a chalk outline on a playground blackdrop [sindri]

“It was wonderful, thank you,” Nalaia Jauregi gave the building owner a smile as she stepped onto the streets of London. “I will contact you if I have any questions!” Her accent was prominent as the words fell out of her mouth, almost so much so that she was butchering the words spoken in English. It was definitely something she would have to work on, if she’d intended on moving to London when she’d graduated. But after all, it was only December, and the seventeen year old had a few months before she’d be out on her own in the world, and therefore, a few months to perfect her English and tone her accent down a bit.

Looking for a flat of her own was something Nala had intended to do for a while, but she hadn’t really had the motivation to do so - until her mother had burst into her room earlier that week with exciting news of a chair she’d commissioned from some Londoner for Mikel, that is. It was then that the blonde had offered to pick the chair up for her parents, as she figured she might be able to go about and get her first look at the city that had been in her daydreams for quite a few months. Her day trip had been planned soon after that, with sightseeing and flatseeing and eating taking up the first portion of her day, and the picking up of the chair at the very end.

Shouting one last ‘Thank you!’ to the man that was returning to the building, Nalaia shoved her hands in her sweater pockets, hoping to warm them in the thick wool. The temperatures weren’t as cold as they were in Basque Country, that was for sure, but they were still extremely cold for the teenager. She preferred warm weather, when she could wear shorts and tank tops and not worry about bundling up when she made her way to her mother’s dance studio. But if the seventeen year old’s memory served her correctly, her next destination was only a few minutes walk away from her current location.

It didn’t take long for her to arrive at the building at all. Or, rather, it didn’t take long for her to stop at the row of buildings on the street, having completely forgotten the number of the building that she was looking for. It was in that moment that Nalaia had regretted not studying how to read English, although there was really nothing she could do about it now. She'd stood for a good few minutes, staring at the buildings and hoping someone might walk out of one of the doors, floating a piece of furniture with them, although once she thought about it, Nala supposed they'd just apparate out of the building and into their own. It was only when someone had noticed she'd been staring that they'd stopped and asked her what she was doing, at which time she explained that she was there to pick up a chair for her father. When the nice person pointed her in the right direction, telling her exactly what building it should be, Nala smiled and thanked them. It was rather nice to know there were kind people where she was going to be living in the next few months.

Nala made her way into the building, opening the door slowly as she peaked her head inside. "Hello, uh," She stepped in, letting the door close behind her as she shoved her hands in her pockets once again. "I'm looking for, uh, a T-Trickett? I think. I don't know what that is, but," The blonde let out a burst of nervous laughter. "I'm here to pick up a chair? Someone told me this was the right place, but if it's not, that's... kind of embarrassing, so..." Nala's cheeks had a slight tint of pink on them, although she wasn't sure if it was because she might be in the wrong building, or if it was cold outside, but she was really hoping it was the latter.

"Would you sit still you big sod?" Sindri Trickett struggled to wrangle the wolf-like dog of his that was squirming around in his master bath to avoid the stream of water and soap that was flying in his direction.

It only just dawned on the twenty-two year old that giving Bear a bath was much easier when he was living in a home with a backyard where he could safely tether the animal to something. The distance would have certainly saved the wizard soaking himself in the process, at least. Sindri didn't have a moment to worry about the clothes that were clinging to his body and soaking the floor, though, because his hands were literally and figuratively full.

"Mate, just let me rinse you off at least," The chestnut haired man pleaded aloud as if his companion could understand what he was saying. Though, Bear was only interested, it seemed, in putting as much distance between him and his owner's tub as possible.

Just as Sindri had secured his pet, a series of familiar bells stopped him dead in his tracks. The man's hazel eyes tore away to catch a glimpse of whoever had entered his modest in-home shop through the painting he had charmed to show him a moving picture whenever the front door was triggered. The little trick had proven handy for Sindri. That is, until Bear had figured it out. The blue eyed animal followed his gaze excitedly and shot his owner one last contemplative look before leaping from the bath, still covered in soap.

"Bear!" The man bellowed, nearly tripping over himself and the puddle of water from his sopping shirt as he stood from his crouched position. Sindri was no match for the dog though, who was already out of sight by the time he reached the staircase that led to where the woman had entered his loft. He bounded down, taking two steps at a time, but was too late. Just as he made eye contact with the blonde from a distance, Bear got to her.

The dog threw himself forward, just short of the stranger and gave her hand a slobbery welcome lick to the hand, his tail nearly wagging off his body. Bear looked back at Sindri, who was jogging toward them, expectantly, as if to be rewarded for winning the race. "I am... so sorry," He exhaled taking the animal by the collar. Poor girl was probably petrified, he thought to himself, as his gaze met her own.

"Oh," For a moment, the wizard was stunned. This was certainly not his regular customers. Just then, he realized a horrific truth. He was still soaking wet. Sindri clapped a hand to his forehead in realization.

There was no one home. That, or Nala was in the wrong building. Both of the situations were highly embarrassing, though. The blonde felt her stomach drop once she realised that she was probably in the wrong building, with her hand going up to smack her forehead as she did so. Nala contemplated just apparating home now, and she wondered if her mom would be mad that she hadn't picked up the chair. Probably, because Nala was sure she paid a lot of money for it. But was that chair really more important than Itxaro's only daughter's comfort?

No. It probably wasn't.

Nala had started to turn back to the door once she'd heard the voice of a man shouting, causing her to look back. It wasn't a shout of pain, Nalaia knew that much. In fact, it seemed as if the man was calling out to something, or someone, really. And she'd realised what it was, when a rather large dog had rushed down from a staircase that Nala hadn't noticed before.

Was this how she was going to die? At the hands of some dog that was rushing towards her, soaking wet and covered in what looked like soap. This wasn't the way Nala wanted to go - not even close. Whenever she'd thought about her life, she'd imagined having a husband, and possibly some kids in some roomy house in the English countryside, with a few cats, perhaps. Nala had never really thought about dying, but she was sure she'd live to be as old as the other wizards. It would've been cool to be a part of an old lady book club. But no, none of that mattered now. Because she was going to die right here, in London, at the hands of the large dog that was running towards her. Would the man running after the dog tell her parents that she'd died? Or would he just bury her body somewhere in the woods?

Nala closed her eyes as the dog got closer, holding out her hands to try to attempt to hold him back. But she was sure he'd jump on her, and her holding out her hands would do absolutely nothing to stop him. And she sat, waiting to be tackled by the dog or jumped on or something of the sort, but it never happened. Instead, her hand felt like it was being licked by something big, and wet. Opening one of her eyes, Nala looked down, only to see the dog lapping at her fingers with his tail wagging. It was as the man approached her that Nalaia realised that she wasn't in any sort of danger at all.

"Oh, it's... uh... it's fine." Nala tried to put a smile onto her face, but it was rather hard with the feeling of nervousness still swirling around in the pit of her stomach. "He seems, er," What did people usually say about dogs, again? Nala hadn't really talked to anyone about dogs, ever. "Friendly?" She paused, staring down at the dog for a second, before looking up at the man who was positively soaked.

"I'm sorry," The apology came from Nala's mouth this time. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything, I was just looking for this guy that my mother said lives here and I guess he makes chairs? Or something, but obviously that's not you, or if it is you, then I really came at a bad time and I really am sorry for that," The brown eyed witch started speaking rather quickly. "I can just come back later, unless you aren't the guy that makes the chairs in which case I'm so sorry and I'll just leave and never come back again." Nala gave the man a nervous smile, hoping that the feeling of embarrassment welling in the pit of her stomach would go away soon.