Doomed to Stay Wet

Who: Hunt and Delilah
When: a little after the last bell
Where: MSHS

Delilah had almost canceled the meeting she had with the head of Marquette Senior High's special needs program when the skies opened up and let the storm down around lunchtime. But in the end she hadn't, half-telling herself that it was for the benefit of her students. Coordinating their future education with what they were learning now was important, after all, and she always enjoyed these meetings anyway. So she'd come, and run into the building from the cab, getting fairly soaked in the process. Alexi had been left at the elementary school, because no one could concentrate with the smell of wet dog, and he was always too much of a distraction to any students passing by.

After a productive talk during the last period of the day, she waited until all the students had filtered out of the hallways in their rush to get home. Delilah slung her messenger bag -- which was now stuffed with materials she'd been given -- over her shoulder and assured the woman that she could find her way out. Unfolding her white cane and resettling her sunglasses on her nose, she started out of the classroom and down the hallway, smiling just a touch.

Hunt hadn't pushed any of his classes today. Between the murders last week and the now missing students - evidenced very clearly by the holes in his classes - he'd taken it easy. All of the quizzes and most of the homework he'd had planned went in the bin and he'd turned a blind eye to the students who hadn't turned up. As long as they were in their next scheduled class, he'd be fine - if they weren't, then he'd start to worry. Of course, the upside of that was that he didn't have his usual pile of marking to do - though, in the scheme of things, he didn't think it was much of a trade-off. He'd stayed a little late, as he usually did, sorting things out for the next day before he gathered his things and stepped out into the corridor.

The tap of her cane echoed down the empty hallway, garnering Hunt's attention as he turned to see the blind woman approaching him. He stepped back out of her way - he didn't recognise her at all. "Can I help you?" he asked her, politely.

Her steps slowed just a touch and she tilted her head a bit to the left. There was too much tile and painted cinderblocks in school halls, she'd always thought so. It made sounds a little disorienting. Delilah gave a real smile toward where she thought the male voice had come from and stopped with the fingers of one hand out against the wall. "Perhaps. Am I aimed in the right direction for the front entrance of the building?" she asked, pretty sure she was. But confirmation never hurt.

"You are," Hunt confirmed, walking up to her. "You just have to follow this corridor down to the junction, turn left, go down the stairs and then carry straight on and you're out. I haven't seen you here before - and you don't look old enough to be a parent," he pointed out, guessing her age to be somewhere in her mid-twenties. He hadn't heard of any new staff members either - that kind of news generally carried. Hence his interest in the random blind woman wandering through the school.

She laughed sweetly, because even if that was true, it was sort of a compliment. Delilah wasn't really sure how old she did look. It wasn't like she saw herself often, even in people's dreams. "I would hope not," she said, wrinkling her nose just a bit. "Left, down the stairs, straight, and out. Got it. I was having a meeting with one of the program directors here, I teach disadvantaged children at the elementary school, we compare notes every now and then, so to speak. Delilah Pasternak," she introduced herself, taking her hand away from the wall to offer it in his general direction. "And might I say, you sound too old to be a student." She grinned.

Hunt took the hand and shook it firmly. "Well, that would be because I'm not, Delilah Pasternak," he told her. "My name's Hunt," he added, as usual not giving his first name - he'd disliked 'Cameron' for as long as he could remember. "I'm one of the staff here - I think all of the students are long gone anyhow. Trying to keep them after school for anything less than a detention is usually an impossibility," he joked with a laugh sounding in his tone. "Disadvantaged children? That must keep you busy. How did you get into that line?" he asked, interested as he fell in beside her - after all, he was headed out as well.

"Hunt," she repeated with a nod. She wondered in her ever-curious way why he only went by a single name, but didn't ask, since he was going on. "I had some wonderful teachers of my own, coming up, and I always admired the work they did. We with disabilities are not a easy lot, after all," she said, perfectly at ease with talking about it that way. She walked along, keeping the tip of her cane as out of the proximity of his feet as she could, fingers going back to trailing the wall. "In St. Petersburg there was an exchange program offered. I signed up, was shipped to the States, fell in love with it, stayed, and received my special education degree in Chicago. That's the short of it. I of course work with a team of teachers, I couldn't get along on my own, and Marquette's need is small, but we have a good time." She smiled over toward him. "Do you teach here, or are you another sort of staff?"

