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“Hey, Bunny, what’s up with the eggs?”
Bunny paused, looking up at Jack.
“The eggs?” He looked down at the one in his hand. “Really?”
“Oh no, I didn’t mean those ones. I meant the ones in that room with glass around them. It looks like a museum?” Bunny set the egg down, and it jumped and ran away.
“You mean my googie collection?”
“Collection?” Jack echoed. “You have a collection of eggs?” He smiled.
“Yeah,” Bunny said defensively, preparing for teasing. It never came. Jack grabbed Bunny’s arm and pulled him up.
“You are showing me that collection, Cottontail.” Bunny hesitated, looking at Jack. It was maybe one of the first times someone wanted him to show the collection. The others really didn’t understand, despite them wanting to, and Bunny tended not to ask to show them. But this was an invitation to explain. An invitation to share.
“You sure?” Bunny asked. Jack huffed and rolled his eyes.
“Sure about what? You like eggs. I want to know what those ones are.”
Bunny smiled.
“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if you start dozing off.”
“I’m sure it’s so boring,” Jack said, yawning and leaning on Bunny like he was falling asleep. “I’ll be out quicker with you than dreamsand.” He stretched his arms, mock yawning, and then stood up and grabbed Bunny’s arm and pulled.
“Come on!”
Bunny and Jack made their way through the warren, and Jack saw the room, grinned, and made a beeline for it. It was well taken care of, but the entrance had vines growing over it, almost like a curtain. Bunny made sure that his collection was tucked in a safe spot in the Warren, just in case of any trouble that may appear.
It was one of the few areas not disturbed by the nightmares that Easter. Bunny hid a grimace. He hadn’t remembered the collection until he started cleaning up and then ran into the room in a panic. He didn’t know why he cared so much for them, and it was enough that the thought of losing the googies made him feel so…scared.
Jack chuckled, already in the room.
“Is there a light in here? There was a light when I found it.”
Bunny snapped, and soft lights illuminated the room. Jack looked around, a bit dazed.
“Normal light would harm some of the older eggs,” Bunny explained. “The lights can be turned on manually, but I have a timer on them.”
“Why a timer?”
“Too much of this,” Bunny said, waving a paw at the light, “would damage them.” Jack nodded, and started observing an egg. Bunny felt tense. Why did he feel so tense? Jack scanned the tag on the display. His eyebrows crinkled and then he laughed.
“No way!” He exclaimed, turning to Bunny and pointing at the egg. “Dinosaur egg? It’s not even a fossil!”
“Yep,” Bunny said, a smug look making its way on his face. “It was the first one I got. That one is a Hadrosauridae egg.” Jack hummed and nodded.
“You collected it when it was born?”
“I collect any unfertilized eggs.”
“So, all of these aren’t fertilized?” Jack gestured to the rest of the room. Bunny hummed.
“It’s sure a fire-proof way to make sure none of them hatch and think you’re their parent.” Jack jabbed a finger into Bunny’s side, laughing. Bunny rolled his eyes as Jack formed a duck-shape with his hands and circled Bunny chanting, “Papa, Papa.”
“You’re impossible,” Bunny deadpanned. Jack’s smile changed into a silly and fond one.
“Yep!”
They made their way over to the more recent eggs. Jack stopped at one, staring at it curiously.
“Great Snow Goose of the Himalayas? I haven’t even heard of that one.” Bunny smiled at the egg. It was white, with fragile silver dots that sprinkled the egg. Jack held a hand up, nearly touching the glass.
“It’s bigger than my head.”
It had been a gift from Kathrine, as soon as Kailash started laying eggs of her own. Unfortunately, there was no father. With Kathrine doing her own thing, it meant that they didn’t get to see her often. It reminded him of the older eggs.
Maybe he was projecting a little too much into the eggs.
The sharp pain came with looking at all the eggs whose species were no longer walking this planet. They were extinct. Gone. Bunny managed to save an egg, but no hope that they would ever continue living.
A hand grabbed his own, Jack moving into his field of vision. He was frowning, concern written in his eyes.
“You okay there? You got a little spacey,” he said. Bunny nodded.
“Just thinking.” Jack hummed, letting go.
“The egg was a gift from a friend. She’s off having her own adventures these days, but it’s always good when she visits.” Jack nodded.
“So,” he said, “you didn’t answer my question.”
“What was it?”
“Why is it so big?”
“The wingspan of an adult is roughly 45 feet, they’re very big birds.” Jack whistled slowly.
“Now I’m surprised it’s not bigger.”
Bunny laughed, and Jack smiled. He spied a little egg walking around and picked it up, examining the purple and pink sparkly shell.
“What are these? They come from the plants, I’m not sure if these can even classify as eggs.”
“Oi, it’s an egg.” Jack hummed, putting the egg on his head and walking forward, arms out as if he were balancing.
“What kind? I don’t know any eggs that can sprout legs.” Bunny walked up to Jack, watching his movements.
He didn’t need to pretend to balance. It was a ploy to get him to get distracted from the thoughts Bunny was having.
“It’s a plant from my home, you larrikin.” Jack hummed, grinning as he looked up at the egg. It sat in Jack's hair, clearly not getting that Jack wasn’t going to drop it anytime soon.
Bunny snatched it, looking it over.
“Does it have a yolk? What would it hatch into?”
“It’s chocolate,” Bunny shrugged. “Magic. They tend to just… either go rotten or turn into chocolate all together. The rotten ones usually start off weird, I don’t paint them.”
Jack hummed, looking around.
“So many eggs,” he said. Bunny nodded. Jack turned.
“I still can’t believe you have dinosaurs.” Bunny shrugged.
“It’s a complete collection, so far.”
Jack laughed, hooking his arm with Bunny’s.
“Let’s go,” he said. “North started a prank war and I think I can use some rotten eggs.”