puppy post (man, i love being able to write that unironically)

[lionheartedman]

WHO: Puppy and all of Skyhold
WHAT: surveying his domain and looking for new friends
WHEN: Cullen's been back at Skyhold since the second week of August, so Puppy has also been back
WHERE: anywhere he can get to, and that's almost everywhere

Puppy is growing, both in size and in personality. Adelaide warned about the size he'd reach, but Cullen is still a little amazed at how quickly he's coming into it. He's never seen a mabari grow up from a puppy before. Pretty soon, his temporary-turned-de-facto-permanent name is going to be rather ridiculous. That is not a concern for today, though. No, the concern for today is that he's wandered away from Cullen. Again. Something about you has caught his attention, and while it's very easy to become the subject of his focus, it's almost impossible to shake him.

[[OOC: If you don't want Cullen to come looking for Puppy, just say so, and you can have your whole thread with the cuter half of the pair.]]

Comments

[eternalsquire]

Now the person is laughing at him. Kif can feel his ire rising until he gets a look at the man offering a hand out. Human, dressed well, very probably someone with some sort of authority that Kif shouldn't aggravate. He deflates all over again as he takes the man's hand.

"I'll be fine," he says a little mournfully. He's going to have to wash everything, and at least one of the nicer ornamental buttons is broken so he'll have to replace that too.

And then his words catch up to him, and he looks at the human with some horror in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to call you uncultured. Sir." Because going by the bearing, this man has to be a sir. "I couldn't see and he was heavy." He's here to clean up Zapp's messes, not make more, even if this man sounds utterly Fereldan and has a dog.

[lionheartedman]

Cullen just chuckles. "I'm Fereldan," he points out, unintentionally confirming Kif's assumption. "You... are Orlesian, I take it? By your definition of it, I'm quite uncultured." He doesn't sound offended, mostly because he's not. He would hate to be cultured by Orlesian standards. He much prefers being a man of action, being useful, and having no lace whatsoever upon his person.

[eternalsquire]

He stands there, a bit dwarved, or elved, really, listening to the chuckle and not hearing any condescension in the man's voice. Maybe there's barbs in the way the man says Orlesian, but Kif isn't surprised. Fereldans will never admit the truth of Orlesian superiority.

"I still wouldn't call you uncultured to your face," Kif finally replies. "You have a big dog."

Considering the man, it might be a mabari. Kif hasn't seen one before, but it's huge and it had certainly smelled and obeyed right to be one. Speaking of smell... Kif looks down and sighs. He'll have to clean these again, but for now he's just going to dip his hands in the washbasin and get back to making Zapp's lunch on a large plate, with his own on a smaller plate.

"Have you ever had a sandwich? It's Orlesian." There's pride in his voice there.

[lionheartedman]

"Tiny little pieces of soft bread, runny cheese, something called cress, cut into decorative shapes? I've had them." He'd been wholly unimpressed with tea and sandwiches in Orlais. Even Puppy hadn't really wanted them. Still, Cullen had made the attempt. For Adelaide.

He hopes to never have to do so again. He doesn't fit in in Orlais. It's not for him.

[eternalsquire]

Kif shudders.

"Not those." Those are always unpleasant, and he doesn't care who knows he thinks so. At least no one's tried to make him eat that sort of sandwich, though. There are perks to not being seen as worth the 'nice' food.

"I mean like this." He gestures to the larger pieces of bread in front of him, two on Zapp's plate, one, halved, on his, before starting to add small stacks of meat. "The bread makes it easy to hold so you're not interrupted from your daily hounding of anyone you see as a peasant by something so basic as needing to eat."

His expression is perfectly schooled, but there might have been just a little disdain in his voice for a brief moment there. "Or other tasks that might actually be important."