Dog Training 101 (Cecil)

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“Ike I swear!” Idalia said tugging him back to her side as he tried to dart across the road at a rabbit. When did those things go into hibernation? She needed them to not be out and about while she was walking her monster dog down to the lake. Finally now that it was safe and a light gave them leave to do so, she and her Great Dane companion crossed the street. Sometimes Ike could be the sweetest creature on the planet, and he tried to be that way all the time, she knew, but he was just too excited all the time. When she’d called Cecil to set up a time for their canine companions to meet she’d been half tempted to just offer Cecil to the dog while he went on his runs. Ike would love that. Idalia, however, loathed running. She did it at the gym when she was forced to do so, but otherwise she liked to keep her feet at a walk.

She smiled thinking of Mephit. She was such a good girl, maybe they could trade? She glanced down at the fawn colored Dane and shook her head no, she would miss Ike entirely too much. She gave him a quick hug around the neck and kissed the top of his head. Ike yipped excitedly wiggling every fiber of his large body as he hopped up to lick her face. “I need you to be good, you can be a good boy huh?” She asked him and the dog cocked is head to the side as if considering her question and trying to find the right answer. Oh he was a such a sweetheart, and he was trying. And ever since her watery vision Ike had been a blessing. He sat with her when she had a vision and always came to be close to her. He was her anchor and sometimes when her visions got a little unclear she could solidify herself in the present with her hand on Ike.

She spied Cecil and Mephit over by the park and lifted her hand to wave. Ike, upon seeing the other dog started pulling at the leash and barking. He might seem intimidating considering his volume and size but Ida knew it was all a show and she hoped that poor Mephit wouldn’t think he was a threat or else Ike might get his butt kicked by a smaller dog. She tightened her hold on Ike’s leash as they got closer and she staggered a few times as Ike tried to come in at ramming speed. “Hi Cecil!” She called when she was in earshot. “Easy, Ike. Easy, buddy.” She’d been to the bar and picked up those books and at the moment though she just had not had the time to read them. She wished they had audio books so she could listen on her way to and from work, it was really her only time to read. “How are you?” She asked addressing Cecil again.

[Cecil Wathen]

The light breeze blowing across the field over the lake kept the air cool but otherwise it was a remarkably pleasant early-autumn day. Cecil had kept their first walk this morning brief, knowing Mephit would get a chance to run off her energy properly on this outing, and both dog and owner were in high spirits as they wrestled with a rope toy in the shade of a large Beech tree. Since Ida had popped into the bar to pick up the training books Cecil had been very much looking forward to this meeting, both because he enjoyed the forecasters company and because he was looking forward to finally meeting her tank-on-legs named Ike.

However, he wouldn’t lie that there was a small part of him that was a little wary about this meeting. He trusted Mephit implicitly and knew she would be absolutely fine around the strange dog, but said strange dog was untrained and almost double the mass of the Australian Kelpie. Ida had said Ike was good around other dogs, but if he got boisterous he could easily accidentally cause real harm to the much smaller Mephit and they couldn’t guarantee being able to keep him under control. Cecil would have to make sure he kept a real close eye on them and be ready to intervene if their play started to get a little too rough.

The sound of barking caused Mephit to let go of the rope toy and turn her head in the direction of the sound, large ears pricked and her small frame tensed ready for whatever happened. When she took a step towards the much larger dog Cecil knelt beside her and rested a hand on her back, telling her to “leave.” Mephit’s eyes remained locked on the approaching pair, and as the Dane seemed to barrel towards them she let out a bark of warning. Cecil rubbed her neck and side, shushing her gently, and after a few moments hesitation she sat after being told to. Mephit’s body trembled half in anxiety and half in excitement, unsure whether the Dane wanted to play or harm her master, and a quiet whine left her throat followed by a nervy bark. “Hey Ida, good to see you again.” Once he was certain Mephit was going to stay Cecil stood again, hopefully making himself look like less of an easy target to the Dane. He gave a soft chuckle. “You weren’t lying when you said he was a monster. He’s huge! Very handsome looking animal, though.” As the pair got closer Cecil clipped the lead onto Mephit’s collar, ensuring he would have closer control over her. “We’re good thanks, just enjoying the last of the summer warmth. How about you two? Been keeping well?”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia tugged Ike’s leash back, “Quit!” she scolded. Ike looked up at her with a loopy kind of smile and trudged on, he wanted to see who this new dog and person were. She heard Mephit’s bark and tugged at Ike’s collar again. “Ike, quit, you’re scaring her, see?” He didn’t, he was so oblivious to everything but the fact that there were people and it was exciting. If she could count the number of one sided conversations she’d had with him about his behavior she’d run out of fingers and toes. “Easy, bubba, be nice.” She said trying a softer spoken approach. It she had trusted that she could take one of her hands off the leash to give him a scratch on the head. The fawn colored Dane was certainly still a work in progress. And god forbid there was a cat or anything like that. Idalia knew she needed to do a lot more work with Ike. Especially now that he was big and didn’t really understand how big he was. Eventually he would catch up with his body, that was something the vet told her. That he’d figure out his size and be better. She could only hope so.

