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om_mainPadfoot's loose in the school grounds...
Midnighter
The woods were interesting, plenty more places to roam and explore. Plenty more students and secrets to discover. Like the boy moving about kind of weirdly. Trotting over with interest, Padfoot stood between the trees and watched for a moment. Head tilted in interest he scrutinized the boy.
Midnighter was aware of the large dog that had stopped to watch him, apparently, because katas were of such fucking interest to dogs? Whatever. As long as the canine stayed the hell away, Midnighter didn't really care about it, or what it was doing on school grounds, and he just kept going through the motions. It was all about developing muscle memory.
Deciding that further investigation was in order, Padfoot trotted a little closer. Of course even in canine form Sirius noticed attractiveness and watching the boy's muscles move was fun. He plonked himself down on the forest floor to watch more comfortably.
Seriously? Midnighter came to the end of a series of moves and turned to glare at the dog. What the fuck was up with it? "Go on," he told it roughly, unsure how to even talk to an animal, and feeling pretty fucking silly for it. "Shoo!"
Yeah, like 'shooing' ever worked. Especially with someone as painfully stubborn as Sirius Black. He head tilted again as he shot him as much of a 'Really bro?' look as he could manage in dog form.
"Go the fuck away," Midnighter spelled out for the dog, more slowly, if no less grumpily.
How rude. He let out one loud bark to voice his displeasure too. Seriously, what the fuck was up with this dude? How could get anyone get so pissed off at the sight of a dog?
Midnighter made a face - one that was mostly his scowl deepening. "Go!" he repeated, more loudly this time, hoping to scare the dog as he stepped in his direction.
Instinctively, the dog started growling. A shame that the pretty boy was depressingly nasty to animals, if he got close enough he probably deserved a little nip.
Midnighter halted when the dog started growling, but did not stop glowering. If it growled, it might attack, and then he would harm it. The dog stood no chance.
"Fucking fine," he muttered to himself, and turned to head off himself. He was hoping the dog wouldn't take that as an opportunity to attack, but at least he would know if it was coming anyway.
Padfoot had decided to split anyway (any bloke, no matter how attractive, who didn't like dogs wasn't worth being around) and as soon as the boy turned away he had headed off in the opposite direction.
Felix
With the weather growing chill, Felix wouldn't have many more chances to go out to the hedge maze. Even though it wasn't terribly cold yet, he had draped a scarf around his neck and pulled on a pair of finger-less gloves before stepping outside.
Caius would have gone with him, but Felix liked the hedge maze for its quiet and its mystery, so he slipped out alone. At the entrance of the maze, he paused, reaching out to brush his fingers against one of the hedge walls. Philip had taught him how to navigate by following one wall all the way around, and it was the only way he knew to get to the little garden at the maze's center. What he probably wasn't expecting though was the canine companion that came trotting out of the woods and headed straight towards him.
On seeing the boy, Padfoot's tail started to wag a little in greeting until he was beside the kid.
Felix paused and brushed a hand over his eyes, blinking to be sure that the dog he saw coming closer was something real, and not one of his astral visions -- that's how unexpected the animal's appearance was. The dog seemed quite friendly, but Felix went very still nevertheless. He didn't know very much about animals, but he knew that, for some reason, you were supposed to let a dog sniff your hand. Very hesitantly, he stretched out his fingers, speaking almost to himself since he didn't expect the dog to understand. "Where did you come from? Are you lost? You don't look wild."
Happily the dog padded closer, taking a sniff of the hand before licking it. This boy was nice than the last, that much was obvious already. He barked once but not aggressively, more conversationally. It was him forgetting for a second that in dog form he couldn't reply.
The dog's little bark did sound like a response, enough that Felix was startled into a giggle. It was then that he noticed the dog had a collar, so he must be someone's pet. Moving slowly, Felix crouched down, and placed his hand very lightly on the dog's head to give him a gentle pat.
