2326/Snow Doggies

Snow Doggies
Date of Scene:	12 January 2017
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Snow, Space Plants, Giant Dogs. Yup it's a normal Wednesday in Tokyo.
Cast of Characters:	Daisuke Hansuke, Nanami Hamakawa, An

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Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Snow. All the snow. Daisuke Hansuke is not afraid to admit it.

HE HATES THE SNOW! >,<.

It's awful and cold and wet and it's everyhing bad and terrible and maybe /that's/ why the Dark Kingdom based themselves AT THE NORTH POLE he thinks.

BECAUSE SNOW IS SECRETLY EVIL. He's onto you frozen perciptation.

Still. He needs to trudge out into it. Which a backpack. Because change containers and chairity donation boxes across town for an organization he does work for does not empty themselves and you can only make too many excuses for 'I do not want to go out in the cold' without turning into a jerk.

He's walking through the park on one of the sholved paths!

Spring cannot come soon enough.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami and Alcyone don't seem to mind the snow so near so much as Daisuke does. Nanami is well-bundled in warm clothing, and Alcyone... Alcyone is a Newfie. She is practically made for this kind of weather. Even though she's just laying with her rear end under the bench, she looks at peace with the universe. "If it didn't mean getting off the bench, I'd throw snowballs for you," Nanami informs Alcyone. The dog boofs her amusement gently, twisting her head to look at Nanami.

Both parties watch Daisuke as he passes by, Alcyone wagging her tail loosely at him. Nanami... pretends to be more interested in her phone. After the high excitement of yesterday, she's settling into a much more normal... seriousness, quietness, and withdrawal from other humans, for her. After all, the insane novelty of being a freaking magical girl has worn off, and while she is glad she met some people she wouldn't want to fall off a cliff in the immediate future, there's still... discomfort, when dealing with humans. After all, her leg is sort of an Elephant in the Room.

An has posed:
    Natsumi hasn't been doing so well lately. Not only has she missed a large number of classes, but when she has been seen, she's been quieter and less..Snarky, than usual.

    So what's she doing out here, in the freezing cold snow? Brr, why the heck did earth have to have a winter season anyways? It just uses up more energy, enough so that she now has a cold on top of her energy problems.

    Well, whatever, at least she managed to grab a quick 'snack' on her way to school to pick up her home work. Unfortunately, she's missed her bus and is now having to trudge through snow on her way back home.

    Her path seems to intersect with Nanami's, but when she sees the dog, she pauses, staring at it intently. "Uh, what IS it?" she ponders aloud. Apparently, they didnt have dogs back on her home planet. And this is her first time actually meeting one face to face, especially such a big one.

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke hates being sick which is one of the reasons he hates the winter. He looks off to the right and-- that is a /biiiiig/ dog. The Animal Care Club does not get many big dogs because children often do not own big dogs usually. Daisuke likes big dogs for reasons like 'you can actually hug them' among other things.

He decides to stop.

And then there is suddenly Ginga. Oh geeze. He fixes his tie. This is for various reasons. From. 'Natsumi Ginga does not like him' to 'She gave Asclepius /the eyes/.' to 'DID SHE SERIOUSLY JUST ASK WHAT A DOG IS!?'.

He gently turns and walks towards the bench with a warm smile as she can muster.

"Hello." he says warmly to Nanami. "Your friend here is very cute. What's his name?" he asks.

Then a pause. "Do they not have dogs in your home country, Ginga-san?" he asks softly.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami bristles at the question from Natsumi, blue eyes hard, cold, and alarmingly direct for someone who claims Japanese descent. "Do you need a guide dog, you blind moron? She's a service dog. Ke-i-jo-u-ken?" She says service dog in two languages- the first in English, as an American would, then Japanese, her voice bristling and irritated as she gestures to the patches on Nanami's mobility harness that declare this very thing in English and Japanese. She glances at Daisuke, expression a fairly surly scowl.

"Her name is Alcyone- named after one of the Pleadies." Nanami wags her tail at Daisuke, trying to ignore the urge to tell Nanami to be nice. There are regular people here, after all, and one of them even smells like other animals! She looks at Nanami, whines softly, then looks at Daisuke. Nanami huffs slightly. "I guess if you're interested in him, you can sniff," Nanami grants her dog, looking down at her phone. "You like people better than I do, any day of the week."

An has posed:
    Oh. Whoops. She slipped again. Apparently 'Dogs' are quite normal creatures. But she's still never seen one quite this big. Must be the same creatures as the little yappers she sees on occasion. Geez, earth sure has some weird animals.

