|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 5:48 pm
Rabbit was sitting in a tree, a giant oak that had been here longer than he'd been alive. He had never climbed a tree before, not for fun, not while running from authority figures, never. It wasn't as hard as it looked, apparently, even when there were no low branches to help with the ascent.
He was smoking in the tree, which was probably an ill-advised move. His cigarette tasted weird. Maybe it was time to try a different brand. Maybe it was time to quit.
Nah.
A fair distance away, three people—two men and a woman—sat on a checkered cloth having a lunchtime picnic. When he focused on one, all three of their voices became clear, as if they were lounging right under his branch rather than across the grass. It was a new development, one he assumed was a gift from the other world. He might have panicked three months ago, but after the eggs and the burning man and the werewolves, a little magical hearing seemed adorably average. It did make him feel like a bit of a superhero, but he kept that under wraps, a cheeky smirk the only indication that he might be more pleased than freaked out.
He flicked a sprinkle of ash to the ground and squinted at the picnickers, eavesdropping on their sordid workplace drama. He wiggled his toes, flip-flop slapping merrily against the underside of his foot.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:01 am
"How come you're up there?" The question came from a very small child, about six years old. She squinted up at the man perched within the oak tree. Her wild mane of dark curls framed a face that was dappled in freckles. She wore a light pink dress and a pair of light-up Sketchers. She looked at Rabbit skeptically. "Cigarettes will give you cancer." She said, matter-of-factly. "Do you want to get cancer and die?" "Desi! Quit givin' people a hard time!" Hux appeared with a frown directed toward his youngest niece. He had to duck under one of the oak's thick branches in order to enter the shady area beneath it. He was thankful for the chance to escape the heat. His plain white tank was soaked in his own sweat and his thick hair hung in a heavy bun on his head, also drenched. "And quit runnin' off to where I can't see you." He looked up into the tree, surprised when he realized he recognized the male propped within it. "You're Rabbit, right?" He asked, though he knew his guess was correct. He couldn't have forgotten him, or the events surrounding the day they met, no matter how hard he tried.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 9:15 am
He looked down at the tiny voice, wincing a little as whatever power he was tapping into shifted to the girl and briefly amplified her before he had a chance to try dismissing it. Luckily, it worked, though as her words blared through his brain he jumped, accidentally kicking his shoe down into the grass. He shifted the wince into a small smile. While he wasn't the best with kids on a good day, he certainly didn't hate them.
"That's why you shouldn't start." Like most of the horrible things he did to himself, Rabbit had picked up cigarettes young, his childhood mind a veritable sponge for peer pressure. "It's too late for me. Though I was just thinking about qui—"
He hadn't found it strange that some kid was wandering around by herself. This was a park, and that's what kids did in parks. He supposed he should have suspected lone children wouldn't be a thing in Ashdown. He looked down at the giant of a man who'd suddenly appeared, the small smile he'd had for the girl growing into a proper grin.
"Hey! Yeah! How've you been?" He almost told Hux he was glad to see him alive, but he caught himself in time. Implying that he might have been in the middle of something that could have killed him was probably not a good thing to do in front of a child. After a second's hesitation Rabbit started climbing down, pinching his cigarette into harmlessness and shoving the rest of it into a pocket as he went.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:21 pm
Desdemona bent down to allow a beetle access to the sweaty palm of her small hand. She giggled as it sped up her arm, wiggling her fingers in delight. Memories of what had happened at the job fair suddenly pummeled into Hux's brain. Memories of blood and screams and monsters and... Rabbit. The thirty-two year old huffed and pushed his mountain of hair off his shoulder. A bead of sweat dribbled down the side of face and disappeared into his thick beard. It was always harder for him to convince himself not to just shear it all off, when the sun was high in the summer sky. "Hey, man, I've been... alright." He'd managed to overcome the clenching in his gut and choke down the bile that had risen to his throat. He smiled, to cover his momentary discomfort. "Alright as you can be, anyway... after all- all that. I-" "UNCLE HUX?!" Another child entered the shade of the large oak. A boy with the same tan skin and thick dark curls as his smaller sister. He was huffing and red-faced. "I couldn't find you guys!" Desi harrumphed. "It's hide 'n' seek, Attie. That's the point." "Yeah, but- but- who are you?" The nine year old had just noticed the strange man in the tree. He frowned at the stranger, and stepped closer to Hux; now shadowed by the giant man's height. Hux chuckled breathlessly and patted the boy on his head. "This is Rabbit... Rabbit, these two brats are Desdemona and Atticus. They're my sister's kids." He grinned. "D'ya wanna... grab a smoothie, or something? I'll buy. To thank you, for helpin' me out back there... and also it's ******** hot." "SMOOTHIES!" Desi yelled, a tiny roar of happiness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 12:01 pm
He hopped the rest of the way to the ground, facing Hux and—his daughter? his niece?—Desi with a smile, only to notice that the man was looking a little green. Right. Blackfriars must have been quite a Thing for someone who hadn't seen a severed foot in another world or had been given an egg by a man on fire. His very presence must have been a reminder of death. Luckily, Rabbit had an impressive capacity to compartmentalize and drink. When combined, they proved to be the ultimate key to coping.
"Well, I'm glad t—"
The sudden arrival of a second kid and their subsequent introductions shut Rabbit up, and he stood there smiling mildly at Desdemona and Atticus until they were done.
"Nice to meet you guys. And I could go for a smoothie, sure," he said, standing taller at the prospect. "It was no big deal though, really. I had to keep moving and Rosie was helping and..." Again, he couldn't mention the blood or the puke or the animal people in front of the children, but maybe what he'd said was enough. He swallowed, shifting his weight through the awkward silence.
"So, do you hang out with your uncle a lot?" he asked the kids, hoping he didn't look like too much of a weirdo to recover from.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 11:55 am
" Now we do." Desdemona said, a bit snottily, as she looked up from the beetle now crawling up her arm and circling the bony knob of her shoulder. "He went all the way across the ocean without us." She squinted up at Rabbit, a frown on her tiny pinched face. "Have you ever been real sick? My mommy is sick. That's why Uncle Hux came back. To help. He mostly just sleeps on the couch, though." " Desi." Atticus chided. "Mom doesn't want people to know she's sick, 'member? And Hux does more than just lay on the couch, he took us to the park didn't he?" Desdemona rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She said grumpily as she returned her attention to her new beetle friend. Hux offered Rabbit an apologetic look. "Sorry," he said, then frowned at Desi. "She thinks she's a teenager already." The curly-haired child let out a shriek. "I am not a stinky teenager like Keighley. And I don't think I am either. I'm just smart, that's what mommy says." Hux laughed and patted the top of her head, as well as grabbed Atticus by the shoulder. "You're both real smart, " he said. "You're right, Desi." Then he shoved them towards the shade's edge. "So smart you guys can lead us to the smoothie shop, right?" Atticus beamed. He loved being the leader. " I can, Uncle Hux!" Both children pushed forward, allowing Hux and Rabbit a chance at some peace. He motioned towards where they had gone and smiled at the other man. "Shall we, then?" What he really needed was a beer, but he'd make do with a smoothie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
