OPEN

[nokidstuff]

CHARACTERS: Carl Grimes + OPEN TO ALL
LOCATION: Different places around the ship.
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: June catch-all where Carl adopts Lil' Gumshoe shortly after the jump and learns what it takes to be responsible for a dog all throughout the month.

[ Truth be told, Carl was still a little surprised to have found Lil' Gumshoe roaming by herself without Chuck or her fellow animal pals Digby and Pigby -- but after an honest effort to locate and contact the dog's owner came to no avail, the only conclusion he could come to was that the sweet-natured pie baker had gone home. That meant the dog was needing someone else to take her in now.

And childishly, a part of him felt attached enough to want the dog in his care... So, that's how he ended up taking on the responsibilities.

However, what he didn't expect was the trouble that came with walking a dog. Gumshoe was fairly outgoing and enthusiastic and curious all at once so more often than not she would pull him along when they were in the halls or oxygen garden and he could be caught running to keep up or letting her go and calling out to try to get her to return.

Sometimes even, almost as if it were a scene from a movie, his favorite sheriff's hat would fly off in the process and he'd have to choose which one to retrieve first.

But fortunately, not all the time.

On the occasion, the two of them can also be found in their down time. Most of the time in the kitchens where Carl would fix something simple for the both of them to eat from the available stock of human, yes, human food or in gunnery helping out as usual and being unwitting mascots.

Other times, it's possible to find him playing cards or reading in the library with the dog resting near by.

(Anyway, find him and his newly adopted dog in any above scenario you like, or create your own adventure, or ping me at Naonith with your ideas and I'll start.) ]

Comments

closed to rick grimes

[nokidstuff]

Dad? You here?

[Okay. He's not sneaking around when he peers into their shared room per se, but he really doesn't know where to start with the fact he has a dog with him who possibly has no where else to go, so that's why he's checking in first before dropping the surprise.

And maybe that doesn't change how it makes him look like he's hiding something, but he'll figure out how to get to it in a moment or so. Scout's honor.]

[betterangels]

[ Tipped onto his bed, Carl can find Rick reclined, loose limbed and thumb and forefinger pressing on either side of his nose bridge, close to his eyes -- but that hand lifts so he can peer down towards the door. ]

Yeah.

[ His has his comms device on his belly, having lounged to check in on that once released from Dr Gallo's clutches, and he palms over it now in abortive motion to get up. ]

Everything alright?

[nokidstuff]

[Good. He smiles the slightest bit to himself with now knowing his guess to check their room first was the right one and he no longer risks being found in the halls before being able to ease into the surprise himself.]

Yeah. Everything's alright. It's just that...

[Well, he's uncertain how to go about this next part, so after a brief pause, he goes with the first words that come to mind.]

I found a dog. [And with words so come inspiration for action: he steps out from the corner and into the room, bringing the dog with him.] This is Gumshoe. She was just roaming around when I found her and I think her owner's gone so I thought maybe she could stay with us.

[betterangels]

[ Rick's expression is-- subtle, and nuanced mostly, but still, one can tell from what his face does that he certainly was not expecting Carl to step around the corner with a dog. Rick is dimly aware of the dog population being strangely large, the frequent echo-y barks in the medical bay every month, the scrabble of blunt claws on the slippery tile. He only has to acknowledge this as a thing that happens once every cycle, really.

And now here they are.

The next exhale eases out of him slow and steady and resigned, already. ]

You think her owner's gone?

[ He moves so he's seated on the edge of his bed. ]

[brainsqueeze]

( Having animals aboard the ship felt stranger to Maria than the rest of them being there. Maybe not strange but- impractical. It could be tough enough getting themselves sorted for the jump, getting set up into the pods but having to sort out an animal too? Although for all the animals that the ship seemed to bring along it didn't have the same thoughts about it.

Maybe it wasn't that bad. Not having an animal Maria didn't know what it would be like, although she wasn't certain that she wanted to find out.

Thankfully when the dog darts past in the hallway Maria's already tucked enough to the wall that she doesn't have to worry about being ran in to. Her eyes follow the dog for a moment before looking back down the corridor, seeing the boy chasing after it.

It isn't until his hat slips off that Maria makes a move, stepping in to scoop it up as the boy tries to decide what thing to go for. He's a familiar face to Maria, having seen him training around Gunnery even if they've not spoken before )

Here. ( She holds the hat back out to him ) You need a hand?

[nokidstuff]

[In a manner of speaking, Carl didn't know what it would be like to really care for an animal until today either. Sure he had a pet pig, Violet as he called her, at one time not too long ago, but walking it wasn't one of the requirements, and the effort to care for said pig was not on him alone.

In this moment, however, with the dog it is, and the apparent simple task of walking a dog for the fourteen year old proves to be too much. Especially with the dog acting like any would: explorative and chasing some smell or other.