    "Oh! Err..Hansuke-san.." Seems he's switched to calling her back her last name, and so she does the same. She smirks a bit, "Hmph. It's been a while...A...Achoo!" she sniffles, covering her mouth as she sneezes and groans, looking quite sick, exhausted and just plain terrible. And in this terrible weather to boot. Siiigh.

    "Uh..Dog? Oh, of course we do! Just..Just not so big! I've never seen a dog so big ever, what kind of dog is he?" yes, they must have different kinds of dogs. It'd explain why this one looks nothing like the little yapper she saw the other day.

    Nanami makes a scathing remark to her question and Natsumi flinges. Normally she'd retort with an equally scatching remark, but right now, she's too sick, too tired to care. "Oh...Gee sorry, I didnt know. Alcyone's a nice name.." She continues to sniffle, shivering in the cold. What she wouldn't do for a nice hot cup of cocoa, or maybe a warm body to drain..

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke smiles. "Well that's a nice name." he says. "Is astronomy a hobby of yours?" he asks. "My name is Daisuke Hansuke. I'm a member of Verone's Animal Care Club, and aiming to be a Veternarian someday." he says softly. He keeps his hands to himself. "May I pet him?" he asks. It's polite- and proper, to ask, before you touch or pet a service animal, afterall.

-and if the harness wasn't making that obvious, what she says to Natsumi does.

She head tilts at Natsumi. "It has been a while! Uh. How's the Space Botany Club going?" he asks plainly.

Oh? Is she sick? He feels bad about that. He'd offer to fix that. If he also didn't have an identity to hide.

He head tilts. "Big dogs are pretty much the best." he says to Natsumi plainly. "That and realllly poofy cats." he insists.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
"Nah, she was part of a litter of seven girl-pups, all with little dots right here- and since they're called stars in horses, they figured they could name them for the seven sisters," Nanami says with amusement creeping into her tone. She brightens at Daisuke's statement that he's a member of the Animal Care Club. "That might be why she likes you- she can smell other animals on you."

Natsumi, and her cold, are summarily and pointedly Ignored. "And you can pet her right now- I'm not planning on going anywhere." As if that's some kind of cue, the Newfoundland stands up, revealing just how large she truly is. If she weren't so well-mannered she would consider the sink a good water dish. "She's a Canadian breed- a Newfoundland. When it warms up, I think we both oughta go swimming together. That'd be hilarious." Partially because of the kind of a jerk potential she has to have Alcyone shake off on people.

An has posed:
    Natsumi continues to sniffle miserably, but inside, she's also low on energy, moreso in the winter than she was in the summer. She's only partially present during the conversation, her mind wandering towards other things.

    "Huh..Named after a star huh? Are you into astronomy, then?" she looks at Nanami, not particularly polite towards her, but less rude than usual. Then the dog stands up, and Natsumi's eyes widen in a mixture of fear and surprise, taking a step back.

    "Err...She's really big!" she states rather nervously, but doesnt venture to pet her. "She doesnt..Bite, does she?"

    Glancing back at Daisuke, she sighs and shakes her head, "After a certain explosion in the science lab, they decided to cancel the botany club for the rest of the semester for safety reasons. Plus a lot of members have left the club, so I dunno if it's gonna start up again any time soon.."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke nods. "Well that's a neat naming scheme." he smiles and-- oh yes. That dog is getting two hands rubbing across it's side. Who's a good dog, who's a good big dog, rub rub pet pet pet. And of course a pet across the head.

He looks up at Natsumi and says. "Hey." he says. "Where you going to be later?" he asks. He can't offer to heal Natsumi. But maybe Asclepius can. When he can keep his ID safe. "Maybe we can talk about getting you a different, less dangerous club setup then." he smiles.

And one that isn't odd and weird and not one likely to attract dangerous space plants to it.

He looks to Nanami and for the first time, he does notice the brace. It just gets a glance. He doesn't stare. Or ask about it. Things like this are often private and he literarly just met this person.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami shakes her head at the question from Natsumi. Questions like that always get an answer, since Big Service Dogs aren't common in Japan. "Nope. Service dogs- at least, US-trained ones like Alcyone here- are trained specifically not to bite, and it's not like she's a... oh, a mastiff, or an Irish Wolfhound or something, where they were bred to protect or hunt. She's a big ol' doofy water retriever, and her ancestors were bred specifically for what's called a 'soft mouth'." Dog nerd alert. Abandon ship.

