stargazing

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Jennifer got out of her truck, surveying the area before going to the truck bed. There were a couple high schoolers around a fire at one end of the field, but there was plenty of space for her to be along. She climbed up into the truck, unclipping her red and tan Doberman from the harness. While most people just stuck their dogs in the back of their trucks, Jennifer would take no chances. Sasha nearly knocked her over in her excitement, and Jennifer thought again how smart she was. She was lucky Sasha didn't leap out of the car when she saw someone. Jennifer climbed out of the car, lifting the trim Doberman out after her. As soon as she was set down, Sasha took off toward the teens and fire, nearly ripping Jennifer's arm out of socket. How do you win shows? Jennifer asked in frustration. Somehow, the dog knew she she was supposed to perform, and did it well. Her behavior anytime else was a huge pain.

Sasha. The curt command brought the wiggling dog to her side, only to jump on her human. Oof. I should not have brought you, dear. She slipped a choke chain around Sasha's neck, grabbing her blanket and walking in the opposite direction as the kids. Sasha resisted at first, but eventually fell in step right beside Jennifer. There ya go, girl. Jennifer found a sufficiently dark spot and spread her blanket out, spreading out on top of it. Sasha sniffed around a bit before settling down snuggled close to Jennifer. The Dobie's head was up, her cropped ears perked erect and keeping track of their surroundings. While Sasha played the part of a super friendly dog, she had the typical Doberman protective instincts. Jennifer never went anywhere at night without Sasha, or one of her newer Dobermans. They gave her an air of protection to her, and she felt safe going out by herself. She settled in with a sigh, gray-blue eyes searching out the old familiar constellations she could find from anywhere.

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Randle, as usual, had no particular plan. He was just driving around town when the flicker of orange through the trees caught his eye, and of course he'd dumped his truck at the side of the road and fought he way through the thin strand of trees to see what was going on. Trailing behind him, unleashed and looking nervously at the shadowy branches, was a skinny mutt that had been following him ever since Randy'd shared a bit of his sandwich with him the previous summer. A scrawny, nervous, mud-colored dog of indiscriminate breed, he didn't even have a proper name, mostly because Randy had never gotten around to giving him one. So, he was just Dog, which couldn't matter less to him, because he was well-fed and a lot healthier now than ever, and he'd found a human he could trust.

"C'mon then, Dog, let's see what all this ruckus is about." Dog was lingering behind, once bitten twice shy and quite a bit nervous of the fire ahead. Randy finally emerged from the undergrowth to find the few high schoolers turning to give him a confused look. He grinned, chuckled deep in his throat, and started walking the other way. "Not our type of crowd, I don't think," he chortled, a laugh in his throat. It was at this point that Dog caught sight of Sasha, across the field and coming from the opposite direction, and his ears perked right up. He lingered nervously behind Randle's leg, but was sniffing at the other dog, trying to learn who she was, if he'd smelled her before, the kind of things that dogs want to know. Randle saw where he was looking and looked at Jennifer with a grin, "Why hullo there. Lovely night for a walk, isn't it? Say, that's a nice dog you've got there, a Doberman, right?" It was in his nature to go on with this sort of silly chit-chat, and this was no exception, he was as loquacious with complete strangers as ever.

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Jennifer sighed softly, content. Wile many saw the night as something to fear, she embraced it. Then again, she lived pretty far out in the country where the scariest thing at night was a coyote or a bear. Sasha and her friends had chased many a coyote from Jennifer's land who was clever enough to get over or under or what have you the fence. Her Dobermans were clever, so she had had to make the fence extra safe. They had free rein on her land, but she had reserved a couple acres for dogs in heat or dogs that needed to be separate from the rest. Not that she had much to worry about now, with such few dogs. Sasha was the dog she'd had the longest, and thus her companion most often.

