Who Let The Dogs Out? (Ella)

[Mason McQueen]

“Oh crud.” Mason unconsciously shivered as a cold gust of wind blew across him, making him instinctively bury his face underneath the purple circle scarf his brother gave him last Christmas. While he knew it would still be cold out (this was Vermont after all – he’s learned it the hard way a few days back that just because it’s spring doesn’t mean you can go out wearing a thin sweater and all that), he did not expect today to be this cold. Now he regrets not checking the weather report prior to going out. If he knew, he wouldn’t have let himself be dragged by his beloved Chowder.

Then again, it’s not like he can easily say no to the little monster. The boy’s been cooped up in their house for a good month or so already (work’s been draining Mason’s free time, among other things) and has been extremely behaved despite that, so when the dog-puppy (he’s just three years old after all) seemingly pleaded to have the chance to explore ‘round town – Mason found him longingly looking outside when he came home from work the other day – he didn’t even think twice about it. Now he somehow regrets being head over heels with that idea. “Calm down boy,” he chuckled as he tugged at the dog’s collar, trying to reel in the overenthusiastic animal, “You’ll have the whole day outside, I promise.” Well, if Mason can stand the cold, that is.

It took a while but Mason and Chowder finally reached the town’s quaint park, settling down in front of the (supposedly) shallow pond (how shallow it is, Mason has no plans of finding out, at least not in this weather). “Remember when Mommy used to take you out in strolls like this?” he asked, lightly rubbing his nose with Chowder’s, scratching the dog’s fluffy fur. Angela has always been the one who spoiled Chowder from the start, just like how she spoiled Mason through their brief years together.

Stuck in memory lane, he absentmindedly loosened the grip he has on the dog’s leash. Without a second to spare, Chowder quickly got out of Mason’s grasp and made a beeline to the nearby woods. “Chowder! Chow! Oh no.” He scrambled to stand up and stop the wayward dog, but it was too late. He was already on his way to bumping an unsuspecting figure. “WOAH! LOOKOUT!”

He just hopes his warning isn’t too late yet.

[Ella Tate]

The rumbling of thunder didn't stop Ella from her run through the woods. Who knew it would be much better out here than in the gym? True, it was colder and she got dehydrated faster but the workout was intense and she loved the pleasant burn in the right areas.

She had been getting even more exercise done now than she ever had before and she wondered why the urge to run was more frequent now. And just as her ruminations delved even deeper, she was completely unaware of the people around her.

The music blasting from her music player didn't help either. All it did was drown out external noises, one of them being a forewarning from someone far away. And before she knew it, she was tripping over something furry and landing on her knees and palms hard on the cold wet ground. "Shit!" She cursed loudly, turning around so she could sit on her rump.

She turned to look at the incriminating tool to her fall only to find an incredibly adorable and pudgy Chow Chow dog. "Holy crap you're cute." Momentarily forgetting bout her injuries, she extended one hand towards the dog for it to sniff. Curiously, the furry brown puppy approached her and sniffed it before licking it and moving closer to her. "Where the heck did you come from?" She asked, unaware that the owner was just a few steps away.

[Mason McQueen]

Too late.

Mason tried his hardest to keep up with his dog, but the loud curse was enough to tell him that the deed has been done. Not even his warning shout was enough to stop the inevitable disaster from happening, as it seems (he didn’t actually see Ella wearing her earphones, he thinks he didn’t shout enough). He panted furiously as he ran after his dog, mentally telling himself to hit the gym within the next few weeks as Andrei had suggested. He really is getting old.

“Oh no,” he muttered as he saw the figure drop, picking up his pace as he began forming the massive apology he’s about to tell whoever it was Chowder tripped.

It was perhaps a good thing that Ella decided to sit down and amuse his energetic dog, else Mason wouldn’t have caught up with Chowder at all. He promptly leaned down and grabbed the wayward dog’s useless leash, slowly coiling it in his hand as he approached the lady. “I am so so sorry Ma’am. It’s just that Chowder’s been holed in my house for so long and this is his first time out in days and–” Out of embarrassment, the man didn’t even notice that he’s began rambling, nor did he notice that the woman his dog tripped is a familiar face. That is until he saw Chowder happily licking her hand.

