Walking the Dog, Tag: April

Ruaridh jammed a knit cap onto his head, pulled on some gloves, buttoned his jacket and headed out the door with his corgi, Batman. The ground was covered in a light dusting of snow, and while that may push some people back into the warmth and comfort of home, Ruaridh loved being outside, no matter what the weather, and like it or not, Batman was being dragged along. The puppy started running around as soon as they got outside, but Ruaridh picked him up, carrying him to the park before setting him down to chase snowflakes. He grabbed a small stick, throwing it and laughing as Batman ran after it with his small, stubby legs.

After a few minutes, Batman lay down on the ground, gnawing at the stick and Ruaridh leaned up against a tree, his hands shoved into his pockets as he watched the dog. He was new here, and he had yet to meet anyone, to make any friends outside of work, though a part of that was greatly due to his shyness. From a young age he had had trouble talking to people and starting conversations, and this came across to many as either weird or even a bit stuck up. He hoped that being here, in a new place, would give him a second chance to become someone fun, to make new friends...and get married.

Outfit

A snowy day, something April loved and always has loved. She was on a walk through the city park and had a cup of hot apple cider. Seeing snow made her think of Antarctica and the penguins there. Which started her memories of her childhood obsession with them. Such cute and just interesting animals. Snow was one of the best natural wonders. Some may find it odd that she has no problem with the cold, and she really does not blame them one bit. Most people prefer the warmth and comfort of no cold. Which would be a good quality to have if you wanted to see things you could see in cold climates. The Northern Lights, natural habitats of animals, and just experience different things in different climates. Yes you will be very cold, unless you found a way to make snow not cold, yes you will be cold.

April put her two fingers on the tip of her nose and felt the cold from underneath her gloves. Winter, the perfect time of the year. Maybe I'll go see dad later, April thought. He was sure to want to do something for the occasion of snow. Mom would bake cookies and make hot cocoa, hot apple cider, and coffee. For some reason April was never a big fan of coffee. Maybe it was that after taste it leaves in your mouth, or perhaps the huge sugar crash later. Hot apple cider and cocoa with cinnamon, was her favorite things to drink while it was cold. Coffee makers did remind her of home, well getting up for school, her parents were coffee addicts.

Taking a drink of her apple cider she saw the cutest dog in the corner of her eye. She was never a big dog person, but she did love seeing a really cute dog. The pup seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit. It brought a smirk across her face as she saw the it. April then chuckled as it started gnawing on a stick. Yeah dogs like this were quite adorable. Looking around for it's owner, she saw someone who might just be it's owner. She wanted to talk to him to find out more about the dog, but her shy for approaching people she didn't know kicked in. As her stomach did a flop she cautiously approached him and sent him a friendly smile.

"I like your dog, he's adorable." April said and felt her cheeks blush a bit. Talking to anyone new tended to do this to her. Cheeks blush, stomach starts to flop, and just about anything between.

Ruaridh had not seen too many people out and about, especially on a day like this, cold, snowy, but not enough to go sledding or skiing on. He was surprised when he saw someone else walking through the park, and he wished that he had stopped for a hot drink the way she had, that would have been smart, kept him a bit warmer while Batman played. Maybe in a few minutes, if Batman got up again, Ruaridh would chase and play with him just to get his temperature back up and, of course, to show some love to his pet, who was currently the only friend he had so far, but his hopes were high in that department. He was still new here.

He was even more surprised when the woman walked over to him, and he blushed, proud that she thought his dog was cute. Of course it was true, Batman was one of the most hilariously adorable looking dogs he had ever seen, which had been a large part of the reason Ruaridh had taken him home. He had just been walking past a pet shop, not intending to buy a dog at all, and saw Batman and, well, love at first sight isn't exactly the right way to put it, but it wasn't far off, and it had been nice for Ruaridh to have the furry companion on his drive from Boston as well as while he settled into a new town.

"Oh, thank you." He smiled, looking down at the ground and not making eye contact. Talking to people had always been fairly difficult for Ruaridh, but there was something about trying to talk to women that he just didn't know how to do, even women he wasn't attracted to or hoping to get with. He just wanted to make a friend, but his awkwardness and nerdiness sometimes got in the way of that. "Oi, Batman, come here boy!" he called to the dog and squatted on the ground as Batman made his way over. He picked up the puppy and looked back at the woman. "You can pet him if you want. He doesn't bite."

April nodded with the same small friendly smile. Batman, April thought, fits him perfectly. With this thought and seeing the pup being so happy, it allowed a small laugh to escape her. Made her want to give him a treat. Only things she had in her purse though was keys, wallet, sketchbook, pencil and pen, gum, cell phone, and random peppermints. Gum and peppermints weren't good for a dog though. She did have a cat though. Her name was Isis, just because that cat acts like she is a goddess. Quite funny, when she wants attention she makes sure you know. Whenever she is working on her artwork, she has to make sure Isis has had plenty of attention to last her for a while. Isis's normal routine after getting attention was sleeping on her bed and making sure her fur sheds. Manecoons were such affectionate cats, but loved to shed fur. That cat sure had gotten big also.

