8/15/23

Pippi laid stomach-down on the couch in the hideout of the Boys. He was thankful nobody else was around, so he was drawing to his heart’s content. 

He didn’t hear Billy come in. 

Billy looked over the man’s shoulder, wondering what his little rabbit friend was up to when no-one else was around. From his tall angle, Billy watched as Pippi doodled away. Drawings of.. Him? Various doodles of him, and Pippi, holding hands and other innocent affections, with hearts strewn about. 

Doodles he only got a glance off, before he announced, “What’s all this, then?”

It would be an understatement to say that Pippi was startled. He scrambled, desperately trying to cover up the drawings. But it was too late.

He stared up at Billy with wide eyes like a deer in headlights, his face blushing profusely. 

“C’mon now. ‘and it over.” Billy said, beckoning Pippi to hand the drawings to him.

Pippi surrendered the drawings over to him, his rabbit ears flattening as a sign of his embarrassment. He broke eye contact with Billy, now staring bashfully down at the floor.

Billy took a closer look at the drawings and chuckled. It was amusing, really. He had always wondered why Pippi acted so peculiar around him in particular, and he was amused to know that this was the reason. He would rather it be a crush than something more malicious. Plus, he had always thought the rabbit-eared man was cute. It was good to know that they found him charming in return, and found solace in that charm. It was nice. It was a giddy sort of internal feeling that Billy hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since Becca.

Billy smirked, looking back down at the man bashfully cowering before him. “I didn’t know you were an artist, Pips.” Billy decided not to discourage the little man. The poor rabbit looked like he was already flaying himself within his own head.

Pippi looked back up at Billy, surprised by his positive reaction. 

Billy reached his free hand out and pet Pippi on the head, right between the ears. “You’re a cute lad, pipsqueak. You should’ve said somethin’ earlier. Or, eh… showed me somethin’.” 

Pippi was quick to shake his head.

“What? Afraid I was gonna bite’cha?” 

After a pause, Pippi nodded.

“Nah, lad.” Billy stopped petting him and got on one knee, getting closer to Pippi in order to seem less intimidating. “Listen.” He softened his voice, too, just in case it helped. (It did.) “You can tell me things like this, alright? I won’t get mad at’cha.” 

Pippi’s ears perked up a little, looking up at him as if to ask, really?

“Truth be told, lad…” Billy put a hand on Pippi’s shoulder. “I’ve been thinkin’ about stuff like this too. I like ya, Pippi.” 

Pippi’s eyes widened again, his ears perking straight up. His face blushed profusely again, but this time, he smiled. He smiled wide, and it warmed Billy’s heart. It still didn’t prepare Billy for the way Pippi bounded into his arms.

Billy dropped the drawings to catch the smaller man and wrap him up into a warm hug. Billy couldn’t help but laugh. 

If Billy was to be completely honest with himself, he never thought Pippi would like him back. Pippi was just so… innocent. Billy was so mean, and he would be lying to himself if he said he was trying to get better with that. But Billy wasn’t as mean around Pippi, because he didn’t want to risk hurting the one remaining adorable charm in his life. Maybe that’s why Pippi liked him. Because Pippi was the only person Billy let his guard down around, despite neither of them truly realizing that. 

Despite Billy’s gruff exterior, Pippi remained upbeat. Upbeat in a harsh world, by the side of a harsh man. Without even having to say a word, Pippi exuded a sunshine that warmed the coldness of Billy in a way he’d never felt before. It was addictive. He was more than relieved that the man liked him back. He was enamored.