Dante had been in the city for a good few weeks now, pushing a month, and he was nowhere near used to things yet. He had what promised to be a decent job at a tattoo parlor, but he had to supplement his income while business picked up. So, he was in the park, playing guitar, with the open case at his feet, practically begging for money. Though, was it begging if you earned it? His now ex-wife had forced him to choose between his electric guitar and his dog, Duke.

Looking down at the big black dog, lying beside him on the bench, he smiled as he worked his magic on the black acoustic guitar. Luckily, the ex didn't think to get his amp or effect pedals for money, too. So, he'd managed to trade those off on a good acoustic, and now he had a dog and a guitar.

His fingers lightly moved over the fretboard, as his right hand held a pick that so sweetly strummed a melody that soon turned into his final song for the day. It was a song he knew all too well, and his eyes closed as his pick and fingers moved, and his voice began to sing, almost hauntingly. Occasionally, smoke would stream from his nostrils, swirling unnaturally as he played, and his eyes opened.

"I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you. And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you," as he sang, a more solid puff of smoke escaped his nostrils, forming into a tight black heart, and as it floated away from him, it split in two before physics took over and it was just a dark, shapeless mass of smoke in the air.

His emotions welled up by the end of the song, and though he didn't cry, one could tell that it was even more heart-felt than when he began. "Freak...." Someone said as they walked by.

"Thank you sir, **** you too," he said brightly as he began playing something else, though after that little outburst some of the crowd began to dissipate a bit.

It had been a long day at work, two of the young zebras had gotten into a scuffle, one of them ending up injured. That had been the start of the insanity. Trying to get the angry, hurt animal separated from the rest of the herd so that he could be treated.

Zoe had even stayed an extra hour, talking to the young animal, trying to keep him calm. He was not happy about being by himself, he was angry that he was hurt. But, eventually her supervisor had forced Zoe to leave, the animal wasn’t injured enough to need the “extra” staff watching him, wasn’t bad enough to need someone to watch him. All he needed was to be isolated while he started to heal.

Zoe knew that, but it was still hard for her to leave since she knew what the zebra was thinking, what he was saying. But her coworkers already thought she was strange, she couldn’t exactly tell her supervisor she didn’t want to leave because the zebra said he was upset.

So finally Zoe was walking through the park on her way home, much later than normal. As she walked, Zoe slowly heard the sound of a guitar growing louder. Most times, Zoe just continued listening to musicians as she walked along, not really stopping, merely listening for as long as she was able to hear them. Today, this particular song with its haunting melody, drew her attention. Especially after the day she had had.

As she approached the man playing the guitar, Zoe actually stopped, listening to the song. He really was good, she thought as she looked at the man sitting on the bench playing the black guitar. Who blew out a smoke heart from nowhere that broke in two as he played. And, though at least one person walking past didn’t appreciate it, Zoe thought it was rather fascinating.

A small smile on her face as the song came to an end, Zoe stood and watched for a few moments as the man reacted to the person who called him a freak. That...Zoe was actually impressed with how calmly the man reacted to being called a freak. Zoe was always far more hurt and upset when someone called her names like that.

Finally, though, what small crowd that had gathered around the music dispersed, leaving just Zoe standing in front of the man, with a dog laying beside him on the bench. ”Can I pet?” Zoe asked the dog, slowly stepping forward.

What no bystander saw was how much effort it had taken for Dante not to beat the guy over the head with his guitar or something. But he was trying to make rent, and that was more important than giving some asshole what he deserved. Though the words that came out were going to come out no matter what, and behind the tone they were dripping with venom and hatred.

And then the crowd was beginning to disperse; Dante swore that if it wasn't for his sister, he'd have just gone to Minnesota or something. But he felt this would be a good way to get close to his family again, and that made it worth staying for. Since the crowd was gone, he removed the strap from off of his shoulder and picked up the money in his guitar case before putting his acoustic away.

It was then that he noticed the blonde woman still staring there, looking at Duke. Sure, Duke was a big old baby--to Dante. The list of people that Duke liked was about as short as the list of people Dante liked...they were cut from the same cloth like that. But the girl was stepping forward to the dog, asking could she pet.

"I wouldn't--" He'd tried to stop her. He'd earnestly tried to stop her; he was a cynic, sure, but he didn't necessarily harbor ill will towards humanity--well, maybe as a whole he did. But this certain member of humanity was pretty, and after the incident with the heckler, if one would call it that, he really didn't want to add Duke biting someone to this list of reasons why today sucked.

And yet...Duke liked her. The large black mass of muscle and fur looked up at the girl, tail wagging slightly. There was something different about this girl. Dante was his human. Saved him from an abusive home, and then did so again when he got Duke back from the evil female. But this female was different. Nice. And she spoke his language, which was pretty neat.

"Pet? Yeah. I don't think I'll bite you. I like it when Dante scratches right behind my ears. Or my ribs. Get my ribs." He rolled over on his side, now practically taking up the entire bench.

