amnesia
It was a quiet day. Roxanna hadn't come up with any pressing errands for Lex to run, so he had decided to babysit Sid over at his apartment for a change. The boys were in Liam's room, giggling over Cooking Mama. Frankly, Lex was surprised the two of them had even figured out how to play.
"Uncl'Lex?" Sid bounded into the living room, a giant black top hat engulfing his head. Sid's new favorite thing was magic, and it meant he was almost never seen without the thing. Lex was sure this phase would pass quickly, but until then... at least Sid was young enough to get away with it.
"Yeah?"
"Can you come do the Sal'sberry Steak?"
Lex chuckled. "Sure. Let me just get..."
There was an odd scratchy knock at the door.
"Who's there?" Sid chirped loudly, bouncing in place.
Lex held out a hand in an attempt to retroactively silence the child. "Stay here." He got up and tiptoed to the front door, unlocking it quietly and pulling it open with surprising force. A pale, shaking young man fell inside, dropping heavily to the floor and letting out a startled yelp.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Lex said, his clipped tone broadcasting his unease.
"I don't know! Please don't hurt me." The man held his hands up in front of his face. Lex sighed.
"I'm not going to do anything to you," he said. "You're the one who was... all... creepily knocking in the first place." Lex cleared his throat and spoke slowly, as if to a child. "Now. How may I help you?" He didn't really want to do anything helpful, but the guy looked so pathetic...
"Can I come in? I mean... farther than this?" The man held out a hand behind him. "I need to get away from... that." Sitting at the base of the stairs was a filthy little animal that kind of looked like a dog. If Lex hadn't known better, he might have said the thing seemed sad.
"Puppy!" Sid exclaimed, suddenly at Lex's side. So much for following instructions. "Can Liam keep it?"
"No!" The strange man sat up ramrod straight on the stoop, finally sparing a glance for the sad dog-thing. "No one wants it, believe me."
"Just... shut up. You can both come in," Lex grumbled, looking around to make sure no one had noticed the scene they were making. He moved out of the way as the young man stumbled inside and followed Sid into the kitchen. The fuzzy little animal padded up the steps and bowed to Lex before it continued past.