"Hi there. Hello," he said softly, even though there was no one around, no one to keep quiet for. Curious, he touched the little dangling disc on the pup's collar. "May I look at your tag?"
After nuzzling the hand a little more, Padfoot lifted his head a little to allow his tag to be viewed. Whilst still licking at one of the hands, between glove and sleeve he could see a glimpse of some strange markings. Not the oddest thing he'd seen that day though.
Felix smiled, relaxing further. The dog seemed really quite sweet, and terribly friendly, which meant Felix didn't need to fear it. He'd slid off one glove, and laughed quietly, because the licking tickled his skin. The leaf-and-vine markings traveled like tattoos from the first knuckle of his fingers up his wrists and arms, but there was no reason to be self-conscious in front of an animal. "Oops," Felix murmured, and fished into his pocket to pull out his glasses, and settled them on his nose before trying to make out the words on the dog's collar tag.
Without warning the dog happily flopped onto his back, showing his tummy to be scratched happily. Tail still wagging like crazy as he watched the young boy curiously.
"Is that so?" Felix laughed, before pushing his glasses up more securely and abandoning the idea of trying to figure out who his new canine friend belonged to. Though he clearly had little experience with dogs and was a bit awkward, he patted, rubbed and very lightly scratched at the pup's belly contentedly enough. He was warm and his fur was soft, and it was kind of fun to make another creature so apparently pleased. "You're just a big sweetheart, aren't you. A big silly sweetheart."
Wriggling happily and losing all dignity between the belly rubs and the tongue lolling out of his mouth, Padfoot had gone completely soppy. Human instincts could go completely out of the window from a good ole belly rubbing. Yipping happily, it took him quite some time to calm again. Eventually he got back to his feet with his tail wagging so hard that there was a rhythmic thump on the ground.
By that time, Felix was grinning broadly, more than most human people ever got to see. "I'm pleased to meet you, too! You're too sweet not to belong to somebody. Maybe they're inside?" He glanced into the maze, then back at the house. Well, he could always come back to maze later.
Padfoot licked and then lightly nipped at the boy's hand, affectionately rather than roughly. He looked up at the kid with his eyes wide and trusting, tail still wagging happily. He definitely liked this boy.
Unable to resist, Felix gave the dog another lingering pat and a scritch under his chin before hauling himself back up. "I'm going to go see if someone's looking for you in the house.
Don't you run off, now," he instructed, even though a part of him realized that the dog couldn't (or shouldn't) understand him. Unsure if he'd follow, Felix started back toward the house.
Completely uninterested in meeting up with Brian again (at least not until he'd gotten a nice thorough impression of the school for himself) Padfoot reluctantly left his new little friend. He bounded instead in the opposite direction which meant heading straight into the maze.
Penny
Penny liked the hedge maze, probably more than anywhere else in the school. What she didn't like, however, was getting lost, so she was sitting just on the outer edge of the maze like she always did, her thermos of tea in her lap as she read her book, What a Plant Knows. It was sunny, but there was a cool breeze, and she shook her sleeves of her sweater over her hands to keep them warm as she turned the page.
Padfoot was on his travels still. Saddened to have lost that nice red-headed boy but still excited to meet more new people. The maze seemed novel, a tell-tell sign that this school had not been designed to be one. More that it was designed to be an imitation of an English stately home, something he had more than a little familiarity with. Enough familiarity to know that this house was a lot newer than the design it was copying.
Once again he didn't hesitate when he saw a girl sitting and reading. Best way to investigate the school was to investigate it's students after all. He sat down beside her, leaning against her leg sociably.
Penny looked up, surprised, as the dog leaned up against her leg, but she quickly smiled. "Hey sweetie," she said, offering out a hand to sniff before petting his neck, checking for a collar. When she found the tag, she read it and turned it over, her eyebrows furrowing. "Well, I know your name, Padfoot, but nothing actually useful." She sighed and glanced around, though she was glad that there wasn't anyone looking for him. It wasn't exactly a school that was okay for people to just show up at. "Well, you can hang out with me, if you want," she said, running her hand over his back.
