2019-10-27 - Sidewalk Talk

The main street is bustling, with a number of the businesses putting up Halloween decorations, announcing Masquerade events, specials, and all of that. Families are taking advantage of the brief lack of rain by running and shopping for costumes at a couple of the stores, or grabbing decorations or other Halloween supplies. Big bags of candy are being held out of reach of small hands, and the high-pitched demands of, "Not THAT pony! I want to be the RAINBOW PONY!" can be heard. Alexander is actually just coming out of a formalwear rental store, with a garment bag looped over his arm. He does not seem like a man who wears formal wear: he's in a scruffy, tan sweater that's two sizes too big, faded jeans, and work boots. He looks exhausted. Tired enough that he stops abruptly on the sidewalk, heedless of passersby, to yawn and cover his mouth.

"No, Cotton, don't..." but it's too late. The big floofy dog who definitely earns its name nudges its wet nose and slobbery mouth into the back of Alexander's leg. The dog looks like it's going for a nose-goose, but Gideon manages to pull the animal back in time. He's also walking a weiner dog and is carrying a duffel bag that has an English cucumber and a baguette sticking out of it - so it seems to be groceries. Or he's bringing a pretty big snack to the gym. "Sorry, sorry about that." He looks a little frazzled, but then, he always looks slightly unkempt in faded denim and a plaid shirt with a denim jacket. Rocking the Canadian Tuxedo despite being Gray Harbor born and bred.

You know how some people hate Christmas and spend the entire month of December with grouchy frowns and bah-humbugs? That's Rusty and Halloween. He is shoving and shouldering his way along the sidewalk, hands in the pockets of his hoodie. The hood is up over a snapback hat. Head is down. Shoulders tense and low. All of it screams 'Do NOT touch. Leave me alone.'. He might have made it to his destination too but Rusty has a weakness. "Oh my god." He stops as he approaches Gideon. "Can I pet your dog? Dogs. Both. I wanna pet the dogs." He asks softly, shyly.

Alexander jumps in place as that nose nudges at the back of his knee. He whirls around, but smiles when he sees the big, floofy visitor. "Hey...Cotton, was it?" he says, looking briefly up at Gideon. His free hand is extended to let the dog sniff, and then if it permits, to give the fur between its ear a good, long scratch. "Dr. Hug--Gideon. How are you doing?" He turns and stares at Rusty as he approaches, his gaze impolitely direct and assessing. Although his expression flickered wary, it relaxes a little as he recognizes the older man. People with reputations for being crazy in this town have no doubt run into each other before. "Mister...Caldwell, yes? Hello." He may be recognized as 'Crazy Clayton', or Alexander Clayton if a townie is feeling more polite.

"Please, pet them. Maybe they'll stop wanting to nuzzle and sniff everyone in sight. Well, her anyway." Gideon gives Cotton's leash a jangle, but she ignores him and slurps Alexander's hand instead. Then she turns to Rusty with ears up and forward. She lets out a little whuff. The little weiner dog is a bit more shy and crouches out towards the edge of the sidewalk. "That's Scully," as he nods towards the little one. Where Alexander is all eye contact, the vet tries to get away with none. "Oh, I'm fine, thanks. Mostly telling people that we're not adopting out black cats until the second week in November. You'd be surprised at how many people adopt them for party decorations and then give them back a few weeks later."

"Yeah. Rusty Caldwell. Just Rusty's fine. Russ. Whatever." Upon permission to pet the dogs, he squats to take full advantage. And now, he smiles. "Alexander Clayton...I took a couple of your classes on research and stuff. I thought I could, uh, I dunno. Make something of myself once." He says, loving up the dogs. He looks at Gideon. "Don't think I know you--fuck. I do. I looked for Annie. Walked that line a lot that fall. But I went upstate again before Christmas..."

