#friendly to dawn right off the bat while still being confident with more than enough skill to back it up

[soulsilversprings]

Re: the "who's a character where you would take it personally if someone didn't like them" - ive never seen anyone dislike zoey but on god she doesn't get enough love round these parts !!

[katniss-shmeverdeen]

A Trip Like No Other

I wrote a short story and want y’all to enjoy it; This is a long one so grab some popcorn and settle in.

“I can’t believe you’re making me wear this,” Lucas said in disbelief. He looked in the bedroom mirror and analyzed the red and black get up Brantley put him in.

“Oh come on, you’re about to begin the last year of your twenties, you gotta start it off with a bang”

“Yeah and this ain’t it, Brant. If I wanted to be ring leader to a bunch of clowns, I would go back to my last job at Bridgeport. They never could make a decent cappuccino.” He eyed Brantley in the mirror,

“And who are you supposed to be?”

“Uh, Tyler Chatwood” He waited for Lucas to react, but it didn’t click. “The Cubs” Lucas turned to Brantley and shook his head. “Really dude? It’s our home team, how can you not know these guys?

Lucas turned back to the mirror to adjust his top, “Believe it or not, some of us couldn’t care less about sports, especially their names.”

Brantley adjusted himself in the mirror as well, “Alright we’ll work on your sports knowledge later, right now we have to get out there and make sure our friends have the best Halloween yet.”

Lucas turned and grabbed his top hat off the bed post, “Fine, but if any one calls me Hugh Jackman, I’m leaving”

“And go where?” Brantley had to raise his voice because Lucas was already out the door, “You live here!”

“Maybe I’ll find a nice hovel!” He heard him shout from the hallway, making his way toward the party in the living room.

Lucas entered his living room to see about twenty people in all kinds of different costumes and outfits. Some went above and beyond to make sure their costumes were as accurate as possible. Lucas could’ve sworn he saw Heath Ledger because that Joker costume was anything but a joke. Others put in so little effort that he wasn’t sure they even knew what kind of party this was. He saw a man with disheveled hair and paint-splattered jeans wearing a shirt that said ‘This is my party shirt.’

Black and orange string lights were hung around the room, along with fake spider webs, bat and ghost decals on the walls, and spooky music playing in the background.

Brantley did a bang up job getting this all together. He’d always had a knack for this kind of stuff, and went all out to make sure parties were enjoyable for everyone.

Lucas made his way to the punch bowl in the kitchen and poured orange Fanta into a black plastic cup.

Before he could even get a sip of it, a burly man dawning a toga with some stains had an arm around him and was shaking him vigorously, making half of the pop in his cup jump onto the counter.

“Hey hey! There’s the birthday boy!” He shouted unnecessarily, his mouth was a centimeter from Lucas’ ear and the music wasn’t even that loud.

Lucas did his best to smile, but it was hard to do that while holding his breath to avoid breathing in armpit-stench. “Curtis, oh boy, it’s uh, always good to smell- see ya, buddy.”

Curtis let go of him, but stood just as close. Lucas took a step back while rubbing his shoulder and turning his head to get a good breath in.

Curtis was one of those clowns at Bridgeport, always over-friendly and not concerned about doing his job well, just talking with customers and co-workers and not understanding their social queues.

He continued using his loud voice, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my favorite boss, we sure miss you at the ol’ bean shop!”

Lucas tried smiling again, but it was more of a grimace. He had been in this situation too many times and he was trying to think his way out of it. Before, he could use the customers or co-workers as an excuse to leave the conversation, but now there was no backup to fall on.

“I’m sure you do; Listen, with all this party stuff going on and this being the big 2-9, I’ve sort of made myself anxious about all of it and that’s resulted in an upset stomach, so I hope you’ll understand my need to get to the bathroom as soon as I can.” He didn’t give Curtis a chance to respond before he made a mad dash out of the kitchen.

“Well make it quick, we got a lot of catching up to do!” Curtis yelled even louder as he poured himself more drink.

Lucas arrived back in the living room and looked for Brantley. He spotted him in the corner trying to make a home run with Alice from Wonderland. Lucas made his way through the crowd, giving quick smiles to those he made eye-contact with. Brantley was just about to get Alice’s number when Lucas grabbed his arm, “Excuse me, I need to borrow Romeo for a second.” He dragged Brantley down the hallway and stood close enough to him so others wouldn’t hear their conversation. “Please tell me you have a good reason for inviting Curtis.”

Brantley shot back at him, “Don’t blame this on me; I was at Bridgeport inviting people you actually like, and he overheard us talking, therefore inviting himself. I talked to the current manager and she said he wasn’t scheduled to work that day, but I guess he wanted to clock in out of the goodness of his heart.” While Brantley was explaining, Lucas was dragging his hand down his face so hard his skin almost came off. “After you made me wear this costume I didn’t think this night could get much worse, but Curtis and a few others being here proved me wrong.”

“Well if that’s how you feel, I’ll just tear down the decorations and tell everyone to get out since tonight’s so horrible.”

Brantley started to walk away, feeling under appreciated for all his work to get this party together.

Lucas walked after him, “Brant, come one, that’s not what I meant. It’s just…” He took off his top hat and focused on that instead, ”I’m at another dead-end job, bills are piling up, I’ve been single for three years… I don’t know, I guess I’m not as happy with my life as I would’ve hoped so I don’t really see much reason for celebration… and I think the whole Curtis thing was the straw on the camel’s back, ya know?.

And to add salt to the wound, this February was ten years since I lost my dad.”

Brantley never could stay mad very long and was usually the one to ease tension,

“Well I know one of those things you can try to change tonight. A certain red-head in a maid costume’s been eyeing you all night”

That made Lucas perk up very quickly, “Really? Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s get this party started.” He slapped on his top hat and confidently strode back to the party.

After about an hour of mingling, flirting, and avoiding certain people, Brantley decided it was time for Lucas to wish himself into the next chapter of his life. The partygoers still at the house at this point sang while Brantley brought the cake to the kitchen counter where Lucas was sitting on a barstool. Lucas had seen some extravagant cakes before, but this one was in the top five of most gaudy. He tried to be appreciative, but it was hard when his own face was staring back at him. There were also black and orange balloons, black cats, and some kind of goblin creature taking up a third of the cake. He made a mental note to avoid eating from that section. The candles were arranged in a way to avoid the icing creatures, so Lucas would do his best to get them all out in one go. He sat with his eyes closed for a second, trying to think of a good wish. He knew it wasn’t real, but you never know what might happen, especially if you’re Lucas Whittaker. He decided on something that could cover all the bases, and leaned forward as he thought to himself, “I wish for this year to be different.”

