Adoption.

A/N: Hey guys! Been a little while, huh? Well, all my exams are finally over, and I have 1 day of school left before I'm free from the shackles of incarceration for a full 2 months. Life is good ^^ I've been mulling over a few ideas through these last few weeks, but I really haven't had time to do anything but eat, sleep, and study XD I thought of this one while staring at my amazingly retarded dog, Quirrel. (Ily!~)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story... Well.. I guess I own Percy... XP

"Hey... Can we talk?"

Jonathan froze, turning slowly.

"Talk?" He echoed, tilting his head slightly. Jervis nodded lightly.

"Yes." He gestured towards the kitchen, "Shall we?"

Hesitantly, Jonathan strode over to the kitchen table and sat down, a twinge of curiosity present in his posture as he leaned forward over the polished wood.

"What's this about, Tetch?" he asked slowly, his fingertips gently tapping against the surface of the table. Jervis offered a crooked half smile in response and looked around the open area of their kitchen/living room.

"This house..." He said quietly, almost casually, "Its quiet, isn't it?"

Raising an eyebrow, Jonathan nodded slowly.

"Er... Yes... Yes it is." He leaned back in his chair. "What are you getting at?"

Jervis shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Oh, nothing much... It's just... Isn't it sometimes too quiet?"

"No. The silence is fine. If you don't tell me why we're sitting here in the next three seconds, I'm getting up and I'm leaving." Jonathan replied irritably. Jervis sighed gently.

"I think that we should adopt..." He said, his tone barely above a whisper as he hung his head, a blush evident on his face.

Jonathan hardly heard what the other male had said, but he caught the last word.

"Adopt?" He cried, running a hand through his hair. "Are you truly mad?" Jervis raised his hand feebly, about to say something when he was interrupted again.

"We could never adopt a child! Do we look like good parents?" He made a gesture between him and the shorter male across from him. Jervis once again tried to raise his voice, only to be shot down. "We would take one step into the center, and they would call the police, regardless of whether or not they knew about our previous lives!"

"Jonathan, just listen-"

"And besides! Do you know how hard it would be to raise a child in this city? Let alone with our occupations? It's a tad hard for a child to adapt when one or even both of their... Er... Parents... are in an institution for months at a time!"

"Jonathan..."

Jervis' gentle tone briefly stopped the other man.

"What?"

"I was talking about getting a dog."

The silence in the kitchen was so dense it was practically tangible.

"A dog? Not... A child?" Jervis shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Not at all. But..." he paused, grinning. "Since you seem so interested, we could always look into that too..."

"If I must choose, we're getting a dog."

Jervis sighed, but the smile stayed on his mouth.

"Can we go today?"

The pet store was almost empty, and mercifully quiet. The two men looked around, one more interested than the other.

"Can we please just find one and leave?" Jonathan grumbled, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Patience, love, these things take time." Jervis replied, scanning his eyes over the dozens of breeds in glass cases before the two of them. Nothing seemed too interesting, until his eyes fell upon a small ball of what appeared to be nothing but fat wrapped in black fur. He asked an employee to bring the thing out for closer inspection, and what he saw practically made his heart melt.

The thing the girl held in her hands fit perfectly between her cupped palms, and seemed to curl up in an impossibly tight ball. It lifted its head and blinked its eyes lazily, and large brown eyes found Jervis' instantly. The thing yawned and squeaked, its long pink tongue lolling out to one side, before curling up back into its mouth. The employee, noticing Jervis' expression, handed the small animal over. The thing wagged its tiny tail, and Jervis noticed that it was curled like a pigs. Hugging the dog close to his chest, he tapped Jonathan on the shoulder. He looked down at the thing Jervis was holding out to him and frowned.

"Isn't he just adorable?" Jervis said, barely contained glee bubbling out from his words. Jonathan paused.

"He looks like someone hit him in the face with a shovel." He replied simply, poking the things stomach. "And its fat."

Jervis frowned and cradled the thing gently, gazing at his face lovingly. "Well I think it makes him cute." He said, ruffling the dogs fur lightly. The thing responded by wriggling up and licking his face. Jervis laughed quietly and looked up at Jonathan nervously.

"So..." He said, smiling. "Can we get him?"

After a small pause, Jonathan sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Fine."

"So what exactly is it?" Jonathan finally asked as Jervis placed the dog on the floor of their living room.

"I think they said it was a pug." He called from the kitchen, having followed the dog there.

"Well what do we call it?" He called back, walking into the kitchen. Jervis, who was seated on the floor, shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure, what do you want to name it?"

Jonathan crouched down and picked the dog up, staring at its face blandly. "Well... His fur is black.. Why don't we call him 'midnight' or 'nightmare'? Something scary..." Jervis nearly fell over himself laughing.

"Nightmare? Are you serious? Jonathan, look at that dogs face and honestly tell me that we could name it something scary." He paused for a moment. "I think we should name him Percy."

"Percy?" Jonathan repeated, his eyes darting from the dog to the man on the floor. "That's not even remotely scary..."

"But you must admit, it suites him."

Jonathan put the dog down on the floor, where it awkwardly scampered off into a vacant bedroom. He sighed.

"We'll keep him for now.. But if he so much as thinks about chewing on my costume, or my toxin canisters for that matter, I swear that he won't last long here."

Jervis smiled and stood up, patting Jonathan's arm gently.

"Well if you're so worried about all that, we could always just adopt a child..."

Pushing Jervis' hand away, Jonathan scowled.

"I don't even want to joke about that."

"Oh hush, I think you'd make a frabjous father." Jervis said, looking around. "Where did Percy go?" Jonathan blinked and tried to plot a mental map of their house.

"I think he went into our room."

"Oh! That reminds me!" Jervis cried, grinning. "Percy is sleeping with us from now on, okay?" Before Jonathan could protest, Jervis had already gone off in pursuit of their new pet.

Slumping his shoulders, Jonathan sighed loudly.

Just wait until Scarecrow hears about this...

A/N: Well, it's not very late, but I'm both mentally and physically exhausted from this whole week, so I'm done for the night. I'll most likely write more with these three, because I have a lot of ideas for this. In case any of you are wondering, I actually have a pug, and he's my baby, I love him to death. We have called him 'shovel face' before, because in all honesty, he really does look like someone went upside his head with a flat, blunt object XD Reviews are still wanted and needed, as always ^^