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A-yup. Skunked. Sh*tfaced. Schlonkered. Noel was touched, in a way, that he'd called her. There were only a few people she trusted to handle her in such a state. She was touched in a whole other way after he fell into the car and then flung the car door open into her face. She caught it millimeters from her face.

And he was calling her Christmas.

He had the social credit, but he was spending it like it was burning a hole in his pocket.

> “You coming?”

Noel helped one of Hadden's shoes into the vehicle since he seemed to have left it behind without noticing and slid into her seat behind him. The cooled interior of the car was a stark contrast from the humidity of summer. It was sticky outside. Summer was great and all, but air conditioning was an absolute blessing.

"Yeah, still early summer unless you're driving through an anomaly." Noel pulled the door shut behind her and leaned across Hadden to grab his seat belt and secure him into his seat before she did the same for herself. Thankfully this was going to be a short drive back to Haven.

She tapped the partition, glad to not be driving with this distraction on hand.

Oh. Hadn't he said something about an anomaly? No. Actually, haddn't Hadden giggled something about an anomaly? Maybe it had him all twisted up or maybe he'd been trapped in that bar with those stinky heathens and had to dull his senses somehow. Thaaaat was a stretch, she knew. It was just that she was having such a hard time figuring this out with her incomplete knowledge. The dark sedan rolled forward into traffic, sleek and smooth as a snake.

"So, you gonna talk or are we going to pretend like I didn't just scrape you up off the floor like bubble gum? I'd ask for your consent to figure out your problem, but— One, ya just puked your guts out. You're gonna have to brush your teeth. Two, I don't think you're in a position to give consent." Noel gave him all the side-eye. All of it.

Noel was legitimately embarrassed about the plane. "I had no idea it was worth that much. I only used it one time and I was floored that the hangar fees from this year had already been taken out of the total." Ambrose Jaager was either richer or stupider than he looked. Noel had some small worry about taxes and all that, but so little experience with legal income, that she just had to trust that Hades had covered himself on that front.

"Thank you for taking care of that for me. And, I guess, drinks are on me?" If they were on her, she was ordering a second moonshine surprise delight challenge whatever. He knew exactly what he did by sending her puppies. She would both forever be in his debt for it and hold it against him forever. It was her right as a woman to be contrary when people bought her things.

>"You say havoc, I say grounding and becoming responsible, besides once you train them they are very loyal and very capable guard dogs, they will certainly be big enough."

"Yeah, glad you went with girls. They already might end up bigger than me. If you'd gotten males I don't know if there'd be room enough for all of us on the bed once they're grown up." Sooooo weird thinking ahead like that, but Noel was satisfied to imagine herself still at Haven in 2 years. And satisfied to have a dog or two that would make the biggest teddy bears for bedmates. Already Dammit had wormed her way out of her kennel more nights than she stayed. Noel was starting to realize that kennel training might not be for Dammit.

> "Please tell me that is not what you are feeding them!"

"Wha-" Noel pulled her phone back, doubly embarrassed now. "Huh? Wha-No, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, it was horrible."

Hades shared his puppies. Which, like, should have been illegal.

"I can't imagine you walking all these. How do you not just get your arms yanked off?" Already Noel was sure she was doing a bad job of being a puppy mom if she was having so much trouble.

Hades explained the challenge as Noel poured the tea. It was stupid, she knew, but because it was a challenge, a physical proof that she could do something, she was finding herself wanting to try it despite knowing that it was a bad idea.

>"You are well prepared and determined I see."

"I need to know my limits, and I want to know if it'll ever be possible to have a physical relationship with someone else." He could poo-poo her idea all he wanted. She needed to know if she could ever be an equal partner to Michael. If not, maybe she should put the brakes on and take the out he'd graciously offered her. She tossed back her tea before she lost her nerve and did her best to keep it on her tongue.

It was exactly as bad as she'd imagined. Whoever insisted their coffee be that hot, she would never understand. She breathed out once, twice, and then had to give up and swallow the tea. What the boiling liquid tasted like, she couldn't say. Not sweet. She hadn't bothered to add any sugar.

