A book of Tricks

[Thomas Oliver]

Tommy's gaze followed Amy's to the clock and his eyebrows shot up, he hadn't realised so much time had passed since he'd got off the van. "The rec room sounds like a great idea. The lounge?"

Walking out to the van, Tommy chose a seat at the back of the vehicle and leaned back as he closed his eyes for the short journey back to the academy.

It hardly took him any time to race to the Green House, and drop his purchases off in his room. He closed his eyes in his room and concentrated on his sister's energy, just to make sure there was no chance on bumping into her on his way back out, grabbed a note book and then headed toward the rec room, almost tripping over his black cat on the way, and entered the large recreation centre. Scooping Onyx up into his arms, he walked down the hall and into the lounge to wait for Amy to arrive.

He laughed as his black feline swiped at his face and grumpily jumped from his arms and onto the sofa. "Dude, you and Luna are as different as me and Ren. In some ways I recon you should have chosen her, would be a lot more interesting to have a cat that had the opposite of our own personalities."

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy nodded as she heard Tommy's question, "Sounds good."

As soon as the van had arrived back at the academy, Amy headed back up to her room. As she entered, she spotted Wolf lounging on her bed and smiled at the canine, "How's my good boy?" As the shepherd approached her, she noted that he wasn't limping visibly, but turned away to look through her bookshelf. Finally, she found the book she'd been talking to Tommy about, and set it onto her desk. That done, she glanced at Wolf, knowing he could do with an outing. So, she bent to check his pad. Deciding that it looked much better, she figured she could take Wolf along, although she wouldn't need him working, not just going to the lounge.

After affixing a traffic lead to the dog's collar, but leaving the vest behind, Amy made sure to grab her book, then left the room. After walking down the stairs, she left the Red Ribbon house and made her way towards the center of the small circle, where the rec center was. Entering, she dropped Wolf's lead, short enough that it wouldn't even drag, and walked towards the Lounge, smiling as she heard the end of Tommy's words, and spotting the black cat to which they were addressed, "But then she'd have to deal with both of you."

[Thomas Oliver]

Tommy laughed as Amy answered his question and then tried to look as though he'd been insulted. "Hey! I resemble that comment." He looked at the canine. "How's his foot?"

He stepped closer to the cat and threw himself onto the couch, to get smacked in the face with a paw, as Onyx saw this as the perfect opportunity to really show his human how grumpy he was. "You realise if I did that to you, it would be animal abuse?" He asked the cat and then grinned at Amy. "You are so lucky that you have a dog. I bet you don't get half the attitude I have to deal with." He knew that he was referring to her dog as though he were just a pet dog, while he knew that Wolf was anything but a "pet".

Tommy became serious again as the black cat stalked off along the back of the sofa, eyeing up the canine as he jumped to the ground and then completely ignored the dog as he went to explore the room. Tommy turned his attention to the book the girl was carrying. "I'm guessing that's the book?" He said as he sat properly and decided it was time to get back to why they were really here.

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy snorted as she heard Tommy's comment, knowing not to take him seriously by the fact that he'd laughed before, "Resent it all you'd like." As the boy asked about Wolf's foot, Amy shrugged, "Looks like the time off of it did him good, although I'll keep an eye on it for the time being. He would have turned into the biggest baby if I left him again, though." Inactivity did not suit the dog, or rather, solitary inactivity. He was perfectly content laying under a table for an hour, after all.

She chuckled as she watched the interplay between the pair, "You're supposed to be the bigger person, and are the bigger being." She did have to agree that she probably had it easier with the wanting-to-please personality of a dog. "He mouths back, though." She smiled, turning down to the dog, "Isn't that right, Wolf? You don't mind giving my your opinion, râler?" The shepherd turned to her, his ears only picking up two of the words, and he growled at her, earning a piece of kibble, "Bien. Libérer." As the shepherd trotted off, giving the black cat a wide berth, she shrugged and sat down, "He got tired of me."

As Tommy asked about the book she was holding, Amy nodded, reaching out and offering it to the boy, "That would be it."

[Thomas Oliver]

Tommy laughed harder and then grew serious as she answered his question about Wolf, nodding at the fact that the dog wouldn't have liked being left behind a second time. "I don't blame him." He replied. "When he's so used to being your protective shadow, I could imagine that it would be hard for him to let you out of his sight."

He tried to look offended at Amy's words about him supposedly being the bigger person in the relationship with the feline. He'd probably never admit it, but the more he got to know the real Amy, the more he liked her... like a little sister, and he already knew that Reni thought of the other girl as a sister. He clapped his hands as Wolf barked on command. "I bet he wins most of the arguments too?" It was both a question and a statement.

He took the proffered book and began to flip through it, reading the odd bit here and there, really liking what he was looking at, and he could see how it would help them with their current horses, let alone the new ones that their parents no doubt had waiting for them to work with over the vacation. "This book is Awesome, Amy!" He said, his eyes alight with enthusiasm. "Thank you so much!" He closed the book and placed it on the sofa beside him and quickly opened his notebook and began to write down the title and author; the info he needed to be able to get hold of the book, and then flipped to the contents and read through it, laughing. "Reni and I already do a lot of this; the "parking" and working a horse at liberty. But this will give her... us, a new way to use what we already know."

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy smiled at the boy's applause, then nodded, "He does." The dog's safety was paramount, after all, and if the canine ever did refuse to do something, there was generally a good reason. There had been times where he had refused to settle, and once she'd taken him out, she'd realized that he'd just been avoiding a messy accident that she hadn't been expecting.

As Tommy took the book, she leaned back in her seat, watching him flip through the book, "I'm glad you like it." Although she wouldn't say it out loud, she had worried that it might be completely off the mark, once Tommy actually saw what she'd been talking about. However, that didn't seem to be the case, which was a big relief!

She listened as he spoke about the things they had already done, but nodded as he said it would give them another method of putting those lessons to use, "I'm glad to hear it." It wasn't surprising to her that the twins would know a few things in the books, after all, they weren't particularly radical techniques. No, it was the combination and then the obstacles which made horse agility so interesting to consider.

Glancing up at the watch, Amy stood again, "I think I should go and finish my last assignment for World History. Do you want to keep that for a few days to look through it?" She nodded at the book, making it clear what she was talking about.

[Thomas Oliver]

Tommy laughed, he had a feeling that Wolf would make himself very clear if it ever came to the point where he knew his human's life was in danger. The whole relationship between Amy and Wolf had always intrigued Tommy. The age old saying of dogs have masters, cats have staff was always very true, but he could see that the relationship between the other student and the canine was more like the connection he had with Onyx, where they were partners, yet the animal was in some ways, the stronger member of the partnership - without actually being the one in charge.

"Thanks" He said as he went back to thumbing through the book.

He looked up and gave a dramatic shudder at the mention of school work. "Bite your tongue with it being so close to the end of the year." He said. He held the book up with a smile. "I'll return it to you at dinner." He promised as she left the room. He knew that it would give him the time he needed to call around, and with the book in his hand he could at least describe the cover if a store had two books with similar titles.

Pulling out his phone, he loaded up the internet and began to search bookstores around where he lived. He'd call Portable Magic first and see if they had the book, and then he'd start calling stores closer to home if that was needed. He would also need to work out a thank you for Amy.