Bunnysitting

[poison_lipstick]

Saffron had never owned a pet. She remembered wanting one when she'd been younger, a pretty little cat in a shop window that had practically begged to come home with her - or at least that's what it had seemed like to Saffron, back when she was young and innocent and her real name was still what she answered to. But her parents had said no, and

Comments

[fourforone]

Buck stands near enough by that he can't help being a passive observer of the scene and for some reason, he grins good and broad when he sees what she's doing. "Lucky bunny," he notes with a turn of a grin in her direction. "What's a man have to do to get that kind of treatment?"

[poison_lipstick]

She'd been focused on Playboy, but Saffron looked up with a bright smile when she heard Buck's voice. "You mean you don't know already?" she teased, since he was fairly well familiar with her already. "Maybe if you ask Playboy here, he'll give you some tips."

[fourforone]

"I don't know. The rabbit might be pretty damn adorable, but he doesn't have anything on me," he says, ducking one of the branches as he comes closer to her and flashes her his most dimpled and fond grin. "I mean, who could say no to me? Honestly?"

[poison_lipstick]

Saffron shifted Playboy slightly where he was cradled against her and went to meet Buck halfway. "I'd say maybe a blind person, but somehow I think your charm would still get through to her other senses," she replied, smiling fondly up at him.

[weary_head]

Dean stopped on his way to ply the jukebox with his charms, spying an unmistakeable flash of red hair across the room. "Hey," he started, steps coming to a halt when he saw what surrounded Helen on the floor.

"Tell me that's not lunch." His expression didn't give away whether he meant the bunny or the bowl of vegetables.

[poison_lipstick]

Saffron's smile was bright and immediate when she saw Dean, and it turned amused at his comment. "The veggies are for the rabbit." She stood, then bent back down to scoop said rabbit into her arms. "And the rabbit is far too cute to eat, isn't that right, Playboy?" she said in a slightly cutesy voice.

[weary_head]

"Playboy?" Dean repeated. He was awfully fluffy, and Dean was glad Dog wasn't here. Not because he'd try eating him, Dog was too friendly for that, but because he'd never heed another command Dean gave him if he heard his master squeal like that.

"Is he the Club mascot?"

[poison_lipstick]

Saffron nodded. "He's Lloyd's. I've just got him while Lloyd is in class," she said. "I hadn't thought about him being the club mascot, but I reckon he could be, given what Lloyd told me about where his name comes from."

[scoobys_heart]

Playboy wasn't the only rabbit on the island. And one of the others had insisted on following his owner all the way to the compound.

Xander too had been in class all day and the first thing he'd done when he'd gotten home was let Jesse out of his hutch so he could run around the hut while Xander was home. A while later, he'd decided he was hungry and left for the compound, forgetting the rabbit was out since Jesse had been in Clark's room, playing with one of the farmboy's sneakers. It wasn't until Xander was almost to the compound that he spotted the cat sized white creature following him.

And so it was an exasperated, and mad at himself, Xander that entered the compound, rabbit draped happily over his shoulders. "You had to be stubborn", he was saying to the rabbit as he passed by the door to the recroom. "I named you too well."

[poison_lipstick]

Playboy was nibbling on a piece of carrot, and Saffron looked up as she heard a familiar voice at the door. "I didn't know you had a rabbit, Xander," she said with a smile, noting that Xander's rabbit was quite a bit bigger than little Playboy.

[scoobys_heart]

Xander paused and backed up to stick his head into the rec room when he heard Helen's voice. "I found him in January. Scared the crap out of me. And I didn't know you did either." he said with a friend smile as he walked into the room. Jesse wiggled and with a roll of his eyes, Xander put the rabbit on the floor so he could do over and investigate his smaller cousin. "Oh hey..isn't that Lloyd's?"

[poison_lipstick]

"It is," Saffron confirmed with a nod. "His name's Playboy." She reached out and ran her hand along the soft furry back of Xander's bunny. "What's this one's name? He's a big guy."

[wigsbylionel]

Lionel had not realized how intensely he'd missed the sound and sight of his menagerie at home before nearly stumbling over a woman and a rabbit clasped together on his route to the beach that evening.

He paused within her field of view, stroking his masked chin, head a-tilt.

"That," Lionel said at last, "Is a lovely rabbit."

[poison_lipstick]

Saffron had been in the middle of scooping Playboy into her arms, not wanting to leave him on the ground outside for very long where all sorts of animals were like to go by, and she looked up with a smile. "Thank you," she replied as she stood. If she was surprised by the mask, it didn't show. "This is Playboy. He belongs to a friend of mine."

[wigsbylionel]

He moved a step closer with her acknowledgment, pressing a strange little smile through the abysmally warm cotton covering his face. "Ahhh. Clever name," he observed, his voice low as a murmur but perfectly clear despite the distance.

[poison_lipstick]

"I thought so. Well, once Lloyd explained to me what it referred to, that is." She shifted Playboy so he was cradled in one arm and held out a hand. "I'm Helen."

[sgmitchell]

Austen was getting particularly more difficult every week. It was as if she'd just realized there was a world outside the hut, and she needed to explore it all. It started with sneaking out of the window when he wasn't looking. When he put a stop to that, she seemed determined to bolt as quickly as possible down the path whenever he took her on a walk.

Clearly, he was going to have to get her a leash. Maybe a rope or something. He was fairly certain cats weren't supposed to have leashes, but he was not about to let her run off and get eaten by a monkey because she decided to investigate it while she was waiting for him to catch up.

To her fortune she did not find a monkey today. She did find one of his employers outside the Compound, however, and had started attempting to snuggle the woman's legs, presumably hoping for food, by the time he caught up.

He made an annoyed sound, pulling up short, and frowning at the kitten in exasperation. "Dammit, Austen! What'd I tell you about harassin' people? Leave her alone

[poison_lipstick]

"Awww, that's all right, Cameron," Saffron assured him. She didn't know what the cat would think of Playboy, though, so she cradled him close to her with one arm as she bent down to pet her. "She's beautiful. What did you say her name was? Austen?"

[sgmitchell]

Cameron gave Austen a briefly disapproving frown. She was doing her kitten thing, again. She was losing her touch with every month that went by, but clearly at four months she still had that kitten look--at least for those who hadn't seen her use every trick to tear through the hut. Frankly, he was a little wary of how closely Austen was watching the rabbit in the woman's arms.

At her question, he gave a quick nod and a slim smile. "Yeah. She shares her namesake's ears."

[poison_lipstick]

The cat did seem to be giving Playboy the eye, so Saffron pet her a second longer and then straightened. "How long have you had her?"