( closed. ) -- valley of bones,

[metalist]

Who: Pyrrha Nikos (metalist) & Minato Arisato (moribound)
When: 8/26 IC
Where: CERES gardens
What: Shoujo petals meets a zombie movie
Rating/Warning: n/a



[ It's a rare moment alone that Pyrrha seeks to exploit, drawing out her errand for as long as reasonable before Rideaux gets irritated. Her time is well in demand lately, and as much as Pyrrha is grateful to have time to give at all, she's relieved in have half an hour to herself. To walk, to think. To not have to smile.

It's not all relief in silence, however. The detour through the gardens - a scenic route she remembers well, despite having been gone and having been nothing in turn - is a pleasant distraction from cumbersome thoughts. Pyrrha's gone out of her way to fill her days to bursting in order to fight off everything she remembers, to begin again—when things creep in, it takes all her energy to fight off the sound of Cinder's arrow loosing from the bow, singing melodiously through the air.

So, to combat that, there's flowers, and the faint babbling of water, and birdsong.

There's also an albino shiba inu blinking up at her from a few feet away.

Pyrrha's going to say hi to it, because of course she is. ]

Uh, hello.

[ Looking around, ]

Are you all by yourself?

[ He isn't, but there's a lot of trees and flower bushes close at hand blocking her full field of vision. ]

Comments

[moribound]

[Koromaru's been by himself for an hour or so by the time Pyrrha comes by, just a little tired from having run around searching for other dogs. As it is she's the most interesting sight he's seen all day and he cocks his head as he blinks.]

Arf, arf arf! [It doesn't take him a long time deciding what to do, and he wags his tail before running behind some bushes. To his simple mind it looks like Minato could use some company and Pyrrha seems nice enough, and he keeps tugging on Minato's sleeve until he's roused from his slumber.

What Pyrrha will see is the sight of a sleepy Minato ambling out from his hiding spot with Koromaru trotting happily behind him, before he glances at her.]

Ah...were you talking to Koromaru just now?

[metalist]

[ This... is certainly odd. When Koromaru dashes into the shrubbery, Pyrrha spends a moment idling in bewilderment, wondering if she should just leave. When the dog re-emerges, bringing her an entire person the way he might have brought her a throwing toy, well. Nothing is cleared up.

A bit bashfully, she nods. ]

I suppose I was.

[ Arf! Excitedly, the dog lowers its front legs and yips at them. ]

Is he yours?

[moribound]

Kind of- he's a teammate, actually. [Koromaru barks once more, wagging his tail proudly.

Minato's honestly no less confused than Pyrrha is right now, having no idea why Koromaru would want him to meet someone new. Unless...was this what people called a dog's instinct?]

...Do you like dogs? Koromaru seems to like you.

[metalist]

[ A dog as a teammate - well, it may be relatively unheard of for Pyrrha, but she's not about to discount it from anyone else. It's hard to dismiss something like that, seeing how happy Koromaru is to be acknowledged.

Anyway, it's a little like that one scene in 101 Dalmatians as Koro darts around them and then yips at a nearby bench.

What is happening. ]

Honestly, I haven't been around many dogs. I haven't met one I dislike, though.

[moribound]

Koromaru makes it very hard for anyone to dislike him...unless you grab his tail, I guess.

[His comment about that is pretty dry, but it doesn't sound like Minato's exaggerating in the least.]

Anyway, it looks like he wants us to have a seat. How about it?

[metalist]

[ Rather than grab his tail, Pyrrha appears ready to acquiesce to any odd request the dog makes of her. Watching Koromaru dart around a back, she frowns ponderously, and then shrugs amicably. Why not? ]

Alright, certainly.

[ She sits down and... says nothing.

It's very awkward. ]

Um —

[moribound]

[If Minato feels awkward at all he's not showing it, being just a little too used to talking to random people to feel the heat of the moment.

He takes his seat soon after her, Koromaru lying down next to his feet while he settles down and tucks his hands into his pockets before looking back at Pyrrha.]

My name's Minato. What's yours? [It's a bit generic, but that should get the ball rolling at least.]

