A/N: This chapter takes place the night after Double Date. The title is a famous jazz standard written in the late twenties. I was introduced to it by a Tweety cartoon as a youngster.

Ain't She Sweet

"Lola, I thought you said this was a Thai restaurant?" Bugs stared in confusion at the marquee of a giant meatball and forkful of spaghetti that hung over the building. He put the car into park and glanced hesitantly at the young rabbit sitting in the front passenger seat. This couldn't be the place she had been talking about. Maybe they missed a turn somewhere?

"Of course, I eat here all the time." Lola batted a hand conversationally. She had dressed up for the occasion. Her ears were twisted into a bun at the top of her head and held together by a pair of chopsticks. A string of little pink beads dangled off the end of each chopstick and they swayed energetically as she talked. "You guys are gonna love it. Their noodles are amazing," she gushed.

Bugs felt a push against the back of his seat as both Daffy and Tina leaned over him simultaneously to get a view of the marquee. "Ye Old Spaghetti Factory?" Tina read the sign with an incredulous tone. A wad of gum clicked between her teeth.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm st-tharved," Daffy lisped. He exited the car in a flash and got halfway to the door before stopping and doubling back. He rested a foot against the car and held out his hand to Tina. "Mademoiselle," he gestured like a knight waiting to help a princess out of a carriage. Bugs cocked an eyebrow. The pose didn't look quite right on Daffy.
Tina stared at his outstretched hand for a second, shrugged noncommittally, and then took it. The two walked off arm in arm cackling over some unspoken joke.

"Awww," Lola cooed at the two ducks. "Those two are so sweet. Like a pair of nightingales… or partridges."

"This is weird," Bugs said, mostly to himself, as he exited the car. It had taken awhile to process that Daffy now had an honest to goodness girlfriend. Watching him extend any semblance of chivalry to someone without an obvious selfish intent behind it, made Bugs feel like he'd wandered into the Twilight Zone.

"Oh, Bun-Bun!" Lola called out. He turned to find her still in the car, leaning halfway out of her seat and waving wildly at him. It took him a few seconds to realize what she was getting at.

"Oh, boy," Bugs sighed. He opened the door to help her out but she threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him before he could do much.

Bugs still wasn't sure how exactly it happened, but yesterday, in the span of about two seconds, he'd gone from "Lola's not my girlfriend. And she's crazy." to "Lola's crazy. And also she's my girlfriend." Freud would've had a field day.

"Thanks, Bugs," she took his hand, suddenly growing serious, "And just so you know that thing between Daffy and me… totally over. Like Stone Age over. Like stake it through the heart and sink it on the Queen Mary to the bottom of the…"

"Lola, I get it," Bugs stopped her. "…I think."

Their table was set inside a bright red trolley car sitting in the middle of the restaurant. Everything was chandelier lit and dim, a bit homier and scaled back from last night's place, which honestly kind of surprised Bugs when he considered Lola had picked it.

"Nice place," Tina said with little enthusiasm, "You can really feel the Thai influence."

"I know, right!" Lola replied, obviously missing Tina's sardonic tone. She bowed to the waitress handing out their menus and gave her an "arigatou". The girl stared blankly at the four like she was waiting for some sort of cue for what kind of practical joke she'd walked into, and when none came she awkwardly slipped out of the trolley car without saying a word.

"Uh, Lola, isn't 'arigatou' Japanese?" Bugs asked, daring to wonder if there was some method to her brand of madness.

"Is it?" she replied, innocently.

"It's Italian," Daffy offered, "I should know, I've been to Italy."

"Oh yeah," Tina leaned in close to her still preening boyfriend. "How'd you say this, then?" she pointed to something on the menu.

"Feetu… Feth-ch… uh…" Daffy's tongue twisted over itself, only succeeding in spraying half the table. "I said I've been to Italy, I never said I speak the language," Daffy said haughtily, shutting the menu for emphasis. "Besides, this is Thai food."

Tina chortled. Her laugh came out in sputters with a few dry snorts thrown in. Daffy's ego inflated almost visibly.

