((Closed starter for @connoroverthehill))
The fact that Seneca was awake as early as she was straddled the line between agitating the woman and a sheer miracle. She wasn’t certain if it was the radiance of the sun or the fact that she lived with a perpetual hangover that made the light of early day feel like it cut straight through her, but her perpetually squinting expression as she made her way toward the hardware store had easily brought on a headache in the first three or four minutes of her walk.
Her slim hand dropped from shielding her eyes to the assaulting brightness of the clear day to pat on the pocket of her worn out jeans checking that the loose change she brought with her was still in her front pocket. It felt a special flavor of pathetic that she was only on the way back to the store to buy the last few washers and bolts she needed to work on a set prop because she’d found enough spare change in the booths and lounge chairs at work or shining up at her from the sidewalk to afford the incredibly cheap materials. Maybe next time she would just steal the items—or a literal, single dollar from the bartender’s tips--that seemed like the easier option.
Seneca had made it to the park, which was well over halfway to where she was going, but every bone in her body told her the better idea was to just go home and wash a pill down with whatever mini sized liquor body she could find first and call it a day until she went to work. The increasing throbbing in her head made it difficult enough to maintain the motivation to put one foot in front of the other as she traversed the sidewalk, but somehow, she stuck with her resolve. She did not, however, recognize the small dog playing in the adjacent grassy area with what could be assumed to be its owner.
A green-yellow tennis ball rolled just before her, and before it could be to concerning that she’d step on the ball and suffer a fall, her footfall met with the side of the dog. The animal let out a little huff of indignity but was altogether fine. She’d been walking slowly, the force of the contact she made with the animal barely anything more than a nudge. But the woman seemed suddenly roused from somewhere deep in her mind as she looked around a bit with a sense of confusion before looking at the dog just below her. It took her a moment to figure out why it didn’t look quite right—it only had three legs.
“Just kicked a three-legged dog?” she mumbled, shifting her weight from one hip to the other. “That probably seals the will I/won’t I go to hell debate.” She rubbed her cheek for a second before looking around to try to make sure no one had seen, but with Connor’s proximity it was obvious her collision with the dog had not gone unnoticed.