Re: The New Year
Lots of people in this area had big German Shepherds that might almost match Cisco in size. Even more watched National Geographic and figured that wolves were probably just big dogs in both size and brains, and there were plenty of pack stories about being mistaken as Fido. All wolves had a leanness to them that domesticated dogs did not, however, hard bones and long snouts with serious teeth. Cisco had always been brown and fast and quick, not like his brother or Johansson, who had been built gray, with steel muscles and hard heads.
Human voices always sounded a little distant, a little garbled, to the wolf. It wasn't his hearing, which was excellent. He just wasn't attuned to the noises humans made at each other in this form. The songs of others, the snuffling or chewing of prey animals, that was different. He had to really focus on human voices to listen, and once he did he was surprised at the foreign accent. That was the kind of thing that got around, people gossiped about foreigners around here. The darling pinpointed it pretty quickly, though, as there had been someone named "Eames" going around saying that on the forums for the last few months.
The wolf's large amber eyes watched the big man from several yards away from the house, and when Eames moved, he ducked his head to stare more intently. He got a good whiff of that steak before it went flying though, and he was already darting forward without thinking. He ate raw stuff on the run; he wasn't too good for fresh steak thrown out a window. It's not like it was trashcans. Cisco snapped up the seasoned meat and then darted back a few yards again to eat it, pleased with himself, and Eames too. People who fed "dogs" were good people.