The Truth About Cats And Dogs Who: Adam and Marlowe Where: Scarlet Oak Community Park When: 9:30am
Adam wasn't the kind of guy who was bothered by the heat. Too often he spent his days indoors, at his desk or his piano, shying away from the rest of the world. Today was not going to be one of those days, he'd decided. He could either head to campus and hang out in his office grading and reviewing his students' latest efforts, but that was no fun. There would be plenty of time for that and his own writing once the sun went down.
Instead he decided to check his email from home, left a message on his Facebook saying he wouldn't be in (despite the fact that he didn't have class nor office hours on Thursdays) and went for a drive. Scarlet Oak Community Park wasn't too far out of his way, and even though he'd been back in town for a couple of months, he had yet to visit the place. Taking just one notebook with him, leaving his massive bag of papers and books behind, Adam set out to explore the park.
For the first time in a long while, Adam's intention wasn't to write, but just to enjoy the sunshine, maybe do some people watching. His sunglasses kept most of his unruly hair out of his eyes and it felt like he was finally giving his brain a chance to think about everything going on at the moment. Not even about work, or his novel-in-progress, but about the woman he'd met the day before, Telyn. It was more than enough to keep a smile on his face as he walked.
As was usual once Lucius had left the house in the morning, Marlowe found it hard to drift back to sleep to get a little more rest before she had to be up and getting ready for work herself. And this morning had been no different. After straightening up her and Lucius' room, making sure that Roarke was fed, and then catching a quick shower and then a little something for breakfast, Marlowe decided to head out with her boy to the park to enjoy the weather and let her four legged companion get in some exercise in a place that was a bit larger then the back yard.
Sitting on the back of one of the benches that were scattered about within the park, feet planted solidly on the seat of the bench, Marlowe, dressed casually in a pair of charcoal gray sweats and white tee, drew her arm back to once more send the tennis sized ball flying out through the air for Roarke to chase and retrieve. It had been an on going game for the pair for the past ten minutes with the large dog never failing in darting straight away to chase the ball and bring it back to it's owner for another replay.
Catching sight of the woman playing fetch with her dog, Adam gave her a smile and watched them interact for a moment. Until, of course, the ball ended up by his feet and the dog was running towards him. Adam wasn't scared of dogs, but he still stepped to the side to make sure he wasn't in the way, not wanting to interfere with the game going on. Catch was, after all, serious business to most dogs.
He walked a little closer to the woman, still grinning in her direction. "You've got a beautiful dog," he told her, thinking of Telyn in that moment, and her dalmatian.
Roarke skittered to a stop just after the man moved to step to the side away from the play toy Marlowe had thrown for the german shepherd to retrieve. Snatching the ball up carefully in his teeth the dog trotted happily back toward it's owner to drop the round toy into an outstretched hand.
"That he is, but then I guess I'm a bit biased when it comes to Roarke here." Marlowe smiled back at the guy when she reached out with her free hand to give the large dog a good scruffing behind his ear.
"I think most pet owners are, regardless of what kind of pet you have," Adam agreed. "I happen to think my kitten's one of the most adorable creatures on the face of the planet, and she knows how to use that to her advantage." Yep, Konstantine had Adam wrapped around her little kitty paw, and he could fully admit to that. He walked a little closer, not wanting to startle the dog, especially when he seemed to be having a good time. "Roarke's a good name for a dog," he said. "You might if I take a seat?"
"Not at all." The fire elemental smiled scooting over a bit to give the guy enough room to sit and share the bench with her. "I'm Marlowe, by the way." The young woman offered holding out her hand to the man once he had seated himself.
He reached over and shook her hand, leaving his notebook beside him on the bench. "I'm Adam," he said, "Good to meet you." He glanced back over at the dog, leaving his other hand low enough for him to sniff at. Granted, Roarke could probably smell his cat on his clothes, but he hoped he could prove he was a friendly guy in spite of owning a cat.
