kirkwall_university | Comin' on strong with all the chit-chat

Hawke really needed another dog.

Well, no, he didn't need another dog, but while Diesel was more than enough dog for any man, Hawke suspected he got lonely at times. So it just seemed like a good idea to look around a little, check out some of the local shelters, see if any of the dogs present really spoke to him. There definitely wasn't room for another dog as big as the Mabari at home, but maybe a medium sized dog? None of those little toy breeds, but a nice, mid-sized mutt. But since he hadn't been looking for any pets since he came to Kirkwall, a year or so ago, he wasn't sure where to go. He is currently deeply doubting his decision to take the advice of one of his fellow students who gushed about the shelter down in Darktown.

He'd told the nice woman at the front desk that he was looking for a smaller pet, someone to be a companion to his big dog, and she'd beamed at him and said he'd come to just the right place - the animals here had a wide variety of temperaments, and surely he would find one that fit his household. Then she'd handed him off to a man who'd only shown him cats, so far. Not that Hawke disliked cats, he just ... well, he was a dog person, plain and simple. And so he'd politely peered at the various felines he'd been introduced to, but he was getting impatient.

"So," he said to the guy, Anders, he thinks he was introduced as. Which sounded like a place and not a person. "Where do you keep your dogs? Kind of time to move on to the main event, don't you think?"

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"Right-o," Hawke agrees, giving the other man a curious look when he stands and appears to be in some pain. He stands himself, scooping up the kitten and prompting Diesel to rise as well, looking at his master expectantly. "All right there?"

"Hm?" Anders asks, glancing at Hawke as he lowers his hand from his back. "Oh, this? Long day, that's all."

"Need to do some work on your lats," Hawke comments casually. "You ever want any help with that, I'd be happy to work out with you."

He can't help but laugh at that, gesturing at his (somewhat) ~~underfed~~ lean figure. "Does this really look like the body of a man who should work out? There's not enough hours in the day, anyway, but thanks for the offer."

He leads Hawke & co. to the reception area, dropping off the papers there for them to be processed, before taking them to the adjoined shop. Anders is quick to start rattling off what Hawke will need for the little Madame, from food bowls, a bed, to a carrier and leash as well as grooming essentials, tossing everything that will fit into a basket as he guides the man through the shop.

Hawke looks down at the growing pile in the basket with some dismay - he really doesn't have a lot of money, and he hadn't really been thinking this through. He's never bought a pet in his life. Diesel has been his dog since late childhood, and when he brought the mabari with him to college, he'd already had all the supplies he'd needed. It was just a matter of keeping the big dog fed, exercised, and washed. Oh, and supplying him with enough rawhide chew toys.

"Is there some kind of student discount?" he asks, a bit forlornly, as he strokes the kitten's back.

Pausing in the midst of his selections, Anders glances back at Hawke, staring at his face in quiet contemplation.

"... Are you intending to let her sleep with you? Because then we can get rid of the bed, to start," he says. "And we have cheaper, second-hand carriers, all of them sturdy."

"Cats will sleep with you? Well, then, yeah, I can hardly keep Diesel out of the bed, and she'll take up much less room," He flashes a grateful smile at Anders. "And secondhand would probably be best. Student loans and all that."

"Cats like being warm," Anders answers with a smile. "I'll see what we can find for you. Luckily she's still young and healthy, so you won't need to buy any medication for her."

It's something Hawke has been thinking about regarding Diesel - he's had the dog since he was a boy, and while mabari generally live longer than other dogs, they still don't have a normal human lifespan, and the big lug is getting up in years.

"How long do cats live, anyway?"

He considers the question a moment and answers, slowly, "It depends on the breed, what conditions they're kept in, diet, genetics... Some can even live over 20 years."

"Wow, really?" Hawke asks in surprise. He'd had it in his head that cats lived maybe 5 or 10 years. Kind of like some rodents, maybe. "What's the oldest cat you have?"

"Oh, we have a dignified lady here that we called 'Winter' for when she was found, but most people just shorten it to 'Win'," he answers, smiling and tucking his hands in his pockets. "She's been here so long that she's just sort of become the clinic's cat. No one knows for sure, but we think she's probably around her mid-20s."

"So Madame is probably going to be with me for awhile," Hawke says thoughtfully. He doesn't seem upset about this, just considering. Will she outlive Diesel? That's a weird thought. He shakes his head, looking down in the basket again. "This is pretty much all of it?"

"More or less. This should help you get her settled in, to start with."

Comin' on strong with all the chit-chat

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