2022-04-28 - Even Sighthounds Need Check-Ups

It's that time of year again: time for a sighthound check-up. Whether or not Samwise is aware of this is up for debate. He's just enjoying the car ride with how the window is cracked and he's tall enough in his seatbelt to see through the passenger window. The red-brindled Windhound doesn't know he's headed to the vet, this much Ariadne is certain, and she's brought The Good Shit in order to make this visit a positive one. She knows well enough how some owners screw up vet visits to the point of a dog drooling and chattering teeth in nervous paralysis.

Pulling into the shelter parking lot, she murmurs in Hungarian to the dog about yes-yes, he's a very good boy, ooh, what's this? 'This' is thinly-sliced, oven-crisped half-coins of hot dog in a plastic baggy lining her training pouch. Samwise looks over at the building and back at his owner. Yes? Yes, he gets a piece, mmm, more please. As such, it's with a reserved and refined dignity which befits (most) sighthounds that Sam accompanies the redheaded barista into the main building itself. She walks towards the vet half of things, looking around. Idly, she reaches to tuck back a strand of loose hair fallen from her messy-bun; the underpaneling of the naturally-red hair is dyed cobalt-blue to iris-purple.

"Afternoon. Scullin family, for Samwise?" she asks of the receptionist after approaching the desk, her tone polite and friendly. Samwise slowly swishes his tail twice before looking up at the receptionist again. Who are you?

The receptionist at the end of the of the narrow entrance is a young looking, very bored lady. Somewhere in her late teens to early twenties, she looks up from the computer screen enough to register that Ariadne and Samwise have arrived. With a clack clack of her fingers across the keyboard, she bobs her head in acknowledgment. "Yea, I have you here, Samwise?" She repeats the name, perhaps considering how unusual it is as she glances over at the cute windhound. She doesn't seem too phased by him, must be a cat lady.

Someone else, however, slips out from the back hallway at the sound of a familiar voice. Leila is wearing her labcoat and a broad grin as she recognizes the woman, "Ariadne!" She greets with enough enthusiasm to cover for her receptionist. Glancing towards the lady behind the desk, Leila flashes her an annoyed look, "Lilian, remind me to go over your greeting and hospitality," she mutters towards her. Lilian waves her hand dismissively in a 'yea yea' motion.

Quick to snap her attention back to Ariadne and Samwise, however, Leila immediately circles the reception's desk and crouches down to let Samwise approach her. "And this must be Samwise! Look at what a good dog he is, yes he is! Goddamn, a brindle windhound? He's such a beauty, I love long haired brindle dogs," she comments excitedly, like a little kid finally getting to play with puppies they've been nagging for all week.

"Yep, Samwise." Ariadne's air remains easy-going, if not out of habit, if to project the same lack of concern to her pup in turn. After all, Samwise continues to look between her and the receptionist with triangle-flop ears perked and tail dropped. Attentive, not necessarily excited. "He's here for an annual, probably a shot update or two."

But lo, there's Leila, and the barista lifts her hand in greeting while flashing a smaller grin. "Hey, doc. Yes, this is him, and yeah, brindle Windhound. He knows he's pretty?" Samwise looks from the vet to Ariadne, uncertain. "Go on, bubby, go say hi." The magic words. He walks over not necessarily mincingly, but with the reserved curiosity which befits sighthounds, in order to sniff at offered knuckles. "You probably hear this all of the time, but he's friend. He's just not outgoing. If it helps you to believe me, he's got his CGC and he's lure-course trained, so socialization and handling was part of the deal. Here," and the barista walks over to crouch down beside her dog. A tidbit of the baked hot dog is offered to Leila in order to give in turn.

Samwise sits automatically for the piece of food and looks at Leila in anticipation. Lady, give it already.

"Oh damn, so he's indeed a little spirit of the wind, isn't he? Man, good on you for taking such good care of him. I mean sighthounds aren't exactly known for their dopey friendliness like labradors or goldens. He's just a proper gentleman, isn't he?" She beams at him as she accepts the hot dog and offers it to Samwise to sniff and reach for it, however the vet plays dirty as she pulls it slightly back to tempt him to come closer to her on his own volition (or rather his stomach and nose's volition.) "Don't mind Lilian," she tells Ariadne with a tilt of her head towards the receptionist. "She has heart, but lacks the spirit. Full of attitude, that one."

A snort from Lilian is all there is in response to Leila's assessment of her personality.

Leila waits patiently for Samwise to take the hotdog before slowly rising up to her full height and gesturing Ariadne to follow her through the back hallway - which supports a glass door at the far end (and housing a lot of caged animals in recovery and probably the surgery rooms, though they can't be seen from the hallway.) There are two doors on each side of the hall way as well, the first one being left ajar to show the vet examination room within. "Lets bring him inside so we can have a looksie."

