Dog Hunt (open)

[ken]

"Wow, even the monkey boys like you," Kennedy couldn't help but tease. He chuckled as the monkey hopped away. Kennedy turned to wave and nod at the young man as he left, before focusing back on Kiri.

"Not really hard to pass classes at the Academy though, so long as you actually study," Kennedy pointed out. He downed a few more french fries, then tossed a meat puff to Lucky. There had indeed been more food than even Kennedy could eat, so he figured he might as well share the wealth with the chipper dog.

"So, I've always wondered, do different animals talk different ways? Like, are some smarter than others or something?" Kennedy paused to take a drink. "I imagine Lucky spends a lot of time asking about food and to be picked up. And a squirrel probably just thinks about nuts. I mean, do you ever sit down and have a deep conversation with, say, an owl?"

The idea intrigued and excited Kennedy. After all, he still remembered talking with Fae as a young boy, and the wide-eyed amazement he'd had when hearing about their ability to talk to nature. Not to mention the glamors, which were always impressive. Sometimes Kennedy wondered what it would be like to be a Fae, though he was fairly certain he wouldn't appreciate the Queen.

[Kiri Honeywater]

The boy didn't look familiar to her though she had often seen the monkey before. She had now seen the squirrel-monkey boy. Basically full she started shoving around her food as the waitress came and refilled their drinks then left.

"Not everyone likes me. It was just a monkey." Though she found it odd that the monkey hadn't talked to her. Declaring herself done with her lunch she leaned back sipping on her yummy tea.

"The classes I have the more problem with are the one's that involve math. But, um, Locke can usually explain it to me." It usually took hours and by the end she usually broke into tears. Not wanting to think on that she smiled at his next question. Now this was something she could totally talk about.

"Animals are like people. Different personalities, different tones, different levels of intelligence. Yeah, certain species tend to be more educated." She nodded toward a sleek, white cat with blue eyes at the next table. "Some are confusing because so many things run through their minds at once." Nodding down at Lucky the ADD dog of wonder.

"But I love talking to basically all of them equally. You'd be amazed how wise deer are, how funny lizards sound, and when you talk to fish you just want to jump off a cliff." They repeated themselves so much it was nearly impossible to hold a conversation. "I could talk to a tortoise for hours. They just know so much, plus it takes them forever to talk." Giggling at her private joke she plucked up a chip and dip lowering it down for Lucky. The dog would probably through up later from so much food.

[ken]

"Pretty sure nearly everyone likes you," Kennedy replied, smiling. He absentmindedly chewed a few more french fries, occasionally tossing one over to his increasingly spoiled dog. Lucky thoroughly enjoyed herself, running about snagged french fries and then getting chips from Kiri.

"I figured they'd talk differently," added Kennedy. He nodded, then pushed his food away. "It only makes sense. Still, it's got to be interesting."

Like Kennedy was one to talk. He got to play around with having all kinds of super powers. Flying, teleporting, lighting things on fire. All Kennedy had to do was wander near someone like that and he'd pick up the amazing ability.

"I wonder if an animal could better explain some stuff. Just think about how much a tortoise has seen. Remind me to fly you to the Galapagos islands sometime," Kennedy chuckled just thinking about it. Kiri would probably go nuts talking to various animals. Maybe he could invite Angela and a couple of others along, make a day of it.

Only a Gifted could think of just popping over to the Galapagos for a day.

Feeling distinctly ignored, Lucky began barking, bumping into Kiri, who she'd determined was more likely to entertain her. Certainly more likely to listen.

[Kiri Honeywater]

"If you're so interested in talking to them why not just borrow my power?" She stated not sure if he could borrow a fae's ability or not. Another chip with dip was given to Lucky, the little pup was gonna get fat if Kennedy and Kiri had lunch together often enough. Kiri loved fat animals it meant they were getting enough food.

"Oh, I've learned a lot of stuff from talking to animals. At the zoo I spent an entire day talking to a bull elephant who'd actually lived in Africa!" Kiri nearly jumped out of her chair in excitement of the conversation, though thinking on it a bit it couldn't be as interesting to him.

"But you'd have to enjoy that sort of thing." The fae giggled lightly waving for the waitress to bring them some To-Go boxes. As Lucky began barking at her she nodded and smiled and nodded once more.

"She says she loves the puffs and that we should totally, totally, totally come her more often." Giggling she scooped up the pup scratching her ears and handing her chips and dip. "She thinks we should do something because she is bored, bored, bored, bored, bo-Lucky we get it you're bored!" Kiri smiled and gave Kennedy a wink. If he wanted to know she might as well tell him.

[ken]

Actually, Kennedy was one of the people who would find that sort of thing interesting. He always loved learning about other places and other times, it was part of the reason he'd gotten so involved in the research subject he did. It was wonderful getting lost in information like that: the lives of other people.

"I'd love to borrow your power, Kiri," admitted Kennedy, "but I can't. My Gift only picks up on other Gifts, not on Fae or Demon stuff. Which sucks sometimes, like now for example."

