Kyuseisha no Hikari
Aubrey just walked next to them enjoying the sun on her shoulders glad that the day was not too blisteringly hot, as long as the weather cooperated she would take the excuse to have some quality time with her sisters. She was always vigilant and always cautious waiting for something to jump out at her at any moment. Knowing what could happen in this city made her worry constantly about her sisters and she would do anything to protect them. So when Bethany suddenly stopped talking and moving with a wide open mouth of surprise Aubrey turned with her fists up ready for anything.... Or so she thought.
She did not expect to see a giant of a dog in the road in front of them, wagging its mud covered tail and barking an extremely loud, but not threatening bark. “PUPPY!!!” Bethany squealed, and before Aubrey could stop her she took off after the dog. “WAIT” Aubrey called as she grabbed Kerrigans hand to make her start running after the younger sister.
The dog woofed once and then sped off, dashing for a few yards then turned to look at Bethany thinking it must have been some great game. This went on for some time as Aubrey shortened the distance. She could have moved faster if Kerrigan hadn't slowed her down, she even considered slinging her sister over her shoulder in order for her to get to move faster, however she refrained from doing so as the dog finally slid to a stop in a giant puddle in front of a sign for a junk yard.
Bethany followed the dog into the puddle, splashing both of them with more mud as she wrapped her arms around his neck and crooned. “I caught you puppy!” she exclaimed happily.
Aubrey was not out of breath but Kerrigan was as she complained bitterly under her breath about stupid little sisters and dumb dogs.
“Bethany, get over here we need to go home, not hug strange dogs!” she exclaimed, trying to to sound stern while holding in laughter.
The behemoth of a dog, easily weighing more than Aubrey must have, just sat in the puddle and wagged up at her. For a monsterous ball of fluff and fur, he looked innocent enough with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. With every swish of his tail he was splashing water in all directions.
Where he had planted himself seemed deliberate; he was in front of a locked gate only a few yards away from a building that looked like it might have been the office on site.
In the distance was the noise of machinery, but there wasn't a person in sight—for only a moment. The back door of the office swung open and a tall man casually strolled out, a single half eaten piece of pizza dangling from between his teeth as he carried out a box of papers.
He paused, almost instantly; his eyes weren't on the three girls and dog and he hadn't seemed to be looking at him but almost robotically he turned on his heels and blinked.
"Huh," he said around the pizza and then hastily set the box of papers down atop a nearby trashcan. He whistled, sharply, and the dog looked up.
"Leon," he scolded, brows knit and obviously annoyed. The dog just wagged more and ran to the gate. It must have been a smart creature (or, at least, an expert at sneaking out) given that he nudged the latch, pushed his way inside, and then waited for the gate to close before he ran over to the man who had called him.
Samir wasn't dressed in anything fancy; it looked like he was just a man, working, but he took another bite out of his pizza before giving the remainder of it to the dog. It was a simple distraction that allowed him time to walk to the gate without the dog intercepting.
"—I'm sorry about that," he apologized, abrupt and to the point. "He's harmless, but big. I hope he didn't startle you."
The three girls turned to look at the man when the door opened and Kerrigan murmured under her breath. "Wow he's hot." which voiced what Aubrey was thinking, however she simply shushed her younger sister and faced the man with her shoulders back and confidence surrounding her person. She was in charge of herself and she would protect her siblings, even if there didn't seem to be any danger here.
Bethany tried to hold onto the dog as he was called away but was no match for his size or weight so she simply called. "Bye puppy." in the saddest heart breaking tone you ever heard, still kneeling in the middle of the puddle now thoroughly soaked.
Aubrey stepped forward so that she was between her sisters and the man, but she wore a friendly smile on her face. "Nothing to be sorry for, I think if anything Bethany here startled him." she responded with a grin towards her sister before she looked back at the man, meeting his gaze easily.
"That dog must get into all kinds of trouble if her can open that door so easily." she added after a beat, looking at the locking mechanism, thinking of ways to improve it.
For a moment, the man just watched them; finally, he shrugged. "Less trouble than you'd think. Usually he's smart enough to stick around the yard. He knows he's not supposed to leave."
His voice was stern and he cast a cold stare at the dog who just wagged up at him.
Exasperated, the man sighed. "Give me a minute," he said; he turned quickly and made his way back into the office. He was equally quick to return, only now he extended a clean towel towards Bethany. "It's not much, but it might help a bit."
His eyes returned to Aubrey and he extended a hand. "My name is Samir. The dog is Leon. You must be very brave if he didn't intimidate you. I've seen grown men run in fear from him."
Bethany took the towel from him with a brilliant smile as she extracted herself from the puddle and began to try to wipe the mud off of herself, humming a little tune to herself as she did so, her eyes wandering back to the dog like she wanted to go give it another hug.
Aubrey smiled again as she took his hand and shook it firmly once before letting it drop. "Clearly they must have been up to no good, and didn't have a twelve year old's love of all things fluffy..." she pointed out glancing at Bethany once more before her eyes went back to Samir's.
"I'm Aubrey, the brat in the puddle is Bethany, and the antisocial one is Kerrigan, my sisters." she clarified with a shrug. Bethany waved happily as she inched closer to the fence while Kerrigan made a face and raised two fingers in an ironic salute. "Do you work here?" Aubrey added curiously as she glanced across the fence at the surprisingly tidy junk yard.
Samir shrugged as he pulled back his hand; he propped himself up on one of the fence's poles. "I do. It was my uncle's, but he's all but abandoned it. It's not mine, yet, but I suppose in a few more months he'll be ready to sign it over. So if you're ever in the market for scraps and pieces, you should drop by. Or," His eyes drifted to Bethany and then the dog.
