video | un: vaquero

[quinientos]

[ The sheepish look on his face is not one that he's proud of, especially because of what's happening immediately behind him. There's a dog on its back, all four legs in the air, and its chewing on the rope of his lasso. He only wishes that he could say this has happened to him before. ]

If anyone's seeing this, I could use a little help to get out of this...situation.

[ The dog barks. ]

I don't know if I'll get arrested for this, but I think this animal might belong to someone and is lost, so any distractions for the police would be very appreciated.

[ Another bark, like the dog approves and is enjoying its upside-down antics, kicking its legs in the air like it enjoys it. With a wary look back at the screen, Vasquez gives one last pleading look of help in a single expression. ]

Comments

[quinientos]

[Vasquez is definitely looking at this whole situation with a dubious look on his face, a little wary about all of it because it's an animal and it's getting slobber all over her face. He doesn't see how that could be welcome, let alone wanted.]

You do know that I found him in the street, he could have anything wrong with him.

[Probably not, but he's just protesting at this point to try and feel better about the fact that he's out of his comfort zone.]

[ichoosefight]

So you mentioned. Poor guy probably has worms or something.

[ Vasquez's comfort zone is clearly unimportant in the face of dogs. Still, she shoves her hands in her pockets and sets off in the direction of the shelter. She fully expects both him and the dog to follow. ]

[quinientos]

What kind of worms?

[He's alarmed, from his tone and his face and the way he actually jumps back just a little from the girl and the dog, not wanting to get anywhere near if it's diseased. Ugh, he didn't want to deal with this today, no matter how cute the dog actually looks.]

[ichoosefight]

The intestinal kind, that you get from eating scraps on the street.

[ She rolls her eyes, not even slowing down. She said you wouldn't catch anything. ]

[quinientos]

[There's a comment that Vasquez isn't going to make, but in his head, he's thinking about all the times in the past when he'd had to eat whatever he could find, many of it worse than scraps on the street.]

But you don't think it's diseased any other way.

[Right? He needs to know this. Not that he's thinking about adopting the dog. Maybe he's thinking about visiting, though?]

[ichoosefight]

[ Sorry Vasquez, you might have parasites. Gross. ]

He seems pretty healthy to me. But they'll check him out at the shelter, make sure he gets all his vaccines and everything. And like I said, there's not much in the way of diseases that a dog can give to a human.

[quinientos]

How come you know so much about this? Do you have more dogs at home?

[Is that a thing that people do other than keeping them around for useful purposes? He'd seen them on the ranch when he'd been working, but hasn't since.]

Or are there other animals people keep here?

[ichoosefight]

Not me, no. I can't even keep a potted plant alive. But tons of people keep dogs, and cats, and other weird animals.

And my mom was a nurse, so naturally the first time somebody said something about diseased animals I got her to tell me all about zoonosis. That's what it's called when an animal disease can be passed to humans.

[quinientos]

I used to work on a ranch, but those aren't your pets. They do something for you, they're productive, they're helpful.

[The dog keeps trying to nip at his pants and Vasquez has to struggle not to kick at him. It's trying too much to be cute and he's starting to be won over.]

[ichoosefight]

Pets can be helpful! Chicks love a guy with a dog.

[ More like they love a dog, but this one is clearly attached to him. May as well play match-maker. ]

People keep all sorts of things. Hell, people keep spiders and snakes.

[quinientos]

Those are the things in the desert I tried to avoid because they can kill you.

[Vasquez is thinking that the future is filled with insane people, something that he's sort of believed ever since he got here, and she's not doing anything to change his mind.]

What about you? You like a man with a dog?

[ichoosefight]

[ She turns to waggle her eyebrows at him. ]

A hell of a lot more than I like a man with a snake.

[ She is not a fan of the creepy crawly pets. Not a bit. Also bugs make her scream. ]

[quinientos]

A man with a snake would probably be insane, that's just common sense.

[After all, who would actually want to have a snake with them? It's not something that Vasquez even wants to think about, it gives him the shivers.]