Before Lucas opened his eyes again, he heard a stranger’s voice. “Oh it’ll be different alright.”

Lucas’ eyes shot open and saw a man standing where Brantley had been. This guy looked like he lost a fight with Hot Topic’s discount rack, complete with chains and an outdated graphic tee.

Lucas stood up and looked around the room. The music was dead, everyone else was gone, and the house became twenty degrees warmer.

He looked at Mystery Man like he’d just been shot, which he might as well have been. “Where are Brant and the others? What did you do with them? Who are you? Why are you here? How are you here?”

Mystery Man put his hand up to stop Lucas from winning the prize for the most asked questions in a minute. “Hey kid, I only answer so many questions for new clients, you’re pushing the limit.”

“Client? I didn’t sign up for any of this, what do you want?” Lucas asked, his patience running out quickly and his sweat increasing.

“Yes, client. I have someone you want, you have someone I want- well, technically I have both of them, but I can’t retrieve one. Anyway, for us to get those people back, we have to work together, which I guess would make us more like business partners.”

Lucas marched over and grabbed him by the shirt collar, getting close enough to smell last night’s dinner still on his breath. “Listen here, you sorry excuse for an angsty teenager, bring Brantley back or I will personally air-mail you to the foot of Satan’s throne.”

Mystery Man looked at him with so little interest, that if he were any more bored, he’d be dead. “Interesting, considering the man whose throne you plan to send me to is standing right in front of you.”

Lucas released him in a huff, reconsidering everything, while the King of Hades smoothed his newly wrinkled shirt.

Lucas paced by the fridge, trying to digest his current situation. “This is not happening, this isn’t real, I’m dreaming. That’s it, I’m still at the party, passed out on the couch having a drink-induced nightmare. I knew I shouldn’t have had that shot of tequila and hot sauce.” He stopped contemplating long enough to realize he was alone. He cried out to the empty area, “Are you kidding? What do you want from me?!” He looked around, but there was no answer, just Lucas, the kitchen, and more questions than he had at the start of the day.

He exited the kitchen and went to the front door to get his keys from the hook. “Alright, I’ll just have to find Brant myself.” He reached for the knob and started to open the door when he heard the man again,

“I wouldn’t advise that.”

The Lord of the dead appeared on the same couch Lucas had been in earlier that evening, making Lucas jump so far out of his skin, he had to hold himself back from decking Hades all the way to Tartarus.

Hades continued, “Going in blind will get you killed, and you won’t be able to return my son to me.” Lucas looked at him with confusion and disbelief, “I’m sorry, I must’ve blacked out for a second. Going in where? And did you say your son?”

Hades pointed at the stereo, and they were suddenly listening to some old-school ACDC. “Yep, my time on the throne is almost up and since it can only be ruled by my descendants, I figured it’s high time I bring him home to learn the ropes and eventually take his rightful place.”

After a few seconds, Lucas asked, “What does that have to do with me?” Hades stood and got in Lucas’ personal space, “You and my son are a lot closer than you might think, here let me show you.”

Before Lucas could ask what he meant, Hades snapped them to Lucas’ childhood home. They stood in the living room, looking at a family of two snuggled on the couch, with candles lit, orange and black decorations, and only the glow of a scary movie to illuminate their faces.

“Can they see us?” Lucas asked, careful not to make any sudden movements in case they were about to ruin the time-travel continuum. Hades gestured to the living room and said with a sly grin, “Don’t worry, this is only a projection of your past, we’re not here.”

“How? I don’t remember this night at all.” Lucas walked around, inspecting the decorations, furniture, and the father and son. He leaned over and gave them a closer look. “I sure miss you dad, I wish you were still here.” He stood up slowly and walked back to Hades, crossing his arms, “So why are we here? What does this forgotten memory have to do with your son?” Hades glanced at him and looked ahead again, “Three, two, one,” and on the next beat the doorbell rang. Lucas’ dad, Anthony, answered the door, but was quickly drained of any happiness when he saw who it was. Mystery Man himself was standing on the doorstep of Lucas’ home, looking not too different than now. Anthony spoke in a hardened tone, “What are you doing here? I told you never to come back.”

Hades put his hands up in a surrender pose, “I’m just here to see the boy, it’s been another six months already since we got together.”

“Yeah, and I was hoping the last time I saw you would be the last time I saw you. I especially never want you around Lucas ever again, you’ve brought nothing but trouble to him.” Anthony grew angrier and more impatient, but doing his best to speak in hushed tones, “Do you know how much ridicule and humiliation he’s been through with friends and in classes because he tells people you’re his friend? Do you know how many times we’ve had to change schools because the teachers and parents overhear him saying he knows Hades? I need you out of our lives forever. He just turned thirteen and he deserves to live his teenage years, as well as the rest of his life, without you, and he can’t get that with you showing up whenever you feel like it, or at all!”

Hades peaked into the living room and saw Lucas sitting on the couch, elbows deep in popcorn. Looking back to Anthony, he let out a defeated sigh, “Fine, if that’s how you feel, I’ll leave for good.”

“I hope so, that’s what you said last time.” Hades snapped his fingers, but nothing changed. “There, now he won’t remember me at all, if anything, I’m just another one of his scary nightmares.” He started to walk away, but turned back, “Just don’t come crying to me when he wants to know what happ-“ Anthony slammed the door in his face before he could finish his statement. He walked back to the couch and re-joined his son as if nothing happened.

Current Lucas turned to Hades, more confused than before, “That answered nothing, like, this makes less sense than before you showed up today. What does any of this have to do with me, your son, saving Brant-” Hades turned to Lucas, hands behind his back, “Lucas, what has your dad told you about your grandparents?”

“What? How is that relevant?”

Hades walked over to the fireplace and wiped the dust off a picture frame of Lucas and Anthony at his sixth birthday, “Do you have any fond memories, stories, hand-me-downs from either of them?”

