The Blushing Rabbit

For the first time in... years, the Major Arcana were fully meeting. It should have been a time of laughing and catching up. We hadn't seen each other since one of their own passed on. Back when we were still barely older than teens; fresh faced and weary of peace. But here we were gathering together again. Nineteen alive, two dead, and one in the process of being buried.

It was mid-January, a colder day in Georgia. The surviving siblings dressed in standard Abezian rebel soldier attire while Jackson and Evelyn Beevor, half of our foster parents, dressed for a funeral. We were quiet as Evelyn held our brother Abarron's, to us The Magician, bio-urn in her hands. A small hole had been dug so the urn could be planted and eventually grow into a tree like our other siblings. A tradition we started when the first of us had died. A way for us to return to the earth to which we came. He would be a White Ash.

Starting with me, since I was the second of the Major Arcana and his primary card holder, I took out my lighter and lit Abarron's Taro card on fire, watched it burn for a few seconds, and dropped it into the hole. After walking off to the side, I watched as my siblings repeated what I had done until Ezra, The Fool, joined us. Together we said the Abezian prayer for the dead and then silently watched as Evelyn placed the urn into the hole and Jackson filled it in.

I was the last to leave my older brother's grave. Selfishly I whispered, "Why did you have to go off and get killed? We had done our duty, we had already fought in a war. Why did you have to test your luck with another?" Why did you have to leave me in charge?

8 Months Later
Rikki shook her head as she waited for the man at the rescue center to retrieve the necessary paperwork. Two weeks earlier, she and her little brother Ezra adopted a boxer mix and needed all the medical and previous owner's paperwork for the vet's office they were taking him to. The center was supposed to have mailed them the papers a week ago, but apparently it got lost in the mail or something thus Rikki came in person.

While waiting, she decided to walk around and say hi to the dogs that still resided in the shelter. Most were happy energetic creatures that barked and jumped the moment they saw her. A few lazily looked up from their beds before falling back asleep. For a shelter, it was pretty nice and appeared to take great care of the animals. A little TING sounded behind her and she turned to see two tall men walk in. They were roughly the same height and were clearly related.

"We don't need to get a dog if you're uncomfortable with it." The man with clean cut ash blonde hair commented although even to Rikki he sounded upset at the idea.

With a sigh, the brother with dark almost black bed head hair replied, "It's fine. It better not piss all over my stuff though or next time it has to go I'm having it piss in your room." The brother laughed as a giant grin spread across his features. The dark hair man turned and spotted Rikki. "Excuse me ma'am, do you have any dogs that aren't small enough that I'll probably accidentally step on it, but not so large that it'll take up half our apartment on its own?"

The man's accent almost reminded her of her previous home; her foster home in Georgia. That was Rikki's first thought. Then she realized he though she worked there. Not really caring, she turned to look at the dogs again. "Cages 3, 7, 8, 13, and 19 all have medium sized dogs. There are a few smaller dogs that aren't speck sized and one or two that are larger but you aren't necessarily able to ride them into battle."

The man scrunched his face up for a second before barking out a laugh. "Thanks." He turned and whacked his brother with the back of his hand. "There you go, be free and find your dog love."

"Kai." The ash blonde replied in an exasperated voice. "It's going to be your dog too." The other brother shrugged before stepping farther into the area. He leisurely looked through the gates while the blonde man actively talked and interacted with the animals.

Walking over to the dark haired man who was looking at a particularly old lazy dog, Rikki asked, "Don't care for dogs?"

Kai jumped a little and turned, "They're alright, it's mostly going to be Slader's dog. He's always wanted one, but we never got one. Now that we've got our own apartment and he's got a job might as well get one right? First friend in the scary new city."

"Just moved here?" The woman asked with a slight head tilt.

"Couple days ago. Kid genius over there just got a job at a local firm."

"Congrats to him. And you followed?"

With a shrug, he replied, "Nothing else to do and he needs help paying the bills. Ain't cheap up here."

"No it's not."

