Whiteout: Marie and Kyle

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Marie and Kyle head over to a nearby animal shelter to help with an evacuation. Mild wackiness ensues and someone makes a new friend.

Marie pushed her hair out of her eyes as she landed near one of the many Red X tents dotting the snow covered metropolis. She'd been pulling people out of the snow, moving cars and transporting supplies since they'd arrived in the city. Taking a steaming cup of coffee from one of the other volunteers, she downed the entire thing in one gulp as she listened to the woman tell her about the next place they wanted her to go. "Kyle!" she called out, spotting a familiar face. "You busy or can ya help me with an evac?"

The wool hat that he'd pulled down as far as it would go over his ears muffled sounds, but not so much that Kyle couldn't recogize familiar voices instantly. He finished swallowing the sandwich that he'd been given - talking with his mouth full was just plain gross. Especally with fangs. "Sure. What's up?" He asked.

"There's an animal shelter a few blocks from here -all the critters are stuck inside and there's no power, so that means no heat," Marie explained. "They're looking for some help moving them. Doors are blocked, but they've managed to clear access to a couple windows."

"Dog and cat shelter?" Kyle asked, already following Marie. "Or like, weird stuff? Because I mean, I'm all for animals but I am totally not wrestling farm animals." It was too cold to -not-make lame jokes. They were keeping him from thinking about how much he really hated his shoes, or how cold his ears were. And how many times they'd already checked the tips of his ears for frostbite.

"Lord, Ah didn't think to ask. It better be cats and dogs...maybe a bird or two. But no farm animals. Ah'll Ah need is a snapshot or story of me wrestling a pig...Garrison would have a field day." As she spoke, Marie strode forward, quickly reaching the area the volunteer had described to her. There was a truck out front with a variety of empty cages and a man who looked like he'd been standing in the cold way too long.

Kyle was a half step behind her, long legs not slowed down very much by the cold and having to wear boots. "Does Garrison know you totally saved Shamu? I mean, that kind of outdoes saving a pig." He grinned, and made as if to cover his face. "If you throw snow at me, I totally am throwing it back. When you least expect it. Like in class. I'll bribe Bobby."

Marie laughed, shaking her head. "But at least he can't call me Beullah for Shamu, though Ah don't think anyone's ever gonna let me live that down. Of course that's what they caught me doing on camera...at least my classmates don't realize it was me. Ah look different with hair after all." Pausing in front of the building, Marie floated up to look at one of the windows. Pushing up, she winced as she heard the lock crack. She knew there wasn't a better way to gain access to the inside of the building, but she still hated breaking things that she knew were going to need to be fixed in an already broken city.

Through the new open window, Kyle could hear the yipping and barking of the dogs caged near the window, and under that, the plaintive meows of cats. "Sounds like you're safe from pig-saving..." He said, eyeing the window. "I don't -hear- any grunting and oinking.." Now, how was he gonna get up there. Because there was just no way his ego was going to suffer having Marie pick him up. But jumping was not happening. Not in boots.

Marie smiled at his joke and then eyed the window before glancing back over at Kyle. She could easily fly in but getting him in would be another matter. "Would you be able to climb in if Ah gave you a boost? Or ya could hold on while Ah fly up?"

"If you promise never, ever to tell anyone..." Kyle said. "Because, seriously, last thing I need is Marius and Julio breaking into Hot For Teacher or something in the middle of lunch." He was pretty sure Marie would kill them too, but he just didn't want to even risk it.

"It's a deal," Marie said with a smile. "And honestly, Ah don't think either of them are brave enough to joke like that...'least not in my earshot. Ah do have a reputation as dunking folks in the lake." Marie reached out an arm to Kyle. "In fact, Ah bet you've got a good enough grip so you could just grab on and I'll float up and swing you inside."

"Marius totally has the cajones for that." Kyle protested. "He has like, no shame. Not even a little bit. Not even one of those iota things that Forge says are really small." He grabbed Marie's arm, making sure to not let his claws come out at all. Even with the gloves, it was a good habit to make sure not to claw up anyone who was helping you up.

Once she was sure Kyle had a firm grip, Marie began floating upwards. She went slow, unsure if Kyle had ever experienced anything like flight before. "And unfortunately, pranking Marius just seems to encourage him," Marie said with a grin. "There ya are," she continued, swinging him forward towards the window.

"Nah. Pranking Marius -emcourages- him." Kyle said, carefully pronouncing the 'm' in the word, as he grabbed the window ledge and let go of Marie's arm at the same time. The whimpering and barking was louder here, and he could almost get an idea of how many animals were inside. It wasn't a small amount.

Marie waited for Kyle to secure himself and then carefully maneuvered herself through the window, landing softly on the tiled floor. "Huh," she said while looking around. "Well, this is gonna be a little more complicated than Ah'd thought." She was relieved to see that most of the animals still looked ok, though some were huddled up together, obviously trying to stay warm.

"So... we clear the door and... um..." Kyle looked around the room, counting animals and trying to think. "Hope that we can get leashes on all of them and get 'em out fast?" He pushed his hat back to scratch his head. "Fur or not, it's too cold for being outside very long, and maybe the dogs might stay put... but how are we gonna move -cats-?"

Marie glanced at the door, satisfied that they could unblock it easily. "Maybe we do it one species at a time? Work on getting all the dogs out first, because you're right, they'll be easier -just walk 'em out in groups to the cages on that truck. Then maybe combine the cats into cages and cart them out? Ah could probably carry," Marie paused, squinting at the cages, "three of those if Ah got the balance right." Hopefully the cats would be too cold to try and fight with one another.

