As usual, he was the first to wake up. Rita would soon follow suite, then Francis and Tito and last would probably be Einstein.

Dodger yawned, about to get up and go through his usual morning routine, before he remembered the orange tabby cat, still snoring besides him. He remained in place for Oliver's sake, not wanting to wake him up.

He lay still for a long while, maintaining the peace in the barge, passing the time by thinking about the previous day and what he had planned on doing in the coming day.

Finding Fagin was one thing. He glanced around the barge, as far as his head in it's current position would allow him to, reaffirming his memory of the night before. It was unusual for Fagin to not return home at the end of a day. Dodger was worried to say the least, but supposed that he might have gotten tired and simply fallen asleep in an alley. As dangerous as something like that might have entailed, Fagin had lived on the streets for ages, he would be just fine.

A flash of brown crossed his eyes. He looked up quickly, making brief eye contact with Rita, who averted her own eyes.

"R-Rita!" He awkwardly stuttered in a whisper, standing up rather quickly in an attempt to catch up with her, "Hold on a minute would ya'?"

She didn't even look back, only walking faster when he started talking.

Dodger sighed. He knew Rita had been acting strangely distant as of late, but this was truly unlike her. It had been ages since she last deviated from her usual personality. He wandered what could have been the exact cause of the things that she had been doing recently.

He turned around and sighed again. The kid was awake. He watched as Oliver restlessly tried to reposition himself, clearly not ready to awaken just yet. Still, he probably wouldn't have been able to fall asleep again and so Dodger gently nudged him with his nose, biding him to wake up.

Soon enough his eyes opened and he stood up, releasing a great yawn in the process and stretching accordingly.

"Rise and shine kid," Dodger grinned, "Can't have ya' sleeping the day away."

Oliver rolled his tired eyes, "You make a great pillow...and a terrible alarm."

"What can I say? It comes with the Savoire Faire."

Oliver shook his head amusingly and hopped out of Dodger's makeshift bed, making his way next to the mutt. "So what are we gonna do today? Look for food, go see the Statue of Liberty, check out... Jenny!" He exclaimed suddenly, remembering just how long it had been since he had last seen his owner.

Dodger had planned ahead though and spoke quickly, "Relax kid. I'll take ya' back home soon enough, there's just one last thing I wanna show ya'."

"One last thing?"

He nodded his head.

"And then you promise that you'll take me back home?"

"Promise." He blatantly lied, all he needed was one last thing, one last chance to convince Oliver and he sure wasn't going to waste it.

"Okay..." Oliver drawled, sounding more than a little unsure of himself, "What is this one thing exactly?"

"Just follow me kid," He was already climbing up the stairs, before the sentence was completely out of his mouth, Oliver scrambled to follow, "Just wait and see, ya' gonna love it."

He hummed his song as he walked, "Why should I worry? Why should I care? I may not have Dime, but I got Street Savoire Faire," It came out considerably easier and with much more energy than from the day before.

He came to a halt, surprising Oliver, who almost slammed into his rear. They had only been walking for a short while, just long enough to have reached the deck where the barge was located and a lower spot along the East River.

"This is the place?" Oliver's head tilted in confusion, obviously having expected something much grander.

"This ain't just any place kid," Dodger put a paw in the water, it felt crisp and cool, "This place right here is what separates tha' rich from tha' poor, tha' champions from tha' bums, tha' upper class and tha' lower class."

Oliver didn't respond, probably out of even more confusion.

"See, contrary to popular belief, I know all about tha' upper class."

"Y-you had owners once?" Oliver asked, eyes bright with curiosity.

"No, but believe me I do know all about it, I know how it must feel to wake up on a comfy bed every day, to have a full stomach all the time... heck it ain't even that hard to imagine all the attention a pet could get."

"So what's your point?"

"Kid, when I found ya' all those months ago, I saw an opportunity at easy food, but after a while l realized that ya' were practically made for the street life."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oliver," He addressed the cat by his actual name, "I want ya' to come back and stay with me and tha' gang for good."

"Wha..." His breath hitched sharply, "What about Jenny? I can't just leave her."

"Sure ya' can kid, she'll be just fine, believe me."

"No..." He looked down, "I-I can't."

"Ya' can't... or ya' won't?"

"Dodger please, I-I'm happy with Jenny."

"No it's fine, I see how it is. You're too good for us now. That's a shame it really is. Ya' know what kid fine, leave us here, leave your gang, your family, see if we care."

With that he stomped off, ignoring the blatant cries of desperation from Oliver.

"Dodger?"

"Yeah brother?"

"What's 'street savoire faire'?"

Dodger looked up attentively, interest in the coming conversation being completely recharged, "Well it's a little tough to put in words, but if ya' really want I could give ya' a little demonstration. Take ya' out of this musty place"

Lou looked up at his older brother, eyes shining in curiosity, "Really? We can go?"

"Of course we can go Iron Horse," Dodger chuckled when his brother tilted his head, confused by the nickname that had been chosen for him, one only he understood the meaning of, "Just gotta ask Momma alright?"

Lou nodded his head vigorously, sprinting in a still clumsy manner towards their mother, who was resting with her head in between her two paws.

"Momma!" He ran straight into her, jumping on top of her back, "Can Dodger show me that 'street savoire faire' thing him and Dad are always talking about? Please! Pretty Please!"

She blinked tiredly, standing up, turning her eyes to Dodger and yawning, "I don't know if that's such a good idea," She pulled Lou in with one of her paws, "Tha' streets can be pretty dangerous."

"Come on Ma'," Dodger rolled his eyes, "He'll die of boredom if ya' keep him here all day."

She looked at him, seemingly unsure, "It's a big responsibility, ya' know?"

"And tha' Artful Dodger can handle it, ya' and Dad have shown me every trick in the book, we'll be just fine." He used his most convincing voice and stared at her hopefully.

Soon enough, she caved in, "Alright fine, but if the two of ya' ain't back before sunset there's gonna be trouble for ya' both," She eyed them sternly, "Understand?"

They both nodded eagerly, each giving and receiving a goodbye nuzzle and rushing out of the alley. Dodger made sure to keep his movement at a pace that suited Lou, ensuring that they were both always next to each other.

He spent a good while keeping an eye out for anything interesting and entertaining to do and soon enough his vigilance would pay off.

In the distance he spotted an empty car, he turned to Lou with a mischievous grin, "We're gonna play a little something called, 'Thriller', okay?"

Lou's tail was wagging, "Okay, how do you play?"

"It's simple, all we gotta do is wait for the proud owner of that car to get back and then we're gonna give 'em the surprise of their lives."

He led Lou over to the car, barely managing to pick his brother up in between his teeth and throw him on top of the car. Once he was safely up, Dodger leapt up as well, only having to slightly scramble to keep his footing.

They waited patiently, grinning once they saw their target approaching. She was a middle aged woman and by her impatient tone while she talked on the phone, as well as her unkempt hair, Dodger guessed that they had happened upon the perfect victim for their little game.

She got in the car and he looked at Lou, preparing to send him the signal. They both felt the rumbling of the car as it was being started, waiting only a moment more before peeking through the front window, barking and making faces that were rather silly. It was enough to startle the woman, whose sudden panic sent the car lurching. Dodger picked Lou up again and leapt off the car.

He dropped him as soon as they hit the ground and started laughing alongside him.

"So that's what 'Street Savoire Faire' is?" He asked, after finally calming down.

"That's not all it is, follow me!"