Dante looked back to see the girl hadn't left, and Duke was...a puddle of mush. "Well I'll be damned..." he murmured, letting out a low whistle, an amused grin on his face.

Zoe hadn’t been asking the man playing the guitar if she could pet the dog, she had been asking the dog himself. And the dog had answered in a much different way than the man sitting on the bench had.

Glancing over at the man when he spoke, Zoe saw that he had put the guitar away by this point. And apparently he didn’t think that it was a good idea for her to pet the dog laying beside him on the bench. But that’s not the feeling she was getting from the dog. The dog thought it was a great idea for her to pet him.

Turning her eyes back to the dog, Zoe scratched him behind the ears just as he said he liked. ”You like that, do you boy?” Zoe asked the dog, scratching him a little more before moving her hand down to his ribs that he had rolled over to expose. ”Feels good? What's your name, boy?”

Then Zoe heard the man talking, and she turned a confused frown toward him. ”What?”

Duke let his tongue loll out of his mouth like a hundred-pound puppy as she pet him. "Yeahyeah. My human calls me Duke. Don't know why but I like it."

Meanwhile, Dante had turned around, watching the whole exchange. Well...half of it. She was....talking....to his dog. But what was even weirder than that, was that Duke was letting her. Duke didn't like anyone; he didn't even know if Duke liked all of Dante's family. And yet, here he was, a giant puddle on the bench.

And then the girl addressed him. "He doesn't like a lot of people. Kids, but most adults he's not a big fan of. I'm trying to figure out what it means that he actually let you," he said honestly with a shrug, lifting the guitar case in his left hand as his other hand flipped through the money. Not exactly a good haul, but he was at least eating for a few days, anyway.

Zoe smiled as she heard the dog, Duke he said his name was, talking. Well, at least Duke liked his name. There were some animals that didn’t like the names that their humans had given them. Though, Zoe couldn’t exactly blame some of them, there were some very strange pet names in this city.

Then she heard the man speaking, and Zoe turned to look at him, her hand moving back to scratch behind Duke’s ears again. ”I don’t know, maybe you just need to know how to talk to him?” Zoe said with a slight shrug. ”Or maybe Duke just thinks I’m nice?” She continued, turning back to Duke as she kept petting him.

Bringing her other hand towards the dog’s head, Zoe crouched down giving Duke a really good rub behind the ears. ”But just because you don’t like many people, doesn’t mean Dante should be be so surprised that you like me, does it Duke?”

Sure, Dante 'talked' to Duke, but like most people talked to their dog. This chick was talking about a full conversation, it seemed. Great...she was a nut. Wait....

Dante was noticing a few things. One, she was petting Duke in his favorite spots--it took Dante forever to find how Duke liked to be pet, and she found it in a split second. Both of them. And then...she said his both of their names. Okay. Mutant, not a nut. That wasn't so bad, though it was still creepy as hell.

"Holy ****....you really can talk to him, can't you?" he murmured, shaking his head with a small smile. "So, you gonna tell us your name, since we can't cheat?" he teased, his voice sort of dry, but not rude. It was just one of those things that came with being more of a cynic.

Zoe suddenly heard Dante’s voice again, and though it was quiet, Zoe could clearly hear the shock in his voice. Turning, one hand still on Duke’s head, Zoe looked at Dante to see a small smile on his face.

That was a different reaction than the one she was expecting. A different reaction than she normally received when someone heard her talking to an animal. Zoe didn’t think that anyone had ever reacted like this before. If anyone had ever smiled seeing her talk to an animal, it was a smile as they thought ‘she’s special’.

”How is it cheating?” Zoe asked, a small smile of her own curling her lips. ”Duke told me your names, that’s not cheating, that’s talking.

“I’m Zoe.”

"Using your mutation to gather information. Not technically cheating, but it does give you an edge I don't have," he said with a grin, shrugging lightly. She was unique, to say the least, though he had to wonder what her mutation was like. He knew she was a mutant because no one could understand animals; that pet psychic stuff was a load of horse hockey. But it had to be difficult; while his power was easily discerned and seen as weird, or even amazing, he could only imagine how hard it must be to deal with hers.

And though he'd only known about his status as a mutant for maybe a year, if that long, he could sympathize with that. When his mutation became known--and he was pretty quick to show it off, at least to strangers; he'd only recently told his family--he could feel the atmosphere and people's opinion of his shift. Sometimes it was for the better, and others it was for the worst.

"Nice to meet ya, despite the mini-heart attack you gave my ass," he said with a chuckle.

Dante had very quickly determined that she was a mutant. Though, in this case she didn’t mind much; Dante had pretty blatantly displayed his own mutation while he’d been playing the guitar, so it wasn’t as though it wasn’t fair. ”It’s not like it gives me an edge all that often,” Zoe replied. ”Normally all I hear walking through the park is excitement about trying to chase some stick, or squirrels screaming at each other about nuts.” Sure, sometimes she heard something that was more interesting, but generally not.

