[Tame] Drift 616c

When Ollie put his mind to something, he REALLY put his mind to it. It was one of the things about him that quite amused Rob, but it was an appreciative amusement. Today, for the third day in a row, Ollie was heading out to the docks in search of Drift. Past experience told him that with enough patience, any hound could befriend his pack, and he wasn't about to let this opportunity pass him by.

At dusk, Ollie gathered up the crew again - Roadstead, Sunshower, Rhubarb, and hit the streets, pockets stuffed full of hound treats to tempt their friend. They went straight down to the waterfront, walking up and down along the docks, waving hello to their friends, stopping by their favorite merchant stalls, and generally giving Drift plenty of time to find and catch up with them.

The hounds seemed to know that they were on a special mission, and while they greeted their merchant friends with typical enthusiasm, they didn't dally, moving forward eagerly, sniffing all their favorite sniffing spots briefly before forging onward.

It didn't take them long to spot Drift this time. He wasn't hiding much. He caught up with them at the edge of the market, keeping a distance from the merchants catching their trail and following them without hesitation as they left the market and continued along the water's edge. It seemed like he, too, was catching onto their routine.

Ollie made his way to the same patch of grass with Roadstead, Sunshower and Rhubarb by his side. The same as yesterday, he folded up his scarf, laid it on the grass with the treats, and sat down nearby. This time, he didn't move quite as far away. As usual, Roadste and Sunshower set up near him, but this time Rhubarb took matters into her own hands. She trotted straight over to Drift, stuck her nose in his face with a big, happy wag, and dropped into a play bow, inviting him to run and dash and play with her.

Drift watched her for a second, head tilted, studying her and deciding whether or not he accepted the invitation. Then he, too dropped into a bow.

Ollie beamed as he watched. The two hounds held the bow for a second, and then as one, they burst into a flurry of motion. Rhubarb sprinted sideways, away from Drift, and the stray followed, bounding forward in happy pursuit as she dashed away.

Sunshowed opened one eye to take in the action before her, and Roadstead sat a little straighter, as if he, too wanted to join in.

"Don't let me hold you back," Ollie said with a chuckle, but these two held their spots as they watched Rhubarb and Drift dash back and forth with each other on the grass. She faked left and leaped right, charging right past him as he scrambled to follow, and then she whipped right around to face him, leaping up and shouldering him in the side. Drift let out a little whumpf of air as she smacked it right out of him, but seemed unfazed as he bolted right back after her.

The play lasted several minutes until, tired, Rhubarb returned to the pack and plopped down panting next to the treats. Drift paused for just a second, before following. He sniffed the scarf and the treats and then gobbled them down before sitting down next to Rhubarb. He watched Ollie, Roadstead and Sunshower curiously, with much less skepticism than he had before.

"Good job, Rhubarb, I knew you could get through to him," Ollie said happily. Rhubarb lifted her head and looked back at him, panting contentedly as she rested on the grass. This time, Drift didn't seem to feel the need to scuttle away, and looked quite at home sitting near them.

It only took him and Rhubarb a few minutes to recover. Once they did, they were up on their feet again, running and bounding across the grass.

Ollie reached out to pet Roadstead and Rhubarb behind their ears, ruffling their fur as they both leaned against him. "Maybe tomorrow, you guys will have a go at playing with Drift as well," he said to the two of them.

He let Rhubarb and Drift tire themselves out with their enthusiastic play. After a few more rounds of running and jumping, he finally called Rhubarb back to his side. She left Drift reluctantly and came back, taking a seat beside him as he gathered up his scarf. "Don't worry, Rhubarb, we'll be back soon."