[metalist]

[ Pyrrha, by contrast, is a complete stranger to the game-mandated Social Link level up mechanism! See also: her history of relative social isolation. Can't she just pet the dog for ten minutes and then be on her way?

Koromaru doesn't seem to think so. ]

Pyrrha Nikos. Nice to meet you, Minato.

[moribound]

Nice to meet you too, Pyrrha. [She seems nice but a little awkward to him, not that he'd ever think it weird for anyone to be as such.

A moment passes, and then two and three before he tilts his head questioningly.]

Do you want to pet him? He won't bite. [Woof! Koromaru is of course pleased with that, even if that wasn't why he led Pyrrha to Minato in the first place.]

[metalist]

[ A little awkward, indeed! This time, it manifests as a too-polite stiffness, knees and elbows angled with needless, prim precision. When the offer is made, she doesn't hesitate to accept, eager to have anything to cull her unease. ]

Certainly.

[ She leans forward a bit, reaching down for scratches. Dutifully, her hand disappears being Koro's ears. ]

Has he been with you long?

[moribound]

[Thinking that someone's awkward is usually not something that crosses Minato's mind considering who he is, but not even he can overlook the stark contrast between a Pyrrha who's not scratching Koromaru's ears...and well, a Pyrrha who's scratching Koromaru's ears.

Koromaru in the meanwhile doesn't care about this. All he cares about is that there's a nice girl scratching his ears, and he barks happily to show his appreciation.]

Here, or back home? I found him a while back chewing on my friend's shoe, so it hasn't been that long. [He says it with some sense of fondness, which contrasts with how his face looks the same as before.]

[metalist]

[ Either, really, although Minato is clearly moving on and Pyrrha follows where he leads the conversation without protest. ]

... his shoe?

[ Do dogs even do that? (She's never had a non-robotic pet in her life.) ]

[moribound]

[He assumed Pyrrha just likes dogs before this, but now it almost seems like she hasn't seen many real dogs, if at all. Talk about awkward.]

Yeah, his shoe. Koromaru's a good dog though...none of us had our shoes chewed on back in our dorm. Could CERES have done something to his code? [Koromaru whines softly, protesting his innocence- he really didn't mean to set his teeth on Kaz's shoe, promise!]

Sorry for the frequent delays! I'm still getting used to a new work schedule

[metalist]

[ The most awkward! Also, not especially knowing what to say. She's far from asocial, but this is a bit of an anomaly. Why does the shoe eating dog want them to sit and talk? ]

Would that explain - [ she looks around, non-verbally indicating their current situation, bench and all, ] -- this?

It's okay!

[moribound]

Maybe. [He ponders on that for a bit.] You know how dogs are supposedly sensitive to what other people feel? He was taking walks by himself after his master died, and he might have thought you could use some company.

[It's a pretty blunt assessment considering Minato doesn't know much about Pyrrha, but Koromaru's instincts are pretty much never wrong when it comes to things like this.]

[metalist]

Oh...

[ Blunt, indeed.

Pyrrha doesn't look to mind much, however. In truth, she's not as lonely as people might think: she has a job to keep her busy, and a nice person to share her life and her space with. Despite that, it's a kind thought, and all that matters. Her scritches ease off, but there's a smile to replace them. ]

Well, thank you, Koromaru. It's nice of you to be so concerned about me.

[ Although a small part of her wonders if she's just cloaked in sadness, to the point where a dog pities her — ]

[moribound]

Woof! [Koromaru's happy to be thanked and he definitely doesn't see the need to pity anyone- pity is nothing compared to offering people company, after all.

It's subtle but Minato's smiling, the warmth of it seemingly brightening up his entire face.]

I think he's saying you're welcome. Or maybe he wants a snack, dogs can be kind of hard to read sometimes. [He reaches out to pet Koromaru, earning an approving whine.]

[metalist]

Oh!

[ Right. A snack.

Pyrrha digs into her pockets and pulls out... a hershey's kiss, wrapped in silver, with a little scrunched up post-it note clinging stubbornly to it.

The note is signed with a J, and Pyrrha's smile changes somewhat when she reads it, but back in the pocket it goes. ]

Sorry, it doesn't seem like I have anything.