2017-09-17: Pupper Love
- Log: Pupper Love
- Cast: Jacqueline Barber, Catenna, Kourin
- Where: The Carakin
- Date: Sep. 17, 2017
- Summary: Jacqueline seeks guidance on how to raise the CaraKin's two newest members.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Earlier in the week, Jacqueline had recruited two new 'members' into the Caravan Kinship - of the small and fluffy variety. She hadn't been able to resist, they'd been rather insistent on coming along.
Still, this left her with an issue. She couldn't have them doing things that might damage the vehicle or bother customers. They'd need to be properly trained, and fortunately, there were two members of the Caravan Kinship who she believed to be up to the task.
Jacqueline had asked them to meet her at a certain time and place, and so she sat, waiting for them to arrive.
The two puppies were with here as well, though both were asleep at the moment. One was curled up in Jacqueline's lap, a white one that Shalune had dubbed 'Snowlune', while the other, currently unnamed, sat beside her.
When Catenna and Kourin arrive, Jacqueline will smile and offer them a wave.
"Ah, hello, thanks for coming." She says.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Sec, dinner arrived
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin has arrived with a certain degree of eagerness. Everyone knows Kourin loves Spirit, but she loves all dogs. This is an exciting time for her.
"By Althena, they're adorable!" she cries in delight. "Have you named them yet?"
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Part of Catenna self-consciously wonders why Jacqueline would ask her about this.
Stepping into the room, the moon priestess - in one of her simple dresses - bows her head politely as she arrives. "Thank you for asking me here," she murmurs, and then she sees why Jacqueline brought them here.
As Kourin's heart immediately melts, Catenna merely bows her head a little and closes her eyes. Then she lifts it, unconsciously straightening her shoulders and bringing her chin up. Her posture doesn't change that much, but there seems to be a bit more of an outward projection of surety to the way she holds herself - as if she instinctively knew to position herself as the calm and authoritative pack leader when around certain types of animals.
"They are very cute, are they not," she says with a quiet smile, folding her hands into a loose clasp over her midsection. "They are... of the breed called corgi, are they not? One wonders where you discovered them."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Snowlune has already been referred to as a samoyed at a previous time, but the other, unnamed puppy is certainly a corgi!
"This one is Snowlune." Jacqueline replies with a nod toward Kourin, gesturing toward the one in her lap. "Shalune's responsible for that...it kind of stuck."
Jacqueline chuckles slightly.
"We haven't named the other one yet, though. I was thinking about polling everyone." She says, then glances toward Catenna.
"But yes, they are...I took a job to the Stone Forest a few days ago. Have you heard about that? My party found them there, and they helped lead us through a maze...but we were all attacked by a bunch of Cactus Scorpions, so I jumped in the way to save them. And, well, after that, they wouldn't leave me alone, so I brought them with me." Jacqueline explains.
"But...I don't really know the first thing about training animals. I want to make sure they behave themselves around the Caravan and around customers. They're pretty smart already so I imagine it wouldn't be too much trouble, but...well..." She chuckles sheepishly.
"You two know more about it than I do, so I was wondering if you'd be able to help me with that."
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin nods. "Training a dog is something I know well." She smiles and rubs Spirit's head.
Spirit is CLEARLY interested in the two new pups, but has not gone to investigate them without permission. At Kourin's go-ahead, tail wagging, he pads forward and sniffs at the pair, assuming they don't back off from him.
"The most important thing is to ensure that you do not over-reward. If the dog expects a reward every time, they will reach a point where they won't perform without one."
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"I had heard something about your adventure out there," Catenna says with a small bow of her head. "I am glad that you were able to come out of the adventure alright and in good health."
She hangs back rather more than Spirit does, mostly so she can flash Jacqueline a small, abashed sort of smile. "Your faith in me is humbling," she murmurs. "I shall do my best."
This hits Catenna in a sensitive place She tries not to show it.