“Chowder, stop that,” he said as he grabbed his dog’s mouth, sending an apologetic smile towards the girl. “Ella? Oh my. Gosh I didn’t recognize you. I feel so bad.” On one hand, at least he knows that tripped person wouldn’t be so angry at him right now. Though she might tease him a bit about forgetting her name and all that. He’d actually prefer the former now. “Chowder, you really do know how to pick the ladies don’t you?” he chuckled as he gave his puppy a light pat on the head before extending his arm out to Ella, “Don’t worry, I have wet wipes in my car. Just don’t wipe your face for the moment.”

“Funny seeing you around here Thumbelina. No recruitment this weekend or anything?” Mason, I don’t think teasing Ella with the ridiculous nickname you have for her is the best thing you should do in such a scenario.

[/justify][/blockquote]

[Ella Tate]

While the owner of the cute little puppy went into his apology, Ella was still listening to her music player and only realised he was there when he pulled the dog's muzzle away. She pulled out her earphones and looked up to see her senior from Hammel and now co-worker at the same establishment. Him of the floppy hair and the winning smile.

Shaking that thought out of her head, she plastered a smile and held up a hand sheepishly. "Hi," she must have looked a downright mess what with her hair probably sticking out every here and there. With the promise of wet wipes, Ella grabbed Mason's offered hand and pulled herself up rather than making Mason do it. She dusted herself off and looked up at the tall man with a mock affronted look at the nickname he had fashioned for her when they were younger.

"What have I said about using that nickname?" She punched his arm lightly before shaking her head. "Nope. No recruitment. Just paper work. Piling up and up. Anyone blow up the labs yet?" She asked with a cheeky grin before crouching down, ignoring the pain shooting up her hurt knees.

[Mason McQueen]

Chowder seemed immensely smitten by Ella that Mason had to tug the dog’s leash back a few times, else he would’ve pushed his junior back down again. “The nickname? I think you told me how much you like it and how you’d love it if I continue calling you that in public?” he teased, rubbing his punched arm (boy Ella can punch). While she definitely isn’t a small lady, Mason just couldn’t help but want that little feeling of ‘superiority’. After all, back when they were in Hammel (and he assumes even now), despite being three-four years her senior, Ella knew so much compared to Mason; only in their height (and ages, to an extent) did he feel like he was really ahead of the lady.

“Verax almost did the other day. I knew telling the class what not to do is definitely a no-no when he’s around.” He unconsciously rubbed his temples as he remembered that day. He felt like he aged a year or two during that day. “But otherwise I’m good. And paper works stink. I still have a ton of exams and lab reports to mark back home.”

“So how’s life been?” he asked out of habit as he led Chowder and Ella to his car, “How long have you been working for Hammel again? I didn’t realize you were until I saw you in–” A long pause followed soon afterward, the man apparently unable to make his words out. True, past is past, but still, he’s not sure he’s allowed to talk about that night (and the events that followed). That, and it definitely wasn’t the fondest of memories, especially in Mason’s opinion.

[/justify][/blockquote]

ooc:
I rambled slightly on this one too. I'm sorry. D;.
- Jam

[Ella Tate]

Ella didn't realise the dog was being pulled back, if she had, she would have just asked Mason to let him loose. Ella loved animals and dogs, while not her favourite, made her smile. "Oh, haha you're so funny." She grinned up at Mason as she scratched the dog's ear. If Ella knew how Mason felt about her, she would have stopped him right there. No they weren't the best of friends but Mason was one of the few people she genuinely admired. Not as much as Dario, but then again...who could really hold a candle to him?

"Vincent definitely needs a leash on him. An electric one at that." The recruiter shook her head in amusement as she got back into a standing position. She noted that their height still differed but it so did not warrant him calling her Thumbelina. Of course, she knew he was kidding; there wasn't a spiteful bone in Mason's body. "Why did we come back to Hammel?" She asked in mock exasperation. She turned to Mason at his question, following him to his car for the wipes.