She felt her heart leap to her throat as Sasha stood, quietly. The dog was assessing the stranger who had just arrived, or else she would have ripped the leash from Jennifer's hand in greeting. While Dobermans could be as friendly as Sasha, some of them could be aloof and agressive to strangers. Sasha had an interesting balence, although when excitement was taken out of the picture, she was the perfect Dobie standard. Sasha wagged her tail at the other dog, but didn't go into her exuberance as she would have with a person she knew.

There's rarely a night that goes by that isn't good for some wandering. she said with a smile. She scratched Sasha's shoulders, reassuring her the stranger was okay. She knew Sasha wouldn't take her for her word, and would stay on alert until he had been around a few times. Yep, a fine specimen of one too. Meet Champion Lady's Diamond, also known as Sasha. She sent a smile to his dog, obviously a mutt. He still looked a little like he lived on his own, but she was sure he shared some loyalty with the man, or else he wouldn't be so close to humans.

She had closely watched Sasha those first couple of minutes, and now she took the time to look at the man who stood before her. Her heart gave an involuntary flutter; he was the kind of guy you would see on the cover of a magazine. He was tall, too, tall enough that even if she had been standing up she would have had to look up to look him in the eye. While she enjoyed wearing heels, sometimes she wished she was taller, could be on equal level with others. Then again, her perfect guy would be taller than her. She wasn't sure why that was a requirement, it just was. His features were still shadowed in the dark, but she wasn't sure she would be able to keep her concentration if he had been in the full light, so she thanked the stars that there was only a bit of light.

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Dog watched Sasha warily until he was quite sure that she wasn't going to attack him or anything of the sort, then took a few steps closer and stretched out his neck, sniffing at her muzzle in greeting. Randle laughed. "Don't mind him, he wouldn't hurt a fly. Would you, you yellow-bellied son uva gun?" but he said it with such affection that it was clear he was mostly joking. Randle was mostly joking about almost everything he said, it was just part of his nature. He reached over and scratched behind Dog's ear, and the canine looked up at him, tongue lolling out, with a similar emotion. Even if Dog was half-feral and afraid of most people, he was loyal to a tee and his "owner" was fond of him. He didn't wear a leash, but he did have on a thin leather collar with his rabies tag and identification jangling about on it.

"Yup, I'm inclined to agree with you there. Nice little place here, though, it's far enough away from the city that you can see the stars..." he looked up at them, grinning. They were clear against a dark blue sky, clearer than they were on the other side of the town, nearest the city. There, light pollution seeped across the edges, tinting them light pinkish-orange and obscuring the twinkle and flash of the stars. "Oh, look. Make a wish." His finger traced the path of a shooting star, faint but still visible against the transparent white veil of the milky way. It vanished beneath the treeline almost as soon as it had appeared, leaving no trace at all except the memory of it. That was one reason he'd never liked cities much... no shooting stars to make wishes on when you needed a wish.

"A champion, eh? Well you sure look the part, Miss Sasha," he said, directing his gaze to the Doberman, "I'm afraid Dog here doesn't have near so high of accolades... Or such a fine name." He chuckled a little deep in his throat, almost apologetically. Dog finally got the pluck up to trot over to Sasha, sinking down in a play bow with his tail wagging and his tongue hanging out. He wasn't impatient about it, merely showing his general friendliness to the world and that he was, in fact, very much a normal dog after his first flashes of timidity. Randy laughed at him.

He shifted his gaze to meet Jennifer's again and suddenly a look came over his face. "Oh, dear, I've been terribly rude, haven't I?" He laughed, though, more at himself than anything else, throwing his hands up, "I'm Randle Fitzsaxby, I just arrived here from the next little town over. Pleasure to meet you, miss, you can call me Randy or Mac like everyone else does." He extended his hand, still grinning out of habit and at his own absent-mindedness. He'd honestly forgotten to introduce himself, which happened more often than he cared to acknowledge. He tended to get so wrapped up in the business of palavering that little courtesies such as that slipped his mind. "Funny story about Mac, actually. My family started calling me that after the dog, as it were. A good dog, too, I suppose... I don't hardly remember him, anyhow."

