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"Can we walk to the mall, Uncle Hux?"

Hux frowned at his eldest niece's sudden drawl. "No. Way." He said firmly. "I'm not walking another five miles so we can circle the mall six times. Tuff wouldn't go to such a crowded place, anyway." He ran a square-palmed hand through the very thick mane atop his head. The rubber band he had used to tame his locks had broken about five blocks back, thus he was forced to wear his voluminous wavy and shoulder length locks down. The summer heat was barely tolerable. His tan skin was coated with a slick sheen of sweat. He had tugged his tanktop off and looped it through one of his belt loops, baring a chest that reflected the sun's harsh rays, also drenched and dripping. He was- literally a hot (boiling) mess all because of that damn dog. He would give anything to return to the air conditioned coolness of his sister's home... but it seemed that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"T- TUFFY!"

Atticus was close to tears, his brown eyes wide and brimmed with them. His curls bounced almost comically atop his head as he stomped forward, doing his best to scan the entirety of the neighborhood as they continued their trek. Out of Margaery's three children, Atticus was the one closest to the tiny puffball he had so proudly deemed Sir Tuffington at the age of four... now shortened, thankfully, to Tuffy.

The dog had chewed its way out of its leash and had proceeded to bolt as far away from the children and their uncle as it possibly could. Hux had done his best to sprint after the mutt, but a run-in with a sprinkler had sent him sprawling. He'd lost sight of the pup a quarter of a mile back and they were doing their best to- hopefully- follow the dog's path.

Hux perked at the sudden sound of what could only be Tuffy's annoying yap-yap-yap. Atticus took off in a sprint, and Hux followed suit.

Tuffy was there, and so was a cat. Animal instinct kicked in, and the chase began. The cat fled over a fence of a nearby yard, and Tuffy scurried beneath it. <********>." Hux said, to the woman he assumed to be the owner of the cat. "I am so sorry."

"It's my dog!" Atticus cried. He was hopping up and down, desperately trying to peek through the overgrown foliage that climbed its way up the patchwork of metal. Luckily, Hux was more than tall enough to see over.

The cat had made it to a tree and Tuffy was going crazy, pacing in front of it and barking as loud as his tiny lungs would allow.

Hux mounted the fence and lifted himself up and over. "KEIGHLEY! Watch Attie."

The preteen, having refused to run after Hux and Atticus, had just arrived on the scene. She frowned at the woman.

"Who are you?" She asked, as she reached forward and yanked Atticus by the shoulder so that he was closer to her. She kept her hand on him, and Attie knew better than to try and escape her iron grip. She squinted at the house, then at the top of her uncle's head as he moved towards the tree that shaded the backyard he'd intruded upon. "Is this your place?"

Keighley watched the woman going with a bratty hmph. "C'mon, Attie, let's go in the shade. It's hot."

The younger boy sniffled and nodded.

**

Hux was doing his best to coral the cream-colored Pomeranian known as Tuffy, but the dog was <******** fast. He stopped for a moment and the demon puffball zipped his way straight back to the tree, doing energetic laps around the thick trunk as he continued to yap yap yap his head off.

Hux turned to look at the brunette that had climbed up-and-over after him. He shook his head. "Nah, he won't bite. He'll just ******** run from you." He stood up straight and ran his palms over his sweaty face, fingers lacing through his hair. "I've been following him for like five miles now." He was getting too old for this. "I'm sorry he scared your cat. Is she friendly? I could climb up and hand her down to you..." Tuffy's constant noise-making was already starting to give him a headache.