OCV

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

Nora looked at her forgotten lunch, and packed most of it back up. 

“Asta was one of those yappy dogs. A good dog, tell ya the truth, but a yappy one none the less when he really got something in ‘em. The shelter should be able to give you plenty of advice. All dogs are kinda unique. They’re like people, with their own personalities.”

She shook her head, smiling, “Any sort of pet in the lab and we’d have plenty of problems with that. Not with just the animal mind you, but with people too. PETA and all the animal welfare groups. Swear we’d be testing on them, but we don’t. Least, the lab I work at, we don’t do that.” There was a pause before she added, “I’m a chemist.”

[owencv-blog]

“Biochemist, or inorganic?” he asked, a little absently as he noted down her comments about dogs and personalities. He was going to have to keep that in mind. 

“I’m going to guess you’re not a fan of animal testing, then,” he said, looking over at her, then noticing what she was doing. “Ah. Lunch break is over, I take it.”

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

Nora watched him, “Most cities have you register a dog, yes. License and registration, as if they were guns,” she shook her head as if she found the idea to be ludicrous. “The shelter usually has all that information. And definitely shots.”

She looked past Owen’s shoulder, getting a view of the rest of the park before shrugging, “That’s a difficult question there. Some dogs might prefer a leash. The thing is, a well trained dog won’t strain against the leash, they should actually walk next to you, since you’re alpha dog, so to speak. Some dogs, the poorly socialized ones, like harnesses though.”

She grinned as he mentioned never owning a plant, “Not any more, no. Used to have a little Jack Russell terrier growing up. Went by the name of Asta. I spend so much of my time alone, or at the lab, I’d feel guilty leaving the poor creature alone most of the time. So no, I don’t even have a plant myself. Just me and my chemicals.”

[owencv-blog]

"Hey, you get a cranky Pomeranian after you, you might wish the owner'd got it registered," he said without cracking a smile. "It's always the little yappy ones that fool you. Going to have to seriously think about a harness. I'll ask the shelter for advice to start with."

He nodded, entering the information as quickly as she gave it to him, concentrating as intently as if he was back in a mission briefing, then looked over at her. "Lab? I'm gonna guess you don't have the kind of job that'd let you take a pet to work either." 

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

“They have shelters for pedigree dogs too, but if you’re not carin’ about looks and such, a shelter dog will do ya just fine. There’s lot of shelters in the area. They’ll be able to pair ya up with a good dog.”

Nora had all but forgotten her lunch now as she watched Owen pull out his smartphone, “It might be the time of the year, you adopt a dog and they’ll give ya a bed and a couple a cans to get started. Definitely gonna need food, and a bed if you don’t want it lyin’ on your furniture. Chew toy, maybe a few others. Depends on the age of the dog I think. If you end up with an older dog, they won’t be so rambunctious as if you got a puppy. A vet too. Case the dog gets sick, but if you take proper care of it, just annual check ups.”

[owencv-blog]

Owen nodded, changed to another app, and typed notes in as quickly as she made suggestions. "Dog bed, a leash, and... registration? You have to do registrations, right, and shots?"

He looked out over the park, focusing on the pet owners. Maybe not a leash. "A harness," he said aloud. "Better for the dog, easier on the neck?" He glanced at her quickly. 

"Never even owned a plant, let alone a pet," he admitted, "so thanks for the advice. You said your family had a dog. You don't have one, yourself?"

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

Nora sat back into the bench, giving a small wave to the dog as the pair went away. 

“Four legs over two legs? I’d certainly say so.” She nodded as she picked up her apple, finished the last few bites and tossed the core into her paper bag. 

“Most dogs are good company. If you’ve never had one before, best to get an older dog. They’ve usually been trained to behave, not cause so much trouble. Unless you’re lookin’ for a challenge. In which case, a puppy’s a pretty good one. A challenge I mean. Almost like kids, havin’ to raise ‘em up right.” 

[owencv-blog]

"A shelter dog," he said decisively, even though he hadn't thought much about it until now, "maybe a dog that nobody else wanted. I don't need a pedigree and I don't care what it looks like."

He pulled his smartphone out. "Gotta be a shelter somewhere in the area, right? And a pet store. Gonna need a bed, stuff like that. Dog food. Chew toy?"

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

The woman laughed as the dog came bounding up to her. She leaned back over again rubbing it’s head, it’s body. She seemed quite comfortable with dogs.

“No worry, no worry!” Nora told the college student. “I had a dog growin’ up. I know what they can be like.”  She looked down at the dog, “You were winnin’ boy! You were winnin’! I had good money ridin’ on you!” Nora grinned and winked at the college student.

She sat back up and looked at Owen, “Does this mean the game’s forfeit? Who wins in this case?”

[owencv-blog]

Owen considered for a moment as the apologetic student tugged the dog away. 