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As the dog drew nearer, Sasha barked, wagging her tail harder while still keeping an eye out on the guy. Silly doofus. Jennifer whispered into the Dobie's ear, which only made the stubby tail wag harder. Because Sasha would be so cautious with the new guy around, Jennifer knew she would be obedient off leash. She left the dog's harness on, but took off the choke collar and leash she had brought the dog over with. Sasha didn't move at first, staying at her owner's side. I have to say, Sasha would probably hurt someone or some dog attacking me, but she definitely wouldn't hurt anything otherwise. she told him, a twinkle in her eye. Sasha was one of her gentlest dogs, even in her play with the other dogs she was careful not to bite them hard enough for them to hurt, let alone hard enough to leave marks.

She just smiled at his comments, agreeing wholeheartedly. She definitely wasn't a city girl, but wasn't much of a country girl either. She definitely preferred the country, and thus that's where she had landed. She was still young, but she knew what she wanted in life. Dogs like Sasha held her heart, and having one of her dogs take Best of Breed always sent a thrill through her heart. She took a breath when he pointed out the shooting star, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin in them. The age old wish to have a boyfriend ran through her head before she could stop it, and by the time she thought of her dogs the star was gone. Great. I just wished for a boyfriend on a shooting star with a guy standing right there. She cleared her face of the expression of annoyance, hoping he didn't ask what it was for or perhaps, even notice it.

Sasha looked unblinkingly into the man's eyes, taking the warm tone and, slowly, wagging her tail a little at him. Jennifer laughed. I didn't name her, by the way. I did come up with Sasha, but she was 'Lady's Diamond' when I bought her. At the playful gesture from the other dog, Sasha sank into her own play stance, freezing for just a moment before leaping at the other dog and spinning to race away. While Dobermans were stiff, stately dogs, they were still quite fast and agile. Jennifer chuckled at Sasha, knowing how her dogs could run all over her property in play. Sasha was already using all of the half of the field near Jennifer.

She gave a light-hearted chuckle as he rectified his wrong. You weren't rude, we were just breaking the ice before we got to the names. Then she laughed. Well, apparently the dog's names are more important, seeing as we know each other's dog's names, and not each other's. I'm Jennifer Clark. She reached up and shook his proffered hand, sinking back down on her blanket in a cross legged position. You're welcome to join me, she said, patting the blanket beside her, although Sasha will probably come over to inspect you. She smiled as he explained his nickname. You could almost say people call me after my dog's name. she replied, deadpan. I am a lady. She looked at him with a serious expression, the twinkle in her eye belying her humor.

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Randle watched the doberman as Jennifer talked about her, clearly very proud to be her owner. She was a beautiful dog... Beautiful owner, too, if he was being honest with himself. He generally was about these things, but then again weeds were among the things he considered beautiful. He chuckled when she barked, watching the stump of her tail wag happily. He liked to see a dog wagging it's tail. If he had a tail it'd be wagging all the time. "That's a good girl, then, protecting your owner," he said. He looked around, taking in the rest of the field, the little path leading out... It'd probably be good, he figured, to see where that went sometime. It didn't look like a much-beaten trail, but certainly more worn and comfortable than the thorny woodland journey he'd taken. It was funny, really, how he'd thought there might be an actual fire of some sort, not the spitting bonfire that stayed tame enough.

Dog barked when Sasha jumped towards him, tail wagging furiously, and then bounded after her across the field, tearing up the ground. He was long-bodied and agile enough, but no match for the powerful doberman who was bred for speed and power. Still, he kept on her tail, wheeling around and trying to cut her off playfully. He wasn't rough in play, not really. He'd lunge forward in mock battle and prance about and wheel and even growl a bit, but it was never with anger or aggression. Randy, watching with a lopsided grin on his face, knew this well enough and wasn't particularly worried that the dogs would hurt each other. It set his mind at ease that Dog was fixed, too, he wouldn't want to be responsible for a champion giving birth to a litter of enigmatic half-mutts.

