Bark, bark -- Zach

[Jude Wilde]

For some reason, the first thing that came into Jude's mind that morning was, "I am a hobbit." He still hasn't quite figured out the meaning to this thought, nor would he probably remember past noon. But it was still an odd way to start off the day.

Upon rolling out of bed, his bare feet slamming against the wooded floor loudly, he was reminded of the appointment he had that day. Or rather, his furry companion did. His three year old puli, Staples, was to be taken to the vet that day for a check up. The dog had gotten his paw caught when running down the swirly staircase and accidentally torn off one of his nails. Luckily, Staples was nearly completely healed by now, just going in to make sure he didn't have an infection. The puli was plenty pleased to not have to wear that ridiculous cone on his head anymore, making him resemble a satellite dish.

The brunette stretched as he wandered from his room, down the staircase and into the kitchen. The dog was awake, wagging his tail next to his food bowl, staring up at the man with eager eyes, a short whine from the back of his throat. Jude grinned grabbing his bowl and filling it with Kibbles & Bits as Staples watched his movements with big eyes. Placing the bowl on the floor, he ruffled the dreadlocks as the k9 hurried to scarf down the food. "You're going to choke," He warned, as the dog ignored his words and continued to eat like he was starved.

Jude ate a bowl of Cap'n Crunch cereal, watching the dog energetically move from eating, to running around the kitchen, sliding into things and going back to sniff his empty bowl. The man grinned down at the black mop dog, with a similarly energetic personality, they made a good match.

---

For any normal person, with a normal walking pace, the hyperactive mop dog would have pulled them down the sidewalk ruthlessly, until he eventually pulled them over and had to drag them. But, Jude was hardly regular. He kept up with the dog's pace, nearly jogging down the road with the bright sun beating down on the people venturing out in the midmorning warmth. The grin never seemed to disappear from his face as he rushed down the sidewalk, the dinky flip flops he wore slapped loudly against the ground. Jude hated shoes, they were so bothersome. But when he wasn't at the school, he was supposed to wear them. Something about public decency.

Pulling the overly hyper dog into the veterinarian's office, grinning at the lady behind the counter as he checked the puli in for his checkup.

He sat in one of the hard chairs in the small waiting room as the black dog sniffed around him, going to all corners of the room. The brunette didn't even bother trying to restrain him any longer, having let go of the leash and allowed him to roam the corners of the small room. He couldn't really escape. Jude watched him with wide eyes, the smile still on his face, leaned forward, hands clasped around each other. The edge of his Rubix cube tattoo peaked out from under the blue t-shirt he wore with Han Solo on the front. Turning as the vet rounded the corner, Jude stood and waved enthusiastically, "Good morning!" He said.

---

Outfit: Clicky!

[Zachary Brahmen]

Zach liked chicken. He liked chicken sandwiches, and he liked living, clucking hens. This was why the man was trying to erect a chicken coop in his backyard. The garden was large and sprawling with plenty of room for all of his various attempts at organic living. The chickens were the next experiment in Zach's almost self sustainable living. After three long hours hammering nails into wood and bending chicken wire, the coop was ready, and the three chickens - and rooster - were now settled in.

The rest of the morning was spent as it always was. Zach would first examine each of his beloved overnight visitors, from a black labrador with a badly broken leg, to a hedgehog that had gotten on the wrong side of a badger. Everything was normal, and Zach liked it like that. He liked the smell of the coffee as he poured it from the machine in the kitchen, and the waft of fresh bacon on crusty white bread. He liked the way the shower hit his skin and woke him up, and he liked going down into the surgery with his eyes bright and full of enthusiasm for his day. Nothing in the world, nothing at all, would ever make Zach change the way he felt about being a Vet. It felt natural to him, like having two legs, or breathing.

Of course, Jude was a mid-morning client. Before him was a little wriggly kitten who had been vomitting. A few injections and a conversation with the owners later, and Zach was back in the reception room, behind the desk, coffee in one hand, patient files in the other. He'd just disappeared to file away some more information, when he'd heard the door open. Reappearing as if by magic, the vet grinned down at Staples, then offered a hand out to shake. "Morning Jude." He said amicably, nodding the two of them through to the examination room.

As Staples was put on up the table, Zach bent down and gently pressed the Puli's affected toe, checking for pus and damage, his head tilted to the side. "How's Staples been? No more claw removal, I hope." The vet grinned his wonky grin, and eyed Jude's t-shirt. "Hoho. Snap." He said laughing, moving his vet's uniform to the side to show a similar t-shirt, of Chewbacca. "It's nice to know good minds think alike." Eyes twinkling, the vet gave Staples a gentle stroke, then moved round to grab a few little cheese and liver treats, offering them out.