Before the conversation could go any further a squat man with long hippie hair came bustling out from the back. "Miss Stykes! Good you're still here. Sorry for the wait, whoever was working with you was the messiest volunteer I have ever seen. No wonder you never received Samandriel's paperwork." The man smiled and greeted the dogs he pasted before stopping in front of Rikki. "Here is everything we have on him. Everything the previous owner gave us and the checkup we did on him when he first arrived. Thank you for being patient with me."

Rikki chuckled. "Not a problem. Thank you."

The man smiled and then addressed Slader and Kai. "I'm sorry for not being here when you arrived, but I see you have already started meeting the pups. Is there any questions you have for me?"

The brothers looked at each other a little confused before Slader piped up, "Ah, is there a way for us to interact with a few of the dogs?"

While the hippie man perked up and walked over to Slader, Kai turned to Rikki, "You don't work here?"

"Nope." The woman replied with a mischievous grin. "My brother and I came here a few times before adopting our boxer mix."

"Samandriel, right?" His cheeks had tinted red from embarrassment.

"Ez renamed him after one of our favorite TV shows." She rolled her eyes, but a fond smile graced her lips. "Seems to have taken to the name well, although we tend to shorten it to Sam."

"I can't imagine why." There was a teasing note in the man's voice that caused Rikki to chuckle. "The name's Kai. Sorry for assuming you worked here." He stuck out his hand in greeting.

Placing her hand in his, she was surprised to feel how callused they were. "Greetings, I'm Rikki. You know what they say about assuming."

"I do now." Kai chuckled finally releasing her hand.

"Kai!" Slader called causing the pair to turn.

"That's my cue. Good luck with a new dog." A little louder, Rikki waved, "Thanks for the paperwork, Mr. Stonewell. Hope you find a nice dog to adopt, Slader." Then she turned towards the door tapping the papers to her lips. Gotta get these to the vet's office so we can get Sam in. Then I should probably head over to The Blushing Rabbit to help prep for the evening. Slipping her phone out of her pocket, she leaned against the driver's side door. As she listened to the phone ring, her eyes locked on the door to the dog room as her mind wandered to the boys. She only snapped out of her thoughts of tall, tan, and calluses when her brother answered. "Ez, have you taken Sam out for a walk?... I'm heading over now to drop them off and then going to work... Make sure you take him out before you head over to Christine's... Yeah. Love you, bye." Pushing off with her butt, Rikki got in to her car and headed towards the city.

It took longer for her to drive into New York City than it did to hand over the necessary information to the receptionist and set up a checkup for Sam. Deciding it would be too much work to drive back home, hop on the train back into NYC, and then walk to the restaurant and bar, Rikki decided to try and find a parking space. After fifteen minutes of circling, she finally managed to find one. Thanking whatever gods and goddesses may or may not have been listening the woman headed into her place of work.

The Blushing Rabbit was an old converted speakeasy from the 1920s. Most of the anterior was original, but with some updates such as comfortable chairs and a decent sized stage for live music. The lighting was on the dimmer side for ambiance. The bar was in the middle and separated the classier restaurant area from the low key bar that had smaller round tables, bar stools, a few pool tables, and lounge chairs. Depending on the night, waiters/waitresses wore either all black dressier attire or a white/black dress shirt and nice jeans. Bartenders had a similar dress code. Weekends tended to be more relaxed, but still had to look put together.

The owners of the establishment was a couple that had been together for about twenty-five years but found no need to actually get married. Micheal Finnegan and Nina Santana were the type of people that on the outside looked rough and tough and once you got to know them they were equal parts of both. However, once in their good graces they treated you like family and would go to bat for you. Their children were kind, tough, and just as confident as their parents. Currently their daughter, Paige, worked a few week nights as a hostess and weekends as a waitress as she attended NYU for Education with a minor in Sign language. Chris, worked a few nights a week stocking and busing while he finished his junior year of high school. He often complained about wanting to do more, but due to him being underage his parent's refused to let him do more. The last thing they needed was for them to violate some law and get shut down.

