The Park - Sunday morning

[mages_suck]

The island was calm. The people here were calm. It was weird, after being in a high-tension environment for most of his life. Fenris sought the unacknowledged comfort of trees. The bench was unoccupied, the ducks unspoken to.

He smirked a little. "Hello, ducks. Where's your human friend?"

The ducks didn't answer. He hadn't truly expected them to.

The bench was unoccupied, but why sit on a bench when that tree right there had a branch that begged? Catching it, he pulled himself up and took a seat. Leaning against the trunk, he pulled one leg up and let the other hang free.

[Open! Brooding McElfEars is in the tree looking elvish af.]

Comments

[mages_suck]

Fenris blinked and almost dropped his guard, "Really? I've only met one and he lost his in battle."

[puppy_fair]

"I mean, I don't like the practice, but apparently a lot of people dock their dogs' tails," Zack replied, tilting his head a little and frowning. But he perked a moment later when he added, "And there are a bunch of breeds that just naturally have short ones, or none at all."

He could start naming them off, but he didn't figure any of them would be recognizable breed names if Fenris didn't know about dogs without in the first place.

[mages_suck]

"Does that mean the same thing here as it does in my world? Dock, to slice part off?" He pulled a face and said, "Where I'm from, people do that to our ears. Sometimes as punishment. Sometimes willingly, to fit in with humans more closely."

[puppy_fair]

Zack winced a bit.

"... Yeah, a bit like that."

Well. That was horrifying. It was his turn to drop his guard a little.

"For some dogs, it's a preventative health-care thing. But in a lot of cases it's cosmetic, which..." He curled his lip a little. "We have a vet at our shelter, but she refuses to perform a docking procedure unless there's some evidence the dog will suffer otherwise."

He lifted his sword again.

"I... don't know what to say," he admitted, "about what you just told me. Except that I'd like to show the business end of this sword to anybody who would do that to a person as punishment. And I wish there was no reason for people to want so desperately to fit in that badly."

[mages_suck]

"That is what I have a sword for," Fenris said calmly, "To stick the business end into people who deserve having a sword shoved into them."

His definition was really broad, though.

"Your animal doctor sounds like a wise woman. Cruelty to animals is contemptible."

[puppy_fair]

"Good." For someone who made friends with everyone, Zack's definition was probably actually a hell of a lot broader than some might suspect.

"She's pretty much the best. And I don't say that just because she pretty much taught me how to do my job..." He shrugged faintly. "But that part doesn't hurt."

[mages_suck]

"Taught you the job?" Fenris asked, "Is it a difficult one?"

He had no idea. He knew how to take care of horses, which required a lot more work than people thought.

[puppy_fair]

"I mean.. kind of? I'm not familiar with most Earth animals at all," Zack admitted. "I mean, we have dogs and cats and things back home, but also a bunch of other stuff they don't have here."

[mages_suck]

"I would be in similar straits," Fenris said, "The only animal I've ever been asked to care for were horses, and those, rarely."

[puppy_fair]

"Oh, we don't even have horses where I'm from," Zack replied, grinning. "I mean, there is exactly one horse, it has extra legs, and it belongs to a god."

A god that Zack was capable of summoning for an assit in battle, even! But... he didn't do that around the island when he could help it. Even Zack occasionally understood the meaning of 'overkill.'