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Aug. 8th, 2013 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
District 7 is even colder than Walter remembers it being, and that's saying something. He's thankful that Caro's speech is held inside - outside's more or less a blizzard, at the moment - and even if 7 is about as bad off as 12 is, they still manage a reception that can be called reasonably warm, given the circumstances. It's a better atmosphere than the one he was greeted with on his Victory Tour, at least. Still he mostly suffers through the party despite it, and despite the refreshments. He sees very little of 7's resident Victors, especially Murphy, but that's mostly to be expected. They're not sociable people. Not in this setting, at least.
He gives Weyoun credit that the Escort tries to get them free of the festivities and back to the train as soon as they can - but he goes and throws something of a wrench in those plans. They're not going back to the train. Not tonight, no. He's going to go visit with Murphy while he has the goddamn opportunity to. The rest of the team can skip it if they want, he doesn't care.
Soo now he's trudging up the icy, snowy path road to the Victor's Village. It's not even that long of a walk but it's uphill and... well, 12 gets cold and icy, but not like this. He's wearing the best fucking coat he could find and about four layers of clothes and he's still fucking freezing. And Murphy's house would be the last fucking one in the row. <I>Goddamn you antisocial bastard,</I> as if Walter isn't exactly the same way.
He's grateful when he does finally reach the goddamn steps of the house. It's basically the same as all the others, not even really all that different from the ones in 12's Victor's Village. The brief cacophony of barking that greets him when he knocks is something else entirely. How many more dogs has he even gotten since last time?
He gives Weyoun credit that the Escort tries to get them free of the festivities and back to the train as soon as they can - but he goes and throws something of a wrench in those plans. They're not going back to the train. Not tonight, no. He's going to go visit with Murphy while he has the goddamn opportunity to. The rest of the team can skip it if they want, he doesn't care.
Soo now he's trudging up the icy, snowy path road to the Victor's Village. It's not even that long of a walk but it's uphill and... well, 12 gets cold and icy, but not like this. He's wearing the best fucking coat he could find and about four layers of clothes and he's still fucking freezing. And Murphy's house would be the last fucking one in the row. <I>Goddamn you antisocial bastard,</I> as if Walter isn't exactly the same way.
He's grateful when he does finally reach the goddamn steps of the house. It's basically the same as all the others, not even really all that different from the ones in 12's Victor's Village. The brief cacophony of barking that greets him when he knocks is something else entirely. How many more dogs has he even gotten since last time?
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Date: 2013-08-09 07:41 am (UTC)So here Caro is, trudging through an alarming amount of snow. She stays behind Walter to keep out of the worst of the wind, but it's still really fucking cold. She has no idea how people live in this district. She almost doesn't realize when they make it to Murphy's house, she's so focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She hangs back a little. As nice as Murphy's been, she's still a little apprehensive. And then Walter knocks, and apparently Murphy has literally every dog. That is a lot of barking.
She tries to make some smart remark to Walter, but it's too cold for her to do much besides stand there and shiver in her ridiculous number of layers. Even with the scarf over her face, the cold and wind are making her scars hurt something awful. She fidgets and hopes Murphy comes to the door soon.
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Date: 2013-08-09 07:48 am (UTC)A short, sharp noise from him puts a stop to the barking, at least. Then he straightens his clothes and opens the door just in time to get a BLAST OF COLD AIR and snow to the face, good fucking god. He was going to attempt a pleasant hello but instead what Walter and Caro get is, "Get in, for fuck's sake."
He steps out of their way so they can, of course. Nevermind the semi-circle of dogs waiting expectantly.
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Date: 2013-08-09 07:54 am (UTC)That is a lot of dogs, and they're looking at her.
"Um, hi," Caro says somewhat belatedly, still muffled by her scarf.
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Date: 2013-08-09 08:01 am (UTC)He shuffles in and ignores the dogs beside taking a very brief headcount. His gruff appearance is probably immediately destroyed by the small, quiet mew from somewhere inside his jacket.
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Date: 2013-08-09 08:05 am (UTC)And then something in Walter's coat fucking meows. Two seconds later, Walter's got half of them around his legs trying desperately to find the source of that noise. Well, mostly by sniffing incessantly. They know better than to do much else.
Murphy, though, simply raises his eyebrows and shoots Walter an incredulous look. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
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Date: 2013-08-09 08:20 am (UTC)She finally does pull the scarf down and her gloves off as she eyes the army of dogs. Well, at least they're not swarming her. She is vaguely concerned though, because she's not sure how well a dog army and a tiny kitten are going to get along.
Ugh, the change in temperature isn't enough to get rid of the godawful stinging in her face. She rubs at her scars idly. "That's... that's a lot of dogs."
Not the smartest thing she's ever said, but it's awkward and she's really, really cold.
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Date: 2013-08-09 08:34 am (UTC)That's about when four puffballs easily three times Bourbon's size come scrambling down the hall. They're like mobile, barking balls of fur, some black, some white, and one a combo of both. Of course, they immediately converge on Caro with all the enthusiasm of untrained puppies.
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Date: 2013-08-09 08:48 am (UTC)So after a moment's hesitation, Caro kneels down in the middle of the sea of puppies. Normally she would cautiously offer a hand like she'd done with Spot and Bourbon, but there are puppies all over the place. They seem to have already made up their minds, anyway. She sticks a hand out and pets any puppy who holds still long enough to sniff at her hand at all, which mostly ends up with them licking her hand instead. Close enough. And then she realizes pretty quickly that she'd better start petting puppies with both hands, because they seem to understand that humans have two hands. Well.
