Adam Milligan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
halfwinchester) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entranceway2014-04-17 11:30 am
halfwinchester) wrote in entranceway2014-04-17 11:30 am
003 ♟ text/action
[By the looks of the network, there's something wrong again, something about missing people, but when isn't something going wrong in Wonderland?
Adam has more immediate concerns, ones that, in comparison, are far more innocuous. In opposition to missing someone, if anything Adam is still trying to adjust to an addition to his one-man family. Getting a dog had seemed like a great plan when the event had been in full swing and encouraging him to ignore the oh my god, I can't be responsible for another living thing panic, but now the event's long over and the dog's still around with no humane society in sight. The destruction the dog wreaks around his apartment spurs him to write a text message he figures can't do any harm. It's not the weirdest thing he's ever asked on the network, anyway, and if nothing comes of it, no loss.]
Anyone have any dog training tips? For a larger kind of dog if it won't listen.
[The warm and fuzzy honeymoon feeling has worn off and cold, heard reality has set in in the form of one barking, grunting, chewing, drooling, messy, smelly, furry giant.]
And if it won't stop chewing everything it's not supposed to.
[At the end of the message, he adds:]
Any good names for a guy dog?
[Not long after he posts his message, Adam takes his new responsibility out for his daily walk, phone in his jacket pocket and gun tucked into the back of his pants (hey, it's not like anyone's around to report him missing, but he's not about to become another statistic if he can help it). The mastiff, a soft fawn-colored dog nearing two hundred pounds and pretty much as tall as his owner standing on his rear legs, trots ahead of Adam, collar jingling merrily. Adam follows behind, rubbing his face tiredly. For once the redness around his eyes isn't just due to night terrors; lately, having a pet padding around his room and bumping him with its nose keeps drawing him out of nightmares and into the perils of having a dog that won't stop trying to crawl onto your bed.
It's a strange thing, having something there with him at all hours. Really strange. And comforting.
After a while, they end up on a patch of grass beyond the gardens. There, Adam tries once again to teach it the "stay" trick like he's been doing all week. He might not have picked a name for the bastard yet, but actually listening to him when he needs it to stay put is kind of important, and a command that has yet to stick in any meaningful way.
Housebreaking? Not really a problem. Sitting? Not too hard with enough commanding and maybe a beer to calm his nerves. But the staying...]
Okay, stay. Stay there.
[He leaves the dog lying down at a point in the field and tries to back away. The routine almost always ends the same way: by the fifth step or so, the dog seems to think the distance means "green light, go!" and launches forward to paw his legs and nip his bootlaces, tail wagging, where he has to push it back to the start again.
At one point, the dog rips his laces undone completely and bending down results in a dog frantically trying to lick his face from top to bottom.]
I'm starting to think you're just doing this on purpose. [Adam pushes its big head away, acting annoyed but not feeling it.] Take a pill. You want one? I have one. Might kill you, but at least you won't be able to get up and follow me. Now get over there and stay.
[Back to the starting point.]
Adam has more immediate concerns, ones that, in comparison, are far more innocuous. In opposition to missing someone, if anything Adam is still trying to adjust to an addition to his one-man family. Getting a dog had seemed like a great plan when the event had been in full swing and encouraging him to ignore the oh my god, I can't be responsible for another living thing panic, but now the event's long over and the dog's still around with no humane society in sight. The destruction the dog wreaks around his apartment spurs him to write a text message he figures can't do any harm. It's not the weirdest thing he's ever asked on the network, anyway, and if nothing comes of it, no loss.]
Anyone have any dog training tips? For a larger kind of dog if it won't listen.
[The warm and fuzzy honeymoon feeling has worn off and cold, heard reality has set in in the form of one barking, grunting, chewing, drooling, messy, smelly, furry giant.]
And if it won't stop chewing everything it's not supposed to.
[At the end of the message, he adds:]
Any good names for a guy dog?
[Not long after he posts his message, Adam takes his new responsibility out for his daily walk, phone in his jacket pocket and gun tucked into the back of his pants (hey, it's not like anyone's around to report him missing, but he's not about to become another statistic if he can help it). The mastiff, a soft fawn-colored dog nearing two hundred pounds and pretty much as tall as his owner standing on his rear legs, trots ahead of Adam, collar jingling merrily. Adam follows behind, rubbing his face tiredly. For once the redness around his eyes isn't just due to night terrors; lately, having a pet padding around his room and bumping him with its nose keeps drawing him out of nightmares and into the perils of having a dog that won't stop trying to crawl onto your bed.
It's a strange thing, having something there with him at all hours. Really strange. And comforting.
After a while, they end up on a patch of grass beyond the gardens. There, Adam tries once again to teach it the "stay" trick like he's been doing all week. He might not have picked a name for the bastard yet, but actually listening to him when he needs it to stay put is kind of important, and a command that has yet to stick in any meaningful way.
Housebreaking? Not really a problem. Sitting? Not too hard with enough commanding and maybe a beer to calm his nerves. But the staying...]
Okay, stay. Stay there.
[He leaves the dog lying down at a point in the field and tries to back away. The routine almost always ends the same way: by the fifth step or so, the dog seems to think the distance means "green light, go!" and launches forward to paw his legs and nip his bootlaces, tail wagging, where he has to push it back to the start again.
