fandomtownies | Luke's, Wednesday

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Luke's, Wednesday

It was snowing hard, already accumulating in drifts along the sidewalks and stairs as Eliot made his way into the diner. Unsurprisingly, most of his staff had called out -- Eliot himself was only really here to check things over and make sure nothing would go too haywire when the power inevitably went out. The kitchen staff, though, was chatting away over a big pot of hot cocoa, talking about the alot of snow they'd seen walk by not long before Eliot arrived.

"Glad to see y'all made it here safe," he said. "It's really coming down out there."

"I like the snow," the cook said.

"This is a nice day out on the steppes," said the dishwasher.

"I live in dry storage," said the busboy.

"What?" Eliot asked, frowning.

"What?" asked the busboy. "I didn't -- I'm from Minnesota. I like snow. Yeah, those things. Totally why I'm here."

"Uh huh." Eliot shook his head, making a mental note to check the busboy's address on file and possibly give the kid a raise if he was having a money issue and wasn't just being weird. "Right, well. We're probably not going to get a lot of customers today, so anytime y'all want to head home, just let me know. I'm going to make sure the pipes don't freeze."

Today's specials
Hot cocoa
Beef stew
Baked Alaska

Luke's was open ~~and OCD~~.

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Kathy came downstairs, Ronin by her side, figuring she'd stock up on a few things while she could still see. She was going over a mental list of supplies she'd need to hunker down for a few days.

"Hey Dad!" she said with a grin that even the insane snowstorm happening outside couldn't diminish. "Finishing up before the storm hits?"

Ronin kept looking outside and growling, which Kathy was taking to mean that he didn't like snow much better than she did.

"Storm's pretty well started," Eliot said, nodding to the windows, and noting Ronin's reaction with a small frown. Val hadn't been super into the storm, either. "Making sure this place won't fall apart when the power goes down, and figured since the kitchen staff all made it in, we'd offer something warm for anyone else out and about in it." He raised his eyebrows at Kathy. "You all set up up there? I don't usually worry about hooking this place up to a generator when these kindsa storms hit, since the freezer will keep going through anything, but I can see about hooking you up with something, and you're always welcome to come back to the house and bunk with us for the duration."

He was really hoping she'd take him up on that latter one, yes.

"I have yet to be in a Fandom snowstorm that didn't get worse than this," Kathy said, sighing. "This doesn't count as the proper storm yet, cause we still have heat and electricity."

Oh Fandom, in some ways you were so predictable.

...Boy was she going to feel stupid about that thought when the glacier and the snow monsters hit for sure.

"Ronin and Val haven't met yet," she said, giving him a worried look. "She'll be okay if he's in her space? He seems very, very well-trained," she hastened to add. "But I don't know all his quirks yet." She patted his head and Ronin gave her hand a quick lick before going back to staring intently out at the storm.

"Val hasn't had a problem with it, before," Eliot said. "And we got plenty of space if we end up havin' to separate them."

And Val knew better than to kick up too much of a fuss. At worst, she'd probably pout. At best?

New best dog friend!!!!

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Kathy said. "He seemed fine with the cats back at Dante's place, which was a relief. Hey boy," she said, petting his ears again. "You wanna meet my dad? Go meet my dad. Say hello."

Eliot crouched a little, avoiding direct eye contact with Ronin, and offering his hand for a sniff hello.

There was something familiar about how the dog paid attention and responded to Kathy. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, yet.

"Hey there," he greeted softly, then glanced back up at Kathy. "He ain't from the shelter, then?"

It was pretty easy to figure out if shelter dogs did okay with other animals, after all.

Kathy shook her head. "He found me," she said with a small smile. "On the streets of Limbo City. Came to my rescue, actually."

When she'd been jumped by a pair of demons, sigh.

"He'd been living on the streets for a few years, going by how skinny he is," Kathy said. Even now, after a week of healthy feeding, his ribs were still more prominent than she would have liked. "He had a collar that was too small for him - " she gestured to the bare patch around his neck where the fur had been worn away "- that listed his old address, but that whole street was destroyed a couple of years ago. Still, I put up posters and stuff, just to see if we could find his old people."