Turning his head so that he could rest it in her lap, his looked up at her with an obviously pleased and relaxed air, tongue lolling out of his mouth. So much affection and pettings in one day had him in a very mellow mood indeed. He had always loved being centre of attention after all.
"Aw, look at you," she said, smiling at the dog as it leaned against her. She leaned into him, burying her hand into his fur and petting him slowly. "Thanks for coming to sit with me, Padfoot," she said conversationally, kissing the top of his head. "It's nice to have some company." It was only a little more than a week in and Penny was used to not having friends, but combined with the homesickness, her loneliness was starting to get to her more than normal.
The tinge of sadness in her tone made him shift a little closer, less out of want affection this time but rather to give it. After so long being stuck in the Black Family home, he knew all to well what it was to be lonely. When she leant down to kiss him, he leaned up to lick her nose playfully just to make the girl smile.
Penny laughed, leaning in to press a kiss into the dog's fuzzy cheek. "You should just come and live with me. I'll hide you under my bed or something. You can have food from the kitchen. I don't eat meat but this school is rich so it's probably pretty good." She sighed and leaned in against him, opening up her book again. "I should probably try to find your owner, but I don't even know where the nearest house is around here." She smiled at him and kissed him again, between his ears. "Besides, you're warm."
Settling down again with his head and front paws into her lap, Padfoot was sharing his warmth as well as making his presence more felt. Helping to ease the loneliness of someone whilst being made a fuss of was pretty much living the dream in his books.
Penny smiled as Padfoot settled down on her, and she rest her book against his back, gently at first to make sure he didn't mind. "Good boy," she said with a smile, scratching her hand through the fur on his chest as she went back to her book.
Sokka
Sokka was practicing cool poses while messing with his boomerang outside, which was great. The air had a little bite in it, but he was in short sleeves and a pair of holey jeans like he didn't feel it at all--and between the exertion and the fact that he was accustomed to far colder, it was practically true. But then he threw the boomerang too high. And it got stuck.
Luckily it was charged, so he just kind of reached down deep and yanked it back towards himself... except it was stuck on a branch, which wasn't all that thick, but large enough that when it came crashing to the ground it sounded like part of the forest had fallen. The boomerang slammed into Sokka's hand so hard it stung a little, but he hardly noticed, looking around to see if he was going to be in trouble for the mess of sticks and withered leaves he'd ended up making at the edge of the woods. Crap!
Unknown to Sokka, he had a canine audience of one sat low in the grass and watching him curiously. Many things made the dog curious: the clothing not matching the climate, the boomerang of all things and, well, he seemed to be trying to do something though Padfoot wasn't exactly sure of what.
Sokka ran to the wooden carnage and stood over it for a moment, cocking his head and considering. Maybe if he cleaned it up he wouldn't get into trouble? He tucked away his boomerang, grumbling under his breath, and started flinging the larger branches around. Which worked fine, until he got so involved in his grumbling that he accidentally charged one of them and it came flying back at his head. Luckily, he managed to catch it before it smacked him in the face, but only with a little. "Ack!" He killed the charge and flung it again. "And stay there!"
When the stick landed again, the dog instincts couldn't resist anymore. Bounding forward, Padfoot grabbed it in his teeth before starting to loop around the boy excitedly. He held the stick tight in his teeth, his head held high and proud.
Sokka was at once confused and excited. Puppy! Puppy with a collar--so he belonged to someone. "Hey buddy!" He knelt on the ground and held out both hands to the dog, offering to both pet and take the stick back. "Where'd you come from?"
Excited tail wagging mode was engaged as Sirius obediently dropped the stick. Another much nicer human than the one from the woods and this one wanted to play! Now it was time for some fun. When the wasn't quick enough to pick up the game, he barked loudly in encouragement.
