A/N: Hey guys! Since so many of you asked for a sequel to what started as a oneshot, I decided to come back to it and write a second part. I hope the fluffy lovers out there appreciate this as the previous one, as it contains A LOT.
Enjoy!
Part 2
"What are you laughing at, pretty boy?" Kenny raises an eyebrow at Luke, while paying attention to keeping his voice down in order to not disturb Clem's sleep.
The younger man moves a bit forward into the room, trying to suppress the little grin which is still playing on his face. "Well, not bad for someone whose main occupation is being a jerk to anyone every day of the week."
Kenny's lips lift into a sly smile. "Huh. Asshole," he comments, with a tiny shake of his head, before following Luke's gaze which is now on the little girl in his arms. She still looks sound asleep, thankfully. "I warn ya, if you wake her up, I ain't gonna sing ya a song to help you sleep once we're done."
Luke huffs, slightly. "Can't say I look forward to that, anyway," he replies, before smiling a bit at Clementine's peaceful features. "She really needed some rest after all we've been through, huh?"
Kenny simply nods, his only eye completely focused on the child. "She's the toughest little girl I've ever knew, but… ya know, she is still a little girl," he says softly.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Luke agrees. He notices the fondness with which Kenny's staring at her and his smile grows slightly larger. "But don't tell her, I'm sure Clem doesn't think the same," he adds, with a hint of a mischievous tone in his voice, before grabbing one of the jacket they had found in the cabin, as he starts to head out. "I'll do a quick check of the perimeter."
Kenny briefly turns his head towards him. "Fine, don't take too long," he gruffly says, ignoring the smirk the younger man sends towards him.
"I knew you care-" Luke teases.
"Like hell," Kenny cuts short, returning his attention to Clementine.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
"K-Kenny...?" Clementine opens her eyes, soon finding herself very disoriented. She feels some movements around her, and she's relieved when she can finally see Kenny's solid frame sitting beside her.
"Shhh, it's alright, darlin'..." she watches as he throws a quick look above his own shoulder. Thud, again that sound. "What the hell is he doing?" she hears him cursing under his breath, before seeing him turning once more towards her, his voice sounding a lot more urgent now. "I need you to stay quiet while I go check on that turd, Clem, just... here," he draws his gun out and hands it to her, "in case things go south, you know what to do."
"You might need it more than me, Kenny-"
"Nah, I've got this," he stands up and grabs his crowbar from a corner, before giving her a serious stare, "Mike and Bonnie are in the other room, go fetch 'em if I ain't back in ten minutes."
"I... yeah, just... be careful," she whispers in her hoarse voice, and he gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"I'll be right back, hon," he assures her with a warm smile.
Kenny leaves the sitting room, heading towards the main entrance of the cabin. The second one is tightly blocked by a barricade made of some shelves, so he's sure that one's not gonna be a problem at all. His hands are clamped around his weapon as he carefully approaches the door, one step after another, while the thuds on the wooden deck outside are drawing nearer and nearer, before they suddenly come to an end. The second after, his eye catches some movements behind the small glass window he's now staring at, and - right after that, his mind processes the doorknob starting to turn. The tall man only has the time to ready the crowbar in his grasp, preparing himself to surprise anyone or anything trying to make its way in.
Lifting the sturdy weapon above his head, he actually sighs in relief once Luke's face appears in front of him. But then, his only eye narrows and his expression immediately grows suspicious at the snowy shape who's resting into the younger man's arms.
"The hell do ya think you're doin'?" Kenny growls, his glare never leaving the little frame Luke is carrying. He could swear he saw it moving. "What the fuck is this?"
"Geez, Kenny... you scared the crap outta me," Luke scolds him, while trying to get past him and into the entrance to the cabin. "Thought you were gonna bash our heads in like fucking walkers."
"I'm still waiting for an answer, boy," Kenny repeats, reluctantly letting him inside. His one good eye then falls on the coughing little figure of Clementine, leaning on the doorway in order to support herself. "Clem, why are you up, hon? You're gonna get worse if you don't stay tucked," he immediately closes the door behind him, before approaching the girl.
"I was w-worried," she answers, sneezing softly into her hand, her cheeks appearing rosier than before though. "... what's that noise?" she then asks, hearing what seemed like a small whimper coming from Luke's hands.
The man in the orange shirt feels both Kenny and Clem's inquisitive gaze on him now and he sighs, knowing that the time for an explanation has finally come. "I... I found a puppy," he simply says, almost childishly. He actually feels really stupid now that he's said it out loud and he's rewarded with an arched brow from both of them. "I... what can I say, I really like dogs, okay?" he adds, probably sounding even more immature.
"You... found a dog," Kenny repeats, suspiciously glancing at the fur-ball now pretty visible in Luke's hands. "Are you fuckin' nuts? How are we supposed to take care of a goddamn dog? You may have not noticed, farm boy, but we're already in a fuckin' precarious situation here!" He shakes his head before looking at Clementine, still beside him. "C'mon Clem, let me help ya to the coach, before I sort this mess out..." he says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and guiding her back into the sitting room.