What that is to say, though, is that he had let go of the leash because his hands couldn't hold on any longer and had come to an uncertain stop before the decision to go back for his hat was made in a way by the lady standing there who picked it up. Call it childish, but he loved that hat too much to leave it in somebody else's hands for long.

To her benefit, though, he recognized her from around gunnery just the same as she had recognized him and didn't hesitate to approach like he would have should she have been a stranger person. Nor did he hesitate to reach out and take his hat back by the brim to bring it close again, pat off any dust with one hand.]

Thank you. [Though her offer gives him pause because he promised himself most of all that he could take care of the dog on his own -- at the same time, however, he also knows he really could use the help, and he feels she is deserving of some trust what with being a part of gunnery, so he eventually gives a considering nod.]

Yeah. Maybe... I don't think she was trained completely.

[brainsqueeze]

She's not yours?

( Maria looks briefly down the end of the corridor, managing to catch the sight of the tail of the dog disappearing down one of the corridors at the t-junction. It would make it easier to find the dog if they didn't have to search everywhere to catch up

She starts moving down the corridor, giving Carl a small nod as she goes. They don't want her to get too much of a head start on them )

[nokidstuff]

[No, they do not. Carl doesn't intend to either as his attention finds itself split between them, for the most part on the dog, and he can also see when the furry creature turns the one corner so he feels naturally obligated to start following before answering her question--]

Not exactly. Her owner is gone from the ship so I'm taking care of her now.

[Really, it's still too soon to call Gumshoe his, but in time he will.]

Halls

[foundafamily]

[Firo's walking the hallways on his way to the bar when a dog whizzes by, Carl not too far behind. He steps out and grabs the fleeing animal, trying to hold it at arm's length until its owner is back.

He smiles at the familiar face and glances up at his head.]

Nice hat. You like westerns?

[nokidstuff]

[When he finally catches up to his dog and the person who caught her, Carl comes to a full stop, placing both hands on his knees so he can catch his breath for a moment. Once he's feeling a little more steady, though, he glances up at who he has to thank and maybe slightly is surprised by who it is.

(Firo's already the second person from gunnery who's helped him, after all.)

But the "thank you" he was about to say is temporarily put on hold, maybe forgotten, for the words that come out of Firo's mouth first. Carl very much thinks his hat is nice in a matter of speaking - cool would be his word for it - but he doesn't think he's seen anything remotely western besides maybe that one Toy Story character so he doesn't know what to make of the comment. Maybe it's a compliment, so.]

Um, sort of. My dad gave it to me.

[foundafamily]

[He holds out the leash to Carl once the kid's had a moment to catch his breath.]

That's nice of him. Is he a fan?

[Firo has rarely seen a cop wearing anything close to that, so such hats really do seem straight out of the movies to him.]

[nokidstuff]

[The continued line of questioning is received with uncertain but thoughtful pause. See honestly, he never thought about it before now but can see how the hat ties to westerns. His dad was sheriff's deputy once upon a time, after all, and for whatever reason the county police seemed to have been inspired to copy American western history a little.

Carl won't pretend to understand all that, though. Or even assume his dad may have liked westerns for how much he used to wear the hat before he passed it on to him. To tell the truth, he'll just say what he does know.]

I'm not sure. But he used to be a sheriff's deputy so that's why he had it before.

[Not forgetting about Gumshoe, he takes the leash back when it's offered to him.]

closed to daryl dixon

[nokidstuff]

[Once Rick is okay with him keeping the dog, Carl feels he should share the surprise with Daryl at some point too. He also figures maybe he should check in on him, see that is he alright after the fight he saw him get in with 'that naked guy' so, really, the visit is for multiple purposes.

As Daryl's room is just around the corner stopping by is as easy as circling around, using one hand to hold the leash to bring the dog closer and the other to knock and wait for if there is an answer.]

[slurpeesinhell]

[Since his encounter with that naked guy, Daryl has been in a state of even less cheer than usual. There's no fracture in his jaw, thankfully, but it remains quite bruised and swollen, the pain radiating steadily even when he keeps it still. The medbay provided some analgesic relief; alcohol numbs it the rest of the way. More or less. He might actually feel better about it if he weren't a miserably shitty drunk. Speaking of which: if he's been steering clear of Carl for a few days, it's only to avoid inflicting his shittiness on the kid unnecessarily.

A knock has no identity of its own, meanwhile, so he feels no obligation to treat it kindly. Through his teeth and the closed door, he grumbles:]

Nobody home.

[nokidstuff]

[Grump all you want Daryl Dixon, because for as long as Carl has known you he has probably seen most of those shitty moods and become less hesitant to be around them. Of course, that doesn't mean he didn't stay clear for a couple days to be respectful, but it's not healthy for anyone to go on like this goes on forever so today he feels like he should at least try to do something.

