The Park, Friday Afternoon

[uncertain_dume]

So, things were arguably back to normal. That was good, because Kanan's life had been turned on its head a little over the summer, and now he needed some downtime or he was going to make good on his threat to build himself a pillow fort and camp out in the damn thing until the fall of the Empire.

... Well. Today he was going to sit in the park and meditate near the pond, letting Stance roam free in his little swimming vest, because it was Friday, he had responsibilities, and his poor dog hadn't gotten out nearly enough over the summer due to various things thinking he looked tasty and Stance being dumb as rocks.

His eyes were closed, but he was absolutely aware of his dog attempting, again, to befriend the ducks. Some pups would never learn.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[thatwaslucky]

It felt like the thing to do.

Rey showed up, just like she used to, feeling like the days when she used to do this were a thousand years ago. Mostly, though, she was watching Stance with the ducks.

Because now she knew Stance's feelings on the ducks.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan smiled faintly to himself as he felt Rey arrive, and let her watch Stance's attempts at making friends for a few minutes before piping up, "You know, it's strange not waiting for a phone call on Fridays, now."

This was not really a complaint.

[thatwaslucky]

"I could still call, if you'd like," Rey teased.

[uncertain_dume]

"Nah," Kanan chuckled, opening his eyes and leaning back a little. "I prefer this, I think. How do you feel about sitting and talking about the Force today? Maybe giving meditating a try?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Yes, please," she said, sitting across from him.

It was still so odd, having someone offer that without her having to fight for it, and she still half expected it to be taken away somehow.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan smiled faintly, giving her a small nod as she sat.

"Good, then let's talk about connections." A beat. "Small ones. Simple ones. The flow of the Force through all things. Through you, me. The trees. The ducks. Stance." He smiled crookedly at a bark from not far away as Stance splashed through the pond. "Have you ever reached out to connect to anything besides that complicated guy from home?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Which complicated guy from home?" Rey asked, because there were a couple! "The island. Ahch-To, not here. Maybe I did something like it on Crait?"

She'd been a lot of places.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan considered, and then shrugged.

"I meant the one you wound up cutting off," he clarified, "but I think that's answer enough." He offered her a little smile. "How would you feel about reaching out to something on a smaller scale? Not an entire island. Maybe..." He hummed, as if he really had to think about this one. "A dog?"

[thatwaslucky]

"I can do that," she said, looking over at Stance. "You don't think he'd mind?"

[intotheout]

Tip hadn't been by the park -- or Kanan's warehouse -- on Friday afternoon in ages. After last week, she was thinking that might have been a mistake.

She laughed a little when she saw Stance up to his usual antics. There was something very comforting about that silly little dog.

[uncertain_dume]

That silly little dog was a silly wet dog, today! And he had Tip to thank for his vest-vesty-vest! And so he was splish-splashing his way out of the pond and bounding over to say hello! Hello, Tip! Hello, goodest Tip friend!

Kanan was absolutely grinning a little in his meditation, yes.

[intotheout]

Don’t think Tip didn’t notice that, Kanan! She didn’t say anything yet, crouching down instead to properly greet Stance.

“Are you having fun with your duck friends?” she asked. And even managed not to wince at the word “fun”. “Look at you, all wet.”

[uncertain_dume]

Stance was having such a good time! Look! Look at his amazing vest-vesty-vest that was your idea, Tip! Your besty best idea! He was even going to be good and not shake himself right off all over Tip, because he'd been told that was rude, but he was bouncing around and wiggling about and trying to lick Tip's face off anyway. Because how else did you say hi when you couldn't speak, right?

[intotheout]

(Mae might have some notes.)

Tip grinned, because it was hard to keep being moody in the face of such unbridled joy.

“Okay,” she said, once she felt she’d been thoroughly licked. “Down boy. You don’t want to make the ducks jealous, do you?”

It was possible she would end up murdered in her sleep by those ducks.

[uncertain_dume]

Hey! Hey, Stance knew that word! Down! It was kinda like 'sit' and so Stance? Was totally sitting, tail wagging behind him and tongue-a-lolling happily.

It had taken Kanan a few years and a week of being able to communicate back and forth in full and complete sentences, but look, he finally had a dog who sat when you told him to!

"Somebody's excited to see you," Kanan mused, still smiling, opening his eyes to look Tip's way.

[intotheout]

"Yeah," Tip agreed. "I'm glad someone is."

Admittedly, she had not shown her face in public much this week, and thus didn't actually know if the people she was . . . "good toy" at were happy to see her back to normal or not.

[uncertain_dume]

"He's not the only one," Kanan noted. He shifted his weight around so that he was sitting on the ground properly, not just kneeling in his meditative pose, and considered Tip for a moment. "How are you holding up?"

[unusual_sith]

Lana showed up for both the weather and Stance. Well, yes, and Kanan, too. She was happy to settle a little distance away and...well, she'd probably meditate after she'd been wiggled at by a dog.

[uncertain_dume]

A wet dog! In a vest!

Kanan was absolutely not laughing at you as Stance made his merry way from the pond to say hello, Lana.

Honest.

[unusual_sith]

That’s okay; Lana was doing enough laughing for you both!

In between sputtering at the wet dog all over her. “Hello, Stance! Yes, I’ve missed you, too. Are you making friends with the ducks yet?”

She tried to project calm at him, though it wasn’t by any means a strength.

[uncertain_dume]

Mostly it just meant some mildly sedate attempts at cuddling, instead. Soggy, soggy cuddling.

"He's still making his best attempts," Kanan noted. "But he's got an in with them for next time."

[unusual_sith]

And now she was soaked and would smell like wet dog all day. Well, it would be an exercise in blotting out distractions while meditating.

"Does he? What sort of 'in'?"

[uncertain_dume]

"A friend of his said a few good words about him to the ducks," Kanan replied, smiling. "Now they're willing to stand a stone's throw away just so long as I'm holding him put."

Which was why Kanan was also soaked and would smell like wet dog all day.

[unusual_sith]

"He has a friend who talks to ducks?" Lana asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know why I'm surprised. I've known Sith who are good with animals, and this place is insane on its own."

But ducks that listened were still unusual.

[uncertain_dume]

"He has a friend who is patient enough to shop around until she finds a duck who'll listen," Kanan clarified with a shrug. "Which is basically the same thing, with ducks."

Because... ducks.