Fluffbruary #2: Pets & Baby Animals (Miss Parker/Jarod, The Pretender)
The list of prompts is here.
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Age catches up with them, the passage of time running as fast as she did after him. Except it's caught them while they're still chasing, Jarod thinking he must be at least fifty years old by now - and he is beginning to feel it.
Settle down, Jarod, Sydney's voice resonates in his head as he sits down next to the rabbit cage in Miss Parker's house, waiting for her to return. Make a life, far away, and Jarod winces at the coughs of age and ill health he hears down the phone from Sydney now.
The rabbit isn't the same one he had gifted Parker so many years ago - of course not, probably a third one by now - but it looks exacly the same; small nose snoffing the air as Jarod presses his hand against the cage at the same time he hears the click of the door.
"Why are you always in my fucking lounge room on days I just want to be alone." Age hasn't wearied her, really - her skirts a little longer now and her eyes more tired, but she's still the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Since the first time they met, the most beautiful girl folding into a force of female that kept him awake most nights.
He smiles at her, and pushes his finger to his lips. "It's late."
"No shit, Jarod." She puts her briefcase down on the couch and marches over to Jarod and the rabbit, her body language a mix of tense and hesitant. He knows he disarms her when he's there in a civil manner - the chase off, the darkness around them - and he pats the ground next to him for her to sit. A little more hesitation, until she finally plops down, pulling at her skirt until she seems to not give a damn in the 2:45am blanket of night.
"What's his name?"
"Rabbit."
Jarod laughs, and he's surprised when she does too. "You named the one I gave you Rabbit, too."
She rolls her eyes, leaning forward to open the cage and pull Rabbit out. "Of course you'd know what I called a rabbit from fifteen years ago." A soft look crosses her face as she pulls Rabbit to her face, her eyes closing and Jarod stops himself from reaching out to touch her face gently like he so wants to.
"May I?" He takes a chance, not wanting to break the mood, and her eyes flick open in surprise.
"Careful, he…" she trails off. "You've been a vet before, no doubt you can handle him." Carefully, she passes Rabbit to Jarod and he's surprised for a moment at their hands brushing, a warmth passing through him she too felt judging from her face. Rabbit is soft, curling into Jarod's hands - he's always been good with animals and subpar with humans - and he begins stroking Rabbit with a gentle hand.
"He's very cute," he smiles, mirroring Miss Parker and nuzzling him with his face. Settle down Jarod, make a life, and for a moment, with Miss Parker smiling a wistful, almost happy smile at the scene in front of her, he thinks maybe it could be possible.
"He likes you," she almost sighs, leaning forward to stroke Rabbit. "He doesn't - well, not that I have many visitors."
"You have me," Jarod whispers, and she meets his eyes, finally.
"Yes," she says quietly back, still stroking Rabbit and finally resting her hand on his. "Yes, I'll always have you."
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