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The Park; Tuesday Afternoon.

Having quite possibly left his new house at a great risk from many failed attempts to both understand and fight with steel some of the strange mechanisms and techology in one of the rooms of his new house, Minsc decided he needed a break.

Also, Boo needed exercise and fresh air. He set the hamster in the grass of the nice, big park, and then straightened, sucking in a great big breath himself. As a ranger, it was important to get to know how the air around here smelled, so that when trouble brewed, he could tell by a simple breath, by noticing the nuances of change drifting in it. It was good air, brisk and slightly salty from the nearby sea, and filled with the hint that it changed often, meaning things were always happening.

He went to make a comment to Boo about it, but then discovered that the giant miniature space hamster was gone.

However, it took only a moment to find him, dashing away from some squirrels. Minsc gave a hearty chuckle at the antics, certain that Boo was merely leading them into an ambush or a trap of sorts. Surely, they couldn't be chasing him! Not Boo!

Minsc sighed happily and continued strolling, but making sure to keep a very close eye on his hamster.

[[ open as parks are wont to be! ]]

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"Nana! Come back here!"

It wouldn't be walking the dog without Jeff winding up staring forlornly after his dog, or, in this particular case, being forlornly pulled after his dog as she raced through the park, fully intent on happily mauling some squirrel or another.

"Not in the trees!"

A shift in the air, and a call of distress! Minsc's attention was almost immediately caught by the activity, finding yet another roaring chase ripping through the park.

...Or perhaps not so much a chase, technically, but it was close enough. Recognizing the poor boy and his noble beast, Minsc tried not to chuckle as he called out, "Sir Jeffrey! Do you need my assistance with your majestic canine?"

"I need buckets of assistance!" Jeff hollered back, right around the time Nana decided to take a lap around the tree and nearly tore Jeff's arm out of his socket in the process. "Rivers!"

Trying hard not to laugh, and failing quite magnificently, Minsc still could not deny a cry for help and hurried forward toward the two of them, toward the tree.

He decided that the best way to stop a loose, rampaging animal like Nana was, clearly, to intercept it.

By taking a dive for her, to tackle her and pin her to the ground, release a great roar of a battle cry. "For hamsters and pet owners EVERYWHERE!"

Since he knew that Nana was a sweet and gentle creature, though, it was mostly for play and nothing too rough. Nothing rough enough that a good strapping lass like herself couldn't handle, he was sure.

It was as if watching a car crash into another crash right before your eyes.

Jeff stood silent, gaping, the leash still in his hand, until it crashed to the floor somewhere in the confusion that was Nana's rolling around on her back in sudden and utterly impossible surprise, flailing her paws at her sudden assailant.

"...Thanks," Jeff said.

Minsc very easily let himself continue to the roll so that Nana was on top (always let the creature believe that they have the upper hand, especially if they are not truly that much of a threat and you are mostly only playing with them), laughing as paws swiped at him, as drool dripped in his face, and as he reached up to ruffle her ears like he had in class yesterday.

"Speak nothing of it, Jeffrey!" Minsc declared from underneath the dog, his voice nothing but mirth and victory although anyone passing by would likely think that this was one victory for Nana (sometimes you just had to let them think they won the battle if you want to win the war!).

But then his voice dipped into something more serious, the ruffling turning into scritching. "But, you know, Sir Jeffrey, a creature like this requires a much more firmer hand. You are the one holding the leash, are you not?"

"Well," Jeff said, shooting the leash on the ground a speculative look, "I was." He stuck his hands in his pockets and kept them there, nice and warm, as Nana continued to drool and flail and, finally, went for Minsc's face with her nose.

She appeared to be mostly fixating on wetting it now, and if the situation had been any different, Jeff would've probably lectured her on over-wetting.

Save for a few sputtering noises from underneath Nana's shocking wet and cold (good! She was so healthy!) nose, Minsc didn't seem to mind so much. He did, however, realize that speaking with a dog's nose in your face was a little difficult and settled his hands firmly, but with a certain gentleness, under Nana's chin and, thanks to his strength, lifted her face away from his.

It was a surprisingly difficult task, though. This magnificent beast was almost stronger than a bear!

"And that," Minsc tried the words again, "is where you took your turn for the worse, Jeffrey. It should never become was; it can't ever be come was, do you understand? You must always hold the leash and only let her think she has it on occasion while you still firmly grip it. Such a noble creature needs a deserving partner, Sir Jeffrey. Do you follow my meaning?"

There was a little pause made of utter silence as Jeff considered the point while attempting to look at Minsc and Nana at the same time. It was a little bit too much, and so before he knew it, he was simply shrugging and going, "Not really," before considering that that was a little scarce, really, and adding a, "So how much do you know about gripping?"

A robust laugh emerged from under the dog. "How much do I know about gripping!" Minsc repeated, his amusement clear. "Boy, I am one of the greatest grippers on the Sword Coast, I'll have you know! And I can hold my own in my native Rashaman, but I do not dare speculate on the Icewind Dale, because those folks have to wrestle with ice bears, you know, and they are particularly difficult, so I'm sure they can be quite impressive! I am a master gripper, my boy, but I see that you certainly could use a hand or two in gripping. And, lucky you! I think I know of a solution for you, Sir Jeffrey!"

"Really?"

He couldn't help that slight edge of enthusiasm, there.

"People don't tend to solve things for me a lot," he explained.

"Well, that is just the thing, Sir Jeffrey!" Minsc informed him, brightly. "I won't be solving it at all; I will just be giving you the mechanisms to solve it for yourself! Like the knight who gives his squire his first sword, you will be given the weapon to HACK through your lack of grippage with confidence! And JUSTICE! All on your own!"

"How heavy would the weapon be, averagely speaking?" Jeff asked, because now he was getting a little worried about the whole weight issue, "I'm also not very good at lifting things."

There was a long pause as Minsc tried to think of the answer to that. Nana shifted her weight, getting comfortable on top of him, which caused a grunt, and the grunt seemed to open out more words.

"Well, that would depend, Sir Jeffrey," Minsc admitted. "You see, what I was thinking was to have you assist me in my class, and creatures, they come in a wide variety of weights to be considered and lifted. And I know I already have Sir Jan assisting me, but, really, when it comes to grippage, he is even worse than you are, my boy, seeing as he doesn't even have hands to grip with. And all that practise with the creatures! One can only train to get better, and by the end of the class, oh HO," he chuckled, "you will be one of the best creature grippers ever!"

"Well, that can't hurt," Jeff decided, and he definitely sounded a lot more cheerful about it than anything he might have previously said. To grip things-- that had to be helpful, especially with Nana, right? "I've always wanted to be able to grip things better."

"Excellent! Fantastic! Whoop-e-de-doo!" Minsc declared, his voice sounding strangled and a little pained because Nana was shifting again into something even more comfortable and when you wore armour all the time, that was not so comfortable for you.

"Now let's get started by gripping your dog and getting her off me already!"

"Huh?"

It took about twenty seconds.

"Oh! Right!"

And thusly, Jeff grabbed Nana by the collar and tugged her back harshly.

It was awfully ineffectual, in the end.

Realizing this fact (which was saying a lot, really, if even Minsc could recognize the futility in something), the man under the dog just waved a dismissive hand. "Do not worry about it, Sir Jeffrey," he decided, figuring that he'd been crushed by much worse, and maybe, given time...a lot of time, when his body went numb, that was...this could be quite comfortable. "Just do one favour for me, instead?"

"Go and see if you can fetch for me my rodent."

Who knows where he could have ended up, baiting those squirrels like that.

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The Park; Tuesday Afternoon.

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