1stmacleod

...If anyone ever says Kairos is an inspiration, she might bawl and giggle and never leave the poor guy alone again.

Kai's totally ready for puppy shopping. She's trying to hold back the bouncy, though, while she hooks Regina's leash to the spaniel's collar. "So.. I heard that it would be a good idea to let the dogs socialize together before we bring them home, that way we know they're a good match or not."

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Balthazar is a little reserved and uncertain about the whole pet-adoption trip. It's not that he doesn't want a dog; he just has a tendency to overthink. What if he gets attacked by Morganians? Will they hurt the dog?

Still, he agrees to come along, and brings a leash and cash. Just in case.

At the appointed day and hour, he's waiting at the coordinates Connor gave him, looking uncertain. He smiles when they approach, though, nodding in greeting.

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1stmacleod

"Makes sense. Regina was there first." Connor smirks a little. Regina really isn't his type of dog, but he likes her anyway, taking her on frequent walks and playing with her in the yard. He's just a dog person.

When he sees Balthazar he gives a wave and a smile- a slightly nervous one. He's anxious about all this, even if he'd never admit it. "Hey. Been waiting long?" He even gives him a solid thumping pat on the back for good measure, when he gets closer. He's let the sorcerer into the tiny select group he considers friends (current population: 6), and that means he's physical, with shoulder and back thumpings, and occasional hugs.

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Then comes the student, sauntering along. When she sees that Kairos is there, she stops a distance from them to drop the cigarette she had been smoking and grinds it out with the heel of her boot. No need to poison the sylph, after all. Then she continues to walk the last remaining distance.

"Hey teach," she smiles as she approaches. "Kai, love the shoes." There's not many Jelani might start to discuss fashion with. Kai is one of them, even though they've only really met twice before.

Then there's Balthazar. "So yer th' drinkin' buddy, huh? No more demon trouble? Is the car behaving nowadays?" Why yes, Balthazar and Jelani has met before.

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When Kairos sees Balthazar, she beams and waves, just barely remembering to not hug the magic out of the guy. Boundaries! "Hi! How's the shop?"

And then their little group is complete with the arrival of Jelani. Kairos beams at her praise. There's a lot of beaming going around. "Thanks! I figured wearin' them today would be best." Not that she's actually walking, mind. She's a good five inches off the ground. "And those boots are awesome."

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"Five or ten minutes. It's okay. I'm used to waiting." It's a joke at his own expense, but he smiles at the thumping, bumping shoulders with Connor. Kairos gets a warm smile, too, but he would probably be a bit startled if she hugged him.

He's about to crouch down to greet Regina when Jelani appears. Well, that's a surprise! "Small Nexus," he smirks. "No more demons. The car is unusually temperamental, but she's not running away any more, at least. How are you?"

Dot has not retained any visible sentience from her Halloween adventure, but he's watching carefully.

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1stmacleod

Connor looks back and forth between Jelani and Balthazar, then shakes his head and gives a raspy chuckle. "Okay. Guess that makes introductions easy." He scratches his jaw, and considers what might happen if all of them got together for a drink some night. Perhaps not with a new puppy to look after, though. Some other time.

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"I'm doin' pretty good," she replies to Balthazar. He and Kai had missed her great rant over in one of the main Nexus hubs, but Connor had caught that. And compare to then she really does look well. Instead of angry or outright depressed, she looks almost happy. What happened there?

She's not carrying a collar or leach with her. She's not sure if she'll be walking out of here with a dog or not, and if she is what size it will be. She does have money with her, though, so a collar and leach should be an easy thing to get if she does decide on a dog.

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Kairos can be a bit of a workaholic at times, and tends to get lost in her work a lot. So it's no wonder she's lost a little time - and, more importantly, she isn't even aware anything was amiss.

She can be a little scatterbrained.

Regina is busily sniffing at Jelani, though she's been more reserved around Balthazar.

"Aww, she likes you! That's a good sign."

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Balthazar, too, is easily distracted by events in his own life, and he's been spending more time with Horvath than anyone else these days. Still, he's happy to see other friends.

He crouches a little and offers his hand to Regina to sniff. "What's this one's name, then? She's looking for a new friend?"

Doubtless he smells a bit odd to animal senses, all leather and dust and magic.

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1stmacleod

Connor is keeping an eye on Jelani, since he feels like he wasn't all that helpful in the romantic troubles department. He still attributes his relationship with Kairos to a wild stroke of luck.

"This is Regina. She's Kai's..." He rubs his girl's shoulder affectionately, an arm around her. The fact that she spends so much time floating just puts her at a perfect level to compensate for the height difference.

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Jelani is looking down at the spaniel sniffing at her legs. It likes her? Strange creature. Naah, she must just smell funny, that's all.

"So... shall we?" She's still very unsure about this. But, seriously? Getting a dog would be a fantastic reason to stay home, and not go out on those wild chases through five galaxies to hunt down some criminal that Jelani has spent most of her young adult life going on. And maybe, just maybe, it was about time she got someone to care for, someone that would depend on her.

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Regina is cautious around magic - Kairos isn't exactly known to show restraint when it comes to the people around her at large after all - but Balthazar is just fascinating, once she's gotten past the initial 'wow, he's.. MAGICAL :O' sniff. Her little tongue flickers out and tastes Balthazar's fingers.

Kai just grins. "Yes, let's! I haven't been to a Nexus pound." Regina and her sister Aphrodite (who belongs to Kai's twin) came from a breeder. Which Kai's been feeling guilty over ever since she brought her home.

