A beam of light shined through the seam of the window between the blinds, landing directly in his eyes. Lou squinted, cupping the side of his face. It was Sunday, and still his father had not come back home. Not like it was anything new, Lou knew his father was never one to stay in one spot; he was always too busy with work to slow down.

Getting up, Lou made his way to the kitchen. Pulling out a box of cereal, he poured himself a bowl, sitting himself at the table. The sound of his crunching echoed throughout the house. It was an older house, not too much was inside. There was an old tea-kettle on the stove, furniture with cloth draped over it, a trophy case with different awards that his father had collected, an old piano, and a grandfather clock that gently ticked. Closed blinds, the house was very gloomy and dark on the inside. Lou didn't mind, it wasn't like he lived there, he only visited on weekends spending the weekdays at his mother's house with his mom.

After rinsing his bowl and completing a morning routine of teeth brushing and freshening up, he took a long look at himself on the mirror. Running a hand down the side of his face, he started to think about last night. 'What happened? Well, there was a show, a lot of people, the paperwork was filed-' he realized that he had no way of contacting the person who helped with that. Darren? Derrik? He couldn't remember the name, he was too tired last night to remember. Didn't he assign them as manager? Lou shook his head, swiftly tying his shoes and pulling open the front door. Stepping out, there was a gentle crinkle of a letter beneath his heel. Picking it up and breaking the wax seal, he read:

'How are you? I realized at the crack of dawn that the papers were forgotten at the stage. No problem though, I went and picked up the case this morning. Want to hang out or something this morning? (preferably between noon and four)
-Dareth'

Lou scrunched his eyebrows, looking at the return address on the back before taking a glance at the grandfather clock. 12:34. Did he really sleep in that late? Sighing to himself, Lou folded the letter and stuck it into his pocket, closing the door behind him and taking off down the street.

'That's all folks! Goodbye, and good riddance!' a man on the TV coaxed, followed by a laugh-track. Dareth chuckled to himself in response, looking back down at a textbook. Normally he would be doing his homework on Saturday, but sneaking out to the concert had cost him the time. Writing something down on the worksheet, a gentle knock came from the door. He didn't hear it. Then a more harder knock. Dareth picked up his head, looking at the TV before looking at the door. Getting up, he went over and opened the front door. "You know Mr. Postman, you can always slip the- Oh! Lou! Come on in, I was just getting schoolwork finished up before ma came back home." Letting him in, Lou glanced around. Everything seemed so neat and orderly- not to mention, clean and kept up. The windows were open, letting in light as well as a gentle breeze. He felt cozy.
"Nice place you have." Lou smiled, inspecting the various rooms. Front door was right across from the kitchen, separated by the living room inbetween. Bathroom and bedrooms branched off from a hallway that started from there. Dareth took a seat back at his spot on the couch.
"Thanks. Feel free to raid the fridge, just don't make a mess. I'm not supposed to have people over when she's not around, but I'm sure she won't find out. We'll get to the papers after I get this done." He scratched the side of his head with the end of the pencil, before writing more down. Lou walked over and took a seat on a chair, looking towards the TV. After a bit of show-filled silence, He looked over at Dareth, who seemed to be finishing up.
"So uh.. What show is this?"
"Oh- uh," He closed the book, glancing at the screen, "Can't remember the name, but its about this woman and her dog that knows ninja moves. There's always these guys who try to hit on her for her money, but the dog always scares them off at the end. The pooch is so popular, I wouldn't be surprised of he got a show of his own." After watching a little longer, he got up and flipped it off. "That's enough of that. Now, if you'll come with me, I'll show you what I need help with."

Entering Dareth's room, Lou took a seat on the lower bed, inspecting the posts, and then the room. The fish playfully chased each other in the tank. Dareth plopped down in the wooden chair at his desk, opening up the case and pulling out various papers. "I started marking all the dates for stuff on a calendar and you said that you had a gig in two weeks, yeah?"
Lou nodded, "Yeah, the 14th. Why?"
"Well, it says here that you have two gigs that day, one on the way eastside of Ninjago City, and one on the outskirts next to Nom. Its a 3 hour drive from here to the place, but its a 3 day drive to Nom- not factoring in the issue that there's no gas station going that way, as well as not having the fee paid for that transportation. What do you want to do?"
"Isn't that an obvious answer? Cancel the one on Nom, write them a letter saying that it's not happening." Lou folded his arms, finding the dilemma a waste of time.
"Mmmh, How do I write back a broken promise to a 12 year old girl?" Dareth pulled out a piece of paper, and scratched the side of his head. "Are you sure, Lou? I mean, you do stuff here all the time in Ninjago City, and it would warm a kid's heart to see their favorite group perform at their village-"
"I've made my choice, Darren, It's too much of a hassle and too much time to get there and back."
"Its Dareth." He slumped in his seat, sighing with frustration. Running a hand through his hair, he began to vigorously write. " 'The members of the Royal Blacksmiths sincerely apologize, as we turn down your request to perform at Nom on the Fourteenth due to conflicting Scheduling. Thank you.' There, does that sound good enough, 'Loud'?" He sneered, glaring at Lou while folding the paper neatly and slipping it into an envelope. Lou scrunched his eyebrows.
"Was that really necessary?"
Dareth looked taken aback. "Oh, my bad, I thought you said my name wrong on purpose." Scratching the back of his head, he realized how awkward he made it. "A lot of other kids say my name wrong to mess with me." Shaking his head, he tosses the envelope down on the desk. "Anyway, it looks like you have a few requests for next month. We don't have to get to that today if you want, I'll remind you when we get close to the end of this month." Lou leaned back on the bed. It was very comfortable- not terrible broken in, but it as getting there. He ran his eyes along the wooden beams above thinking to himself.
"So uhh, Who's your brother?"
"Brother?- oh." Dareth looked over his shoulder. "Heh, ever heard the phrase 'don't count all of your chickens before they hatch'?" Another break of silence.
"….Were they expecting another-"
"Can we not-" The sound of an engine hummed into the garage. Dareth went pale. "Shoot!- Lou you gotta leave-" He began to vigorously shuffle up the papers, stuffing them into the case before closing and shoving it under the bed. The front door slammed open. "aaAAH- Hide!" Dareth grabbed Lou and shoved him into the closet before slamming the door closed.

"Dareth, Deary! Dareth?" His mom poked her head into the room. Dareth stood leaning on the closet door, trying to play it cool. "Oh, there you are! Come help me with groceries."
"Okay, ma! Let me get my shoes on." She wandered back out, while Dareth leaned close to the door. "Use my window to leave. It's not too far a jump, the grass is soft." He whispered into the door before heading out. He was wearing his shoes the whole time.

Lou slowly opened the door, overhearing the boisterous conversation between a mother and his son. 'Traffic was easy' 'That's nice, any good sales today?' 'Well, the man at the counter let me have an extra yam-' Lou slid opened the window glancing down. Putting his legs through, he dropped down onto the grass. Looking around, he realized that the yard was fenced all the way around except for the small gap between the house and the garage. 'Too risky,' he thought to himself, considering the other option. Getting a running start, he jumped, grabbing onto the top of the fence and swinging his legs over, landing on the other side with a thud. Scrambling to his feet, Lou made a break for it, crossing through the other yard to the sidewalk on the other side before slowing down to a fast walk.
Part of him wondered why he did that. Rubbing the bruise that was forming on his nose and forehead from the door, questions swirled in his head. 'His mother sounded nice, I don't see why she wouldn't want anyone over.', 'Did he do something?', and 'trespassing is wrong.' were a few of them. Lou made his way towards his father's house.