Using the front entrance, Rikki sauntered in and greeted Paige with a smile. The strawberry blonde smiled, flashing a part of her tongue stud. Informing the older woman that the owner's were in, the college student went back to flipping through her phone while waiting for customers. Giving a thanks over her shoulder, Rikki continued through the floor where a dozen people sat either at tables or the bar talking among themselves. Being a little early meant she was able to take her time to change and prepare for a full house of music and lots of alcohol. Slipping into the employee bathroom, the bartender quickly changed into lightly ripped grey super skinny jeans, a black oxford shirt with a tank top underneath, the blood red uniform tie all bartenders were required to wear, and heeled boots with a single buckle. Once her clothes were all straightened out, next came time to quickly apply makeup. A few swipes of mascara, a light layer of shimmery brown eye shadow, carefully applied eyeliner that winged out, and the finishing touch of red matte lipstick and Rikki was ready to step onto the floor. Throwing her bag into her locker, the young woman clocked in and then stepped in behind the bar.

With three bartenders working, the bar was quickly stocked with alcohol and clean cups and washed down in preparation for the night's event. At seven, Caleb, the late morning bartender, bid Rikki and her partner farewell before clocking out for the night. At quarter to eight the Blushing Rabbit was packed as people waited for the main event: New York's prima donna Christina Vance, her sister Tara on backup vocals and flute, and Ezra Stykes on piano. Every Saturday the restaurant and bar was packed for the trio to perform their magic from 8-10. If it wasn't for Christina, the Blushing Rabbit probably wouldn't be doing as well as it was.

The performance started about three years ago. Ezra and Rikki had recently moved to the Big City, well just outside in New Jersey, due to the former earning himself a scholarship to Julliard where he met the Vance sisters. He auditioned to be their accompanist and within a few weeks he was spending every other night at their large mansion like house for the various shows the trio would be doing. Rikki was initially concerned about the amount of time her brother was spending practicing for outside shows instead of school, but Ezra appeared to be able to handle it so she let it go. Three months into their new adventure, the eldest Styke got a job at the Blushing Rabbit and suggested that the trio perform at the bar. After their first performance, they became a regular presence on Saturday nights. To this day, the young bartender wasn't sure if she was happy or frustrated with herself about the suggestion. It was great that the establishment got so much patronage, and tips!, from the show, but she couldn't say she particularly liked the sisters. There wasn't really anything wrong with them. They were usually polite, performed beautifully, and nice. However, they came from money and at times looked down at those who did not. More than once they had looked at either an employee, the owners, or even their piano player oddly, not understanding what it meant to live dollar to dollar. Tara also had the bad habit of flirting with Ez even though she knew he was in a committed relationship with another person. The sisters just rubbed the Abezian woman wrong.

As the piano and flute of the first song began, Rikki found herself making two Manhattan iced teas, five shots of rum, three vodka shots, and three glasses of on tap beer. Like every Saturday at this time, the bar was chaotic and bustling. Passing off the eight shots and the iced teas to a waitress and sliding the beers to their respective person's, Rikki turned to her next customers. "What can I get ya?" she asked while wiping her hands on a rag.

The two men turned with a smile before their eyes widened in surprise. "Rikki?" The eldest brother asked.

"Hey, Slader. Kai. How have you been?" The bartender asked just as surprised. What were the odds?

With a flirtatious grin, Kai replied, "Great. How about you?"

Rikki chuckled as she watched Slader roll his eyes. "Fine. What can I get ya this fine night?"

"What's on tap?"

"We have: Stella Artois, Blue Moon, Shock Top, and Angry Orchid. We also have Coors, Corona, etc. And locals include Sixpoint's Brunt which you can only get in New York City, KelSo's Beer Co., and Bronx Brewery."

"I think I'll have a Blue Moon for right now. How 'bout you, Slader?" The elder turned to look at brother.

"Blue Moon, please." Slader gave a dimpled smile before turning to stare at the stage.

With a nod, Rikki replied, "Coming right up." As she grabbed two cups and started filling, she asked, "How did finding a furry friend go?"

"Slader's stuck between two. A two year old pit bull named Casablanca and a seven month old lab mix named Patrice. I'm rooting for the pit bull, but he wants to go back and interact with them again either tomorrow or the next day. Aint that right?" He slapped his brother on the back while a mischievous grin spread across his lips.

