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Dizzy and Dee Dee take the sleepover into the basement, and at first Hunter is a bit disappointed. But then he sees the sheer amount of things to do in the basement- all the old boxes to play around in, all the old chew toys to tug, and so much dirt it makes his fingers ache with the need to digdigdigdig- and he kinda-sorta gets it. They pull together an extra squishy dog bed and he all but collapses into it, chest sparkling and fluttery and all sorts of other things he can't quite describe.
Morning comes too quick for Hunter, but that's mostly because he stays up late scrolling through Tweeter. Sifting through cute cat videos that now left a sour taste in his mouth and multiple news reports of Cruella De Vil's trial proves to take hours, and Hunter never feels tired. Great Aunt Cruella spent a good chunk of her dwindling inheritance on this scheme, and there's a slight chance she won't be able to afford bail this time around.
It's small. Miniscule.
Hunter's not worried about her getting out, or even if she stays. He's mostly worried because he knows- quite well, even, from stories of Jasper and Horace- that once Cruella De Vil sinks her claws into something, that something is hers, and he doesn't doubt her next stop is going to be for him.
"Well," he says, quiet, as he strokes soft puppy fur in the early morning, "I suppose I deserve it, all I've done."
"Kibble drop!" howled a voice he knew well, followed by the ever-so-gentle smashing of a door as it swung open on the stairs.
"Gentle," hissed Dylan. "You're gonna break the wall. Again."
Dizzy and Dee Dee are instantly alert, all but trampling Hunter as they tackle the food bowl. Hunter watches. He'd eaten dog kibble, of course. It could've been better, but he'd survived somehow, and honestly some of the flavors didn't even bother him. But breakfast was for the Dalmatians- not him. He can grab a hotdog on the way home.
Somehow he misses hearing the next set of dogs enter, and suddenly Doug and Delilah have appeared, looking slightly nervous. They exchange a look before Delilah speaks. "Hunter, I know this is sudden, but we have a question to ask. Would you care to listen?"
Hunter glanced at Dolly and Dylan. Neither pup said anything, exchanging a look of their own. Dolly motioned for him to do on. "Uh, sure?"
"Well," she said. "This is... a bit hard for us. We've always just had pups, and they've almost always asked us. Diesel dug his way in one night and never left. Da Vinci painted a heart on her scarf. We paid for the Dimitris' bail-"
"And the name!" Doug added. "We've only had D names before." Hunter stared at him uncomprehendingly, and he winced. "But your name is great too, sport."
Delilah plucked a box out from behind her, pushing it in front of him. "Normally, it's customary to give a collar, but that's not how humans work. So, we tried to find something humans liked. Something almost every human has, and needs."
She pulled the lid off. Nestled between slices of paper was a pair of black and white spotted socks.
Hunter's breath caught in his throat as it finally set in what they were saying. Dizzy and Dee Dee looked unsurprised, the little traitors. Dolly and Dylan nodded along. Doug's smile was all teeth.
"Are you serious?" he asked.
Delilah's tail wagged, just once. "If you'll let us," she replied. "Hunter, will you be part of our family?"
Hunter's mouth opened, then closed. He wrapped his arms around her neck without a word. Doug and Dolly and Dylan joined in, with Dizzy and Dee Dee eagerly wriggling into the middle with squeals of joy. He laughed, wetly, and scratched his new siblings behind the ears.
"Well, I'll be," Dylan said, breaking the moment. "A De Vil in the dog house. Who woulda thunk it?"
Dolly snorted. "You can only say that so many times before the joke gets old, bro."
"Try me."