“Good to see you too,” Idalia called her smile broadening. Cecil was such a sweetheart, he was so helpful and she hoped that he didn’t hate her after seeing her terrible dog training job. He was still relatively young and very frustratingly intelligent. Ida grinned and pulled Ike closer to her side. “Thank you! Yeah, I knew he’d get big but I didn’t expect him to be so big so soon!” She pulled Ike to a relative stop but the dog was straining at Mephit, he was whining now as if to convince her that he just wanted to say ‘hi’. Idalia didn’t buy it. She was going to be very careful with him, Mephit was a lot smaller indeed, she hadn’t really realized it until they were standing by each other. Ike was huge. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said with a grin. “And we’re both doing well, more so him than me. You know government shut down and all.” It was starting to get annoying. Everything had been put on hold, but at least forecasters and meteorologists were essential and hadn’t been furloughed.

“How are things at the bar? It looks really good,” she said as if she hadn’t said that enough when she’d come to pick up the books. She patted Ike’s side and he glanced at her as if wondering why she was stopping him from playing. “So this is Ike. He’s my monster.” She scratched his head affectionately. “Say ‘hi’ to Cecil,” Idalia said and quickly added, “Gently.” Ike’s tail was wagging like mad and he strained his head to sniff at Mephit. “I don’t know how you feel about Mephit, but I guess I didn’t realize how much bigger he was, I think Ike should stay on his leash at least for a little while.”

[Cecil Wathen]

Cecil laughed softly and held the back of his hand out towards the Dane in greeting, giving the monster of a dog the chance to get his scent. “Yeah, they grow up so fast. When I first got Mephit I could just flop her onto my shoulder and carry her around like that; now look at her.” Of course, even fully grown the Kelpie was no match size-wise for the still relatively adolescent Great Dane, but even looking at her now Cecil was still impressed that she had come from such a small and rather pitifully feeble pup. Cecil's obvious ease around the Dane allowed Mephit to relax a touch and she sneakily crept forward a few paces towards the other dog, neck outstretched towards him and nose twitching furiously. Cecil gave a small shake of the lead, reminding Mephit that it was there, and she halted her creeping but gave a soft whine towards the other dog.

“Yeah, the whole mess with the shut down is insane. How are things at work? Not too bad I'm hoping.” The government shut down had really had a mixed effect on Cecil. As an import into the country who had no actual voting rights or government benefits afforded to him, Cecil payed his own way with his insurance and had suffered no actual loss from the entire fiasco. On a personal level, however, it deeply offended and disgusted him. Cecil had never been very political in any sense of the word, but if pushed he would say he was liberal. The whole mess was horrific and the fact so very, very many people were at risk simply because some idiots in suits were having a tantrum and couldn't agree on a reasonable middle-ground was terrifying. Then again, back home England was being run by a Liberal-Conservation coalition. Which made about as much sense as having a No Swearing Fuck Party. He did worry about some of his friends throughout all this though, especially ones with jobs that put them in questionable positions. “I mean, I know it undoubtedly sucks, but how are you and yours coping with it all?”