Kennedy chuckled, then started putting his remaining french fries into a box. He slid the last meat puff in as well, figuring he shouldn't waste it. Besides, they were too good to simply throw away.

"Alright, alright," Kennedy held up both hands in surrender, "I give up, please don't translate everything Lucky has to say. She's quite good at letting us know what she wants without speaking the language."

Indeed, the dog did. Now Lucky squirmed out of Kiri's arms, so she could run around in circles, accompanying her chant with repetitive movement.

"Well, we can take the long way back to the Academy then," Kennedy suggested as he rose out of his seat. He dug out his wallet, then dropped a few bills on the table. After all, the server had done fairly good after all. "Besides, I'm sure Lucky's going to have to 'go' pretty soon."

[Kiri Honeywater]

Kiri loaded the rest of her salad into the To-Go box and giggled as Lucky hopped down. Really, she wished she didn't hear every word they said. She stood with Kennedy downing the rest of her tea before leaving. The long way sounded nice, bending she picked up her bread crumb bag and smiling started out of the cafe.

"Sorry, you can't borrow my powers. But believe me at times you just want to scream." Like now. The fae smiled weakly at Lucky as the pup made her presence known to the world with her barking. Such a vocal little thing! Kiri waved to the young man who had first served them then walked to the side street to the main stree.

"Well, that was fun, and yummy. Now you know where to stalk me." A soft giggle as she tucked her hair behind a pointed ear. Glancing up at the sky she wondered what she would do with herself once she got back to the academy. She wasn't the best in entertaining herself. Maybe she'd hunt some random friend down and pester them. That sounded good. Today was a day of friends not a day to be alone. Besides she hated being alone.

[ken]

Yes, hearing everything animals said would indeed suck. Especially if you had to deal with an animal like Lucky. There were only two times when Lucky did not bark: when she was unconscious, and when she was eating. The space in between those two actions was generally filled with lots of yapping. Though she did have a tendency to lick and sniff too.

"I knew where to stalk you anyway," Kennedy pointed out. He grabbed the boxes and headed for the register. He quickly paid for their meal, before calling out to Kiri, "After all, I know where you sleep."

He winked with Kiri as he caught up to her. Lucky had already taken off ahead of them, leading the way as she usually did. She'd occasionally pause to sniff something interesting, or to bark at an important person.

"I'm probably going to catch up on some reading. Lately a student's been interested in World War II, so it'll do me some good to brush up on that," Kennedy offered. He glanced over at Kiri, "What are you planning on doing when we get back? If you want, you could borrow Lucky for a while. Give you someone intelligent to talk with."

[Kiri Honeywater]

Forgetting he worked and lived at the academy she felt a little stupid for not remembering that. She smiled and waited for him to catch up. As they walked she swung her bag of bread crumbs watching Lucky run about happily. Animals were just so carefree. That's why she loved them and wanted to be like them. Be as happy as they were.

"Now you know another place to stalk me." Kiri giggled skipping along beside him with his long legs.

"I don't really have any plans. Might go find someone to bother. I coud take her off your hands if you need a doggie sitter." Kiri would have to find a way to make the pup take a nap though. The constant barking thing might drive her over the edge. Or maybe she'd take the pup to go see her forest animal friends. That way she could finish that conversation with the opposom and not have to listen to the barking. Plus Lucky could make new friends. That sounded good.

"I could take her to visit some of my forest friends." She offered not believing for a second that Kennedy wasn't the more intelligent of the two.

[ken]

The walk was proving pleasant, and not just because Kennedy enjoyed Kiri's company. He needed to spend more time with her. Certainly more uplifting than some of his friends, that was for certain.

"It probably wouldn't be too bad for Lucky to hang around you a little while longer," Kennedy offered. He nodded at the dog, who'd returned to run little circles around them. She soon grew tired of this, and went back to sniffing random objects.

"She'd just be shut up in my room back at the Academy," he admitted. That probably explained why Lucky added like she had ADD whenever she could actually get out. Though Kennedy usually found someone to take care of her, and he did his best to make sure she got out as often as possible.

"I'd be careful with the forest friends bit. Lucky has a tendency to playfully attack other animals, and she sometimes forgets about size differences. Which means dead butterflies most of the time, though she has gone after some larger animals before," Kennedy grinned, "usually with very entertaining results. I'm sure you could handle it though."

He stuck his hands in his pockets and continued walking along the streets. It wouldn't take too much longer for them to get out of the small town of Masonville. Then there was just the slow walk to campus.

[Kiri Honeywater]

"I promise I'll take care of her." She had no worries about the pup attacking any of her friends. Most were birds, the opposom who didn't care about anyone because he was old, and some rodents. The fox hardly showed up so that wouldn't be an issue.

"If you ever need a doggie watcher and I'm free I wouldn't mind watching her." Maybe she could teach the dog some tricks and make things easier for Kennedy. Poor dog probably drove the guy crazy. Besides she needed something else to do in her free time and training a pup would be fun.