"Life's been okay, I guess." She shrugged. "Um I--" she paused when Mason brought up the briefing. "It's been a couple months for me I think." Ella replied, pushing the thoughts of that briefing out of her mind. She had been the very few who rejected Dr. Neville and Chase's idea of going to war. She didn't regret her decision though.

"Are you...um," mid-sentence, Ella decided not to ask. No use being the downer. "So how old is you're dog? And what's his name? Is it even a he?" She asked, changing the course of their conversation.

[Mason McQueen]

While the thought of Vincent being leashed and controlled is enticing, Mason knew it wouldn’t be effective. “N’aww, I don’t think that’ll work,” he chuckled, surprised that Ella knew about Vincent too. Guess it is true that the boy’s reputation is beyond bounds. “If anything, the electricity would just encourage him. We had an electrochemical cell experiment before and I asked the class what would they feel about being electrocuted, and he answered ‘kinky’.” Definitely not the answer Mason is looking for back then.

“I know right. At the rate that my paperwork’s piling up, I’d grow old and alone. Not good.” He gulped unconsciously at the thought. Growing alone is definitely not a future Mason’s looking out for. Though he knows his siblings would still welcome him with open arms should the time come, having someone special to grow old with has always been Mason’s dream. He shook his head slightly (hopefully Ella won’t notice) as if it’ll push the thoughts of Angela away from his mind.

Mason actually admired Ella for standing up and saying ‘no’ that night. He himself would’ve opted out too (‘cause he’s really against any form of confrontation), and would’ve asked Dr. Neville in private a few days later had that incident not happen. “A few months? Really? Nice. I’ve only been in Hammel since November myself.” Not that long, but long enough to be familiar (once again) to the place.

He promptly grabbed his keys and opened his car, the vehicle making the familiar beeping noises as it unlocked. “Could you hold Chowder for a minute?” he asked, handing his dog’s leash to Ella as he tried to remember where he put the wipes. It took a while for him to find it, but at least he did have some in his car and not merely inventing something. ‘Cause that would be downright embarrassing. “Chowder’s a boy. Which means if you have a lady dog, you’d better keep her off his nose,” he laughed as he leaned down and give his pup a pat on the head, “He’s barely 3. Hence his unending energy.”

[Ella Tate]

Ella burst out laughing at Mason's tale. "Oh my God, that boy is insane!" The recruiter hadn't met the boy personally but the grouses she got from the staff members were more than enough for her to paint a picture of the speedy healer. But he did sound rather entertaining, though quite exasperating. She wondered if she was around the boy, would he sober up?

She turned to face him, the look on her face curious at his choice of words. "With a face like that? I truly doubt it." She shook her head in amusement at her own choice of words. It could be interpreted in so many ways. She just hoped Mason wouldn't take it the wrong way. Then again...what was the wrong way? Oh stop overthinking things, Ella. Get over yourself; not everything needs to be overanalysed.

"Oh, that's cool. So we're the newbies. Which doesn't actually make any sense since we were there before." She laughed, shaking her head once more in amusement. As they approached Mason's car, Ella realised that she didn't feel much pain anymore. Well, it wasn't anything serious, the fall was.

"Yeah," Ella nodded when asked to help hold the leash. "Chowder? That's cute." She grinned before accepting the wipes, proceeding to wipe down her palms and the area around the redness on her knees. "Haha! No lady dog. A girl kitten yes. I dunno if they'd get along. Cali is stubborn and so obnoxious. I love her." She leaned against Mason's Dodge Caliber with a grin on her face. "Were you just starting your walk or were you almost done? I'm...more or less done with my run though I could do with some company."