As Ida introduced Cecil to Ike the Welshman gently scratched the top of the huge canines head, ruffling his ears slightly. “Such a beast! I've seen smaller horses.” Mephit let out a frustrated bark that turned into an impatient whimper, and Cecil made sure the lead was firmly attached before saying “Go on then.” The Kelpie barked again and stood, giving a small bound towards the Dane with her head low and tail wagging furiously. Mephit was clearly completely unafraid of the much bigger dog and as she audibly sniffed at him she raised a paw to bat at him playfully, Cecil keeping a close eye over their antics. A quiet breath of a laugh left his lips. “I don't think anyone's told her she's outmatched yet.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Ike noticed Cecil then and became excited as he realized the other person was also there to play with him. Or at least as he had decided. “Oh goodness, how cute!” Puppies were quite possibly the most adorable things in the entire universe and it someone wanted Idalia’s heart to melt it came along with some image of puppies. “Yeah he was about this big when I got him,” she took her hands around his large head. He had grown quite a bit. He was she knew old enough to get his ears clipped but she’d found the whole practice unpleasant and she thought Ike looked perfect with his floppy ears. She flipped them around making the Great Dane rock his head back and forth before giving her a look. She grinned at him and giggled. Ike was already distracted by Mephit though and she had to brace herself against him as he reached forward toward her.

Idalia sighed, she would like to say that it was fine but currently they were definitely in working a limited world. She gave a shrug and nodded. It did suck, it sucked a whole lot actually. “Yeah, at the National Weather Service, we’re essential personnel to ‘preserve life and property’,” Idalia quoted and sighed. “So we’re working, we all have jobs but we’re not going to be paid until this whole thing is over.” It wasn’t hurting Idalia too badly at the moment but she knew people who had families who were struggling because they didn’t know when they were going to get a paycheck. “All of our research has been shut down and we can’t afford to update out data products.” Already there was observation equipment that needed to be fixed that wasn’t and soon there would be more equipment that would be broken that they couldn’t fix. All of the grants awarded for research to improve forecasting were frozen. It would be bad if it kept going on.

Ike wagged his tail and jumped a bit excited about the new person. “No, no, down Ike.” Idalia said and hoped that he wouldn’t feel the desire to jump. Idalia held tightly to Ike’s leash as Mephit moved forward nervously. “Easy,” she said as she could feel Ike quivering through the leash. He tipped his nose down his chest fascinated by the smaller dog as if he couldn’t understand why she was so small. When she barked Ike twitched back surprised before moving forward again and stretching his nose to sniff her. Idalia giggled. “Oh, I don’t know about that.” Ike was really a mellow dog in a big dog body. His tail wagged when he realized Mephit was playing. He jumped back and lowered himself into a crouch his lower body close to the ground and his rear standing up his tail a blur as he wagged it. He hoped up a few times and gave a small, “Wuff,” and he batted his paw back at her and jumped back. “Oh, you nut case!” Idalia laughed. “I think he’s afraid of her.”

[Cecil Wathen]

Looking back it was strange to think that getting a dog had never been Cecil’s idea. Aaron had suggested it at first and Cecil had quietly disapproved and voiced his dislike of the plan, but Aaron had ended up just bringing a puppy home anyway. Although Cecil quite liked animals and bore them no ill-will at all, he’d never really been overly keen on the idea of keeping a dog and at first he had little to do with the needy ball of fur. However, Aaron’s erratic work schedule had meant that Cecil found himself spending far more time with the puppy than his husband did, and it wasn’t long before the two had begun to bond. Now he struggled to recall just why he had been so opposed to the idea in the first place.

To an outsider, as Cecil had been at first, the government shutdown made very little sense. Just because some dicks in suits couldn’t come to a compromise, the entire system went into meltdown with many thousands of people either being unpaid or losing their jobs. It was a horrific catastrophe, and he did feel desperately sorry for those caught in the middle of it all. He knew that if it dragged out much longer he too would start to feel the pinch, but he also knew that he was remarkably lucky in that he wasn’t directly affected. Indirect collateral damage was easier to control, and none of his staff were going unpaid or being made redundant. “I still find it hard to believe that this is being allowed to happen. The whole situation is disgusting. I’m sorry you’re stuck in such a crappy situation.” Cecil gently rested a broad hand on Idalia’s shoulder in a reassuring gesture. “You will let me know if there’s anything I can do to help out, wont you? Even if it’s just popping into the pub for some dinner so you don’t have to cook or getting Ike out of your hair for a few hours.”

