Dogged By the Competition

Miss Sara. Sara couldn’t quite get used to the idea of being called Miss. She liked the respect, but it made her feel awkward. Had she really heard Shin annunciate the words right? As if to answer her question in her mind he had repeated himself. A few other individuals called her Miss Sara too, and she just never managed to get used to it. “Hey Shin.” Sara waved back then clasped her hands elegantly, in front of her that hinted more at the laid back side of her disposition. Not the playful competitive side that made the corners of her mouth twitch up into a quiet smile, and the small crease at the outer side of her eyes when Shin turned around.

“Do you really have to ask?” Sara teased a little. “I was here first waiting for you, after all.” Sara said as if that was a technicality that really related to the competition. To be honest, Sara enjoyed being early to everything.

She glanced from Shin, back to the dogs that were clearly having their fair play at whatever games two dogs play. Bowing to each other inviting play and acting like they didn’t really care that the two, two legged, mutants were standing in the court yard as well. With all the joy that might as well of been dripping from Roxy, Sara’s head tilted, and she felt a twinge of guilt. Her tail twitched. “We should have done something like this before now.”

“So, Obedience, fetch, agility.. .. .. What did you want choose first?” Sara crossed her arms leaned back, rocking on her heals.

"Thor could use a few more play buddies in his life."

Ok so it was Sara who should have done this before. It was easy for her to forget, that even though she wasn't always the most social thing around the mansion that Roxy would enjoy the play and attention from someone other than her. When Sara took Roxy out on walks, it was true she'd let the dog greet and play with everyone who wanted to let her. Just Sara also struggled with the social interaction. There was always a question of whether someone was trust worthy or not trust worthy floating around in the back of her mind.

Thor seemed to have the answer to Sara's question. Squirrels. OK Sara could deal with that. Roxy was already showing interest in the squirrels but she had hesitated. Sara had told her no before on the inanely chasing of squirrels. In fact the two of them had a lesson about that shortly after Sara had first received the German Shepard.

Roxy had taken chase with Thor till she reached the twenty foot limit Sara had worked so hard on setting with her. She dropped back in the chase kicking her gear from full speed to a trot as she looked over her shoulder to see exactly what Sara was going to do for her going past, what Sara had trained her before, to understand was too far. When she realized Sara wasn't actually doing anything about this yet, she started looking a little sassy for a dog. Thor was left to tree both squirrels. Point for him, and Shin. No point for Roxy and Sara. "How about best two out of three on that one." Sara said to Shin as she shrugged off the minor defeat.

"Oh look. No more squirrels on the ground. I'll have to get one from the tree." Sara said with a small smirk as she moved to follow the dogs. Shortly after Sara started taking steps towards the tree and it's treed squirrels, Roxy had circled back around trotting behind her at the feline's left heal. dog and cat tails both swished out a rhythm in unison.

Sara had an idea to get around the rules she'd set for Roxy. Roxy was allowed to break the boundary rules when she played fetch. If Sara were to treat the squirrel like a stick in fetch, only letting the squirrel run instead of her throwing the squirrel, then maybe they'd have a chance at this part.

Sara's knees bent low, Roxy received a quick scritch behind the ears, then Sara pushed off very suddenly against the ground. One big hop brought her up into the tree where she alighted on a branch making it shiver as her clawed feet planted them selves on the thicker trunk. Squirrel one, was caught completely off guard. Sara scruffed it, then to keep it from panicking too much, pulled the sleeve of her coat over it's eyes before hopping back down and giving Shin a bit of a triumphant smile of her own. And least in the contest of Were vs. Squirrel, Sara felt like she was up a point.

"Slappy the squirrel it is then." Sara nodded to the clearer area of the mansion grounds. Sara let Slappy's tail flick back and forth above Roxy's nose for a second or two. Roxy responded instantly. her nose flared and her tail wagged as she was no longer right behind Sara's heals, and instead of walking just behind Sara's heals, she was in front of Sara. Bouncing slightly trying to sniff the squirrel's tail as Sara kept walking. Mean while, the squirrel was starting to settle into the grip Sara had it in. She kept it's eyes covered and held it in the crook of her arm like one would cradle a foot ball. Rodents were fairly easy to handle. They liked closed places and the head bobbing that the squirrel was doing under Sara's other hand, was only to try and push deeper into an area if felt safe. The poor things world was going to come crashing down for it in a minute. at least all it would have to do is run.

