Brain and Nerve and Bounding Heart

[Tobias Xayarath]

Tux grinned as he walked into his apartment and was immediately greeted by a dancing, wagging blur of golden and black fur, "Yes, yes, Fred. I'm back. Let's go grab some dinner and then we'll go for a walk, I'm hungry." He grabbed the dog's collar and leash, bending down to grab at Fred, "Come on, dog. Fred, sit." The dog obeyed, although his plumed tail continued to wag as his owner finally got the collar buckled, situated over the canine's tag holder. After packing the dog's dinner and bowl, Tux stowed them in his pack, and then grinned at the dog, who was still sitting, "Come along, then."

As they walked, Tux picked up the dog's leather eurolead, and picked up the way to the picnic area. After looping the dog's leash around a table's leg and asking the dog to settle on the towel he'd pulled out of his backpack. He walked briskly to the cafeteria to pick up his own meal, chili with a few handfuls of chips on the side, as well as a bottle of Gatorade. After returning to the picnic tables outside, the man nodded at the dog, who was still waiting patiently on his mat, "Good boy." Once he had set down his own food, Tux hurried to pour out Fred's ration for the meal, and then added enough water to 'float' the kibble in its bowl before he set it down and given the command for the mutt to 'go ahead'. With that, he finally turned to his own meal, the smell of which had been tantalizing him since he'd walked into the cafeteria.

[Deleted]

Though there was only one place where Kasper wanted to be right now, he had resisted the temptation of going to bed already. Fry needed his evening walk, and Kasper needed food and human contact, even if emotionally he wasn't quite looking forward to that yet. But it was his first night here, and it would do him good to talk a little with someone not job-related and loosen up a little that way.

So he had gone to grab some food from the cafeteria, gone back to his apartment to collect Fry and some food for the tri-paw and then had headed for the picnic area. It was beautiful weather and he intended to enjoy it to its fullest, especially now that it wasn't dangerously hot any more - his body wasn't that great any more at regulating temperatures. So when he saw someone feeding a dog and otherwise alone at a table, he wheeled up to that table, grimacing ever so slightly as he felt one of his wheels slip a little on the grass before he got out of the tiny dent. "Hey. Mind if I join you?" he asked politely, carefully balancing his evening meal on the tray on his lap (he had very quickly realized that hot food + mostly non-feeling legs were a recipe for disaster) and holding both a push rim and Fry's leash.

[Tobias Xayarath]

The chili was a nice way to end the day, Tux figured, even if it was really more a dish for the colder days. What did it matter, though? It tasted good all the same. He used the chips as utensils at first, careful not to overload them so that they splintered under the weight of the chili, because that would be useless.

As he heard a voice, Tux turned his head, focusing on the man who was approaching, "Of course not." He gestured at the empty table, "As you can see, I'm not particularly buried under company." He smiled easily, "Nice dog." He glanced down at Fred, who was finishing his meal and sniffing around the grass in case of kibbles he might have missed, only to reassure himself that the dog was still where he expected him to be, and then turned back to the man, "I'm Tobias, or Tux if you'd rather. I'm the foal handling teacher and head barn hand for the broodmare barn." There were plenty of staff for new people to get to know, he had learned from his own experience. It helped to connect faces to positions, at least for him, "What'd they bring you in to do?"

[Deleted]

Kasper grinned a little. Perhaps the man wasn't buried with under company, but a single dog could still be quite a drain on one's attention. "Depends a little on the attitude of your dog," Kasper quasi-teased. Now that he had permission to join, he pushed a little closer before depositing tray and food on the table. Once properly situated he let the leash slip a little - no need to keep Fry glued to the wheel now, was there?

"Kasper," he introduced himself, holding out a hand. "Soon to be horse judging teacher and vice-principal," he continued, adding his own job titles as well. It was exciting to have a job again; it'd been a while since had worked regularly, and that had been quite a different job. This one ought to be less stressfull, or he really wasn't cut out for it. But if he could survive traffic control, this one ought to work out as well.

[Tobias Xayarath]

Tux chuckled, “I suppose so. He's a good vocalist, at least.” Which husky, partial or full, wasn't? The dog's many, many different 'words' had definitely stolen Tux's heart, and he doubted he would be able to content himself with a simple barking dog every again, “He's half husky, half golden. Makes for a very interesting combination, but it worked out for him.” He looked over at the tripawd, “What's your dog?”

As he was offered the man's hand, Tux took it, shaking Kasper's hand, “Nice to meet you, Kasper.” He grinned, “I suppose I should watch myself around you?” A glint in his eyes added to the fact that it was purely a joke, “That will probably make your classroom relatively quiet, though. No need to threaten to send kids up to the office!”

He turned back to his chili and took another few bites, then after swallowing, turned back to Kasper, “Sorry. It's been a long day, and I wanted to take Fred to the field before it gets completely dark.” He paused, “In case they didn't tell you, the field is completely enclosed, so it's a great place to let the dogs off-leash without heading off into the trails. Good for playing fetch, too.”

OOC;: Please don't forget. :- )