly she decided it was a monster and she needed to get away from it.
Dogby ran.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:22 am
"Sh-she's not allergic to me!" That was absolutely absurd! Dogs did not just randomly gain allergies to people. Sure, people could randomly gain allergies to animals, but dogs didn't do that, right?
And then the cute little corgi she was barely able to pet shot off. Had she been on her leash, she wouldn't have gotten too far. Yet a certain jerk had let her off leash, meaning there was nothing to prevent her abandoning the pair of people. "D-dogby... no!"
As fast as she was able, she tried to get up from where she had been crouching down. The moment she had straightened up, she had to tug down at the edge of her short skirt so it wouldn't ride up, then she was after the little dog.
Unfortunately, four paws and getting spooked apparently would beat out Yvette's two feet. "N-nathan! Nate... whatever you go by! Don't just stand there!" she called back to him. Seeing her own efforts failing, she tried to coax the dog back to her by calling out "Dogby, come back!"
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:24 am
Nate grunted, then watched as Dogby took off.
"Whoa! Why weren't you holding on to her?! Tony is going to be pissed at you!" Well. At Nate, the younger Darrow knew, but if he could make Yvette feel responsible for it then it was less worry for him. He was not going to take full blame for this: Dogby had only wanted off her leash to say hi to the girl anyway. Clearly this meant her running off was Yvette's fault, ultimately.
The little corgi was fast, for someone so small and with such little range for her legs. She darted off like a shot, slipping under a bush and then off and away without any intention of stopping. Fear often overrode her instincts to cuddle and play. She had never really learned aggression, and had not ever growled or snapped at anyone. It was unlikely that she knew how, or understood the very concept of anger.
But fear she got.
Nathan considered his options. Help her find the dog and avoid trouble, or get out of there and leave her up to her neck in it. But get himself into more after: tony would undoubtedly believe Yvette's story when it was told. He sighed, moving after her to try and find the dog.
"Where did she go?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:34 am
The girl tried to tail the dog, but the moment that bush popped up out of seemingly nowhere, the girl had to stop her chase. If she ruined her work uniform, getting a new one would have to come out of her paycheck. It wasn't something she could truly afford.
Mr. Darrow's son was easily able to catch up with her. Pointing a finger and jabbing it toward the offending plant, she uttered out "Sh-she went in there..." She wasn't really able to stay still, despite not being able to move further along. So Yvette seemingly was hopping from one foot to the other, almost in a style like a child might have if they needed to use a restroom.
Though it wasn't truly her fault, she still felt absolutely guilty. The bus that was now at her stop had a schedule to keep, and soon enough it was rolling away. At the moment, there were things a bit more important, like finding Dogby and making certain she was okay. How could she have let the dog just run off like that? It was a good thing she never wore mascara, for she could already feel a few tears dribbling down the side of her cheek.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:44 am
Dogby was no where to be seen: she had run off like a champion and was hidden as if she expected an award for it. Or maybe she just wasn't in that area anymore. There was no telling where she had run off to: she was simply gone.
Nathan frowned. He was not going to go digging through a bush to find a dog he didn't even like that much. Not really. Well, maybe a little, because she did sit on his lap at night when he was playing games in the living room.
He could make Yvette feel worse about losing Dogby, as she clearly did and he was just an innocent in all of this, but he imagined she would just break down entirely at that point. Even he had his limits.
"Well, whatever. You said you had to go to work, right? I'm sure she'll just come back home, or whatever. Dogs are supposed to be smart." Except Dogby wasn't, not by a long shot. Nathan wrinkled his nose. "Just go. I'll look for her or whatever. You know."
He shrugged, always hating it when he offered to do something. He'd look for a little while, though. He did not want to have to deal with Tony bitching at him about losing his dog.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:21 pm
Why couldn't Dogby have popped back out of the bushes with her happy floppy tongue and bright eyes? It would have made life so much easier for everyone if she did that. Instead, she seemed to have been eaten by the bush. Obviously bushes did not devour little dogs, but it was pretty much the way it all seemed now.
In a low tone, she uttered one of the key words that her current companion had stated. "...work..." She glanced to the bus stop and found no bus sitting there. She then glanced to her watch hiding under the sleeve of her jacket.
"...phooey... I'm going to have to call out sick now..." Her face scrunched up a bit as a bit of annoyance touched her concerned features. The bus was her only transportation to work, and the next bus wouldn't come by until after she was already supposed to start work. Yes, there was an old pick up truck in the driveway at her house, but Daddy needed it so he could go to work in about 15-20 minutes. He didn't have time to drive her to work, and then go to work on time as well.
The small girl let out a sound that was the closest thing she could make to sounding like an aggravated sigh. "Mrs. Ortiga is going to scold me!" she muttered before she then began to try to scoot about the bush. She already screwed up one time today, she didn't need to screw up another time!
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:59 pm
"Call in sick huh? Good, then you can spend some time looking for the dog. I'm going to go home. See if she shows up there." He grinned at her.
He was being mean, though, and even he knew it. Just abandoning her to missing a day of work and looking for a dog that she wasn't really responsible for losing. It would be a very bad day for her, clearly. Nathan grunted at his conscience, however small the tiny voice was in the back of his head.
"Well just call and tell her you missed the bus. Better late than not at all. I'll find the stupid dog. But the deal is, you have to tell Tony she's missing if I don't find her by the time you're back from work."
He looked at her keenly, thinking it was a fair trade. He could power up and look around, too, once the coast was clear.
It wasn't certain that he would spend all that time diligently looking, but he made sure not to specify that as part of the deal. He wasn't going to agree to anything he didn't want to do, after all.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:08 pm
Somewhere in the back of her mind, the girl couldn't help but acknowledge how much she loathed that cocky grin on Nate's face. She wanted to glare at him, but somehow couldn't muster such a mean look on her face. Instead, she just turned away again and continued on her path around the bush and to the clearing that was behind the area. She wasn't exactly in the nicest part of town. Yvette had known this since she was young. And that was the part that made the girl cringe.
Dogby was lost in her neighborhood.
The girl paused in step, partially because a splotch of mud had claimed the heel of her shoe. The other part were the words Mr. Darrow's son offered. It sounded like a fair enough deal, except for one thing that stood out to her.
"...how am I going to know if you found her or not? I don't exactly have your phone number... unless you are expecting me to call Mr. Darrow's home and ask for you..." She also didn't want Nate's number, but that was a whole different issue altogether. The girl, in a less than dignified manner, then had to tend to her poor shoe. She stood there, yanking her foot in an effort to free herself from the mud.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:15 pm
"I'll be here when you get off work, duh. I'll let you know if I failed or not."
He watched her keenly, imagining she didn't want to go to work but she probably needed to. That was the way of working and money and all such things. Responsibility, what a drag.
Nate was glad he avoided most of that.
"You're just going to be there for eight hours, right? I am pretty sure I can handle that math. I'll go look, and come back here when you're headed home. No need for phone numbers. Unless, of course, this is just your excuse to ask for my digits."
There was always time for teasing.
He watched her as she tried to free herself from the mud, then sighed and moved over to her, hoisting her up and away by holding on to her sides very briefly, depositing her on drier terrain close by.
"Leave the dirty work to me. I'm good at dirty."
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