Lucas tried to answer best he could, sorting through his memories, but struggling to find any of those things in his mind, “Uh, grandma had my dad when she was twenty five, but grandpa wasn’t really in the picture. Dad said… he said grandpa would drop in every now and then, but really that’s the only memory he has of his dad. Ironically, he said our names are related. I only remember his name also started with an L and I know it wasn’t Lucas, but what is similar to that?” Hades sat next to Anthony and relaxed as he watched Lucas talk this out. “Anytime, champ, we got a schedule to keep.” Lucas glanced up at him with a sarcastic look, “I’m doing my best here, Captain Impatient. So… Lucas…Luscious?…” He chuckled a bit, saying sarcastically, “Lucifer?” He stopped laughing when he saw Hades not joining in the laughter, “No, no, no, no, no this can’t be true. You are not my grandfather, I am not the grandson of the Satan, I’m not related to you!” He stormed out of the house into the front yard. He was pacing again, hands on his head and tear on his cheek. Hades showed up in front of him again, “Welcome to the family, let’s get to work.”

He snapped his fingers again and returned them to empty party house. Lucas was in his usual clothes this time, a pair of regular fit jeans, hiking boots, and a plain t-shirt with a flannel unbuttoned.

Lucas didn’t give a rip about the location change, all he did was sit on a couch in silence and wipe away his tears, but finally said in a whisper, “How do I get Brantley back?” Hades was elated, and clapped his hand on Lucas’ back. “That’s the spirit! So, all you have to do is go into the Underworld, find your dad, and bring him to me in my throne room!”

He had an overly enthusiastic grin on his face, waiting for Lucas’ response. He just stared at Hades with hatred. The grin left Hades faster than he could snap-travel, “Look, I can’t get him out because only mortals and demi-gods, like your father, can be where he is. Plus, if I try to go in there, the souls will attack me like I’m the last zebra in a lion’s den.” Lucas kept his head forward, looking at the hanging bat decorations, “So why does it have to be me?”

“I’m glad you asked! You are my grands-“ Lucas cut him off, “Don’t. Say it.” Hades sighed, “Fine, you’re my relative, so you have immunity to the underworld’s effects. Anyone else would be dead in ten minutes, but you have the ability to walk in and out unnoticed like one of your AA meetings.” Lucas shot him a glare that would make Cerberus run for the hills. “How do you know about that? I’ve never told anyone, not even Brant.” Hades tried in his most innocent voice. “What? I can’t keep up with my favorite grandson just out of pure love?” Lucas kept his eyes on Hades waiting for the truth, “Alright so I might have been keeping tabs so I would know when the right time came to do all this,”

he said, as he gestured about the living room.

Lucas yelled in frustration, “The right time would’ve been never!” He stood up and turned back to address Hades on the couch, “You know what? You’re crazy and I’m getting out of here!” He did just that and slammed the front door, leaving Hades inside.

Lucas was walking away from the house, but he could only get so far without Hades on his heels, but in this case it was his toes. Hades appeared right in front of Lucas mid-stride. He quickly turned and started the down the sidewalk. Hades eyed him and shouted, “When will you learn you can’t escape me? I can go anywhere and anytime, and believe me, I do have time, unlike Brantley.” That was it, no one, not even the Devil himself, could put Lucas’ best friend in imminent danger and not expect repercussions. He turned to look back at Hades with a cautious, but curious look, “What does that mean? What’s happening to him down there?” Hades sauntered forward, eventually meeting Lucas under a street lamp, “Remember when I said other people will die quickly down there? Well, I felt gracious enough to spare his life a bit longer than normal, but he’s still dying nonetheless.” Lucas was very interested in the shoes while Hades explained all this. With a hand on his hip and the other on his forehead trying to keep it from exploding, he said, “Fine. Let’s go down there. Use your magic trick to flash us to… wherever in the hell we’re going.” Hades gave the biggest smirk he could muster, “I thought you’d never ask” and snapped with both hands.

Lucas woke up in a library, at a four-person table, surrounded by books so thick they could’ve been used for bricks. The library was small, max occupancy around 100 people. It was a place Lucas had frequented a lot his senior year, he needed silence to concentrate on polynomials, and his dorm was the last place that would be found. He looked at the seat across the table, watching Brantley feverishly take notes on paper, while studying two encyclopedias. “Pleasant dreams, champ?” Brantley said, while keeping his focus on his work. He was met with a hand on his face, “Brant? Is it really you?” Lucas said in disbelief. Brantley swatted at his hand in frustration, “Yes, it’s really me! What’s going on with you?” Lucas retracted his hand and examined it before looking back at Brantley, confused, “Are you sure we’re not in Hell?” Brantley let out a short breath, “Might as well be with all this work we’re doing.”

“No, this can’t be right, I was just talking with Lucifer, well, Hades an-“ Brantley cut him off in a hushed tone, leaning over the table, “Dude, keep your voice down! Most people aren’t used to hearing stuff like that,” They both gave a smirk to someone walking by, “and quite frankly neither am I, especially since you haven’t mentioned him in two years!” Lucas sat back in his chair, “Wait, you remember me talking about him? Why didn’t you ever mention that to me?” Brantley gave a concerned look, still keeping his voice down, “Because like I said, it’s not a subject matter I’m particularly fond of, let alone something I want to be talking about out loud.” He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms,

“I remember the days after you had one of those nightmares, you came to school so… sullen and beat down, you were a completely different person. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want you becoming that person again, living in that pit. Now shut up and study, you know how hard Mr. Herrington’s tests are for you.” Lucas looked at Brantley as if he had three heads, “Mr Herring- I haven’t had to study in five and a half years, dude. We graduated already.” Brantley looked at him with the same confusion Lucas had, “Okay maybe you shouldn’t study, it’s obviously frying the little brains you do have.”

Lucas looked at him cautiously, slowly standing up, “Rrrright, uh, I’m gonna go, uh, over there.” He pointed and walked toward the non-fiction section hastily, leaving Brantley wondering what was happening to his best friend.

Lucas paced up and down the aisle, muttering to himself, trying to figure out how and why he was reliving this night. Hades had to be messing with him, right? Lucas knew for a fact that he wasn’t a student any more. One can never forget the sweet release into freedom after walking across that stage.

Before he realized it, a librarian walked over to see him not looking at books, “Excuse me, sir, is everything ok over here?” Lucas looked at her startled and tried to muster an answer, “Uh yes, yeah, everything’s fine, great, in fact. I was just, uh, rehearsing my, uh, monologue for an upcoming audition.” He stood as if someone had him at gunpoint, praying the woman would leave quickly. She nodded with concern and swiftly shuffled away. Lucas let out an exasperated sigh and muttered to himself, “And my audition for the insane asylum.” He meandered to a shelf and pulled out ‘What to Do When a Loved One is in Danger.’ He paused for a moment, “Okay that’s eerily specific.”