With delicate front teefies does Samwise take the piece of hot dog. His feathered tail swishes back and forth in a yet-again reserved wag as he looks up a Leila now. More?

"I'd say he's a brat, but sure. A gentleman too," Ariadne responds fondly with a glance down at the Windhound. Another glance to the receptionist and a twist of a smirk; she has coworkers of a similar disposition, hence it being less of a bother to the barista. Both follow after Leila and walk into the examination room. Ariadne's eyes scan it before returning down to Samwise. He's a little more concerned now, though still observant; he doesn't say no to when his owner reaches down to smush his head gently against her leg and scritch lightly at the base of his ears. A lean and soft groan.

"I don't have any concerns at the moment with him, which is nice to say. He handled our move well except for some loose stool, but a little pumpkin helped. Otherwise, he's a good eater. We run at least twice a week, bike maybe once. I'm easy on his joints because he's still kind of young, about three," the redhead informs Leila.

"Oh wow, he is young," Leila remarks as she glances back at him with a little grin while he gets his scritches. "Just got into his height, but that's good you keep his knees in mind. "If I remember my windhounds well enough, they are a relatively healthy breed until they get older. Have you done any gene testing on him? See if he has the MDR1 gene? If not, we can do that relatively painlessly. It just makes his susceptible to certain medications, so we know not to give him anything that's bad for him," Leila quickly assures Ariadne.

The examination is pretty simple. A desk with a computer is on the far end, a floor scale next to it and on the opposite wall is a long counter with drawers that hold medical supplies probably. A stainless steel examination table is placed in the middle of the room and some posters adorn the wall that informs people of various common and not-so-common pet problems.

"If Samwise doesn't mind, can you put him on the scale? Just want to get his weight down and see how he's fillin' out. Do you have a file here from before I arrived?" As she asks she moves to the computer to see if she can pull up Samwise's files. "If not, and if you have his old paperwork, it would make things so much easier..."

"Nice thing is I did remember the paperwork when I moved." Granted, it's a collection of a dozen pages or so folded in half and pulled out of an interior coat pocket, but the bundle is then handed over towards Leila. "These are copies, so you guys can keep those. I have the originals at home." Samwise seems to make the silent equivalent of a startled 'meep!' when picked up and moved over to the scale.

"Eh, thirty-one pounds. He was thirty-three last time I checked, if I'm remembering correctly, but that might be move stress," the barista comments as she moves the Windhound off the scale. A piece of hot dog for him, gratefully accepted. "And I believe it says that he tested negative for the MDR1 gene in his paperwork, but it's in there, first page."

Snagging the file, Leila browses quickly to find the stickers of the shots and the page for the MDR1 gene; but she can't help the snicker that slips out from the 'meep'. "Goddamn he is too fucking cute," she admits. Slapping the file shut for now, she grabs her notebook and jots down the number real quick. "Alright, looks like after a quick check he'll be ready for his jabs. Not too heavy too, good little windhound," she murmurs softly towards him. "I love how prepared you are, by the way, you just made my life a thousand times easier," she returns lightly enough as she gestures for the table so Samwise can get his once over.

Leila then shifts gears as she peers towards Ariadne a bit closer as cocks her head curiously, "So you're an out of towner too, huh? How many...oddities have you encountered here? I admit, I may have gotten bitten by the curiousity bug about this place."

"I'd rather be prepared than sit here and feel stupid because the papers are on my kitchen table, y'know?" she grins at Leila. Samwise then does another silent 'meep?!' as he's picked up and placed on the table. He sits down and tries to blep Ariadne's chin because this is new, mom, new, what?! "I know, good boy, here." We're still taking hot dog, so all must be relatively well.

"But yeah, Seattle originally, Colorado before that -- and this place definitely counts as a 'Hotel California' epicenter. The song? Ravn used it as an example. Abildgaard, the Danish academic." There's a softness to her smile and eyes both as the man is referenced. "I got bit by the curiosity bug when I first moved in and...how to put it." She thinks while one arm remains lightly wrapped around Samwise; he's leaning against her torso as is, watching Leila. "I've learned the rules of physics don't necessarily apply. And don't get me started on the Dreams." Capital D, for emphasis, those flights into sometimes terrifying fancy.

The softness isn't missed, and Leila's grin just broadens even more. If one could read her mind, it'd be filled with 'd'awwwwww!'. "Oh man, I had a Dream. You were there in fact, right? At least I have a strong....feeling it was you. I found out I am a shrew. A mother-fucking shrew. My mom was right about this whole time," she lets out a sardonic laugh at herself.