Stepping forward, she looks down at both of the dogs, smiling faintly at the little corgi in particular. "Kourin is correct... you must reward them for the right behaviour. That is, calm submission. Dogs are descended from the wolf... they naturally think in the context of a pack. It is important to behave with confidence and surety around them, because they wish to think of someone as the leader of the pack. If you accede to their energy or aggression, they will assume they are the leader."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The puppies awake at this time, and their attention is currently on Spirit. They don't seem concerned, however. Instead, they seem quite curious about this New Dog and uncurl themselves to jump down and investigate in a friendly fashion.
Jacqueline offers Catenna a smile.
"Thank you. We actually found something I've been meaning to talk to Cyre about...but there's someone else I need to get in contact with, first." She comments.
She listens as the two of them then explain some important information.
"I see...don't over-reward, and only reward them for the right behavior...and don't give in to them. Got it..." She repeats with a nod. "I'm already glad I came to the two of you. I'll have to make sure Shalune and Lunata are aware of this, as well..."
The two Lunies would probably mean well, but...Jacqueline already knew they were quite susceptible to the dangers of Puppy Proximity.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Spirit nudges them gently, playfully. He is totally ready to be Fun Big Brother dog.
Kourin watches him carefully as she speaks. "If you desire, I will teach them as I taught Spirit. It will be something useful I can do." For all that the others assure her she doesn't need to worry about what she brings to the Caravan Kinship, Kourin clearly considers there to be an obligation.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
No doubt the Lunies would sweep the puppies up in a whirlwind of overwhelming cuteness.
"It would be good to make everyone aware, or perhaps to assign the puppies to someone to raise. Encouraging aggression or assertiveness in them when they are young may cause them to be dominant or aggressive as they grow older," Catenna says as she watches the puppies trundle towards the only other dog in the room.
Kourin makes just the offer Catenna was thinking about. Smiling mutedly, Catenna bows her head once more and takes a slow step back. "Perhaps that would be for the best. A well-behaved dog and owner would be very good examples for the little ones," she murmurs.
Then she lifts her head again. "One wonders what it is you found that Cyre can help with," she probes gently, a spark of curiosity alight behind her usual reserve.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
The two puppies respond pretty well to this. They seem to take a quick liking to Spirit! They're on the fast way to becoming very good friends.
"Would you, Kourin? That'd be wonderful. I'll help too, of course. I wouldn't want to push it entirely on you." Jacqueline replies with a smile. Of course, she thought Kourin was always useful to have around.
Catenna raises a good point, and Jacqueline nods.
"Yes, I agree. I think this is the optimal arrangement."
She was glad she had decided to ask the two of them. This had been a good decision!
Jacqueline smiles as she notes a hint of curiosity from Catenna.
"We found a mirror with an engraving of Stare Roe in the back, along with some murals and glyphs. We think it might've been an old Baskar shrine, once upon a time. I wanted to see if there was anything he could tell us about them, before we delivered the mirror to the Colony."
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin nods, and kneels to begin to introduce herself to the puppies. She's firm but gentle, and unlike Spirit, not quite playful. "Yes, that would be good. We want them to know all of the Caravan Kinship as masters, after all. They should listen to all of us."
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"The Guardian of Light," Catenna says immediately, raising her eyebrows with instant recognition.
The priestess folds her hands together. "Perhaps you should take Cyre and I there," she muses with a tilt of her head. "But from what I know, mirrors would be a reasonable item to use in the worship of Stare Roe... they capture and reflect the light. They would have great significance for those seeking to honour the Guardian."
Slender arms cross loosely across her midsection. The priestess from the east looks on with a quiet smile at Kourin. Her moon friend seems to have a way with puppies; she's not about to interrupt it, and she simply stands back and lets Kourin deal with it for now. "You will have my help if you wish it. I should hope that it is useful."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Kourin definitely knew how to handle the puppies. Jacqueline has to respect that. Yes, they were in good hands, here.
"Yes, I agree. And oh, Catenna, I'm certain you will be a great help." She says with a smile. The more the merrier, after all, and it might help get the puppies more used to the arrangement.