He opened to a random page; he didn’t expect much, but he didn’t expect to see only one word on the page: ‘HELP.’ His eyes got wide ‘HELP ME,’ his heart beating faster with every flip of a page, ’HELP ME PLEASE’ he had to grab hold of the shelf to keep from falling over, ‘HELP ME PLEASE, LUCAS.’ He threw the book on the ground, shattering this illusion and shifting him to another location.

This time Lucas woke up groggy and sweaty. He knew he wasn’t dreaming because he would never sleep in such a warm environment. All those “nightmares” about Hades had traumatized him from being in hot places, even trips to the beach were pushing it. He looked around, but couldn’t see much. Everything was dark and the room was small. There was a thin layer of gray smog, just enough to irritate his eyes. His wrists were throbbing. He looked up and saw he was chained in manacles hanging from the ceiling. He was in a T-position, just barely able to relieve his wrists of pain if he stood on his toes, but if not, he would slump down and cause them to catch the edge of the shackles.

He could hear labored breathing, which might’ve been his own, but he couldn’t be too sure. He couldn’t be sure of anything lately.

Lucas looked across the room and saw the faint figure of a man about his size. His heart racing, in hopes it was who he thought. “Brant?” He said, but his voice sounded like a lawn mower trying to start up after a long winter in a shed. No reply. Lucas said his name louder, and a little smoother this time. The man spoke, sounding similar to Lucas’ first attempt, “No, no. My, uh,” he cleared his throat, “my name is Anthony.” Lucas could not believe what he was hearing. His thoughts running a marathon now. Was it really his dad? Where’s Brantley? Was this actually another dream? Where’s Hades? How can he get out of here? How will he survive? Lucas paused and tried to collect himself,

“l’m sorry, can you run that by me again?”

“Uh, I said my name is Anthony” Lucas’ eyes got wide with hope “….Dad?” Anthony became more alert and hopeful, “Lucas? Is that really you?” Lucas let out a sigh of relief, “Yeah dad, it’s me, it’s really me and I’m really here…

I think.” Lucas wasn’t too sure, but it sounded like his dad was choking up, and it wasn’t due to the smog, “Oh my boy, you’ve grown up so much. I’m so sorry you had to go on all this time without me.” There was silence for a while before Anthony spoke again. “How long has it been?” Lucas took in a deep breath and let it out just as slowly, “Ten years” Silence again. “Dad?” “It’s been ten for you, but for me it feels like I’ve been down here for a hundred. And the worst part is that I believed Hades’ lies. The night I died, Hades spoke to me in the car. I don’t mean in a philosophical way or in my mind, he literally showed up in my passenger seat and paused time to have a discussion with me.

We both knew that driver wasn’t stopping and he said only one of us could live through that accident. I asked him why we both couldn’t live and that’s when he told me about one of us needing to take over his throne. I didn’t want to come, but he told me it was the only way to ensure your safety and his absence in your life. I had just enough time to look at you sleeping in the back seat before the car got T-boned.” He chuckled a bit, “oh you were exhausted.

It’s hard to be the star of the show, especially when it’s your last one and your crush is your co-star.” Lucas had a hard time not sniffling. That was his favorite show and his favorite high school memory, and he never would’ve guessed it’d also be the night he’d lose his dad forever.

“But, the next thing I knew, I was hanging here and yelling at him to release me. I don’t know why I actually believed him…. I guess I just wanted the best for you.” Lucas’ heart felt like lead. He never would’ve guessed that his dad had sacrificed himself to save him. Dream Brantley was right, the subject matter did make him sullen and dismal. After Lucas let the smog and thin air dry his tears, he said in a low voice, “Why didn’t you tell me about him? Why let me forget?” Anthony used the same soft voice, “Because you’re curious, you’ve always been curious. Remember your fifth grade field trip? You came home and refused to go to sleep until you knew how that animatronic mouse was alive. It ruined you for about three months, we couldn’t even drive past that place without you bursting into tears. So I hope you can understand why I held it from you…. You being who you are, I assume your life has been good, you’ve got great friends, a good job, found a nice girl, a really cool house probably… and a life without him. I wanted to tell you, I really did, I just thought I had more time. Also, I didn’t think he would actually hunt you down.” Lucas did his best to make eye contact with Anthony, “It would’ve been better coming from you than finding out when he dragged my best friend to Hell.”

“Would you have believed me?” His dad said, using an accusatory tone. He waited for a beat, then said lightly, “What does it matter? You would’ve done your research and pieced it together yourself.”

“Dad, that’s not the point, what matters is that you didn’t tell me the truth” Anthony raised his voice, “The truth would’ve wrecked you and sent you into a lifelong tailspin like it did for me!

Before I kicked him out of our lives, he brought nothing but turmoil. He tried so many times to take us on field trips down to his world. He gave you poisonous spiders and snakes as pets before you were even three years old. He tried to set you on fire to build up immunity. I didn’t choose this life, but I refuse to follow in his footsteps as a ruler and father.”

Lucas shot back at him, “Well you might not have much choice!” He waited and let himself calm down “Unless we can figure out a loophole or some other way to get us out of sitting on that skele-throne, we’re stuck down here.”

“Well if you have any bright ideas, let me know, I’ve been trying to figure out how to take him down since the moment I arrived.”

Just then, there came a loud noise that sounded like twenty banshees were sending out a warning signal, which was very likely. Lucas almost near soiled his pants, but he kept it together long enough to ask what was happening. He looked around to see if there was any immediate danger “I’ve been down here a long while and only heard that sound a handful of times. He’s coming.” Lucas shot Anthony a concerned look, “What?” Anthony corrected himself, “Well actually, we’re going to him, which isn’t much better.”

Lucas barely had the chance to ask what he meant before the two of them were standing in the pit of a blacked out colosseum, or rather Lucas was, while his dad was at the right hand side of the Devil himself. He looked down and saw a sword in his hand and a shield in the other, both just as black as the dirt under his feet. He was decked out in full, matte black Roman armor instead of the outfit he came here in. He even had a helmet with a plume. It’s a good thing he also had a cape to complete the look or else he might look stupid.