Approaching Samwise, she tries to get him to relax by scratching him behind the ear and giving him love pats while her hands probe around his chest to feel out his ribs and to peer into his soft ears. Leila goes through the motions automatically, taking it all in as she continues her conversation. "I still can't believe you're left with...marks when you wake up. My ribs were so fuckin' bruised I think I had a fracture. Thank God for Ava. I am not exactly eager to repeat that experience. ...Maybe I should pick up weed, I hear it kills any chance of you dreamin'."

Ariadne's brows lift. "Christ chex, that's right, you were in that Dream. Shrew? Oh god, no wonder, your ribs." Even with this being weeks back, the barista still winces. She'd been airborn when the trees had landed on poor Shrew and this hadn't lessened the sympathy she'd had in and out of the Dream. "Osprey," she says, reminding just in case.

Samwise sits and looks ruefully accepting. Ugh. Vet visit. No. No enthusiasm. I am tolerant.

"Una healed my leg up in my case," she then shares. "I'm not a weed person myself, but...if it stops the Dreams? I mean. Maybe I might get into it. They're not the kindest things." Understatement of the year there.

"Hell no, anything to avoid going through that pain again. Makes me wonder what happens if you do die during a Dream. I mean usual dreams you just wake up..." She trails off in thought before shuddering and refocusing back on Samwise, giving him a nice scratch between examinations to try and keep his visit friendly. See? Coming to the vets is not bad. "Alright, let me see if I can get his shots, besides that he seems to be in damn good shape..." She trails off and heads towards the computer to type something in and sending it off.

"Sorry," she mutters over her shoulder, "We are a bit short on vet assisstants. Right now he's busy changing bandages but hopefully Lilian is still glued to her screen enough to see my message and get me the shots. Despite that, I actually like workin' in a small vet clinic. Makes it more...personal," she admits with a little grin.

"By the way, I uh, kind of asked Myles, that really tall black guy? To look for Haggleford, if you know him, Evil Santa? How badly did I fuck up?"

"I honestly haven't asked anyone that question because I honestly don't want that answer," the barista admits quietly. She too returns her attention to her Windhound, he still patiently sitting there as he gets his once-over. Her own hand continues gently rubbing at the dog's chest. Both glance over as Leila makes her way to the computer.

"No big. We're in no hurry today." A patient smile for the vet. Her eyebrows lift, however, at the question to follow. "Uh. I...actually don't know anything about this...Haggleford person, but Evil Santa doesn't sound appealing. I...think that's a Ravn question...?" Her voice uplilts. "And if we're talking about the same Myles, very tall guy? I don't know what he does either, so I'm honestly not a good sounding board on this one, sorry." The barista wince-smiles. "He hasn't been around the coffee shop enough for me to get a good bead on him."

"Nah, its cool. I never know what people know in this place so I just assume everyone knows more than me," she admits with a little chuckle as she makes her way back to the examination table, waiting for the knock. Her hand reaches up to scratch Samwise some more while she bobs her head in agreement with Ariadne. "Yea, he came by with his dog the other day. A beautiful Tervuren, nicely mannered and everything. Apparently Myles is a bounty hunter. Or rather a bail bondsman, works with his ex-wife. Pretty interesting guy actually, if you meet him again. Can lift things with his mind, telekinesis I think? Kinda useful for those hard to reach places." She grins at her own joke, likes to amuse herself, this one.

"Oh! Well, that's cool as hell...dangerous," Ariadne adds upon learning of Myles' profession. "Working with his ex-wife though? That's interesting in how rare it is. Normally an ex is...y'know, an ex. I hope it was amicable terms they parted on, at least." She does mean this sincerely by the concerned little divot between her brows.

Samwise continues receiving his scratch and the tension in his lean body appears to be lessening slowly but surely. Nobody's poked him yet. Ooh, another bit of hot dog, done deal. Chest scritchies. This place isn't too bad.

The barista glances up from her dog again, her own golden-hazels filled with curiosity in turn. "And he can use telekinesis? Sounds familiar." She grins, thinking of similar little tricks she's accomplished lately. Nothing's too high on the shelves anymore! "I can do something similar, apparently. Took me a while to connect the dots and figure it out, but Ravn helped. And a Tervuren? God, how gorgeous, those dogs are so lovely. Too busy for me, but so lovely to watch in action."