Hunt smiled, realising his statement had been vague. "I'm a teacher - history. Mostly US, some world," he told her. "Been here for getting on for ten years now." Her statement about St Petersburg explained the accent. "So, you're Russian? What was it like? Growing up over there? I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never left the States, but I'd love to travel - just, never got round to it. Maybe I will, one day." He'd meant to, but it seemed that every time he really got down to it - usually when he was looking at the passport application form, he'd think of some reason why he couldn't, or he shouldn't, or something would distract him. And then the years had past and he'd just become more settled where he was.

"To me, it was everyday and normal," she said, happily amused. "I was actually born outside the city, my parents had a farm. They sent me away for schooling during the season, and then I would return home to haul milk in and wrestle with my brothers. I can't imagine it was a much different childhood than many. But it's truly a beautiful city, I'd highly recommend it. ... as a biased party, of course," she said with a bright smile. "You should travel now, while you're still young enough to enjoy it to the fullest. You have summers off, yes? Even three weeks to a month abroad, it could change your entire perspective. Where are you from, Mr. Hunt?"

"Hunt, please - only the children call me 'mister' - makes me feel so old," he said with humour. "And I generally end up spending my summers teaching summer school - someone has to, after all. But maybe I'll get round to it, someday," he allowed. He'd like that - he just had to get round to it. "I orginally hail from Boston, but it's been a long time since I've been there. And I don't have any interesting stories about growing up, I'm afraid - same old thing. I'm very boring, really..."

Delilah was of the opinion -- despite coming from a hard-working farm family -- that life was far too short to spend all of it working. And getting round to traveling was like saying you'd get round to living life, which was a shame. But so many people functioned that way. "Oh I love Boston! Or well ... for the two hours I had a layover there, it was perfectly lovely," she exclaimed. Of course, most everywhere was perfectly lovely to Delilah; that was just how she functioned. "And nonsense, as long as you have a head on your shoulders, you're not boring." They'd reached the part of the hall where they were to turn left and she did it flawlessly. "What's your favorite time period in history to teach?"

"Well, without a head on my shoulders, I'd be dead - and you really don't get much more boring than that," he teased as they took their turn towards the stairs. He considered her question thoughtfully, tossing back and forth a few different answers before he spoke. "Probably around independence, there was so much going on there - so many ways it could have turned out differently, especially when you look at the wider picture of the global political and military arena at the time," he said, thoughtfully.

She listened and nodded, always interested in the way Americans viewed their own history. Those of them that actually knew it, because she'd run in to quite a few that didn't. "Amazing, isn't it? That things turn out the way they do," she mused with a smile. The tip of her cane hit empty air and she paused to see how steep the steps were before she started down them. "Do the children seem interested? I'm sure it's different on each individual basis, but there's an alarming trend of apathy in the teenage population, I'm reading. And I unfortunately don't get to work with normally-able children very often."

"Most of them? No - not really," Hunt admitted with a depressed sigh. He'd like it to be otherwise, but so few of them seemed to be at all interested in their own education. And most of them that did try only actually seemed to care because getting a good grade in his class would increase their likelihood of getting into a decent college. They didn't actually care about the subject, per se. "Occasionally I get someone through who has a passion - you can usually spot them a mile off, but other than that, it really feels like they're all killing time. The lot of a high school teacher, I guess," he shrugged.

Delilah made a soft, sympathetic sound. She was a teacher of a different sort; a good percentage of the things they focused on with their children had to do with getting by in the world, working with their drawbacks. The rest was elementary education, depending on their ability levels. Each one had an individualized learning plan, molded to suit their needs. She couldn't imagine having to try and force such a fascinating subject as history on to minds that didn't care to learn it. "You have my admiration, then, it's truly a thankless job," she said genuinely. "And one that is terribly needed and grossly underpaid in this country, it's shameful how educators are taken for granted here." She huffed a little.

