#「 providence peak — residents 」 » elliot chapman.

[eroltilki]

“Oh, definitely. I can’t believe I ever doubted her,” Erol said with a laugh. Whether he’d seen it happen regularly or not it was all too amusing to think about Zara tripping over herself and just pretending nothing had happened to such an extent that he’d just go along with that. He was at least half sure it’d happen again in real time if she tried to go and fetch her toy and overran it because she was too excited, which happened more often than not when they were playing. “Between that and my son play wrestling with her I think she just gets so excited she doesn’t know what to do with herself, y’know?” He smiled and nodded along with Elliot’s comment. “Nah, I get that. If I didn’t have other people to help me look after her I don’t know if I’d have been so willing to go looking to adopt a dog in the first place. My son and my sister help a lot - my son only in the last couple years ‘cause I was going through this whole ‘teaching him responsibility’ phase.”

"That sounds hilarious. I mean, she absolutely did not make herself trip and you absolutely would not have witnessed it." It was certainly an entertaining thought in his mind, of the dog in front of him acting like none of that would have happened. "Me? I'm just a fan. No pets for now. Honestly, I don't have much time for a pet and i'd feel bad to get one and not dedicate enough time for them."

[eroltilki]

“Oh, she’s a genius,” Erol said playfully. There was a part of the statement that he felt was entirely accurate but he’d been at home to watch Zara do some truly ridiculous things when she was hyper so he couldn’t help but joke about it to the slightest extent. “Especially when she gets really excited and trips when she runs into the room— it doesn’t happen that often and I’m always worried she hurts herself but then she pops up and goes on like she just didn’t do anything at all and it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” He explained, chuckling. “Good to meet’cha, man. D’you have a pet at home too or are you just a fan of the dog park? I’m a big dog guy so I’d probably just hang out here to relax even if I didn’t have Zara. Which…” He paused, shaking his head with a grin. “Might be a little weird, actually, now that I’m saying it out loud.”

@elliot-chapman

"That might be the two things combined. Or maybe she's just a very smart girl. That's also another very reasonable explanation," Elliot added, smiling at the dog who was off chasing after her toy. There was something absolutely adorable about the way she made her way back to them, all too proud that she held the toy well in her mouth. Taking the toy from the other man, he nodded before throwing it to the other end. "I'm Elliot. It's nice to meet you both."

[eroltilki]

“To be fair, we’ve had to get her a few of those puzzle toys that you can hide the treats in so she can have some more stimulation at home,” Erol explained. “So I think she just really enjoys trying to find things and I keep wondering whether that’s just a herding dog sort of thing or if it’s specific to Zara.” He knew dogs were quite a lot like people when it came down to it— they had unique personalities in much the same way people did— and Zara was certainly a unique personality. He laughed softly at the sight of Zara getting progressively more and more excited by the idea of playing fetch and the moment she took off running for her toy and overran it immediately before she trotted back to grab it and trotted back with about as proud an expression as Erol thought a dog could possibly have. He reached down to scratch between her ears with a broad smile, “Good girl, Z! Drop it, hey?” The moment she did just that he scooped up the toy and passed it back to Elliot. “I think she’d chase it down to the other end if you wanna give that a shot,” Erol paused, “Did I remember to introduce myself or my girl? I think I totally spaced, jeez. I’m Erol and that’s Zara.”

The thought of doing that was all too entertaining, and yet Elliot wouldn't have the heart to do that to Zara. He was more than fine with teasing a fellow human or make their life difficult, but a dog? How could he tease her so? "Poor girl, it would be terrible of me to let her look for so long for nothing," he pointed out, giving her a few more pets of reassurance. Reaching out for the rope, Elliot could not help but grin as the dog barked, her tail wagging eagerly. "You know what's coming, huh? Alright, alright. Catch!" He announced before tossing the rope a short distance away from them, deciding to just test the waters for now.

[eroltilki]

It felt a bit silly to experience the rush of pride that ran through him at the sound of Elliot’s praise of his dog but Erol was perfectly willing to ignore that altogether if it meant enjoying the interaction. Besides, as far as he was concerned: Zara was the best dog and she deserved every compliment anyone felt the need to give her so he wasn’t about to keep that from happening to whatever extent it was going to. “Honestly, man, I think you could pretend to hide her ball behind you for like twenty minutes and she’d still have the time of her life trying to find it,” Erol explained with a laugh. Though she wasn’t a puppy anymore age wise Zara had always been an excitable dog and playing-- whatever that meant or looked like-- was her absolute favorite thing shortly after ear scratches and Scooby Doo dog treats. He held out the rope toy he’d brought with them and smiled, “Your weapon of choice for the afternoon is ready, my friend.” He joked.

"I'm sure she's got plenty of those," Elliot said with a smile as he pet the dog's head, chuckling as she bopped his leg with her nose. He did not spend a lot of time around animals but he always had a soft spot for dogs, especially ones that were eager to play and socialise with humans. "Oh, that would be fun. Someone seems to be eager to play fetch too," he added when the dog barked excitedly at them. "Well, she definitely doesn't waste an opportunity to play and have some fun. Can't blame her, can we?"

[eroltilki]

"It's one of her many good qualities," Erol joked. He'd always been a mellow person and even if the other man had reacted negatively he was marginally certain that he'd have talked his way through it without any issue. Still, he was grateful that Elliot seemed to be fairly relaxed himself— the last thing he wanted to deal with was someone telling him his dog needed to be trained more thoroughly which had happened more than Erol enjoyed considering. "I've got her go-to toy with me if you want more of a distraction. She's gettin' to be really good at fetch and she goes absolutely bonkers for it." Zara gave a short bark as if to cement Erol's point and he laughed quietly, smiling down at the cattle dog. "Either that or she'll try and herd you for about ten minutes— she does it to me and my kid at home all the time."

@elliot-chapman

Some days, he chose to venture outside for a jog. When he did, he always inevitably found himself running through the dog park. It was just a brief reprise from cars, and instead replaced by adorable dogs playing around. Occasionally one of them would decide that he was good to play with. Today seemed to be that that. "Hey sweet girl," he said with a smile, patting the head of the dog that had all but ran towards him, demanding affection. At the arrival of her owner, Elliot shook his head at the apology. "Oh please, it's fine. I'm more than good. She's a welcomed distraction."