At the mention of working with the ex and hoping it was amicable, Leila can't help but snicker, "Can you imagine if it wasn't? Every time you hunt down someone skipping bail, your ex is setting you up to get shot or 'accidentally' forgets about you during a dangerous situation?" She laughs before pausing and quickly adding, "I'm sure they are! Just the thought of letting our your personal frustrations during such a dangerous job got to me. Like a more realistic take of Mr. and Mrs. Smith," she flashes Ariadne another grin. "So far Ava has told me I could do more than heal and break bones. Supposedly I could control fire like in the Dream, and plants. Which is surprising since I always figured I had black thumbs. If this is true I can't wait to turn my apartment into a little jungle of house plants like you see in all those Pinterest pictures..." She trails off as the knock on the door grabs her attention.

Heading to the door, Leila opens it and a veterinarian tech in scrubs is there, holding some meds needed for Samwise's shots. She thanks the nurse as she grabs the meds before sliding the door shut with her hips. "Got'em! Alright Samwise, time for the big guns. Ariadne if you have any more sausages, now is the time to feed him as I administer these shots." She moves to the examination table and gets the needles ready before glancing back at the barista to see if she is ready to distract Samwise with all the goodies.

"Right? Nobody needs a spiteful ex in the middle of a gun fight. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is right," she agrees with a quiet laugh. Hearing of what Leila can do, however, has Ariadne visibly intrigued. She opens her mouth to ask more questions, but knock-knock: shots are here.

Samwise looks between the door and his owner. What is this? Her fingernails gently comb over his head to scritch at his jawlines. "I do have all the goodness for a very good boy, so you do what you need to do, doc." She's not looking at Leila when she says this, rather at Samwise and her tone is all sweet baby-talk to distract. His attention is all for the crisped coins of hot dog she's finishing out into a palm. They get halved while she glances up at Leila once more.

"I'm jealous of your ability to work with plants. Una has this too -- Una Irving," she clarifies, just in case. "Fire sounds...fun if dangerous. I'm able to move things. Talk to people without speaking aloud. Sense emotions sometimes." Hot dog for Samwise as the first shot looms; she further distracts him with a dedicated ear scritchy, one of those ones where he leans and makes a soft doggy groan.

As Ariadne distracts Samwise, Leila is swift with her practiced movements. She rubs the back of his neck softly then a bit roughly, teasingly before she slips the needle in when he seems the most distracted, injects and slips out. As soon as the needle is out, she massages and rubs the area with a soothing voice of 'Who's a good boy? Sam is a good boy, yes he is, yes he is!'. As soon as she is done with the initial massage to ensure the dosage is in, she pulls back to let Ariadne full on deal with Samwise. Look! No harm done.

Grinning, she looks back towards the barista, nodding affirmatively. "Redhead, right? Yea, I met her a few times, very cool chick. Also got smashed by the Dream. Cool roommates too." It takes her a moment to register what Ariadne just said, blinking owlishly as she stares at her. "Wait, you're serious? You can read people's emotions? Holy shit, dating must be a fucking breeze for you. Ugh, that's...that's /cheating/," she lets out with a teasing tone and a laugh. "Fuck, I'd be one fire if I could tell if someone likes me, is disinterested, or hell is even /lying/ to me. That's fucking glorious. Can I bring you to all of my dates?"

There's a moment where Ariadne loses her cementing of Sam's attention, but Leila's practiced motions and swift rub of the pinched area seems to be a shadow crossing the sun -- there and gone. The dog enjoys his bite of crisped hot dog and licks fingers, turning his head to watch Leila deal with the finished needle itself.

Ariadne too glances over. She smiles at half-wattage back. "I don't think you'd want me on those dates. The power's...not super accurate yet and I'm still kind of convinced I'm only reading body language really well in the long run. Listening to people's tones and all. But...how to put it. I can be accurate only so many times before it gets creepy, right?" Her nails gently scratch at Samwise's chest now, in and out of the white feathery fur there. "So dating's still difficult for me, don't worry. No super easy dating."

"Damn, and here I thought you broke the code," Leila returns with a grin as she finishes up, capping the needles and carefully peeling away the stickers from the shots to add to the file, right next to the written date and her signature. Once done, she glances back at the barista and Sam, approaching them once more to give Samwise some loving so he can have fond memories of the place. "Still, reading body language and tones has to be useful. At least better than my method, which is basically be as blunt and obvious as possible so there is no mistaking my intentions. Then running as soon as I get laid. I'm...not exactly suited for long term relationships," she admits with a little laugh at herself.

"Alas," and Ariadne shrugs with a returned grin. Samwise lifts his ears at the other woman's approach and doesn't seem to mind the scritchies as long as they're nowhere near the injection sites. Her eyes flick up to Leila at the little laugh.

