roneal | (no subject)

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The lake is an ancient place, dark and deep. Apparently it's some sort of tourist destination now, and Jade can see little vacation homes dotting the edge of the lake, pale smudges against the darkening twilight.

What does Heine thinks of these trespasses to his territory, he wonders? Does he resent these humans and their entrepreneurship, their never-ending desire to expand and tame every bit of wilderness they lay eyes on? Or does he see it as an opportunity - a veritable feast for that black lake of his?

Whatever the case, Jade is of the opinion that Heine has more than enough mortals to amuse himself with. He walks slowly along the lakeside, breathing in the clean, sweet air as the evening deepens around him. Heine must know he's here, but he hasn't shown himself yet; he seems determined to continue making a nuisance out of himself.

It's not until dusk falls that Jade finally speaks out. "It's not polite to leave a guest waiting, you know."

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He keeps pace beside Heine easily, hands tucked in his pockets, looking for all the world like he's going for a casual stroll in the woods despite the quick pace Heine sets.

Inviting Heine into the city may mean inviting Heine into his domain, particularly considering how closely he and Jonathan work together. How much trouble can Heine cause as a dog? Not enough to disrupt his carefully-built life, Jade hopes.

While traveling, Heine lets his mind wander as a dog's does, catching hints of others who'd gone along this path before—and hints of scent from Jade. The mortal is close to him, he can tell.

When they reach the city proper, Heine puts his nose to the ground for a moment. Jade lives... in a building. In a real, brick-and-metal building. Huffing softly, Heine glances once at the other fae before following his scent to his current residence.

It doesn't take long for him to realize where Heine is leading them. Now, just how did Heine know where he lives...?

Of course. He's a dog. A dog with unnaturally strong senses, apparently. This could be troublesome later on - Jade isn't keen on the thought of Heine being able to find him whenever he pleases. Perhaps he should buy something to aggravate Heine's sense of smell - cologne, maybe? What do dogs even dislike?

"Are you really going to follow me all the way home?" He asks aloud. "You won't have permission to enter, you know."

Even if he can't enter Jade's home, he can wait outside or look around on his own. Heine looks at him out of the corner of his eye, ears twitching slightly to manage an expression of dog-disdain.

After they reach the apartment building, Heine does manage to enter through the automatic doors and look around at all the glass, metal, and tile. It stinks of chemicals.

Out of the corner of his eye he can see the man at the desk watching them. He doesn't get to his feet, but raises his voice to speak to them.

"Mr. Curtiss—is that your dog, sir?" the security guard asks. "It needs to be on a leash."

He looks down at Heine, raising an eyebrow. How did he enter...? Oh well. Apartment buildings don't have the strongest thresholds, what with people coming and going all the time. Besides, it seems everyone will think of Heine as his pet, giving him implicit permission to be here.

"Oh, my apologies," he says, careful not to confirm or deny whether or not he owns Heine. "I wasn't aware. Come along, Heine."

An opportunity to put Heine on a leash? He isn't about to pass that up.

A leash. He forgot humans were so picky about animals. Heine snorts but follows Jade out of the apartment building once more.

He'd hardly felt a tingle when crossing the threshold since the lobby is almost a public space. Going up to Jade's actual apartment will likely require permission.

Unable to speak audible words, Heine expresses his displeasure by poking his nose into Jade's leg.

He doesn't look down at the sudden cold poke. "Now, now. Why don't you behave? I could buy a muzzle for you too, you know."

He doesn't actually know where the nearest pet store is, and pauses outside the apartment building to look up directions on his phone. Heine is attracting some looks, both for his snowy coat and the way he seems so obedient, even without a leash.

Like he would let Jade put a muzzle on him. Heine huffs softly. While looking around the street lets him get a better idea of how the city has changed, he becomes distracted by the item in Jade's hand. Cocking his head to the side, Heine looks up—and then promptly paws at his legs so he can either knock it from his grip or get him to lower it so he can see.

Jade does look down this time, slightly irritated by the impromptu interruption. "Why don't you ask politely?" He says, holding his phone firmly out of reach.

Heine really is out of touch with modern society, he reflects. But perhaps that can be used to his advantage.

Jade knows he can't talk, so he's just saying this to be rude. Heine grumbles low in his chest and keeps pawing, uncut nails snagging in his clothes.

One of the people walking by coos at Heine, murmuring something about how 'pretty the dog is'. Heine looks at her with sharp red eyes.

"Down," he says sternly. Then, in a lower voice: "People don't usually show their phones to their dogs, you know. I'm sure you have plenty of questions, but let's wait until we're somewhere less public."

