Reaching down to unclip the leash from Roscoe's collar, Skyla grinned as she watched her beloved dog bound off across the sand. He looked so free, so happy. How nice it would be to be him for the day - no worries, no cares.

It was Skyla's day off, or rather: her night off. It was rather nice to have the whole day and night to herself, knowing that she wouldn't be arriving home at 5am as per usual. She'd been planning on having a lazy day at home, but Roscoe had had other ideas and ended up dragging her out to the beach.

She enjoyed this place, often coming here during her afternoons and sometimes evenings before work. Today the place wasn't too busy, which was always nice. People walked past, all in their own worlds, while Roscoe bounded happily about in the breaking waves.

Neal was sitting on the sand at beach, deep in thoughts.
It has been a while since his arrival but still missed New York.
A dog entered his line of vision and Neal just kept watching its careless play. Numerous times he'd wished to be a dog. Free as wind and completely careless

With a happy bark, Roscoe bounded out of the waves, giving himself a shake, spraying water everywhere. Satisfied with this, he bounded up to a random male stranger, giving a greeting bark and wagging his tail.

Skyla gave an internal groan, rushing after her beloved. "Roscoe, what have I told you about ambushing complete strangers?" she gently scolded him, pulling him away and clipping his leash back on. "Sorry," she said to the male, giving a sheepish grin. "He loves it here, so he instantly becomes super friendly with most people he meets. Don't you, love?" she asked the dog, who simply gave a delighted bark at his owner, glad to have made her meet someone.


~
OOC: So Roscoe pretty much looks like this. Though obviously grown up. He's about 4 years old by this point. Will try and find a better picture later...

Neal smiled at the obviously joyful doggy. It so reminded of certain other dog he'd grown to love while he was still on anklet.

"Nice to meet you, Roscoe." he greeted dog before it's freedom got leashed. "It's alright, miss. I happen to like dogs. He's very friendly." Neal said with a warm smile.


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OOC: aww *melts* soo cute!
exactly as i imagined. and even cuter as a pup *waits for some1 to mop up the melted puddle*

The dog already had sat down onto the sand, scratching his ear. At the mention of his name, he looked at the stranger for a second, then extended his paw as if to shake hands. Though a canine, he still obviously understood when someone was greeting him.

Skyla gave a giggle at his antics. "Oh, he is. Well, here he is. He's met other people who he spent the whole time growling at. Guess he understands people better than I do. He's my bodyguard," she said, scratching Roscoe behind his ear. "I'm Skyla by the way. Not used to being called 'miss'," she told him with a slight chuckle.


~
OOC: I know right! :3 When I saw that fluffball, I was like 'yup, that's definitely Sky's dog!'. *calls Neal to help with melted puddle*

Neal smiled when the dog extended its paw and took it as in a handshake.
It was a good good feeling to be accepted by a dog that wasn't Satchmo or Bugsy.

"He is a very smart bodyguard. Good thing, knowing Miami." Neal told. He almost said something else but knew people didn't need to know his past.

"Nice to meet you Skyla. I'm Neal." he chuckled a bit too.
He knew he was too polite and good-mannered for this city at times.

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OOC: sure this one is absolutely the right choice *gets scooped up in Neal's fedora*

Satisfied that his greeting-duties were now done, Roscoe dropped his paw, sniffing the male for a moment, before looking back at his mistress. He then preceded to walk around her, sneakily getting the leash tangled around her legs.

But Skyla didn't even notice. It always amused her when she talked to guys outside of work. They'd all seem so normal, and yet it was the normal ones that had the most to hide. You learnt that in the job; why else did she have all those businessmen regulars?

"Roscoe knows this town as if he's been here all his life. Even though he hasn't; have you, Fluff?" The dog just looked up at her, giving her the most innocent look ever, then as soon as she looked back up at Neal, continued walking and winding around her legs. "Wish I had his brilliant sense of direction," the English girl said with a laugh.

"So you're not from Miami, are you?" Skyla asked, curiously. She wasn't sure exactly what had made her say it; it wasn't as if she could distinguish which parts of America people came from, apart from the obvious ones like Texas. But for some reason, Neal didn't seem like he was a Miami-native. Maybe it was his manners, his polite-ness; here everyone seemed much more casual.

Neal had noticed that dog obviously was up to something. The way he kept rounding his mastress, winding his leash around her legs. She seemed oblivious to all the motion, but Neal was curious to see what will happen.

"It's good for him." he nodded, yup, the boy was up to something.
"I'm guessing that's why he's with you. You both definately make a good team." Neal flashed his smile at the woman.

"So it's that obvious." he smiled sheepishly. "New York it is.
And I'm guessing you're not from here either. England, is that right?" he said, noticing her accent.

As he flashed his smile at her, she couldn't help but blush slightly. He had an amazing smile, and his eyes - wow.

Giving a subtle cough to not think of that, she shook her head with a smile. "No, it's not that obvious. Just that here no one ever seems to call me 'miss' when I meet 'em. Only like in shops and stuff," she said with a shrug. "And yeah, I'm from England. Been here for abut a year."

At this point, the cheeky pup looked up at Skyla, then at Neal, giving the male a doggy grin. And then he raced forwards towards him, pulling his poor owner with him and pitching her forward.

Neal almost blushed. So his manners were deceiving him. He smiled, fancy suits and a fedora really screamed New York, lousy t-shirt and some shorts would be probably more for Miami sun. And he really wasn't that much tanned.
"Well, manners are good thing. At least something is good in me." he grinned.
"Quite some time. I bet it was an interesting experience to move to some other place." he said with a nod.

