open

[inkindled]

WHO: Matthias, Nikos, Salvio (tbd if Doki, Val, and Darras will get open stuff. how did I get all of these characters) + YOU
WHAT: just open stuff, man
WHEN: NOW
WHERE: various
NOTES: tiny bit of self-harm but it's so small and it gets fixed so fast

Comments

[lumelume]

[All the while, a little white dog with one floppy ear has been sitting patiently in the boat and giving the distinct impression that it is enjoying the scene.

Before the ferry can pull away, it hops off onto the dock and trots after Salvio and the goat, tail wagging cheerfully.]

[assistente]

[Salvio, plodding along, doesn't notice the dog straightaway. His eyes are set on home, and the goat isn't giving him any trouble.

The goat doesn't seem to notice the dog either. Its weird eyes keep staring forward, dead set. It's when Salvio is looking around at it nervously that he sees the white flash of the dog's wagging tail. He cranes his neck to see around the goat.

Oh. A dog. He gives it a quick smile, uncertain, and then... looks forward again. Perhaps if he ignores it.]

[lumelume]

[Inexplicably, the dog seems to smile back. It trots along with them, for all the world appearing to completely belong to this cluster of strange companions.]

[assistente]

[Oh. Well. His smile wavers slightly, uncertain. But that is... maybe normal for a dog. Salvio has very little experience.

After a bit more progress, he breaks the silence between the three of them--man, two animals--]

Do you belong?

[The dog, obviously. The goat is now unfortunately his responsibility.]

[lumelume]

[The dog sits with a gentle wag of its tail and licks its lips.

Hopefully that's enough of an answer.]

[assistente]

[So that's a yes. But, oh, it stopped walking. Salvio also stops walking, so he does not move too far ahead of the dog. The goat does not have such courtesy. It continues to plod along, soon to surpass Salvio.

Quickly, before the goat draws too far ahead, Salvio hazards a guess at a command:]

Er. Come along--?

[Is that the correct, for a dog?]

[lumelume]

[The dog seems to understand, and hops back up to keep following him. Well, if you say so!]

[assistente]

[Salvio has, unfortunately, said so, yes. The peculiar little parade continues through the main courtyard, the clomp of goat hooves echoing sharply and overpowering the softer tread of Salvio's boots, and even the clack-clack-clack of dog nails on cobblestones.

Through one gate, and then a smaller notched door, and then another, and they are at last in a garden, where a thick thatch of grass is waiting for the goat. Salvio has continually looked down to see if the dog has peeled off to find its owner, or stayed and kept pace. Each time, he has seen it keeping pace, and has grown more and more concerned.

Now he looks down at the dog, little lines of anxiety tugging at his face.]

You, um. May stay here. I suppose. Unless there is... Well, this is stupid, Pizzicagnolo, really, even for you. [DOGS CAN'T TALK. How dumb, then, to stand here and talk at one.]

[lumelume]

[The dog listens attentively nonetheless, and for all Salvio knows, he's its owner now.

When he pauses to look at it again, it sits back on its haunches with its front legs curled by its chest, sitting pretty.]

[assistente]

[Oh, dammit.

Salvio sighs, and turns away so he can knot the goat's lead about an iron ring that has been built into the wall for this purpose. With the beast secure--]

Come along, we will find some food.

[If he has to be RESPONSIBLE for this dog he's going to do it right.]

[lumelume]

[Tail wagging cheerfully, the dog hops up to follow Salvio, claws tip-tapping jauntily on the ground.]

[assistente]

[At least the goat stays put--because she's tied, yes, but still.

Salvio leads the dog to another small corridor that slopes gently downward as they walk--and leads, eventually, to a wider corridor, off of which branches the storerooms of Riftwatch. It is cool down here, and windowless, but pleasant. The floor is worn smooth.

Salvio mumbles a little to himself as he walks, counting off doors in Antivan. Eventually they arrive at the one that he wants, and he takes a ring of keys from his belt, sorts through until he finds the right one, and unlocks the door.

The smell of a smokehouse wafts out into the corridor. It is quite dark in the little room beyond. Salvio takes a torch from the wall and steps in. Racks of smoked meat hang from the ceiling on hooks, and sausages are strung up like garland.]

Stay. [--He orders, firmly, as he steps inside.]

[lumelume]

[Clearly intrigued by how its ears have perked forward, the dog nonetheless obeys, staying when commanded, its tail still waving pleasantly back and forth.]

[assistente]

[Cautiously, Salvio crosses the threshold of the storeroom, shooting frequent glances over his shoulder to make good and certain the dog is doing as he was told, and has not gone tearing in to the room to have a feast of Riftwatch meat.

But, except for the motion of that tail, he stays. Salvio twists off some dried sausage from its string--three small ones, twisting them free of one another--and wraps them up. After a moment of hesitation--yes, the dog is still holding still--he gets some salt pork, too.

It isn't until he has locked the storeroom behind him that he holds one of the sausages for the dog to take.]

The rest when we are outside again. This is not a place for eating.

[lumelume]

[Jackpot.

The dog sits up again, pretty as can be, to gently take the sausage from Salvio's hand and flip it in the air so he can wolf it down.

This is definitely a place for eating.]

[assistente]

Hm.

[It's almost a laugh, but not quite. Salvio's smile flickers quickly, and then he looks around, like maybe someone would have seen him smile and he needs to not do it again. He rubs the bridge of his nose with a sigh.]

Let's go.

[And he turns to walk back the way that they came. This is not a place for any further eating.]

[lumelume]

[The dog trots cheerfully after him, ready to imbibe the rest.]

[assistente]

[Salvio leads them back the way that they came. True to his word, only when they are out in the courtyard once more does he crouch down and lay the rest of the meat out for the dog to eat.]

Here.

[--He says, unnecessarily. Obviously here.]

[lumelume]

[All wags, the dog trots forward to scarf down the rest. It doesn't take long, and once it's finished, its snout immediately raises to boop the crouching Salvio affectionately on the mouth, or the nose, whatever it hits first. Mwwah.]

[assistente]

Oh, no--

[He tries to lean back before the nose can boop him, with a nervous little laugh.]

That's all right, that's-- ah--

[Clumsily, he overbalances and ends up sitting on his ass on the ground. And he gets a dog nose in the corner of his mouth.]

[lumelume]

[Now that Salvio's face is more in reach, it's the perfect opportunity to give him lots of sloppy canine kisses. The dog does this for a good ten seconds, then hops away, beginning to trot off to his next destination, wherever that might be.]