26 Lage 4385: the Trouble with Trust

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

I didn't see what happened to set them off. I was looking at the live-eel tank and Trust was waiting at the counter for the butcher to get his order. I might've missed it even if I had been looking because it was a Cani thing and Trust missed it so probably I would have too.

The first sign I heard was a loud voice saying, "You got a problem with me, mutt?"

"What? Me? No sir, not me! ♥" Trust said.

I turned around to see a pack of four Cani by the counter next to Trust. Trust was cringing and wagging his tail quickly. The other Cani were glowering at him. Their alpha, a pug-nosed Cani who didn't look like he had any business calling anyone else a mutt, snarled. "Don't mock me, mutt! I don't even know you. What's your idea, butting into my business?"

"I'm not mocking you, sir, honest! ♥ I'll just go ... " Trust backed against the counter and tried to sidle away from the pack, but they had him surrounded.

"Suuure you will. Go where? What're you planning? You a thief?"

I ran across the shop and squirmed between two pack members to come to Trust's defense. "He's not a thief leave him alone you bullies! He's not doing anything to you!"

"You stay out of this, riverbum!" one of the other Cani growled at me.

"Is she with him? Maybe this is a distraction." The third glanced out the window.

"We'll give 'em a distraction!" The alpha grabbed the front of my tunic.

"Yap! What's that Sleeth doing with our cart?" the third barked.

"What?" The alpha looked to the front of the shop. I wriggled out of his grip and jumped onto the counter then grabbed Trust's hand to help him scramble over it.

"Hey!" the butcher yapped, coming back with the pockers Trust had ordered. "You're not allowed back here! What are you doing?"

"Getting out of trouble?" I jumped after Trust and pulled him low behind the barrier of the counter as we crept towards the back of the store. The Cani pack weren't following us. They were headed for the front door. I heard a scuffle by the door as we came to the end of the counter and I risked a peek around it to see what was going on.

One of the four Cani was knocked to the floor and the other three were standing back from Purrzhon and snarling. Purrzhon didn't look particularly alarmed. "You are the very clumsy Cani," he said to the one on the floor. "Are Cani senses so dull that they cannot observe the Sleeth entering?"

"You should watch where you're going, Sleeth!"

"I am watching where I am going. I am the Sleeth who is standing, not the clumsy Cani who falls because his eyes do not work."

"What were you doing with our cart?"

"Your cart?" Purrzhon sniffed the air ostentatiously. "Rrai, so yours is the stinky cart that makes the streets reek for three blocks. I try to improve the smell, but I do not think that anything can. Maybe you cover it in offirah and churshash dung and that disguises it a little."

The fallen Cani got to his feet, three of them growling at Purrzhon with their ears flat. But the alpha looked wary. "Enough. Let's go."

"You're going to let them get away with treating us like this?" The Cani speaking looked ready to choof his leader on the spot.

"I don't like this. It smells like a set-up, and we're not the locals here. We're leaving."

Purrzhon sat with his haunches just in front of the doorway and didn't get up as the Cani went to leave, so they had to squeeze around him. "Rrai! I see you later, maybe. Maybe next time you see me before you trip over me, too."

When they were gone, I bounced over. "Hallo Purrzhon!"

The Sleeth stood and prowled to the counter. Trust was paying the butcher for a rack of wudgeon ribs and apologizing incoherently. "I'm so sorry! ♥ I didn't mean to cause any trouble, sir." The butcher looked kind of annoyed by Trust too but at least he didn't accuse him of being insincere. Trust gets that a lot from Cani. It's something to do with him being nose-deaf. He can't tell what he smells like so he gives off the wrong scent-cues and he doesn't respond properly to the ones from other Cani. Which Cani are used to from non-Cani so I'm not sure why it bugs them sooooo much from Trust but it does. It's like Cani think he's doing it on purpose to irritate them. Even when Trust tries to explain -- even with his own family who has to know -- it doesn't help that much.

Purrzhon stood on his hind legs and put his forepaws on the counter. "I am buyng two pockers. Live. Not two days dead like this wudgeon."

Trust sidled away from Purrzhon and looked confused. "But this is fresh?"

The butcher gave the Sleeth a dirty look and picked up the ribs. He sniffed at them. "I'm sorry. I must have grabbed the wrong package. I'll be right back."

Purrzhon dropped to all fours again and leaned against the counter. I smiled at him. "Thank you! Thank you for getting rid of those Primes too. They were hassling my friend for no reason."

Purrzhon tilted his head to look at me. "Rrai, I am only going into the butcher's to buy the pockers because there is nowhere to hunt a decent meal here. If the Cani do not want to be in the butcher's at the same time as the Sleeth, this is not the Sleeth's problem."

