PotH: Revolution (NSFW)

"Not really." Sunny walked over and scratched him behind the ears, grinning. "Looking forward to the tour?"

*

Aurora pounced on the echidna again, this time hugging her to keep her on her feet. "Hi! Did you ask him yet?"

Zavier grinned. "Hell yeah. It's gonna be awesome. Then, we're gonna own the Battle of the Bands. Right, Dawn?"

The collie smiled, nodded. "Yeah. We'll do our best."

Briggs noticed something draped around Dawn's neck: a necklace that wasn't there last time he checked. A simple silver chain with a sapphire teardrop that matched her eyes.

Zavier smirked. "Uh, Dad, aren't you taken?"

"Yeah, I am. Your point?"

*

Shine blinked. "Oh! Uh, not yet. He's kinda elusive. And I was kinda hungry."

Sunny grinned, wagging her tail. She'd seen the necklace as well. "Jesus, Briggs, why the hell don't you get me shiny shit like that?"

*

"Pleasepleaseplease ask soon?!"

"Why? So you can scrutinize and refine it the way you want it?" He turned back to his son. "Still, nice piece of work. Must've cost an arm." He gave him a look that said, "You owe me."

"No, just some old amps," Dawn defended, marveling at it herself. "Zavier got it just in time for graduation. He felt bad because it was meant for my birthday."

"Yeah. Even with the money from the amps, I was way off. Took me a while to make the difference. If you want, I'll drop a line to Sol for you."

"Nah, I got this. 'Sides, Yue's better with that kinda stuff."

Zavier blinked. "...Say wha?"

*

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Just let me find him!" She pried herself away.

"Seriously, what?"

*

"Yay!" She bounced off happily. "Let me know what he says!"

"Oh, yeah. Yue does all kinds of epic craftin'. Where do you think your lucky pick came from?"

Zavier pulled out his guitar pick: it was given to him along with his first guitar, back when The Hunt was a bunch of middle-school kids. It was unique as it was made out of purple amethyst. All the same, it was light, and felt perfect in his grip. He only used on a select number of occasions though.

"See that little crescent symbol on the back?" He flipped it over, and there it was. "That's her trademark. Good thing she owed me a favor; that wouldn't have been cheap."

Dawn stared at it as well. "Wow. I never new Yue was so good at that kind of stuff."

*

"All right!" Waving, she walked off in the opposite direction for a ways... "There you are!" Shine strode up to him, smiling.

"Shit. Takes after her dad, obviously." Grinning, Sunny scratched her son behind the ears. "Onto the next question, Dawn, you a closet freak?"

*

He looked over, smiled slightly. "Searching for me?"

Dawn blushed brightly. "What!? What are you talking about!?"

"This is serious," Briggs said. "Other than us, you, of all people, should know how wild Zavier could be. Unless you're ready, he might overwhelm you."

"Hey, hold up!" Zavier cut in. "Ya'll sound like you don't trust me to show some restraint!"

"You forget who your parents are?"

"...Good point."

*

She nodded. "So, what's your plans for the summer? Everyone's going on tour with the band."

Sunny snickered. "So you think on that, Dawn. We'll see you two later. Heard there was a bet on how soon me and Briggs'd leave. I'm tired of Cross winnin'."

*

He frowned. "I'm aware of that... I haven't given much thoughts to my plans."

Zavier cleared his throat. "Uh, you guys forgettin' who the local bookie is?"

Dawn gazed at him. "Zavier! You didn't!"

"You forgettin' who my parents are?"

Briggs raised an eyebrow. "...Touche."

*

"Why don't you tag along with us? It's a great chance to see the sights. Observational experience, research, and all that good stuff."

She grinned, snickering. "Way to go."

*

"Observational experience...? Of insane teenagers and young adults screaming and fawning over everyone? Why in the world would I want to participate in that?" More importantly, why was she asking him to come along? Did she want him to be there...?

The dog pulled out a grid book from his bag, opened it to a page. "We got six squares, one for each hour and one for going all the way; four bets max on each; one bet per square per person. Whoever wins gets the total pot. If you wanna know, Cross put a grand on four, and Nova put two on three."

*

"Don't you know? Tour roads are a cesspool for some heavy crimes-armed robbery, kidnapping, prostitution-all kinds of stuff. I'm sure a guy like you could take note of things like that."

Akira glanced over at Armadre, "Hey, what's this tour thing that everyone's going on about?"

Sunny nodded. "Three and a half and they both lose, yeah?"

*

He lifted a brow. She was trying to make a case for it... "My sister and friends are in a music group, calling themselves The Hunt. They are leaving in a week's time on a summer tour." He turned his attention back to Shine, rather curious. "I suppose I could, but why would you ask me to come along? I'm sure everyone else already is."

"Nope. Three-and-a-half falls under three. No middle ground. Sorry guys, but if you wanna win, you'll have to last five hours, or go the whole six, since no one's bet on those. Or, you could split with Cross and Shine. Four's the only other square that's still open."

*

Shine sighed. No use beating around the bush. "Okay, Aurora wants at least one of her brothers to tag along, and by the sound of it, Dart's probably gonna back out. And... it'd be nice to have a little company other than the groupies."

"Mm... What d'you say, Briggs?"

*

So she was asking for his sister... He barely resisted the urge to sigh. It was beginning to grate on his nerves. He tried hinting that he was attracted to her, but perhaps he was being too subtle?

But what else could he do? Kissing her seemed to be an out of place thing to do... And should she reject him, he would feel even more like a fool. He saw little choice but to continue upon the path he was traveling.

"I see," was all he said.

Wow, right over his head. She smirked, "Hey, mind if I tag along on the tour? I promise I won't blow anything important up..."

"You would have to ask the actual members," Armande murmured.

Briggs took it in. It was tempting to just split the pot with the other two, and break out. Especially since all that talk about Dawn being a closet freak got him pretty horny. Of course, depending on the size of the pot... "How big's the pot?"

"Well, with such big betters in the house, it's pretty big: $8850."

Briggs whistled. "If we split that four ways, we could come out on top with like five grand. How 'bout it, Sunny?"

*

"C'mon, Armande!" Shine said desperately. "You know I don't mix well with the groupie crowd! I need someone to hang with for real! Besides Dad, you're the most down-to-earth person around! Please!"

She grinned. "I can deal with that."

*

He gazed at her for a long moment before nodding slightly. "For you, then."

She smirked, "'Kay, and those people would be...?"

"Okay, then. Put us down for $3075 each."

"You got it. That makes it a fifteen grand total. You guys're gonna make out like bandits, huh?"

"Damn straight. C'mon, Sunny." He wrapped an arm around her, started off.

*

True to her name, the echidna's eyes shined brightly, hugged him. "Oh, thank you so much! You're the best! Oh, and their names are Zavier, Aurora, Sirius, and Dawn," she added for the human.

She went with him, grinning.

*

Armande went still, blinked in surprise. He wanted to tell Shine that she had come to an unfounded, untested conclusion, but... She was hugging him and the words didn't seem to come. His arms, however, wrapped around her and crushed her to him as if by their own will. He certainly hadn't expected to find himself hugging back...

Shine noticed it, too, blushed slightly. Was this really happening? She never really hugged him like this, just say something cool and try to roam off before his Vulcan-style remark can get through. But now, she had hugged him... and he was hugging back! She'd only seen him do that on occasion for people he especially liked, like Aurora or another family member. But he was hugging her now!

He sighed. Stepping back would be wisest at this point, but he didn't want to... She never took it upon herself to hug him and he rarely hugged anyone independently... "Shine," he murmured.