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

XXXIII: Thirty-Three Letters in the Alphabet

❝A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.❞
—William Shenstone

"They're soldiers, not dogsitters."

"They're soldiers who happen to dogsit my dog, bloke."

"Why do both of them need to be here then?"

"No one should ever be left alone, don't you agree?"

Admiral Hopkins gives Lee a dubious glare, then he turns his nose on him. "Alright, Lee. But I need them to be away from the conference room."

"Righteo, mate," Lee nods. "They'll just be watching the gogglebox."

"They better."

And with that, Admiral Hopkins strides away, entering the conference room. Admiral Whipple shortly follows.

"I don't see why they can't join our wee meeting," Hercules scoffs.

"There are obvious reasons, don't you think?" Burr murmurs, glancing at Alexander for a moment.

Burr and Hercules enter the conference room.

"My dad didn't mean to sound so harsh," Susannah says, more so to Alexander than to me. "He's just been so uptight recently about some things! I'll see if I can get him to apologize."

"No, that's alright," Alexander quickly says. "I'm used to that sort of treatment."

Susannah smiles somewhat flirtatiously, then she tugs on John's sleeve. "Well, we best be going, right John?"

"Uh, yeah. See you two later," John says before getting pulled to join the others.

For a moment, I expect Admiral Richard Howe to be the next one to say something. But then I remembered he isn't currently present, and he won't be joining the meeting today. I think I overheard Burr saying something about him radioing up some people in Britain... I'm not sure.

That leaves Alexander and me alone with Lee and Hermes. We endure a brief moment of silence.

December 3, 2058.

We're in the small house on the harbor, and a meeting between the higher-ups is about to begin.

"Well, you know the plan, right?" Lee asks, running his hand through his perfectly-done hair (you'd think Jesus himself styled Lee'shair every morning).

"Yeah," I nod, flashing a confident smile. "Hopefully we don't get caught or we'll both be in the shit."

"If we do, I'm willing to take the blame," Lee huffs, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It was my idea anyway, bird."

"Good point," I nod. "You better join the rest or they'll be suspicious."

"Yup," he nods. He whistles to Hermes and pats the couch in front of the TV. The large, wolf-like German Shepherd hops happily onto the cushions, his tail wagging and tongue hanging out as Lee turns on the TV and sets it to the channel with the dog's favorite show.

"But Hermes gets lonely without me, so I'll need you to watch Hermes while I'm in the meeting."

"Got it."

He turns back to Hermes and holds out his arms. The dog, as if knowing well what Lee wants, stands on his hind legs and leans into Lee, hugging him. I'm momentarily amazed.

"Dad will be back, okay? Be a good boy while dad is gone!"

Hermes whines and licks Lee.

"Dad will miss you every minute!" He plants a kiss on the top of Hermes's head, then they depart dramatically. Lee trudges into the conference room, and then he closes the door, shutting Alexander and me out of the meeting.