Hope for Our Ass After All

n i n e

thanks for 100+ reads, you guys!!

alex

"Oh my god!" John Laurens squealed. "That one looks just like Tobillo!"

The pair were at the reptile house, and John was fangirling over the turtles.

It was adorable.

"Uh, who's Tobillo?" Alexander asked, but he wasn't really paying attention to what John was saying or what he was looking at.

He was too busy staring at John himself.

"My turtle, of course." John reached toward the cage, and Alex grabbed his hand and drew it back. "No, sir, no touching. That's illegal."

"Then don't tell anyone." But even as he said this, John didn't take his hand away from Alex's.

And Alex didn't take his hand away from John's.

"Hey, what's your favorite animal?" inquired John, glancing up at Alexander with that adorable smile.

"What...? Oh, the lion." Alex grinned, and John started to drag him away.

"Where are we going?" Alex chuckled.

"The lions, of course."

—
hercules

"Laf?"

The frenchman looked down from his phone, where he'd been filming Alex and John and texting it to their group chat with Peggy. He was standing up and peeking behind a pole, while Herc was sitting on the ground.

"Yeah, mon ami?" he murmured.

"Should we go to the lions? They're going over there." Hercules meant it as a suggestion—Lafayette had been stalking the pair around the zoo—but he said it like he didn't want to.

Maybe he didn't. Maybe he just wanted to spend time with his French baguette.

"If you want, mon ami, but we could always go on our own. I have enough... how you say, footage, of the two." He grinned and grabbed Hercules's arm, pulling him up.

Hercules smiled in return, his heart pumping through his chest. It was beating so loud, he was surprised that his french comrade didn't hear it.

The baguette yanked him away from behind the pole, and they headed in the other direction, toward the wolves.

"So, how's America so far?" Hercules queried, not having anything else to say.

"Very good. Encore mieux, with you."

Hercules had no idea what that meant, but that was okay. He hoped it was good.

"I, uH, I don't speak French," he commented. Lafayette grinned back at him and tightened his grip on the Irishman's arm. "I know," Lafayette teased.

They approached the wolves within a few minutes, and Hercules watched the two wolves creep silently through their cage.

Lafayette was intrigued by them, Herc could tell. "Laf, you like wolves?"

Lafayette blinked at him. "I've never seen one in real life before. Just in, how you say, photographs."

"A wolf?" Hercules echoed. To be honest, he hadn't seen a live one either—not that he'd seen a dead one—but it was absolutely adorable watching Lafayette stare in amazement at the wolf.

Lafayette was leaning far forward—almost too far—and pointing at the canines. He peered over the edge and... "Herc?!"

Hercules flinched and grabbed Lafayette, pulling him back. Lafayette grinned. "Oops," he whispered.

Hercules laughed.

Lafayette nodded absentmindedly and continued to stare at the fluffy gray creatures.

Hercules was content with watching Lafayette instead.

—
john

The two walked away from the lion cage.

"Hey, Alex? Can we get ice cream?" pressed John, excitement filling his gaze. He hoped his shitty persuasion skills would work on Alex.

They didn't.

Alexander rolled his eyes at him. "Ice cream? Really? I could give you about ten reasons why we shouldn't get ice cream before lunch."

"I can't." John snorted. Alexander was good at debating—John... not really. "But still. Ice cream is so... delicious. And awesome. Like turtles. Turtles are awesome."

Alex burst out laughing. "Well, when you put it that way, let's go get ice cream."

"Seriously??" John gasped.

Alex shrugged. "Well, your persuasion needs work, but I got hungry and I didn't feel like waiting for Laf and Herc to eat something."

John nodded. He didn't care why he was getting ice cream, just the face that he was was good enough for him.

They approached a vendor. "What kind?" Alex whispered. "I'll pay for you."

John blinked. "No, no, I will. I asked."

"And I treated you. Now, what kind?" Alex pressed, and John finally obliged.

"Alright, Hamilton. Can I get mint-chocolate-chip?"

Alexander nodded. "Strawberry and mint-chocolate-chip, please!" he said to the woman behind the counter.

After paying and receiving their cones, Alex and John relaxed onto a bench to eat them.

"Hey, wait, who's that?" Alex said after a short silence.

They were looking at a bush. Behind the bush walked out a white kid with a flower crown being tagged along by another, shorter kid.

"That's George King and Samuel Seabury. George King makes everyone call him King George, and that's why he wears the crown. Seabury probably has a crush on him." John finished off his cone.

"Should I say hi?" Alex asked, swallowing.

"I don't know. They're stuck up, rich, British loyalists, and you can if you want, but it's not the best idea." John stood.

Alex did the same, finishing his ice cream and tossing out the wrapper.

They started away, but King George and Seabury had already caught up to them.

"Hello," King George purred snootily. John giggled. His accent always cracked John up—it was so posh and kind of hilarious.

Alex looked surprised at his accent, and John giggled again.

"Oh, it's Laurens. One of the Revolutionaries," Seabury noted, his accent a little less posh but still very, very British.

"Hi, guys," John said, amused. "This is Alexander Hamilton."

"Yes, Aaron Burr told us about this lad. Says he talks too much," King George grinned.

Alex frowned. "Thanks," he hissed, but a glimmer of amusement flickered in his eyes.

"We should go, should we not?" John purred in a fake accent, grabbing Alex's arm. Alex giggled and nodded, and they started off.

"Oh, do have fun with your boyfriend, Laurens," Seabury called after them.

And John didn't say anything to defend himself.

this was really long, sorry guys lmao