The waitress returned with their drinks, each in a glass with a trolley printed on them. Lola grabbed hers excitedly and lifted it for everyone to see. "And the best thing about these is that they let you take them home."

"Wow. Free glass. We should come here more often," Bugs said dryly.

"So lemme get this straight…" Daffy tapped his fingers together, clearly in conspirator mode. "Everyday this restaurant just lets dozens and dozens of customers walk out with eating utensils that they don't have to pay for."

"Yeah! Well, if by 'utensils' you mean 'cups'," Lola explained.

"Will you excuse me for a moment," Daffy said calmly. He then darted out of the booth with an impressive whoosh.

Tina turned from staring at the blank seat where her boyfriend once sat to the two rabbits. She and Bugs exchanged identical confused glances. Lola was busy peering at her reflection in the glass. "Any idea what that was about?" Tina asked, referring to Daffy.

"Only time will tell," Bugs responded.

Lola shrugged. "He probably just went to the bathroom." She tipped back her glass and downed her drink in a single, long gulp. She wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist and let out a satisfied sigh. Before either Bugs or Tina could get another word in, Lola blurted, "I have to pee," and exited the booth with a speed to rival Daffy's.

Bugs and Tina were abruptly left alone.

"Well, she seems… perky," Tina said.

"Yeah, that's… a word for it," Bugs replied.

They sat in awkward silence for a few seconds, trying to think of a new place to take the conversation.

"So, where're you from?" Bug's asked.

"Brooklyn. You?"

"Same."

"Small world."

"Yup."

Bugs tapped his fingers against the table. Tina blew a gum bubble the size of a tennis ball and popped it. In the stiffly quiet trolley the sound reverberated like a gunshot.

"Sooo… you and Daffy," Bugs dragged out, "How's that been going?"

"Well, considering I met him yesterday…" Tina trailed off sardonically.

"I know, I mean…" Bugs backpedaled, trying to find the right way to phrase it, "Daffy isn't the easiest person to spend twenty minutes with. Believe me; I've known him a long time. He's self-absorbed, arrogant, probably a sociopath…"

"Pushy, insecure, lies constantly…" Tina interrupted, counting each trait off on her fingers. "And I'm guessing he's not letting you mooch off him out of the goodness of his heart."

Bugs laughed. "He told you that?"

"He said you've been crashing at his place. I take it the house is actually yours?"

He nodded.

"And you're not his butler either, right?"

Bugs sighed, "I'm gonna have to talk with that duck…"

"Don't worry about it," Tina leaned back into the booth, taking out her wad of gum and folding it into her cloth napkin. "I'm pretty good at reading people. If you're trying to warn me about what a basket case Daffy is, I think I've got a pretty good idea."

Bugs frowned at the folded napkin. She and Daffy together was starting to make sense. "And you're still gonna date him?" Bugs asked. "That's a lot of craziness to deal with."

Tina shrugged. "Everybody's crazy at some level. We just wear it different. I've got a dull life with an infuriatingly boring job and a mean mouth. Who knows, maybe I could use some of Daffy's insanity."

Bugs blinked. "He just ran from the table when he learned they give their cups away."

"Yeah, who knows what kind of whacked out scheme we're gonna have to save him from when it finally backfires," Tina exclaimed, like she was describing the plot to an amazing movie or the best ride in an amusement park. Like she couldn't wait to find out what Daffy was up to.

Bugs shook his head and smiled. "So you're totally okay with dating an absurd, selfish little weirdo who lies about everything and can't form a sentence without spitting."

"Yeah," Tina glanced down and a strand of hair fell over her eyes. Bugs could've sworn she was on the verge of blushing. "I think the lisp is kinda cute. Don't tell him I said that," she recovered in a threatening tone.

Bugs lifted one hand in a solemn gesture. "I swear I'll never tell."

The duck smiled and brushed her hair out of her face, and then, as if she was afraid of the conversation dropping back into awkward silence again, shifted the subject a little. "So what about you and Lola, how long have you been together?"