She giggled when the pup started barking rapidly at a statue of a deer outside of a store. Kennedy was right on the whole attacking other animals thing even if they weren't real. When Lucky found out it wasn't alive she ran on her stubby tail waggin. Kiri began humming as she skipped not knowing where else to take the conversation.

"So meet anyone interesting lately? Here any juicy tid bits you wanna share?" Gossip that was a very girlie thing to talk about but she was a girl so it worked.

[ken]

"I'm sure she'll be safe in your care, probably much happier too," Kennedy waved to the darting animal, "so, by all means, take her. For that matter, feel free to pop by every once in a while. I'm usually good about letting her hang out with people. She loves everybody, after all."

He watched as she barked at the deer, grinning. He was very happy he'd actually won the dog, she'd turned out to be quite the little blessing in his life. Certainly a sunny spot, constantly cheerful and perky. Quite a bit of luck that he'd found her.

"I meet interesting people all the time. You see, I work at this weird place, it's called the Academy," he jerked his thumb in the direction they were walking, grinning broadly. Finally he waved his hand, putting both back into his pockets and continuing along. "I don't know who'd count as interesting to you. I heard that an old friend's back in town, but I haven't seen him yet. Hung out with Rae a while ago. And of course I see a lot of Angela."

He shrugged, "Really, I'm not the gossip. You should try Kenneth, you want to learn something really juicy."

[Kiri Honeywater]

Kiri skipped and hummed as they went along watching the pup, watching Kennedy, watching the various people as they passed them. In all she would have to label the day a perfect day. Giggling she smiled swinging her bag merrily. She just loved perfect days, especially when they are shared with friends.

"What old friend is back in town?" Now this was interesting, the rest was kind of expected. Nothing all that exciting, she gave him a fake frown at his lack of gossiping ability, but ended the frown in a smile. She always smiled, that's just who she was.

"I don't really know Kenneth." Kiri sighed out distractedly as her attention wondered to the sky, to buildings, to the happy puppy running about. "But I have heard rather interesting things about him." The fae girl grinned cutely continuing her gay skipping toward home.

[ken]

"Karmine," Kennedy responded. His eye still followed Lucky as he mulled over what he'd been told. Apparently Rae had run into Karmine a few days ago at the Cave, and had given Kennedy the heads up. "I don't know if you remember him or not. He taught at the Academy for a while, and then had to leave for some time. I guess he got his act together."

Kennedy shrugged. "He's a good guy, about as wild as Rae though."

Had Kiri ever encountered Rae? Kennedy couldn't recall if they'd met or not. Probably wasn't a good idea. Rae would inevitably flirt with Kiri, and Kennedy honestly had no idea how Kiri would handle that. He could easily picture Rae overwhelming the poor Fae, even if she was more mature now.

"Kenneth's a good guy. A bit of a party animal, but the kind of guy you can count on in a scrape," Kennedy nodded. He couldn't help but chuckle dryly. "Honestly, not that different from Karmine and Rae. The three of them have a lot in common."

He glanced over at Kiri, watching her skip along. It was nice to know she hadn't grown too far out of character.

"How's things going with your friends? The non-animal ones, I mean."

[Kiri Honeywater]

She didn't remember any of the people he was talking about but if they were Kennedy's friends then they must be good people. He had so many friends, that made her very happy. People with lots of friends were usually so much happier and less likely to be lonely. Lonely people made her sad.

"They all sound lovely. Maybe I can meet them someday?" Kiri asked pulling off one of her her best "Aren't I cute and loveable' faces. But if he didn't want her to then she could understand. Maybe they were all older and she just wouldn't fit in. He was probably looking out for her. Such a nice, protective, adopted, big brother.

"Other friends? Well, Locke is doing fine last I talked with him." And that was pretty much it. Kiri didn't talk to many non-animals other than Locke and Kennedy. Odd that both her friends were boys. She had a few aquaintances at the zoo and animal shelter but none she saw very often. Kiri didn't mind she had people, and animals who cared about her and that's all she really needed. The number didn't matter. Nope, didn't matter.

[ken]

"Well, next time there's a party, find me and Angela," Kennedy suggested. Tagging Angela's name on felt right, even if they'd only officially been together a few months. Besides, he had to prepare Kiri for the truth, and that was that Kennedy was likely to be with Angela at a party.

"That's one of the best places to meet new people, really," Kennedy suggested. He nodded at Lucky. "That's where I met her, after all. Though I did meet Angela and Kellan in class."

Odd, that. Those were two of the three girls he'd been interested in since he'd started getting serious at the Academy. Apparently class was a good place to meet potential romantic partners.

The two of them were nearly to the edge of Masonville now, though still some distance from the school. If they really wanted to get there in a hurry, they'd have to try using Gifts. Kennedy could probably fly well enough now, but he wasn't sure if Kiri could keep up with her fairy wings. Carrying Lucky wouldn't be too hard though.

"Should we fly home?" Kennedy asked, looking to Kiri for an answer.