"Are they not taken for granted everywhere else?" Hunt put to her, amused. "It has its own rewards, and if I wanted to be well paid, I would have chosen a different career. As it is, those few who have a passion are enough for me. And knowing that maybe I can help the rest in some other way. I feel a lot of my job isn't written down in the curriculum." Which was why he was so worried about the children who were currently missing. And the effect it was having on the rest of them. He knew that in the coming days he'd be pulling some of the students aside - he already had his eyes on the ones he could see suffering lately, watching their performance in class, their grades. It just took a watchful eye and he could maybe stop a downslide before it started.

"They're at least given more respect by their students, in my experience," she said. Though she couldn't disagree with it having it's own rewards. She got much of that herself. His statement called back to mind the current events that were centered around this high school. Her own school was paying close attention to it, as the whole thing put their students at risk as well. She frowned faintly. "I've been so sorry to hear about the recent rash of tragedy," she said, turning her face toward him slightly as they reached the bottom of the steps. She was starting to hear the rain now. "For what it's worth, we're all hoping and praying for the safe return of the missing students."

His face turned serious at that - even though she couldn't see it - and he was silent for a few. "It's not good," he finally said. "I don't know what's going on around here lately. This town used to be such a nice place. And now? Who knows - the murders, now disappearances and I'm having to quell rumours of a serial killer amongst the student body," he said, shaking his head. "Half my classes seem to have already given the missing up for dead - and I caught two boys this afternoon running a book on who would be next." Which was just sick, truly sick.

Delilah had her own theories of something leaning more toward the supernatural bent, but that wasn't a talk to have with just anyone. She looked equally troubled. "I'm very sorry to hear that," she said, and she meant it. There just wasn't anything she could really offer but sympathy on that score. She'd seen the night before that there were quite a few nightmares floating around in the minds of the townspeople connected to the murders and disappearances. "May they be delivered soon," she added quietly.

"Amen," Hunt breathed, though he really wasn't the religious type. Then again, he figured the kids could need all the help they could get. He recognised the names - the St James kids he'd taught, along with the Harkin boy. Those two - Thom and Isaac, well, they seemed to go as a pair and he'd noticed Kaysen just because she was Isaac's sister, though he remembered being disappointed that she wasn't more like her brother when he'd first had her in his class. The other girl, he didn't know her. He'd heard in the staff room that she was new, which explained that one. How she figured into all of this, nobody seemed to know, though someone had mentioned that they'd seen her with Thom Harkin. "Everyone's been on edge," he admitted. "Trying to dredge up every little piece of information they can - to see if anything would help. But nothing seems to be coming of it. It's like they just... disappeared."

"I feel positive that they'll turn up, in some form or fashion," she stated, hating to add that last bit on there. But that was the reality of the world. Sometimes children disappeared, were kidnapped, whatever, but four of them? All at once? "There's too many of them for them to just drop off the face of the earth," Delilah reasoned. As far as she was aware, there was no black market in Marquette. It was too small of a city to filch children from. They were missed too readily. Perhaps they were just ... being teenagers and got stranded in some other city after a wild weekend or ... something. She took a breath and let it out slowly. "Hopefully the investigators will turn up something helpful soon." And stop the real fallout in this school before it really got rolling.

"I hope so, I really really do," Hunt told her. It was the small town nature of Marquette that had first attracted Hunt here. He'd wanted the quiet life where everybody knew everybody else, where the graduating class was so small you knew every student by name. He felt comfortable with that. He didn't want the big city with big city problems. They reached the bottom of the stairs and started towards the exit. "Are you going to be okay getting home?" he asked, realising the weather was still a nightmare outside. "It's still raining really hard..."

Delilah smiled faintly and shifted her cane from one hand to the other to dig into the bag at her hip. She located her cell phone and pulled it out. "I'll have to phone for a cab," she told him. That was how she'd arrived, after all, she just hadn't known how long she would be, so she didn't set up a time for them to return. "It shouldn't be any trouble, I have to swing by the school to pick up my dog." Not that the taxis around here were always very happy lugging her and Alexi around, but oh well. They were paid to do so, and he was always perfectly behaved.