"Well, I copied the murals and glyphs down into my notes...but I'd be glad to go back there with the two of you sometime." She replies. As she says this she reaches into her bag for her notebook and flips through the pages.
"You can see them...here." She says, finding the appropriate page and handing the notebook over to Catenna.
"I have the mirror, as well, but not on me at the moment. Admittedly...a part of me wondered if it might not be better to leave it behind, but the place was in such disrepair I was worried it might not last much longer there." She admits.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
"Such decisions are difficult. Preservation, or desecration? And who is to say some other less scrupulous explorer might not stumble across it and treat it with no respect at all..." Kourin muses. She is crawling with dogs, the puppies now on her lap and Spirit playing with them still.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
As her friend flashes her that merry smile and that vote of confidence, for a moment Catenna actually believes her - that, yes, she will be useful in rearing an animal. That she can do it.
Then her own doubts settle in again, and she lets out a soft breath, merely smiling and lowering her head slightly. "I appreciate it," she says simply, saying no more.
With a moue of her lips, she moves to stand beside Jacqueline. Pale grey eyes narrow as she peers at the page and the notes scrawled across it. "I should like to see it at some point. Perhaps Cyre and I can help," she muses. "More to the point, if it was a shrine of Stare Roe, perhaps it is possible that the statue of Stare Roe itself is located nearby."
Catenna looks up to give Jacqueline a grave look. "After all," she says, "we must locate the Statues and preserve them, and soon. Every day we do not find them is another day that the Metal Demons have to find them."
Glancing to the side, Catenna smiles crookedly at the sight of Kourin besieged by puppers. "You do seem to be having fun," she murmurs.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin smiles beatifically. "Sometimes duty can be enjoyable," she admits. "And puppies are a gift from Althena and the Guardians and all of the gods that may exist."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Kourin had a good point...if she hadn't taken it, someone else might have, who would be after it just for the sake of making some quick gella.
"Let's go back there sometime, then. I can help guide everyone. Maybe we can see if some of our other friends are interested in coming along, too." Jacqueline replies with a smile and a nod. Catenna then raises another excellent point.
"That's...a good point, actually. I never considered that." She says. While the worry about the statues always remained in the back of her head, it wasn't something she had been thinking too actively about. A lot of other concerns had been filling her mind.
Yes, that was a good plan.
She then smiles toward Kourin, chuckling good-natured at the sight. She was glad to see Kourin looking so happy.
"They certainly are." She agrees.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"I would bring Lunata as well. I do not think her connection to the Guardians is the same as mine and Cyre's, but perhaps whatever insight Ge Ramtos grants her will be useful," Catenna muses with a tilt of her head to the side.
Lowering her hands, she clasps them at her waist, watching Kourin for a moment more. The woman speaks of blessings.
A tiny smile draws across Catenna's face. Hints of colour, soft and rosy, linger a moment against the coffee-cream brown of her cheeks, before fading away. "They are very charming creatures," she murmurs. "You appear most natural caring for them. Perhaps you have found your calling, in a sense."
The puppies' charms get the better of her. Stepping forward, she eases to a crouch, watching their behaviour a moment. Then, with a delicate touch, she lays a hand between the anonymous corgi puppy's ears, scritching a little to reward the good behaviour she sees.
Good dog. Best friend.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin smiles and blushes. "Truly, I like raising small things. Someday..." She frowns, then stops talking, turning a little sad.
Well that was sudden.
One of the puppies, detecting her distress, licks at her hand, while Spirit licks at her face.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"That's a good point. Lunata and Shalune did want to visit it, too...though I had to point out that it wasn't exactly a place dogs normally inhabit..." Jacqueline agrees with a nod.
Jacqueline smiles warmly as she watches Catenna and Kourin interact with the puppies. It really had been quite the blessing, running into them that day. And to think, if she had overlooked that job she would have never met them. Kourin did seem to be in her element when she was caring for another, though, Jacqueline had to agree.
