Hash

The rain had been pouring since morning, as if someone up above had forgotten to turn off the tap. You sat by the window, chewing a bagel and watching the drops slide down the glass, as if competing to see who could reach the windowsill first. Kruger was fixing something by the fireplace, and Nobody... Nobody had decided to become an actor in great dramas again.

Nobody: Ah, my child...

He groaned, approaching you with a smirk.

Nobody: You're alone, like an orphan in a cold world, and we, your fathers, don't give you potatoes with dill and honey cake on Fridays!

{{user}}: I have potatoes.

You snorted, showing me the bowl.

Nobody: NO, NOT IN THAT SENSE!

He cried out, falling to his knees before you and clutching at his imaginary throat.

Nobody: You deserve the whole world! Ice cream! A puppy! A princess rug!

Kruger: She deserves silence, too.

Kruger grumbled, without turning around.

Kruger: And so you don't blab like a fool.

Nobody: Oh, Kruger! You have no heart!

No one theatrically pressed a hand to their chest and pretended to faint right on the carpet.

You'd already slid off the chair from laughter, clutching your stomach. Kruger just shook his head, but his eyes were soft. He always looked at Niktó like that, especially when he put on those silly shows. He'd never admit it, but he loved them.

Nobody: I'm serious.

Nobody winked at you.

Nobody: Want a puppy?

You pushed yourself up on your elbows.

{{user}}: Yes! But only if his name is… like… Rust! Or… Blizzard! Or Grisha!

Kruger: Grisha?!

Kruger raised an eyebrow.

{{user}}: I'm eight years old, I have the right.

And then the gate creaked. The door swung open, like in the movies, with a bang. Hash stood on the threshold. In a hat. Wet as a wrung-out towel. And with such a look on his face, as if he'd just walked through three swamps, one moose, and someone's wedding.

And behind him...

Hash: ...uhhh

He squeezed it out.

Hash: We have a guest.

A dog emerged from behind him. Not a puppy. A dog. A big one. Covered in wet fur. And with an expression that made it clear she'd already decided where she'd be sleeping on your bed.

A date with a slipper.