"Also what in the hell is Space Botany?" Nanami asks, curious in spite of herself. She smiles at Daisuke, laughing a little as she sees a very distinct shift in Alcyone's body language. Odds are good Daisuke's gonna be on his butt in a second, because Alcyone is leaning into the petting quite enthusiastically. She'll appreciate Daisuke's discretion later, when it's obvious he's noticed that her leg is messed up.

An has posed:
    "....." Natsumi just stares at the dog as Daisuke pets it, biting her lip nervously. Well, she doesnt look like she's gonna bite anyone any time, but Natsumi sure isnt gonna take any chances either.

    Glancing back at Daisuke, she's rather surprised when he offers to help her build a less dangerous space botany club, "I dunno, maybe it was a dumb idea. I mean, how was I supposed to know that that plant would just...Just....Explode?"

    Actually, Natsumi's not sure if she should mention to him how it turned into a giant monster, or how it attacked HER of all people. Definitely not the same kind of plant as the Makaiju! She couldnt even get through to it at all.

    "However, I would like to join an Astronomy club, maybe. I think it'd be cool to study the stars. Are you part of an astronomy club, Hamakawa-san?"

    Glancing back at Daisuke, she's not really sure how to respond to his offer. Why is he being nice to her, didnt he hate her guts? "Err...? Thanks? I guess, maybe you could help me create an astronomy club, if there isnt one already. I thought I'd head to that new Gull cafe on my way home, grab a hot chocolate or something, maybe it'd help my cold, or flu or whatever it is that's making me feel sick and tired all the time.." And if he comes to meet her, maybe she can make a quick snack out of him too!

    Finally looking back at Nanami, she frowns at her attitude. "Ahem, it's actually a very highly advanced form of botany that studies plants from outer space. And before you tell me how very silly that is, we DID find a plant from outer space, and there were many witnesses to it. However, it kinda....Grew very big and was...Err...Hard to control..?"

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke continues to pile the love on the dog. Yup. He knows what's coming. He's throwing himself to the fate of being in snow but that's okay because it's also with a super big adorable dog. Daisuke Hansuke knows most of that dog stuff. But he also doesn't like expoudning knowledge when he wasn't asked and this is more Nanami's thing. Sure she knows about service dog breeds, right?

"Yeah. Astronomy seems safer. And same wheelhouse." he says to Natsumi.

He looks blanky at Nanami and gives a serious look. "Well. She found /something/." he insists. "But thankfully it seems handled." he insists.

Not that he knows anything about that. Or mythical healers helping with that situation.

Nope. None. At. All.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
"I'm not really into astronomy- it was hard to even see many stars in the city I was in, in California," Nanami says. "Like I said- the dog breeder named Alcyone and her sisters, not me." Nanami shrugs a little. It'd be... well... different, but she kind of has this idea that it'd be hard for her to stub to places where she could really get a good look at the stars without the light pollution getting in the way.

"...Japan got very interesting while I was gone," she says, musingly. Alcyone is just resting all her weight on Daisuke and slobbering cheerfully on his face. "I mean... exploding. space. plants." She's not really one to talk, she now has a magic dog, and her tone isn't one of skepticism, but the tone of someone who is impressed and a little alarmed.

"Retrievers like Alsie here... a lot of them literally have been bred to be... ennh, it's called 'biddable' in the dog-training world, sometimes. Basically, willing to do stuff for people. And non-aggression is another big thing they select for when looking to breed new puppies. This is doubly true in dogs that are meant for service dog work, because... a lot of countries have rules about service dogs needing to not be aggressive to people. They get special permission to go places with their humans, but that's because they're acting in place of... oh, a blind person's cane, or a wheelchair for someone like me."

An has posed:
    Natsumi arches a brow at Daisuke when he actually agrees with her. "Wait, so you actually believe me now? I thought you thought I was crazy..But then, I guess you heard about the explosion at the science lab."

    Wait, Daisuke goes to that school too. Did he see Asclepius during that whole explosion thingy? "Hansuke-san...do you know about Asclepius, or where I can find him? He..Kinda saved my life during the explosion, and I'd like to thank him..Properly.." she's got a weird smile on her face as she says this.

    Finally, Natsumi glances back at Nanami again, and arches a brow, "So, what exactly is a service dog? Does Alcyone do, uh, services for you? Does it have something to do with that weird brace thing on your leg?" Yeah. Real smooth, Natsumi.

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke listens to Nanami spout off about dogs and wow does she know a lot. "Wow, that's an impressive bit you know." he says. "I mean. It makes sense. Why you do." he says softly. He looks to Natsumi and oh god he's getting dog piled and this is now his happy place and he doesn't care that he's getting cold and wet and it will totally be worth the cold he'll probably contract later. Oh yesssss.