"Huh? Yeah, both are great. I have to ask our landlord about dog policies though." A frown crossed his face.

"Make sure there isn't a restriction on pit bulls?" Rikki thought it was stupid that those gentle canines got such a bad rap.

"Yeah..."

Changing from the fun hard slap to a reassuring pat, Kai consoled his brother. "Either is fine with me. Although, we gotta change their names. Seriously Patrice?" He rolled his eyes that ended their journey on Rikki.

With a small chuckle, the bartender placed the beers in front of the two men. "Could be a Slavic name. I met a Russian who's name was, " She paused for a second to try and get the name straight in her head. Slowly she pronounced, "Syroyezhkin."

"Bless you!" Kai laughed.

"The woman laughed at me as I tried to pronounce it." With a frown, the woman pouted, "It gave my mouth quite a workout and she patted me on the head for my efforts."

With a wink the older brother smirked. "Practice makes perfect, right?"

As Rikki blushed and took Slader's card to open up a tab, the younger brother shook his head in exasperation. "It's was nice seeing you again, but I'm going to take my brother now before he embarrasses himself even more."

Kai let out a 'Hey!' as Rikki handed back the card. With a small smile, she said, "Enjoy the show." The brothers waved before weaving through the crowd to find a seat.

As Rikki started working on her next set of orders, Michael, the other bartender, saddled up next to her. "So who were those delicious young men that made the ever stoic Rikki blush?" He grinned, his body language begging for gossip. Gossip the woman had no intention of speaking. She hummed as she continued to poor three more shots. "Come on, don't be like that. All I've heard about is 'like how great Christine is, like she's amazing!' Please, make my night better."

"We are making beautiful tips tonight." As Rikki turned, Michael sighed. "Here you are, would you like me to open a tab or pay for the drinks now?" As the customer replied that he wanted to pay now, she opened the register to drop in the amount owed and pulling out fifteen. "Thank you, have a great night."

The flow of people didn't thin until almost an hour into the set. As Rikki took a drink from her water bottle and leaned against the counter, she heard a deep voice to her right. "Hope I didn't catch you slacking on the job."

Capping her water bottle, Rikki replied, "You wish, but even us bartenders need a drink once in a while. What can I get you this time?" She gave a small smile as she rolled up her sleeves to her elbows.

Kai chuckled, "Another Blue Moon and I'll try the local beer that's only available here."

"The Brunt?" Kai nodded his eyes tracking her as she went to retrieve the drunk. "Hope you aren't driving tonight." Resting the beer top on the lip of the bar, the bartender gave a quick hard tap on the beer easily popping the cap off. Kai whistled in awe as she placed the Sixpoint in front of him.

As she filled another cup with Blue Moon, Kai asked, "You trying to impress me with your beer opening prowess?" There was a grin as he took a drink.

Letting out a chuckled, she topped off the beer. "Impressed?" A flirtatious smirk graced her lips as she placed the glass in front of him.

"I am. Anymore tricks?"

"Well, won't you just have to wait and see. Enjoy the last hour of the show."

"I think I will." He gave lighthearted chuckle. His eyes held her's for a second longer before giving a second wink of the night and returning to his table.

Since it was currently slow at the bar, Rikki decided to take some of the dirty dishes to the back and return with clean ones. As she returned and started restocking the glasses, Michael once again found his way to her side. "I saw you flirting, now talk."

"Shouldn't you be working?"

"Darling, there aint anyone. Stop deflecting and talk before I start gossiping with one of the waitresses or waiters. Your choice."

With a sigh, "Fine, but this stays between you and me." She glared at her coworker who put up his hands. "His name is Kai and the light haired man with him was his brother Slader. They're new here and I met them at the shelter. Not much to tell really. I just met them."

"And smitten already!"

"Hardly smitten. You know the more you flirt the higher the tip is usually."

"Usually, but that wasn't flirting for money flirting. You find him attractive."

"So?"

"So, after your shift go talk to him!"

"I don't know..."

"None of that. You are a beautiful, caring, strong woman and that man over there would be lucky to have you."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Michael." Rikki rolled her eyes and she placed the empty bin on the shelf to be filled with dirty glasses. "But he just moved here, I doubt he's looking for someone."

