“Cerberus,” she repeated with a nod. Lottie hadn't expected him to come up with a name so fast. Honestly, she hadn't even expected him to give her a list of names he was considering. Her question hadn't really been a question, but rather a prompt to get him thinking. Once he named it, it would stay, because you couldn't get rid of something you named. That was a rule somewhere, she was pretty sure.
But Hades blurted out a name so quickly, Friendship thought he must have had it in mind all along. Even if it was only subconsciously. It just confirmed her suspicion that he really did want to keep the dog. Which in turn bolstered her theory that Hades was a lonely guy.
Well, not any more. Whether he liked it or not, he now had a friend. And a dog. And a home. He'd be downright cuddly before she knew it. Lottie swallowed the giggle that wanted to come with that thought because she was pretty sure Hades would not appreciate it. The though or the giggle.
It occurred to Lottie that Echidna had probably named him already, if this was one of her offspring. But since she wasn't here, and the half-grown dog wasn't exactly speaking, having Hades name him wouldn't hurt anything. In fact, it was probably going to help him, even if he couldn't see it now. Philotes nodded again, then repeated the name, this time addressing the dog, so that he could learn to recognize it.
“Cerberus,” she said, gently scratching one ear. “That's a good name, isn't it, big guy? Huh? We like that, don't we? Yes we do. We're going to get you some nice chicken eggs to make your coat shiny and your eyes bright. And then we're going to get you some mint or parsley or something so your breath doesn't knock over a gorgon at forty paces. No, don't lick me, you're still stinky. Very stinky. You need a bath.”
Lottie looked at Hades. “You can't bathe him in any of my siblings' rivers, but he's really very dirty. Pretty sure he was rolling something dead. Or mostly dead. We should clean him off, it can't be good for his skin.”
With that her attention went back to the mutant dog and she gave his ears some loving scritches. “Should we wake up the other heads? Hmm? Let's get them up and then we will go make you presentable. Good boy. Good boy, Cerbie.”