Carefully watching Ike and Mephit introduce themselves to each other, Cecil was ready to intervene if either of them got too carried away. He couldn’t help but smile at the Dane’s reaction to Mephit barking at him, and when the huge dog bounced backwards away from her a laugh left Cecil’s lips. “You know, I think you might be right.” It was amusing to see them both weighing each other up and trying to play while on the confines of their leads. The Kelpie let out an excited bark and spun quickly in a circle, tail wagging so hard her whole body was shaking, and she bounced towards Ike again, trying to get him to play. “What’s he like off the lead? Can you trust him to come back?”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Cecil’s outside observation was not so different from those within the system. Particular those who were suffering. Idalia had never been so tempted to go and shake every member of congress and tell them to get their shit together. They were acting like a bunch of children who didn’t get their way so they weren’t going to play anymore. Idalia raised her hands in a gesture that said ‘Thank you for your sanity’. “I know it’s absolutely ridiculous. And you know the kicker, the real kicker about how much they don’t care about screwing us. Those bastards are getting pay checks!” Idalia ranted, “And thanks, I just wish there was something we could do. I can’t even…” Idalia cut herself off before she went off on her rant. She didn’t like politics in the best of times but she really didn’t like it when the government was full of people who were so corrupt and probably just fine with that. Even the best of politicians were oily.

Ida looked up at Cecil and smiled warmly and she found her tear ducts reacting irrationally to his kindness. Instead of allowing herself that release from stress she lurched forward and hugged him. “Thank you, Cecil, really, you have no idea how much that means to me,” Idalia said, she liked to say she could take care of herself but the offer warmed her heart. She composed herself quickly and released him. She beamed up at him. What hurt the most was how hard she had worked to get to where she was and the government didn’t even hold her work to enough importance that it was willing to throw her and the rest of the country into shambles. She lifted her chin, she’d always been bold and ferociously independent. It stung that if this kept up she might have to start asking people for help. “I will most certainly hit you up for a meal,” Ida assured him, and she was greatly pleased that she got a volunteer dog sitter. She might see if he’d be willing to watch Ike sometimes while she was at work, if Ike and Mephit got along.

Mephit was too precious. Idalia help her hand over her lips as she giggled at the dogs. Ike whined and as soon as Cecil asked about ‘off the leash’ the large puppy look up at Idalia with his big precious eyes. Ida looked at Ike suspiciously. “Weeell,” Idalia drawled, “He’s gotten a lot better. He usually comes when he’s called, it really depends on if he’s in a listening mood. I think if he wants to play with Mephit he’d follow her though.” Ida bent and scratched Ike’s head before poking his nose. “Can I trust you to be good? No pouncing random strangers?” Ike’s only response was panting back at her. She smiled, “Well, won’t hurt to try. You give Mephit a little bit of a head start, I think he might pounce on her if he thinks stuck.”

[Cecil Wathen]

Nodding in agreement, Cecil added “I still can’t understand just why they seem to think that this is better than them just putting on their big-boy pants and stop throwing their toys out the pram.” He knew the system back home was so much different and, though it was hardly perfect, he seriously struggled to imagine anything like this being allowed to happen back home. Between the wage laws, the unions and the general overarching attitude of the populace it was all-too easy to imagine mass rioting and chaos on the streets. The fact that so many people here seemed to just be trying to plough their way through it both surprised and quietly impressed him.

The hug caused a soft laugh of surprise to leave Cecil’s lips but he returned it warmly; he’d always been told that he gave good hugs and if it could offer Idalia some of the comfort she seemed to so badly need then he was more than happy to provide. “Hey, what’s the point in being friends if we can’t help each other out sometimes, hm?” The beaming smile from Ida was enough to confirm just how much it meant to her and the Welshman was happy that, in that small way, he might have helped to make these dark days a little brighter for her. “Absolutely any time, you just have to say the word.”

