Zero Two Three One | John Laurens X Reader [Hamilton]

III: Seven Passers

❝We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.❞
—Immanuel Kant

"I'm naming mine Noodles!"

"That's the stupidest name I've ever heard."

"I think it's very cute!"

"Couldn't you come up with a normal name, (Y/N)?"

I cross my arms and furrow my brows, glaring daggers at Alexander after his crude comment. "Alright, Mister Name-Professional. What are you naming your puppy?"

I point down at the smiling, black and white Boston Terrier puppy. His tongue hangs out and tail wags enthusiastically — standard behavior for a puppy.

"I'm not giving it a name."

"'It'?" I hiss. "It's a boy! Call him a he! And you have to give him a name! Chul said names must be finalized by tonight!"

"Then I'm naming him Shit-Head."

"Alexander, you are not going to name this perfectly innocent puppy such a horrible name!"

Alexander ignores me and continues to watch a YouTube video of some sort of Presidential debate on his phone. I sigh and look down at my own puppy. It's a White Swiss Shepherd puppy. How do I know? Well, let's go back a bit.

This morning when we were forced to go into that classroom, no one expected our "surprise" from Chul to be a brand new puppy. There were one hundred puppies, a sight I never thought I'd see. Each of us was given a puppy at random by Chul.

The oddest thing is that he told every person (as he gave their puppy to them) these exact words: "This is your best friend."

Kind of weird to immediately suggest our puppies are our best friends. After he finished giving out puppies, he brought our attention back and reminded us again: "This is your best friend. Remember that above all else. This is your best friend, and you will treat and love them as so."

Everyone was too busy dodging doggy kisses to question it.

Each dog came with a tag saying a breed and age. All of them are between two and three months old.

Alexander's: a three-month-old Boston Terrier.

Mine: a two-month-old White Swiss Shepherd. And his name is officially Noodles, no matter how stupid Alexander thinks it is.

After our puppies were given to us, Chul sent us away to "treat the puppies like friends". What he meant was "take your puppy outside and play with them".

No one had the courage to ignore him, so we took our puppies out into the open field nearby and watched as the puppies attacked each other. It was the break we all needed. After a month of painful training, a day laying in the grass with the sun shining down on us and cool wind grazing our skin was just what we needed.

When we walked into the mess hall for lunch, we were surprised to find a whole section dedicated to feeding the dogs.

So yeah, the puppies had lunch and dinner with us, and now they're going to be sleeping in our room (which is where Alexander and I are) so I guess our bond is already growing. Well, I know I've grown attached to my little pupperino!

My puppy is much bigger than Alexander's, but that's because of their breed. I'm sure they'll get along just fine.

Noodles is already asleep smack in the middle of my bed, so I'll have to move him over if I want any space. Alexander's little puppy, on the other hand, is still up and energetic, staring at Alexander expectantly.