fandomhigh | Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

It really was a good thing today's class was second period, because the moment Kanan had told Stance, "We're going to be gathering some sticks for class," Stance had been a dog on a mission. They just barely finished trotting to meet the class at the front doors to the school today when the bell rang for the lesson to start.

"Today," Kanan said, "we're going to walk while I give the lecture, otherwise we'll never get to do our class activity. But first, take a stick. Stance spent a lot of time this morning making sure they're all the best stick ever."

"They are! I made sure!" And that would be Stance, who was sitting like a good boy next to Kanan, letting him talk. "I looked really really hard for all the best sticks ever!"

"So no worrying about which is which," Kanan said, not terribly concerned that they would, no. He nodded toward the preserve and started walking, and Stance immediately bounded up and started trotting along. "Today, we'll be talking about the principle of Wu Wei, which basically means, 'without doing, causing, or making.'" A beat. "Yes, I know. Half of you already hate it before I've even explained it. What it means, practically speaking, is to go about life without combative or egotistical effort. To respect and follow the nature of things, like water flowing over and around the rocks in its path. It still gets to the place it's going. Hell, it still affects change along the way- erosion is a mighty force enacted with patience over time. But when we follow our own inner nature and respect the natural laws that govern the world around us, things are meant to work--"

"Stick! This one's mine!"

"Uh." Kanan glanced at Stance as he trotted a big, happy circle around the entire group, making sure all their sticks were still perfect ones too. "Anyway, the rest of this lecture was supposed to be about square pegs and round holes, but we're coming up on a stream now, so I'm going to have us just play a game that was in the book, instead. We're going to be racing our sticks."

Stance stopped in his tracks, staring up at Kanan with wide eyes and a small branch in his mouth.

Kanan just kind of grinned back. "We drop the sticks into the stream all at once, and the person whose stick passes a certain point is the winner. No cheating - this all has to be done using the natural force of the water's flow. There are two fallen logs over the stream, we'll use those as our markers, drop the sticks on one side of the first log, and then wait for the sticks to pass by under the second. Any questions?"

"Cahn ahh kee mai thick?"

"Yeah, buddy. You don't have to drop yours."

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Tip grinned. "I bet you do!" she said. "I bet you'll look so handsome in your swimming vest!"

Kanan was going to have to buy Stance a vest in every color.

Or just one really dapper rainbow one!

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm gonna get a vest!" Was Stance prancing a circle around Tip? You betcha he was!

And unlike the ducks, Tip was perfectly happy to have an excited dog around. "You're going to get a vest!" she agreed. "And hey, maybe you can use it to meet even more friends! I bet there's all sorts of critters in Selkie Cove who'd like to say hi."

Kanan was going to hate her.

Kanan was standing maybe a stone's throw away, just facepalming, in fact.

Stance, meanwhile, was perking right up at the thought.

"All kinds!? What kinds? I wanna meet all of them I bet they're all super duper nice!"

"Oh, totally! There's fishes, and sea birds and frogs and turtles, and I bet even bigger things, too." If something happened to Stance because of Tip encouraging him to go meet the Kraken, she would never forgive herself. "Do you know Sidon? He could tell you more, I bet. He goes to visit those sorts of places all the time."

"I don't! But I should, huh? Maybe I'll meet Sidon, too! I like him already!"

Spoiler: Stance liked everyone already.

"Of course you do," Tip said. "You have impeccable taste."

Stance's tail wagged even more.

"Thank you and so do you!" And then he was rolling over and showing his belly, tongue flopping out of the side of his mouth. Because tubby rubs went to good boys with in-pecky-bull taste, right? "Yeah!"

Whatever that word meant!

And hey, who was Tip to turn down a chance to rub puppy-belly?

"Who's a good boy?" she asked. Because how could you turn down the chance to ask that of a dog who can actually answer?

Edited (fuckin grammar) 2019-06-03 19:34 (UTC)

"Meeeee," Stance singsonged. "I'm a good, good boy!"

And he was so, so proud of that fact, too. Just look at that hind foot kicking he was doing!

"That's right!" Tip said. "And so smart, too!"

This dog was going to be so obnoxious for the rest of the day. Also possibly the rest of his life.

Oh, there was going to be so much prancing. But then, he was spoiled rotten already. He had more toys to his name in Kanan's living room than Kanan had worldly possessions in total throughout his entire life.

"Whaaat? I'm smart too?!"

THIS WAS THE BEST DAY OF HIS LIFE.

"Well sure! You knew immediately who the good boy was."

"Ohmygosh. Ohmygosh I did!"

He was SO SMART. Wow, he'd never felt so smart before ever.

Tip could only laugh at that one.

She really missed living with animals.

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.

Re: Talk to Kanan! Or Stance.