Pressing his hands to his hips, Vaughn let out a small scoff of amusement as Comrade bolted after his stick. Had Chelsea come here alone, he might have been annoyed by the interruption. But the dog’s company kept him entertained. He worked with animals, but he was just doing housekeeping at the time, cleaning out the stalls, so the chance to have an animal’s company was admittedly a bit distracting. Usually he was very on-task, which was why it seemed that it would be okay if he took a little break… And the dog was so cute.
He leaned down and stroked the sheltie’s head, then gently ruffling his fur before picking the stick back up again. He walked to the barn’s doors and smirked back at the dog, shaking the stick to draw him over before flinging it across the field. If he wanted to play, Vaughn would play.
To be honest, if the horses did need any attention, there was a good chance the young man would keep his mouth shut. He worked here because he loved working with animals. He wasn’t about to hand that opportunity over to a stranger– But he was pretty sure someone else was already taking care of the horses anyway.
“Horses are beautiful animals,” he agreed in a mumble, walking back towards Chelsea and offering out a hand to take the bowl. He then walked along the wall of the barn, coming to a spigot and crouching down to fill up the plastic bowl. Afterwards, he set the bowl down close to where the brunette stood.
“You can’t care too much about being dirty, doin’ this sort of work.” As he said this, he looked down at his clothes, which were quite dark. He just felt more comfortable in darker clothes, but the color also helped to hide stains. Her mention of not being bothered by it spiked a bit of curiosity in him. Did she do the same kind of work he did? “… What do you do? For work. I mean.”
The smile on Chelsea’s face only grew wider as she watched the way the younger man handled her dog. She had always loved seeing how people interacted with Comrade, as she felt she learned a lot about a person’s personality that way. She herself was the type that couldn’t walk passed a dog without stopping, so when she met others like herself, it was hard not to at least somewhat like them from the get go. Even if they were quiet.
In this case, she was also being quiet, for the most part. Simply observing him and Comrade until she went searching for the water dish. Once he’d taken it from her, her eyes wandered toward the horse barn thoughtfully, “Mm... They’re my favorite animal. Except for dogs, of course.” as she said this, Comrade came skidding toward them, still carrying the stick until he saw the water dish. He trotted after Vaughn and then laid down the stick to drink out of his dish, his tail wagging back and forth excitedly. The scene made Chelsea chuckle softly as she watched her dog, but her blue eyes glanced back up at Vaughn when he spoke.
“No, I wouldn’t think so.” she replied simply, kneeling down next to Comrade then and running her hands through his fur. The dog turned and jumped at her, slopping water all down her as he tried to lick her face. She simply laughed, trying to brush the dirt free from her shirt and then just giving up. The sheltie quickly hopped back down and returned to his stick, which he yet again brought over to Vaughn instead. “So you get the water all over me and then bring him the stick, huh? Traitor...” she mumbled under her breath, giving her head an amused shake.
Chelsea was a bit surprised by his question as she pulled herself back up, wiping more dirt off of her jeans before giving up on it. “You might be surprised, but I’m actually a business owner. I own The Underground Nightclub on Leuda.” she rubbed the back of her neck, feeling strangely weird about talking about it in this situation. “I wish I owned a place like this, but... Maybe someday. For now I just come bug Georgia when I need my animal fix. Are you looking to get a farm of your own by any chance?”