"And how have YOU been?" Zach asked, standing back a moment. "I've spent the morning fencing in chickens." The man laughed softly. "I have more scratches from chicken wire than I'd ever have had from an angry cat." Offering his arms out for Jude to look at, Zach grinned. Nothing perturbed him for long, and having a chat with one of his regulars was always a good way to start the morning.

[Jude Wilde]

The grin was permanently etched on the boyish features as he followed the other adult into the exam room. Staples seemed just ask excited to see Zach, as he was a good vet, and gave him plenty of treats. His tail waged enthusiastically as he scrambled after the veterinarian, skidding into the room and hopping up on the steel counter, the long pink tongue hung loosely from his jaws and he panted for no particular reason. His eyes twinkled up at the shaggy haired adult as he examined his injured paw. The dog whined momentarily, wary of the injury being poked at, but didn't snap at the veterinarian as he did his job.

Jude chuckled at the joke, "No, I don't think he hurt himself again. Hopefully. I think he really dislike the humiliation of the cone." He said the last part with a tremor in his voice, a feigned sort of choking fear as if trying to act out his dog's attitude toward the embarrassing plastic restraint he was forced to wear for a few days. Grinning, Jude's eyes flickered down to the Puli with admiration - to be truthful, his accident had freaked the man out. He loved animals, dearly and completely, and when his Puli was on the floor whimpering in pain, Jude flipped out and all but rushed him to the vet for help. He really loved his dog. He looked up again as Zach acknowledged the Star Wars t-shirt he was sporting, and moved aside the white lab coat to reveal a similar piece of appearal. The brunette made a strange sort of squealing, laughing noise and smiled widely at the other adult. "Dude, you just gained major cool points with me."

Star Wars was the epitome of epicness. There was no debate.

As Staples lurched forward and gobbled up the treats in seconds, the mime ruffled the black dreadlocks on his back. He glanced up at Zach as he spoke again, a warm twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, I've been good! Oberon's been all in a tissy 'cause he has a date." He was sure he had mentioned his roommate to the veterinarian before. Jude rolled his eyes, still smiling. Secretly, he felt a bit left out with Oberon meeting someone new, and kicking him to the curb (even if it was just for the day). But he didn't quite mention that to bring down the happy mood. "Chickens, you say? D'ya want fresh eggs?" He laughed. "Are there any animals that you don't like?"

[Zachary Brahmen]

Zach continued to gently inspect the wound on the Puli's paw, before smiling and drawing back to grab a little anti-bacterial cream. "I don't think any dog likes the 'Cone of Shame'." He said, laughing as he gently dabbed the cream on the wound. "I don't see any infection on Staples' toe, which is excellent, but I'd like you to keep an eye on it till there's some nail regrowth. If you see anything you don't feel happy with, bring him back and I'll check him out again." Moving over to the computer, he printed out a prescription label for the cream and handed it over. "This'll be for the toe till the nail grows through, it just keeps infection away. Make sure he doesn't lick it off." Zach eyed the Puli suspiciously. "No licking, Mr."

Grinning at Jude's reaction to his t-shirt, the vet continued to stroke Staples idly. "I was watching Strikes Back last night and I just had to have a homage this morning." Chuckling, Zach's wonky smile grew larger. "Of course, Akira thinks it's highly embarrasing having his uncle as a star wars geek. I try not to watch the films when he's around." Running his hand through his hair and straightening his glasses, the lanky man looked interested. "A date huh? Anyone I'd know?" The vet knew all of the animal owning population of Pilot Ridge by name, and pet. Give him any name and he'll be able to tell you when they came in last, and what the problem was with their pet, off the top of his head.

"I love all animals, even when they try and take a chunk out of me." Zach said, washing his hands and typing up his findings on Staples for his file. "A couple of weeks ago, a parrot took offence to me trying to fix his wing. I ended up with half my finger hanging off." It was only a slight exageration, and even as the vet wiped down the table for the next client. "Want to go and see my magnum opus? I've got half an hour before my next patient comes in, and I want to show off." Grinning, Zach moved through the consulation room, beckoning both Staples and Jude round the back into his garden. Sure enough, erected in the corner of the garden, was a chicken coop, filled with the three chickens and the rooster. "Ta daaaa." He said, grinning.

[Jude Wilde]

Staple's ears flattened against his head as the vet playfully scolded him - one couldn't really see his ears under the unusual fur, but the action still occurred. He let out a short whining noise, before his tongue rolled out and tail began to wag again. If he was good, he might get another treat!