"If you're bored and want to play with some dogs, I suppose I wouldn't mind that. They haven't gotten as much attention as they usually do. He might have run away to find a new owner, for as much as I've been neglecting him."
When his gaze drifted to her, Bethany was almost to the fence with her hands out, she dropped her arms and put them behind her back trying to look innocent while Aubrey shook her head.
"Don't encourage her, then I'll never get her to come home, much less do her homework..." Aubrey responded, though it was clear she wouldn't have the heart to tell her little sister no, she could see the way Bethany's eyes lit up at the sound of dogs.
"Please Aubrey! I promise I'll be super good, I'll do all my chores and finish all my homework!" Bethany exclaimed as she leaned back against the fence with her hands pressed against it, hoping the puppy would come lick her hands.
Aubrey simply sighed in exasperation and rubbed her neck. "I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world... maybe then she would stop pestering me for a pet at home." Aubrey relented with a small shake of her head. She knew it was useless, if anything it would make the desire for a dog stronger.
Leon didn't seem to need much motivation; he rolled his head back and watched the girl as she pressed her hand to the fence. His tongue hung out of his mouth and his tail wagged and—as should have been expected—he stood up and trotted over to the girl to lick her hand enthusiastically.
Samir smiled softly at the two but it wasn't long before he was looking at Aubrey again. "No dogs at home? That's a shame. They're more than just pets, you know. And they're great for kids. You get to know your house is always safe, you get an exercise partner, get to teach them about responsibility, compassion and love. And you never go to bed lonely. Very good for cold nights," he suggested.
His smile was coy and knowing, almost playful. "Not to mention, you'll never have to worry about spills or leftovers. And having a good looking dog is the key to meeting new people."
He winked and stood up a little straighter, planting his hands on his hips as he watched Leon trying to push through the chain link to lick at Bethany's hand better.
Bethany giggled as the dogs tongue tickled her palm and she turned to try and scratch the dogs ear through the fence.
"Well, we just moved back to the area, and it isn't fair for a dog to be left alone in a tiny apartment all day while I'm at work and the girls are in school." she smirked back at him and shrugged slightly. "You make a convincing argument for a dog, but for now we will just have to manage life without them." Aubrey responded as she watched her sister.
"I don't have a lot of free time to be meeting people, or taking care of our own dogs, but if you are offering the use of yours I'm sure we could make an agreeable arrangement. It would be helpful to have Bethany run off some energy before we go home to our boring, lonely, no pets allowed apartment." Aubrey added with a small laugh.
Kerrigan sighed and shook her head, and doggedly tried to catch a pikachu that had popped up on her screen.
Samir wore a matching smirk, still playful and harmless. "I could never live anywhere that didn't allow pets. You are welcome to mine, just let me know if you're dropping by. Part of my job is chasing hooligans out, but if you're here for the dogs," he shrugged. "They need all the attention they can get. But if you ever need a fix, the shelters around here are always looking for extra hands. Looks great on a resume. Or school application," he proposed, obviously used to selling this pitch.
Aubrey smiled at him and nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, why don't you give me your number so I can call ahead of time if we are going to be stopping by?" She responded as she fished out her phone and handed it to him to put his number in.
When Aubrey turned to look at Kerrigan the younger girl made a face. "Hey don't give me that look, you need to start applying for college scholarships and Samir is right, it would look great on those." Aubrey told her sister firmly which was met with a resigned sigh.
Aubrey turned to look at Samir again. "If you have the number for the shelter you can go ahead and put that in too."
Bethany giggled from the fence as Leon licked her face through the chain link fence.
A satisfied smile drifted onto Samir's face and he pulled a business card out of a pocket. He withdrew a pen from another pocket and scribbling something on the back before handing it over to Aubrey. "My cell and the number to the shelter are on the back. And if you ever have a car you need to sell," he shrugged and gestured towards the front, but it seemed more a joke than a genuine offer.
He offered Aubrey another smile. "I hope to see more of you. Almost as much as Leon seems to want Bethany to drop by again," he added, grinning as the dog pressed its face against the wire, easily bending the metal with the pressure.
Aubrey grinned slightly. "Maybe getting the car I have to run better would be more helpful, I just don't have enough experience to keep up with it." Aubrey responded as she watched her younger sister get covered in dog saliva. Taking the offered card she smiled as their hands brushed against each other and then she shoved the card and her phone into her pocket.
"I look forward to it." Aubrey added with another smile as she met his gaze. "Any place I can have Bethany run out her endless energy is a good place to visit." Not to mention it had an excellent view.
Bethany laughed and pulled away from the dog so that she could pat his head. "We are going to be great friends!" She told the dog sternly and then giggled again as she pet him.
Samir couldn't help but smile and Leon and Bethany, but his attention was on Aubrey. "If you have too much trouble, bring it by sometime. I've got a little experience with cars," he said, gesturing offhandedly over his shoulder to a row of them. "Though," he glanced back to them.
"…I suppose I should get a bit of work done. But you feel free to drop by again and I'll make time for you."
"That would be very helpful." Aubrey agreed with an embarrassed smile. "I feel like I could figure it all out if someone taught me, but that knowledge was never offered to me growing up." Aubrey tried to keep the sadness from her eyes when she recalled how her brother Justin was supposed to teach her about cars the summer he died.
Samir's voice drew her out of her memories and she attempted a smile. "That sounds like a plan, I have to go make dinner and make sure the kiddo gets another shower." Aubrey responded with a sigh towards her sister's muddy and drool covered state.
"But I look forward to seeing more of you..." She added with a flirtatious smile and a wink before she gathered up her siblings. "See you around"
