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There was music blasting and gnomes everywhere as Roch worked, sanding the stage to get it ready for a layer of stain. He mighta been showing off a little, since Amphi was there, with puppies--but the puppies were TOTALLY hogging all the attention, dammit.

Course he really SHOULD be working. He paused, feeling his phone vibrate against his leg, and stood, pulling the phone out and answering. "Yo," he said.

"What's wrong?" Austin asked.

"Why would somethin' be wrong, old man?" Roch asked. He heard a gnome scream somewhere in the background, but seriously, he didn't even glance back.

"Why'd you call me at eight in the morning? Did somebody die?"

"No... but I need you to come over--I'll explain when you get here. You ever been to the old crypt? It's on school grounds."

"Why--yeah, sure, lemme put some pants on."

"Dude, Dad, WAY too much information."

"Um... jack," Roch said. "Hey!! Amphi!" he yelled over at the ghoul. "Dad's comin' here soon. So... see that red pup? Can you see if you can get him a little... less dirty or something?" Or try? The dogs were messy as hell, and all that drool made mud.

"And who's that?" Austin asked, appearing behind Roch with a wicked little grin. He had a smoke clamped between his teeth and was (to Roch's relief) fully dressed. "Is that Sunshine and Bubbles?"

Roch cursed. "Don't use shadowstep on me, you d**k!" he complained. "And don't call her that," he added, "she's got really good hearing, so you're probably already in trouble."

"Call me Austin, Sunshine," Austin said shamelessly--then he stopped, his expression changing as he saw the dog in her arms. "Is that--" He moved forward slowly, reaching out for the pup then seeing the others. "There's so many of them," he said, breaking into a grin. "Jack, boil, you found Tex's dog!!"

"Yeah," Roch said, grinning almost exactly like his father. "We did. And that one's yours," he said, pointing at the pup that Amphi was struggling with. "It's a boil," he added. "So you get to have everything you own pissed on sooner or later, y'lucky b*****d."

Austin choked on a laugh, then promptly took the pup from Amphi, lifting it into the air. "Still as ugly as I remember them," he said happily.

"Sunshine, that ain't bladder control--that's marking their territory," Austin said, bringing the dog into his arms, laughing as it licked everything it could reach. "Hey, now, that's enough lovin' for the moment, boil," he said, rubbing the pup's head with a large, long fingered hand much like his son's. "So... can't help but notice she's clingin' to your hand like it's a safety line," Austin prompted, since Roch hadn't said anything yet.

"Dad, Amphi is my ah... well, we're--um..." Roch felt awkward as can be, glancing down at the little mermaid. "She's my ghoulfriend."

Austin raised an eyebrow, looking at Roch with a slightly crooked smile as he took a long drag off of his cighoulette. Roch had saw that look coming--that EXACT look, the punk boil thought, inwardly groaning. But then Austin pulled a prank that Roch HADN'T expected.

"Sunshine, I'm thinkin' that one of those pups is going to my old man, isn't that right, Roch?" Austin asked.

"Um, yeah, the gray one," Roch replied.

"So why don't you and me take the pups out for a walk?" Austin asked Amphi, holding out his arm to her. "We'll have a nice little date and let Roch get on with his work, whaddaya say? You have leashes for them?" he asked Roch.

"......... they're on the chairs over there," Roch said reluctantly.

"You treat her like a jackin' princess, got it?" Roch said to his dad. "Anything less and I'll slit your tires."

"I thought we'd drop off the pup and go out for eye scream," Austin said with an easy smile. "I'd like to get to know my son's very first ghoulfriend. Here, Sunshine, let me take them," he said to Amphi, taking the leashes from her. Then he made a strange clicking noise with his mouth, making the pups stop wrestling. "Alright boils--"

"Treble's a ghoul," Roch called. "So is Gramp's!"

"And ghouls, let's go for a little walk," Austin finished, starting at a leisurely pace--and dropping his hand on the small of Amphi's back.

"Jackdammit, Dad!" Roch bellowed. Austin grinned--a grin that was remarkable like Roch's.

Austin was laughing by the time they got to the school campus. "Oh man, his face," he hooted. "That boil, jack I love him," he admitted cheerfully. "So easy to tease. Darklin, you're a pretty little thing, you know that? But tell me about you, cuz I don't believe my son's THAT swayed by a pretty face. What's your favorite things to do?"