Work Text:
Ava paced back and forth in front of the door. The building she was in front of was nothing significant. In fact, most people upon seeing the building would probably assume that within the gray bricked walls, some shady business was going down. But, in all honesty this was not the case.
No, this wasn't a crack den or anything like that. It was an animal shelter. One of the only ones in miles of Avas home. Which is what had brought her here in the first place. Well, brought her to door at least. She was still working on the courage to walk in.
"Come on, Ava. Pull yourself together," she muttered to herself, "Just walk in there and ask to adopt a dog. How hard could that be?"
She walked up to the door, put her hand on the handle and made to go in. But, she hesitated and pulled away again. Ava groaned in frustration, then slid down onto the bench next to the door.
It wasn't that she was afraid of getting a dog. If that was the case she wouldn't have bothered coming all the way down. It was more the whole idea of getting the right dog that scared her. What if she went to all this trouble, and the dog wasn't what she was looking for? Could she really commit to something like that?
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, " She whispered to herself as she gently batted herself on the head with each word. "Just get it done and over with. Then we can go home and live with the consequences later."
Ava stood from the bench, and with renewed false confidence she strode to the door. This time actually pulling the damned thing open and walking in.
Inside the building was hardly any better looking than the outside. It was clean enough, but the plain white walls and cement floor did nothing to ease her nerves. Ava pulled her coat closer around her and looked around for another living being. Finding none, she cautiously made her way to the counter.
"H-hello?" She called out, her voice meek and barely audible to even herself. Ava cleared her throat and called out again, "Hello! Is anyone here?"
Ava leaned against the counter, and tried to look past it to see if anyone was around. Her long hair falling in front of her face as she did. Ava blew the hair out of the way in frustration, and decided it was fates way of telling her she was not meant to own a dog. So with that in mind, she turned and hurried back to the door.
Just as she was pushing the door to walk out, she heard a rustling and a muttered curse from the direction of the counter she had just been at. Ava turned slightly to see who it was, hand still on the door.
The rustler turned out to be an ordinary looking guy. Taller than her by a lot, messy black hair, bored expression and a big nose. He wore general clothes with a smock over it that had the shelter name printed on it. Though it did look a bit worn and dirty. Ava figured he could have been anywhere between the ages of 17 or 35. It was impossible to tell.
"O-oh, sorry I didn't sh-show up right away. I - it's lunch time f-for the dogs. C-can I help y - you?" The guy said, his tone mimicking his bored expression.
Ava felt irritated at this guy. First, he doesn't show his face right away and then he doesn't even make an effort to be a little cheery. A part of her knew this was a silly thing to be irritated about, but she couldn't seem to help it.
"Uh, I guess?" Ava said quietly.
"A-are you here to adopt a pet, l-leave a pet or a-apply for volunteer work?" He asked leaning against the counter now.
Ava looked at the door, and felt a blush creeping up her face as she answered, "I was going to see if I could adopt a dog."
"S-sorry, could you sp-speak up?"
"I want to adopt a dog!" Ava replied a little too loudly she felt. Her face lit up and she pressed her forehead against the glass on the door in hopes it might cool her off.
"O-oh, well in that case y-you have some paperwork to f-fill out." The guy said, his tone a little less bored sounding and a little more playful.
Ava groaned, took a moment to collect herself, then walked over to the counter where the guy was leaning. She refused to look anywhere near his face, instead she focused her attention on his name tag pinned to his smock. Odin, she took note of his name.
"What...what sort of paperwork are we talking?" She asked, arms wrapped around herself self conscious of him looking at her face.
"J-just a general sheet of w-where you live, b-background information and a sh-short p-personality assessment. I-it's all just to make sure y-you're not going to a-abuse the dog you a-adopt."
"Oh," Ava wasn't sure about this anymore. She knew she'd be faced with paperwork but she didn't really realize how much. And how long would it even take them to process all of that before she could even get to look at the selection! "How long will that take?" Ava peeked up at Odin face. He was smiling. She looked away.
"O-only a day. Y-you could be walking out o-of here tomorrow with a-a new f-friend," He sounded a lot less bored now.
Ava bit at her lip and thought this information over. The whole reason she wanted a dog was so she could have a friend. Everyone knew they were loyal and honest. She could start over with a dog. Really learn how to be herself; maybe be happy for once. This was all she really wanted. Ava looked up at Odin feeling, if only for that moment, a rush of real determination this time.
"Okay, I'll do it."
---------------------
It was the next day, and Ava was at the shelter again. But, this time she was standing next to Odin in the middle of a long row of cages filled with dogs.
Oddly enough, the back was a lot warmer than the front. And even though the dogs were in cages, all of them looked well cared for. Odin had explained that a lot of their funding came from the humane society, so they had quite a few standards they had to meet.
Ava carefully assessed each dog, listening as Odin explained each ones back story. Some were hard to hear; owners just tossing the dogs out in the street to fend for themselves, some not being able to afford their pets anymore. Part of Ava understood that feeling the dogs must have felt. But, none of these dogs seemed to be the ones for her.
They continued down the row, and stopped in front of a new cage. Inside were two small dogs, huddled in the back. Even from where Ava stood she could see them shaking a bit. Both had coats of white and gray mixed here and there around their bodies. And what seemed to be long, floppy ears.
"What breed are they?" She asked curiously.
"Th - they're both shih zu's." Odin answered.
"Bless you?" Ava looked over at him, raising her eyebrows questioningly.
Odin grinned at her, "N-no, that's their breed. Sh-shih zu. Their n-names are B-bonnie and C-clyde. They're pretty t-timid thanks t-to their old owners. Th-the old owners had k-kids who were pretty r-rough with the d-dogs. B-but, once they g-get to know you th-they get real sweet o-on you."
Ava stared at the two dogs, sat trembling in the corner. Both huddled together, as if ready to fight off any enemy hoard that may come to attack the other. She wasn't sure what it was. But, she was drawn to these two. She hadn't come for two though, she only needed the one. Ava knew though, she wouldn't be able to separate these dogs even if she tried. She came to the decision that she had to meet them first.
"Can I go in there and meet them?" She asked.
Odin agreed, but she had to follow his instructions on how to approach them. He showed her how, and then when he knew she understood, he opened the cage.
Ava walked in slowly, her hands out in front of her. Sat in the open palms of her hands were two dog treats. The dogs looked at her cautiously, neither moving or making a sound. Ava slowly lowered herself in front of them and stretched her hands out toward them just as slow. Still making sure the dog treats were visible and her hands wide open. She did her best to be as non threatening as possible.
A minute or two passed before one of the dogs made any movement toward Ava. One slowly approached her, drawn in by the scent of the treat. When it got close enough it very cautiously pawed at her hand. When nothing happened, it moved closer and sniffed at her fingers curiously.
Ava couldn't contain the grin that was spreading across her face. She was doing it! She was actually doing it! Another living creature was gaining trust in her right before her eyes! The feeling enveloping her was indescribable. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in quite a while.
By now the first dog had cautiously started to nip at the treat in her hand. And the second was making its way over, having noticed the first being in no harm. The second sniffed at her hand, bit at the treat and ran back to the corner with it. The first watched, and followed suit.
Ava lit up with joy. They'd taken the treats from her! Never in so long had she felt such happiness over something seemingly so small. She turned around to look at Odin who had been standing outside watching the whole thing. He smiled back at her kindly.
"I'll take them," Ava stated with certainty and a smile that was bright enough to light up her future.