Pietr Rabbit

## Hypothetically

7 May 2016

"I'm /so happy the last Monkey wrote that sorting algorithm for the classification scans. /Everybody's scanning /everybody these days!"

A chime

Caitlin sighs. "Probably another false positive," she mumbles.

Click click-click click

"Oh my god."

A chair squeaks

Footsteps

"What is it, Cait?"

A chair scoots back

"This kid shouldn't exist."

"It's probably just a mistake."

Click click click click-click

"But if it's not ... "

"He's your Hypothetical."

Silence.

"... Let's go get him."

"He's in ... South Africa, Cait."

"He might be /my /Hypothetical."

Sergio sighs. "I'll talk to the Marshal."

.

10 May 2016

"Doctor Lightcap, this is the young man you asked to see. Would you like me to stay and translate for him?"

"He can't talk?"

"I'm afraid not. The nerves controlling his vocal chords are nonfunctional, as are the ones meant to carry sound from his ears to his brain. He can neither hear, nor speak. Other than that, he's a perfectly average young man."

Caitlin's eyes widen. "Oh."

"He is quite good at lip-reading in English, however, so you may speak to him."

"Can he write in English?"

The young man nods, pulls a notepad and pencil from a pocket, smiles.

## Uncanny Resemblance

.::Who's that?::

Griet's throat jumps and she kinda protects Dandelion. ::Sleeping buddy.::

.::Kinda looks a little like me.::

Griet blushes and looks away.

Pietr worms into her field of sight.

Griet looks anywhere but at him.

Pietr wiggles onto his back and gazes up at her.

.::Okay, fine, he does. A little bit.::

Pietr grins and kisses her cheek.

## Leave

(Wash's panic and denial isn't quite right.)

.::I'm going--::

Chuck jumps to 'panic', shakes her head, "No, you c-c-an't--"

.::--dinner with Griet--::

"But /my dinner!"

.::Doc said she'd help.::

"But /you're the assistant."

Pietr's eyebrow says, 'You're really trying to use that?'
Chuck keeps shaking her head.

.::and then a movie--::

Chuck closes down.

Pietr pokes her forehead.

She grudgingly looks up.

.::It'll be done after curfew--::

"You're gone over night?!"

.::I'll be back before breakfast.::

Doesn't like that either.

Her eyes flick to the door.

Pietr turns.

Griet!

He skips over.

Good evening,:: she greets.
Pietr beams.

Griet looks past him. "I'll take good care of him, Officer."

Pietr turns, nearly shoulders Chuck. ::OK?::

She looks at him for a long moment, then steps back.

(Pietr and Griet leave, Chuck sulks, Caitlin and Sergio take her to a movie in the Rec with the Gage twins, Chuck forgets what's going on and every 10~ minutes asks where Pietr is or what's happening in the movie.)

## Babysit

The second time Pietr's to stay the night with Griet, Chuck, as expected, protests mightily and goes so far as to nearly throw a fit before Griet steps in.

"Officer Darling?"

Chuck turns livid green eyes on her.

Griet doesn't swallow and matches her stare (though in a far less angry manner). "This is Dandelion," she explains. "Pietr and I both think he looks like him, and I wanted to know if you would like to look after him for me."

"I'm not five," grumbles Chuck, taking Dandelion. "And it has nothing to do with him and--" She growls. ::Every--:: Tucks Dandelion under her arm. ::And everything to do with Lightcap saying 'routine is important', 'routines will make you better', and Pietr's my routine and I can't do my routine without him!::

.::That's why Doctor Lightcap's taking over today,:: says Pietr.

Chuck pouts but retreats to the couch with Dandelion and sulks.

Pietr joins her. ::You're not going to guilt trip me into staying.::

Chuck ducks her head, starts shuffling herself under the blankets.

Pietr pokes her forehead until she more or less looks up. ::You were fine the last time.::

.::There was a 'last time'? I don't remember a last time! When was it? What happened? Why did you go?::

.::I stayed past curfew with Griet two weeks ago so I slept over.:: Grins. ::Clearly nothing happened or you'd remember it.::

Chuck scowls. ::Fine.:: Shoos him off. ::Go away. Have a good evening.:: Resumes sulking.

.::Stop with the guilt tripping.::

Chuck attempts to hide under the blankets again.

Pietr stops her. ::You'll be fine, I promise.::

Chuck searches his face.

Pietr thinks 'safe' and 'warm' and 'protect'.

Chuck nods.

Pietr kisses her hair, squeezes her shoulder.

Chuck hugs Dandelion close, watches them go.

## Mark

Inspired by PP's prompt, "Pietr comes back from a night out with a hickey or another obvious sign of hanky panky. Chuck reacts.

Chuck notices the bruise under Pietr's collar when they're getting changed after swimming. At least Chuck thinks it's a bruise; she's so tired she can hardly see straight and the physio doesn't say anything so she could just be seeing things.

She notices it again when they get changed after lunch (Chuck had totally accidentally spilled her tea all over both of them and then cried about it in front of the /Beckets) and it has a fellow behind Pietr's shoulder and she's pretty sure she knows the mechanics of how he got them.

So, when he has work to do and she has ... something to do, she takes up a green toddler (fuck fine motor control) marker, drags a chair beside his, pulls up the sleeve of his left arm, and writes out a careful 'C'.

Pietr pokes her head, queries.

Chuck gets a better grip on his arm and the marker and writes an 'H'.

Pietr huffs, returns to his screen.