"Well, I didn't name him, either, clearly," Randy said, laughing; "never got around to it, I guess. I got to calling him Dog and it just stuck, I suppose. Oh well." He stopped watching the gamboling dogs and turned to look at her, that funny grin still on his face. His ma had always said that he only had one expression and it was smiling, and this was generally accurate. Especially on a night like this, there was nothing to be worried about. Of course, he had to find a job still, and figured he'd go around to the local farms tomorrow to see who needed help with the harvest, but he wasn't too worried about that. "Pleased you meet you then, Jennifer.

"Don't mind if I do. And trust me, I don't mind that at all. I love dogs, if you can't tell," he laughed. Of course, it was fairly obvious at this point that he did, what with the scrawny mutt following him around and his instant attraction to Sasha. He sat down on the blanket, legs stretched out to their full length and leaning back slightly, resting on his arms. He laughed at her little joke. "That you certainly are, and a beautiful lady too, if you don't mind me sayin'. People don't say these things enough, in my opinion." He was a twinkle in hie eye, but he wasn't really flirting so much as speaking his mind. He was good at speaking his mind, he didn't know how to speak any other way.

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Jennifer smiled at Sasha, and shrugged at his comment. Comes with the Doberman's breeding. she replied. Most of her dogs, given time to bond with her, would do the same. Whether they would ever be very friendly to strangers depended on the dog, but once someone was around long enough to be family, they got the same protection as the owner.

Sasha ran and ran, but was considerate enough to let Dog get close to her every now and then, especially when she would slip on the slightly damp grass or at a dip in the ground and would have to recover a couple strides (or get back up again, with the usual Doberman dignity). She launched a couple mock battles where she would stop dead in her tracks and pant to recover breath, while glaring a challenge to Dog. Her tail wagged the whole time, betraying her fierce stare.

Jennifer laughed with him on that count, 'Dog' not being the most creative thing she could think of. He seemed to be a nice dog, certainly putting up with Sasha well. While Dobermans were her breed, she still appreciated a good mutt. She was very careful with her dogs, knowing that there were so many dogs without homes out there. She never bred a litter without people interested in puppies, and an intention to better the breed. She occasionally volunteered at the town's animal shelter, and she knew the plight of the species. Now, cats were a bit worse off, but dogs were far more popular and thus had more dogs abandoned than cats, who developed feral communities.

She smiled as he accepted her offer to sit, and sure enough, as soon as Sasha saw him coming closer to Jennifer, she made a beeline over there. She stiffly sniffed his legs, chest, and face. Seeming fairly satisfied with her inspection, she sat on Jennifer's other side, at least until Dog came to tempt her away to play more. You're predictable, you. Jennifer affectionately told the pointed ears. Sasha wagged her tail at Jennifer's voice, but kept her eyes on Dog.

She couldn't stop a blush at his compliment, knowing she was pretty, but, like he said, not used to hearing people say it. The frank gazes she got told her enough, but the quiet compliments got to her. Well, thank you. She tried to keep her voice even, but was a bit afraid she squeaked at the end there. She drew her knees up to her chest again, hugging them to her chest.

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Randle sat up a little more, drawing his legs up closer so that he sat with them crossed like an Indian chief, and turned half way so that he was facing Jennifer. "How long have you lived here?" he asked, frankly curious, "See, I just arrived... uh... this morning, technically, so it'd be nice to get some perspective on what the town is like, you know. Though it doesn't seem that different from most places I've been." Something in his tone suggested that he'd been a lot of places, which was true. He'd been maundering about the country since he was eighteen, and it didn't bother him.

