Prologue Chapter 2: A Walk in the Park

"So Carl sthaid that I should jump to the lamppost." Roger jumped to said lamppost. "Sthwing around and here I'll be sthinging the line 'It's a great day out!' Then jump down again sthinging," he hopped back to the ground with his arms spread wide, "'C'mon and shout! It's a great day out! na na na na, the rest of the lyrics."

The rabbit dropped back his arms again. "But I told Carl, what if I'd swing around the lamppost and fall off in the middle of my line? Because-"

"Because half of the audience would be hoping for it and half won't be expecting it," Cheri replied seriously, a hand on her chin.

Roger thrust his yellow-gloved hands to her. "Exactly!" he cried, "Becausthe-"

"It would be funny," the doe said, nodding in agreement.

Roger spread his arms out wide, addressing either the heavens or the lights in particular, "Finally! Someone who understandsth!"

Cheri tilted her head quizzically to the side, her waist-length ears swishing to the same direction. "Don't you have Herman to talk over this with, Mon'Ami?"

The rabbit suddenly whipped up a carrot like a cigar. He gave her a look of half-lidded apathy with a twist to his mouth. "Mah role is ter act cute and babble jargons, rabbit. Don't ya think it's enough ah don' act like ma' age for a livin'?"

Cheri stared at him.

Their intermingling laughter spread throughout the set and Poppins shook her head. She turned around to look at Jessica. The singer stared at them with an impassive expression. She turned her back and walked away without another word.

She passed by Poppins when the nanny spoke. "Didn't you want to find out?"

Jessica casted her a glance. The nanny jerked her head back and Jessica turned around to see the director of the show and his assistant strode towards the two rabbits.

"Frank!" Cheri exclaimed, seeing them.

"Miss Cottontail, I'm so glad you could join us," the director said, shaking her hand. "This is my director assistant, Clark. We've been discussing about toon timing and I was wondering if you could demonstrate?"

Jessica's cool expression hid her confusion. Roger was standing right there, why not him? But then the rest of the crew seemed to be drawing closer. Jessica sensed this happens every time Cheri was around.

Cheri nodded. "Of course," she says, walking to the set.

The crew had just finished filming "A Walk in the Park" which featured all the possible hazards a bunny nanny can run into in a park with a very unmindful baby. She walked the length of Scene 2 –a playground and slowly explored. She then walked to the middle and turned slowly around in a circle, pointing at every gag before she put out her hands in front of her like she's framing the length of the seesaw.

She nodded in satisfaction and tied a bandana over her eyes. She put her hands in her back before calling out.

"D'accord, Frank! I'm ready!"

Someone set off the gags switch.

Immediately, Frisbees whiz at her! But Cheri suddenly dodged, ducked and dipped at every turn. The fleet of Frisbees became boomerangs which she avoided with graceful ease as though she instinctively knew where each one would hit her and where each one would come back.

Everybody watched with bated breath.

Twist. Turn. Jump. Pirouette! Her dance-dodging caused her to move into a haphazardous swing set but she just glided and sidestepped through them with a sway of her ears. Out of the swinging swings, she casually walked backwards into a seesaw. Barely shifting the hands behind her back, one seesaw end tilted as soon as she reached the end. A rock suddenly crashed onto the tilted seesaw end and Cheri catapulted into the air, landing in a graceful arc on top of the slide.

She became a blur as she slid down and jumped up –missing the mushy mud pit waiting for her on the landing. Somersaulting in the air, she landed in front of them, her long ears acting like gliders to slow down her descent.

Silence, then...

A crashing applause ensued. Cheri took off her blindfold and responded with a ballerina's bow. Roger clapped the hardest, whooping.

Clark stared at her. "How did you do that?"

"Cheri's got an amazing timing sense!" Roger said, hopping up and down, "That was fantastic, Cheri!"

The doe laughed. "It's not just timing sense, Roger. It's also getting the estimates of the distances and figuring out the gags to be used." She turned to Clark. "It's the same sense everyone uses to know when to deliver the punch line."

"Only she uses it not to get hit!" Roger exclaimed. "As for me it's to… Bam! Pow!" he said, demonstrating explosions with his hands.

"I would have let myself slip on this baseball in the end," Cheri said to Clark, toeing the ball that Clark just noticed.

"Why?" the assistant asked.

"Because it would be funny!" the rabbits said in unison, one quoting scholarly, and the other with passion. Roger casted a glance at Cheri. She wasn't naturally funny but after studying with the masters for so long, she understood.