Coming out of her thoughts of Isis she looked the dog in the person's arms. Nodding she started stroking on top of the pup's head and scratched a bit behind his ear. "I'm April by the way." April said. The awkward random meeting might go better if they knew each other's names. "If you don't mind me asking, but are you from around here? I don't think I've seen you before." During those words her stomach did to many flips and turns. This was quite rare for her to approach someone and start a conversation. She was in a good mood anyways and the dog was rather cute.

Ruaridh smiled. This woman seemed nice enough, and it wasn't as though he was afraid of women, he was just...shy around them, always afraid of saying the wrong thing, of offending or upsetting them, even though he was far more fragile than most of the women he knew. He wanted to be careful with people, to respect them and sometimes he worried that he had his fathers penchant for disrespect, whether he meant it or not. He thought that, just maybe, this was a chance for him to make a friend, and he was glad for the opportunity, even if it didn't pan out. She seemed friendly enough, and she had approached him, so he didn't have to worry about being the one who had done that. He would just stand here, play it cool and hope that she didn't think he was some kind of weirdo with no social skills.

"I'm Ruaridh." He spoke with an Irish accent, though it wasn't as thick as it used to be, it was still very much there. He wasn't fresh off the boat by any stretch of the imagination, he had been in America for a long time, but he had managed to hold onto his accent and he liked it that way, it was really all that he had to hold on to of his past since he had completely written off his family as bad news. "I'm new here, just been here a couple of months." He kept his eyes on the dog, still a little unsure when it came to making eye contact with people. He wanted to make a good impression, but he didn't want to step outside of his comfort zone. "It's nice to meet you, April."

This man was obviously shy. Being someone who has, normally, the same problem, she recognized this right off the bat. Maybe that was why she was being a little more outgoing, at least more outgoing from her point of view. Only a few times does she ever come out of her shell for a few moments. That is, if the conversation is going well her shyness will normally ease. Luckily she had improved over this in high school. She used to be the girl that refused to approach new people and group projects were a fear. Unless she had friends in that class, then she had some hope they would be paired together. And wow, she hated it when she was forcefully paired with someone she didn't know. The awkward nerd freak being someone's partner? Not a lot of people seemed to like that either.

Ruaridh, well he sounded Irish and honestly it made this a bit more interesting. Was rare for her to meet someone who was from outside the states. April stroked Batman a few more times and completely forgot about the Irish guy standing right in front of her. Without thinking, April made a goofy face at Batman. Something she used to do for her friends puppies and dogs, before she moved from Evergreen though. April puffed out her cheeks and then stuck out her tongue a small bit. Just like she expected it made Batman cock his head a little bit to the side. Never understanding why, but she always did think it was adorable for a animal to do that. Although this pup probably thought "What the?" Which what she would expect. Coming back to reality she realized what she had just done. Oh dear god, April thought. Her face turned instantly red from embarrassment.

"I-" April said and looked at her cup of cider. "I-I'm sorry. I used to play with my old friend's dogs like this. They used to love it." Well one thing about April was she was a bit of a dork, once past her barrier she does show it more. Sadly this person had just seen it much sooner than she would have hoped. He seemed nice enough for a new friend. Hope I didn't scare him off, she thought.

Ruaridh laughed when she made faces at Batman. The dog seemed to love it, yipping and wiggling in Ruaridh's arm. He was a puppy who loved to play, and April seemed to be perfectly willing to give him a bit of a good time. The dog was so much more outgoing than Ruaridh himself, but so far, Batman seemed to be a damn good ice breaker, and Ruaridh wondered why he hadn't gotten a dog sooner. He had always heard that puppies were a great way to meet people, but he sort of thought that was bullshit or an overexaggerated rumor of some sort, however, with April it was proving to be more than true.

He didn't say anything as he watched her with the dog. She was friendly and nice to Batman, and in his mind, that made her friendship material. He was glad that she had come up to him because here was his chance to bond with someone, at least on a basic level, maybe find someone who could tell him from experience how the Vow was. He had read reviews and whatnot, but only the positive ones ever made the papers and whatnot, and he wondered if this town was as good as it seemed to be.

More than anything, Ruaridh liked that this place was quaint, that it seemed to be out of the eye of the rest of the world, a place that he had grown to realize was very, very dangerous and more than a little bit scary. He wanted to be away from all that, from violence, from crime and villainy, and Evergreen had seemed perfect to him, he just hoped that he wasn't fooling himself.

"It's fine, he likes it - he likes you." Ruaridh shrugged. "So um, I'm kind of new here...what do you know about this Vow thing?" He had so many questions that he wanted to ask, he just hoped that some of them would get answered before he was walking down the aisle and into complete uncertainty.

Hearing Ruaridh's laugh did send a few questions running into her head. Like one, is he laughing at me or with me? Question two, is he laughing at the excited Batman? Question three, is he really not freaked out? Question four, should I save myself and walk away? Just hearing these questions in her mind, it well wasn't doing anything for her. Just immediately made her bite lightly on her lower lip. Not many are supposed to this side of her so early. Especially after first meeting. Only person who knows the full extent at how she can be was her parents.