Jude ruffled the dreadlocks playfully as Zach spoke about his nephew. "Oh right, I hear Akira's doing well with his studies." He glanced up at the man, "His ability is really developing, I'm pleased to say." A smile stretched across his face. The young teen was talented with animals, there was no doubt about that. He knew that all of the students had some amount of struggling when it came to abilities - hell, he did too. For a few years, actually. It was only after he had graduated from the actual high school part of Hammel did he really buckle down to try and control his ability without getting hurt. He still had scars on his arms from attempting to mimic pyrokinetics, and occasionally he was sore from the many times he tried to shapeshift and never quite got his spine back the way it was supposed to be. But he was still quite happy, even on the days in training when he got knocked on his ass for whatever reason. He would just grin and stand back up. Glancing at the brunette, he studied him momentarily; Jude had decided a while ago that the man might have a slight ability pertaining to communication with animals. Or at least, it seemed that way. Whether he did or not was up for interpretation.

He hummed, "Her name is Rose. She works in a tattoo parlour, and she likes Monty Python." That was practically the only thing he really retained from what Oberon had told him. She seemed nice, though. He shrugged, "I haven't met her yet, but she might be helping me out with my next tattoo," That brought the grin back to his face. No, the mime wasn't a masochist. He just liked having tattoos. He liked the creativity and the time it took to make one, and the meaning behind them. He had two currently, and was hopefully going to get his third sometime within the next couple weeks.

When Zach chuckled about a past experience with a parrot, Jude's eyes widened and he instinctively looked down to the other man's hand to inspect any such injuries. A slight scar on his finger, but nothing that would handicap him forever. "Ouch," He winced thinking about it, "Parrots are kinda... mean... sometimes... My aunt had one. It scared me." He shivered. Of course, at the time, he was six. And it was a really unhappy bird. He was slightly surprised when he was dragged out of the room, but grinned and waved for the puli to join them. He scrambled off the metal table with the sharp click of his claws and padded after the two men. When they came around to the garden, Jude laughed out loud at the clucking chickens pecking around the yard idly. Staples' eyes widened as he spotted the birds, he leaned back on his hind legs and growled at the clucking birds. Jude gave the dog a quizzical look, patting him on the side to get him to hush. "It looks good! How long did it take you to build it? The only thing I've ever really built was sets... I made a castle once, it was awesome! Until Juliet tripped over the ladder... That wasn't so awesome." He remembered his high school's production of revamped Romeo and Juliet... She broke her toe doing that. He winced at the memory.

[Zachary Brahmen]

Zach chuckled and grinned as Jude informed him of Akira's progress at the school. "He's a talented little thing. I'm ever so proud of him." Pushing his glasses up his nose, the vet pocketted a few more liver treats for Staples, and let his arms drop down by his sides, making the man look even more lanky.

As for meta humans? Zach had absolutely no problem with them. Half his clients at the clinic were meta humans, and his favourite nephew was meta human. Hell, Zach almost wished he had some sort of ability, but aside from a natural affinity with animals, the man came up short. If he was a meta human, it had never come up during blood tests, and he was happy to just do his best with his own, basic human ability. Akira, on the other hand, he hoped would really become something fantastic and great, and be a great vet just like himself. Zach knew Jude was meta, and found the idea of mimicing a power fascinating. If he wasn't a vet, the man would probably have been a researcher at Hammel itself.

"I know Rose!" The vet exclaimed with a big grin. "She has a Papillon, called Cricket. He's adorable." Stretching out and tossing Staples a treat, the vet crouched down and eyed the chickens alongside the Puli, smiling. "She's a lovely woman." As for tattoos? Zach hadn't ever been brave enough to go for something like that. He'd thought about getting a paw print somewhere on his body at some point, but he wasn't sure, and he didn't want people finding him absolutely bonkers or pathetic. "What tattoo are you getting this time?" He said, chuckling.

"Parrots aren't too bad. They can be a tad cranky." He agreed, tossing a little chicken feed into the pen. "I think my worst ever patient had to be a very grumpy bull. Hospital, with a kicked chest. Broken ribs and bed rest. Or at least, I was meant to rest. I went back to finish the treatment the next day." Zach would have to have an arm hanging off to not go into work. "I started work on the frame yesterday, and finished the thing off this morning." He said with a jovial smile, lifting up the box to see if there were any fresh eggs already. "Hey, whatd'ya know. There's an egg already." He beamed, pulling the egg out and offering it over to Jude. "It's a gift! If you want it, that is?"