Tetris laughed.

"Yeah, sure. What, do you own a hotel?" he remarked. The Riolu looked Xavier straight in the eye; when it was clear the fox was serious, the smile faded.

He cleared his throat and gestured for a moment to confer with his friend. "Shit, I think he's serious," he whispered. "How can he get us under a roof? He doesn't look any older than I am."

"If he is serious, we'd be wise to at least hear him out," Kievr scolded. "It may not be a good option, but I'll be damned to dismiss an honest person giving us a free miracle."

Tetris rolled his eyes, nodded in agreement, and turned back to Xavier. "Alright, look," he started, "how old are you, anyway?"

The Zoroark straightened up. The cringing shame from Tetris laughing at his suggestion faded. "I-I'll be 17 next month," he confessed. "I don't have much, personally, but-"

"Good grief," Tetris interrupted, paw pinching the bridge of his muzzle. "Ok. Almost 17. How can you get us shelter? For free, it seems?"

"My family's got a spare bedroom!" Xavier blurted. He stopped, embarrassed by his volume, then went on. "I-I can talk to my parents and maybe let you stay for a few days. You know, until you get on your feet."

Kievr leaned out to speak this time. "It doesn't sound like you've taken much time to think this through. I do appreciate your sincere efforts to help, but you don't know us. Why help?"

Xavier scratched his cheek and looked down at his idly-tapping toes. "...I just. Feel like I should?" he said, almost uncertain if that was the answer he was looking for. "From how you guys look, I'd guess you just arrived in Paradicio. I-It's a big city, with a lot of mean streaks if you end up in the wrong place. I guess I just wanted to try and do some good for a change, like my father tells me to do..."

The Zoroark shook his head. "You know what, nevermind. Forget I said anything. You never saw me."

As the fox turned to leave, Tetris and Kievr locked eyes. They exchanged nods, and Tetris hopped off the bench. "We'll take it."

Xavier whirled back, stunned. "W-What? Really?"

"With how you talk, I don't think you're pulling a fast one," Tetris stated. "Trust me, I'd know. If you can really get us a place to stay, we'd be more than grateful. We're desperate, really."

"Not that desperate," Kievr added with indignity, "but we are in need. We can promise not to cause trouble."

Xavier's eyes lit up, happy and proud of himself. "Okay, okay! Follow me! I live a few blocks down, come on!"

A two-story townhouse awaited them. Red bricks, faded by the sun, with white shutters on tall windows. On the door was a wooden nameplate on a nail that read "The Chancell House''.

Tetris and Kievr stood back on the steps while Xavier gave the cedar door a knock. A shuffling later, and the door swung open to reveal a heavy-set Emboar.

"Welcome home, son!" he boomed with a huge grin. "You get those potatoes I asked for?"

Xavier shook his head. "Sorry, Dad. Mrs. Winds said her stores got flooded from all the rain last week. Most of her stock spoiled."

"Bah, that's unfortunate," the Emboar said. "Hope that gal gets her ship righted soon. Come on in."

Xavier waved for Tetris and Kievr to follow him inside, and were greeted by the living room immediately. A large red rug sat under the coffee table and was surrounded by one three-seat sofa and a recliner. Photos of various people, likely family, hung up on the wall that housed the staircase leading to the second floor. It was a very cozy room, all things given; the only thing missing was a fire going in the fireplace.

"Oh," said the Emboar, "I didn't realize you brought visitors." He looked at Xavier. "You know how I feel about unannounced guests, kiddo."

"S-Sorry, Dad!" the Zoroark said, shrinking in his space. "It wasn't really planned until ten minutes ago."

"I understand that, but rules are rules," the firepig said. "It's hard to prepare the house when I don't know when folks are gonna be arriving. It's especially hard when you bring two strangers with you."

Xavier looked to the ground in shame and mumbled an apology. The Emboar gave him a forgiving pat on the head. "I forgive you, boy. Don't worry about it too much," he said. "Just remember to ask next time, will ya?"

Tetris stepped forward. "I'm Tobias Reyes," the Riolu said, "and this is my best friend Kievr Ryough. Most people just call me Tetris, though."

"That's a helluva name," the Emboar commented. "Where'd ya get it?"