It was fascinating watching Ida interacting with Ike; the woman and her pony-sized dog seemed to have such a strong connection despite the fact that she had about as much direct control of him as a runaway train. “He should follow her, I’d think. She’s good at coming back and I don’t think he’d lope around on his own if she was over here with us.” The Dane seemed to be quietly intelligent and Cecil didn’t doubt that Ike could manage some basic training if the time was put into it. Perhaps having Mephit around could help with that. After getting the Kelpie to lie down Cecil unclipped the lead, Mephit watching him closely for the signal and whining softly, desperate to play. As soon as Cecil gave a hand gesture Mephit was off, the little herding dog tearing around the group in a circle and barking excitedly, tail flying erratically as she tried to get the others to play with her.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia nodded so glad that Cecil was level headed and agreed with her, and frankly the vast majority of the population of the US at this point. Everyone, right or left, up or down, was sick to hell of all of the greed and childish actions of congress. “It’s a mystery to all of us. You know, cause we voted for the Health Care Bill and we voted Obama back in and somehow that still doesn’t seem to say anything to congress. It’s such a shit show I’d really like to kick some of their butts!” She almost felt sorry for Cecil having to listen to her rant as well as probably everyone who was currently jobless who came into the bar. People had a terrible habit of taking out their anger about things out of their control on people who were close to home.

Cecil’s hug did the trick of taking off a great deal of stress. He did give amazing hugs and Idalia found herself breathing easily for just a moment at least. “Thank you, Cecil, really I couldn’t ask for a better friend.” She was going to have to take him up on that, especially if he was willing to dog sit her insane canine. Looking down at the dog she found herself smiling. Ike really had gotten her through a lot these past few days as well. Even by just sitting and not making a fuss when she couldn’t deal with it. Even if his solution to drying her tears was to lap her face until she was either laughing or cursing his existence. Ida nodded, “Yeah, he likes to be the center of attention I think if Mephit gets more love Ike will at least come back to make sure he gets it too.”

Idalia marveled at Cecil’s control and the way Mephit obeyed despite clearly wanting to play. Ike watched her too and Idalia tightened her hold in preparation and as soon as Mephit went off Ike tried to follow. “Hugh!” Idalia yelped as he tried to drag her after Mephit. “Calm yourself! Ike!” She pulled him back using all of her rowing muscles to hold onto him until she was able to unclip his leash. He was off like a bullet letting out a loud bark and chased after the smaller dog. Idalia crossed her arms and laughed, every time Ike got close Mephit would turn, she was a lot quicker on her feet than the gangly great dane. “Oh poor Ike, she is running circles around him!” Idalia laughed. “Really though, I haven’t had time to read those books you gave me yet, but I think there’s been improvement already.” She smiled up at him innocently completely aware that this ‘improvement’ was what most people called the starting point.

[Cecil Wathen]

As Idalia went on a little mini-rant Cecil smiled in understanding and nodded in agreement. He had heard it all at the bar many times and from many different standpoints (and from many different levels of intelligence and understanding of course), but he still showed an active interest in what Ida had to say. Admittedly part of it was his background; so many years of working behind a bar prepared one for any kind of political, intellectual or philosophical onslaught and taught one how to actively listen whilst still doing other things. Mostly however it was because he genuinely found her interesting and was fascinated by her point of view and way of expressing herself. “I’m sure there’d be a queue of people waiting behind you to kick them all.” He gave a soft chuckle. “Although compared to some of the rather inventive systems of punishing them I’ve heard some people come up with, kicking them would be like a pat on the back.”

Smiling brightly, Cecil gave a dismissive wave of a hand. “It’s fine, really. You just have to give the word. Besides” he added, indicating to the dogs, “I’m sure they’d both benefit from getting more chance to run around and socialise with another dog. And I am nothing if not a reasonable host.” Watching the two dogs interacting while on the lead was encouraging; neither was showing any aggression or real nervousness, besides Ike seeming to be slightly uncertain about Mephit, and so Cecil had been quietly confident as he had let the Kelpie bolt off.

