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Fandom: Star Trek Discovery
Rated: PG
Category: Double Drabble. Culmets. Fluff. Domestic Bliss-Ish. A Little Paul Whump Just Because. A Little Naughty. But Only A Little.
Time Frame: Pre-Series.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: Hugh owes Paul big time for this. And Paul's not a fan of delayed billing.
Note: Written for a random word prompt of "guide."


Paul trudged down the path, wondering how exactly he'd been roped into this, but pretty sure Hugh's puppy dog eyes were to blame.

And for the umpteenth time, he cursed his complete lack of immunity to said eyes.

But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered except that Tommy got tired, and then Lisa petered out too, so Paul had scooped them up while still managing to somehow keep the other three kids in his group on the path.

That mostly involved one of them holding on to Paul's shirttail to start a hand-holding line behind him, but Paul didn't care.

Because while it was slow going, eventually, he got them all back to the base camp in one piece.

Which meant that Hugh's nephew was now fed and sleeping, and Paul's day as a nature guide was over.

It also meant that his own puppy dog eyes had been put to good use against another susceptible victim.

And that meant that maybe, just maybe, dealing with five whiny six-year-olds all day and literally carrying two of them for nearly two kilometers was worth it after all.

Because with what Hugh was currently doing, children were the last thing on Paul's mind.