Sixth Number

[milliondollarpipes]

[Until this morning, Harvey'd been taking to this week's changes like a fish to water. Sure, the black-and-white wasn't all that great, but his clothes hadn't changed any and he loved the malt shop thing goin' on downstairs.

But, of course, nothing good can last. When Cambot finds him, he's standing on a chair, rabbit perched on one shoulder, trying to use some old rags dam up the slow ooze of maple syrup coming from the vent in his room. There's already a thin layer of it coating the floor around the area and it doesn't appear to be stopping.]

Ugh, this is disgusting...you kids might not wanna order any breakfast today. I had some pancakes earlier and came back to this. [While he's distracted, a few pancakes knock down part of his makeshift wall as they slide down the syrup river, landing with a wet splat on his floor.] Gosh darn it -

[Blink. That wasn't what he'd meant to say.] What the heck was...the fudge...alright, this is baloney.

Comments

[wefallinsilence]

An unintended side effect, perhaps?

[milliondollarpipes]

Yeeeah, well, hopefully Gypsy can do somethin' about it. I ain't dealin' with this all week. [He's pretty much given up on blocking it, and is now just focusing on moving his things to relative safety.]

[wefallinsilence]

We may be forced to, I'm afraid.

[milliondollarpipes]

To heck with it. I'm just gonna go see if any of the empty rooms down the hall are doin' this.

[wefallinsilence]

I wish you luck, then.

[punsofiron]

...

[SNERK]

[milliondollarpipes]

Aw, shush up. [He realizes what he's said and glares heatedly in the general area of the ceiling; how the heck is that a fudging curse?]

[punsofiron]

[Nope, that didn't help.]

I never knew you had such a dirty mouth, mister Finevoice.

[milliondollarpipes]

[...no. Obscene hand gestures are beneath him. He's not really upset at her anyway, he's just feeling defiant.]

Never been to the South Side, have ya, kid?

[punsofiron]

I've barely even been outside Minneapolis.

[milliondollarpipes]

Yeah...you're better off headed south if you wanna travel anyway. Get somewhere warm for once. [Don't ever go to Chicago.]

Ah, to heck with it. I'm just movin' rooms for the week. I'll be a couple doors down if you're lookin' for me. [He picks up Frank's cage under one arm. The bottom looks to be rather liberally covered in syrup...actually, so does a good deal of the rabbit.]

[punsofiron]

What, and miss out on the lovely winter weather?

[Poor Frank, Liz looks amused and sympathetic.] Looks like your buddy needs a bath.

[milliondollarpipes]

Ah, right, snow all year round! What a treat!

Yeah, he's gettin' my coat all sticky. [Though he clearly doesn't mind or he wouldn't have put him up there to begin with.] Gonna have to clean his cage out too. At least he likes it, he was lickin' the floor when I got here.

[punsofiron]

It doesn't snow all year round. They've gotta fix the potholes sometime!

That's not unhealthy for a rabbit, is it?

[milliondollarpipes]

Hell if I know.

[He hadn't actually thought of that; heholds Frank up to his face, inspecting him.]

He looks fine. You doin' okay, buddy? [The rabbit isn't acting any different, at least.]

[punsofiron]

[Well he's just as cute as ever.]

Need any help getting things cleaned up?

[milliondollarpipes]

Nah, no sense in tryin' while it's still comin' out. Maybe later.

[punsofiron]

Fair enough.

Y'know, you guys can crash in my room if you want; I've got the extra space.

[milliondollarpipes]

You sure? He kinda scampers around at night sometimes.

[punsofiron]

Of course! It's been too quiet up here anyway.

[milliondollarpipes]

[Oh. Right. He shrugs, scooping Frank off his shoulder to cradle him lightly against his chest.]

Be up in a bit then. I'm gonna give this cage a rinse first, don't wanna get everythin' else sticky.

[punsofiron]

Take your time; the door's open.

[milliondollarpipes]

[And, after maybe twenty minutes, Harvey arrives with a clean cage in one hand and a clean rabbit cradled carefully against his chest in the other.]

Hey, Iron. Here good? [He sets the cage down against an unoccupied section of wall without waiting for an answer; it was really rhetorical.] Geez, your place looks weird in black and white.

[punsofiron]

[Liz had just been fishing a spare pillow and sheets from the locker while waiting. She smiles when he comes in, regarding him and the bunny warmly.] You're telling me. I can't even tell most of my books apart now.

[shrug] Make yourselves at home. You prefer the bed or the futon? I can guarantee they're pretty equally comfortable.

[milliondollarpipes]

You kiddin'? I ain't takin' your bed.

[He sets Frank down on the futon, where the bunny shakes the clinging water out of his fur and starts running his paws over his ears. Harvey takes off his suit jacket, inspects the sticky syrupy spots, then tosses it over the back of the futon and holds out a hand for the sheets.]

Here, lemme get it.

[punsofiron]

[She wouldn't have argued either way; she's slept on the futon a few times since Linkara went home. Liz passes the sheets and pillow over to Harvey, then looks down and offers her hand to the bunny, who practically blends into the dark fabric of the futon in this monochrome setting.]

[milliondollarpipes]

[He sets the pillow down and starts spreading the sheet out, tucking them in. Glancing over, he sees Frank snuffling at Liz's hand and smiles.]

Go on and pick'im up if ya want. He likes bein' held.

[punsofiron]

[...yup she can't resist the offer. She carefully scoops him up just in time to get him out of the way of the incoming bedding and cradles him against her shoulder.]

I almost forgot how soft rabbits were. This could be habit forming.

[milliondollarpipes]

[He shrugs with a grin, tucking the sheets into the cushions.]

Trust me, it is. Before you know it, you'll have a couple hoppin' around here.

[punsofiron]

I don't have the pipes for it.

[milliondollarpipes]

[He just laughs.]

Yeah, and I didn't think I had the chops to keep a pet.

[punsofiron]

What, you never had a dog or something as a kid?

[milliondollarpipes]

Nope, this guy's my first. Figures it'd be somethin' weird like a rabbit - if it weren't for some of the ponies I wouldn'tve even known what to feed him. Turns out you can't just give 'em some lettuce and call it a day.

[punsofiron]

He's totally worth it though.

[milliondollarpipes]

Yeah. [He smiles fondly.] Yeah, he is.