At one point, the dog rips his laces undone completely and bending down results in a dog frantically trying to lick his face from top to bottom.]
I'm starting to think you're just doing this on purpose. [Adam pushes its big head away, acting annoyed but not feeling it.] Take a pill. You want one? I have one. Might kill you, but at least you won't be able to get up and follow me. Now get over there and stay.
[Back to the starting point.]
no subject
Really, you know a lot of people who own Spots and Fidos?
[Sarcasm levels rising...]
Just a bit.
no subject
I'm sorry though. I didn't realize they were so over-used...
Maybe, um. Maybe Buddy?
[She is trying so hard.]
no subject
It's fine, thanks for the help. Ideas are better than no ideas. I'm not saying they're bad.
[Just hard to believe are dead serious suggestions.]
They're going on the list. I thought about Tiny since he's huge. Buddy's not as lame as that joke.
no subject
[She would have never even thought to name a big dog something like that, so she thinks it's pretty creative too!]
So he's a big dog then? He must be fun for you to play with!
no subject
[Which, as any internet search could tell her, is generally a big, heavy breed. Adam can see why and his one-year-old isn't even all that big for a male.
Secretly--very, very secretly, in a place a part of him is scared to admit still exists for fear it'll be stamped out--he has to agree just a little, regardless of the fact he's not the type to get as enthusiastic as Tohru or use a bunch of exclamation points. They've played tug-rope, and some catch outside where people don't generally walk. Throwing his arm around a pet the dog's size is kind of like hugging one giant, living stuffed animal, too.]
He'd keep a person busy, that's for sure.
no subject
To be honest, talking about dogs makes her heart ache a little. She misses Shigure, and the other Sohmas. She misses Yuki, and Kyo. She misses all of them, dearly.]
Well, that's a good thing, I think! It's good to have something to keep you busy, and to have someone to spend time with.
[Otherwise, if you don't have anything to do orr anyone to be with, Wonderland can be a lonely place.]
no subject
Company Wonderland provided for you hadn't seemed worth it. What would he do with a pet? Not that long ago he'd barely been remembering to feed himself, and after a certain point his loneliness had started to feel normal. It had to feel normal or else he couldn't begin to accept it as reality and deal with it.]
They make enough movies about it.
[Like the one about the golden retriever puppy. Marley? The movie had made his mom cry, he remembers as if dredging up flotsam from the bottom of a murky river.]
no subject
Really? I had no idea! What a nice thing to make movies about!
[Tohru...lives under a rock when it comes to pop culture. She only learned what DVDs are maybe a week or two before she came to Wonderland.]
no subject
[Seriously, is she trying to say she's from a place without movies? Pretty impressive to display a working knowledge of what movies are and not have stuff like Lassie and My Dog Skip come to mind...
Maybe it's weirder that Adam can pop out of Hell after what has to be years on top of years and still remember. Gabriel putting his soul back together must have meant flicking his pop culture switch back to "on" or something.]
You know people love their animal movies.
no subject
[She's babbling a little, even in text, but she realizes she's stumbled into something awkward that's made her seem kind of weird.]
I'm sorry, but I actually haven't seen very many movies before. My mom and I never really had enough money for it. Oh, but we have stories like that! My mom always told me lots of stories about animals.
[Tohru knows what movies are, but it's rare for her to actually go see one. The last time she went was not long after she moved in with the Sohmas, when she went with Kyo, Yuki, and Kagura. Before that, she doesn't remember the last time she went to go see one.
Still, she's trying really hard to make up for it at the moment. It's not something she ever really thinks about until someone else goes "Wow Tohru, how sheltered were you exactly?"]
no subject
He'd been lucky, it seems. Privileged white male in America who'd been blissfully unaware of monsters under the bed for almost two decades.
Now, that's all gone. Now, Disney movies are a petty thing to judge someone else on.]
It's none of my business, but I get it. Lucky no one needs money in Wonderland. Make your own movie theatre.
[If she's interested, she can make up for lost time.]
no subject
[If she had been bothered or embarrassed by the conversation, it doesn't seem to show now. It's never to late to gain new life experience, right? And besides, she didn't know much about running a diner before she started running The Rabbit Hole!
...Though, really she still doesn't know much about actually running a diner, but considering there's no money and no economy in Wonderland, she does okay.]
Oh, but what kind of movies should there be? I wouldn't even know where to begin!
no subject
[Because one of those and a big screen television set is all a person needs if they want a home-grown movie theatre experience, if you ask him.]
That's what this network's good for. Asking about dogs already got us talking. You could ask for movie recommendations.
How about Disney movies? That's where most people start out.
no subject
[Really, she wishes that technology had been available when she was younger. It's possible they still might not have been able to afford it, but...it would still be nice to have little films about her mom.]
That's a good idea! Thank you! I'll have to ask around when I get the chance. And Disney movies might be fun! Like Mickey Mouse, right?
no subject
They're easy to work. Maybe you should add video camera to your list of gadgets to fool around with when you're bored.
That's the one. They made that Alice in Wonderland movie and too many other animal movies to count.