"It's about the build-up the timing causes," Cheri explained. "Noticed how everyone was holding their breath, wondering if I would get hit? Counting helps, if you know the length of your stride." She then went into a tirade of physics and toons physics.

The crew started to disperse, the show over. Jessica looked at Cheri, straight-back and proper then to the jumping, excitable Roger. Roger's theatrical skills were instinctive improvisations. Cheri, she observed, was more disciplined and did so with dignified grace.

In their own ways, they're both masters of comedy. Jessica felt like she's outside, looking in. She frowned.

"Cheri is one of the pioneers of actually documenting Toon Physics Application," Poppins sniffed. "Like I said, she could have been great. But she chose to teach."

"For someone who's supposed to work with children, you seem very crossed at the idea," Jessica replied, snapped out of her thoughts.

Clark thanked them and walked off with the director, leaving Roger and Cheri behind.

"Jeepers! Remember when we made a short of Lindy Hop that you showed to your students about Sense of Timing?" Roger asked.

"Of course," she replied primly, "With you, I don't have to count." Without another word, she closed her eyes and fell backward. Roger zips and suddenly appeared to support her.

Cheri opened her eyes and grinned up at him from his hold. "See?"

"I'd always be there to catch you."

The very air flared making Poppins whip her head around. Jessica breezed past, making a beeline for the exit with her purse. Poppins raised a brow –looks like they won't be walking together.

"Hey-Mary-I-know-Herman's-in-his-trailer-taking-a-nap-tell-him-I-won't-be-coming-later-bye!" a blur said, racing past her.

"Jessica!"

Roger suddenly popped up in front of the singer.

"Wanna grab a snack with us?"

Jessica sighed. She had seen enough sweetness to last her a diabetic decade. She opened her mouth, preparing her excuse…

XOXOXOXOXOXO

… And found herself inside a restaurant with Roger and Cheri.

Jessica took a deep breath. How did Roger convince her again?

She broke the ice. "So, how long have the two of you known each other?"

The two rabbits looked at each other before looking at her again. "A long time," Cheri said, shrugging. "Ever since he came to ToonTown."

"You were drawn?" Jessica asked in surprise. She never thought about asking Roger's origins.

"Actually, he's a Grawn," Cheri replied. A Grawn is a toon generation born from Drawns. They usually has the ability to grow. Unlike Drawns that don't age, most Grawns grow where they learn to control their physical aging if the script calls for it.

Jessica looked at Roger. Drawns are transferred to Toontown, Grawns are born in there.

Roger shifted on his seat uncomfortably. "Yeah, but it doesn't really matter," he said before falling silent.

Jessica stared at the rabbit's discomfort. Roger would usually talk about almost anything.

Cheri's tinkling laugh filtered the air.

"The first time we met, I couldn't decide the way he kept looking at me," she said, "If it was his first time to see a toon or a girl!"

Roger's blue eyes widen before his yellow-gloved hand slapped on his face. "It was actually a little of each," he mumbled on his palm. "Geez, I must have looked stupid to you!"

Cheri tilted her head, smiling. "Actually, it was kind of cute."

Roger startled at the… discomfort in the air. He turned around, till his eyes land on Jessica.

"Jessica? Isth there sthomething wrong?"

There was suddenly tinkling laughter.

Cheri shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's just, Roger, you've always have that lisp. But you say her name very well."

Jessica looked up. Momentarily, she remembered Poppins explaining that he wanted her to feel more welcomed in the set.

"Practithe!"

They both laughed and even though they were talking about her name, their exchange, the way Cheri put her hand on his arm, is making her feel more like…

A third wheel.

Roger shot her a look of concern but Cheri spoke. "So, how long have the two of you been friends?"

Jessica and Roger looked at each other. "Not long," Roger said, answering for the both of them. Then he looked back at Jessica with a grin, "But long enough to know what makes the other one laugh!"

Jessica shot him a look. Not now.

Roger smiled at her with a halo popping on top of his head. What?

Her expression hardened. I told you, I hate laughing out loud in public.

His grin became sheepish before he shrugged. Okay, okay.

Cheri looked at them at each turn like a spectator in a tennis match. Roger thirstily drank from a glass of water.

"You know," she said. "Roger won't stop talking about you."

Roger spurted out his drink so fast; he blew a raspberry in seconds.

Jessica sipped her lemonade, unruffled. "Roger won't stop talking about anything." Being his constant companion in the set besides Herman, Jessica got used to the teasing their mismatched pair causes.

And as they resumed talking, Jessica couldn't help wondering. Where did Roger come from?