Kyle nodded. "I can't see any other way to do this..." He shoved his hat into his coat pocket, and then took off his gloves and shoved them into the other one. "I guess... I can find leashes and..." He looked over some of the dogs in their cages and pens, and frowned. "And see how many I can get settled down.." Some of the dogs were starting to get up and bark and whine. "Strange people in their 'area', new weird smells.." He laughed, and shook his head. "Can't say I don't blame them for being agitated."


"True and they can probably sense stuff about the storm an' all." Marie set to work pushing some of the cages aside to allow a clear path. Putting her shoulder against the door, Marie began pushing. The door easily opened, the snow that had been blocking it from the outside piling up as Marie used her strength to force the door open. A frigid blast of wind blew in the newly opened door. "Alright, quickly then, yeah?" she asked Kyle.

"God yes." Kyle said, cramming his hat back on to cover his ears. The wind and his ears were not getting along, and awful hat hair was a small price to pay for his ears not throbbing with cold all day.

He managed to find the stash of leashes, and headed for one of the larger pens to clip it to the dog. Who was backing into a corner, eyes wide and hair on end, growling quietly. Kyle frowned, and hunched down, staring at the dog. They did not have time to make friends with the dogs, even if all he really wanted to do was give the poor thing a good ear scratch. He could be nice later. Right now, he just needed the dog to do what he said.

Marie took a couple of leashes from where Kyle had found them and set to work hooking them up to several dogs' collars. None of them were all too pleased by it and she narrowly avoided being bitten several times, a sharp rap on a nose or two getting the dogs to settle down. "Alright, first load ready to go," she said to Kyle once she'd used all the leashes she'd grabbed, then headed outside. The dogs weren't too pleased to be dragged out into the cold weather, and the last few steps to the truck were difficult, but then the animals were loaded and Marie headed back to the building.

Kyle was well into getting leashes on a second group of dogs when Marie came back. There were just enough for two groups, and he figured the faster they got this done, the faster the dogs could go somewhere warm. "I think it might be better if you walk them out.. " he said, giving another large dog the "Don't you growl at -me-" stare. "I'm not makin' friends here. I think there's some alpha male stuff going on or something."

Nodding, Marie reached out for the leashes Kyle was handing her. "Start on the cats then? Ah'll be back in a flash!" The second group of dogs wasn't any happier than the first to leave the mildly cold room for the brutal outdoors, but Marie kept pulling until she'd reached the truck and somehow managed to cram all the squirming animals into cages. Rubbing her hands together, she flew back to the building, hoping that she and Kyle were almost done.

Kyle was beyond relived to not have to deal with the dogs anymore. He hadn't gotten bitten, but it was not fun to have to argue with dogs. He moved on to the other room, with the smaller cages, each with a cat or two inside, and laughed. The second he had opened the door, the cats started in on the typical cat-chorus of meowing, yowling and demanding attention. He'd found a few folding cardboard carriers on a shelf and after a few moments of fumbling, had three ready.

The first cat practically leapt from the cage to Kyle's chest, purring up a storm, and went into the carrier easily, with only a token protesting meow. It was the second, a group of half-grown kittens that were presenting Kyle with trouble.

He'd figured that getting the groups done first would be easiest. In hindsight, he thought maybe he should've emptied a few cages and seperated the kittens first, but it was too late for that. Not when he had one burrowing into his coat, another in the carrier, and a third trying to make a break for the door. "Marie! Cat on the loose!" He yelled, hoping she was done with the dogs already.

Marie hurried the last few feet into the shelter when she heard Kyle call out, landing in the doorway in an attempt to block it. She saw a little black ball of fur making a beeline for her and went down into a crouch to try and capture the kitten. Clucking her tongue, Marie tried to murmur soothingly at it, but it just yowled. When she was almost within range of grabbing it, the kitten surprised her by taking a flying leap and landing atop one of the empty cages to her right. It proceeded to climb on top of another, where it sat, mewing piteously. Marie just blinked up at the little cat, before looking at Kyle. "Ok..." Floating up, she went slowly until she was eye level with the kitten.

He knew it was probably not as funny as it looked, not to Marie, but Kyle couldn't help but laugh. "Aww. You made a friend!" He said, snickering and coaxing another cat into one of the carriers. "Hey, you could name it Shamu..."

Right as Kyle spoke, the kitten apparently decided that Marie's head looked like a better spot and with another flying leap, landed atop her head. "Ack!" Marie cried out, hands going up to try and get the squirming animal off her head. "This is not funny!" she said as Kyle continued to laugh.

"No, it's not.." Kyle said, snickering and closing the carrier he'd just put one of the cats into. "It's hilarious. And you're lucky it's me here, and not Angel. I mean, I have no camera.." Despite the snickering, he walked over to try to pry the cat off Marie's head, careful to put his gloves back on before reaching for the small animal. "Come on, Shamu. You stay there and this canadian cop will harass you to no end. You don't want that." he said, trying to coax the kitten.

The cat only slightly loosened its clawed hold on Marie's hair, but it was just enough for Kyle to be able to remove the kitten from Marie's hair, the Southerner sighing in relief. "Ah don't understand why Ah always get assigned to the animals. Ah really don't." She carefully reached over and scratched the kitten, now nestled in Kyle's arms, behind the ears. "We're just trying to get ya outta here...and riding on my head isn't the best way to do it."

The kitten meowed in response, and settled down in Kyle's arms long enough for him to get him tucked into one of the carriers, that he then marked with a pen. "Julio's gonna kill me..." he muttered. "I'm supposed to warn him if I bring home anything with fur." He shook his head, and picked up a few of the carriers, balancing them in a stack that he carried towards the door. "I just hope they don't flip over my bringing a cat on the plane...." He wasn't sure when he'd decided to adopt the kitten, but he definitly knew it was already named. Shamu, Jr.