The butcher came back with a new rack of wudgeon ribs wrapped in paper and passed them to Trust. Trust cut a wide berth around Purrzhon to return to my side. Then Trust turned about and crouched to get to eye level with the Sleeth. The Cani wagged his tail nervously. "Thank you for helping me! ♥ Even if you weren't helping me on purpose, I still appreciate it. Good day, Mr. Sleeth! ♥"

Purrzhon stared at him. The butcher cleared his throat. "That'll be one lozen four terch for your pockers." As the Sleeth turned to his pouch and started fishing out amber coins with his teeth, Trust stood again. We both waved.

"Byeeee Purrzhon! See you later!" I said as we slipped back out to the street.

Trust had a few more things he wanted to get at other store but we managed the rest of his shopping list without incident. When we got back to Wellsome House a couple more people were around but not Studies-Too-Hard so I went to the Academy to look for him.

Comments

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Oh no! You forgot to cast The Raven's Beak!

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

I did cast it actually. While we were sneaking around behind the counter. I just forgot to write it down. Also I wasn't sure if I should mention it *every* time I cast it because I think this might be an Adventure.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Oooh, okay. I guess it would get old to mention it every time.

Maybe Trust needs to disguise himself as a non-cani. Could you do up his fur to make him look like a Rassimel? Or is his face and stuff too different for that? I've seen some dogs that look an awful lot like raccoons.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Noooo his head and ears are the wrong shape for Rassimel entirely, also his legs are too long and his tail is too short.

And then he'd get the social cues for Rassimel wrong probably so it still wouldn't help. But the biggest problem would be that he's very very honest so he wouldn't pretend to be something he wasn't. :(

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I get the impresion Rassimel care about Rassimel social cues a lot less than Cani do, or even Orren probably. The other problems make it not a good idea anyway though.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Yea, I also noticed that, and wondered if there ever was a, uh, 'breed' of rassimel that very very closely resembled (except for some of the required features) a 'breed' of cani. I totally think that a story of a cani and rassimel becoming friends because they look like almost identical twins would be really awesome. Do you know if anything like that has happened? It'd make a fun folkore-y tale.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Noooo I haven't ever seen a Rassimel that I thought looked like a Cani or a Cani that looked like a Rassimel really I suppose it could happen there are a lot of different types of Cani. But I haven't heard any stories about it.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Wow, I know how that Cani feels... misinterpreting and responding badly to social cues, I do that all the time...

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Oh you poor thing that must be awful! I'm not as good with social stuff as a (normal) Cani but I think I usually get the right idea.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Yea, I have an excuse though, I have an actual diagnoses from a doctor that describes my condition, which DOES help, as the culture I am in is fairly (not great... just somewhat more than others) understanding of people with actual officially diagnosed disabilities.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

That must be nice it helps with some handicaps here but with others it doesn't at all. Or worse people take advantage of you if they know.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

That's true here too, but there has been a strong legal and cultural movement to accommodate folks with different levels of ability in the nation where I live.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

That's interesting why did that happen do you think?

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

It started about forty years ago, and grew out of a greater civil rights movement that was focusing on social justice, and ending other sorts of discrimination that were present in our society, like against women. Are there any movements to lower or prevent discrimination (especially in the workplace) against, say, Khtsoyis, in the area where you live? So they can have jobs based on merit, rather than all being relegated to being dockworkers?

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

... not reeeally no.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Well that would be the closest analogy that I can think of which would be fitting and appropriate. I'm sure some of these other monstrous friends who know of the history of my world, and have some knowledge about yours might come along and mention something workable as well.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Maybe Trust should think about investing in some strong cologne to cover up his scent?

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Cani really don't like it when Primes wear strong perfume it makes them think you have something wicked to hide. Especially if you're Cani. O_O

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

He *does* have something to hide, though. Or would it still be dishonest to hide it?

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

It's not something wicked though! And he doesn't particularly need to hide that he's nose-deaf. It's not being nose-deaf per se that annoys the other Cani, it's that he doesn't respond to them the way they think he ought to. Covering his own scent only fixes half the problem. He still won't pick up on their scents and even if they know he can't it's still a problem. It's like they can't quite wrap their heads around "he's not doing it on purpose". Especially since he can smell a little bit.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The problem of a nose-deaf Cani buying meat is one that had not occurred to me! Also, Purrzhon is being alarmingly helpful.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

It shouldn't be a problem. *fumes* I'm sure not going to that butcher again!

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

The butcher sells two-day old meat,
to those who won't know it's a cheat.
Although it's not nice,
if he kept it on ice
it might even still be good to eat?

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

It was probably safe but if you order fresh meat and are charged for fresh meat getting two-day-old meat is NOT right. And if he's doing it to Trust he's probably doing it to non-Cani too. It's not like I can tell at a sniff either!

[alex-muridae.livejournal.com]

Both very good points, and very much reasons not to buy from dishonest butchers. As an aside, the way terrycloth said it is a simple poem we call a limerick; I hope it translated properly.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

It sounded cleverly-worded to me!