Tetris realized this was a question he couldn't properly answer. He scratched his head in thought, and in giving up turned to Kievr. "Do you remember why? Cause I can't, for the life of me."

Kievr shook his head. "I don't recall, either. Strange. I've called you Tetris for almost eight years, it has to be important somehow, yes?"

Everyone in the room shrugged. "Eh, guess it don't matter much right now. I'm not terribly pleased," said the Emboar, "but since we're passing out introductions, I'm Elias Chancell. You've obviously met my son, Xavier- how did you meet him, anyhow?"

Kievr stepped forward and filled him in on the offer Xavier had extended to them back at city hall.

"We shouldn't be more than a week, sir," he added at the end. "Only so long as we need."

Elias rubbed a hand under his chin. He grumbled something, then in a louder tone said, "I'd have to consult my husband on that one. I am not happy I wasn't told any of this beforehand-"

"Like I said, i-it wasn't planned," Xavier defended himself.

His dad waved him down. "I get that, Xavier. I do. But as far as I'm concerned, this is gonna affect all of us in this house. The least I need to do is get everyone's opinions." He turned and called up the stairs, "Hey, babe? Could you come down here for a minute?"

The thudding of footfalls signalled the arrival of a Samurott down the stairwell. His steps were careful and elegant, like a dancer on stage. "Yes, dear- ah. I thought I heard unfamiliar voices in this house. I believe I am owed an explanation."

Elias took the moment to relay all that had happened to the water-type. "Basically," he finished, "we're looking at some charity work without extra help. What do you think, Samuel?"

Samuel went into a state of deep thought, his expression matching the mood. After a while he and said, "I would like to help, but I'm not sure if we have the resources to bear." To the pair, he asked, "What is your situation with employment?"

"We'll be looking for work as soon as we can," Kievr said. He was confident that it wouldn't be terribly hard to find even an entry-level position somewhere. Minimal pay, perhaps, but still work nonetheless. "Once we've gained some financial security, we'll be on our own."

"That's not a guarantee you'll have work," Samuel sighed aloud. "I'm frankly disappointed that Xavier clearly hadn't bothered to ask you anything about your situation."

"B-But they looked like they needed help!" The Zoroark argued.

"You can't blindly throw yourself at a situation and hope that good faith will make it better, son," Samuel asserted. "I raised you to be better than that. A calculated plan of approach would have made this situation a lot easier to discuss."

Xavier shrunk away, again shamed.

"Well, we're not asking them to pay rent, Sam," Elias argued. "I'd say so long as they don't make a mess or destroy anything, they might be okay to take the spare room."

"That's not my point, Elias. I have no reason to doubt they're decent people, but we're not in a position to do this." Samuel made his retort with a sharp bite to it. "We just moved into this house last year, and if the landlord finds out we're hosting the homeless-"

"You don't have to rub it in," Tetris said with an eye roll.

"What I'm saying is that keeping you two here for even a day will cost us food and potentially put us in hot water." Samuel's tone was fierce and unwavering. "I am not putting my family on the line for two kids who, for all I know, are just runaways."

"Excuse you, asshole, I'm 20," Tetris spat. "And we are not runaways. We came here to Paradicio to get out of Sasbara and-"

"Stop." Kievr smacked a paw into his friend's chest. "You are not improving our outlook by being pedantic."

"He's the one being an uptight prick!" Tetris half-whispered. "I'm trying to-"

"Will you be quiet for one minute and listen?!" Kievr barked. "I am not letting you ruin this with your incessant need to run your mouth!"

Tetris huffed, turned, and pouted with his back to the Quilava. Kievr, in turn, sighed and looked back to the Chancells. "Sorry. My friend is fairly short-tempered."

"No trouble, hm?" Samuel questioned. "I'm starting to not believe you."

Kievr sighed. The chance was probably gone now. "I'd very much like to prove your doubts wrong. Give us three days, then, at most."

Samuel shook his head. "No. Now, you have ten seconds to get out of my house before I inform the police-"

Xavier cut in with a loud, "Why can't we just be good people and do a good thing?"

Everyone turned to stare at the Zoroark. Elias spoke, "What are you getting at, kiddo?"