He stayed pretty still while Sasha was sniffing him, knowing better than to reach up and try to pet her. She'd probably run off if he did that, or at least be a little more wary of him in the future. Still, he was perfectly relaxed about the whole business, letting Sasha get to know him in the way dogs get to know people, and not at all concerned about the rest. When dog came to lure her away he laughed. "Hey, now, boy, we were jus' getting acquainted over here," he said, as they wheeled away over the grass.

Dog joined in all the mock battles, making little snuffling growls that were about as fierce as a sheep baaing. After a time, though, he got tired and trotted back over to the blanket, where he sat behind Randle and smelled Jennifer from a distance. Apparently satisfied, he flopped down on the picnic blanket and laid there with his head on his paws. Randy laughed and scratched behind his ears. "Lazy boy," he mumbled, just a sweet nothing for the most part, and Dog's long tail slapped the ground at his voice.

"Hey, now, are you alright?" He asked, when he looked over again and saw her hugging her knees. He'd heard the little rise at the end of her voice. "Aw, shucks, no need to be embarrassed, Jennifer. I didn't mean nothin' by it." His eyebrows creased slightly, giving him a perplexed look that pretty much defined his line of thought. He had a pretty open face when he wasn't playing five card stud or Texas Hold-em or any of the miscellaneous card games that he was so fond of.

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She smiled at his question, and then at the ensuing commentary. Wow, you haven't been here long. She thought about it for a second. It's going on a month that I've been here. I've taken that time to get my dogs and I settled on my land, and am just now venturing out into the town. So, I haven't been here much longer than you, but I don't have a lot to tell you. she said with a smile.

She smiled at Sasha as she accepted Randy, and then took off after Dog. She was glad Sasha was taking steps toward letting Randy into her circle, but she knew it would take longer than she would want. She giggled at Randy's comment, knowing Sasha could be as flighty as the next girl. If it hadn't been Dog, it would have been something else.

Sasha played the role of fierce quite well, but she looked utterly lost when Dog got tired and went back to his master. She walked over to Jen, but made a beeline to Dog to try to tempt him to play more. Sasha, c'mere. The Dobie obeyed, sitting at her side and panting in her face. Leave him alone, he's a tired puppy. And stop breathing on me. she told her, pushing her head away. Sasha looked up at Randy and panted in his face for a second before laying down and laying her head delicately on her paws. Sasha, dear, you are not nearly as stately as you pretend to be. Jennifer mussed with the dog's ears, and Sasha wagged her tail and took a deep breath, probably beginning to doze.

She smiled at him after he spoke. You better not take it back. she told him playfully, not managing to make the heat leave her cheeks. It was the oddest place to be having these kinds of conversations. They were sitting in a beautiful meadow across from some teenagers, with a bright, starry sky, alone with their dogs. She could honestly say she had never been in this situation before.

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He grinned, "Oh, that's a bit of a permanent state for me, you see. Or at least it has been. I don't tend to stay in one place for very long," he seemed to contemplate this evanescent state for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip, "Eh, that's alright with me. Do you breed dobermans as a living?" He was being frank, curious. He didn't know much, as it were, about the competitive side of dog showing. He did know that a well-bred dog was probably worth more than him. He reached down and patted behind Dog's ears some more. Oh well, it didn't matter much to him how much he was worth.

Dog, for his part, looked up and wagged his tail a few times when Sasha came to try and get him to play. But he'd gotten nice and comfortable on the blanket and was loathe to leave it now, so he just put his head on his paws and looked at her placidly, panting. It looked almost as if he was grinning. After some time he sat up and gave Jennifer another wary look before sniffing closely at her legs, timidly, ready to flinch if she showed any annoyance or violence or the like, but since she didn't he was satisfied and laid back down against Randy's leg.

