Survival Of The Fittest

((Clarice Halwood: Pre-Game Start.))

Second run today. Sundays were the best day for cramming in a good, long run. Clarice always ran in the mornings, so early that the sun was usually barely visible at that point, but if there was time in the afternoon she was going to go for it. It helped Grommit get all his extra energy out, anyway.

She'd jogged for the last half-hour, but now that they'd reached Liberty Park it was time for Grommit to sniff everything. Who could deny him that privilege? So now Clarice had slowed down to a walk, plastic bag in her waistpack and ready to clean up the mess if he decided to go number twosies, while Grommit sniffed at each tree they passed by.

Grommit was a big dog, and he tended to scare people. A large, stocky pitbull with light fur and part of his ear missing, as well as some scars. Clarice had picked him up from a shelter over a year ago. He was a sweet boy, but people saw the muscle and the scars and tended to carefully avoid him. Or run in the other direction. Clarice supposed the fact that she was the one holding the leash didn't help.

Babies. Didn't matter much. Grommit was pretty shy around people unless he knew them well, so he wasn't likely to escape from his leash to slobber on someone's face.

While Grommit stopped to examine another tree, Clarice removed her bottle of water from her waistpack. She kept bouncing on the spot whenever they stopped for too long. Stupid winter. Not that it was, like... 'cold' cold, but it was kind of cold. Stupid tank top. She should have at least worn a proper t-shirt.

"Come on, Grommit. It's too cold to stay still," she mumbled under her breath, though she made sure not to take too much of a tone with him. Didn't want him to think he'd actually done something wrong. She took another swig of water as she waited.

((Cass Prince: existed with some small amount of love))

"Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I'm home again..." Cass quietly sang along to the song playing over their earbuds as they walked through the park. Ever since they were a kid, Cass's Sunday bike rides had followed the same basic outline. Cass would bike to a convenience store a couple miles away, get a snack, enjoy it in Liberty Park, then go home. Good, consistent exercise, and Cass got to have tasty things. Fun times all around.

Cass had just finished tossing their lemonade can and doughnut wrapper in the trash when they spotted Clarice out on a walk with Grommit. Cass smiled and raised a hand in greeting as they walked over. Seeing Clarice always gave Cass a slight urge to start exercising more. Like damn, fitness goals, right there. Girl was built.

Clarice's incredible exuberance and argumentative tendencies seemed to clash deeply with Cass's more quiet nature, but they didn't mind at all; considering her to be a fairly close friend. In general, Cass found it relaxing to hang out with talkative people - it lessened the burden of conversation, allowing Cass to spend more time being a good listener. Their mutual love of romance stories certainly helped as well.

"Looks like he's enjoying the fresh air." They said as they gave Grommit a few scritches behind the ears. Big and battle-scarred he may be, but all pups given proper training were good pups, and Cass couldn't think of a better owner for him than Clarice. They suited each other, even on an aesthetic level, though Cass would never say that out loud.

Clarice beamed and waved at Cass as they approached, a movement that was so energetic it might have proved fatal to someone who'd gotten their face too close to her hand.

Cass was cool. Nice to talk to, into romance novels, and goddamn did they paint the coolest paintings. All that detail and everything, phwoar. Enough to make Clarice a little jealous in a purely amiable way. She could film, but she couldn't create scenes from whole cloth like that.

Clarice would have normally warded people off approaching Grommit too fast. He wasn't vicious, by any means, but sometimes he got kind of skittish around strangers. Cass was fine, though, Grommit knew them well enough to be friendly. He wagged his tail happily as Cass scratched his ears.

"He can't get enough of it. Once robots progress enough that every household owns one we'll have to program one to walk him twenty-four hours a day, and even then he'll probably still whine once the robots needs to be recharged.

"But anyway, how's stuff? Bike riding?"

"Nah, if anything he'd whine because he's missing you. It's no fun to yank a robot around, I'd bet." Cass said. 'It'd be one hell of a robot that could match your strength, anyway.' Cass almost said, but didn't. That would be rude, and they chastised themself for even thinking it.

From their romance talks, Cass knew that Clarice wasn't exactly always comfortable with their build. Cass thought that was very silly, (who wouldn't want to be literally swept off their feet?) but for the most part kept that to themself. Silly or not, that was Clarice's opinion, and who was Cass to presume that they knew better than Clarice herself did?

Grommit was happy, at least. A happy pup. The world would be a better place if all pups were happy pups. That was Cass's highly sophisticated and nuanced opinion on animals. Cass's mom was, unfortunately, allergic to furry creatures of all dispositions, so Cass had to get their dog fix in whenever they could. They gave Grommit a couple more pats on the head with a smile before turning back to Clarice.

"Yep. Went to get some fresh air and buy a snack while I'm at it. That probably cancels out the calories burned from biking, but oh well, I guess." Cass shrugged. Hardcore exercise wasn't really the point of the expedition, anyway.

