First Step [Video; public]

[dogwalksyou]

Hello? Hello, yes.

[The dog comes into focus at an odd angle - the communicator is on the floor, between her forepaws as she peers down over it. Apparently satisfied that it's working, she yips in delight, rushing out of view in a close-up whirl of paws and tail and glimpses of an old timber ceiling as she spins in a circle. Then her face reappears, tongue hanging out slightly from her canine grin.]

Hello! I'm the Disreputable Dog. Or the Disreputable Bitch, if you want to be technical. Who wants to go for a walk?

Comments

[dogwalksyou]

Oh, I've got the boring ones too. Fond of travel, compelling sense of responsibility.

Well. Compelling might be overstating the case.

[mattersverymuch]

. . . Extant sense of responsibility. Of small to middling size.

Better?

[dogwalksyou]

A casual one. Since it's convenient, I really may as well.

[This is sort of, but also not really, a lie. Her sense of responsibility is strong, but strictly delimited. It does not extend to the impossible. In this particular case, it is convenient.]

[mattersverymuch]

Oh, well. There are worse reasons to do things than convenience. Or at least stupider ones.

[dogwalksyou]

An old hobby for befriending problem children, for example. Frankly idiotic.

[mattersverymuch]

Why would you ever?

[dogwalksyou]

[She laughs.]

I am a dog.

[mattersverymuch]

That's not a very good reason to take on a task so unpleasant.

[dogwalksyou]

It pleases me because it is my nature. I can't think of a much better reason than that.

[mattersverymuch]

I can. But I suppose one can't change one's nature.

[dogwalksyou]

And people can waste so much grief trying.

[Wow, suddenly missing Lirael a lot. The Dog knows she's okay where she is, that she doesn't really need her anymore. Still.]

[mattersverymuch]

Strange that you're here if you believe that, despite the reasons already given.

[dogwalksyou]

The bounds of one's nature may be unbreachable, but they are rarely narrow. Within them, there are often many paths.

[mattersverymuch]

Such as?

[dogwalksyou]

Well, I'm the Disreputable Dog. But there are quite a lot of rules in the world, and even I don't have time to break them all. So I generally focus on the stupid ones.

[mattersverymuch]

As opposed to breaking rules at random, or in order to further a particular goal.

[dogwalksyou]

Generally, yes.

[She feels fairly content that she's made her point about the multiplicity of paths.]

[mattersverymuch]

I generally break the rules that disagree with my goals. However, that's not very wardenly thinking.

[Wardenly is an adjective now.]

[dogwalksyou]

It is now.

[Because she's a warden. QED.]