“I’m gonna say the dog,” he said at last. “He had the advantage anyway— plus, two extra legs have to count for something, don’t they?”

Watching them continue to retreat, he added, “Maybe I should get a dog. You had one as a kid, you said— they’re good company, aren’t they?”

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

Nora broke from the reverie to sit up and look over as Owen took her hand. It felt rare to have someone actually shake her hand and so she smiled as she looked from hand to his face. Oh. Oh that was a nice face. She shook the hand, a good handshake, Nora had been taught that much, before she looked away and back at the fight between dog and man. 

She studied the college student and his surroundings, noting what Owen had picked up earlier. She shook her head and gave a low whistle, “Never would’ve noticed it myself. Course, it’s been long enough since I’ve been in school. I think I’m on your side Mr. Vallenberg. That dog’s gonna win.”

She smiled brightly, sitting up straight, “Go dog, go!” she cheered.

[owencv-blog]

She had a good, strong grasp. Automatically, he noted the absence of weapon-made calluses.

--and as soon as she called out encouragement to the dog, it immediately changed course, wagging happily, tongue flapping, and scooting to a stop at Nora's feet, wiggling with happiness.

"Sorry, sorry!" the kid yelled, running after his pet.

Owen just smiled, being careful to keep his hand away from the narrow-blade knife in his inner jacket pocket. "No problem," he said, nodding pleasantly, the way a normal person would.

"Looks like you've got a new buddy," he said to Ms Shaw.

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

The woman leaned forward, enough to place her elbows on her knees as she watched the man versus dog battle for a few more seconds, trying to get an idea on who she thought would win. 

“I dunno. That dog does seem awfully feisty, but the kid looks like he might have some spunk left in ‘em. Less it’s mid-terms. Probably too early for mid-terms.”

She kept leaning forward, kept watching the “war” as she threaded her right arm underneath her left and stuck it out towards the man, “Nora Shaw.” she introduced.

[owencv-blog]

"Too early for mid-terms," he agreed, "but not too early to be hungover. Look at him, he's got circles under his eyes half-way down his face, his hands are shaking, his eyes are bloodshot, and he's got a liter bottle of water next to his gear. Kid overdid the PBR last night. Dog's got the edge."

A normal person would shake hands, say their name.

It took him a second to remember which name.

"Owen Vallenberg," he said, as he took her hand.

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

[norashaw]

Nora shook her head as she watched the guy play with his dog. She covered her mouth as she laughed, finding the college student’s antics hilarious. She set her apple down on her paper bag and as she did so, noticed the man who was watching the “war” unfold. 

Nora scooted over on the bench, and then patted the spot next to her, “Hey Mister, come on and rest yourself for a while. I don’t bite.” She offered with a smile. 

[owencv-blog]

A normal person would say, "Okay, thanks" and sit down.

So he said, "Thanks, I will," and sat down nearer the edge than the woman. "Who you think's gonna win that battle? I'm betting on the dog, myself. Looks like he's got more energy, and I bet the kid's already half burned-out."

[norashaw]

Day at the Races

Bright sunny afternoon, and it was Nora’s lunch hour. With her brown paper sack in tow, she made her way to the park. She always did enjoy having her lunch underneath some shady tree. This was the season where she was still able to do that. Nora weighed her options between the grass and the bench, before finally deciding on the bench. She set herself down and began to pull out the contents of her lunch. She began with her favorite though - a bright red apple. She munched away and cheerfully watched the passers-by. It would be a fabulous afternoon, she was sure.

[owencv-blog]

So Owen had already been up for twenty hours doing absolutely nothing useful, just sitting in front of a turned-off TV trying to think of something, anything that didn't sound like a total waste of time.

(It doesn't escape his notice that the last 20 hours haven't exactly been productive.)

He figured walking was at least physically useful, so he got his ass up off the couch and out the door and moving, and for the first time in a while, he didn't feel like a total idiot as he stalked down the street, and even though leaving the house without a gun made him a little twitchy, he was still armed, so it was all okay.

He kept going, and he got more than halfway into the park before he stopped near a bench where a woman was having lunch to watch a college-age guy playing tug-of-war with his dog. It was completely and totally normal, and "normal" was so far from anything Owen knew about that all he could do was just watch for a while.

[owencv-blog]

New Page

So it was over. He'd hung up his holster, ditched his old clients, and settled down in the apartment in Manhattan. He'd never really thought it was going to happen, he'd been sure that he would end up face down and forgotten somewhere. But he'd lived through it all-- the firefights, the fistfights, the bullets and the blades, and now... now that it was all over and he was alive, he didn't know what to do.

What kind of life was he going to build? And who was he going to build it with?

Hell, after a lifetime of undercover work, black ops, and flat-out lies, he wasn't sure what he liked or who he was anymore.

Well. Only way to learn was to get in there and start doing....