Besides there was a time when Daryl tried to cheer him up and now he feels like it's his turn. So the simple fact is he's not going anywhere just yet. Sure he won't knock a second time, but he will speak up.]

But I can hear you. Shouldn't you come out sometime?

[slurpeesinhell]

[No, he shouldn't. He will remain in this stupid small room that he hates, failing to sleep on this stupid bed, forever.

Seconds later—many seconds later, we're talking an abundance of seconds, perhaps so many seconds that a response seems unlikely—the door abruptly slides open. But not all the way. It stops after about six inches, plenty enough for Daryl to look out without showing his entire face. His miserable, squinting face. Along with the miserable rest of him, bare from the waist up. It's quite dark inside; he's blinking like someone's just shone a flashlight in on his den in the dead of winter. Lifting a half-smoked cigarette to his mouth, unlit, previously stubbed and saved in the habit of rationing luxuries.

Yeah, what.]

Kitchen (meant to tag this ages ago)

[lafautedevoltaire]

[Gavroche is carefully preparing his cat's food. He's pretty used to all of that by now. There aren't nearly as many dogs on Tranquility as there are cats. It was strange, when you thought about it.

Either way, it meant that his wasn't used to dogs at all. So he picks Lamarque up, just to be sure, when Carl comes in.]

Hello. Have you had him for long?

Re: Kitchen (meant to tag this ages ago)

[nokidstuff]

[Fortunately for them all, Gumshoe was raised with other animals - notably a pig and another dog - so when they come in, it's with her on her best behavior even with the cat in the room. But that's not to say when she spies that cat that she doesn't communicate with her tail wagging and a friendly bark in greeting.

On the other hand though, Carl doesn't know what to expect when he spies the cat so he comes to an immediate stop just inside the doorway and instinctively grips more at the leash just in case this turns into a tug-o-war to keep the dog away from the cat. With the unforeseen circumstance just in front of him, it takes him a moment to shake himself out of feeling slightly surprised and off guard by this. And also because sometimes he is not good with the sudden social niceties of people he doesn't already know.]

Um... no. I haven't had her for long.

[lafautedevoltaire]

Her.

[He had a fifty fifty chance of guessing right after all.

Lamarque is less concerned with the dog's gender and more concerned with just watching]

Is she from home or someone else?

gardens (sorry for the lateness);

[canevenlift]

[Liam still spent a lot of time in the gardens. He'd probably never break that habit now, actually— but he still wasn't expecting a dog to bound past him, anyways—]

Uh—

[He swings around, looking for whoever owns her.]

[nokidstuff]

[Being that Carl didn't go to the gardens more than on the occasion before having the responsibility to walk a dog, he didn't know his way around or where he could anticipate Gumshoe would possibly go next...

So. When he spies the person just ahead of him, a boy seemingly closer to his age looking around like he's seen something, Carl slows in his run to catch up to the vanishing dog to ask one thing--]

Did you see which way she went?

[canevenlift]

Uh—

[Did he see where she went... well, not really. That doesn't stop him from taking a slightly conspicuous sniff of the air, though— which he hopes this other kid doesn't notice.

He can barely catch the scent since it wasn't like he'd gotten much of a look at the dog, but how many other dogs could there be?]

That way.

[The way he's now starting to jog in.]

gardens!

[romancekiller]

[it seems like for clarke that each jump that passed by got substantially worse for her as time went on. she keeps losing more people from home each time, last jump it was octavia and with this most recent one she discovered that both raven and wick had disappeared too which meant it left her being the only one from her world on this ship.

she was all alone and while she had made some friends, it wasn't quite the same thing. she tries busying herself with work in the medbay while other times she just spent her time in the gardens which is what she was doing today.

she was wandering a bit aimlessly along the path when she suddenly comes to a stop as the dog seems to go straight to her. it was still so odd to her, seeing animals here when there weren't any on the ark and while she had seen some while they were on earth, most were unfortunately affected by the radiation. she reaches out to gently pet the dog while looking around to see if its owner was nearby and it's not long before she sees carl approaching from the distance] Hey. Is this dog yours?

[nokidstuff]

[For as many times as he chased this dog already, he's still not as accustomed to running to catch up even the slightest, so when he spots a blond figure coax the runaway dog just ahead - Clarke as he's able to tell the close he gets - he's almost as relieved as he is out of breath.

Before he can say just much he appreciates that Clarke caught his dog though, he stops just short of a few feet in front of her and takes the time to catch his breath.]

Yeah, she is. [he says while exhaling, glancing at Gumshoe then the rest way up to Clarke.] Thank you.

[romancekiller]

[hearing the confirmations just as relieved because this place can be dangerous even for an animal just wandering on its own. she smiles back as he approaches looking a pretty out of breath from what she assumes is because of searching for his dog] You're welcome— what's her name? Is she a pet from home? I heard people that sometimes happens around here.