"Nothing wrong with being blunt and obvious though. I mean, like you said, no mistaking intentions. If one-nighters or friends-with-benefits is your jam and you're safe, do you. Sorry, that was very 'mom' of me, but...safety and all. Maybe one day, you'll find somebody who's worth that extra effort, but until then? You've got you to keep happy since there's only one of you."

"Exactly!" Leila returns enthusiastically towards Ariadne, "though I think my issue is that I...rarely play well with others long term. I am aware enough to realize I can be rather selfish," she flashes her a teasing yet sheepish smile. Samwise gets some more scratches behind the ears to hit the right spots before she pulls away to give him some freedom. "And hey, I appreciate any attempts at mothering," she chuckles lightly before looking over the file. Seemingly satisfied, she flaps the file shut. "Looks like Samwise is healthy, wealthy and, well, wise. You've taken great care of him, and his shots should last him the year," though her tone is more of a 'I'm sure you know' tone. "Thank you for bringing him in though, I love getting to know our four-legged friends in this town. He is wonderfully gentle. Such a gentleman!"

"Thanks for being so good with him -- and with people too," Ariadne tells Leila in return, her own smile truly grateful. "We've had some vets before where they knew their book-work but had lost their people skills along the way. I really appreciate it. Should I make an appointment for one year out or do you prefer I just mark it on the calendar and see about calling you up when it gets closer to the month?"

Samwise wags his tail as he's gathered up and put on the floor. A nose-to-tail shake-out before he looks between the two women again.

"Also, good on you for knowing yourself. That's a rarer skill these days," the barista laughs softly before offering Leila a fistbump.

"Oh nah, we can call you up as long as you want us to, we got the technology," she teases lightly before reaching out to hit the fist bump. "Trust me, after ending up here one does a looot of self reflection it seems." She chuckles before reaching into her back pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes, "I think I'm due for a smoke break if you want one?" she offers the barista lightly as she moves languidly towards the door, holding it open for her and Samwise. "Considering we are stuck in Hotel California for the foreseeable future, the only direction to look is inwards. Better get used to making this place our home, I guess."

"You accomplish a surprising amount of introspection here, it's true," Ariadne agrees as she exits the room out into the short hallway. Samwise leads the way to an extent, happy to be away from the close astringent smells of a clean medical room. "But I'll pass on a cigarette, I'm allergic to the smoke. Thanks though." She's sure to give Leila a warm smile to soften how she passes on the offer.

"I think the last thing I self-reflected on was...whether or not it's wise to go at problems around here even if I'm still a baby with a lot of my powers. I guess I concluded it was more a thing of strength in numbers, but...I'm proud enough to say that I wish I did have more practice in turn. I'm working on things," she shrugs.

"No need to get cancer along with all these shadowy creatures, huh?" Leila returns with a wicked grin before she tucks the cigarette above her ear like a pencil. No need to light it up now since Ariadne is allergic. "Oh man, if you figure out how to use it, let me know. Or, if you need help let me know too. I think it'll be good to practice, especially now that the nightmares seem....a little more real. Ava suggested what I could do and I have yet to figure out how to do it, only managed one in my Dream. I would love to see if I can access them on this side of reality," just saying those words are enough to cause her to pause a bit in disbelief before shaking her head. She flashes the barista another smile, "so we can help each other out, make us stronger."

"I think that's a great idea, actually," the barista replies. "I can think of a few places where it would be safe to practice and I'd be happy to sort of...blunder around with you?" Ariande laughs as they reach the door separating the short hallway from the waiting room proper. "If you'll give me your number, I'll text you when I've got some free time? I'm about ninety-nine percent sure you've got the busier schedule than me here. I just serve coffee."

Ariadne shrugs again. Samwise, paused at her side, looks between the two women. His tail sweeps back and forth slow and uncertainly. Why did we pause?

"But yeah, offer's extended if you want? We've all got to have each other's backs around here. This bullshit Veil business is nothing to mess with, but I'll be damned if we get caught with our proverbial pants down." A beat. "If you know what I mean," the redhead then laughs.

"Yes! That would be perfect," Leila returns brightly before she tilts her head in the direction of the reception. "You can also usually find me here or at the shelter, too," she grins. "I practically live here at this point. I'm lucky Flower doesn't find it too objectionable considering she plays with some of the friendlier dogs most of the days." One last scratch for Samwise before she leads them out. "Also if you need someone to help, uh, make you or anyone you know 'feel better', let me know. I'll be more than willing to help out in that sense too," she bobs her head encouragingly before flashing a smile at Ariadne. "Thanks for stopping by, and for, well, being welcoming in this city, god knows we need it."