[Mason McQueen]

“Oh it gets better.” Even though Mason has heard tales about the boy from his coworkers before, he never really believed them until he actually saw the goth boy in his classroom, with his ever-prominent slur, cheeky grin and awfulunique sense of style (he is a minister’s kid after all; as much as he’d want to appear ‘liberal’, he’s still pretty much orthodox when it comes to a number of things, wardrobe choices included). But he’d argue that stories about the boy don’t do him justice; he’s worse, far worse. “It’s a good thing Dr. Neville’s there though; I don’t know how the faculty will survive without him reeling Vincent and his troupe.” He had always admired the man’s charisma; his ability to make a team, any team, cohesive is astounding.

While he still wasn’t used to hearing such compliments about how he looks, he did manage to tone his blush down to a mild pink hue than a really noticeable reddish one. It’s a good thing he isn’t like some egotistic rich boy though, else the compliments would surely have gone to his head already. “Well that makes one of us,” he said, chuckling. He hasn’t been looking yet anyway; he claims the wounds are still too fresh to ignore (but then again, that’s probably just him preventing himself from moving on). “But I betcha I’ve got nothing against you Thumbelina. How many guys have you had swooning over you before? Ten? Twenty? A hundred?” He teased as he remembered his rather unique high school experience.

“A cat? Ooh. Chowder’s a little scared of cats,” he nodded as he gave his puppy a look of mock disappointment. As he did, his eyes glanced upon the unfortunate marks Ella’s fall made on her knees. “Do those hurt?” he asked, referring to her slight bruise, “I’m sorry. I think I may have something for that somewhere.”

He shyly waved Ella off when she asked about him walking. It’s really shameful how lazy he’s been with keeping himself fit really. “Nah. I’m going for the whole couch potato look. Walking would ruin my image,” smiled the man. “Though I think Chowder and I owe you at least a cup of coffee for what we did. Would you like some?” he asked as he opened the door for Ella. Because apparently chivalry isn’t dead yet, at least not for the man.

[Ella Tate]

"Agreed. Dr. Neville is a miracle worker in this school." Ella shook her head in amused reverence. The guy was old but he knew his stuff. It helped that he was telepathic, though. Like Professor X. Without the wheelchair.

Ella turned to face Mason just in time to find the blush spreading across his cheeks. How quaint, the man was embarrassed. If she were the type to pinch cheeks, she would have taken the opportunity to do just that right then. But she became a little preoccupied with laughing at the man for thinking she had a lot of admirers. To be fair, she did have a number of them but they hardly swooned.

With a smirk, Ella 'corrected' Mason. "A couple hundred, yeah." She dropped the smirk and laughed lightly. "What? Chow Chow afraid of puss-puss? How odd. But I guess he'd be right to be scared of Cali. She scratches." Her voice trailed when Mason's eyes travelled down. She followed his gaze down to her bruises before she waved it off. "A little but nothing a big girl like me can't handle, right?" She chuckled. She didn't have to admit that her pride was bruised more than her knees.

"I suppose you're right about the image ruining. Walking does sound useless when you wanna go for that kind of look," she maintained a serious face for about two seconds before shaking her head with an amused grin. When he offered to buy her coffee, Ella gave him a genuinely surprised smile. It was probably out of sheer politeness and nothing else but Ella was just surprised Mason even asked. Chivalry most certainly wasn't dead. Ella was surprisingly pleased.

"Yeah, coffee would be great. Um...lead the way." She let Mason walk first, handing over Chowder's leash to him and followed suit. "So did you move just for the job or did you stay after graduation?"

[Mason McQueen]

Mason would never believe Ella if she told him about the non-swooning part. In his opinion, Ella was what most guys would die for. She was gorgeous, she was spunky and she had substance. Such a rare (and winning) combination really. It also didn’t help that she had the impression of being quite the ‘fox’ when they first met in high school. Lucky for both of them though, Mason didn’t really drool after her like most other guys. Probably due to the part where he’s deathly shy despite being in his late teens, and that he was more than two years her senior. And despite them reaching the age where such lines between figures are said to blur already, Ella’s more a sister to him than anything really. “Really? Well that explains why the stores around town ran out of chocolates and flowers last February,” he chuckled, for once seeing the playfulness in her tone, “I had to settle with gummy bears and those sour candies back then.”