Sasha was not near so jumpy, she was more outgoing, and Randle laughed at her antics. "Woo-ee, girl. A little spitfire if I ever saw one. And with such fresh breath," he laughed, the later comment laced with sarcasm but not bitter at all. He stopped short when Sasha settled down like such a delicate little flower, "but a proper lady indeed, of course, Miss Sasha. I'd never suggest anything else." He shifted his gaze back up to Jennifer, leaving the dogs to be dogs for a minute. No doubt Dog would feel refreshed in a moment and they'd go off chasing one another again, but for now there was a tenuous peace, a sort of panting, tail-wagging silence.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of taking it back, that'd be lying and I try not to lie... 'cept when I'm playing cards, of course," he had that goofy lop-sided grin on his face again. He'd probably just embarrassed her, he decided, because people weren't used to having complete strangers tell them that they were beautiful. As for Randy, he'd rather them know how he thought of them than not know. He fell quiet then, too, an unusual occurrence for him, and looked up, at the stars, at the trees standing sentry all around. It was a beautiful place, and he was struck with the forceful idea - an idea he hadn't entertained for very long or very often in his life - that he didn't want to leave, this place or this town.

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She couldn't really understand not having roots. It wasn't like her. While she had moved a couple times in her life, she had decided to stay here indefinitely. She had found the perfect spot for her Dobies, and that was one of the main requirements for her to stay. Friends were a close second, but as one of her first nights out was proving, she didn't think she had to worry about that. That I do. Sasha's one of the females I'm using to start my own lines. I haven't skimped on my foundation dogs, as you can tell by this beauty right here. She and her pups would probably be stars at agility if I had the time or money to pay someone to teach her and show her. I'm more focused on breeding and then showing them in Conformation, but dual champions would be further incentive to buy my dogs instead of the next guy's. She paused, thinking that over. After her next litter, she'd have to invest in something like that. She had just proven to herself she probably needed to. She smiled at his running commentary with Sasha, knowing she had more than once done something similar.

She chuckled. I admit, I haven't played much cards. I definitely wouldn't know the difference. She tentatively stretched out her legs, and Sasha switched positions to her side, putting her back up against Jennifer's leg with a contented sigh. Jennifer followed Randy's cue, raising her eyes to the sky in her original trip goal. She could drown in the sky, knowing she was seeing light that was millions of years old in some cases. It boggled her mind, knowing how old the light trickling down at her was. The moon wasn't very big, and as the night grew older, it grew darker. The noise from around the campfire got quieter by the hour, so she knew some of the teens were trickling away, beck to warm, safe beds. She had looked forward to being alone, but she had to admit, having Randy's company felt good. And of course, Dog made the quartet complete.

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Randle had never had roots, or if he did they ran too deep and stretched too far to tether him anywhere. He had friends in the world, of course he did, he was too outgoing and all-embracing not to, but he felt no particular loyalty to anyone but himself. Staying bored him, in truth, and most of the time he wasn't able to stay. He figured that he hadn't lived in one place for a year since he was eighteen. "No, you sure haven't. She's one good lookin dog," he chuckled, leaning back on his arms and his legs stretched out as far as they could go. If Jennifer was compact, with her legs crossed and not taking much room, Randle was gigantic, with his deep voice and apparent inability to talk and laugh quietly. "Well she's certainly spry enough for that, and I guess she's got energy to spare. I've never worked much with dogs, to be honest, we had a hound or two when I was just a kid, but.... None of that showing stuff, though I always was fascinated by the stuff people can get their dogs to do."

Dog huffed beside him, a little sigh, and then decided he'd had enough of a rest and got up, stretching with his tongue hanging out and his back arching. "Never played cards?" Randle asked, not so much incredulous as simply curious, "Well we'll have to fix that one o' these days, although I reckon you wouldn't want to cut your teeth against an old cardsharp like me." He grinned, that same lopsided goofy look as before, and then went back to trying to put names to constellations. The only one he knew was Orion, and he could only find it because of the dead straight line of stars that made up his belt. He knew people had told him about others before, but his memory failed him now. He looked over at the campfire, now low on the wood, dwindling as the people around it seeped away. As the noise died, he could hear the crickets and frogs in the wood, carrying on with their symphony, and the distant burble of a brook cutting somewhere through the underbrush. And for once, he was quiet, listening to the sounds of the night begin all around him.

