[crow]

"I guess so," said Fabio. Neither of them had pets growing up--- it was just one of those things. The Flock didn't have time for anything like that, and Xing had advised them against it because they weren't sure how long they could offer the stability an animal needed. And now they were older, and there were other things to worry about.

"Well, that's it. Hop to it, and keep me updated on any developments," Melanie concluded, managing to sound almost professional as she said it.

[crow]

Fabio sighed. He did wish there was more to go on, but it was a lost dog, and that kind of thing... wasn't all that complicated. He was sure there wasn't much for her to tell him.

Of course, looking for a lost dog was easier said than done. What was he supposed to do, canvas the park for strays...? Well, nothing better occurred to him, so Fabio decided he'd just do that for a while, at least until something better occurred to him to try.

[crow]

He took a cursory scan of the park, just to see if he could spot any obvious ownerless dogs. There were... a few he thought might not be accompanying anyone, but none of them matched the description of the dog that he was looking for, and Fabio wasn't really interested in becoming an animal rescue situation.

Not that it wasn't a job worth doing, it just... wasn't his job, or the kind of career path he wanted his life to take or anything like that.

[crow]

It wasn't like he really expected it to be that easy anyway. It had just been worth a shot. With the dogs out in the open ruled out, Fabio decided to go poking around the more secluded areas of the park instead.

He walked himself out to the fringe of the park, where a lot of the shrubbery was. He got a few odd looks, much of it coming from mothers with young children, who quietly ushered those children away from him while whispering something to them.

[crow]

It stung, but it also wasn't the first time Fabio had gotten this sort of reaction from strangers. In fact, he was almost used to it by now. He was pretty sure that the real agents who were doing real jobs never had to deal with anything like this...

But there was also no use getting upset about it here and now. That was a matter to be addressed with Xing, probably when this so-called 'job' was over and done with... provided he could get a hold of Xing again.