The more Sara walked with it, the curiouser and curiouser Roxy got about it and her tail was wagging as she began to not just bounce on her front legs but hop. Sara turned abruptly around and Roxy backed up, into a pose that could barely be called sitting as her tail had plenty of room to sweep up the dust from the ground. Using subtle body language that Sara knew mostly from just plane being what sh4e was, she only sacrificed a hand on the squirrel for a moment to tell Roxy to stay, as Sara backed up about 20 feet away from her. "Go a head and make sure Thor is the same distance away from me, that Roxy is." Sara said as she jiggled the squirrel to wake it up and also to keep Roxy's attention. Roxy scooted forward then halted again as she was sensing the chase that was going to happen.

Sara waited till her timing looked about right. Roxy looked like her hint quarters were about to explode with tension. "Roxy. Speak." Sara instructed Roxy to do so she would get the Squirrel's attention just As Sara held it up and uncovered it's eyes. Roxy's bark squeaked out at first then cleared afte three times into a strong loud woof.

The squirrel took off with an extra push from Sara. Then Roxy was off as well, and unlike last time, Roxy's attention was undivided as she burst after the squirrel's fuzzy intriguing tail.

The sympathy towards the squirrel wasn't something that Sara's mind first realized. Only when she heard Shin's small conversation with Thor. To her, they had been food for the first years of her life, that she had been on her own. That was before she had the guts to sneak around cities in Michigan and steal things that tasted much better and way before she started pick pocketing for the cash to buy her own food.

"Hey! That's cheating!!"

Sara tilted her head, blinking once. She was trying to be as fair to the squirrel as possible. Cheating wasn't something that she was aware she was doing.

Mean while, while Sara was in thought on this, Roxy had been the one to tree the squirrel first. Thor's hesitation having cost him. "My apologize then, but you cheated as well. You called the competition when Thor was already running."

Slappy the squirrel was in the tree chittering quite unhappily and shooting them (Mostly Sara) the I will naw you to death in your sleep look, if a squirrel could ever give that look. Mean while Sara was pointedly ignoring the vengful rodent as Roxy trotted back to her, with her tail swishing back and forth as to say, 'Did ja' see me? did ja did ja?'

Well they were tied. It worked, and Sara went down on her knees with Roxy wiggling from her tail wagging her furry self. Sara couldn't help but smile lightly, with the corners of her mouth pulling up slightly, as Shin rambled. Oddly enough, she understood it. "I don't know. That type of race might work." Depending on how it was done. She really wasn't sure. Roxy was more outgoing than Sara was, and she did know Shin, compared to Sara knowing Thor based on the memory of when they had recieved the dogs from Sam. It was worth a try.

Well well well. Look who came prepared. Sara thought to herself as Shin pulled the stop watches out from his pocket and dangled them in front of Sara like he were tempting a kitten. Sara's eyes dilated for a moment as they focused on the swaying watches. her head swayed ever so slightly as well. before her pupils shrank slightly and looked into Shin's eyes. Tease

Sara nabbed one of the watches and wrapped the lanyard around her wrist, rather than dropping it around her neck. She then looked around for a way, in the simple landscape of the mansion that they could measure the race between the dogs so that would be fair as well. "How about we have the dogs start running from one end of the basketball court. When they cross the other end is when the watches will be stopped." She walked over, and Roxy began to follow at Sara's left knee. Sara told her to sit and stay, while she backed up across the basketball court. "How about we both time each dog, as well." Sara wanted to be sure that neither of them could really say the other cheated this time. Of course that is if One of them really was.

Now then. Sara was set. Roxy seemed set. "Ready?" Sara called out to shin as she raised one hand. The other still holding the watch with her thumb over the go button.