FIRE DRILL!, Outside of the Dorms, Very Late Thursday Night/Very Early Friday Morning

[suitably_heroic]

The wind roared around campus this time of night. Temperatures had dropped to close to freezing, and clouds blocked out most of the fragile light of the moon.

Perfect time to ring the fire alarm for a test, right? Right.

Somewhere deep in the middle of the night, the alarm went off. Loudly. So grab what you can and bustle on outside, students! ... and let's hope this is over quick.

[[ FIRE DRILL! have at. ]]

Comments

[kenselvren]

"It does?" Jalian frowned in confusion. "How much can there be to know?"

Jalian had never had a pet.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Far more than I ever thought there could be," Elsa admitted as Canute trotted back, sheath in his mouth and his tail waggling behind him some more. "There's training, and different breeds have different strengths and mannerisms. Plus there's what you need to know about their health, and there are so many other pets people might keep besides. My family keeps horses, back home. There's an awful lot to know about them, too."

[kenselvren]

"Horses are very important," Jalian said firmly. "Horses and cattle. I don't think those are pets, though. More...workers. Are they companions here, too?" She tried to picture someone with a horse in the dorms. "...You would have to get a bigger room. And bed."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"There are stables on the island for the horses to stay in," Elsa replied, gesturing off toward them with one hand. "I don't think there are any students who have them here at the moment, though. I've seen the stables while walking Canute, but I've never gone in to investigate."

[kenselvren]

"Good. That makes more sense!" Jalian smiled in relief.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I know I don't want to be the one to try to get a horse to climb that many flights of stairs just so I can keep one in my room," Elsa noted. "But if Canute keeps growing the way he has been, I suppose he might very well just fill that role all the same."

[kenselvren]

Jalian snickered. "Do they make dog saddles?"

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I haven't a clue, but I'm tempted to find out, now," Elsa admitted, ducking her head a little so that her own urge to break into more giggles wouldn't be so apparent. "I can picture that going terribly for me the moment somebody throws a stick, mind."

[kenselvren]

And that did it! Jalian was now laughing too hard at that image and had to sit. Which of course was Canute's cue to bark happily and climb into her lap! Because yay, she was playing!

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor Jalian. Canute wasn't so big as to be absolutely smothering just yet, but he still wasn't a small dog.

"Canute! Oh, Canute, don't trample her," Elsa chided, though it was all she could do to wave a hand lamely in their general direction, at this point. Between Jalian's laughter and Canute's enthusiasm, her usefulness was going to have to wait until she wasn't about to sit down for a good giggle, herself.

[kenselvren]

"You!" Jalian dissolved completely into giggles and silverspeech. "You need training, you silly male! You are all fur and energy!" She gave up on trying to fend him off and just hugged him instead; at least if he was still, she'd only have pawprint bruises in four places!

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, Canute had broad paws meant for running over the snow, so the bruises shouldn't be too bad!

"If you'd like help hauling him off of you, I can take him," Elsa managed between giggles. She didn't understand what Jalian was saying, but if it involved laughter and hugging the puppy, it probably wasn't too bad. "It's a bit awkward, but he's still not too big to pick up."

Give that another month, though...

[kenselvren]

Jalian finally managed to stop laughing enough to properly get out from underneath Canute, and gave his head an affectionate shake. "It's fine. He probably shouldn't get used to it, though. You are very big," she told him sternly.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Canute's butt was waggling along with his tail. Was he very big? He hadn't noticed!

"Well, I'll be trying to train him not to jump up, at least. He'll be knocking people over before long," Elsa noted. "Which means I should get on that sooner, rather than later, I suppose."

[kenselvren]

"Yes," Jalian agreed. "He'll be harder to train once he's too big to manage." She gave Canute a stern look, hands on her hips. "Don't look at me like that; you know it's true."

That was totally playing dirty, that cute look.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Canute always played dirty! Look how cute he was all the time!

"Harder by far," Elsa agreed with a sigh. "Anything that's going to involve some sort of out-muscling him is only going to get more and more difficult."

[kenselvren]

Jalian nodded. "But for now..." She waggled the sheath at him again, and then threw it.