Maylee looked up and saw him still looking at her. "Are we in your way? Sorry," she apologized again, a slight blush blossoming on her face.
“A little, but it’s alright.” Octavian replied, tearing his gaze away from her and looking past her.
"Do you need to go somewhere?" she asked, tilting her head as she stroked Violet's fur.
“Just…running some errands. That’s all. Nothing super important.” Octavian replied
"Sorry to hold you up," Maylee apologized again. She pursed her lips and looked down at Violet. "What do you say, Violet?"
Violet leaned forward and sniffed Octavian's shoulder.
Maylee shook her head, but she was smiling. "I guess that counts."
Octavian let out a small laugh, “You apologize too much, it’s fine really.” He said jokingly.
Maylee blushed. With her incessant panicking and PTSD triggering past, she was prone to apologizing very often.
Octavian saw her blush and smiled, “Well, I should go. See you around?”
"Oh, okay! See ya!" Maylee chirped. She put Violet down and instead of following Maylee's path, the dog went over to Octavian again and sniffed his ankles. "Violet, you naughty dog!" Maylee laughed, not meaning a word.
Octavian had started to walk away when Violet came back over to him, he laughed, confused by the dog’s behavior. He picked the small dog up and carried her back to the girl.
"I am so sorry for her, she usually doesn't act like this," Maylee rambled, taking Violet from him.
“It’s okay. I’m sure she’s just a little excited.” Octavian stated.
Maylee smiled shyly. "Yeah… Well, see you!"
“Goodbye.” Octavian turned and started walking through the park heading to the store.
Maylee returned to the bench and looked questioningly at Violet. "What was that?"
(Timeskip?)
(Yeah, to when)
(Maybe when he's coming home? Or to a day later, they could meet up again? You pick.)
When Octavian was done with his errands, he walked through the park again, hoping to spot the girl from earlier.
Maylee was still there, but this time there were kids surrounding her and petting Violet. Maylee was talking to them in a soft voice, but he wasn't quite close enough to hear what she was saying.
Octavian looked surprised to see a bunch of kids swarming the girl and her dog. He didn't care too much for children. He walked over, wondering what was going on.
"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.