"I could offer you a ride, if you wanted. My car's in the lot and I'd think that cabs are gonna be hard to come by in this weather - they'll be busy, I'd expect," he offered. He didn't have a reason to, he knew, except that he had nothing doing this evening, other than going home to a mostly empty house, and he did like meeting new people.

"Oh are you sure?" she asked, looking surprised. "I left my service dog at the elementary school so he wouldn't get entirely soaked and be a nuisance here, I'd have to go and pick him up before I went home." But if he didn't mind doing that, she'd appreciate it immensely.

"Not a problem at all - I have my own dog, so as long as yours doesn't have a problem with another dog-smell in the car it won't be an issue at all. As for the detour, it'd be a pleasure to help someone out - and Mutt won't mind if I'm a little late back. He hates walks in the rain anyhow and is a complete coward when it comes to lightning," he added as some forked across the sky, quickly followed by a heavy roll of thunder.

Delilah laughed softly. Alexi probably wasn't terribly happy without her there either, but he couldn't afford to be a complete coward. That had been trained out of him. "Well I'd appreciate it more than I can say, if it won't put you out any. He won't mind, he's very well behaved. You're a dear, thank you so much," she said warmly. "I'll at least walk out with you so you don't have to pull it around, no harm in getting a little soaked, right?" She started to fold her cane up; she'd have to hang on to him to make it out there.

"Are you sure? I was going to offer, seeing as there's no point both of us getting soaked to the skin - I could run there and get back in no time." Not that running would help at all in this weather, by the looks of it as he really started to appreciate just how heavy it was coming down out there.

"I'll have to run in to fetch Alexi anyway," she said with a bright smile. She didn't mind getting wet. It was the whole making it home aspect that she was glad he was there to help her out with. "If it were cold, I'd let you be a complete gentleman, but I really don't mind." Delilah wrinkled her nose at him cutely and reached closer to him for his arm.

"Well then," he told her, tucking her arm around his. "Let's go - no point putting it off - it really doesn't look like it's gonna give up any time soon. Which is probably a good thing - we really could do with the rain, even the lake's been looking a little low recently," he said, keeping up a spiel as they stepped out into the downpour and he led her off to the right towards his car, which was a couple of minutes walk away.

She made a delighted little high-pitched noise as the rain hit her, and clung firmly to his arm as they walked quickly toward his vehicle. She was really having the best of luck these days, it seemed, running into helpful strangers. Maybe it was the small-town atmosphere. It didn't occur to her at all to worry that Hunt was possibly psychotic or something to fear. Or Dorian or Corwin or anyone else she'd run into in Marquette, despite everything that was going on. They were just nice people.

He laughed at the little noise she made as the rain soaked through his shirt - he'd left the house without a jacket this morning - and plastered his hair and beard to his skin, leaving him blinking water out of his eyes as they reached his car and he pressed the button on his key fob to unlock the doors. He led her round to the passenger side and held the door open for her so she could slide in. "Here we go!" he said, leading her hand to the side of the door.

She grabbed it, reached with the other to judge how much space she had, and slipped into the car, grinning all the while. She was still a little kid about some things, her mother was right about that. And playing in the rain was definitely one of them. Delilah got settled and listened to the acoustic difference as he shut her side. One hand moved up and behind her shoulder to start looking for the seatbelt.

Hunt hurried round to the other side and got in, closing the door behind him and shutting out the rain. "Okay, very definitely soaked," he commented as he ran a hand through his hair and over his face. At least it was fairly warm rain though. He turned the key in the ignition, flipping the radio off from where it had been playing a random station - he preferred to talk without background music playing. He pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards the elementary school. "So, what kind of dog do you have?" he asked her.

She laughed a bit. She could feel her hair dripping down her back. Yes, most certainly soaked. But there were worse things to be. "A German shepard," she answered with a nod, appreciating that he turned the music off. It was difficult to talk with. "He was trained in St. Petersburg, so far he only responds to Russian commands. I'm working on teaching him English, just in case someone else has to care for him eventually, but it's slow-going. You? What sort is ... Mutt?"