He wishes he could talk to dogs. Like Ikiko. Or any animal. For that matter. It'd make his job just SO MUCH easier. Just ask what's wrong. Get it right everytime. BE THE BEST ANIMAL DOCTOR.

Still, alas, he cannot. He listens to Natsumi and blinks.

"Ascel-who?" he asks.

Yes he manages to keep an utterly straight face.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
"I'm a frickin' cripple, in case you didn't notice. The weird harness Alcyone is wearing is designed so I can kind of lean on her like a cane- except that a cane isn't smart, and if I topple over, a cane can't counterbalance me or help me up, or, worst case, grab someone for help." The dog in question whuffs at Daisuke's hair, tail going absolutely wild.

"I... well, my parents moved to the States for a while and basically told me the best thing any doctors they talked to about my leg could give them to get me out of a chair was a service dog. I might have gone a little... obsessive... for the past eight years." And it certainly does make sense.

An has posed:
    Natsumi blinks at Nanami's temper, taking a step back, "Wow, geez! No need to flip out on me or anything! I mean it's not like I've ever seen anyone like you before!" yeah, real subtle, Natsumi. Silly alien. She's already decided she doesnt like this girl, and being a cripple and all will make it way easier for her to suck on her energy next time they me. Hahaha.

    Why's she got a weird smile on her face all of a sudden? What a weirdo...

    But alas, it seems that Daisuke doesnt know Asclepius. "Oh. Are you sure? He's a magical healer, fights along the sailor senshi. VERY cute. Those eyes are so dreamy, and that voice..Hmmm, I have to meet him again, but I dunno where I can find him!"

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke has a momentary lapse from his happy place as Natsumi describes Asclepius in very flattering ways because yes that's a light blush and yes he hides it terribly by shoving his face into dog fur. He'll need a moment. He says. Muffledly. "Oh." he says. "No I don't know anyone like that. Why are you talking about those things like they're real?" because he REALLY wants to play the dumb card with Natsumi SO BAD RIGHT NOW.

He'll hide here. In the dog.

Too bad he isn't big enough to climb into that fur and hide for the next hour. ~_~;;.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
"You don't have disabled people where you're from? What do you do, round up people like me and make them eat lead?" There's a defensiveness to her tone that says leagues about hurt there, as if it was something someone once suggested to her. Alcyone looks up from cuddling Daisuke and trots back to her human, leaning against Nanami's legs. The dark-haired teenager wraps her arms around Alcyone. "It's something some people say, you know. That people like me would be better off not existing." The smile creeps her out, but she's not going to say that. Let the other girl try. Alcyone may be trained to non-aggression, but her human is not, and her human has been thinking of ways to defend herself.

Grumbling under her breath, Nanami grips the handle on Alcyone's harness and stands with a grunt of effort. She draws herself to her full height and looks Natsumi in the eyes. "Enjoy your temporary malady." There's less ice and venom in her body language as she nods to Daisuke. "And you have a nice day, bub."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke does take note of the words Nanami says. He does frown at them lightly, from within the confines of still hiding his face until Nanami does pull the dog away and then he's all smiles again as he gives the dog one final rub rub rub against the sides. "Take care of your owner pup." he insists, and lets the dog go.

He looks toward's Natsumi. "If I run into someone like that I'll let them know I guess." he says with a shrug. He still hasn't beat back all the blush. -,-;;.

He nods to Nanami. "See you again, maybe. Come by Verone's Animal Care Club sometimes." he says.

Well. He has to get back to work. Except now he's wet. From snow.

Oh well. Played with big pup. Worth it.

An has posed:
    "......" Natsumi, isnt entirely sure how to respond to Nanami. It's not like she's ever seen service dogs or disabled people before. Most of her alien friends were able to have their wounds healed thanks to the Makaiju, but even that memory is pretty damn fuzzy..

    "Uh...Geez..." She sniffles, realizing that her own malady really is just temporary, and again in her current state, Natsumi is just a bit..Less mean than usual. "Sorry..?" She shrugs helplessly.

    When Daisuke finally separates from the dog, she cant help but stare at his face, which looks a bit red, "...What's wrong with your face? It's all red. Are you blushing?" Weird. Humans are so weird.

    Well, whatever. Ail's probably worried about her. She should get going. But maybe she'll check out that coffee shop on the way home..

    "Ugh, whatever, I'm outta here, Hansuke-san, lemme know if you do see Asclepius. Thanks.." And with a wave, she is off, trying to get out of the cold as quickly as possible.