"Okay, okay, I'll find out your name later!" Sokka said with a laugh. He grabbed the stick (careful not to charge it--that'd just be mean!), and flung it as far as he could. "Go get it, boy!"
And Padfoot shot after it. He wouldn't be up for it for too long, he never was, but for a short while it could be fun to just let lose and have fun being a dog. Too long and the human in him could start to feel foolish though. Bounding about, he was soon showing off by leaping into the air and catching it in his teeth before bouncing back over, very obviously pleased with himself.
"Wow, nice moves, buddy." Sokka clapped his hands, then leaned down, resting one on his thigh and reaching down for the dog's tag with the other. "C'mere, lemme see who you are..."
Padfoot dropped the stick and then did two full loops around the boy before deciding to stay still for long enough to let him read it.
Sokka, rubbed the dog's head with one hand, mussing his ears playfully, and managed to read, "Padfoot, huh?"
Being petted and getting ear scratches were seriously two of the best things in the world and if you hit the right spot of this dude did, if made Padfoot go utterly relaxed and boneless which was why he suddenly was leaning quite heavily into the boy's legs.
"Padfoot's kinda lovey, isn't he? Okay, buddy, I got your scratches." Sokka continued to muss the dog's ears and let his other arm rub down his furry back. Aww, dogs were the best. He was totally gonna get one someday. Like a big dog, though, a mastiff or a husky or shepherd. But the question remained: "How'd you even get in here?"
All the big dog did in response was happily lick Sokka's hand and then his face. It was interesting really, Sirius was still there and very much aware but the doggy instincts just took over. Maybe he just licked the excuse to lick people though.
Sokka let himself get knocked over onto his butt by the licking and leaning and sat there laughing and petting and scratching happily. "Well, I can't just leave you out here. Someone's gotta be missing you."
Which left Padfoot with a choice- follow the kind of cute boy or split again? Then again following could help him check out a bit more of the school so...
Sokka pushed up to his knees, but grabbed the stick as he went. He chucked it towards the house and started trotting in that direction himself. Probably Padfoot belonged to some neighbor--he'd just go see if Xavier was around or one of the other staff who knew who to call. And maybe get this guy some water or something too.
Padfoot couldn't not chase after it and was soon happily trotting beside the guy with his stick in his mouth.
Twice more on the way back to the house, Sokka took the stick and threw it for Padfoot, but by the time they came near he was a little more subdued. Probably shouldn't take a dog into the house--no pets allowed or whatever, which was why Alex was sheltering that evil kitten of his in the boat house. But still, he didn't want to let the dog run loose, just in case. So he went around to the back and poked his head in first, then stepped back and said, "Okay, the coast is clear, but stick with me."
Mentally snickering to himself, Padfoot crept behind him a la Scooby Doo, complete with comedy cartoon looks for left to right to check that the coast was clear. This was fun.
Sokka had been doing much the same thing when he noticed Padfoot doing it. He grinned. "Oh god, you're so weird. You will fit right in. Come on, let's go find someone who won't rat you out." He started down the hall towards Xavier's office. Hmm, kinda warm in here already, but he'd probably appreciate it once winter came. Just. Come on, people. Not even close, yet.
Since it was one of the few places he had already been, Padfoot quickly realised they were heading to see the Beaks. Nuh uh, no thank you. Time for a quick escape.
But Sokka didn't even notice, just trucking down the hall and talking to--he thought--the dog. "I think Xavier is more of a soft touch, so we'll try him. Or maybe I should just go find Ms. Danvers, actually; she does equestrian, so she's probably more--"
Padfoot had already made his escape though, heading down two corridors and up a flight of stairs hurriedly in case he was being followed. The boy had been nice enough but he wanted to get more of an impression of the place before he revealed himself and the headmasters certainly would have done that.
"Aw, man..." Sokka sighed and went on a dog search immediately. Because if he didn't find this little guy, that meant he'd totally just let a random dog loose in the house.