"There's nothing wrong with a friendly dog," Alexander murmurs, and doesn't seem to mind getting slurped at all. When Cotton moves on to the new adoring subject, he crouches down before Scully, and gently extends his hand, keeping enough of a distance not to startle or threaten the smaller dog, but allowing her to sniff his fingers at her leisure. He looks up at Gideon. "An animal is not a toy," he says, with a slight huff of irritation. "That reminds me, though. I need to make an appointment. I've acquired a cat, myself. A...ragdoll? White. I don't know how old. In good health, but I should get her examined and whatever shots and things."

The three men are standing outside a garment shop, and Alexander has a garment bag over one arm as he crouches and tries to make friends with the wiener dog. He grimaces at Rusty's recitation of nicknames. Still, mention of someone actually taking one of his classes makes him smile. "Yes. I remember your name, and...I believe you were researching some interesting things at the time." He cocks his head to one side as he glances between the two.

Cole comes wandering out of the Foggy Bluffs Strip Mall area and onto the street, strolling down the sidewalk and not seemingly headed anywhere in particular, since he pauses to consider the Library, the Patisserie, and a couple of other shops before he continues on, hands in the pockets of his light jacket. He observes the men with the dogs as he makes his way gradually toward the garment shop and smiles, because dogs.

Cotton loves every bit of attention she can get. She leans into Rusty's pets, and before long is leaning hard onto him with her entire body, covering everything she touches in white, fluffy fur. Little Scully creeps up to Alexander after a minute, sniffing around after looking up at Gideon a few times. As long as he pats gently, the small weiner will stick around. "I..." begins Gideon, but he stops when Rusty mentions his sister. It's like a cold bucket of water just got doused over his head. He's quiet for a moment. Alexander just gets a nod in response at first to his words about the cat. There's quite a bit of a delay before he says, "A good idea."

Alexander is not always patient, but with animals he can be. And he is, now. He just waits without discomfort until Scully creeps up and lets him pat her gently. He smiles, brief and warm, when the dog allows the contact. "What sweethearts you have," he murmurs. Then he looks up at Gideon, not missing the sudden cold stillness. He doesn't address it, but his voice is gentle, as he says, "Are you going to any of the Masquerade events, Gideon? There are a wide variety of them, it seems."

"Oh, I'm temporary caretaker. I often foster animals who are waiting to be permanently re-homed. My house has a good-sized yard and I've got an outbuilding for birds and small animals." Gideon nods towards Scully. "She lived in a home with four other large dogs who bullied her a bit, and three children. So she's been knocked about a little bit by things bigger than her. So she's a bit shy. But she likes Cotton because she's gentle with her." As for the masquerade? "Ah, heh. I'm not...one for dressing up. It's not my favourite holiday. You?"

Cole makes his way past those on the street with the dogs and says a pleasant "Hello," as he does so, skirting around them so as not to crowd them terribly. He hears mention of the Masquerade though in passing and says, "I've heard there's going to be some non-costumed stuff, too. It's happening all over town. I'm kind of excited to see what happens."

"Nor mine," Alexander admits as he gives Scully another scritch behind the ears before standing up, slowly to avoid startling the dog. "But Isabella is enthused about it, I think, and Thorne put a lot of attention into putting all of this stuff together, so I'm going to, uh, give it a shot." He lifts the garment bag a little. As Cole approaches, he offers the man a nod. "That, too. Even if you're not much into Halloween itself, might find something fun." He peers at the younger man. "What are you going as?"

"Are you uh..." Gideon smiles shyly and nods towards Alexander's bag, "...going...as a penguin?" That joke would've landed better if he didn't sort of haltingly get it out. Cotton twists her ears towards the new person and strains on the end of her leash towards Cole. Scully stays near Alexander's feet. She seems to have marked him as Safe. "I'll do my regular thing of having candy at work for kids. Someone will probably stick some cat ears on me. That's about as...much as I'll do. My house will get egged." It's his family house - the house where his sister was last seen. It makes it a popular target for teens to vandalize.