Lucas looked around and saw he was alone in the pit. The only audience he noticed right away were the human-shaped shadow figures filling the seats in the arena. They weren’t cheering, but they weren’t booing either, actually, they weren’t doing anything at all. He could tell they didn’t have eyes, but that didn’t erase the feeling of being under a microscope. Lucas finally spotted Hades. He was sitting in the first tier of seats, the podium, reserved for senators and royalty. Lucas was being cynical before about the skele-throne, but that’s exactly what was under Hades’ rump, a collection of black and gray skulls, fingers, feet, and every bone in between, sloppily constructed to resemble a chair of sorts. Lucas thought he might be hallucinating, but he could swear the bones were reaching out and crying for help. Mist curled up around each movement of a hand or call of the mouth, but he assumed it was Hades’ sheer will-power that kept those bones in place.

Anthony was still in shackles, but this time they were rooted in the floor and the cuffs were held together by a short chain. He was standing next to Hades, just over his right shoulder. He was out of Hades’ line of sight, but still close enough that Hades could grab at him if the need arose.

Hades sat up properly and addressed Lucas, as if just noticing his presence in the underworld,

“Welcome, my grandson! I’m surprised it took you this long to wake up!” Lucas looked at him, then at the colosseum, “Where am I?” then noticed his dad, and pointed with his sword, “What’s he doing up there?” then it dawned on him Brantley wasn’t anywhere to be found and started looking frantically around him, then back at Hades, “and where’s Brant?”

Hades muttered so only he and Anthony could hear, “Jeez kid you really do ask too many questions,” he cleared his throat and spoke so Lucas could hear, “You mean you don’t see him standing right next to you?”

Lucas turned so quick he almost got whiplash, his best friend standing next to him in the same body of armor as he. Lucas dropped his weapons and gave him a bear hug, letting out a sigh of relief and disbelief, “Oh my gods, I thought I lost you, man! I got your message in the library, I’m so glad you reached out.” Brantley did his best to return the hug, but his confusion was holding him back. “What? What message? What library?” Lucas quickly released from the hug and returned the level of confusion, “You-you didn’t send me a message crying out for help?”

“No; the last thing I remember is you about to blow out your candles and the next thing I know I’m down here ready to perform a grade-school play of ‘300’,” Brantley said, as he examined his garb and location, “and where is ‘here’ exactly?” He gave Lucas a questioning look. Lucas turned back to Hades, who was wearing the same smirk as when he sent Lucas down here. Hades sat forward and leaned his elbow on his knees, “You see, champ, my little magic trick from earlier sent Brantley to this exact moment.” Lucas turned back to Brantley and whispered in disbelief to himself, “So you were never in danger, and if you didn’t send the message, who…” his eyes got wide and he turned to look at Anthony, “Dad?” With misty eyes, Anthony nodded, assuring Lucas of his hunch. Anthony knew it was a long-shot to reach out for any mortal soul, but he was desperate and knew that Lucas would always be there for him, even in the after-life.

Lucas turned his attention to Hades and shouted, “So you lied to me? Brant was never in danger?” Hades stood and shouted so the shadow figures could also hear, “Of course I lied! I’m the inventor of lies!. Lies that life will be full of rainbows and cotton candy. Lies that dads won’t keep secrets from their kids. Lies that life has a good ending.” his voice became calm again, “And by the way, I’ll always be king down here; I would never even dream of letting anyone else take over, especially my own kin.”

He sat back down, examining the dirt under his nails and propping his feet up on the edge of railing, “Though, I did tell the truth about one thing, you really are my grandson.” Lucas heard a human-sized thud next to him and turned to see Brantley had passed out, hopefully due to shock of that information and not a heat stroke. He bent down to wake him up, his patience paper thin by now, “Come on, Brant, wake up, we don’t have time for this.” He tried shaking him, but after that didn’t work he went with a hardy smack across the face, waking up Brantley and immediately sitting him up-right. He asked in a mumble, “What happened? Whose grandson?” Lucas gave him a quick response, “I’ll explain later, get up!”

He turned to address the King of Lies, “So why do all this? Why drag us all down here?” Hades made eye contact with him, which was the first time Lucas was truly terrified of him. “Because you and this degenerate next to me are the saddest excuses for humans I have ever seen, and I can’t let that continue, especially if you’re related to someone like me.” He turned toward Brantley now, “as for you, I needed incentive for Lucas, and you simply chose the wrong person to hang around all those years ago, so really it’s your own fault you’re down here.” Brantley had to grab Lucas to hold him back. Hades was back on his throne with his feet propped up on the railing, “And that is why you, dear grandson, are going to fight him,” he said, “which shouldn’t be too hard, though, since his body isn’t equipped to survive down here.” Anthony tried to reach for Hades, but his chains just shook a bit.

“You’ll fight to first blood- no that’s too easy, to the death! The winner will be able to roam the underworld as much as you want, but the loser will be my lackey for the rest of time, that is, after you’ve had time to regenerate into your ghostly form. So let’s get this show on the road.”                                                   Lucas and Brantley looked at each other with facial expressions as if to say, ‘is this really happening?’ Brantley spoke up this time, “You just admitted to being the biggest liar in history, how are we supposed to trust your word on that?”

“I’m just here for a good show, I don’t care who lives or dies. Plus I have some lunch-deprived Hellhounds who can join if you don’t start soon.”

They turned to each other and started discussing how to get out of this, speaking in whispers. “Alright what do we do?” Lucas asked. “I don’t know! You’re the one with semi-godly powers!” “Yeah, not semi-godly knowledge!” “Well, can’t your dad do something? He’s got even more power than you, right?” “I sure hope so, otherwise we’re dead” “Don’t remind me” “Well we gotta do something, neither of us can stay here, and I’m sure not leaving my dad behind.”

Hades was on the verge of losing his patience, not that he had much to start with anyway. “Today, princess!” No response from either of them. “Alright, time for the Hellhounds then.”

That got their attention. Hades was about to send them in, but Lucas turned toward him, putting his hands up, “No, no! We’re uh, we’re…” Brantley interjected, “We’re trying to decide who would be a better servant for you, sir, ya know, we want to leave you with the best!” Which wasn’t entirely false, they really were trying to decide who should stay, both of them too loyal to let the other die.

Hades relaxed, happy that they were finally coming to terms with their situation, “Now that’s what I like to hear.”

