fandomhigh | Fur, Feathers, and Scales: The Biology of Domestication, Thursday, Period 2

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biology

Fur, Feathers, and Scales: The Biology of Domestication, Thursday, Period 2

Class this week had been told to meet in one of the classrooms, which, like several other classes this year, had been stripped of desks and chairs in order to haul in a large assortment of cushions. And a couch. You better believe Zack moved that couch in all on his own, too.

It also had a playpen in the middle of the room, occupied with about a dozen wrestling, wriggling, happy little puppies.

The much larger puppy at the front of the room wasn't wrestling or doing much wriggling, but he certainly seemed pretty happy about the situation. Even if he had been told to leave his sword at home today.

"Hey, guys!" Zack grinned at the students as they made their way into the room. "I'm Zack Fair, and this is Biology!"

It was so not biology.

"This semester I'm going to pick a new animal every week that people have brought into their lives on the regular, either as companion animals, working animals, or food animals, and we're going to spend some time getting to know them! This week I figured I'd start with the pretty straightforward one. Probably the first thing anyone thinks of when someone says the word 'domestication' is dogs, right?" He moved his hand to the side, his palm resting lightly on the head of a sheltie-type breed who was sitting very politely beside him. "At some point in time, people took a look at an apex predator and said, 'hey, I want to have that wolf as part of the family.' And so... dogs!"

There you go, kids. That was your history lesson. Zack gestured with his free hand toward the playpen.

"We're going to take things pretty easy today," and every other day, "so let's do introductions. Your name, any animal allergies if you have them, why you took this class. And if you aren't allergic to dogs, you can totally introduce yourself while playing with them. They don't get nearly enough love or affection, really."

They got so, so much.

[OOC: Open!]

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And, uh, introduce yourself. Name, animal allergies, why you're in this class.

But mostly play with the puppies.

Oh yeah, Tip was right in there with the puppies.

"I'm Tip," she said, since 'informal' seemed to be the name of the game in this class. "As far as I know I don't have any animal allergies, and honestly, I signed up hoping to get to do exactly this."

'This' being sitting on the floor while several puppies climbed over each other trying for the chance to lick her nose.

Living the dream right here.

"Hi, Tip," Zack said, grinning brightly. "I'm glad the first class isn't disappointing. Are there any other animals you're hoping to learn about?"

'Learn about.'

"I'm pretty easy," Tip said. "I'd be interested in them all. I grew up a city girl, so I've only really met dogs and cats." And koobish. "And one lion. But those were extenuating circumstances."

"Ooo, a lion!"

Zack. Easy, boy.

"That sounds like an interesting story," he added with a grin that was faintly sheepish. "We have all kinds of animals at the shelter, but no lions. Only cats that think they are."

"It was terrifying," Tip said. "It was starving and really pretty sure I was dinner. There's a reason why lions haven't been domesticated."

"Reminds me of some griffins I've met," Zack replied, grimacing a little. "Which... I guess makes sense."

Given their back half being leonine, and all.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you weren't eaten. We definitely won't be having any lions in this class. Just much smaller cats."

Tiny house tigers.

"Those I can handle." Even when there hundreds and hundreds of them all at once.

Or hundreds and hundreds of one cat in particular, anyway.

"I've heard baby goats are really cute, too."

"That's what I've been told," Zack agreed, grinning. "I was thinking of getting some small livestock in here. I might have to keep those in mind. And chickens!"

He had so many chickens at the shelter.

So many.

"Chickens!" Tip said, though she was more bemused than excited.

She wasn't much of a bird girl. But maybe that would change if she actually met one?

"Chickens," Zack confirmed. "We get a lot of them in at the shelter in the spring. Right around the same time we end up with a bunch of bunnies." Because people were awful. "Since it's not really an island with farms on it or anything, the chickens tend to stick around longer than the bunnies do."

He shrugged.

"At least we're never running low on eggs, though?"

". . . People are really stupid, aren't they," Tip said with a sigh.

Re: Play With the Puppies!

puppy_fair - 2018-08-31 00:03 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Play With the Puppies!

intotheout - 2018-08-31 00:06 (UTC) - Expand

"So..." Simon said, sidling up to Tip. "What are your thoughts on pets in the dorm?"

Just, y'know. An idle question. No reason.

"If you clean up after it and it doesn't try to eat Bill, I'm fine with it," Tip said. "We've got a cat and a really large dog back home, so I'm pretty used to having a couple animals around."

Simon scritched the puppy he had in his arms, who was surprisingly non-squirmy at the moment, and possibly blissed out on said scritches.

"Oh, I didn't mean--" He made a face at himself, then said, "Okay, obviously, I did. I dunno, I just... really miss my dog all of a sudden."

Tip looked at all the puppies and nodded. "I totally get that. What kind of dog is it?"

"Bieber? He's a long-haired terrier." Simon grinned down at the puppy in his arms, who wagged his tail, thwapping Simon in the face. "Ow," he said, his grin just growing wider.

Puppies were magical.

Tip laughed. "Your dog's named after that cheesy YouTube star?" She'd be more than marginally familiar with Justin Bieber and his work -- having been a preteen in the prime Bieber era -- but pop idols tended to get kind of drowned out when your whole world was taken over by aliens. "We have a great dane. Former junkyard dog who thinks he's living his second life as a puppy."

"What?" Simon blinked. "I mean, my sister named him," except for how it was totally Simon, "but it wasn't until he, like, got famous... Oh, I guess that... probably didn't happen for you?"

Tip shook her head with a shrug. "My pop culture knowledge kind of ends around 2012," she said. "Except for Beyonce. Even the Boov couldn't stop Beyonce."

Puppies, yes!

And these puppies already knew Sidon, too!

Sidon was just going to sit there with a blissful smile on his face as he let the puppies climb all over him, slightly confused maybe because this wasn't where they usually got to climb all over him, but who were they to complain.

And for once, he didn't go for his usual introduction, but the grin at the end was there. He just couldn't fist pump when there was a puppy in his arm.

It was a very worthy sacrifice to make, indeed.

"I am Sidon! The Zora Prince! And I took this class because I am so intrigued by all the animals on this world, and I would love to learn more, and of course, I know Zack is quite knowledgeable," apparently, knowledge and enthusiasm were the same thing in this case, "about such things, so I knew I could trust him to give a rousing and exciting experience!"

And he had not been wrong so far!

Zack grinned sheepishly.

"A lot of what I'll be teaching the class is going to be things the Tuesday vet at the shelter told me," he admitted.

You know, big scientific points like, 'dogs came from wolves.'

"But I hope this semester is everything you hope it is!"

When it was his turn, Simon somewhat reluctantly pulled his face away from his puppy and looked up. "I'm Simon," he said, "and I'm not allergic to anything, as far as I know. Maybe something exotic, like an emu? I dunno, I've never seen one in person before."

Scritching his adorable puppy behind the ears, he added, "And I signed up to learn about animals, so... This is pretty much perfect."

And that would be him burying his face in the puppy again. Hope you don't mind being a pillow, puppy!

"Hi, Simon," Zack said, smiling over at him. Awww, they were friends! "Be sure to let me know if you ever need to leave the room because of a reaction to anything new, okay? I won't keep you at all."

There was a moment's pause before he added, "And I work Tuesdays at the animal shelter, if you're ever feeling puppy deprived. They always need people to come play with them."

He could see you getting all emotional on that little buddy, Simon.

"I will, uh, keep that in mind," Simon said, although this time it was a little muffled. "Thank you."

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