"Okay." She coughed and sat her half full mug down, ready to let it cool to a more normal temperature before continuing. "Don't think scalding is the way to go."

>"...besides who is going to document the results of the test?"

"Ugh. Please don't." Pictures? Of her? Gross. Noel stuffed an overlarge piece of pineapple into her mouth by way of proof that she was not worth documenting. "Hmm. Can still taste. Maybe not on one spot." She stuck her tongue out and touched around where she thought the boundary of her taste limits currently were. Well. Scalding did work a little then. It still wasn't the solution she was looking for.

"Ohhh you are so far gone if you are wasting your time with compliments, Don." Noel did spare a moment to wipe his face on his own collar and smooth down that bit of hair that was standing up before she pulled him upwards and settled her shoulder firmly under his. At first, his shoes didn't seem to want to be flat on the floor. Not because she was tall enough to warrant that. Probably because of the incredible depth of his inebriation. Noel lifted, levered, and wiggled him until he was sort-of almost standing. Good enough.

She snuck the flask out from between his fingers when she was pretty sure he wouldn't notice. Which, really, could have been any time so long as she made no sudden moves. The flask, Noel stuffed into her back pocket. He wouldn't dare go digging around in there for it.

"I will carry you if you don't help me. I don't care how ridiculous it looks." She growled the words, her sympathy fast sliding into annoyance since he didn't even seem to recognize her. "It's me. Noel."

And then all that was left was for them to navigate through a rowdy bar full of people who didn't especially appreciate the man she was juggling.

"Excuse us." Noel hefted the man who was more affectionate limp noodle than helpful. The car was waiting just outside, a dark sedan and driver behind a partition. Anything they said in the back seat would be confidential. With Noel, that could be doubly true.

She debated getting a real drink, but in the end chickened back out to water. Water and stuffing her face with some snacks. Noel hesitated with her hand over the cheese tray when Hadden called out to her. Oh. Busted!

"Yeah. No prob." She continued to hesitate for a few heartbeats more, hand over the food morsels. Had the person preparing them worn gloves? Maybe the inside cuts would be safe anyway if it came from a block. In the end Noel diverted to the crackers, which were so perfectly arranged that they had to have come from a sleeve. Devon didn't give her permission to pick up his memories and he seemed touchy about that. She would avoid anything that might give her secondhand information. She'd gotten lucky when she'd grabbed one before, but now that she was thinking about it, she knew better.

Sprite can in one hand, water bottle in the other, and a few crackers dangling from her lips, Noel came back to take up Hadden's seat. It was now his turn to play Monkey in the Middle and he shamelessly splashed about in a kiddy way that just could not be ignored or shut down. There was joy in being able to just be who you are.

Once Hadden seemed ready, she tossed him his can and got herself settled.

"Not swimming, Svetlana?" Now, having been up out of the water and having walked back and forth, it was plain to see that the scarring on Noel's stomach was far worse than what was on her back. For the most part, she was unmarred so the angry pink puckering of something freshly healed stood out. She crunched into her crackers sans cheese.

The first thing she noticed was that the bar smelled like sick. The sweet tang of stomach acid and fried foods was unmistakeable to Noel who experienced that and worse flavors when someone dared speak with the intent to mislead in her presence. She didn't go out much for that reason. Restaurants and bars were some of the worst offenders for lies. Especially a place like this: a bar full of the best of the worst.

This place was so far below Hadden that she thought she might have the wrong address.

If he'd been talking someone down off a ledge or talking someone up out of their depression, she might have believed it, but Noel didn't see him at all on her way in. Not at the bar. Not on the roof. Not playing pool. Not dancing, if that could be called dancing. This had to be some kind of lame prank meant to besmirch Hadden's honor.

A quick circuit of the patrons and Noel moved to the bar to ask the bartender about her pick up. She didn't see him until he was specifically pointed out to her. On the floor. Nursing a metal flask.

A smile and an apology on his behalf and Noel was really starting to get worried. She squeezed through some people boasting proudly about their unmentionables with boorish confidence and frowned at their lies and the grab someone made at her passing. These things were beneath her as well.