In the interest of not crowding the puppies she stays back, though she glances toward Kourin when she speaks.
"Kourin..." She murmurs.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"Well. It is possible they got there some other day," admits Catenna with a shrug and a cant of her head. "In fact I would have expected them closer to the place of Celesdue... in some views, the wolf is an animal special to her, for it often responds to the phases of the moon. A dog is but a descendant of a wolf."
Sinking to a knee, she runs her fingers through the little corgi puppy's fluff, then scritches behind an ear again, then under the tiny pooch's muzzle. There's a tenderness in her smile that she usually takes great pains to conceal, but there's no sense hiding things from a cute little baby dog.
That softness fades as she lifts her gaze towards Kourin. The change in the runaway priestess's demeanor is palpable enough, even to the humans in the room.
"Someday?" she asks, voice quiet.
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin bows her head, letting her long hair fallin front of her eyes. "I would like to raise children..." she says.
Oh.
The mommy thing.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline nods in agreement. That does seem like it'd be more likely...perhaps there was some explanation for how they had gotten there, but she didn't know what it was.
She glances to Kourin then, and smiles softly.
"For what it's worth...I'm sure you'd be great at it. I'm sure it'll happen, someday." She says, trying to reassure her.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Even the corgi puppy is giving Kourin a sympathetic look now.
As her friend admits her secret, Catenna bows her head and closes her eyes, clasping her hands together atop her thigh but not standing up. "I understand," she murmurs. "I would be lying if I said I had never thought about becoming a mother."
A corner of Catenna's mind tries to visualize who she'd have them with. All she can think about is little Zortroa babies with kitty ears clambering into tigerdad's lap and reaching for the magic herbs.
She suppresses her urge to smile at that. "Someday you will meet someone," she assures. "And when you do, you will be a wise mother to your children - I am sure of it."
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin blushes, continuing to look away, though now for a different reason. "There is...there is someone whose eye I hope to catch..." she manages before becoming too shy to continue.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I haven't thought about it all that much myself, admittedly..." Jacqueline comments, a bit sheepishly. She had never really been particularly...interested. Though she did know who exactly it was that Kourin had her eyes on, and she offers her a smile.
"Well, if there's any way I can help, let me know." She says. She just wanted Kourin to be happy, really.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"Perhaps someday," Catenna murmurs with a smile, reaching out to briefly brush gentle fingertips over Kourin's shoulder. Sensing her hesitation, she pries no further and lets her shyness hang in front of her little secret like a curtain.
She nods at Jacqueline's offer and adds, "I will also help, if you wish for us to do something for you."
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin focuses intently on petting the puppies for the next few moments, then finally manages to find her voice. "I...I don't know if Sir Hiro even thinks of me that way. I have not seen him in some time. I hope he is safe..."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Admittedly, this wasn't really a subject Jacqueline knew much about, but she'd still try to help Kourin however she could. She had to have her friend's back, after all!
"I'm sure he's alright...I don't think the Guard would be able to resist putting something up about it if they caught him, and I haven't seen any change in his bounty... He might just be laying low for now." She suggests.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"I cannot say," admits Catenna, "as I know very little of Hiro."
The priestess scoops up the little corgi puppy, cradling the tiny pooch in her arms and letting the puppy rest there. "He does seem to have friends around him. I can imagine the Guard of Althena having a difficult time actually catching Hiro," she muses with a cant of her head.
A tiny smile follows as she looks down at the puppy. "...What shall we name him?" she asks. "May I suggest Taara? It means 'star' in Old Zortroan."
<Pose Tracker> Kourin has posed.
Kourin shrugs. "Star...Taara. It sounds...fitting."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline had been intended to poll the other members of the Kinship...but honestly, she liked the sound of that. She thinks it over for a moment, and then nods.
"...Sure, I like it. Taara it is, then." She agrees.
"Welcome aboard, you two." She says, looking over Taara and Snowlune.