Brantley spoke in a strangled whisper, “Okay now we really have to think of a plan” Brantley could see the wheels turning in Lucas’ head, “What are you thinking?” Lucas answered, a little too excited, “Do you remember our high school production of Les Misérables?” “Of course, I was forced to do that instead of be in detention all semester.” Brantley said, wondering how this pertains to anything. “Well don’t be too sore about it, that’s how we met,” Lucas mentioned. Brantley shook his head in agreement, “Anyway, do you remember the dance-y fight scene between those two guys?” Brantley was even more confused and concerned than before, “Dude, that was like, twelve years ago, of course not!” Lucas stared at him, waiting for a different answer, knowing Brantley was not good at bluffing. “….Yeah I remember.” “Let’s use that to at least buy us some time and hopefully my dad will think of something.” Brantley let out an exasperated sigh, “Let’s give it a shot.” With that, the two started to recall the fight sequence, a little rocky to start, but eventually it came back to them. They knew they would have to make it bigger and better for Hades, so they were overly dramatic and yelling insults that would’ve gotten them kicked out of Radio City. At some point, Brantley even managed to draw blood from Lucas. Lucas was more impressed about it than anything, considering this is only the second time Brantley has ever wielded a sword, let alone a sharp object.

Back at the podium, Anthony was trying to conjure up a plan and quietly get out of his restraints, but it was useless. In defeat, Anthony looked to the floor and he noticed there were metatarsal bones, phalanges, metacarpals, and a bunch of other bones that he assumed are in hands and feet, forming from mist on the floor and falling from the chair. They were probably here because Hades was putting more attention into the fight than keeping his seat in tact.

Whatever the reason, it gave Anthony an idea. It was a long shot, but he had to try.

Lucas had just executed some brilliant improv by drop kicking Brantley, too bad he moved out of the way, sending Lucas air born and landing on his back so hard his chiropractor could feel it. Sadly, it was all for nothing because at that very moment they heard a howl coming from the podium, not one like a dog or wolf, more like someone had shoved their hand in a running blender. Lucas was never more concerned for someone’s life than right now. The guys ran and jumped over the railing to find Anthony standing over Hades. The throne that had been there before was gone, well not exactly gone, just being used for a different purpose. All the bones that made up the throne were now evenly distributed on top of Hades body, holding him down and clamping his mouth shut. About five Hellhounds were charging toward all of them, but Anthony spoke right before they hit them head on, “διαμονή,” and they stopped in their tracks, giving head turns of confusion.

Anthony looked down at Hades with relieve, “Ya know dad, this is the first time I’m actually happy to have some of your power.” Lucas looked at his dad in awe, “Dad, how did you do that?” “For the Hellhounds, you tend to pick up a few things after being down here for so long, and that includes command words. As for the skeletons, I knew I had some of his power, and I assumed that included control over the dead. So I had the falling remnants of hands get me out of that bear trap, and while his Royal Highness was distracted by you two ballerinas, I decided to literally take a stab in the dark, and reached around and used the longest bone I could find to take him down.”

Brantley bent down to Hades side, “Huh, very intuitive.” He tried to grab the bone, but his hand went right through it. “I knew it wouldn’t kill him,” Anthony mentioned, “but I hoped it would at least buy us some time or distract him long enough to get us out of dodge.”

The three of them were looking down at Hades, he was glaring at them, writhing, and trying his best to wiggle out of his restraints. The bones were obeying well enough before with just Anthony in control, but now that Lucas was putting his power into it as well, there was very little chance Hades would get out of that on his own. Hades tried to speak through the hands covering his mouth, but it just came out as one long muffled sound.

Lucas bent down to hover above Hades. The bone Anthony had used to stab Hades was still in his chest, and Lucas pushed it in further, “I bet you’re wondering why we’re doing this. Well, as I seem to recall, you don’t care who lives or dies, it’s just a good show you want.” Hades looked at his hounds, trying to communicate what to do next, but they just stood there, one even came over and licked his face, but the bones stayed in where they were.

Lucas looked his grandfather dead in the eyes, while still hunched down, with Anthony and Brantley standing behind, “Thanks for the good show, champ.”

Anthony shouted while keeping eye contact with his dad, “επίθεση.”                All five hounds pounced on Hades, and it wasn’t to cuddle up with him, while Anthony and Lucas snapped with both hands, sending all three of them topside.

[silver-snow-writes]

The thing with Jaytim and a lot of cats

This is a not! fic campfire I did on a discord server that I’m porting over here, I hope y’all enjoy the fluff. @inkyubus and @salazarastark helped a bit towards the end

———————————————————————

Okay. Tim is canonically a cat person and it has annoyed the hell out of me that Tim never got pets but Damian gets a menagerie, so I always give him a cat when given the opportunity by plot

Tim finds a pregnant kitty on his fire escape, and takes her in. He’s calling on Selina and googling everything he can after processing that oh right this is going to be a big change, and goes out to the pet store incognito to grab supplies

But he’s at the Crime Alley theater house apartment so Jason is out doing an early evening patrol, spots him, and gets curious. What’s he doing around here in civvies?

Jason tails him to the nearest pet shop, and back to his house, where he spots him playing with soon-to-be mama cat. He wants to be mad that Tim’s in *his* territory, clearly living here, but it’s hard to get too pissed when he’s giving a happy kitty belly rubs and smiling like that.

Jason’s seen him do confident Robin grin, dangerous “I’m gonna fuck you up” battle smirk, calming civilians smile, even polite Wayne heir curve of the lips. But smiling joyfully like this, eyes uncovered, clearly laughing a little as the cat demands treats? Something goes warm in his chest

Meanwhile Tim is feeling tired and stressed bc his life is a busy exhausting and traumatizing mess lately but it’s hard to think about the bad stuff when he has mama cat and her litter to think about. She’s clearly been a pet before and is so friendly and cuddly that it breaks his heart to think someone abandoned her. He gets her to the vet to check for a chip and get her looked over, and when there’s no chip that cements his decision that fuck it, he’s keeping her

He totally names her Arwen bc there is no way in hell a kid that was a DM for DC’s D&D equivalent isn’t a fan of LoTR. Arwen has to get mites and fleas removed but once she’s flea free she’s sharing his bed

Jason. Is still keeping an eye on him, subtly. Staying out of range of Tim’s security systems and Babs’s cameras and telling himself it’s all because he can’t just let the Pretender go unsupervised in his turf. And sure that’s part of it. But Tim’s actually pretty good about sticking to patrolling his own territory and that helps somewhat

And well. Jason regrets what went down during that mess after Bruce died. Was kinda shitty of him to repay Tim letting him out of jail by stabbing him in the chest and all. He’s a big awkward goober dealing with some guilt now that he’s more settled, so he has trouble figuring out how he should approach Tim and let him know that Jason is aware that he’s holing up in Crime Alley

He’s gotta do something eventually, right? Ah well. Can’t hurt to just. Watch him, every now and then. See him through the windows being a goofy new cat dad and a disaster of a teenage vigilante

(Jason, honey, things really have come full circle)

Eventually things get set in motion. LoS assassins attack Tim’s apartment, Arwen runs away bc scared kitty, Jason jumps in to help fight the assassins and then they go track down the poor baby. And some bonding and pining bc Jason is developing such a crush and also hot damn Tim fighting and winning is a sight to see

Tim is understandably wary about Jason but willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when he’s being helpful and even offering to assist him in finding Arwen. She’s due to give birth soon!