She tries to get a glance at the animal, but Kenny's protective frame makes it impossible.
"What was I supposed to do?" Luke tries to defend himself, as he follows them. "He was bunkering down in the house deck, whimpering and trembling because of the cold... he must have been abandoned."
"Oh, that's so sad," Kenny mocks him, carefully covering Clem with his green coat, while sparing a glance at what looked like a mini wolf, now wrapped up in Luke's jacket near the roaring fire. "Well, take a damn look around ya! How are we supposed to feed it, hm? And what if it has rabies? We have a child and a baby to care about, they're our priority, not this... this..." He's suddenly interrupted by a loud sneeze. Then another. And another one.
"Kenny," Luke says tentatively, while refraining a chuckle, "don't tell me you're allergic to dogs?"
"Apparently, I fuckin' am, genius," comes Kenny's snarky reply, dropping on the couch beside Clementine, while trying to clean his nose the best that he can. "Thankfully, it's just a minor one... Had a dog once, Katjaa insisted adopting it for Duck since he had no siblings. That's how I found out I'm allergic," he explains, reminiscing those happy times.
"Well, what do you say, Clem? You still haven't spoken up your mind," Luke encourages her, as he notices her cautious inspection of the puppy.
"I... I don't have fond memories regarding dogs," she starts, watching as the puppy seems to be enjoying the warmness of the fire, while sniffing around and playing with Luke's jacket. She still remembers her last encounter with Sam, the stray dog that had attacked her because of its hunger and left her with an ugly scar on her arm. This puppy, though, looks as helpless as a lamb. "But it seems like a really cute doggie," she then says, a raspy giggle finally escaping her lips as the pup starts to bite its "makeshift blanket".
"Hey, don't do that," Luke tries to make it stop, without success. "It's the only good jacket I could find..." he sighs, resigning himself to just let it do what it wants. "We'll scavenge some more in the morning, and it's not like it'll stay forever with us... we could just take care of it until it's grown up enough to heed for itself... it could even turn up to be useful, y'know... Well?" he asks Kenny expectantly, while the older man is intent at looking at Clementine's content smile.
It's been a long time since I last saw her smiling like that, he finds himself thinking, his own wolfish features softening at the sight before his eyes.
He clears his voice a bit, roughly saying: "I guess you could give it a bit of the canned food left from before..."
"It's settled then," Luke's face beams with joy as he directs a gentle wink towards Clementine, which returns the smile. He rises to his feet, in order to go fetch something for the dog to eat, leaving them alone for the time being.
"Which breed do you think it is?" Clementine asks, curiously watching the dog minding its own business near the fire. She's never been much of an expert when it comes down to dogs.
"Uh... I believe that's a husky," Kenny answers, rubbing his nose in an attempt to prevent another strong sneeze, unsuccessfully. The puppy seems to finally become aware of them, as it raises its head and inclines it, attentively looking at them with its acute blue eyes.
"Are you going to be okay?" Clementine's voice distracts Kenny from the dog's approaching them.
"'Course, hon... it's just a small allergy, nothing like a flu. Don't sweat on it, okay?" he reassures her, as she sounds quite concerned for the fact that the pup could provoke a reaction to him.
"You know I could take care of you, just as you did for me," she quietly grins at him, her puffy little face appearing way more healthier than before. "I can sing, too."
Kenny chuckles lightly, gently pulling her into a side-to-side hug. "You are a little devil, you know that, darlin'?"
"Tickling me is not fair, Kenny!" she complains, between her childish giggles and her attempts to free herself from his playful hold. Between her effort to fight back, she catches sight of the pup actually joining the tickling war on the couch and trying to get a hold of Kenny's sweater between its small jaws.
"Alright, alright... I surrender," Kenny jokingly begs, between a chain of sneezes, his hands up in resignation.
"Having fun already, you guys?" Luke returns smiling from one ear to an other. "I knew you were a softie inside, Kenny... it even looks a bit like you, y'know?" His smile grows even larger, as he earns a small chuckle from Clementine.
"You really don't wanna know what your face will soon look like if you don't make this little fur-ball stop all this fuss-"
"C'mere, buddy," Luke frees him from the pup's attention with a low whistle, before feeding it the food he has retrieved. "We should find it a name. I believe it's a 'him', by the way."
"Hey, I thought we said he'd only stay to recover, and since he looks like he's already a few months old anyway- "
"Kenny," Clem's golden eyes find his warm brown one, pleadingly, as she gently interrupts him, "please?" she asks, emphasizing the word, knowing too well the power it has on him, if coming from her.
Kenny's lips curve into a little smile, remembering how difficult it is to just enjoy little moments of blissful peace like the ones they have just shared together. He wants to be able to gift Clementine of as many as possible for many days, months and maybe - who knows? - years to come. He wants nothing more than to give her a second chance at her stolen childhood, or - at the very least - as close as it can get to that.
"Well..." he starts, staring intensely at her expectant little face, his voice carrying the same emotion of a dedicated and proud parent, "... how can I say 'no' to my only sunshine?"