He'd escaped. Maybe they had, too?

"So it's more like I'm just dog-sitting awhile, you know? Trying not to get too attached."

Failing miserably.

"You might be trying, but I ain't sure he is," Eliot said with a small smile, giving Ronin plenty of time to sniff him but making no other overtures until the dog indicated he was interested. He could tell by the animal's posture and the angle of his ears that he was keeping attuned to Kathy even when he wasn't actively by her side. "Seems to me he's pretty taken with you." Eliot tilted his head, watching Ronin for another long moment. "There anything on his tag other than an address?"

Edited 2018-12-20 00:16 (UTC)

Ronin gave Eliot a polite sniff and flicked his ears, then returned to Kathy's side, nosing her hand for another pet. Kathy obliged, scratching his ears, shaking her head at Eliot. "Just the address and phone number. Tried calling, no luck." She beamed down at her new boy. "You think so? He might just be a mother hen. You wouldn't believe how pushy he is about breakfast."

HE WAS THE BEST BOY.

"Oh really. Yours or his?"

Eliot had a theory, but it wasn't nice to assume anything.

"Mine," Kathy grumbled. "He won't eat unless I put food down and command him to, but me, he gets all huffy and howls in the kitchen until I get something to eat."

Eliot nodded. That fit his theory perfectly.

“Pretty sure you’ve managed to get yourself adopted by a service dog. One for depress PTS, I’d wager.”

"Wait, what?" Kathy asked, giving Ronin an incredulous look. "A service dog?"

Ronin thumped his tail.

"You really think so?"

That made it even more important to get him to his owners. Service animals were horrifically expensive and with good reason. They could save lives.

"I only just met him, but -- yeah. Does he poop on command? That's usually the first thing they're taught to do."

Kathy nodded. "Yeah," she said. "It was really weird realizing he was waiting for me to give him permission. Same for eating, too."

"There you go, then." Eliot shrugged. "You got yourself a service animal. A fine looking one, too."

Yeah, he was pretty sure she wouldn't be finding the dog's original owner. Service dogs didn't tend to just get lost.

Especially when most of their street got smushed under a flung different section of street. Still, Kathy felt like she needed to try anyway. She'd feel guilty otherwise.

"The vet says he looks like he's part samoyed, part German Shepard," Kathy said, pleased that her dad liked her dog. "I'm calling him Ronin."

"A wandering warrior with no master," Eliot said, his expression faintly wistful. "That suits him."

"Exactly," Kathy said, not at all surprised that Eliot got it, but happy he did all the same. "Still not sure how he found me or why he came charging in to help, but it was something right out of a Kurosawa movie, I swear."

"He's a service dog," Eliot said with a shrug. "You needed help."

And it could probably tell she had some stress issues, which explained why it was sticking to her so hard.

Yeeeeah. She was supposed to hear back from her therapist about her likely diagnoses at their next appointment and Dr. A had already mentioned PTSD as a likely candidate.

"He's a good boy," Kathy said. "The best boy."

Not that she was biased. Or totally attached already.

Ronin, who was a Good Boy, thank you, wagged his tail.

Yeah, Eliot had no illusions about Ronin not already being Kathy's dog.

"You doin' alright by way of supplies for him?"

Kathy nodded. "Dante bought some stuff for him the first day while I was napping and then I've been getting stuff throughout the week. I mean, we mostly have the basics right now, like food and water bowls, leashes, that kind of thing? But the important stuff is taken care of."

No more going for walks with her bathrobe belt tied to his old collar, for example.

Eliot nodded. "After the storm you should pick up some toys," he suggested. "He's a working dog, he's gotta have time to play and relax, too."

Kathy nodded. "I ordered a couple of those toys that have smaller, sad-looking toys on the inside that come out if the dog chews through the first layer? But they're a little backed up right now because of the holiday."

Which just meant she should go into a brick and mortar store and buy there, too.

"Uhh, also got one or two for Val," she added. "Because it seemed wrong not to get a toy or two for her."

Val was family!

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Luke's, Wednesday

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