There were many reasons for Maddoxâs insistence that he have a tent of his own ( well, mostly own, of course heâd insistent Pod and friends stayed too ). He completely trusted that Abe wouldnât spoil his fun, in fact heâd make it even better, but he was an adult now and the appeal of camping with friends on New Years Eve without adultier adults in the way was too alluring to turn down. Still, he grinned the moment Abe showed back up to check in on him. âIt should be amusing, Abe, donât you worry one bit.â He grinned, flashing his pearly whites as innocently as he could. It wasnât like he was trying to hide what he was up to from Daderforth. The boxes with supplies were clearly visible in the tent, and heâd made no moves to conceal them before Abe walked around, inspecting his handy work.Â
  Heâd mostly done well too, the hammocks his favorite touch. Heâd piled them full of blankets and pillows, and had even strung one up for Diana, just in case. That one heâd added the softer blankets too, for Podâs sake. Everything seemed mostly sound, though a bit of help wouldnât hurt, even if Maddox was unwilling to ask for it. âYouâll come by later to play cards with us, wonât you?â He added, watching Abe complete his inspection, but then his face fell. âOh fuck, yeah youâre right, I forgot about dinner. Thirteen hours then,â he groaned, knowing he was going to have to work fast. âWhat is the likelihood of borrowing you later, you know, with no explanation beyond that, âcept for a promise that itâll be worth it? And that Iâm your favorite son and would never do anything ever to get you arrested or injured?â He asked, thinking he might need the extra set of hands or eyes with the shortened time.Â
  Maddox knew it would be rude to eat fast, but he planned to anyway. He knew better than to refuse to go to dinner, Abe wasnât going to let him get away with it, rite of first prank or not. Heâd be drinking later, it was required. âYou think theyâll serve dessert at the same time?â He wondered, thinking it sounded great to start with something sweet first.Â
Abe didnât feel the need to hide his inspection, and Maddox didnât seem inclined to defend himself or stop the process, so the bartender carried on as he pleased, listening to one of his favorite children speak as he did so. The boy rarely hid much from him, though whether that was because heâd finally figured out he couldnât get much past the elder badger, or because he just hadnât considered doing so, Abe wsnât sure. It made him laugh all the same, though, as he discovered far too much nonsense nestled into the various areas of the tent.
âOf course I will. And it better be amusing, boy, or ....â he trailed off, shaking his head, and willing to let the McKinnon fear a threat for a moment, âthe only entertainment Iâll get tonight will be the ruckus heard when you lot bring this crashing down around you trying to cram three bodies into one small hammock.â With another grin, he came to clap the boy on his shoulders, looking over them for a moment at the book, but not long enough to learn anything he didnât want to. âSince youâre not fighting the need to eat, and Iâm not really all that interested in mingling until people are good and drunk, Iâd say your chances are pretty likely.â Which meant that thirteen hours was going to be plenty of time, once Maddox figured out what it was he wanted to do. That was his niche, if you asked him. People decided what they wanted, he made it happen. Another clap on the shoulders was the signal for âup, up, time to goâ and a beat later, Abe stepped away, back to the doorway of the tent.
âParty like this? Dessert table is out and loaded, and the only thing stopping you from going dessert first would be fear of judgement or common manners, neither of which weigh you down. You should be golden, Mad Dog.â