(It’s been about a month now and she was already about midway through when Tim first found her. Domestic cats are pregnant around 57-65 days, so around two months)

They end up running around asking the ladies of the night and various others if they’ve seen a pregnant long-haired tabby cat. Eventually they go back to Tim’s apartment as dawn is breaking, only to find Arwen is on his fire escape again and in labor

They get her inside, clean up, and Tim sets her down in his bathtub, petting her soothingly and fussing over her. Jason is still helping out and he just goes with it, gratefully accepting a can of Zesti and medical supplies

I foster cats irl so I know how this tends to go pretty well. Within an hour of labor starting Arwen will finish pushing out kitten #1 and each of the rest will come around 15-20 minutes apart. She’ll clean them up and eat the placentas, which is gross but perfectly healthy, and soon enough they’ll be nursing from her while she purrs and rests

Tim looked into it and well. He’s been around human deliveries before and this was honestly so much quicker that it was a relief

(He was there when Steph gave birth and has likely helped deliver babies as Robin bc pregnant women can and will go into labor when shocked, like being held hostage or getting hurt in an accident)

He sits back with a sigh and pays his full attention to Jason now. He hasn’t been fully ignoring him persay, still keeping an eye and an ear on him just in case, but he’s been. Surprisingly nice and nothing but helpful, Tim isn’t sure what to think of it. Jason’s staring at the kittens but turns to look at Tim when he notices that the younger vigilante is assessing him

There’s a long moment of increasingly awkward silence as they stare at each other while the newborn kittens are mewling and Arwen’s drifting off to sleep. Jason is the one that finally breaks the tension, rubbing the back of his neck and looking back at the kitties.

“So. Pretty cute cats you got here”

Jay immediately cringes inside because yeah, it’s true that the cats are cute as heck, but c’mon Todd address the scenario

Here’s inky’s contributions:

"yeah real cute when they're covered in blood and placenta" tim retorts and then wants to smack himself.

"it's ok. they're still adorable through the bodily fluids," jason's smile is so fond when he looks down at the kittens tucked tight into the curve of arwen's body that tim thinks he must be dreaming

he's never seen jason with an expression even close to fond or happy since he came back. jason is stroking arwen's tail with just the tip of a finger, smoothing down the crooked fur.

(Back to me again)

He hasn’t seen him look so happy since he was. Since he was Robin, and Tim was just a fanboy with a camera

(Inky)

"you like cats?" the question breaks jason out of his reverie.

"they were just always around. alley cats are cranky fucks, but city strays are never that afraid of humans. they'd come around and beg for scraps until someone chased them off."

tim hummed, scritching arwen between the ears. "you were pretty good with her just now."

there was a tiny flush on jason's cheeks. "might have invited one in for a few days when no one was home. chased her off before she could get too attached."

(Me)

“I always wanted a cat, but my parents hated them and Alfred said no. I found Arwen on my fire escape hiding from a stray dog and I just had to take her inside”

Eventually Tim offers Jason a cup of tea and Jason asks about the cats more. Arwen’s name comes up and leads into a talk about Lord of the Rings, bc they both read the series and loved it. And a debate comes up over something they saw differently but it’s still friendly

Maybe Tim liked the movies’ take better than Jason did and they argue the merits vs flaws of the adaption. But they both agree that the Hobbit movies are way less faithful to the book

By the time they’re done with the tea and their conversation the sun is up and Jason ducks out to go home, feeling butterflies in his stomach at the memory of Tim smiling and laughing at him. Tim is reminded why he used to have a crush, but still very watchful bc he thought things were getting better before BftC happened

He goes to sleep and wakes up to Arwen balefully glaring at him bc her breakfast is late

Tim got injured during the LoS fight and aggravated it while looking for his poor kitty, so in the end he’s not really up for patrol that night. He stays in his apartment and alternates between looking over case files on his laptop and checking on Arwen and her babies. He lets Oracle know he’s off rotation for the night and to let Cass patrol his territory bc she’s visiting, and settles in to do some hacking to find out why Ra’s sent the assassins last night and talking with Lonnie about Unternet developments

He’s in the middle of hacking a phone’s datastream to find footage taken by a teenager that noticed skulking shadows outside the windows when there’s a knock on his window, and he checks his security system expecting one of the Bats to have gotten past his sensors. It’s Jason out on the fire escape with a couple of bags in hand. Tim is confused, but decides to roll with it again. He’s just hoping that the duffle isn’t full of heads

Turns out Jason went looking and found the League’s newest base in Gotham, liberating some paper files, a couple choice weapons, several USB drives, and a laptop that had belonged to the squad leader. He offers to let Tim work with him on this because he wants “those sycophantic assassins out of my territory dammit” and obviously Tim’s involved anyway

They both check on the kittens every now and then. They’re still too little to be doing much but nursing, sleeping, and crying, but god are they precious. And Arwen is a tired but proud mama cat

Now let’s see...Arwen’s a long-haired brown tabby with green eyes (not at all based on my baby Zelda, of course *shhh*). The kittens will be named after the Hobbits—Frodo the black kitten with big blue eyes, Sam the ginger tabby, Merry is white with golden patches, and Pippin is the tiny little tabby runt that mewls loudest

At one point Jason picks them all up and makes a joke while carrying the four of them that they're taking the hobbits to Isengard. It makes Tim snort and then wince bc the injury that kept him in was to his ribs

Tim gets sick. Not like immediately but a couple days to a week or two in, and Jason ends up playing rough but sweet nurse while Tim tries to hide that he’s ill from the Bats. Maybe the ribs issue leads to him getting a cold that nearly turns nasty bc no spleen plus two incidents of death plague and numerous other things mean his immune system’s wonky

Tim’s a stubborn little shit who won’t stay in bed unless Jason picks up Arwen and the babies to put them on the bed with him. He’s not cruel enough to move the babies when they’re sleeping on him, is he? But he can still glare at Jason

Jason might sneak a few pictures. For blackmail, he tells himself. Sure Jason, we believe you. It’s certainly not because it’s adorable and makes you get the warm fuzzies

It feels significantly less adorable when Tim pukes in the trash can and drips snot everywhere but the bedhead and flushed face and some semi-coherent feverish babbling about Star Trek and ornithology helps

Jason remembers Alfred’s cooking lessons and puts them to use, Tim lets out an obscene moan when he starts eating the soup that makes Jason choke on his own spit like a dork

“Did you get this from Alfred? It tastes just like his!”