After some more fruitless pawing he drops to stand properly on four feet. He wants to see, but Jade is probably right. He'll wait, even if that means he has to go to a store where they're buying... leashes.

This would be easier if he could just use Heine's lead, but even Jade knows better than to ask for something like that. Heine will just huff at him again, anyway.

"Have you been to a pet store before, Heine?" He asks conversationally as he starts walking again, having determined the location of the store. "I could probably sell you for quite a sum of money."

Why would he go to a pet store? Heine shakes his head and sniffs at Jade for good measure. If he wants to do the old trick of selling and then escaping, they can do that later. He wants to see Jonathan.

To that end, he follows Jade. For now.

Single-minded, isn't he? Jade leads the way to the pet store without further fanfare and doesn't even try to sell Heine into a new life as a pet. It's a small store, but very busy as petstores usually are: there are humans everywhere, cooing over the animals on display. The sight of Heine immediately has a gaggle of children surrounding them.

"Ah, careful now," Jade says, with no small amount of amusement. "He can be quite the grumpy dog."

The amount of young mortals has increased. Heine doesn't growl at them, but he snorts again and moves to stand behind Jade so that the children end up coming closer, swarming around his legs. At least one bumps into him.

That's one thing he likes about mortals: their boundless curiosity is so different from the fae. They're open to new ideas, new ways, all with a sort of honesty that fae are averse to by their very nature.

"You'll behave, won't you?" He asks Heine, about to reach down to scratch him behind the ears but then thinking better of it. He wonders if talking to a dog would seem odd to mortal eyes, but he dismisses the thought - mortals seem to treat animals like their own children sometimes. "Would you prefer that we finish quickly? The collars are over there."

He nods towards the aisle containing the collars. With the small size of the store, the selection isn't the best, but it's serviceable enough.

Eventually the children disperse, most because their parents have come and taken them away, and Heine relaxes. He looks up at Jade, then at the rack of collars.

Well. If he really has to. Heine trots over and noses through the selection. None of the collars really appeal to him, so he turns away a moment later to let Jade choose.

He could do this properly. Red is a good colour on Heine, no matter what his form, and the sturdy strength of leather is appealing.

But what would be the fun in that? He picks the flimsiest collar he can find, light pink and made from fragile cloth, with a lead to match.

"Why not this? You know how much I'd hate to restrict your freedom of movement."

That doesn't even look like a real collar. Not knowing what Jade is playing at, Heine sniffs at it a few times before cocking his head at him again. Regardless of the type of collar, as long as it wasn't his own, he'd be able to slip it at some point.

Appearance matters less than that fact.

He didn't expect Heine to agree so easily, but he isn't about to try and provoke Heine into an argument in the middle of a pet store - particularly when Heine can't even speak. He pays for the collar and lead - a few children had drifted closer again, but he pays them no mind - before kneeling in front of Heine.

"May I?" He asks, reaching for Heine's neck. This close, his true collar is more visible, shimmering with a magic that makes him think of turquoise waters and deep, dark lakes.

Still unable to speak, Heine manages to give Jade a look that says fuck no all the same. He snatches the freshly purchased collar and lead from Jade's hand with his teeth and heads for the pet store's bathroom.

He has no concept of subtlety, does he? There's a few people watching them curiously as he makes a pretense of hurrying towards the bathroom after Heine, but Jade thinks of the howl of winter blizzards masking their presence, and their eyes slide away.

He doesn't follow Heine into the bathroom stall, of course, but he waits outside and hopes nobody else comes in. That would lead to awkward questions he's not ready to answer.

"Must you be such a nuisance?" He asks with a sigh.

People watching isn't ideal, but mortals are so unable to believe in a dog's intelligence that he figures he can get away with it. In the bathroom stall he transforms with a sound of water splashing against a shore, just long enough to put the collar on, clip the lead on, and reply, "Deal with it."

He exits the stall, needing hands to unlock the latch, and returns to four legs a moment later. With his paw he pushes the slack lead towards Jade.

My my. What an unhelpful attitude. Jade stoops down to take the lead, leaving plenty of slack so he isn't jerking Heine around unnecessarily. A few people coo at the pretty dog with it's pretty collar as they leave, but thankfully no one seems to have noticed the oddity of a dog stepping out of the bathroom.

Back to the apartment they go. Truthfully, Jade doesn't really want Heine in his domain, but if the alternative is Heine wandering the city freely...

This is a fine mess. He sighs again as they near the building. The security guard nods at them as they enter, and Jade pulls Heine into the lift.

"I live on the top floor," he explains, wondering if Heine had even been in a lift before. The disconnect between modern society and the fae never ceases to amaze him.