It had been a tiring day at Watership Down – digging, patrolling, getting bossed around by Bigwig – and most rabbits had since retired to their runs to sleep. Some of the others had spent a long time sitting out by the tree atop the hill, laughing and exchanging stories and jokes. For a brief moment, it was like everything was perfect. But now everyone was exchanging pleasantries and entering the burrow. All except Hawkbit and Dandelion.
“You know what? I really like the peacefulness of the sunset,” Dandelion spoke up uncertainly, breaking the awkward silence settling between the two. Hawkbit hummed something inaudible in response, ears flicking as he attempted to ignore the sound of Clover calling from him inside the burrow. Dandelion raised an eyebrow and glanced to his friend.
“Shouldn’t you be going?” He questioned, surprised when he received a no in response. Hawkbit stretched and yawned.
“Clover’s way to clingy. I think it was a mistake to ask her to be my mate,” Hawkbit responded curtly.
Dandelion tilted his head, confused. Hawkbit refused to meet his eyes, any emotion he was feeling was completely hidden. His body language suggested nothing – he only sat up completely straight with his ears angled towards the setting sun. “Have you told Clover?”
Hawkbit stiffened and his claws curled into the dirt. “No. She’s nesting – time for kittens, I guess,” He shrugged. “Not the best time to tell her.”
The two sat in silence again, with Dandelion trying to process what he was just told. Everybody knew that Dandelion was terrible at keeping his mouth shut. Hawkbit must’ve known that it would eventually get to Clover somehow. He was about to ask what he should do if confronted by Clover or anyone who’d sympathise with her (which was everybody), when he noted Hawkbit’s expression. It was calm, almost relived.
“It feels so good to say that out loud,” Hawkbit sighed, eyes closing. Dandelion nodded, staring down at his paws. “Right.”
Hawkbit looked over his shoulder to Dandelion. An embarrassed warmth radiated from the buck. “Dandelion, can I be honest for a moment?”
He blinked, and then nodded. “Sure.”
“I…” Hawkbit cleared his throat and stared down at his paws, busily inspecting them. “What would you say if I told you bucks were much more interesting than does?”
Dandelion cracked a smile. “At least that’s cleared up. And here I was thinking what everybody was saying wasn’t true and you just didn’t like Clover personally,” He laughed.
A confused expression crossed Hawkbit’s face, so Dandelion hurried to explain himself.
“Hazel and Strawberry told us that was most likely the case. Bigwig’s so stupid he hasn’t realised himself.”
Hawkbit made a soft oh, and then swallowed roughly. “I’m not done.”
Dandelion nodded. “Go on then.”
Hawkbit took a deep breath. “And I think I like you.”
Dandelion’s eyes widened, but he quickly loosened his tense muscles. “Less obvious, but accepted all the same,” He shrugged as he reached over to press his nose against Hawkbit’s.
...
The bright summer sun was beating down onto the rabbits on the hill. From Hawkbit’s post resting against the trunk of the tree that sat atop the hill, staring down onto the surrounding land, he could see the other rabbits making the most of the sun before it got too hot. He hardly felt Dandelion toying with his ears – a surprisingly gentle touch, considering Dandelion seemed to do everything with as much excitement as was humanly possible – with only the rise and fall of the other buck’s chest as his head rested against the ribcage of his lover.
“Y’know,” Dandelion spoke up after a long silence, pausing with Hawkbit’s ear in between his forepaws. “Patrolling will get too tedious the further into the summer we get.”
Hawkbit flicked his ear out of Dandelion’s hold and rolled over onto his stomach. His chin rested against the soft, downy fur of Dandelion’s stomach. “Planning a revolution?”
He received a shrug in response, head tipping to the side and long sandy brown ear flopping. “A revolution sounds pretty good right about now.”
Hawkbit snorted, rolling back to his previous position. “Nobody will join you. They’re all too scared of Bigwig to revolt against him.”
“Strawberry might-“
“Really? You’re counting on Strawberry, the buck who idolises the ground Bigwig walks on, to help you out in your weird revolution fantasy?”
Dandelion puffed out his cheeks and averted his gaze. The usual response anyone got when Dandelion realised whatever he was planning was proved to be unsuccessful with logical reasoning. Hawkbit rolled his eyes and kept staring out to the landscape painted in front of him. “I mean, I’d join you.”
He could practically feel Dandelion’s smug smile and the prided lift of his chin. Hawkbit scoffed and snuggled down into a more comfortable position. “Not because of you, pretty boy. Because I don’t want to work anymore than you do.”
…
“Why would you think that babysitting was a good idea?!”
Hawkbit glared at Dandelion, whiskers twitching in annoyance. Dandelion grinned, the three kittens bouncing around his paws, oblivious to the icy atmosphere surrounding Hawkbit. Snowdrop, the smallest one of the three, paused and stared timidly up at Hawkbit, big blue eyes filled with excitement and wonder. “Mister Hawkbit,” She began in a sweet, childish voice. “Can you play with us?”
Gilia – much less introverted than Snowdrop or Mallow – bounded impatiently over to Hawkbit and stood next to her sister, head high and chest puffed. “Don’t bother Snowdrop. Daddy says he’s a huge grump.”
A staring contest began between the arrogant Gilia and obviously irked Hawkbit. The three remaining rabbits watched on with varying amounts of concern, until Dandelion decided it was best to break them up. He reached for Hawkbit and pushed lightly against his shoulder, effectively breaking his contact from Gilia, who then hurried back to her siblings, no doubt to boast. Dandelion frowned at Hawkbit. “Not a god way to babysit.”
“Maybe Hazel shouldn’t be making out that I’m this huge villain or whatever,” He snapped back, bristling.
Dandelion laughed, relaxing Hawkbit to a simple scowl. “Sure thing. Can we get back to babysitting?”
Hawkbit hesitated, and then nodded. Dandelion’s laugh could melt even the coldest of hearts.
Topic: hawkbit and dandelion - a trilogy (Read 1576 times)