"You've always told me to be kind," Xavier feverishly argued, "and that helping others live their best lives helps me be a better person, too. Both of you taught me that." He pointed at the Riolu and Quilava by him. "I want to be a good person by helping them! If we can't do that… if it's not the right thing, then at least we're doing a good thing!"

The room went silent for a long minute. Nobody was keen on answering the implications of Xavier's statement.

Samuel broke the mood first. "Give us a moment," he said, pulling Elias around so they could talk in secret.

"Damn, he really got us there," Elias muttered. "Good play."

"He's right, unfortunately," Samuel replied, also in a hushed tone. "What kind of role models would we be if we were to go back on our raising of him?"

"Kid's smart, using our words against us. Gotta hand it to him."

"So what do we do?"

"I think you already know my answer, hon."

"...right."

The fathers turned around back towards the younger ones. Samuel said with a sigh, "Alright. Fine. We'll give you two nights, and two nights only. I expect you to use the daytime to search for employment and other shelter. Is that clear?"

Kievr nodded. "Absolutely, thank you."

Xavier cheered, excited and incredibly relieved his speech had moved them. "You won't be sorry, father!"

"I best not. Now, if you'll excuse me." Samuel headed to the stairs, gesturing on the way for Elias to come with him. The Emboar gave his husband a nod, then turned to Tetris and Kievr, and said with a smile, "Well, seems like this worked out in your favor. Might wanna consider yourselves lucky; I don't think most other folks would give you a chance like this. Just don't break anything, please?" He left for the upstairs.

The Zoroark took his new temporary housemates into a hug. "Oh man, I'm so glad that worked out."

"As am I," Kievr replied. His posture had slumped under the weight of potentially getting turned away. "Thank the gods for our coincidental meeting. And thank you for stepping up."

"Y-You're welcome, ehehe." Xavier blushed in some pride. "Oh- and thank you for not freaking out about the fact I have two dads."

Tetris and Kievr asked in unison, "Why would we?"

"I-I'm adopted, if that wasn't clear," the Zoroark confessed. "Some people get really upset when they figure that out and realize my parents aren't, um, straight. Dad and Father, they've been through a lot of tough times because of who they are. Because of me, too. So, thanks.

"Anyways, the room's on the ground floor. This way."

Out of the living room, through the kitchen and past the bathroom the three went. Xavier pointed out small details about the house as they traveled. Kievr listened intently, but Tetris had pulled back into a half-daydream. Getting even temporary housing was a damn miracle, but a gut feeling told him this could go wrong. If the Riolu was even remotely lucky, they could stay the three days and be gone without any trouble. Trouble, though, followed him. And he could feel that trouble was coming for him sooner rather than later.

The bedroom was tucked away at the back end of the house. Tetris and Kievr could tell it was the spare room, because all that was in it was a full-size mattress and a floor lamp next to it. The walls were a boring beige and the carpet a similarly drab shade of grey.

Tetris shrugged as he entered. "Hey, at least we don't have to sleep on the floor. Or the couch," he commented. "We can do three days in here."

"You say that as if we're prisoners," Kievr replied in an uptight tone. "A room's a room. Thank you again, Xavier."

Xavier bowed at a shallow angle. "You're welcome." He paused. "I should get going. I've got paperwork to get to my mentor."

The Zoroark turned to exit, but a lightbulb went off in his head at the same moment. He spun back on his heels and asked, "Hey, why don't you come with me? Maybe you could talk to him. He might have a job or two for you to do. M-Maybe."

"I may as well. Paid work is the priority now," Kievr answered. "Will you come with us, Tetris?"

The Riolu shrugged. "I was thinking of hitting the market. Maybe someone needs an errand boy. I'm fast enough."

Kievr wanted to say that such a job wasn't likely to happen, but Tetris probably wouldn't have cared anyway. Instead he said, "Alright then. We'll return here in about three hours. We can discuss what we've found at that point and see how our new life is starting to line up."

All three exchanged nods. Back out the front door they went, off into the streets. Xavier and Kievr headed east, where Xavier claimed his mentor's workplace was. Tetris took a turn southwest, back toward the town square and hopefully close the business district.

The two hoped that there was something waiting for them at the end of the path.