L'amour des deux lapins: Arbre de la famille, Ch. 4---A Caskett WIP in the Bunneh-Verse
Title: L'amour des deux lapins: Arbre de la famille, Ch. 4
WC: ~1000, this chapter; ~4000 total so far
Rating: K+
Summary: "She hasn't been his little girl for a long time, though more of that surfaces these days. Mischievous smiles and that capacity for joy. That's Rick's doing, and he's more grateful than he can tell the man." A WIP in the Bunneh-verse. Sequel to L'amour des deux lapins: Ce n'est pas un caneton
Jim looks up in surprise when he hears the low hum of voices in the hall and the key in the lock. He's hardly just dropped on to the couch after getting the three animals settled at long last. He's worn out, but he can't tell if it's been hours or minutes since they left. He's been busy.
He does a quick sweep of the living room to make sure things aren't too badly out of order. He's a little sadder and wiser about Chuck's ability to fly and just how fast Batman can move. The place is chaos, but there's nothing too much the worse for wear since he got there, other than a few bits of his own skin. He tugs his cuffs down and his socks up.
"No one needs to know about the pok-ing, do they now, Chuck?" he murmurs quietly.
The duck's body grows huge with a sudden breath. There's a brief glimmer of bright eyes, but he stays settled on the thick cushion of towels in his glorified shoebox.
The door to the loft swings open and they pour in together in a stream of quiet, affectionate chatter. Alexis is with them. They all seem a little worn out, too, but there are smiles all around.
Jim catches Katie's eye and she gives him a nod. She moves more easily than before they left. She's sharper with Rick, and he gives as good as he gets. Things are back to normal. Back to their normal anyway.
Rick offers to get Chuck's things together so Jim and Alexis can catch up for a few minutes before he takes the two of them home. Katie follows, gathering items here and there along the way. She mutters about rolling suitcases for Chuck's new paraphernalia as Rick explains, in detail, why every single thing he bought was absolutely necessary.
Alexis shakes her head. She pulls an armchair away from the wall and starts to straighten things as best she can with the enormous pen still in the way of everything. Half of Katie materializes as she hears the scrape of the heavy chair over the floor.
"Oh, leave that, Alexis," s he says. "Your dad can take care of the OK corral when he gets back."
"But . . ." She looks around helplessly. "You guys already . . ."
"Sweetie!" Rick's head pops up over her shoulder. "We're banking favors, remember? We're gonna need them. Plus, Jim probably has Chuck-related trauma to get off his chest. Don't sugar coat it, Jim. She needs to know the worst about that . .. duck."
Katie blushes bright red. It's getting to be a habit. She tugs at Rick's collar and hauls him back into the office. Furious whispers rise and fall, but Alexis just smiles as she settles on to one end of the couch.
It went well tonight, Jim thinks. He's glad. He's glad for all of them.
"Don't listen to Pop-Pop," Alexis murmurs She lifts the duckling out of the box and on to her lap. "He's coming around, Chuck."
"Pop-Pop?" Jim gives a startled laugh, loud enough that the duckling stirs and flaps. He braces as his eyes shift toward the rabbit hutch.
"He hates it. It's perfect." Alexis gives Jim a conspiratorial grin as she stirs her fingertips in slow circles, around and around the downy yellow head. Chuck peeps softly, just once. He burrows his beak into the bright folds of Alexis's sweater and drops off to sleep again.
The two of them chat quietly about Alexis's job and her new apartment. They smile at the sounds of bickering as they rise and fall from the office. They share an embarrassed smile when things go a little too quiet in that particular corner of the loft. Neither of them needs to think about the sounds of not bickering.
Jim adds a few tales of his own to Chuck's repertoire. Alexis laughs and blushes and apologizes.
"The top of the cabinets?" Alexis cranes her neck toward the kitchen, trying to judge the distance from the floor. "How did you get him down?"
"Can we agree it was my commanding tone?" Alexis narrows her eyes. It's a look he's seen her give Rick a hundred times. He laughs, too, delighted somehow to be on the receiving end of it. "Popcorn, I'm afraid."
"That's Dad," she says with a mock scowl. "He pretends Chuck is his archenemy, then he spoils him."
"It's what grandfathers do, I'm told. The spoiling part anyway."
He doesn't really mean anything by it, but Alexis looks up, her gaze more than a little sharp. Guarded. He realizes that they've stumbled into something complicated. And not just the conversation. Not just this. Tonight.
She calls him Jim. Mr. Beckett when she forgets, but that's less and less nowadays. He doesn't spoil her, and she calls him for advice. She stops by sometimes, or they'll meet for lunch every once in a while, just because she's on his side of the city. They get along.
He's not her grandfather, but maybe he could be. Maybe he will be. They're more than on the fringes of each other's lives, and he wonders if she wants to talk about this. About what he suspects this is, whether he's meant to know or not. He waits, though. He's not sure how to start.
"We had a nice time," she says after a minute. Slowly, like she's mulling it over. "Dad and me and Kate. A grown-up dinner." She looks startled, then. Worried all of a sudden. "Thank you. Did I say thank you?"
"You did. About six times," he teases her gently. He wonders about the sudden retreat to formality. If she's uncomfortable. If she thinks he is. "I suppose it's good practice," he adds carefully. Something about the thoughtful, far-away look she has and the way she gathers the little duck closer makes him want to reach out. To take a chance. "Rabbit-sitting. Duck-sitting."
It's something she can pick up or not, he hopes. An offering so she knows he's willing. He's glad when she does pick it up. Gladder than he realized he would be when she gives him a sly grin.
"Practice," she says. "Dad plus Kate? You're gonna need it."
"We all are," Jim agrees.