Oh great. Brilliant plan, genius.
Midnighter
The woods were interesting, plenty more places to roam and explore. Plenty more students and secrets to discover. Like the boy moving about kind of weirdly. Trotting over with interest, Padfoot stood between the trees and watched for a moment. Head tilted in interest he scrutinized the boy.
Midnighter was aware of the large dog that had stopped to watch him, apparently, because katas were of such fucking interest to dogs? Whatever. As long as the canine stayed the hell away, Midnighter didn't really care about it, or what it was doing on school grounds, and he just kept going through the motions. It was all about developing muscle memory.
Deciding that further investigation was in order, Padfoot trotted a little closer. Of course even in canine form Sirius noticed attractiveness and watching the boy's muscles move was fun. He plonked himself down on the forest floor to watch more comfortably.
Seriously? Midnighter came to the end of a series of moves and turned to glare at the dog. What the fuck was up with it? "Go on," he told it roughly, unsure how to even talk to an animal, and feeling pretty fucking silly for it. "Shoo!"
Yeah, like 'shooing' ever worked. Especially with someone as painfully stubborn as Sirius Black. He head tilted again as he shot him as much of a 'Really bro?' look as he could manage in dog form.
"Go the fuck away," Midnighter spelled out for the dog, more slowly, if no less grumpily.
How rude. He let out one loud bark to voice his displeasure too. Seriously, what the fuck was up with this dude? How could get anyone get so pissed off at the sight of a dog?
Midnighter made a face - one that was mostly his scowl deepening. "Go!" he repeated, more loudly this time, hoping to scare the dog as he stepped in his direction.
Instinctively, the dog started growling. A shame that the pretty boy was depressingly nasty to animals, if he got close enough he probably deserved a little nip.
Midnighter halted when the dog started growling, but did not stop glowering. If it growled, it might attack, and then he would harm it. The dog stood no chance.
"Fucking fine," he muttered to himself, and turned to head off himself. He was hoping the dog wouldn't take that as an opportunity to attack, but at least he would know if it was coming anyway.
Padfoot had decided to split anyway (any bloke, no matter how attractive, who didn't like dogs wasn't worth being around) and as soon as the boy turned away he had headed off in the opposite direction.
Felix
With the weather growing chill, Felix wouldn't have many more chances to go out to the hedge maze. Even though it wasn't terribly cold yet, he had draped a scarf around his neck and pulled on a pair of finger-less gloves before stepping outside.
Caius would have gone with him, but Felix liked the hedge maze for its quiet and its mystery, so he slipped out alone. At the entrance of the maze, he paused, reaching out to brush his fingers against one of the hedge walls. Philip had taught him how to navigate by following one wall all the way around, and it was the only way he knew to get to the little garden at the maze's center. What he probably wasn't expecting though was the canine companion that came trotting out of the woods and headed straight towards him.
On seeing the boy, Padfoot's tail started to wag a little in greeting until he was beside the kid.
Felix paused and brushed a hand over his eyes, blinking to be sure that the dog he saw coming closer was something real, and not one of his astral visions -- that's how unexpected the animal's appearance was. The dog seemed quite friendly, but Felix went very still nevertheless. He didn't know very much about animals, but he knew that, for some reason, you were supposed to let a dog sniff your hand. Very hesitantly, he stretched out his fingers, speaking almost to himself since he didn't expect the dog to understand. "Where did you come from? Are you lost? You don't look wild."
Happily the dog padded closer, taking a sniff of the hand before licking it. This boy was nice than the last, that much was obvious already. He barked once but not aggressively, more conversationally. It was him forgetting for a second that in dog form he couldn't reply.
The dog's little bark did sound like a response, enough that Felix was startled into a giggle. It was then that he noticed the dog had a collar, so he must be someone's pet. Moving slowly, Felix crouched down, and placed his hand very lightly on the dog's head to give him a gentle pat.
