Re: Boathouse: Hugh & Atticus
Hugh half laughed as he pulled the coffee to his lips for another sip. "Maybe that'll be the book I write someday. Maybe it won't be as hard as everything else I've tried." He doubted this seriously, but you never knew. The future was unwritten and he might manage it. "If I write it, obviously I'll mention you," he winked. "Change your name and all that. I think all the things in Repose would make it fantasy rather than autobiography - no one would believe it as truth."
Which really led into the information about the island. He nodded as he listened - curiosity and general warmth settling in his eyes for a heartbeat as he watched him. Atticus seemed matter-of-fact about it, but it seemed that he was stuck there now. It was unclear if he was upset about it or not, or regretted it or not. It would be strange to live with that knowledge - and although it sounded really quite crazy, truth was it didn't sound as crazy as it could to Hugh. He'd been in Repose long enough that he didn't question Atticus' story at all. "What happens if you leave the island?" He glanced to the boat. "You never seem to so I'm guessing there's something...?"
Hugh had never considered himself a dog person before Em. He hadn't really thought of himself as a dog person even when they'd been together, but she'd had four, named after the four body parts of a children's movement song: 'head and shoulders...' and when he'd seen the chocolate lab mix on the shelter Instagram in the midst of all of the trial bullshit, he'd known she was coming home with him, and Heart had been the obvious name for her from the beginning. He hadn't even thought about it so much as known it. He'd always thought he only wanted cats, but Heart had shifted everything, and she'd kept him sane more than once over the past year.
"I really hope not," Hugh grinned wryly. "I'd like to think I have a hell of a lot more romance in me at this stage. Or, heck, someone could romance me - I'd be alright with that right now too. Besides, you can have the foundation and a relationship and romance. I don't think the two are incompatible, and maybe more compatible even? Perhaps."