PIECES OF ME // OPEN

[harrison.]

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— “clover. hey," harrison called. he whistled a few short notes, gently patting one of his legs. his brows furrowed briefly when the golden retriever still didn’t come bounding over. instead, she sprawled out along a growing patch of grass amid the slowly melting snow. rolling around in the grass, harrison tried not to groan. it was going to be a fun time trying to bathe her later.

harrison, clover, and the rest of their small group had been getting settled in at flintlock again. though, with all of the memories the lodge had for everyone, they made themselves more comfortable at the village and all it had to offer. harris didn’t want to speak too soon, but down at their place in the village, with colton and ellie- that place felt like home to him. he couldn’t explain the last time he felt so at ease somewhere.

still, he did take the time to go up to the lodge occasionally, taking clover with. standing outside of the lodge and watching the big girl roll around in mud and snow wasn’t exactly what he had in mind though. holding up a worn tennis ball, he quirked a brow as clover stopped what she was doing, rolling onto her stomach in anticipation. “now we’re talking,” he huffed, a soft smile on his lips as he threw the tennis ball, watching as clover went romping after it.

[truce.]

#794044[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]It was pretty clear that Tommy favored canine companions over people. With a handful of working dogs and yet another handful of companion pets, he was pretty lucky to be a caretaker so that he could dedicate his days to taking care of the dogs. And, whilst he wasn’t overly sociable, he could strike any conversation up with a dog owner. It was easy; talk about the dog and then continue to get carried away in conversation.

For Tom, it wasn’t hard to get carried away, especially with something that he was so passionate about.

Trotting out of the lodge, he observed curiously with pursed lips as a retriever bounded passed in pursuit of a ball. His gaze shifted towards the owner, observing Harrison for a moment before trotting down the stairs. He couldn’t say that he knew Harrison well. Apparently Frank and Eddie were closer to him and that he was an all right guy; not that Tommy would know. He hadn’t gotten the chance to get to know him yet to be certain.

❝ Is a good dog you got there- ❞ Tommy hummed as he gestured towards Clover. ❝ He’d make a good gundog, y’know. ❞ He didn’t know that the dog was a she, but once he started talking he’d simply not be able to stop. ❝ The prey drive in him is pretty fuckin’ splendid now, isn’t it? ❞

[harrison.]

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— harrison had been gone during the time when tommy had reunited with the brothers. though before that, harris spent most of his days feeling like an honorary member of the stirling-morays. without even trying he had managed to weasel his way into the family’s good side, finding the soft spot in even the brothers where one would think a soft spot simply didn’t exist at all. they were friends, like family to the young man who had already lost so much of his family. when nik had died, that felt like the straw that ultimately broke him. that was one of his last memories at flintlock before he and ellie left the lodge for their little journey.

he never got the chance to really interact with tom. and, from what he had heard, harrison seemed to be really missing out.

looking towards tom at his short compliment, he couldn’t help the gentle smile that appeared on his lips. “thanks.” he visibly paused for a moment at the words that followed, and the honest mistake in assuming clover’s gender. “you think so?” he asked, gaze lingering on tommy before looking towards the retriever running over with the slobbery tennis ball. “i don’t know. she’s terrified of gunfire.” he tried not to think of the shoot out; clover, terrified, running away and being lost for so long that harris had assumed he’d lost her for good. "i don't know if that's something i can make go away. i'm not really experienced with that."

kneeling down to take the tennis ball from clover’s mouth, he scratched fondly between her ears. he held the ball out towards tommy as if he would be interested in throwing the ball. “you’re a bit of a dog person too, aren’t you?” from what little he knew about tom, the man did seem to be pretty infamous for his dog pack.

[truce.]

#794044[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Perhaps Harrison would believe that he was missing out on knowing Tommy as a person. If Harrison were to ask any of Tom’s family, however, they’d be quick to disagree. Whilst Tom was quite the loud personality, sometimes it really wasn’t in the best of ways. He could be inadvertently rude and curt, overly opinionated and impulsive. But, he was an intelligent man who didn’t say anything that couldn’t be backed up. He was honest to a fault, a humble man who did only what he thought was right. Like this New World, he wasn’t good nor bad, just a man following his own lonely compass.

Tom furrowed his brows thoughtfully, watching as the retriever returned with a tennis ball. That was when Harrison pointed out that Clover was afraid of gunfire, Tom humming in acknowledgement before crouching down to try to urge her to come closer. ❝ Don’t blame her - let’s be truthful - gunfire ain’t fun to listen to. ❞ In many cases nowadays, gunfire meant danger, something that Tom couldn’t bother to deal with most of the time.

The conversation steered to him again, Tom standing up and taking the ball from Harrison. ❝ Sit now, you. Sit. ❞ He commanded, waiting for Clover to sit before he lobbed the tennis ball. Harrison asked about Tom’s involvement with the dogs in Flintlock, Tom grumbling inaudibly - a modest response from him - before he said, ❝ I mean yeah sure, if you think so. I just work with ‘em like- like business partners, yeah? Breeding ‘n’ sledding; I look after ‘em and they provide for me in return. ❞

Tommy was quiet for a moment, watching as Clover returned with the ball. ❝ I got many of 'em, and I'd rescue more if given half the chance, yeah. They're better then people most the time. They ain't really arrogant dullards like the half of us people, really. ❞

[harrison.]

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— as tom crouched down, clover seemed more than happy to see the chance of affection. scuttling closer, low to the ground, she eventually flopped onto her side, stomach showing and desperate for pets. harrison smiled gently to himself, shaking his head. “don’t let that get to your head,” he mused, gesturing towards the attention-loving retriever. “she’s like that with anyone.” still, usually if someone was good enough for clover to approve of - even if it was just about everyone - then usually that meant they had harrison’s approval as well.

shifting his weight after handing the tennis ball off to tommy, he watched as clover promptly dashed after the lobbed toy. he looked at tom with intrigue, attentive to the words that tom said as he went on about the dogs in flintlock. even if harrison hadn’t seen too much of the man himself, it seemed like the other man was rather notorious for his pack of dogs and all he had done for the lodge because of it.

“i got many of ‘em, and i’d rescue more if given the chance, yeah.” harrison hummed in pleasant surprise, brows raising as he crouched down to pluck the ball from clover’s mouth. “i don’t know how you do it,” he remarked, scratching the top of clover’s head fondly. “i can barely take care of the one, let alone a whole pack of them.” not that clover was a bit of a handful. perhaps back when she was just a puppy, it had been hard to keep her entertained or focused enough to train her. it seemed like all of the hard work had paid off, though.