“I really don’t know either. My brother said that’s because he picks after his dad, ain’t that right little boy?” The Chowchow immediately replied with an energetic bark, wagging his tail as he jumped on his hind legs and clung on to Mason’s legs, prompting the man to crouch down and rub noses with his dog. Not unhygienic. At all. “Chowder’s easily spooked,” Mason nodded as he gave his puppy one last tap on the head, “Which isn’t good considering how curious he is. Though I think Cali would just be irritated with how noisy Chowder can be.” Especially during thunderstorms. Heaven knows how shaky the puppy can get whenever thunder rumbles.

Mason puffed his cheeks like a kid when Ella teased him about his look. “Why do I feel offended when you’re the one talking about it?” he joked, patting his slowly-becoming-round tummy. “I know a good place downtown. Follow me.”

“It’s complicated really,” he shrugged, tugging Chowder’s leash back a couple of times to slow the dog down, “I moved because my brother suggested I live with him. Says it’ll help me heal. Though I got bored doing nothing around the house, so I figured I’d apply as a teacher.” Though he’s really thinking about shifting gears and going for a researcher nowadays. Not that he hates his current job, but he feels like the labs are where he’s most comfortable at. “How about you, took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and all that?”

[Ella Tate]

Had Ella been privy to Mason's view of her, she would actually be quite embarrassed. She didn't think she was anything to be thought of so highly like that. Especially by such a decent guy. So yeah, she was a little hard rock candy with a chewy gooey center. She was allowed that privilege every once in awhile, wasn't she?

Continuing their jest, Ella shrugged innocently before clapping her hand down on his shoulder. "Your life is so difficult." She shook her head before giving a small smile to Mason. "Besides, sour gummy bears are the bomb thank you very much."

Ella's eyes trailed down to Chowder when he gave a bark, almost as a reply to Mason's question. A giggle escaped her throat at such a cute display. She suddenly missed her own pet who was probably chewing the couch out. "She's impervious to loud noises. She can sleep through a fire drill." The dark haired recruiter chuckled, pulling strands of stray hair back. In fact, the moment Cali's eyes closed, a truck could bulldoze through the living room and she won't even twitch.

Mason's question brought another 'innocent' shrug from the recruiter. "Hey, if the shoe fits." She threw her hands up as if to say: What can you do?

Following behind him, Ella listened to his explanation. The word 'heal' caught her ears. What would that mean exactly? Heal from a previous injury? Emotional baggage...? She already started distancing herself from him. She didn't deal with emotional baggage too well. Not since Ethan. Then again, Mason was probably not trying to push anything on her. Yeah, she was going with that one. And fast.

"Aha," she gave a short burst of laughter as they approached downtown. She was suddenly aware of the ickiness that usually came after a long run. Augh, did she smell? "Um, not...so exciting as that," she gave Mason a sideways grin. "After graduating like...five, six months ago I decided to come back here. Take up the recruiter position. Felt kind of indebted to the school I guess?" She lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug.

"You planning on settling here?" Ella asked, burying her hands in her hoodie pocket, fiddling with her earphones.

[Mason McQueen]

“Gummy bears are evil,” chuckled Mason as they walked, “Didn’t you watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?” As much as the man would like to claim maturity, he’s rather childish, as proven by him being caught up with all the recent movie releases for kids. Ask him about action movies and he’s give you a ‘say what now?’ look. Unless it’s a romantic comedy, a well-written or popular-to-the-point-that-to-not-see-it-is-a-crime popular, he most likely hasn’t seen it. Definitely not an attribute of someone he’d consider ‘decent’.

Such displays are a regular in Mason’s life already. After all, since Angela’s death, Chowder has been his constant companion (at least before he moved in with his brother anyway). The only thing that would make their relationship sweeter is that if Mason had animal telepathy or something. Boy would that be amazing. “How I wish I had her skill. Would help me sleep a lot better when Chowder here gets his ‘period’.” And by ‘period’ he means when he occasionally barks for no reason at all, not the whole menstruation thing (though it does happen monthly lately). Mason would panic if that happened to his boy. “Chowder’s quite the handful really. He loves barking. And in a rather loud volume at that.” It’s a good thing their neighbors haven’t complained yet really.