Noel crouched in front of Hadden, irritated and more than a little concerned to observe the state he was in. His clothes rumpled in a disheveled sorry way, dark circles under his eyes, and the neck ruffling stench of whiskey. He wasn't drunk. He was pickled. Noel held up the hand she had used to shake the bartender's hand like the threat it was as she licked each finger purposefully. Noel’s eyes dilated and glazed over as she ran backwards through the bartender's evening at super speeds. He hadn't been watching 'Don’ as closely at the beginning of the evening, but at the end he was.

“I can't even keep up counting your drinks.” Was that awe or disgust she was feeling? Noel shook her head and let the memories drop as she caught sight of Devon Haddon puking backwards back into his mouth. That had to be extra gross going forwards, but seeing it in reverse as she was it was a little humorous at least.

“So here you are at rock bottom, huh? I'd ask what put you here, but you almost looked like you were having fun." Noel offered the man a hand, ready to pull him up and support him through. A more serious concern was why she, specifically, had been called to come here, but that could wait for a more private setting. He might not even know right now, he seemed so beyond his normal and controlled state.

"I have an car and driver waiting outside.” Noel spared a glance for the pool table that no one was using. There was a reason for the dark stain at it's center. She couldn't make this many people unsee that.

She appreciated his willingness to clear her apartment. She did not appreciate how squirmy the puppies were. Apparently that wasn't the best way to hold them. One retaliated by starting to whizz. With a cry of 'dammit' Noel dropped one and dashed to the bathroom toilet with the other, unsure of what other option she had at that point.

"No. There's not really a story." She called out from the bathroom. "I told him to grow up and get a dog? I don't know, I guess I know a lot of ostentatious people who have boundary issues. Oh! If the puppies were here, maybe he sold my plane." Noel dropped the fluffy floof and flushed on its behalf. Little heathen.

Aaaand then she turned and despaired at the trail of whizz behind her.

"This might be payback for my smart mouth." Noel grabbed a towel and dropped it to kick around on top of the whizz trail. Was the FRONT DOOR STILL OPEN!? She ran, danced over a puppy, and slammed the door in puppy #2's face. How did people have small creatures? This was insane.

Noel ducked into the puppy cage and pulled up the bedding in order to pull out a large padded envelope. Okay. So the puppies were a carrier for other business. That at least made some sense.

The puppies, once they spotted someone on the ground, ran over and tried to shower Noel with love and licks and excited yips. As irritated as she was at their continued existence, she did melt a little around the edges and gave in to petting and rough housing.

"I'm not convinced he realizes that puppies are a continued maintenance gift." Two. Jesus. What was she going to do with two of them?

Apparently making things "MyFace Official" meant they upgraded from holding hands to holding themselves a fair bit closer. No matter the door navigation or the elevator or the fact that Noel had to free herself enough to type in her code could keep them from walking in tandem.

When the door opened and two little black balls of floof stumbled over their paws in over to escape from her apartment, Noel did elect to let her Ranger go. The puppies came snuffling around with enough enthusiasm to nearly bowl Noel over, but more than that, she went on high alert.

"I don't have puppies." They were cute for small bears, but she didn't. have. puppies.

A thought was bubbling up. A memory, hers since it only went in real time.

Hades had threatened to buy her a puppy.

This was two puppies more than she was expecting.

Despite the fact that it may not have been spoken outloud in decades, Noel used his full Chinese name like a curse word and pulled out her phone to fire off a text message. There were exclamation points and question marks involved. It was sort of a heat of the moment kind of text.

"I know a man who can walk through walls," Noel raised her voice and with her foot nudged one puppy back toward the doorway, And if he is in there, he'd better get out before security comes.."

Oh shoot! Weren't there 2 puppies just a second ago? Noel's panic at the thought of someone being in her apartment downgraded enough that she left the doorway ajar in order to chase down the second one. She scooped it up and then grabbed for the second one as it too squirted past her defenses and attempted freedom.

Inside Noel's apartment was a crate that had once had a door, the latch was long since spent.

Could someone return puppies? Noel marched herself into her apartment with a squiggling canine in each arm.

"He won't-" kill anybody? Heh. Noel stopped that train of thought before it got out of her mouth. "He has better things to do than be here. 99% sure this is a... present from a friend."