"Robots probably would lack a little something-something, wouldn't they? They don't smell like humans do. Dogs are way into the smell."

Clarice watched Cass pat Grommit some more. Anyone who liked dogs, or animals in general, automatically got a higher level of respect from her. Because who the fuck hated dogs? Jackasses, that was who.

Clarice grinned. "Nothing wrong with that. Only so many sacrifices one can make in the name of physical perfection and all that. Long as you're keeping a balance, right?" Clarice preferred to keep her current weight rather than change it. She was about as heavy as she could be without having to move up a weight class in wrestling, and she liked to keep it that way.

Concealed from the concrete pathways by sight, tucked behind a bush that lined them – that was where Bernadette hid. No one bothered the girl curled up and completely immersed in the pages of the book in her hands.  A lovely interlude between walks despite the cold; a chance to really imagine the characters and world so vividly described.

Though a thick coat and gloves protected her from the elements, there was nothing to tune out the voices of familiar faces. Slowly, she withdrew from the world of swordfights and kidnaps, tucking the book away in her pocket as she stood. It was easy to peer over the bush, but in the end Bernadette had to rely on her ears to guide her around a few bends before she very nearly walked into the back of Clarice.

Instead of looking like a complete idiot though, she decided to improvise and turn the close encounter into a hug from behind. "Hey!" she greeted with a warm smile, brightening further when she moved and saw Cassandra knelt down beside Grommit. Considering how her day had started, things were swiftly improving for the better. "Is Sunday being nice to you both?"

"Maybe it'd spark some kind of perfume-ish arms race. Companies compete to produce the most realistic-smelling robots to gain the approval of pups everywhere." The only acceptable type of arms race, and thus the only one that would likely never exist. Sad. Cass would like to live in that future. It sounded like a nice place.

That vision of utopia was interrupted when a wild Bernadette appeared, sneak-hugging Clarice. Cass was quietly grateful for her choice of target. Sudden, unexpected touches always unnerved, even from friends. Regardless of all that, Cass smiled and said a quiet "Hello!", getting back to their feet, much to Grommit's sorrow.

Bernadette had been a close friend ever since Cass had met them in Freshman art class, and was one of the very few people in the school that Cass had outed themselves to. She was also the third member in Cass and Clarice's trio of hopeless romantics.

Cass gave a slight nod in response to her question. "There are snacks to eat and dogs to pet. All the signs point to 'yes'."

"If there are ever sentient robots, I hope that's the purpose they were made for. Instead of, you know... war and that crap."

Clarice was abruptly tackled from behind by Bernadette, making this an even better day. One of Clarice's best buddies since middle school, bonding over romance novels and an intolerance for bullies being jackasses.

"Bernie!" Clarice turned to return the hug, briefly transforming it into a bear hug before putting Bernadette down. Grommit also looked happy. Lots of people he knew made a happy pup.

"When is Sunday ever bad?" Clarice started bouncing a little on the spot again. Bernadette's thick coat had reminded her of how cold it was.

Clarice and Cassandra both had very good points. Sunday was, as far as Bernadette was concerned, one of the best days going. Most people preferred Saturdays, filled with activity and crowds and things to do, but Sunday was ultimately superior to her despite its immediate connection to Monday. Then again, Bernadette actually liked the beginning of the week whether it was going to be a chaotic or peaceful affair.

Laughing, she squeaked in protest intentionally at the bear hug that she received (and had entirely expected); warm, welcoming but never too tight. A subtle nod to the fact that Bernadette was not as sturdy as she wanted to be, but that it did not change things. It did not bring her down though. After the morning that she had had, this pick-me-up in the form of best friends and an adorable dog was exactly what she had needed.

Once released she, still smiling, crouched to pet Grommit whilst her eyes stayed focused on her friends. "These things all sound like the start of a really brilliant Sunday, but two things could make it better." One hand reached into her coat and pulled out her just-started novel, whilst the other rubbed Grommit's ear affectionately between fingers and thumb. "Either of you got time to sit indoors to pour over the worst- I mean best- that romance fiction has to offer?"

Cass faked a grimace when Bernie produced the novel from her coat. "I don't know, I think I still need a bit of time to recover from the last you introduced us to." After a moment, Cass laughed, a smile coming back to their face. "Kidding. I swear, you've got a talent for finding these things. I'm game."

It looked like it was going to be a lovely day.

((cass will have a problem.))

The worst or best? Either way, that had appeal. The bad romance novels were hilarious (and had their own charm.) The best ones… well, they were the best. It was a win either way.

"If it's an indoors place that'll accept pitbulls hanging around, sure. Promise he won't whizz all over the place. If not, I'll have to run home first. But either way, fuck yes, I am all over it. I'm running out of reading material."

Clarice grinned as she bounced around on the balls of her feet. It was getting too cold out, anyway. Plus, when was she going to pass up the chance to hang with friends?

((Clarice Halwood continued in Hecate on Roman Halloween.))