"Hi there. Hello," he said softly, even though there was no one around, no one to keep quiet for. Curious, he touched the little dangling disc on the pup's collar. "May I look at your tag?"
After nuzzling the hand a little more, Padfoot lifted his head a little to allow his tag to be viewed. Whilst still licking at one of the hands, between glove and sleeve he could see a glimpse of some strange markings. Not the oddest thing he'd seen that day though.
Felix smiled, relaxing further. The dog seemed really quite sweet, and terribly friendly, which meant Felix didn't need to fear it. He'd slid off one glove, and laughed quietly, because the licking tickled his skin. The leaf-and-vine markings traveled like tattoos from the first knuckle of his fingers up his wrists and arms, but there was no reason to be self-conscious in front of an animal. "Oops," Felix murmured, and fished into his pocket to pull out his glasses, and settled them on his nose before trying to make out the words on the dog's collar tag.
Without warning the dog happily flopped onto his back, showing his tummy to be scratched happily. Tail still wagging like crazy as he watched the young boy curiously.
"Is that so?" Felix laughed, before pushing his glasses up more securely and abandoning the idea of trying to figure out who his new canine friend belonged to. Though he clearly had little experience with dogs and was a bit awkward, he patted, rubbed and very lightly scratched at the pup's belly contentedly enough. He was warm and his fur was soft, and it was kind of fun to make another creature so apparently pleased. "You're just a big sweetheart, aren't you. A big silly sweetheart."
Wriggling happily and losing all dignity between the belly rubs and the tongue lolling out of his mouth, Padfoot had gone completely soppy. Human instincts could go completely out of the window from a good ole belly rubbing. Yipping happily, it took him quite some time to calm again. Eventually he got back to his feet with his tail wagging so hard that there was a rhythmic thump on the ground.
By that time, Felix was grinning broadly, more than most human people ever got to see. "I'm pleased to meet you, too! You're too sweet not to belong to somebody. Maybe they're inside?" He glanced into the maze, then back at the house. Well, he could always come back to maze later.
Padfoot licked and then lightly nipped at the boy's hand, affectionately rather than roughly. He looked up at the kid with his eyes wide and trusting, tail still wagging happily. He definitely liked this boy.
Unable to resist, Felix gave the dog another lingering pat and a scritch under his chin before hauling himself back up. "I'm going to go see if someone's looking for you in the house.
Don't you run off, now," he instructed, even though a part of him realized that the dog couldn't (or shouldn't) understand him. Unsure if he'd follow, Felix started back toward the house.
Completely uninterested in meeting up with Brian again (at least not until he'd gotten a nice thorough impression of the school for himself) Padfoot reluctantly left his new little friend. He bounded instead in the opposite direction which meant heading straight into the maze.
Penny
Penny liked the hedge maze, probably more than anywhere else in the school. What she didn't like, however, was getting lost, so she was sitting just on the outer edge of the maze like she always did, her thermos of tea in her lap as she read her book, What a Plant Knows. It was sunny, but there was a cool breeze, and she shook her sleeves of her sweater over her hands to keep them warm as she turned the page.
Padfoot was on his travels still. Saddened to have lost that nice red-headed boy but still excited to meet more new people. The maze seemed novel, a tell-tell sign that this school had not been designed to be one. More that it was designed to be an imitation of an English stately home, something he had more than a little familiarity with. Enough familiarity to know that this house was a lot newer than the design it was copying.
Once again he didn't hesitate when he saw a girl sitting and reading. Best way to investigate the school was to investigate it's students after all. He sat down beside her, leaning against her leg sociably.
Penny looked up, surprised, as the dog leaned up against her leg, but she quickly smiled. "Hey sweetie," she said, offering out a hand to sniff before petting his neck, checking for a collar. When she found the tag, she read it and turned it over, her eyebrows furrowing. "Well, I know your name, Padfoot, but nothing actually useful." She sighed and glanced around, though she was glad that there wasn't anyone looking for him. It wasn't exactly a school that was okay for people to just show up at. "Well, you can hang out with me, if you want," she said, running her hand over his back.