Cecil was surprised by how Ida managed to keep hold of Ike as he tried to career after Mephit and after she had gotten the lead unclipped he told her so. “That was impressive! I’ve seen Danes drag around blokes bigger than me before.” Cecil laughed as Mephit ducked and dived around the much bigger Dane, always managing to keep just out of his reach. Every time he slowed she would circle around him with a playful nip at his tail, trying to goad him into chasing her more. “There’s no rush to get them back to me, take your time with them.” Cecil smiled easily, taking a seat on the grass while the dogs continued to frolic. “I’m glad you’re already seeing some improvement though. We all have to start somewhere.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia laughed and nodded she did believe that. There was likely to be a great deal of angry people especially when it had gotten to the point where congress had an abysmal approval rating. She’d gone home for a free meal recently and heard all about it from her father. He was retired in the sense that he no longer worked insanely long hours. He was a doctor and he didn’t see all the fuss about the healthcare systems, in fact he was ecstatic because that meant he didn’t have to see people thrown out for lack of insurance. Idalia laughed, “True facts, I really think we should just fire all of their asses.” She chuckled at the idea wondering what other people had come up with, she had a few ideas and she was certainly glad she hadn’t come up with any of them earlier. The government was a frustrating thing, and when the people in charge made the citizens angry there was a problem. “You know I really wish that enough people cared to actually do something. I mean we can protest ‘til we’re blue in the face but it’s not going to change anything. They think we ‘don’t know better’, asshats.”

Nodding in agreement Ida looked down at the two. She wasn’t that familiar with dog behaviors but she’d heard Ike go off on the mailman a few times and she knew his angry and threatening bark when she heard it. These were not angry and he was wriggling his body so hard it looked like it might fall to pieces. “I’m so glad. And I’m really hoping that Mephit rubs off on him a little bit!” Idalia laughed and looked at Mephit sitting so nicely while Ike was practically beating a bruise into her leg with his tail. He was still learning how big he was and she was as well, she’d never expected him to get quite so big. At least he hadn’t jumped on Cecil, that was always good thing. But that also might have been because Mephit was more interesting.

Idalia raised her arms to flex and laughed. “Oh don’t be too impressed, he’s decked me quite a few times. I think I’ve just gotten better at digging in.” She wrapped the leash up and looked after the two. “I’ll tell you a secret: Ike when he bolts always pauses just a little bit when he hears me shout. I use that to lunge at him most of the time.” Ike really was fumbling around. Mephit was much faster and smaller which gave her a distinct advantage. Ike was a rather lazy dog, he loved runs and walks but he also loved to lounge on her bed or her couch. She’d flat out just giving him the chair at this point. “Thank you, really, I just need to do something about him. He’s such a sweetheart but I’m really worried that he’s really dumb sometimes,” she giggled, “Which is scary cause I think he’s actually really smart and pretends.” She folded her legs underneath her to join Cecil with a little more grace than she’d manage with her Ike.

Ida nodded. “I’m really hoping to work with him a lot on my off days.” It was too bad the books didn’t have an audio version so she could listen during her commute. “So, how have you been Cecil? Is business going well?” She asked leaning back on her hands and tilted her head back to catch the sun. She turned her head a little so she could keep an eye on the dogs as well as Cecil.

[Cecil Wathen]

Nodding in agreement, Cecil said “The system is so very broken.” It was old and tired cliché but at the same time, like many clichés, it happened to be true. It was a system where the rich and powerful saw no limit to what they could achieve, propping themselves up on the backs of those who have to work so very hard and sacrifice so very much just so the higher-ups could afford a new helicopter or swimming pool or private island. It was disgusting and wrong, but no matter what the little folks did it would never change. Sad as it was, the little men and women would always just be used as stepping stones for those in power.

It had taken Cecil an awfully long time to get Mephit to the point she was at now, but he did not regret a single second of it. Sure at first they had both fumbled massively; she had been a very smart puppy and he had been a rather clueless owner so of course there had been many mistakes. However, they had learned together with the help of the internet and countless books and now Cecil was exceptionally proud of the dog that Mephit had matured into. She was obedient and incredibly well mannered but still playful and full of the joy of her youth. Every second had been worth it. “I'm sure he'll pick things up quickly enough, once he realises that he has to actually learn something and not just play all the time. Maybe if he sees her sitting and getting treats he'll catch on to the trick too.”