“Yeah, he taught me how to cook, before...y’know.” Jason is very proud of himself for remembering it correctly, if a bit sad that he hasn’t spoken to Alfred since before he died

“Oh.” Tim blinks owlishly at him, unsure how to respond. “Well. You did a way better job than I would have.”

Arwen chooses that moment to demand attention, meowing stridently and rubbing her face against his hand until he goes along with it and scratches lightly under her chin

———

And that’s all, folks. Will eventually turn this into a proper fic and give it an ending, but I hope y’all enjoy it as is for the moment

[pika-ace]

Foster Dog Hamilton AU-Headcanons part 1

*Warning, this is a long post. I may send in more as I think of them but they’ll be combined like this*

Burr is one of those dogs that sits right outside if someone goes into a door and shuts it. Even if they aren’t really doing anything he can’t help but be curious. As he regains some confidence he gives out the softest whine because he wants in. Jefferson and Madison will take turns grooming each other every afternoon. One will groom while the other talks and then they switch. Laurens used to be named Jack so he’ll still respond to that name if it’s said. Burr’s old name was Shadow. Hercules is the biggest teddy bear( he’ll mess up anyone who tries to hurt those he loves however) Though they all love food, Hercules will beg for it,though he pretends that he wasn’t looking if the humans catch him. He also drools around food. Lafayette will respond to commands in both English and French. Burr was the first dog Hamilton met in the Washingtons’ home because he’s the most calm. The Washingtons try to get a group picture of all the animals every Christmas, even the ones who are there only temporarily at the time. It’s a bit of a struggle to get them all to stay still and look at the camera, especially Hamilton and Jefferson. The Washingtons also like to dress some of the dogs up for Halloween. The cats always hide when the costumes come out. They don’t want to be any part of it. Some of Hamilton’s insults for Jefferson include “Fancy Feast” and “Dust Bunny”. Jefferson responds with “Fleabag” and “Street Mutt” As said before, Eliza and Peggy are voluntary therapy dogs. Angelica goes hunting with Mr. Schuyler, retrieving whatever he shoots down. Hamilton is persistent in trying to get Burr to have some fun with him and the others. So far,he’s the only one to succeed, though Burr is always reluctant to go along with it. Jefferson and Madison get along fine with Burr because he’s the quietest and calmest. They get annoyed by the other dogs but they tolerate them, though Hamilton and Jefferson get on each others’ nerves all the time. Madison is actually a little more friendly towards the dogs, Jefferson just insists cats are superior. Jefferson is scared of Angelica and gets to higher ground when she and her sisters visit. Jefferson and Madison became very close after Madison came in, Jefferson even shares his bed with him even though they have their own beds. Though the animals are allowed on the furniture and the cats have their own cat castle, Martha keeps having to take Jefferson off the table and counter. He was allowed to do that before and still doesn’t get why he can’t do it now. He also likes to be tall. Hamilton has an easier time becoming comfortable with the other animals rather than the Washingtons. He warms up to Martha first, then George,though once he warms up to George he becomes extremely loyal to him, as Lafayette is. They show plenty of affection Martha still. Jefferson, Madison, and Burr prefer Martha out of the two Washingtons. Jefferson will still hop on George’s lap to annoy Hamilton however. Hercules and John have equal affection for them. Even after Hamilton becomes domesticated when he encounters other men if they move too suddenly towards him his first reaction for a long time is to growl. He’s fine with women and children however. Burr doesn’t see the fun in long distance fetching, when he gets confident enough to play he likes gentle wrestling and chewing on toys. Lafayette and Laurens love fetching however. Hercules prefers tug of war and George taught Hamilton to run in an agility course. Laurens has to be watched closely while at a park because he still has a tendency to wander looking for a scent. Burr is the best at following commands,but the Washingtons had to teach him not to be scared automatically after being given a command. When the Washingtons officially adopt a dog,they take them to a pet store to pick out their very own toy.(There’s plenty for the fosters,but the adopted animals get to have a toy in their bed.) -Lafayette picked a baguette plush -Laurens picked a turtle plush -Hercules picked a horse plush -Burr picked a coconut plush -Hamilton picked a lion plush Madison isn’t one for playing other then batting at the odd feather toy but Jefferson has a raggedy catnip mouse that he loves. He calls it Sally. Jefferson is one of those cats that knocks things off of tables when he gets up there. He also twangs those door stopper things. Hamilton and Eliza fall in love but have to settle for seeing each other when their owners meet up He gets along great with Peggy and Angelica also,though Angelica tried to take a bite of him. Eliza doesn’t get angry easily but she can be scary when she does. Despite his size, Hercules can be very quiet, he’s startled George a couple of times when he realized that Hercules came into the room without him hearing it George will take all the dogs to a dog park every week. Mr. Schuyler will also bring the girls the same day. Jefferson will follow Martha around and meow until she gives Madison his medication in the morning. Jefferson stuck up his nose at practically every food the Washingtons tried to feed him. It took forever to find one that he would eat that wasn’t super expensive. George will often bring Lafayette and then later Hamilton out on runs with him, because he knows they won’t suddenly run off when they aren’t leashed. Madison is one of those cats who sits like a human sometimes. Laurens tends to howl when he’s excited. All of the animals hate George King and Charles Lee,who sometimes pop over because they work in politics also and need to speak with George in his office at the house. Laurens especially hates Lee. The two men don’t really like animals. At some point Burr starts sneaking out the dog door at dawn. When Laurens follows him one morning he sees Burr walking with a pretty female dog along the fence. She’s being walked by an elderly man, looks like they know each other pretty well. He must walk her by the property every morning. Laurens files this away to tease Burr with later.