Re: lakeside mansion; hugh c./dietre a.
Hugh understood not feeling much like smiling better than it might appear from the number of smiles he gave when he was with other people. There'd been so many times in his life that the smiles had been an armor protecting himself from being asked questions about whatever it was he was struggling with at the moment. And despite the confidence he tried to project to most people, he'd had his own struggles with loneliness, and feeling particularly unwanted of recent. And the only thing Hugh knew to do for that was to try to reach out and invite people in.
And chocolate never hurt anything.
He handed over the sipping chocolate in a mug covered with various Shakespeare insults, and poured his in one from a high school musical production, both containers were somewhat at odds with the chocolate itself which his mother had gifted him from her trip to the San Juans, and was a rich, dark chocolate flavor. Hugh tested a sip of it. It was hot, but pretty much perfect. "I think that'll do," he grinned, eyes glancing over to the two dogs.
"Alright you two," he said to the dogs, picking up his cup of chocolate and stepping across towards the door that'd lead out to the patio. "Heart, come."
He pushed it open, and Heart, tail wagging bounded out, glancing back as if checking to see if her new friend was following.
The patio outside was stone, with a fence around it, raised some from the grass where Heart immediately seemed to bound off and Hugh let her go. She knew mostly to stay in the yard and would likely keep Sieglinde in the yard as well. There were seats on the patio, although Hugh had brought some of them in with the winter because he wasn't out there as much. Right now two cast iron chairs sat near the house but Hugh didn't sit down and instead turned around. "I had cats before I moved here, well, I had one cat cause I lived in a studio in the middle of the city and it's not really a good place for multiple cats, and I love Espresso and he's still with me, but the best part about getting Heart was how she is always there and always so glad to see me. It's good to have someone who cares when you walk in the door. If you live by yourself it can get lonely."