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He may taste just a little like brown sugar pop tarts. He's been hitting them hard lately, for breakfast and snacks. He's happy to pet the dog, though, because ultimately he is an any-animal person. "Hey, there, pretty girl," he murmurs softly.

He glances up as the others start to make for the inside of the pound. "Sure, yeah."

Straightening again with a wince, he moves to get the door for the others.

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1stmacleod

Connor is of the opinion that just about everyone should have a dog to love, and be loved by. He's on a mission to help his friends with that.

"Yeah, let's-" And Balthazar's beaten him to being a gentleman, although it's pretty obvious the way he reaches toward the door he was going to hold it for everybody else. Instead he just rolls his eyes at him a little, grins, and lets the ladies go in first.

It's a big place, full of all kinds of animals, some of which would be more than a little out of place on the more mundane earths.

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One thing Jelani knows for sure is that she's not going to be bringing home some little yappy lap-dog. No Chihuahuas or miniature Poodles for her. No, if anything she has this idea for a larger dog, something more kick-ass. Like a Doberman or Great Dane. Something like that.

But hey, that horse-size catlike thing with the green scales over there looks cool to. But, naah, that would never fit in her apartment.

"What kinda dogs are you guys lookin' for?"

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((My phone's autocorrect has confused Kai's name as Coitus and Cooties. I am both wickedly amused and horrified.))

Kairos is at once fascinated and in love with every animal the building currently houses. "Wow," she says, spotting a cute little penguin-like thing. It opens it's mouth to reveal something out of Aliens. "That...would certainly keep thieves away," she says as Regina quickly moves away.

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Balthazar's watching the rafters, where a number of scaly winged things with glittering jeweled scales are roosting. "Something that I can walk without covering up strange features with a glamour, I suppose," he answers absently. "Although the little dragon things are tempting, too. But I'm eccentric enough already without walking around the shop with a reptile on my shoulder."

"I'm not much for toy breeds, usually," he adds. "But I'm not sure I can give a big dog as much exercise as it would need. A medium-sized working breed, like a spaniel or a hound, would be nice. I love corgis, but they need a lot of attention."

There are barks coming from further back in the building, and he's quick to head for the pens they're coming from.

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1stmacleod

((Connor doesn't think she's got cooties, anyway...))

"Biggish...?" Connor tends to think of dogs along the same lines Jelani does, although Regina is a sweet little thing. She's definitely Kai's dog though, not his. He edges carefully around the alien penguin, wary by nature. Who knows what that thing eats?

"Yeah, I want something I can walk without getting stared at." He follows Balthazar toward the back, where dogs of all shapes and sizes are jumping up to put their paws against the wire fronts of their kennels, tails wagging, making lots of noise because There are PEOPLE guys OMG look people! People are awesome! He gets a little grin, just looking at all those enthusiastic greetings.

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Jelani can't help a grin forming in her face as well. Okay, this is very cute. Large and small, puppies and older dogs, and just about all equally enthusiastic.

Well, if she was in a kennel like this, she'd be jumping at any chance to get out too.

She looks at the dogs quietly. They all have their charm, sure, but there's no-one catching her eye right off the bat.

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Kairos lets Regina sniff around - she seems to like the 'normal' looking animals the most. There's a blue English mastiff puppy that's quite interested in her, too. He's only a few months old - and is about the size of Regina herself.

"I'd almost wish we could take them all." Kai says, kneeling next to the kennel and letting the blue puppy lick her fingers.

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Balthazar is very quiet, passing from pen to pen, now trailing behind the others, now far ahead of them. He pets all the dogs he can reach, even the ones that are speckled purple or pink and clearly of Nexus stock, smiling but saying nothing.

At length, though, he stops to look at a dog dozing on a pile of blankets in one corner of its pen. It's long-haired, white and golden brown, and in his mind, about the right size. He leans on the bars and studies it, and its eyes open, as if it senses his gaze. The furry head goes up, and it gives a big yawn.

Balthazar whistles softly and holds out a hand. "Shy?"

A moment later it becomes clearer why this one isn't hopping around. It takes it a moment to get up, because it's missing its left front leg. Once on its three feet, however, it trots up eagerly and begins slobbering on him.

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1stmacleod

Connor walks slowly, close to the cages up one side to let the dogs sniff him. He's watching them sidelong, calm and quiet and thoughtful. He lingers at a cage with four floppy, scrambling, gangly grey puppies. They whuffle and make a few yips, but they're not too terribly noisy. They do climb all over each other trying to reach him, though. He crouches, and lets them slobber all over his hands, but tears himself away first to see the one Kai is looking at, then to amble over to Balthazar. "Aww... guess that guys had some hard knocks..."

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Jelani walks over as well to stand beside Connor. "Wonder what happened to it," she muses and leans her shoulder against the concrete wall that separates this pen to the next one. Her ponderings about whether the dog lost its leg to sickness or injury is however interrupted by a low Wuff! right behind her. There, in the next pen, right up by the bars, is this not quite fully grown dog looking up right at her. It's at that stage where it looks like its paws are still a size too big. Jelani doesn't recognize the breed, but then she doesn't know that much about different dog breeds. She thinks it looks a bit like a german shephered, only smaller and with longer fur. And even if it isn't fully grown yet, she can see that it is never going to become a big dog.

She looks back to the three-legged dog, still wondering what caused it to loose its leg. But again that dog in the other pen gives a low bark, making her look back at it again, this time raising an eyebrow. "Ya want somethin', Fido?" This time when she looks away it gives a brief whine before barking again. Okay, it has caught her attention.

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