The Streets In Town, Tuesday Afternoon

[playsforkepesh]

Sam was a pushover. She knew this and so did most everyone who knew her well. But rarely had this been made more clear through a single experience than it had as a result of the events of this morning: specifically, her spontaneous adoption of a small dog with floppy ears and huge, adorable eyes.

She would gladly blame the woman at the shelter, but the truth was that she'd barely had to say a word to persuade Sam.

She'd splurged on supplies, including a dog bed, a collar and leash, plenty of food and treats and no small helping of toys, dropped most of those things off at her house, and now she was taking the excitable little pup on a walk through town. The shame of having been so easily persuaded to adopt the dog hadn't quite set in yet, but she was sure it would soon. Now she just had to decide what to call her.

[[so open!]]

Comments

[filleauloup]

"What's this?" Éponine was just on her way out to get lunch, but, well. Puppy. "Found a new friend, have you?"

[playsforkepesh]

"It looks like it," Sam agreed, and the shame was starting to set in... right about now. There was blushing, although she could just blame that on the weather if she was so inclined. "You know, pet shelters ought to have warning signs out front that it's very difficult to resist the allure."

[filleauloup]

Éponine hadn't thought she'd be in the mood to laugh today, but she took note of Sam's expression and another look at the puppy and let out a brief knowing chuckle.

"You put up quite the effort, no doubt."

[playsforkepesh]

"Oh, absolutely." She'd put up no effort. None. "I said I couldn't possibly, not when I might be called away at any moment to work in some new labs where I'd be more useful, but this little one insisted. And I'm powerless to resist, it turns out."

Meanwhile, the puppy scampered over to investigate Éponine as fast as her little legs could carry her.

[filleauloup]

Uh huh. The faint smirk on Éponine's face said that she was tacking a 'not' onto the end of that 'absolutely.'

"Clever little devil, aren't you?" Éponine asked the puppy conspiratorially as she crouched down to offer her a pat. "Managed to find yourself someone who'll look after you."

"She's awfully pretty," she added, glancing up at Sam.

[playsforkepesh]

"Isn't she?" Sam said brightly, as the puppy started trying, and failing, to climb up Éponine's legs. That wasn't how gravity worked, puppy. "I'm rather fond of her. I was thinking perhaps 'Rook' as a name -- you know, like the chess piece -- but that might be a bit, um, geeky, even for me."

Indeed.

[filleauloup]

Éponine reached out to give the puppy a pat, possibly as consolation for gravity being a pain.

"Well, you are rather fond of chess," she offered, "so I don't see what's wrong with it."

Yeah, about your cat then, Éponine . . .

[playsforkepesh]

"You think so?" Sam asked, perking up. "It's fitting, I mean; she does run like a rook, all straight lines and not much... swerving." She gestured to illustrate her point. "But then she'll surely be jealous of Alouette, for having a proper name that's not as silly."

[filleauloup]

"Oh," Éponine said with exaggerated carelessness, "it's only a silly childish nickname I gave her anyhow, so there's no need to be jealous."

Pot, kettle.

She considered the puppy again. "Rook suits her, I think. More dignified, goodness knows."

[playsforkepesh]

"Childish?" Sam echoed, smiling. "Ah, I see. You may not know this, but to the average non-Frenchwoman, French names sound terribly classy and mature. But all right, then, you've convinced me. Rook it is."

Rook tried batting at Éponine's shoe with her paws to reclaim her attention. Terribly rude and adorable of her, really.

[filleauloup]

"All right, all right, there's no need to carry on like that," Éponine said indulgently and made to give Rook a few scratches around the ears. "Good heavens. You'll have your hands full with this one, I think."

[playsforkepesh]

"I only hope I'm prepared for the challenge," Sam said, a touch anxiously. "I've never had a dog before, much less an excitable one. Is taking care of your cat difficult?"

[[sorry, should have hit 'post comment' BEFORE my nap and subsequent TV time.]]

[filleauloup]

"Good lord, I hardly remember; we had a dog when I was very little but not since. But it's nothing like taking care of a cat at all. They're stubborn things, cats, and it suits them just fine to take care of themselves until they decide you ought to pay attention to them, and then you've got to wait on them hand and foot like royalty. Then they decide they've had their fill and bang, off they go."

That was a little jumbled, and possibly not entirely about her cat.

"But as I recall," Éponine said with an odd half-smile, after a brief pause to catch her breath, "you've got the idea of how to do it. It'll be fine, you'll see."

[playsforkepesh]

Sam smiled at the memory. Well, if you asked her, she'd been a less-than-perfect guardian for Éponine, but she was glad to be remembered fondly.

"Right," she said, letting Rook have one last scritch about the ears before she straightened up. "Well -- thank you for the vote of confidence. If I should run into any unmitigated disasters, however, you know you've just told me that you've got experience in this field. You'll probably be my first call. Um, especially if the woman from the shelter lives up to her word and ignores me if I reach out to her for help."

[filleauloup]

That was all a matter of perspective, and probably said something extremely unflattering about Éponine's parents.

"If it comes to that," she said, brightening the way she always did when she had a chance to be useful, "you come find me and I'll help."

Quality of said help not necessarily guaranteed.

[playsforkepesh]

"Thanks," Sam said with an exhale of relief. "Always good to have a support system. You see that, Rook? You've got an auntie Éponine now."

She was taking this too seriously, probably.

"Oh! I love the game you got me, by the way," she added. "Though the first person I tried to play with was a bit unsportsmanlike."

[filleauloup]

Did that mean Alouette had a cousin, sort of? Wouldn't that cat be thrilled.

"Wouldn't play by the rules?" Éponine guessed, because it was she might do. She was smiling, though. "Well, then, that's when you out-trick them, somehow. But it's good you're enjoying it! I'm glad."

[playsforkepesh]

"Well, now I wish I'd thought of that," Sam said, brow furrowing. "I just got a bit irritated and told him I wouldn't play with a cheater, and that's that. Playing and winning would probably have had more effect, now that I think about it."

[filleauloup]

"You would have, I'd think," Éponine said thoughtfully, "or he wouldn't have tried to cheat, otherwise. It's harder, you know, if you play by the rules -- well, of course you know that. You like that sort of challenge, don't you?"

She considered for a moment, then blurted out, "If you like, I promise not to cheat, even if it's likely to end badly for me."

[playsforkepesh]

"Well, harder it may be, but it's also a far sight more rewarding," Sam noted. "But you've got a point. I'm more accustomed to strategizing for opponents who play by the rules. Maybe I ought to learn to accomodate those who won't."

[filleauloup]

"Yes, probably best if you do," agreed Éponine, with a vaguely sad sort of smile. "You're honorable about that sort of thing, it's good, I like that about you, but there's those who'll take advantage of it."