Furnado Animal Shelter, Tuesday

[puppy_fair]

It was actually a pretty quiet day at Furnado. The whole toad-egg debacle having been resolved last week meant that this week, there was no great mystery for Zack to step in and solve. It was just puppies and kittens and tiny bunnies all the way down.

Which was a nice way to spend the day, admittedly. The first little bit of his morning was spent setting up playpens in the shop and then moving puppies, kittens, and bunnies from the kennels into the appropriate ones. At least partly because it was easier for any potential people looking to adopt to see them this way, and mostly because it was easier for Zack to park himself beside them to play with the cute fluffy babies himself.

It wasn't SOLDIER work, but overall it was still a pretty good gig, if you asked him.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[deaddadsclub]

So there was literally never anything actually medical to do on this island, and Meredith was starting to freak out about how Cristina still hadn't found an on-island Person. Apparently the solution to this was to get a dog. Cristina didn't buy it for a second, but she'd had to promise Meredith she'd look to even get her to hang up last night, so here she was, at the animal shelter.

"Don't give me that look," she said to a kitten who appeared to glare at her the moment she walked in. "What do you know? You don't even have thumbs."

[puppy_fair]

"Don't mind the cat," Zack offered, smiling up at her from where he was parked beside the puppies. "They're always judgmental."

It was kind of their thing, really.

"Hey there."

[deaddadsclub]

Cristina shot one last glare back at the cat (which probably just looked like half a slow blink to it), then looked over at Zack. "Hi. My best friend thinks I need a dog."

[puppy_fair]

Zack blinked.

"Yeah?" And then he paused. "Do you think you need a dog?"

There was an important distinction.

[deaddadsclub]

That was a very good question.

". . . I mean, it would be something to do?"

[puppy_fair]

"There is that," Zack agreed. "Have you ever had a dog?"

She didn't seem entirely convinced, was the thing.

[deaddadsclub]

"No." Honestly, no one but Meredith or maybe Owen would even think this was a good idea. But they were the two people in the multiverse who knew her the best, so hey, maybe they were onto something? "But I'm a surgeon. I'm responsible for other people's lives all the time."

[puppy_fair]

"So a dog wouldn't be that much of a stretch, huh?" He stood up, and a small gaggle of puppies tried to jump up to follow him. "Do you have an idea of what kind of dog you want? A puppy you can train up, or an older dog who already has some training, for example?"

[deaddadsclub]

"Something . . . sturdy?" Cristina shook her head. "Yeah, not a puppy. I'm not even fond of human babies."

[puppy_fair]

"Sturdy? So... a working dog? Or a mutt? They're usually more healthy than purebred dogs," Zack explained, and then gestured toward the next room, where the kennels were.

[deaddadsclub]

"A mutt," Cristina decided. "I live in a hotel room, I can't get one that doubles as a cart horse."

[puppy_fair]

"So a smaller one," Zack mused, leading the way. "We've got a few smaller dogs at the moment, some of them are already used to apartment living. Feel free to wander around and see if any catch your eye, okay?"

[deaddadsclub]

"Is it okay if I take some photos of them?" Cristina asked.

If she sent Meredith pictures, she'd probably buy herself at least a couple weeks of break from "you need someone in your life to keep you from being a robot again, even if that someone has four legs" speeches.

Damn mommy hormones. Mere's kids were great, but sometimes Cristina missed dark and twisty, nihilistic Meredith.

[puppy_fair]

"If you keep the flash off," Zack replied with a little shrug. "Some of the other animals in here are skittish, I don't want to upset them. But it should be fine otherwise."

[deaddadsclub]

"Cool." Cristina brought up the photo app on her phone and snapped a shot of the first dog in the kennel area -- a big fluffy creature with drooly jowls that even Meredith would agree was not for Cristina.

This could be fun.

"I'll let you know if I need anythiohmigod Mrs. Rodriguez."

. . . That was not how that sentence was supposed to end.

[puppy_fair]

"Who?"

Yeah, Zack was blinking up at that, and then trying to steal a glance at the paperwork of the next dog in, to see if maybe they'd had a new surrender who he hadn't met yet or something.

[deaddadsclub]

Cristina hurried down a few cages to one containing a small, scruffy looking terrier.