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Date: 2013-08-09 09:08 am (UTC)He at least shoos the majority of the dogs out of the room and back into the den, save for the puppies around Caro and Daisy, who's mostly just placidly sitting back on the stairs. "The cat'll be fine. I'm never gonna hear the end of it from Charlie if he sees her, though."
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Date: 2013-08-09 11:58 pm (UTC)"How did I even end up here?" she asks no one in particular. The puppies certainly don't know or care.
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Date: 2013-08-10 01:42 pm (UTC)...Which agitates the tiny cat in his shirts. Bourbon starts mewing again, this time incessantly. It kills the laughter since it's also accompanied by sharp kitten claws in his chest. He's got to take a moment to pry her off and, well, he's not sure what. She tenses up and fluffs her fur out at the sight of the noisy barky things, so he doesn't put her down just yet.
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Date: 2013-08-10 01:49 pm (UTC)The puppies continue to swarm, but they're also beginning to be interested in the other new person and his tiny fuzzy thing. The black puppy, however, is more or less staying where he is. Huh.
"I think it's your turn," Caro says finally.
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Date: 2013-08-10 01:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-10 02:04 pm (UTC)Of course, it's about when he's moving to put the puppies back in the kitchen behind a gate when there's some very loud footfalls from upstairs.
"Go back to bed, Charlie." He calls out at something short of a bellow, but it's useless. He can hear the 8 year old barreling down the stairs already.
Not a moment later, and the kid's in the entry way in his pajamas, smiling brightly at Walter and Caro.He's both very cheerful and wide awake, apparently.
"Hi!" Caro gets the first greeting from Charlie before he turns to the still-frowning Walter. The man's gruffness is not even a problem for the kid, he just grins up at him and especially at the kitten he's holding. "Hi Uncle Walter! Is that your kitty?"
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Date: 2013-08-10 02:10 pm (UTC)And then Charlie comes bouncing down the stairs and oh god, what do you even say to little kids? "Uh, hi." Good job, Caro.
She awkwardly shuffles back up onto her knees, because she's not sure if she should get up or not. The puppy protests until she adjusts her arms around it so she's balancing it against her torso. She's not... holding it. Nope. Not her.
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Date: 2013-08-10 02:15 pm (UTC)He glances up in time to see Caro with a puppy in her arms. That gets an arched brow and even a little smirk.
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Date: 2013-08-10 02:21 pm (UTC)Charlie's too busy being completely overjoyed at a very small kitten to actually care about such paltry things as bedtimes, however, so he adds a firmly. "Charlie."
"But daaaaaaad!" Charlie turns and gives his father his best sad face. "I never get to see uncle Walter! And he brought a kitten and the new Victor lady."
After a minute of Wild West-esque staring down, Murphy relents with a sigh. "Fine. But only for a little while."
Charlie not only goes straight back to being overjoyed, but decides grabbing Walter's free arm is a good idea. He tugs him in the direction of the living room. "Come on, I want to show you something!"
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Date: 2013-08-10 02:31 pm (UTC)And now it looks like the party is moving into the other room. Caro gently sets the puppy down on the floor and stands. The puppy is not thrilled with this, but he trots along after Caro readily enough. Huh.
Oh hey, and it's actually warm in here. Caro can unbutton her coat now.
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Date: 2013-08-10 02:39 pm (UTC)"Alright, alright, I'm comin. If it's another pinecone I swear to god..." He's mostly kidding about the last bit.
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Date: 2013-08-10 02:47 pm (UTC)Charlie illustrates the awesomeness by holding the antler up to his head and looking very pleased with himself.
Murphy, for his part, settles down into an armchair followed shortly by Daisy, who ends up more or less on his feet. He's pleased as can goddamn be that one of the puppies took a liking to Caro.
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Date: 2013-08-10 02:56 pm (UTC)She... really doesn't know what to do with herself. So she turns and looks, and sure enough, she has a little fuzzy barky shadow. Well okay. She leans down and scoops the puppy up and holds him, mostly for something to do. He's very cute.
"Oh eurgh, let's not," she says, wrinkling her nose as the puppy licks her face. Dog breath. Nice.
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Date: 2013-08-10 03:22 pm (UTC)Bourbon seems to have calmed the fuck down for the moment, so Walter flops back onto the sofa and sets her on the cushion beside him. It means kitten exploring the room time has started, but that's fine. It'll keep Charlie busy. Doesn't mean he's not gonna be watching that cat like a hawk, though.
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Date: 2013-08-10 03:26 pm (UTC)The cat immediately distracts him; the skull and antler end up set aside and forgotten almost as soon as she's padding around on the couch cushion. Charlie's pretty good with approaching her alright despite his age, at least. He just really wants to pet the kitty so badly.
Murphy catches a glance of poor Caro awkwardly in the door, so he gestures around. "Make yourself at home." And take the puppy when you leave, for fuck's sake.
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Date: 2013-08-10 03:36 pm (UTC)And she'll just, uh, pet the puppy. Because this is awkward somehow. Well everything is awkward when you're Caro, apparently. At least the puppy is still cute and apparently not tired of her.