fandomtownies | The Park, Friday afternoon

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The Park, Friday afternoon

So Eliot had worked out pretty quick, from the radio broadcast and an attempt to casually threaten Hardison with bodily harm that went -- strange, that today was one of those days. The last time he'd had to deal with this particular sort of those days, he'd confessed to being a hired killer to several people and managed to completely miss Parker trying to tell him that she and Hardison wanted him as their third.

It wasn't his finest hour.

Unfortunately, Val didn't much care if he was incapable of lying today, she still needed to go out and get her exercise. So Eliot took her to the park, resolved to communicate as much as possible in monosyllables and gestures.

And when that didn't work, he'd at least be completely surrounded by exits.

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Kanan was feeling that, Eliot. Really. He was out taking a walk to clear his head after a visit with Hannibal gone more than a bit sideways, and had been hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't run into anybody.

Of course, he wasn't going to pretend nobody was there if they crossed by one another on the path, but it probably said a lot about his day so far that when he nodded tersely-but-politely and opened his mouth to say 'Hey,' what actually came out of his mouth was, "E chu ta."

... It was sort of like a greeting if you squinted.

That actually made Eliot feel a little better. "The hell did you just call me?"

"It wasn't nice," Kanan admitted, giving Eliot a wry smile. "But it wasn't exactly intended for you so much as this karking island. I was hoping I wouldn't run into anybody else until... whatever this is... blows over."

A beat.

"On top of a long list of things I was hoping for, including but not limited to 'being parked on an actual, inhabited planet.' Wouldn't mind being able to just vanish for a few days right about now."

"Yeah, the island doesn't like us that much today," Eliot said. "Unless you got other things to sweat about, you wouldn't need a few days. This one only lasts a day." A beat. "It only lasted a day last time, anyway. Though a day's plenty, really."

"Too damn much," Kanan muttered. "I've already let my mouth run once about things I haven't talked about in nearly a decade. And I'm not the sort to settle in and get comfortable enough to share. Ever. When I get comfortable it's usually a sign that I should take off."

He clamped his mouth shut, and then nodded down at Val. Topic change? Topic change.

"Some kind of canine?"

Pets. Pets were safe.

"Brindled lab," Eliot confirmed. "So -- a dog." Val barked and ran in a circle with her head pointed up at Kanan, tail wagging. "She's friendly if you wanna pet her. She's possibly some kind of magic dog who can teleport, though I ain't seen any evidence of that since she decided she was going to be mine despite the fact that I --" He clamped his mouth shut on that admission. "She's a good dog."

"Even if she wasn't, I'd probably get along with her," Kanan shared, giving Eliot a sympathetic smile. "I have a way with animals."

... Kanan's face said the 'dammit' that his mouth didn't, and he crouched down to hold a hand out to her. Hi, pup. Wanna be friends?

"I've never met a magic teleporting dog before, though. Or an Earth dog in general, I suppose. I'm guessing they don't all teleport?"

Oh yes, Val wanted to be friends with everybody, especially friendly people who offered her his hand. His very lickable hand.

"As far as I know, nothing from my Earth can teleport," Eliot said. "Except maybe Parker. But she plays that pretty close to her chest. Even when you're sleeping with her." Right, change that subject again. "They got dogs where you're from, then?"

Kanan at least had the decency to kind of cough and pretend to be very interested in the dog. Which wasn't difficult, really, since he was really interested in the dog.

"Sure we do," he replied, "but I don't suppose you'd know one to see one. We've got creatures that we call dogs, and ones that we call cats, but we're talking an entire galaxy of difference. I doubt they're related at all. The dogs I'm familiar with look a bit more reptilian, for example."

"So yours are scaly instead of furry? The fur's practically half the fun." Val twisted her head to give him a Look. "And now she's going to pout at me the rest of the day. Not because she understands English, near as I can tell, but she always knows when I've said somethin' dumb about dogs anyway."

This was good. He was perfectly happy to talk truth about dogs all day.

"Well, I also come from a place where some lizards have feathers and fur, and there are species of cat with four eyes. There are probably furry dogs somewhere. I just haven't seen anybody bring one home before."

Kanan grinned, totally happy to talk shop about animals, himself.

"Dogs do tend to have a good sense for when their people are being ridiculous. You must have a very strong connection with her."

