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Maggie, all things considered, had managed her first week at her new school very well. It was stressful, and there had been one or two little bumps in the road, but she had managed to stay relatively calm.
She stepped along the shiny floor of the halls, careful to avoid the seams between the tiles. She kept her eyes to the floor, avoiding and dodging those in the halls. She was quite content on her way to her art class when a woman came around the corner. Not that Maggie really registered the woman. It was the dogs that she saw.
A hulking, monstrous, police dog (at least that's what Maggie understood German Shepherds to be) and a smaller dog. There was a rise in panic in her chest as she dodged into a classroom that was luckily empty. She clambered on top of a table in the corner.
Sherlock appeared beside her, sitting in silence with his ever calming presence. Maggie bobbed her head slightly, trying to remember all the times Leon had told her to breath and relax
All she had done was walk down the hallway. There weren't many people around, so it was hard to miss the way bright red hair scrambled as if in a panic. Natalie's eyes grew wide, looking around her to see what would have been the cause of such a commotion; she was the only in the hallway. Well, herself and her two dogs that were always by her side.
What could have possibly been wrong? The trainer took quick steps into the classroom to follow, her dogs keeping close, ears perked up with similar concern that their owner wore.
What she found was a concerning sight within itself. The poor girl had put herself in a corner, and on top of a desk too. "Are you okay?" Natalie asked, stepping further inside the classroom. Only then did she catch sight of the iconic Sherlock Holmes beside her. Nat's eyes widened, even if she had seen so much at this institute, some things still came as a surprise.
Maggie had hoped that she had managed to escape the dogs.
The door creaked open, and Maggie stood upon the table, pressing her back into the corner. Her disheveled hair swayed as she bobbed her head nervously, a little, anxious groan escaping her lips as the dogs came into view. Sherlock began to dissolve and in his place stood Dr Doolittle (Rex Harris's verison of course). After all, who else should Maggie call upon but the king of animals? Maybe he would make the dogs go away.
The woman spoke, and only then did Maggie realise she was even there. Maggie gulped, and didnt take her eyes off the dog. "D-dog" She said in a loud, panicked voice.
Natalie was genuinely oblivious to the way this girl reacted to her animals, but it seemed the single word that escaped her lips had caught Natalie the same moment Jodie, the German Shepard, offered input. She could, after all, sense how scared the girl was - and that it was because of her. With a look to her pets, both dogs laid down as low to the ground as they could - to be as docile as they could - as Natalie took slow steps towards the frightened student.
"Hey, it's okay," Nat offered soothingly. When she was closer to the desk, she didn't need to look back to know that Jodie and Oz remained by the doorway. "They won't hurt you."
The dogs sank to the ground, and Maggie, still nervous, began to knock her pale knuckles together. Despite the woman's reassuring, Maggie remained tense and Dr Doolittle still sat before her.
"Dogs are bad... Dogs bite... Dogs are bad" Maggies fear for the canine species cane from a wrong timed run in to her parents late at night while they were watching Cujo. And they f course, being as young as she was, how else was she supposed to see dogs then as killers?
This poor girl. Natalie had no idea what experience might have caused her to fear the bite of a dog, but the trainer didn't have the heart to hear that a person feared all dogs because of an experience. She knew better than most that when a dog bites, it's usually because it is scared. She took slow steps backwards towards Jodie. "Dog's aren't bad, sweetie." With a glance towards the German Shepard, the dog stood upright upon a silent request, though slowly as to try not to startle the red head.
"This is Jodie. She'd never hurt anyone." And following along, the dog opened it's mouth as wide as it could, and Natalie placed her hand in the space between her teeth, holding it there. Were the dog to bite down, it would definitely be enough to cause damage and hurt her. "See?"
Maggie wished Leon would appear now and rescue her. But she was alone now and she knew as an adult she had to do this alone. She slid down to sit upon her table, spine arched against the wall as she pulled her knees up to her chin. The wild tangle of hair atop her head shook a little with her body and the young woman sought to look anywhere but at woman and the dog.
In her peripheral vision she saw what Natalie was doing, and it sent a nervous whine from her lips. Why on earth would someone willingly put their arm in a dogs mouth? Maggie went to cover her face with her paint stained hands, Dr Doolittle dissappearing now that she was to nervous to focus on keeping him around.
But there was a long silence, and nothing bad happened. Maggie pulled her hands ever so slightly away from her face, and very softly pointed to the German shepard. "Police dog.." She mumbled
Though the girl covered her eyes, Natalie didn't budge. Both her and Jodie remained in pose for as long as it took for her to finally open her eyes. When she did, the trainer smiled at her, eyebrows raising. Slowly, she moved her hand away, patting the German Shepard on the head lightly as she stood back up. "No, she's just my dog." Natalie explained softly, "They both are." Oz slowly scooted closer to Natalie, tail wagging despite it being down a little bit so she wouldn't frighten the girl with her excitement.
"I can promise you that they would never hurt you."