He looked over at her. "I know, it's a terrible name, isn't it?" he said with a sigh. "I got him as a puppy on a whim and was at a loss for what to call him, so for a couple of days he was just 'mutt' and then I realised I'm screwed up and he was answering to it - seemed unfair to change his name after that. So Mutt he's been ever since - and he's a cocker spaniel. So, you'll have a bi-lingual dog then?" he asked, sounding a little impressed. Half the people he knew couldn't understand two languages, but her dog would be able to - the world was a strange place.

"It's a tragic name," she said with a light laugh. "Especially if he's a pure-bred. But oh well, it's probably all the same to him. Well it's either teach Alexi that two different words can be the same command, or teach the people around me Russian, and I've come to find that the dog retains such things better than people do," she went on with a little grin. "It's less complex that way, and some people get edgy when there's a dog about that they can't properly order around."

"You know, as true as it is, that statement is a sad, sad reflection on the world at large - that it's easier to teach a dog than teach a person," he sighed, with a smile in his tone. "As for the name, yup, I totally agree - it's a tragedy really, but all the same to Mutt. I have to admit that I didn't really know what I was doing at the time - I'd never owned a dog before, so I just blundered in there. But he seems perfectly happy with it and we rub along okay."

"Excellent," Delilah stated. She'd long held the belief that dogs made people better ... people. Not to mention, men with dogs were far more attractive, in her book. She couldn't really place why, but it was true. "As long as the two of you get on, that's what matters. My family had dogs when I was little, but I found that owning a service animal is an entirely different experience." She paused and tilted her head to one side a bit. They were probably pretty close. "When you pull in, turn more toward the left side of the building, that entrance is the closest to our classroom."

He did as she asked, slowing down as they reached the school. "You'll have to tell me all about the difference some day," he told her - figuring that now was a bad time to ask, being that she had to go and collect Alexi. He pulled to a stop and turned to her. "Want me to come with you?" he asked, not sure whether she'd need guidance - of course, she knew her way around this place a lot better than he did.

Delilah sat forward a bit, her fingers on the door handle. "Is it a straight shot to the door from here?" she asked. Since he could tell and she couldn't. Though part of her wanted to ask him to come in anyway. Connie would be there, waiting on her and going over lesson plans, and she could tell her later what sort of man he looked like. She was insatiably curious.

"Yeah, near as dammit," he told her, making a decision. He shut off the engine and opened the door. "I'm coming with you," he told her, before stepping back out into the rain and walking round the car. He'd parked up so that her side was nearest the door, which he opened before she had a chance to - always the gentleman, even when he wasn't dealing with a blind woman.

She couldn't help the bright grin that crossed over her face as he was so decisive and went on and got out. As liberated and independent as she was, she always enjoyed being treated like a lady. Delilah turned in the seat as he opened her door and got out into the rain again, stepping out of the way so he could close it and holding one hand out again for his guidance. She shook some wet curls out of her face with a laugh, and they just plastered themselves to her forehead and cheeks again.

He took her hand, then moved to take her arm to guide her better as he clicked the car locked again and they headed towards the building, soaked to the skin again immediately. But, he figured that that was something he was just going to have to get used to - rain or no rain, Mutt would need walking later on. Normally he'd do that the moment he got home, since he wasn't a fan of being out on foot after dark, but he thought that tonight he may risk it, wait to see if the rain slackened off at all - or, at least, the thunder and lightning, otherwise he was just going to have to drag the dog out from under the bed. They walked into the building quickly, leaving wet footprints on the linoleum as they got inside. "Which way?" he asked her, slightly amused that he was taking directions from someone who was blind.

It was probably kind of silly, but Delilah was having a good time. She hadn't had any of this kind of assistance in a long time, and it was the kind that wasn't insulting in the least. "Left," she said, keeping a hold of his arm. Connie wasn't going to have the first clue what to think. "It's the fifth door down, not too far at all." And she started off in that direction with him, shoes squeaking lightly on the once-dry floor. She knew the way like the back of her hand, didn't even have to count against the wall along the way.