Mason simply shook his head at Ella’s teasing. “Fine. Give me six weeks. I’ll show you I can shed these pounds too, you fit woman you. If not, then I owe you…err…dinner?” Hopefully he can remember such a bet two weeks from now though. Something tells me he doesn’t want to see Ella gloating over him.

Ella should breathe easy knowing Mason would do nothing of that sort. In fact, he’d rather they not talk about it really. If he could only skip through it, he would’ve, but that would make his move-to-Pilot-Ridge story rather off. He knew he still has some issues, but he’d rather keep them to himself (he’s still pretty normal from day to day anyway, no bouts of depression, no thoughts of death or anything like that). While he really isn’t fond of the whole ‘macho’ image, he does believe that as much as possible, a guy has to keep his shortcomings to himself and find the solutions to them on his own, lest he appear weak and a bit too fragile.

“Hooray school loyalty!” He couldn’t help but feel a bit old at Ella’s statement though. She’s only just graduated university, while for him, it’s already a rather distant memory. Oh the joys of aging. “Settle here? Oh I don’t know. It’s quaint and all, but…I miss the metropolis buzz.”

[/justify][/blockquote]

[Ella Tate]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? Was that an analogy? Since when did analogies have gummy bears? "What is that?" Ella asked. Since she was a little kid, Ella had never bought into the whole pop culture fad. While her peers were busy drooling over Kirk Cameron and marveling over the fantastical world of Walt Disney, Ella was busy trying to figure out what made the TV turn on and off.

"Whatever it is, I highly doubt it makes gummy bears any less delicious." She shrugged before chuckling at Mason's 'wish. "It's not a bad skill to have, I can tell you that." She grinned. "And she gets to sleep without worrying about me making any noise and I can sleep without her whining all night."

"That's what dogs do though. I mean, I'd rather have a barking dog than a stagnant one. Might as well buy a broom and ask it to fetch." She chuckled lightly before it turned into a full laugh at Mason stating his challenge. "It's a deal. It's been awhile since I had a free meal. Would be worth it to wait for six weeks. Just don't expect me to just want a hot dog."

"Hah, school loyalty indeed." She grinned, bumping her shoulders against his. "Well, I've been in PR since before Hammel so I guess I got used to the quaintness." She smiled. "So metropolis huh? Where'd you go?"

[Mason McQueen]

Mason scratched his head a few times as they walked through the town’s sidewalks. Sure Pilot Ridge was rather small compared to, say Seattle or Manila, but still the guy is apparently lost. Hopefully Ella won’t pick up on that just yet. Heaven knows how much teasing he’ll get.

“Gummy bears? You don’t know what gummy bears are? And I thought I was the hermit,” he teased despite fully knowing what Ella was talking about. (Hopefully it’ll distract him, and her, from their current location-situation at the moment). “It’s a movie. About a hopeless science nerd who found a way to make it rain food.” A crude synopsis, but at least he got the movie’s core. “The food later became sentient and rebelled. Gummy bears were the foot soldiers.” He even let out a mock shiver of fear just to emphasize his point.

The man was just about to say something about being careful about wishing for something when Chowder suddenly sprang up, tugging his leash to chase after a rogue tennis ball, almost making Mason fall face flat on the pavement. “You sure you don’t want to take that back?” he replied, panting as he tried to reel his overactive puppy in.

So Ella wasn’t letting him off easy then? Guess he should really take the deal seriously. “If I get ripped after six weeks, please don’t fall for me.” Emphasis on if. “Great. I was planning on treating you to ramen if you try and sabotage me anyway.”

Mason, like the child that he was, returned the shoulder bump, albeit with one that came from his butt. “After Hammel? I went to Seattle. Worked for a pharmaceutical/medical company somewhere around that area. Noisy city and all that. Oddly enough, I prefer noisy cars over squirrels anyday.”

[/justify][/blockquote]