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She smiled, a compliment to one of her dogs going straight to her heart as if it was a compliment to herself. Thank you. She rubbed the red dog head affectionately, bursting with her love of the dog and admiration of the breed. She was most definitely a dog person. She smiled as he spoke again. I love all the sports you can do, and how obedient those dogs are. I specialize in conformation, but I want my dogs to be able to be working dogs too if someone wants that. Although, there are some breeds I definitely wouldn't breed for conformation, because some breed standards have been taken so literally that the dogs are bred for things that would be considered faults in a working line of the same breed. Have you ever seen German Shepherds in the conformation ring? The way breeders have misshapen their back legs appalls me. And Bloodhounds? All that extra skin is absolutely useless! She caught herself before she went on, chuckling sheepishly. As you can see, I have a bit of a soapbox about some breeds. she said with a smile.

She laughed. Well, an expert at cards would be the best to teach a beginner, would he not? she asked. She didn't have a whole lot of interest in cards, but she had been known to be a good sport even if she wasn't good at things. If you could be competitive, she would do her best to win. But in things she just wasn't good at, it was more fun to be a cheerful loser than a sore one. She smiled at him. And I wouldn't expect to get good enough to do any winning, so you could just practice with me. she told him, grinning as she let her head fall back and absorb the night.

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He laughed again, full and brassy and unlike that rumbling chuckle that seemed to underlie everything he said. "Aha," he said with a wink, "I see complimenting the dog does a good deal more in the right direction than complimenting the owner." His fingers on one side had slid off the blanket and were knitting through the grass, a sort of restless motion that suggested his very nature. Randle was capable of being still, of being at rest and at peace with himself and the universe, but such moments were so rare that even the brightness of the moon and the way it transformed all that it touched could not instill such a state in him. He looked pensive when she spoke about what humans have done to dogs, though, "Well, I don't know much about that, to be honest. But I don't see any point in excess, it never seems to lead to anything good."

He considered her question with his head to one side and his grin to the other, a bit puppyish in effect. "I dunno about that, to be honest. Although as a general rule I try not to skin people to the point where they stop betting against me," he shifted his weight and looked back over at Dog, who was sitting beside him now with his tongue lolling out in a very good impression of his master's laughter. Randle ruffled the fur behind his ears, on the crown of his head, which didn't deter the lolling tongue or the generally contented expression. "Alright then, Miss Jennifer, you've got yourself a deal," he would have extended his hand to shake, but the movement would have been awkward from his current position, so he didn't. "So dogs I know about, any other hobbies... interests?" He was being frank, not prying, merely curious and in general considering it a good idea to get to know those around him.

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She smiled at him. You've found my weak spot. she replied, a warm, amused tone rounding out her voice. She noted his hand kneading the grass, the gesture reminding her of a high school student. He hadn't given her many signs- well, he did move around a lot. But with his looks,she could consider overlooking those signs. At least for now. She nodded at his comment, deciding to leave it at that. She could go all day about how some conformation people had it all wrong. But he wasn't a dog show person, he wouldn't know half the stuff she'd talk about.

She giggled at his comment, a sure sign she was getting a bit tired. She always got a tad loopy. Who said I'd bet against you? she asked. You're the self proclaimed expert, I'm the self proclaimed trainee. I think I'd better learn how to play before we add money in. If I get that good. She smiled as he proclaimed them a deal, and then laid back on the blanket, stretching out her legs and putting her hands behind her head, careful that one of her elbows didn't end up in his face.

Dogs are the main thing. she replied. Then she paused. You're going to think I have no life. Dogs, reading, stargazing... These are the things I love in life. She didn't add that she wanted some close friends, but he had to know that. She hadn't been here long, was just establishing her roots. And like every girl, she longed for a guy she could give her heart to without fear of it getting shattered. You? she asked, taking her time finding familiar constellations.