Then Zoe looked a little sheepish when Dante said that she’d given him a heart attack. ”I didn’t mean to do that,” she said, standing up straight again. ”Most people just think I’m crazy when I start actually talking to an animal, so they don’t normally stick around to hear what I say. But he’s a pretty sweet dog.”

The smoke-manipulator gave sort of a dry "Heh," at her comment. "Well, you got my attention, and Duke's affection. Which is still a hell of a feat; he hates most people..." The like me was merely implied, but since she didn't know him very well, it wasn't certain whether or not that bit would be picked up.

"Well, I was paying attention because I was afraid if you tasted as sweet as you seem, Duke would have had a little snack," he joked, his cynicism sort of bleeding through there. "Though getting our names from him did sort of help prove your point." He gave a light shrug, pulling a pack out of his pocket and removing a cigarette, lighting it and taking a drag from it. He exhaled the smoke away from Zoe, but then inhaled it back in through his nose. He gave a relaxed sigh, whistling for Duke, who hopped off of the bench and joined Dante by his side, where the mutant clipped a leash onto his collar.

"I think Duke needs a walk before we head home. You wanna come? I mean, since he's taken to you so well."

Apparently not only had she gotten Duke’s affection by being able to understand him, which allowed her to find his favourite places to be pet and scratched, but it had gotten Dante’s attention. ”Despite what you say, he seems like a pretty sweet dog to me,” Zoe replied, eyes shifting to said dog before returning to Dante again. He really did, so excited and happy about everything that he had told her.

But as Dante continued speaking, Zoe blushed slightly. Especially coming from someone who knew that she was a mutant, knew that she could talk to animals. Normally with that knowledge, people called her crazy, freak, or some variant of that, not sweet. ”I can’t recall actually getting bitten by any dog that I’ve been able to talk to.” Then Zoe turned to look at Duke again. ”Right Duke? You wouldn’t bite me, would you?”

As she turned to look back at Dante, Zoe saw him lighting a cigarette. That was...Well, that was more than a little gross, the biologist in Zoe couldn’t help but think as she watched Dante inhale. But at least he had turned away from her as he exhaled the smoke. Only to breathe it back in through his nose, Zoe noticed. Then she remembered the smoke heart he had blown during the song he’d sung. Is this how he had been able to blow that heart without having any obvious access to the smoke?

Then Dante was putting a leash on Duke. And asking if she’d want to join him while he walked Duke. A smile appeared on her face despite the cigarette still in his hand. ”I’d like that, Duke’s pretty good company,” Zoe said, the smile still on her face. Then she glanced down to see that not only did Dante have that cigarette and Duke’s leash in his hands, but he also had the guitar cast still to pick up. ”I could take Duke, if you wanted,” she offered.

"He is sweet, but not to many people...he'd been abused when I got him as a pup, and my now ex-wife likely didn't treat him well either. So he's sort of...isolated. And being able to talk to them probably helps out," he said with a shrug as he took another drag of the cigarette, aiming to finish it before the walk.

Duke, on the other hand, was happy to be going with this strange, new woman. She seemed sweet, and she understood him. "Nope! You're nice. You talk to me. And Dante likes you too."

He looked over at her when she offered to take the leash. Now this would be the true test, though he was sure she'd come out okay. "Sure, why not. I was going to wait until I finished this, but I think you and Duke would both enjoy it."

He handed Zoe the leash and then picked up the guitar case as he took a long drag of the cigarette and again exhaled, and then immediately inhaled the smoke.

”Aww, the poor guy,” Zoe said with a frown as she reached down to scratch his head again. Zoe always hated hearing about animals getting hurt or abused. ”I’m glad he’s got you, then. He sure seems to like you.”

Then Zoe heard Duke start speaking again, and Zoe turned her eyes down to the animal. ”Oh, he does, does he?” Zoe questioned the dog, a smile on her face as she glanced back up at Dante. That was interesting.

But Dante seemed ok with her helping by holding the leash, so when he held it out, Zoe took the leash from him, waiting just long enough for him to pick up the guitar case before she started walking. Then glanced over at Dante to see him reinhaling the smoke from his cigarette. And the smoke not coming back out again. ”Is that how you blew the heart while you sang?” Zoe ended up asking after a minute.

"Yeah, one could say we were cut from the same cloth; meant for each other," he said with a shrug. Dante lost the edge he'd usually had, but Duke tended to do that, and this girl....there was something different about her. She was sweet. Almost too sweet.

Dante blinked as she spoke. "Who does what?" he asked, looking confused as he finished his cigarette and put it out, flicking it into a trash can like a sane person.

"Oh, yeah. I can manipulate smoke, but I have to breathe it in first," he answered simply; no need to get to the full physics of his power, after all. There were things he didn't really intend to share with anyone that wasn't family, after all, and he'd even kept a handful of secrets from them. But this girl was nice; he wondered what her angle was.

Honestly though, he was enjoying the walk almost as much as Duke seemed to. It was rather enjoyable, to be honest. So enjoyable that he almost expected the ground to open up in front of them or something.