The Park, Friday Afternoon

[so_hawkward]

When the weather was particularly warm, Clint was grateful that Lucky didn't like running around a lot. At the moment, Lucky was perfectly content to slowly wander and sniff every square inch of the bench where Clint had plopped himself down to rest from the walk over.

Then, when ice water fell from the sky onto Clint's head, Lucky started sniffing him too. Now Clint really understood why Kitty had been so angry all week.

[My lack of wet Renner icons is sad. Here for one, but open if anyone needs some soaking wet Clint in their life.]

Comments

[bigdamnprincipal]

Grace was taking Rook for a walk--or really, Rook was walking her as she investigated everything in the park--when she saw Clint get doused with water from nowhere. This place was so weird sometimes. "Are you okay?" she asked.

[so_hawkward]

Clint had been hoping that he could sit here wet and alone, but apparently that was too much to ask. "Yeah, I'm all right. Just embarrassed," he said, perking up a little when he saw her dog, all wet discomfort forgotten. "Who's that?"

[bigdamnprincipal]

"This is Rook," Grace said, clinging to the leash as the puppy made a beeline for Clint's legs. "She gets excited by new people, and everything else."

[so_hawkward]

"Aww, I bet she does," Clint said, reaching down to pet Rook and scratch her behind the ears, which earned him some happy barking and tail wagging. "She's very cute."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"She's really nice but she has lots of energy. Lots," Grace said, watching Clint and his petting.

[so_hawkward]

Clint thought about pointing out that most small children did too, but he had a feeling the joke would go over her head. Since she was so short and all. "A lot of littler dogs do," he said instead. "Do you like having a dog?"

[bigdamnprincipal]

It probably said a lot that Grace was quiet for a bit before she answered. "Rook's a lot more work than I thought she was gonna be. The lady who lived in our house before us had to leave her behind when she went home so my mom said I could keep her but she eats stuff she shouldn't and needs lots of walks and I think my mom's kind of allergic to her but she won't say so 'cause it's not strong to sneeze a lot."

[so_hawkward]

"Aww, allergies," Clint said sympathetically. "Do you have any friends who could take her?" He was actually aware that the island wasn't crawling with little kids, but it still seemed like a good question.

[bigdamnprincipal]

Grace shook her head, and watched as Lucky came out from behind the bench to sniff at Rook, where she was curling up happily against Clint's leg from all the attention he was giving her. "Is that your dog?"

[so_hawkward]

"Yeah, that's Lucky," Clint said. "He used to belong to some not-so-nice people who were not-so-nice to him, but now he's mine so he's all better. We used to live with my friend and her cat, but she had to go home too, so now it's just me and Lucky in our house." And occasionally Kitty, but she still technically had her own place.

[bigdamnprincipal]

Grace just stared at him for a moment because dude, she'd just started school again but even she knew what the smartest answer here was.

[so_hawkward]

Clint, on the other hand, still struggled with some elementary school topics, so even as Rook barked happily and nudged his hand to be petted more, he met Grace's look with confusion. "What?"

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Do you want another puppy?" she asked slowly.

[so_hawkward]

"Well, sure I've thought about getting another one, but I didn't really get Lucky in a normal way, so I'm not sure how I'd--"

Then, finally, the lightbulb went on.

"Oh, you mean Rook?"

[bigdamnprincipal]

Sometimes, Grace didn't know how the grownups in this town survived. "Only if you promise to take care of her," she said, holding out her hand as she tugged on the leash. "Come on, we can go talk to my mom."