"Okay, not too far then," Hunt said, as they walked down the corridor. It had been a long time since he'd been to the elementary school and it was strangely unfamiliar in a familiar kind of way. The differences were obvious, yet it still had that school feel and smell about it. "Has someone been looking after Alexi for you, or is he just shut up in your classroom?" he asked her, wondering what they were going to find.

"Connie's with him," she told him. "She's one of the TA's. I don't do this often, but she had some assessments, to do, so ..." She turned at just the right spot and slipped her arm from his to open the door. The classroom was brightly colored, with all sorts of things on the walls that looked as though they'd fit perfectly in a kindergarten class. There were less lines of desks and more round tables with chairs on them, and a ton of beanbag chairs in one corner, along with a few pieces of equipment that looked suited for the physically handicapped. A small dark-headed woman sitting at one of the big desks at the front looked up from her paperwork, expression surprised to see more than one person in the doorway. Delilah moved into the room with the confidence of someone who knew the general gist of where everything was in it. A big German shepard that had been sitting by the window stood up and started to trot over toward her.

"Hi," Hunt raised a hand in greeting to the other woman, giving her a smile. He stayed by the doorway - obviously Delilah knew her way around this room and he'd only be in the way. He must look a complete state, he knew - dripping wet, with his shirt plastered to his chest. But it was raining - there wasn't really any other option.

"Hunt, this is Connie, Connie, Hunt. He teaches history at the high school, he's being a dear and giving me a ride home. Be careful when you leave, sweetheart, the weather is frightful," Delilah chirped happily, rubbing Alexi's head as the dog got within her reach. She bent down to coo a couple of things to him in Russian and get a good hold on his harness. "Thanks for watching him, hon, have yourself a good night." Then, as she had everything she needed already, she turned and led the dog do it's duty and lead her back out the door.

"Nice to meet you, Connie," Hunt told her, before disappearing out of the room after Delilah. There was no need to lead her now that she had Alexi, he realised quickly, and he was impressed by the fact that the dog almost totally ignored him. He really was very well trained.

"You too," the other woman said faintly as they left, leaning to peer after them.

Delilah readjusted her bag on her shoulder and headed easily back toward the exit, turning a smile in Hunt's direction. "I really do appreciate this," she said, just to make sure that he knew thoroughly. It was far more relaxing than a taxi, that was for sure. "I don't live far, I generally walk here when the weather's nice, I really hope I'm not putting you out any."

"I thought I'd already said that it was no trouble at all," Hunt posed, though he didn't sound in the least irritated by it. "Just in case I didn't, it isn't. I live alone other than Mutt and it's nice to have company at times, so really, you're doing me a favour," he assured her.

"Ah, it does get too quiet sometimes, doesn't it?" she said with a bright smile. They reached the door and she put out a hand again to where he was next to her, taking his arm in an already-familiar way. "He won't recognize your car," she half-explained, and prepared to dive out into the rain again.

"It does - I actually try and get out as much as I can, to avoid that," he told her, easily. "Luckily I have a good group of friends, but I'm always looking to make more." There had been a time when he would have assumed that, by 32, he would be settled down with a family, but it simply had never worked out that way. Instead his family was his kids at school and he cared for them as such.

"Well you're quite adept at it thusfar, I must say," she with a light laugh. She herself hadn't made family-plans. Such a thing couldn't be banked on, she knew. Not to say she wasn't open to meeting the right person, Delilah just wasn't betting that it would happen. Despite how much her mother nagged her over the phone about getting married like a decent woman and having children.

"Why, thank you," Hunt laughed as they stepped out into the rain, accompanied by a peel of thunder, and made a beeline for his car. He unlocked it and opened the door for her, stepping back so she could encourage Alexi inside.

She less encouraged and more commanded in her mother tongue, and the wet dog jumped into the car and climbed into the back. She felt momentarily bad for the mess she and her guide were undoubtably making of his vehicle, but he'd said it was okay, so ... it was okay. Delilah climbed in after feeling around for a second, and settled again, reaching up to pet the canine head that appeared between the front seats.

