Work Text:
August 1st, 1973
A 13-year-old Rolfe was walking down the street, a baseball bat slumped over his shoulder, and a baseball in hand. He was going to see his friends, Dook and Max. They had often met up on weekends to play baseball, or just hang out. As Rolfe approached Dook's house, he could see Dook fiddling with a toy rocket on his porch. He looked up, noticing Rolfe, and ran to him.
"I'm so glad you made it, Rolfe!" Dook exclaimed, hugging his friend. Rolfe smiled.
"Yeah, it took some convincing from my mom," Rolfe replied, chuckling.
Dook smiled. "Well, Max’s already here, he's in the backyard," Dook said, gesturing to his house. Rolfe beamed and ran towards the backyard, Dook trailing behind. Max heard their footsteps, whipping his head around.
"Rolfe!" The polar bear exclaimed, waving. Rolfe smiled widely and waved back.
"You up for baseball?" Rolfe asked, throwing his baseball up into the air and catching it.
"Yeah, sure," Max said. Rolfe turned to Dook.
“What about you?” The young wolf tilted his head. Dook shook his head, looking down a bit.
“Mom said I’m not allowed to play ever since Fatz hit me in the head with a ball on accident,” The dog replied. Both Max and Rolfe looked at each other and giggled a bit.
“Well, you can keep score, alright?” Rolfe replied. The dog grinned and nodded his head eagerly. He loved feeling important, for some reason.
So Max and Rolfe played. Dook kept score. It was a nice afternoon for the young boys, until it started raining. Rolfe groaned.
“What the heck?” He looked up at the sky as raindrops fell on his face. Dook quickly ran to the backdoor and opened it, gesturing for Max and Rolfe to get in.
Rolfe shook the water off his fur, getting everyone else even wetter in the process.
“Sorry,” He said sheepishly.
“What are we gonna do now?” Max asked, crossing his arms. Dook and Rolfe just looked at each other and shrugged. Suddenly, Dook’s face lit up.
“We can read books in my basement!” He said, tail wagging. Rolfe and Max just kind of looked at each other with confusion
“What??”
“I have a bunch of books, and one of my favorite things to do is build a blanket fort and read books in the basement! I have all kinds of books, non-fiction about space, story books, textbo-”
“Uh, Dook, we aren’t geeks,” Rolfe said, crossing his arms. Max giggled. Dook frowned.
“C’mon, Rolfe, it’d be fun! Please, for me?” He gave Rolfe puppy-dog eyes, and Rolfe gave in.
“Fine, but you better pick a good book. But why in the basement?” Rolfe shook his head as Dook led the two boys down the stairs. It was pitch black. Max and Rolfe waited at the end of the stairs as Dook rummaged around for a flashlight. He finally found one, turning it on and facing it towards a pre-built fort, made of blankets, pillows, and cardboard boxes.
“Woahhh!” Max was amazed by how cool and well-constructed it was. He climbed in and sat on one of the pillow seats, bouncing up and down in it. “This is so cool!”
Dook grinned proudly. “Thank you! Me and Fatz’ little brother worked hard on it,” He said as he climbed in and sat beside Max. Rolfe sneered.
“I suppose it’s nice,” He took a seat beside Dook. Dook faced the flashlight upwards so there could be more light.
“So, what book are we reading?” Max asked. Dook smiled and reached over Rolfe, picking up a book.
“My favorite! The Adventures of Jay the Space Dog,” Dook said excitedly, holding the book up.
“Why are you so obsessed with space?” Rolfe questioned, crossing his arms. He didn’t mean for it to come off so judgy, he loved hearing Dook ramble on about space, he thought it was endearing. But he was genuinely curious.
Dook narrowed his eyes. “Why not? It’s so interesting! Think about all the planets that nobody’s ever been on before, and how many stars are in the sky! The galaxies!” Dook rambled. Rolfe grinned a bit.
“Gosh, you’re such a geek.”
“Says you,” Dook retorted.
“How so?”
“Don’t you still do puppet shows and stuff?” Dook laughed.
Rolfe’s face turned red with embarrassment. “Do not! I gave that up years ago.” He crossed his arms.
“If you say so,” Dook laughed. “Anyway, can we please read the book?” Dook pleaded.
“Fine, let’s start reading,” Rolfe gave in. Both him and Max snuggled up next to Dook to read the hound’s favorite book. They read for hours and hours, and went through probably about half the series.
//
"If he's fighting aliens, why doesn't he just use a laser gun?" Rolfe questioned, looking at Dook. "It's stupid!"
"Laser guns aren't real, Rolfe."
"Neither are aliens!"
"You don't know that, you've never been to space!"
"Yeah, but other people have."
Dook smiled smugly. "Just like I will one day, and I'll prove to you they exist," Dook retorted. Rolfe laughed a bit.
Eventually, Dook’s mom came downstairs, and told Max and Rolfe it was time to go home. Rolfe and Max protested, but ultimately lost the fight. Dook walked them out the front door sadly and pulled them in for a group hug.
“That was…actually really fun,” Rolfe said, smiling at Dook, “We should do it again sometime.” Dook's face lit up at that. Max nodded in agreement.
“Who’s the geek now?” He teased.
Rolfe laughed sheepishly and waved at Dook, walking the other direction, towards home.
He really liked Dook.