146/Afternoon at the Animal Shelter

Afternoon at the Animal Shelter
Date of Scene:	07 July 2015
Location:	Pikarigaoka - Clover Path
Synopsis:	Ikiko feeds dogs at an animal shelter, and gets some assistance from Shiori.
Cast of Characters:	Shiori Sato, Ikiko Hisakata

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Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
In a city the size of Tokyo, there are animal shelters where lost pets and errant strays are gathered. To help keep the place running smoothly, volunteer help is vital in keeping animals fed and their cages clean.

Today is a fairly normal day, with no major influx of animals arriving. Various volunteers are helping where they can, walking dogs or socializing cats, washing the cages and bringing fresh food and water.

One of the volunteers is Ikiko Hisakata, a gradeschooler who is helping to bring food to the dogs. She pushes a cart containing a large bag of food and several bowls, and at each cage she scoops some dogfood into a bowl and slides the bowl into the cage.

"There you go," she smiles to one of the dogs as she feeds it. Glancing around, she whispers "I've heard they've found a pack of humans that wants to adopt you! Congratulations!" in caninespeak. Of course, to anyone else it just sounds like barking, but the dog's tail starts wagging cheerfully.

Shiori Sato has posed:
One of the other volunteers in this shelter is one Shiori Sato. A nondescript boy, only set apart by any normal guy by the t-shirt he wears that has the shelter's name and logo emblazoned on it. So now he's unrecognizeable from a smaller portion of the people in the area-- he has to be an employee. Currently he's carrying bags of feed. He's no big huge muscular guy; his build's pretty average too. But someone has to do the grunt-work, right?

He happens to pass byas he hears barking that doesn't sound like it's from one of the dogs. He looks in the direction and sees Ikiko barking at one of the dogs. And he grins a little, figuring she's just trying to interact with the dogs so they don't feel so lonely. "Hey, careful," Shiori teases good-naturedly. "You might be insulting him in dog language." He can't know that she can quite literally understand and speak to them as easily as he talks to her.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata giggles slightly. "I'm usually good at getting a feel for a dog's moods," she smiles. This is very true; even before she found the Lycan Locket, she did have a strong sense of what dogs were trying to communicate. The Locket just made it so she didn't have to intuit what she was hearing -- or speaking, for that matter!

But that's not something you can just tell anyone you meet, is it?

She spots the labels on the bags Shiori is carrying: one's catfood, and the other is... "Say, is that bag of dog food available?" she inquires. "The bag on the cart is almost empty, and I still have a couple more rows to feed." She moves the nearly-empty bag to the side of the cart, making space for the full bag in case it isn't bespoke elsewhere in the shelter.

Shiori Sato has posed:
"Oh, that's good," Shiori responds. "They need more people here that can get a feel for how the animals are feeling. Little beyond me, that's why I'm hauling food instead of actually feeding the animals." He smiles, a lopsided, slightly sheepish smile.

The mention of the bags gets a nod. "That's what I'm supposed to be doing, yeah... refilling carts. First come, first served." He chuckles, then puts the bag of dog food on the cart. "Here you are."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Thank you very much!" Ikiko beams. The cart's a little harder to push with the extra weight, but it's still manageable.

As she rolls the cart along, she takes a good look at Shiori. "I don't think I've seen you here before," she muses. "First time working here, or just the first time I've been here while you were on shift?"

Shiori Sato has posed:
"Sure thing!" Shiori responds to the thanks. "Let me know if I can help you more." He goes over to put the other bag, the cat food, on another cart intended for the cat area. Ikiko's question gets a nod. "First time here," Shiori replies. "I don't have any clubs, so I have time after school for this kind of stuff. And who doesn't like animals, right? Besides, I'm told it looks good on a resume." Grin! "My name's Shiori Sato. Pleased to meet you!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata fills another bowl with food, then slides it into a cage before turning to Shiori. "Ikiko Hisakata, fifth grader at Seishou. Pleased to meet you!" she smiles with a small bow.