Suddenly Skyla's dog actually bolted towards him with very obvious agenda. Neal's blue eyes went wide and only thing he could do was jump to action and catch the poor girl, meanwhile managing to cast a look at the cheeky doggy. Something definately was about him and dogs.

"I agree, they are a good thing," she replied. "And I'm sure there's plenty more good about you," she added with a smirk. A guy this handsome, definitely more than one good thing.

She nodded. "Oh yeah, it was definitely interesting. But it was really nice. Good starting a new life." Well, somewhat new. But it was wonderful to get away from the ghosts of her past. "It was more of a hassle than I'd hoped though," she said with a laugh."You've no idea how hard it was to get Mr Fluff here through customs and quarantine." Now she looked lovingly at her dog, her eyes growing wide as she saw what he was planning. But it was much too late.

"Roscoe!" she squealed, tumbling forward. Fearing that she was going to hit the ground, she brought her hands up to stop the fall. But surprisingly, the handsome male caught her. "Th-thank you," she stammered, blushing. Seemed that chivalry wasn't dead.

"Yeah, maybe, though my New York friend's would disagree." Neal said sheepishly. He had some good in him, but his past was definately overshadowing.

"Well, hassle's always worth the reasons behind. I'm sure it was so worth it all." Neal grinned. Quite frankly, he wasn't entirely hassle free himself at times.


He smiled when he managed to catch Skyla.
He smiled at her brightly. "Welcome. Your little fluffball obviously had something in mind for this stunt." he glanced at doggy with a smirk.

"It was. I dunno what I'd do without my Roscoe. He's my best friend. And almost like family. Is that sad?" she asked with a laugh. But in truth just like her dancer-girls, Roscoe was her family. Though more permanent as he'd gone through so so much with her in the past four years. And through it all he'd been there for her.

Shaking her head, Skyla began to untangle herself from the leash, unclipping him from it to make the task easier. "You absolute terror, you," she told him. He simply gave a bark in reply, before bounding off across the sand. "Sorry about that," she said, wriggling off him to sit on the sand beside him. "He's a little menace at times," she added, but her words were empty ones. She knew that he was only doing what he thought was best for his dear mistress. Obviously today he'd decided she'd needed to make a new friend. A handsome friend at that.

''It's always good to have someone to count as your family, animal or human.'' he said smiling, his smile slightly sad, but Neal didn't let it show.

Neal laughed at the dog's thinking. ''It's alright. I think he wanted you to find a friend and guess he sensed my previously bit sorrow mood, is that right Roscoe?'' he said and asked the dog. His mistress was quite beautiful woman and probably single, so it wasn't anything strange if the doggy thought she needed someone.

She bit her lip, looking away as memories of the orphanage came back. Pushing them away, she put on a smile. "Funny how non-family can become more family than the real thing," she stated, giving a wry chuckle.

At hearing his name, the dog cocked his head to the side, looking at Neal quietly. Giving a doggy sneeze, he sat in front of the two, obviously proud of his handiwork. "He can sense most people's feelings a mile away. And their personalities too," she added with a soft chuckle. "Sorrow?" she asked, looking at Neal. "I'm a good listener if you need a listening-ear."

"Tell me about it. I got family in New York like I never had before. And despite my past they accepted me." Neal said knowingly. True he had family before but somehow he always managed to find other family, and even here he was immediately accepted.

"He's really good at that." he smiled at the dog.
"Yeah, had some memories coming back from times I wasn't quite good citizen." Somehow he'd had come to realisation that sharing his troubled thoughts and letting out emotions weren't that terrifying like he had thought. Maybe he had become less of that con-man he used to be. That or Miami sun had changed his view of things. Or the new family.

Skyla gave a thoughtful smile. "Back in England, one of the girls I worked with once told me - 'You like someone for their qualities. But you love them for their defects'. It's amazing when you meet people who can accept you, flaws and past, and still love you to bits. Sounds like your New York family was like that..." she replied. She missed her old dancer-'family' to bits. But at least she had the new one; being alone in this world was rather tough without love and support.

"Ooh, both handsome and a bad boy. I'm surprised you're not being mobbed by a screaming troupe of females," she teased with a laugh. But his words ran true. Sometimes the dancer had days feeling like that. Usually Roscoe helped shut those feelings up. "But yeah, I know how you feel. Join the club. We have matching t-shirts and everything," she joked with a feeble smile.

Neal nodded in agreement. "She was so right. I think I may engrave that quote somewhere. I had that girl once. She left but I went after her putting my own future in danger. But Peter came to me understanding. He agreed to my idea that changed my life despite what I had in mind at first. I really changed, not only my first plan. The girl died and I became someone that I didn't like. Nearly took someone's life. Then I slowly got over the loss, I changed again. Guess my New York family did more good than I had expected. I still miss them but once I met another girl who said: 'Despite your doubts and insecurities you will always have that spark of hope. Just keep believing light and you'll be seeing angels to lead your way towards the temple of hope and forgiving.' I think her words made me look for her. And here I am." he smiled. Of course, he'd let out details he still wasn't sure freshly met people felt comfortable hearing.

"Yeah. Happens to get the nice package." Neal smirked. "Oh it may have happened already. I have three rainbow-heads constantly drooling over me when I fall asleep outside my room. And two guys that probably have crush on me. It feels strangely refreshing actually. I don't mind. They accepted me despite my rather shady past and turned out their own past are novel worthy." he admitted. Tue, he missed New York and his family there but here he'd gained equal love from people who took him under their roof with surprising excitement. Maybe air in Miami made people more opened.

"Alright. Think we should make it official. With motto and tune." Neal's blue eyes sparkled at the joke. He felt so at ease with this girl. And her dog. He just couldn't stop smiling.