"Mrs. Rodriguez," she said again, tone full of wonder. The dog popped up on his hind legs, demonstrating quite clearly that he was not what some folks would consider a "Mrs." She crouched down a little and held out her hand. The dog sniffed it and let out a cheerful little bark. Cristina looked back at Zack.

"This dog shouldn't even exist, how do you have Mrs. Rodriguez?!"

[puppy_fair]

"Uh..." Zack blinked at the dog, and then shrugged. "Usually, someone brings them in?"

He had no idea how they got a dog that-- wait.

"Shouldn't exist?"

That sounded kind of mean.

[deaddadsclub]

"That was a dream," Cristina insisted. Look, her universe had meta episodes that were considered canon, but that didn't mean they actually happened. . . . "And even if it wasn't, that was in Seattle!"

Mrs. Rodriguez barked again, wagging his tail.

"Oh hush, you," Cristina scolded, without any ire. "Ugh, why is he so cute?"

Apparently she was getting a dog.

[puppy_fair]

"Because he's a good boy," Zack replied, smiling crookedly. "Sounds like you found your dog."

[deaddadsclub]

"This is some of that 'multiverse' bullshit, isn't it," Cristina grumbled. Then smirked a little when Mrs. Rodriguez stopped wagging his tail to give Zack some judgmental side-eye. "That's definitely Mrs. Rodriguez alright." She sighed. "At least I already know we'll get along."

[puppy_fair]

Zack was being judged by a dog, wasn't he?

He was.

"Okay, well..." He reached for the paperwork clipped to the cage and then opened the cage up so that Cristina and Mrs. Rodriguez could have some proper introductions. "Have you got supplies for him yet? We've got a starter package."

So, like, poop bags and food and bowls and nail clippers and shampoo and such. The essentials that new dog owners might not consider.

[deaddadsclub]

Cristina pulled out her wallet and held out her credit card. "Yeah, I'm going to need that. All of -- whatever. Um, do you have any manuals, too?"

Poor Mrs. Rodriguez.

[puppy_fair]

Zack blinked, and then nodded back toward the front room, starting that way and holding the door for them. He couldn't take credit in the back room, after all. The till was up front.

"I think there are a couple in the package. Care and training, both."

[deaddadsclub]

Cristina scooped Mrs. Rodriguez up, which he accepted with quiet dignity and a single lick to her cheek.

"That's unsanitary, Mrs. Rodriguez. I don't know where that mouth has been."

Mrs. Rodriguez let out a little harrumph and settled into her arms.

"And don't get too comfy. You're not becoming one of those obnoxious little purse dogs."

He was totally going to become an obnoxious little purse dog.

Cristina realized that Zack -- and her credit card -- had gotten well ahead of her, and hurried after him.

"Hey, is there a vet on the island? Just because I've been treating squirrels in the clinic doesn't mean I can treat a sick dog. . . ."

[puppy_fair]

"We have vets on duty every day," Zack promised, smiling. "Mostly to treat any injured or sick animals that get surrendered to us, but they'll also do emergency care, checkups, booster shots, that sort of thing."

Because where else would they go?

"... I have no idea why the squirrels don't come here. Maybe they're worried the vet will tell them to stop drinking."

[deaddadsclub]

"Good luck with that. I'm still waiting to have to do my first squirrel liver transplant."

She wasn't even a general surgeon. Her doing a human liver transplant would be kind of weird.

"Do you know where Mrs. Rodriguez is from? Travel abroad can introduce all sorts of weird infections, who knows what interdimensional travel does."

[puppy_fair]

Zack shrugged and held up the sheet he'd pulled down from his cage.

"It should all be on here, but all the pets up for adoption have been treated for everything the vets can find. He should be up to snuff, but you can bring him in to have them look at him if you ever get worried."

[deaddadsclub]

Cristina looked the sheet over with a nod. "That's probably better than I get with most human patients." She looked at Mrs. Rodriguez. "At least dogs can't lie."

[puppy_fair]

"Nah, but they're really good at acting innocent even when there are no other culprits," Zack half-joked, reaching up onto a shelf to pull down their starter basket. There was even a dog bed in there! "That's just about as good."