Snake Boy

~ Chapter Seventeen ~

Dinner was very quiet. Every time Logan glanced up one of his fathers was looking at him, and he turned back to his food quickly.

When Dad got up to clear the plates, his foot connected pretty solidly with one of Logan's chair legs. He apologized and ruffled Logan's hair, but the look on his face as he said, "sorry 'bout that, Fish," was a very clear 'time to talk' stare.

Logan took a deep breath and squeezed his hands together in his lap. "Pop... you remember what we talked about in the car? About my stress, and you wanted to know if something was wrong. I wasn't completely truthful."

Pop looked up and frowned. "Okay, kiddo... go ahead."

"I... you remember when the circus was in town- you know what." Logan took a deep breath and slapped his hands down on the table. "I was the one who broke into the Tarot and set the snake boy free."

He looked down, not wanting to see his pop's response. "He's the reason I've been spending more time in my room. He's the reason food has been going faster, half the blankets are gone, I cleaned out the medical cabinet, and I'm stressed out because I'm so worried there are going to be police officers busting into the house any day."

"Where is he?" Pop asked quietly.

"Downstairs." Logan admitted, playing with a little blue bracelet Patton had given him a long time ago.

For a few very long moments, there was silence.

"Well he must be hungry, why don't you bring him up here and we'll get him some food." Pop stood up. "We'll discuss this more in depth later, but right now there's a growing boy downstairs waiting to eat."

Logan stared at him for a moment, then nodded and got up. He walked off to the door to the basement and made his way down the stairs.

"I told Pop, I think he's kind of okay with it..." He ran a hand through his hair as Dorrian got up off the papasan. "He said to bring you upstairs so you could eat."

Dorrian blinked and nodded.

'Does he seem angry?'

"No... a little disappointed, but I don't think he's angry."

Dorrian nodded and Logan led him upstairs.

"Dad, you kind of met him already. Pop, this is Dorrian."

Pop set a plate on the table in front of one of the empty chairs. It was mostly meat, which made Logan a little ashamed that he'd been so obvious. Though that was probably good for this situation, they wouldn't have to re-make the plate.

Dorrian sat down cautiously and Logan sat next to him, trying not to fidget.

"Do you talk, Dorrian?" Pop asked as he took the chair across from them. When Dorrian hesitated, he gestured to the plate. "Go ahead and eat, kiddo, that's why I had Logan bring you upstairs."

Dorrian shook his head, then picked up the fork sitting next to the plate and began to eat.

"He knows sign language." Logan provided quietly. "I taught him."

"Well that's good. I know a little, but probably not as much as I should."

Dorrian looked at Logan, setting the fork down as he chewed on a piece of steak.

'They're not going to send me back, are they?'

Logan's eyes widened and he looked at his parents. "Please don't send him back to the circus. They don't deserve to be in business, I won't let them put him in a cage again."

"Oh no, kiddo, I wasn't planning on that." Pop shook his head. "I might disagree greatly with your method of release, but he was not being treated right. That entire circus should be shut down."

"That's what I'm trying to see if I can do." Logan admitted offhandedly. "I'm trying to figure out where he came from, and what I would be able to catch the circus on to get them arrested, or at least disbanded."

Pop raised his eyebrows and looked over his shoulder. "What do you think of that, Re? Your little boy broke into a business and now he wants to shut it down."

Dad looked up from where he was washing dishes. "If he does it legally this time I'm all for it." He gave Logan a very sharp look.

"I doubt I could do it illegally, but I enjoyed that Basic Law class I took last year so I was starting to work on it in the hopes I could find something." Logan shrugged, looking down at the table. "If you have any suggestions or any way to help me, I wouldn't say no."

"I'll see what I can do." Dad nodded.

"Now, Logan."

He looked at his Pop.

"While I understand your reasoning for this, and the outcome itself is good, you still did something illegal. Your father is a police officer, imagine if he'd found you and picked you up. You cannot go undisciplined for this, and I want you to fully understand that this is not something we will allow you to do regularly."

Logan nodded and picked at his nails. "Yes Pop."

"You are going to be grounded for three weeks, and we are going to discuss in depth how to continue with this. You pretty much brought this kid into the family, you're responsible."

"That seems fair." Logan managed a smile. "I've been trying to do as much as I can."

Pop chuckled. "Yeah, don't think I didn't notice the money you've been 'leaving' around the house for your dad and I to find."

"Well I had to do something. I was using more groceries than normal and I wanted to pay for them somehow."

"Given the circumstances, you did pretty well- but you're still getting disciplined for it, because of the whole breaking and entering deal."

Logan suddenly sat up and looked over at his dad. "Dad, you're not gonna arrest me, are you?"

"Haven't heard a word you said." Dad said flatly, now drying plates. "Better tell your friends not to discuss it around others."

"Thanks, Dad." He glanced at Dorrian again. His dad was very strict, so the fact that he was willing to let this off was a huge deal.

Dorrian looked back and smiled hesitantly. Logan smiled back and gave him a tiny thumbs up.