"Suppose she musta picked me out for a reason," Eliot said. "Lord knows I tried to send her away a time or two before she convinced me I wasn't going to go off and get killed on her and leave her to starve at home."

. . . Dammit.

Kanan turned a sidelong look at Eliot, opening his mouth, hesitating, and then shutting it again, not certain if he could say anything without saying too much.

"That's one of the reasons I haven't gotten a pet, myself. The companionship would be great, especially for someone who just packs up and runs every few months whether he needs to or not. But I'd either get killed and leave an animal on its own, have to take off and not be able to go back for a pet, or just... get it killed, somehow. Nothing deserves that."

So much for not saying too much. Kanan sighed and gave Val a scratch behind her ear.

Eliot nodded. "Was the same way up 'til several years ago. Though I only had one planet to run away on. Can't say I miss it too much. Turns out it's pretty nice havin' people you don't have to worry about turnin' on you if the price is right."

Great, now he sounded like he was trying to be Kanan's therapist or something.

Yeah, Kanan was raising an eyebrow, now.

"I prefer not having to worry about putting people like that in danger," he noted. "I wasn't raised to get attached to people, anyway. Goes against everything the--"

Now it was his turn to clamp his mouth shut. He frowned and took a breath before trying again.

"I'm not going to stop running and leaving people behind any time soon."

"I suspect you're foolin' yourself, but I'm not gonna harp on it. Lord knows I wouldn'ta listened to me at the time." He was going to try to communicate in monosyllables, wasn't he. The best laid schemes of mice and men. "So you teachin' anything next session?"

Kanan was quiet for a few seconds too long before pulling in a slow breath and straightening up again. Sorry, Val. He just didn't want to launch into a tirade about how everyone he'd ever cared for had been methodically and ruthlessly hunted down and murdered in cold blood.

"Yeah, I'm teaching with, uh... Bob? Ghost guy. Some class about making friends. No idea why anybody things I'm qualified to teach something like that, though. You?"

It wouldn't be the first time Eliot heard a rant like that. He'd also been the one doing the hunting and murdering, once upon a time. So he was perfectly happy not to go down that road.

"This place does like its irony," he said. "I'm doin' a class on outdoorsmanship for the school. It helps if you're the one who goes in and proposes your own class. Otherwise you never know when a pony is just going to sign you up."

"... Now I need to ask what a pony is." And then, because he'd said it, he sighed and added, "What's a pony?"

Ha, Fandom. Ha ha.

"It's a small horse," Eliot said. "Horse bein' a large four legged mammal typically used by humans as a work animal on farms and ranches. Pinkie swears she's a pony, but other'n the fact that she's got four legs, fur, and is less'n 14 hands tall, I don't actually see too much similarity between her and ponies I seen growin' up."

Well, at least that was thorough. It painted... some kind of mental image, anyway.

"Are ponies usually sentient?"

Because 'sentient' and 'work animal' didn't tend to go well when referring to the same being. At least, in Kanan's opinion.

"Not so's I've noticed. No more'n Val there is. Ain't gonna deny that humans have ever enslaved each other, but it ain't somethin' my culture's in the habit of doin' right now. Ain't somethin' I'd truck with if we were."

He'd toppled governments for less.

"Yeah, I try to look like I don't care and it isn't my problem, but if I were to come across that sort of thing, I'd end up doing something about it, too."

Kanan sighed.

"Okay, so, pony, but a talking pony, and she signs people up to teach things? I'd ask 'really,' but that seems like a redundant question today."

"Yeah, I didn't really believe you wouldn't do anything anyway." Kanan really hadn't done a great job of pretending not to care. "And yeah, I gather she's gone for the summer, but she's somethin' of an institution around here. Likes to teach about -- well, friendship, actually. She's bright freakin' pink and possibly literally made of rubber. She scares the shit out of me."

That last bit wasn't really necessary. But, well. It was honest.

Yeah, the honesty in that regard had Kanan blinking.

"... Okay, note to self. Steer away from any four-legged pink teachers if possible." Because if it had Eliot scared, Kanan was pretty sure he'd be... similarly scared, anyway. Worried, at least. "And start coming up with class ideas for the next time around, in case I'm stuck here much longer and don't end up recognizing something along the island's travels and jumping ship by then."

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The Park, Friday afternoon

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