In nervousness she felt her hand sneaking into her sleeve a bit and fiddling with the end of it. She wished for a moment she could show him Isis. Although the most Isis would do is ignore Batman and not want anything to do with Ruaridh, until he tries to pick her up. You pick up that cat and she immediately starts purring, then your in for it. You are doomed for Isis to annoy you until you give her the attention she wanted. Normally if you ignored her, she would stick her fluffy tail by your nose. As much as April has brushed that cat's tail away, Isis always sticks it right back. Her father joked about cats saying, "No wonder they were seen as gods. They act like this and demand attention." Agreeable, completely agreeable by all means. She would never worship a cat, but it was funny to picture someone worshiping Isis. Isis would love it.

Hearing about the Vow reminded her of her own signing up for it. She was engaged to Joseph Gillies. She remembered the meeting and felt a blush form once again. Some partly from shyness and some because, Joseph was her future husband. April made one more smile at Batman and scratched his head to under his chin. After this she stopped and stuck a hand in her pocket. "It's this company that pairs you up with someone who has signed up too. I have actually signed up on it. I received a letter and I'm engaged now." April said with a small shy smile. I hope I make a good wife, she thought.

Ruaridh noticed the blush and he was eager to find out more about the system. So this girl was engaged, but that didn't really say too much. He didn't want to pry into her life, that would not only be incredibly rude but very, very weird. He didn't know how to ease into questions like "is he a good guy" "is he right for you" and "do you think the Vow did a good job finding your husband and potential life partner," but he wanted to ask, to know what he was in for. He was afraid that he would get matched badly, with someone who wasn't like him, someone that he would have trouble getting along with, but he was trying to keep his chin up and hoping for the best.

"How is it?" he asked, kicking at the snow with his boot while trying to keep hold of his squirming puppy so that Batman didn't run off while he was trying to talk to April. "I mean, accuracy wise, do you think they do a good job most of the time?" He felt like that was safe, like he wasn't giving away too much in those words, nor was he prying like he could have. The question didn't revolve around her, it was very general and in his mind, that made it at least somewhat acceptable, at least he hoped so.

A slight shiver went up his spine from the cold and he shifted, trying to up his body heat a little. He was used to cold weather, of course, but he was usually moving around during it. [b]"Do you want to walk around? I'm getting cold just standing here and Batman is getting fidgety." He set the dog down, smiling as Batman ran around him in circles. He was a funny dog, there was no denying that. Ruaridh shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them warm while he waited for April's reply.

Who she was paired up with, April did like him enough to blush still. Also the fact he was her future husband, any bride would blush, right? Getting to know Joseph better was something she looked forward to. Wish I had more than a week to get to know him though, April thought. When Ruaridh asked about the Vow again, she knew he was wanting a more detailed answer. Was quite obvious really. He had kicked the snow and persisted the topic. Not that she was uncomfortable with it or anything, just she really did not know much on it. Doesn't hurt to share what she knew though.

"Well for me, I'm a rather shy person." April said. She then chuckled, "Surprising I know." she sarcastically commented. "However, it lets you avoid the wasting through someone. Meaning I look at it as a company that wants the couples to last until they die. I would certainly hope they do their job well." April stated and looked at the ground. She really did not want to repeat this process again. "I've heard of marriages that did not work and of people just in it because they were forced. Which means disaster I think."

April looked at the squirming Batman and started to laugh. Something about seeing the puppy squirm so much was quite humorous. A nod quickly answered Ruaridh's question about walking. Walking would help with the cold a bit. Plus the fact she had hot apple cider in her hands. The cinnamon tense with the apple was perfect. All what was missing was a fireplace, something that her small apartment lacked. Oh well, she thought.

"I just think it's wrong to force someone into marriage. It's not right." she truthfully said.

Ruaridh had his eye on a successful marriage, but since he had absolutely no say at all as to who he was going to be married to, he had no way of knowing if that was even an option. He wanted someone who was ready to settle down, someone who wanted a family, maybe not now, but in a couple years. He wanted a woman that he could take to dinner, get to know, and then take out on a hike the next day. He wanted someone to play with him and Batman...and someone who wouldn't mind his geeky side. He tried to hide it some of the time, but at the end of the day, he had named his dog Batman.

"Really?" Ruaridh was a little surprised to hear that she was shy. She had just come right up to him and introduced herself, and he had liked that. "You don't seem shy to me at all...I"m pretty shy myself, though, which is pretty much why I"m here. Couldn't meet a woman on my own and wow, you really didn't need to know that." His cheeks flushed and he felt a bit stupid,though he knew he could blame the rosy cheeks on the cold weather - that was just one of the many good things about it. You could easily mask a blush. "I hope I get someone who wants to be here, someone who wants a relationship."

Ruaridh couldn't imagine the idea of being forced into marriage. His parents had not had very much control over him once he hit a certain age, and luckily, they hadn't tried. He had broken free of the mob and of their money, paying his own way through college, so they didn't have any say in what he did. He was here because he wanted to be, and that was all that mattered. "Not only is it not fair to whoever is being forced, but it's not fair to the person they marry. I'd be very disappointed if I were matched with someone who was only here because they were being forced to be."