Turning his head so that he could rest it in her lap, his looked up at her with an obviously pleased and relaxed air, tongue lolling out of his mouth. So much affection and pettings in one day had him in a very mellow mood indeed. He had always loved being centre of attention after all.
"Aw, look at you," she said, smiling at the dog as it leaned against her. She leaned into him, burying her hand into his fur and petting him slowly. "Thanks for coming to sit with me, Padfoot," she said conversationally, kissing the top of his head. "It's nice to have some company." It was only a little more than a week in and Penny was used to not having friends, but combined with the homesickness, her loneliness was starting to get to her more than normal.
The tinge of sadness in her tone made him shift a little closer, less out of want affection this time but rather to give it. After so long being stuck in the Black Family home, he knew all to well what it was to be lonely. When she leant down to kiss him, he leaned up to lick her nose playfully just to make the girl smile.
Penny laughed, leaning in to press a kiss into the dog's fuzzy cheek. "You should just come and live with me. I'll hide you under my bed or something. You can have food from the kitchen. I don't eat meat but this school is rich so it's probably pretty good." She sighed and leaned in against him, opening up her book again. "I should probably try to find your owner, but I don't even know where the nearest house is around here." She smiled at him and kissed him again, between his ears. "Besides, you're warm."
Settling down again with his head and front paws into her lap, Padfoot was sharing his warmth as well as making his presence more felt. Helping to ease the loneliness of someone whilst being made a fuss of was pretty much living the dream in his books.
Penny smiled as Padfoot settled down on her, and she rest her book against his back, gently at first to make sure he didn't mind. "Good boy," she said with a smile, scratching her hand through the fur on his chest as she went back to her book.
Sokka
Sokka was practicing cool poses while messing with his boomerang outside, which was great. The air had a little bite in it, but he was in short sleeves and a pair of holey jeans like he didn't feel it at all--and between the exertion and the fact that he was accustomed to far colder, it was practically true. But then he threw the boomerang too high. And it got stuck.
Luckily it was charged, so he just kind of reached down deep and yanked it back towards himself... except it was stuck on a branch, which wasn't all that thick, but large enough that when it came crashing to the ground it sounded like part of the forest had fallen. The boomerang slammed into Sokka's hand so hard it stung a little, but he hardly noticed, looking around to see if he was going to be in trouble for the mess of sticks and withered leaves he'd ended up making at the edge of the woods. Crap!
Unknown to Sokka, he had a canine audience of one sat low in the grass and watching him curiously. Many things made the dog curious: the clothing not matching the climate, the boomerang of all things and, well, he seemed to be trying to do something though Padfoot wasn't exactly sure of what.
Sokka ran to the wooden carnage and stood over it for a moment, cocking his head and considering. Maybe if he cleaned it up he wouldn't get into trouble? He tucked away his boomerang, grumbling under his breath, and started flinging the larger branches around. Which worked fine, until he got so involved in his grumbling that he accidentally charged one of them and it came flying back at his head. Luckily, he managed to catch it before it smacked him in the face, but only with a little. "Ack!" He killed the charge and flung it again. "And stay there!"
When the stick landed again, the dog instincts couldn't resist anymore. Bounding forward, Padfoot grabbed it in his teeth before starting to loop around the boy excitedly. He held the stick tight in his teeth, his head held high and proud.
Sokka was at once confused and excited. Puppy! Puppy with a collar--so he belonged to someone. "Hey buddy!" He knelt on the ground and held out both hands to the dog, offering to both pet and take the stick back. "Where'd you come from?"
Excited tail wagging mode was engaged as Sirius obediently dropped the stick. Another much nicer human than the one from the woods and this one wanted to play! Now it was time for some fun. When the wasn't quick enough to pick up the game, he barked loudly in encouragement.