"Roarke." Marlowe chiding the animal when the dog started getting a bit too intimate in his sniffing of the man after Adam took a seat on the bench. It Roarke had confined his sniffing to the man's hand, Marlowe wouldn't have warned the animal off, but when he started intensely sniffing at the man's ankles and lower part of his pant leg. Well, not many people appreciated such actions from large, four-legged creatures. "Leave the man alone." The blond then gave Adam an apologetic look.
Adam for his part, didn't really mind Roarke's sniffing, just moved his leg a little to the side and away from the dog. "It's all right," he told Marlowe. "He probably just smells the fact that I've got a cat at home. Konstantine's a good little kitten, but she likes to sleep in my clothes if I leave them laying around." This shirt, for starters, had been rescued from his bedroom floor that morning, and it was clean and relatively free of cat hair, so Adam deemed it good enough to wear out.
"Not everyone is accepting of such animal intrusions." Marlowe explained a bit to the man, thankful he hadn't been offended by Roarke stepping into his personal space. "What kind of kitten is Konstantine?"
He nodded, reaching out to pet Roarke. "She's a mutt, I got her from the humane society," he said, "right after I moved to Scarlet Oak. I figured it would be better to get a kitty who needed a home rather than pay so much for a purebred, you know? But she's grey and white and just a little furball." Adam gestured with his hands, spreading them apart to show the kitten's approximate size, "She's going to be a tiny little thing, I bet. Nothing like Roarke here."
"Those that find themselves living in an animal shelter deserve to be given a home, maybe even more so than a purebred raised by a breeder." Roarke had actually been a gift to Marlowe, so the young woman really wasn't sure where the dog had been acquired from. She had never asked as she felt that was on the side of bad manners. "Konstantine sounds like an adorable little thing." She said with a smile sent to the man.
"Those were my thoughts. The puppies and kitties from a breeder, they'll find a home. The ones in the pound might not be so lucky." Adam had also gotten the kitten because he didn't really like living by himself, and having a companion around kept him from getting too lonely, even when Konstantine decided to play in all of his papers and mess everything up. "And she is, I might have a picture or ten on my phone. Is Roarke a pound puppy too?"
"If you have less then ten I'm going to be very disappointed." Marlowe teased the guy with a playful grin. "I really couldn't swear to that. He was a gift from my folks about three years ago. Didn't feel right asking where he came from, and really it doesn't matter. Roarke here is the best damn dog any girl could have." And with that, Marlowe reached over to another good scratching to Roarke behind an ear.
Adam chuckled, "Okay, so there's probably more like 50, at least, she's very photogenic." That, and Adam liked to preserve details in a notebook, rather than snap a picture on his phone. He only did that when he was either very short on time, or something was really, really interesting. "That's what counts, right? So long as you love 'em and take good care of them, they'll love you right back."
"They offer that unconditional love that's hard to find in most people." Marlowe commented with a quick flick of her eyes to the watch on her wrist. "And now it seems I need to be getting this boy of mine home." Roarke moved to Marlowe's side as the woman stepped down from the bench to stand on solid ground. If it weren't for the fact she needed to be at work at The Owl's Nest within the next couple of hours, Marlowe would stay longer and continue her chat with the guy.
He nodded in agreement, looking down at the notebook he was carrying. "I've got some stuff to get to myself," mostly writing again, but if he sat here and just enjoyed the sunshine for a while, Adam wouldn't complain about that either. "It was lovely to meet you, Marlowe," he said, standing up to say goodbye properly. "And you too, Roarke," he added, giving the dog one last scratch behind the ears.
"It was nice meeting you, Adam." Marlowe exchanged with a soft smile as the two prepared to part ways. "Enjoy the remainder of your day." The fire elemental added before she turned to start the walk back to her car. Roarke lingered a brief moment enjoying the attention he received from Adam before the dog took off to follow his human toward the parked vehicle.