Hunt shut the door behind her and walked - or rather slipped and ran - round to the other side of the car, quickly getting in and out of the torrential rain once more. He wasn't at all bothered about the dog - Mutt made enough of a mess of his car as it was and he had it valeted on a regular basis as a result. Still, it always faintly smelt of dog. Now it just smelt of wet dog. "Okay, so - home for you," he declared, pulling out of the parking lot and waiting for her to give him directions.

Alexi immediately began sniffing at the side of Hunt's head, curious now that he wasn't doing anything but sitting. "Home for me," she agreed, and recited her address for him. "It's only a few blocks, do you know where it is?" she asked, face turned slightly in his direction. If he'd lived there over ten years, surely he did. She could tell him, if not, but it was always so convenient when people knew themselves.

"Yeah, I know where that is," Hunt said, turning in the right direction and then reaching back with one hand as he drove to scratch behind Alexi's ear. "You have him very well trained - I guess he has to be, as a service dog. Mutt goes in phases - sometimes he's as good as gold, others he's all over the place. Really it depends on his mood. I took him to obendience school and everything, and he learnt - but it's like he forgets when it doesn't suit him to remember."

She laughed softly, and nodded. "Well they're certainly creatures with their own minds when they want to be," she said, smiling. "I can't take credit for training my darling here, I got him through a program at the blind school I came up in. He was a police dog for a year or two, but this suits him much better. I think he gets lonely occasionally, for other dogs. Before the weather turns, we should let the two of them get acquainted in the park sometime." She could let him run every now and then, if she was with company, after all. And she did hope this wasn't he first and last time she'd be spending any time with this man.

"Oh, I'd like that," Hunt told her. "Mutt gets on fine with other dogs - though he's rather on the insanely playful side once he hits the park. I hope that wouldn't be a problem for Alexi here," he said, not knowing how much a service dog was allowed to let go - he'd never met one before.

"I think it'd work out fine for a couple of hours sometime," she said, sounding pleased. She'd let Alexi do it before, every now and then when she found another dog owner, with no ill effect. It just took him a small bit of time to calm down, and as long as she wasn't on her own -- or was somewhere she could sit with him for a bit -- she didn't see an issue with it.

"Well then, we'll have to get together. Maybe you could give me your number and we could arrange a time," he suggested as they pulled up outside her house and and he left the engine idling. "We're here, by the way," he added, in case she couldn't guess.

Delilah smiled and wrinkled up her nose a bit. She could definitely guess. She was just giving her number out to all sorts of people lately, wasn't she? That and playing in the rain, in one form or another. She recited it when he was ready for it. "That's my cell, I have it all the time, so just whenever you get the bug to call, feel free," she said with a smile.

He typed it into his own cell under her name and then quickly called her, letting it ring just once before ringing off. "And there you go - your last missed call is me," he told her, putting his phone back in his pocket. "So now you can bug me too."

"Sounds lovely," she said with a soft laugh. She put a hand out and pretty accurately got it on his shoulder, then leaned over the gap between them to drop a quick friendly kiss to his cheek. "You're a dear, thank you so much again," she said warmly, pulling back and starting to reach for the door handle.

"Anytime, really - and it was nice to meet you," Hunt said. "Do you need a hand getting Alexi out of the back?" he asked, unsure whether she would be okay just to open the back door so that he could jump out. He was realising that he was completely clueless about what a blind person would and wouldn't be capable of.

"No, I've got him," she told him with a bright smile. "Stay out of the rain for more than five minutes, we'll be fine. Nice to meet you as well, Hunt, and enjoy your evening." She popped the door open and got out, shutting it behind her and feeling her way to the rear door handle on the outside. Alexi got out and moved to lean against her leg. She took up his harness, gave one more wave that was a bit mis-aimed, and hurried up the walk to the front porch.

Hunt watched until she got safely inside her house, and then he pulled away from the curb, heading home. Currently he was a big fan of getting warm and dry and hoping that the rain slacked off before he'd have to cave and take Mutt out later. A guy could hope, right? Right. He knew he was dreaming - he was destined to spend the rest of the day very, very wet.