"Okay, okay, I'll find out your name later!" Sokka said with a laugh. He grabbed the stick (careful not to charge it--that'd just be mean!), and flung it as far as he could. "Go get it, boy!"
And Padfoot shot after it. He wouldn't be up for it for too long, he never was, but for a short while it could be fun to just let lose and have fun being a dog. Too long and the human in him could start to feel foolish though. Bounding about, he was soon showing off by leaping into the air and catching it in his teeth before bouncing back over, very obviously pleased with himself.
"Wow, nice moves, buddy." Sokka clapped his hands, then leaned down, resting one on his thigh and reaching down for the dog's tag with the other. "C'mere, lemme see who you are..."
Padfoot dropped the stick and then did two full loops around the boy before deciding to stay still for long enough to let him read it.
Sokka, rubbed the dog's head with one hand, mussing his ears playfully, and managed to read, "Padfoot, huh?"
Being petted and getting ear scratches were seriously two of the best things in the world and if you hit the right spot of this dude did, if made Padfoot go utterly relaxed and boneless which was why he suddenly was leaning quite heavily into the boy's legs.
"Padfoot's kinda lovey, isn't he? Okay, buddy, I got your scratches." Sokka continued to muss the dog's ears and let his other arm rub down his furry back. Aww, dogs were the best. He was totally gonna get one someday. Like a big dog, though, a mastiff or a husky or shepherd. But the question remained: "How'd you even get in here?"
All the big dog did in response was happily lick Sokka's hand and then his face. It was interesting really, Sirius was still there and very much aware but the doggy instincts just took over. Maybe he just licked the excuse to lick people though.
Sokka let himself get knocked over onto his butt by the licking and leaning and sat there laughing and petting and scratching happily. "Well, I can't just leave you out here. Someone's gotta be missing you."
Which left Padfoot with a choice- follow the kind of cute boy or split again? Then again following could help him check out a bit more of the school so...
Sokka pushed up to his knees, but grabbed the stick as he went. He chucked it towards the house and started trotting in that direction himself. Probably Padfoot belonged to some neighbor--he'd just go see if Xavier was around or one of the other staff who knew who to call. And maybe get this guy some water or something too.
Padfoot couldn't not chase after it and was soon happily trotting beside the guy with his stick in his mouth.
Twice more on the way back to the house, Sokka took the stick and threw it for Padfoot, but by the time they came near he was a little more subdued. Probably shouldn't take a dog into the house--no pets allowed or whatever, which was why Alex was sheltering that evil kitten of his in the boat house. But still, he didn't want to let the dog run loose, just in case. So he went around to the back and poked his head in first, then stepped back and said, "Okay, the coast is clear, but stick with me."
Mentally snickering to himself, Padfoot crept behind him a la Scooby Doo, complete with comedy cartoon looks for left to right to check that the coast was clear. This was fun.
Sokka had been doing much the same thing when he noticed Padfoot doing it. He grinned. "Oh god, you're so weird. You will fit right in. Come on, let's go find someone who won't rat you out." He started down the hall towards Xavier's office. Hmm, kinda warm in here already, but he'd probably appreciate it once winter came. Just. Come on, people. Not even close, yet.
Since it was one of the few places he had already been, Padfoot quickly realised they were heading to see the Beaks. Nuh uh, no thank you. Time for a quick escape.
But Sokka didn't even notice, just trucking down the hall and talking to--he thought--the dog. "I think Xavier is more of a soft touch, so we'll try him. Or maybe I should just go find Ms. Danvers, actually; she does equestrian, so she's probably more--"
Padfoot had already made his escape though, heading down two corridors and up a flight of stairs hurriedly in case he was being followed. The boy had been nice enough but he wanted to get more of an impression of the place before he revealed himself and the headmasters certainly would have done that.
"Aw, man..." Sokka sighed and went on a dog search immediately. Because if he didn't find this little guy, that meant he'd totally just let a random dog loose in the house.
Oh great. Brilliant plan, genius.
