White Rabbit

Chapter 19: I'd Expect Nothing Less

CLATTONIA

When we arrive back at the hideout, the three of us find Valentina sitting on the couch with Simon between her and Aeryn while the three of them watch a movie -- Valentina with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on her knees as her eyes are glued to the screen intently, Aeryn with her legs on Simon's lap and her elbow on the armrest of the couch as she leans her cheek against her hand, and Simon trapped between the two of them, not seeming to mind much.

Meanwhile, a clatter comes from the kitchen and a surprised yelp from Juniper.

"June?" Reece calls out and quickly places his jar down on the nearest end table, rushing to the kitchen to help her.

"Sorry, I just dropped one of my pots," Juniper laughs nervously as Reece rushes through the kitchen door.

A warm smile of approval forms on my face at this. Leave it to Reece to put loved ones before the mission. He doesn't always show it to everyone's view, but he truly cares deeply about all of us. That's easy to see for me and I know it in my heart.

"Oh, hey, you're back," Valentina says as she finally notices we've returned.

"Welcome home," Simon says and glances in our direction briefly before going back to watching the TV.

"Welcome back, or whatever," Aeryn mumbles and crosses her arms against her chest, but smiles slightly.

"Thanks," I chuckle slightly.

"How did it go?" Valentina asks.

"We found some of what we were looking for," I explain after a brief pause, "But we're going to need more information on Nightshade's alchemy. I'll explain all of it when all of us are together."

"Alright," Valentina nods and smiles as we walk passed her and into the kitchen before she goes back to watching TV.

"Oh, hey, Clattonia," Juniper beams as the two of us enter the kitchen, "I added the extract to the cookies and baked them while you were gone."

"Thank you," I nod towards Juniper.

"No problem," Juniper beams back before turning her attention to Jace.

Beside her, Reece crosses his arms against his chest and leans against the counter. Meanwhile, I take my jars and place them up in the nearest cabinet before taking Jace's jars from his arms and putting them in the cabinet as well, now only needing the one that Reece placed in the living room.

"Dinner should be ready," I say as I look at Jace, "You may as well stay, since you're already here, but you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I'll stay," Jace says almost instantly, "I actually was hoping to stay."

I nod and smile in approval, secretly elated that Jace wanted to stay in the first place, meanwhile, Reece snorts and glances off to the side, his expression softening when he notices Juniper smiling at him sadly.

"Then I guess we'd better get ready," Reece says quietly and pushes off from the counter, going to grab bowls and items.

***

During the dinner, I sit next to Reece while Jace sits on the right side of me and Juniper sits on Reece's left. Meanwhile, Katsuro sits on Juniper's left and Lucian sits on Katsuro's other side at the end of the table. Across from Jace sits Caliber while Essence sits next to her. After Essence sits Indigo and Ink, followed by Valentina and Aeryn. At the other wooden table in the dining room that's placed across from ours sits Labyrinth, Simon, and Kai.

"Sorry there's not more room over here," I call out to the others as we start adjusting our plates, silverware, and glasses.

"It's fine," Simon calls back as Kai lights a cigarette and Labyrinth simply huffs out in a sense that she doesn't care.