She nods at his comment about animals being liked. "I especially like dogs, but all animals are pretty neat," she agrees as she pushes the cart along. "Say, what's your favorite animal?"

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori nods. He'd thought she was quite a bit younger than he was. It didn't matter, but it was a good to have a point of reference. "I'm in tenth at Seiyou," he offers in return.

As a note, he's keeping back from the cages, though it doesn't seem to be because he's afraid of the animals inside.

As for his favorite animal? Shiori tilts his head. "Hmm.... I don't really know," he replies. "I don't really have any strong feelings for or against a particular animal. Except wasps. Heck with those things." He wrinkles his nose.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata giggles in agreement. "I'm not sure /anybody/ likes wasps," she nods. "I mean, bees help plants and usually leave you alone, but wasps? Those seem to be mean just for the sake of being mean."

She serves up another bowl of dogfood, then pushes the cart some more. "Out of curiosity, what kindof job are you hoping to get once you're done with school?" she inquires.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori nods to the mention of wasps just being mean for the sake of it. "Yellow jackets especially. They'll follow you miles just to sting you, one time, and then fly off like they're going 'hmph, guess I showed you'." He shakes his head. "No idea why such an animal would exist."

Then Ikiko asks what kind of job he's hoping to get. "Actually... I don't really know," he admits. "I probably ought to start thinking about it at my age, get some serious plans."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods. Figuring out a job for herself is still a long ways away, but it's still a question she wonders about every now and then. "I'm sure you can figure something out!" she smiles encouragingly. "Maybe something related to what you like doing... what kind of hobbies do you have?" Another cage, another bowl of dogfood served.

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori's taken to assisting with the pouring of the food into the bowls, since the bag is still pretty heavy. Though he's still leaving the actual taking out and putting in of the bowls to ikiko. As for his hobbies? "Well, I... play piano a little bit. I've been known to sing, a little. Nothing special, nothing I could make a living at."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata thinks for a bit as she delivers the next few bowls of dogfood. Dabbling in music might be fun, but if Shiori doesn't think he has what it takes to go pro with it, that's one branch of options ruled out.

Oh well, he's probably already aware of what he needs to think about. Besides, there's not much a fifth grader still uncertain about her own path can offer in terms of advice.

"Thanks for filling the bowls," she smiles to him as they progress down another row of cages. Having the extra help is making this go faster!

Shiori Sato has posed:
The silence gets an awkward laugh from Shiori. "I'm in a weird place, I know," he assures her. "I got a little time left to think about it, anyway. I'll figure something out. Not everybody can be famous, and there's nothing wrong with being an ordinary person."

The mention of the help with the bowls gets a nod. "That's what I hoped," he confirms. "That and if I'm gonna sit here talking your ear off, I might as well make myself useful, right?" A chuckle.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata giggles slightly. "I don't mind talking and listening," she smiles. "It makes for a nice change of pace." Besides, she can always say hi to the rest of the dogs once she's done.

She does nod at his observation. "Being ordinary has its advantages," she agrees. "Less worry about disappointing people that way." Instead of, say, worrying your family because you accidentally activated a family heirloom, awakening a minor curse in the family's bloodline.

She's /still/ not sure when she can tell them about that...

Shiori Sato has posed:
Shiori gives an affirmative grunt. "Less worry about people being jerks to you, too," he adds. "If you don't have anything that anybody wants, people will generally leave you alone. Especially the major things."

He is, of course, blissfully unaware of Ikiko's current troubles. And even if he was, there wouldn't be much he could do about it...

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
The rest of the feeding of the dogs goes fairly uneventfully. Ikiko speaks a bit to the other dogs (including the occasional murmured sentence in caninespeak, when she thinks Shiori isn't paying close attention). Soon enough, all of the dogs have been fed.

"Thanks for your help, Shiori!" she smiles to the older boy. "This definitely went faster with your help!" In fact, she might even be able to take a leisurely route home today. "I'm done for the day; I usually just feed the dogs, since the cats tend to be a bit more standoffish."

(Being part wolf may or may not have anything to do with that.)