Posted by Vice Admiral CockRoach (GM) in Main Sim - C Deck - Rick’s Quarters
[snip]

As the lift ride ended the doors opened near to where the science lab arboretum space was. Once there Nessa headed inside and once seeing their location moved over to the grass patch once more near one of the miniature trees, and hunched over doing her business.

Rick watched as Nessa scampered over to the patch of grass. That may need to expand, he thought, if this carries on. How did others do it in generational ships with pets? He might have to research that. Absently he scratched his jaw and yawned. It was early. He clutched the ball in one hand while his other fumbled for the bag he brought.

NE Poom nearby sighed rolling her eyes. “..You know you could give us a heads up when the dog is coming down here for that right? What if we were in a critical experiment with the plants and couldn’t let that dog doing her business interrupt it?” She said.

What form of ‘critical’ experiment could they be doing here? Rick thought. Pompous creature. Odious is the word that came to mind. His Aunt Tree had used that word. It was utterly old fashioned and he’d never heard it used outside of her. Something she had picked up in her historical fiction reading, but it seemed appropriate here. “Is there an alternate place I could take Nessa in that case?” he asked, getting an idea there on building something ‘like’ this in a corner of the cargo bay.

Nessa meanwhile had finished and moved off the grassy area and came back over to Rick’s side sitting down on her back side looking up to him then to Poom as if expecting the next command. Poom after a glance back to the stinky patch of doggie doo commented further, “..Either way once you bag that up put it in one of the sample bins on the third shelf there. NE Byrans mentioned how we could use her droppings to enrich soil samples for small fresh crop growth here on the ship to given Chef fresh veggies or fruit now and then..” she said.

GM CockRoach

Rick, feeling like ‘he’ was the one being trained, obediently moved over as Poom pontificated. “Sample bin, right,” he said, glancing over to said shelf where there were some small bins hanging on the bulkhead. Make up your mind. You want the poop but not here, he thought with a frown, hoping that that would be interpreted as the ‘ikky’ feeling of picking up said ‘sample’. Depositing it obediently in the bin, he looked at Nessa and started to move out, looking to her and patting his thigh. “Nessa, heel,” he said and started to move out. “We’re going to the cargo bay where you had your nap and scared the borsch out of Ensign Gagarin. We’ll have a little play before breakfast, well, mine. You’ve had yours I think.” He glanced around. Did people talk to their dogs like he was doing? He felt very self conscious about it. He totally needed to ‘write’ Barb for advice. Perhaps after his shift.

Making his way to the cargo bay he opened the doors. “Nessa, play,” he said, showing her the ball and giving it a toss in before finding the lights and turning them on.

• Rick

As the lights came on Nessa was off like a lighting bolt running forward to quickly seek out and find the ball under a lifted crate before returning with it and dropping it lightly at his left foot, she then sat on her haunches and waited for the next event.

GM CockRoach

Rick ruffled Nessa’s head and said, “Good girl,” before taking up the ball and giving it another toss, this time giving it a bounce off a stacked crate so that it would angle off and not be ‘that’ predictable. After a few minutes he was ‘getting into it’ and enjoying the challenge, even if the ball was starting to get a touch .. slick. He made a note to himself to bring a rag around with him to wipe it off occasionally. The thought that came fleeting into his head was exactly what to do with Nessa after this. This was fun, and last night’s finding of her not exactly ‘regular’ duty, but what would he have to do? Leave her in the quarters? Could he train her to pick up tools for him? He remembered she had training for support .. he could talk with the doc about Nessa being useful there too. The other fear that trickled about in his mind was that of losing the dog to be shipped out or to someone else. It had only been a day but he .. was getting attached to those brown eyes.
- Rick