Cecil laughed softly at her arm flexing, shaking his head in amusement. “Don't talk yourself down. Being dragged by him would be like being dragged by a small horse! If you can dig in at all, all the more power to you.” It was one of the reasons Cecil had been glad Aaron had at least had the sense to get a somewhat smaller dog. Their apartment had hardly been a mansion, and two novice dog owners trying to raise a mastiff or similar breed would likely have ended very, very badly. Watching Mephit bolting around the field with Ike was joyous, and Cecil was very glad that over a year ago he had finally given up the arguments with Aaron and just started looking after the dog himself. “He's not dumb; he's just not been shown how to put that oversized brain in to use yet. He'll get better, with time and practice.”

Nodding and smiling, Cecil got comfortable on the grass. “Well, if you ever need a hand with him you know where I am.” A few meters away Mephit stormed at Ike, launching herself onto his back, landing on his haunches and taking off again. It was a movement innate in the breed, a taught-in behaviour used to keep sheep herds in line. It had made teaching her the trick of jumping onto Cecil's back like a platform very easy indeed, but poor Ike clearly could have used a better warning as she sent him sprawling on the grass. Laughing brightly, Cecil watched them as he spoke to Ida. “It's not going too bad thanks. Slowing down a little now summer is pretty much over, but it should pick up again in the run-up to the holidays. Have you got any plans for once work stops being quite so shitty?”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia too nodded and sighed, “It’s so sad that we’ve come to a point where it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad.” She hated the feeling of disillusionment when she went through college. She had been a very naïve child going into the world and she believe in the innate goodness of people. She’d been quickly washed of that when she started listening to the new and the people around her arguing politics. Now, in the government herself in an indirect way she was all the close to the corruption and she saw it at every turn. The darker the world though the brighter the few seemed to shine. Like Cecil, he had the glow of a good person that drew people in. She’d known it when she’d first met him and getting to know him only confirmed her assumption. “Where are you from Cecil?” Idalia asked curiously partially in interest and partially to change the subject. “I feel like I should know you accent… like I wanna say… Scottish?” She hazarded a guess.

Watching the dogs romp around Ida envied their carefree existence. So long as they had a warm place to sleep a bowl of food and someone to love Idalia figured that they would be happy. Though seeing how close Mephit was to Cecil, Ida had a feeling that that ‘someone’ category was narrowed to ‘Cecil’. She watched Ike, she hoped she would have a bond like that someday with him. She couldn’t help but feel as though she was the worst person suited for him or any dog. She should have really thought about the time she would have for Ike before she’d gotten him. But she’d been so excited about a puppy and then she’d fallen in love with him that now the thought of giving him up, even if it was for his best interest made her heart break. Ida smiled, “Oh certainly! You put food in the mix and he’s a quick learner.”

She waved a hand dismissively at his praise. She’d never dealt with horses to know all she knew was that she’d been knocked down and run over enough times to know when to dig in and when to get out of the way. At least when she shrieked he happened to pause for long enough to at least let her act quickly enough to let him go or get a better hold of him. “I think spending more time with other dogs will help,” she agreed, “You know I’m still not convinced. Sometimes he can be really clever, like scary smart, and then he does things that he knows are bad and he knows I know he knows cause he gets that guilty look in his eyes, you know?” She rambled nonsensically. Really it was scary because Ike always got very close when she was feeling a vision coming along and he didn’t leave her until it was over. It was probably because of the time she tried to go for a swim, or maybe he was really just that sensitive.

Ida gave Cecil a warm smile, he was a good friend, she was so lucky. She burst into laughter as Ike tumbled. The Great Dane gave a little yelp of surprise and then a playful back and barreled after her intent on revenge. Still she was too quick for him, he could gain speed but it took him a long time to do so and a longer time to change directions where Mephit did so quickly and frequently. “Oh good,” Idalia smiled glancing at Cecil before turning back to the dogs. Idalia shrugged, “Keep working, enjoy the fact that I am being paid.” She laughed brightly, “Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. But it’s gonna be a bad recovery. I’m glad to hear that you’re not suffering.” Ida guessed that when things got bad people were more inclined to go for drinks than not. Though when pocket was getting tight it was hard to go out.