Open Scene Who: Alana, Mel, and who ever else shows up to greet either of them. What: Random Meetings Where: Some park in Miami When: Recent Warnings: None yet.
The weather was fair, and dogs needed exercise. It was more than the normal routine now for Alana to pack Pirate up in her truck and drive to the dog friendly park. He had gotten rather good at following and obeying her commands, and she used the time to continue practicing it. Even at the park she made a game of testing him and training him to the commands, seeing if people and other dogs would distract him. The end of the games, however, were always marked by one activity the lab seemed to like best. Oh yes, a rather straight forward game of... Fetch.
Looking around the space, the ground seemed fairly empty just now. Alana nodded to herself, and released Pirate from his leash, the tennis ball falling from her hand to bounce against the walk. She grinned at the dog's excite over seeing the ball, then launched it into the air, throwing it as far down the open space as she was able.
The problem was, that space wasn't nearly as clear or open as the mortal had thought.
Back to some of her old tricks, the muse and part owner of the Piera theater had her sidewalk chalk out and was making art on the canvas of space before her. Helen had her own set of chalk, and busily made art as Shadow watched her progress. The dog lay, head rested on his feet, calm as the two set about their task.
The tennis ball went flying by, and smacked to bounce against sidewalk not far from where Shadow laid. Barely a moment later, and the black lab followed, his jaws catching the ball before it could bounce again.
Immediately, the golden lab was to his own feet. He wasn't sure which way to go though. After the black dog with the ball for a game, or to stand protectively over Helen?
Melpomene looked up from her own spot on the sidewalk and glanced to the commotion not far from her. She frowned, and set her chalk aside, then moved to stand near her daughter. Helen was smiling brightly as she watched the two dogs, her chalk dusted hands clapping and encouraging them to play. She'd seen it before, and that's what dogs did! They chased balls, and brought them back to you! Standing on her own, she began to move toward Shadow.
From the same direction as they Pirate, his owner came running. She jogged toward the small gathering, as Pirate began to chew on his prize, and settled onto the grass. "Hey, sorry about that!" she greeted as she looked over the small group. Her eyes went from dog, to child, to mother, to art, before she settled her gaze on the woman once more. She stared at her, trying to recall why she looked so familiar. She hadn't seen her recently, but she knew she'd seen her around... somewhere.
Shadow stood near Helen and gave her a small lick of greeting, before her turned to watch the other dog. It looked like a good chance for them to both go running off and share the ball... He stepped forward, watching the other, and dipped his head in greeting.
Brushing her hands off on her cargo pants, Mel looked Alana over, and caught the expression on her face. "Mel," she mentioned, trying to give some help without giving away to much in public. "You were at my sister's wedding."
It took a moment, but the realization dawned on Alana's face, and she finally grinned to the muse. "Hey. Alana. How are you?" she asked, and looked around their little group. She watched as Pirate rose to his feet, and jogged off a short distance. The young dog tossed the ball and caught it for himself, before dropping it and backing up to give Shadow a chance to play as well.
Shadow took the opportunity and grabbed up the ball. Quickly he set off with the prize, the younger dog in pursuit. Now the games could begin, as the little girl watched, and clapped cheerfully from her spot. As any young one might, she tried to chase after the two dogs as well. Shadow helped to keep the pair within good sight of Mel, running and dodging Pirate, and trotting over toward Helen before he veered off once more.
The muse shrugged, and turned to keep an eye on her daughter and the dogs. "Good." Inwardly, the muse then cringed at her own words. Good? That was like daring the Fate's to throw something her way. She scanned the park for anything that might be something of a danger, like three women suddenly coming down the path, cackling as they approached, and looked once more to her daughter.
"Good." Well, so much for that conversation opener. Alana moved and rested her hands in her back pockets, her attention turned toward the dogs. Her eyebrows lifted as she watched the two dogs, amazed to find another that could keep up with her young one. Eventually her eyes fell to the work, literally, at her feet, and she immediately took a step back. Her head tilted, shifting to make the image work better. "Did you make this?"
Melpomene pulled her eyes to the work that Alana was referencing, and nodded. "Yeah." She looked over the work that had been slightly smudged, and found that it almost looked better that way. Unlike some of her past work that had been meant to look more real as you peered at it, this one simply had a man, leaning back against the door frame, dressed in an old 30's era suit with a fedora and his hands resting in his pockets. The door at his side didn't look like the standard door. A set of iron bars like a metal gate filled most of the archway, preventing anyone from nearing the warped wood of the door behind. The door itself was slightly peeped open, with a hint of a fire light beyond. The smudge had landed over the man himself. It was a sizeable piece of art, and yet, the muse wasn't exactly concerned about what happened to it. She'd had the image in her mind, and simply decided to put it to paper. Well, sidewalk.
Alana moved along the grass until she could see the image more completely. She grinned. "I bet I could make that doorway," she murmured, peering at it and already considering just how it would be done. She then looked back to the dogs, and saw they'd swapped, with Pirate running and Shadow chasing. "I can call him back if you want," she offered.
Call him back? The muse shrugged. "He's fine. Shadow will keep him from doing anything..." She fell quiet and watched her daughter. The girl had sat herself down again, and was trying to color on the grass with the chalk. Mel moved forward, and knelt down next to Helen. She watched her daughter play, and kissed the top of her head. Helen smiled up at her mother, then went back to her project of investigating the possibility of making art in the grass.
The mortal took her time, and followed along the sidewalk to see what had been made by the other two. She looked up, and watched the dogs as Shadow seemed to wear Pirate out some. Only after he'd started to do so, did the mortal give a whistle, and call the pup to heel. She watched as her black pup gathered up his tennis ball and barreled toward her. "Have a good one," she called out to Mel, before backing up and starting to jog toward the other end of the park.
Mel watched as Alana left and called her dog to the other end of the park. Shadow trotted himself over to Mel and Helen, then plopped down at their sides. Leaning forward, he bumped his nose against the little girl, until she turned and hugged him. The mother only shook her head, then rose once more to return to her drawings.