"I have no idea. I suppose I should figure that out soon," Cole admits to Alexander with a little bit of a helpless smile. "I haven't put on a costume in a while." He nods toward the garment bag and asks, "Is that your costume?" with a little bit of curiosity. When Cotton starts to strain in his direction, he moves a little closer so that she doesn't try to drag Gideon over and offers a hand down for her to sniff at. "Hey there," he says to the dog quietly in greeting. He then grins over at Gideon and says, "Do people randomly put animal ears on you?" Then he frowns a little, "Do they do that a lot here? Egg houses?" He's only lived in town a few months.

Alexander laughs, briefly, at Gideon's joke, however tentative it might. "No. Although that might be Plan B. The, uh, 'Phantom of the Opera'. Tux and a white half mask, and you're good." He gives a sheepish sort of shrug. He smiles down at the dog around his ankles. The expression turns wry. "Yeah. Mine usually gets hit, too. Or someone leaves flaming dog poop on the doorstop. Like I don't know when someone comes with that sort of intent," he adds, in a short little laugh. "You should be fine," he tells Cole, "unless you happen to have an unsavory reputation or live in a house with one." A shrug. "Small towns."

"My staff does," says Gideon to Cole. And then, he realizes not every random person he meets knows who he is. Just...most. "I'm a vet. And my staff really love Halloween. So they put as much spirit in as they possibly can and remain even...remotely professional." Wry, that. "Which includes sticking cat ears on my head when I go for coffee." He twitches a small grin. Then he nods once at Alexander's choice of costume. "Dramatic. Cape and all?" Then, "Uh, yeah, they um, the egging tends to only happen to some of us."

"That's a pretty good costume -- easy to put together, elegant, stylish, and doesn't end up with you washing paint off or glitter out of everything for days afterward," Cole smiles, applauding Alexander's costume choice, it seems. "I still have some costumes from the ballet. I could always repurpose one of those for Halloween. They'd work for the Masquerade dance, at the very least," he considers. When Gideon explains that he's a vet, Cole smiles, "Oh! That makes a little more sense, with the animals, and the ears." He then says, "Sounds like a fun office. I teach ballet at the dance studio." He nods in the direction of the strip mall where Dance Evolution is located.

"Yes, although I had to cannibalize a Dracula costume from a thrift shop to get the cape. We'll see how it works. Luckily, I can do the very basic of sewing." Alexander offers Cole a smile. "Isabella came up with it. She's going to be Carmen." He glances up at the sky. No rain, yet, but he says, "I should be heading back home, before I get caught in a drizzle again. Nice to see you both. Don't die." With that, Alexander offers the dogs another wave, and then a nod to the men, before he starts walking again.

All business. Cassidy walks with confident strides. The heels of her pumps connect firmly with the ground as if to ring out the sound of justice with every ste---OMG IS THAT A BIG FLOOFY DOG?

"Oohhh!!!" Cassidy trots up with a big smile and higher than usual pitched voice. "Can I pet your dog?" But she isn't waiting for an answer. She's already kneeling in front of Cotton and reaching for that big floofy face.

"If it really is going to rain, I should get these guys home too," says Gideon as he gives a gentle pull on the leash of the two animals. They look at him expectantly, then lick their chops. "Fine, fine, don't tell anyone." He reaches into his pockets and each gets a piece of jerky treat. But then Cassidy is cooing at Cotton who turns and gives a little whuff with her mouth full. "Can't take you anywhere, you celebrity," he murmurs.

"Nice to meet you," Cole says to Alexander, even though no names have been exchanged, and meeting is kind of a rough description of what just happened. But he nods to Gideon too and says "You as well," with a smile before moving to continue on his way. He slips around Cassidy as she makes a bee line to the dog and chuckles. "It's going to be a long walk if everyone stops you to pet her on the way," he grins, and then he continues on with his wanderings, heading off further downtown.

"You.are.just.the.cutest.thing!" Cassidy says right into Cotton's face as she shakes and scritches the fur around. "Who's a dog? Who's a doggy?!"

Cassidy squees and bounces back up with a made-my-day smile. "Thanks! I just love dogs."