"He was flirting back with you, wasn't he? And he was watching you. He's interested."

"We'll see. If he's still here after my shift ends, I'll think about talking to him."

"You will talk to him even if I have to do the cliche push so you tumble into him." His voice was serious and she didn't doubt that he would push her. Possibly even make it obvious just to embarrass her.

"Why is this so important to you?" She threw her hands up. She was just fine, she had other things to keep her mind occupied. Like 17 other people to look after.

"Because darling, you need fun in your life. And he," Micheal threw a thumb in Kai's direction. "Looks like he knows how to have fun."

Deadpanning, she replied, "You do remember I don't particularly care about sex at first, right?"

"Yes, yes your demi, I remember." He waved his hand as if that was hardly a point. "Sex isn't everything, I know. But he could be good for you. Get you out of the house and work!"

"I have Sam now to do that."

"Jesus, woman! You need more human interaction outside of work."

"What if I'm an introvert and don't want more friends?"

Michael glared at her. "It'd be nice to double date with you on occasion you know."

"I can double with Seth, we have quite a bit in common."

"You are not going on a double date with me with my own boyfriend." His eyes narrowed as his long finger jabbed at her.

"Selfish. Then I'll go with Mary."

"We are not going on a double date with you 'dating' one of my significant others!"

"Then I'll go on a date with you."

Michael let out a snort, "I'd like to see Mary and Seth be okay with that. Just get your own. I understand that very few people actually tickle your fancy, but this guy is so why not try?"

"Because he could crush all my hopes and laugh at me."

Bopping her on the nose with the same finger he had pointed with, Michael replied, "I highly doubt that. As I said he was flirting and watching you. Trust me, he's interested."

With a sigh, Rikki relented. "Fine. Can we get back to work now." With a glee filled grin, Michael nodded and disappeared to the opposite side of the bar.

For the last forty five minutes of the show, a steady stream of people came and went from the bar. The waitresses and waiters were also visited often enough that the bartenders knew tips were going to be great. Every so often, Rikki would pause and smile as she watched her brother perform. He moved gracefully with the music and never missed a note. Anyone who looked at her could see how proud she was for the young man. It poured out of her and was contagious.

As was tradition, Rikki slipped out from behind the bar and ran on stage. Within seconds she jumped on her brother, legs gently wrapped around his hips. "You were wonderful, brother. Best performance yet!"

"You always say that!" Ezra laughed as he gave his sister a tight squeeze and then let her down. "Did you like our new songs? The last one we only practiced three times. Did it sound alright?"

She could see him squirm nervously. "Sounds like you've been playing it for years. I couldn't hear anything that suggests the contrary."

"Good, although," The pianist leaned in so only she could hear. "We shall see what the sisters have to say. They'll probably say we sucked." Rikki giggled into his shoulder as he raised his voice to a higher pitch that sounded nothing like Christine or her sister. "We did terrible. Ez you were too slow on the third part. And Tara you were late coming in for the first chorus. Were you sleeping or making googly eyes at a guy again?"

"You're terrible!" Rikki stepped back trying to hide her laugh. "I should get back to work. Great job and I'll talk to ya more after my shift. Okay?"

"Sounds great. The usual pleeeease."

"Of course." She patted his cheek before turning and returning to her post. As promised when Ez arrived at the bar a Rum and coke was waiting for him. He thanked his sister before wandering off to talk with some people. Not even fifteen minutes later Rikki looked up from counting out a patron's cash to see Kai leading Christine out the door, whispering something to make her blush. A sour feeling churned in her stomach. Trying not to make it obvious she smiled as she returned the cash and thanked the person as they left a decent sized tip behind.

"But..." Michael's upset voice came from behind her.

Knowing exactly what he was talking about she shrugged. "Maybe we read him wrong. Perhaps he's flirty with everyone."

"I'm sorry, Rikki."

"Don't be, I'm not that heartbroken. I barely knew him." She gave a gentle smile and patted her friend's shoulder. Inside however, she was disappointed. It really had been years since she felt even an incline of attraction towards another person. Rejection sucked.