"It's a girl," Maylee was saying. "Her name is Violet."
"She's so cute!" one of the kids squealed, stroking Violet's back softly.
"She is, isn't she?" Maylee smiled at the child. "Therapy dogs are owned by people and they are specially trained to calm people down. Violet and I have visited a few schools, hospitals, we even once went to an army base. You wouldn't believe the amount of security we had to go through!"
"Can I get one?" a girl, looking about eight or nine asked.
Maylee laughed sweetly. "Therapy dogs are specially trained. They can't bark a lot, they have to be okay with strangers coming up to pet them, they can't jump up on other people–" Well, except certain situations… Fortunately, Maylee was cut off by the girl calling to her mother: "Mommy, I want a therapy dog!"
Maylee smiled and was going to say something else, but her eyes caught Octavian's eyes. She blinked, did a brief double take, then blushed a bit and waved.
Octavian smiled and waved back, walking closer to Maylee, "Hey."
"Hi," Maylee replied, letting the kids continue to pet Violet as she stood up to greet Octavian. "Finished your errands?"
"Yup, what's happening over here?". Octavian gestured to the children.
"Therapy dog petting session," Maylee giggled.
"Ah, I see." Octavian smiled.
"I just realized…" Maylee squinted her eyes at him and tilted her head to the side. "I never got your name."
"It's Octavian or Tavi. Whichever you prefer." Octavian said, "And you?"
"Maylee," she replied softly. "Maylee Harper."
"It's nice to meet you Maylee." Octavian held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Tavi," she replied, shaking his hand firmly.
Octavian smiled shaking back, then looked at the children playing with Violet.
"Do you want to pet her too?" Maylee asked, a childish grin on her face.
Octavian rolled his eyes jokingly at her face, "Sure, why not."
She looked over at Violet. "You might have to wait for a little bit…"
"That's fine. I can just talk to you, can't I?" Octavian said.
"Sure. Do you want to sit?" she asked, motioning to the bench that was practically empty. Most of the kids were knelt beside Violet.
"Sure," Octavian sat down and scooched over so Maylee could sit.
Maylee sat beside him, looking over at Violet to make sure she was good, then looked back at Octavian. "So, tell me about yourself," she encouraged.
"Uh, well I'm a mechanic, I don't know what else to say about myself." Octavian said.
"C'mon, there's gotta be something. I love stories," she pressed gently.
"Then you're out of luck with me. I spend a lot of time in my basement tinkering with things." Octavian stayed with a small sigh.
"Why?" she asked simply. Several of the children had gone off, but there were still plenty left.
Octavian shrugged, "I enjoy being alone and I don't have anything else to do."
"Why do you like being alone?" she asked softly. She was naturally curious, but she monitored his facial signs carefully, so she didn't make him uncomfortable.