"Last night… I guess…"

"You guess?"

"It's complicated," he muttered defensively. "I blurted out that I was her boyfriend without even thinking and now…I'm honestly not even sure what's going on anymore." He had been feeling a little neglected and jealous, but he still hadn't figured out why. He couldn't decide if she'd genuinely been using him to get to Daffy only it happened to make him jealous instead, or if he'd been the target of some magnificent reverse psychology scheme from the start. The former made him her back-up choice and the latter made him a complete sucker. He wasn't a fan of either.

"Well, do you like her?" Tina asked point blank.

Bugs shifted uncomfortably at the direct question he had absolutely no idea how to answer.

"It's a simple yes or no question, Bugs." Tina remarked.

"Yes… no… I…I dunno," Bugs muttered. "She's cute, but she's ridiculous. She never stops talking, she changes her mind on a dime…"

"What changes on a dime?" a voice sounded from behind.

Bugs whirled around. "Lola! You're back…" Internally, he panicked. How long had she been standing there? How much had she heard? What would she think if she knew they'd been talking about her?

"You would not believe the line to the restroom," Lola said, sitting down. "This woman was there with three kids and only two stalls. I almost gave up and used the men's. But on the plus side their soap smells like lavender," she clasped her hands over her nose and inhaled. "Lavender is my absolute favorite smell in the world. Or was it honeysuckle? No, wait, I'm allergic to honeysuckle…"

A stiff looking man in a suit approached their table, followed quickly by their waitress who, for some reason, was soaked from head to toe and looked none too pleased about it.

"What happened to you?" Tina asked. The girl's eyes flashed red.

"I understand you had a short, black duck in your party?" the man asked.

"What did he do?" Bugs and Tina spoke simultaneously.

"He was taking drinks from other tables," the waitress sputtered, her wet hair clung to her forehead as she glared. "And when he was asked to return to his seat he snuck into the kitchen and trashed it."

"You understand, we had to ask him to leave," the suit took over, polite but terse and leaving no room for discussion. "We have no desire to refuse service to you as well but we can't have him loitering outside the restaurant either."

"I can take care of him," Tina said, reassuringly. She collected her purse, shooting Bugs a knowing smile. "There's a Tutty's down the street. Daffy and I could eat there and meet you back at the car if you two want to stay here."

"Absolutely not!" Lola surprised them all by standing abruptly, a self-righteous frown steeling over her face. "This is a double date. Me and my boyfriend came to have dinner with these two. If one of us is kicked out, we're all kicked out. And the soap doesn't even smell that good here, anyway," she glared at the two employees like the remark was supposed to be cutting.

Bugs briefly considered trying to explain to Lola that Daffy obviously deserved being asked to leave and she shouldn't take it so personally. But her unwavering loyalty to the group, however misguided, was also kind of sweet. And he didn't particularly like Italian food, anyway.

"Looks like we're going to Tutty's," Bugs got up from the table and, before he really had time to talk himself out of it, he reached for Lola's hand. She entwined their fingers. Maybe it was a little childish and ridiculous, but he was okay with being childish and ridiculous sometimes. It was a type of crazy he could handle.

The three of them marched out of the restaurant like they were all too good for the place and not like three suckers who were foolish enough to bring Daffy Duck anywhere.

The duck in question was sulking on the bumper of Bugs' car, muttering something about Castro and Cuba. He perked up when he saw the three friends coming to meet him.

"What'd you do, Daffy?" Tina asked, too calm to be actually angry and too sardonic to be understanding.

"The glasses were supposed to be free," Daffy spread his arms, exasperated. "I thought I'd collect some and change the label, sell them as antiques on the internet, nothing bad… I mean, you shouldn't be so picky about what happens to your products if you're giving them away, that's just common sense…"

"Well, thanks to that display we're going to Tutty's now," Bugs reached for his keys and unlocked the car with a single click.

"It's close enough to walk," Tina pointed out.

"Ehhh," Bugs glanced back at the restaurant, hoping he wouldn't see either the man in the suit or the angered waitress in the window. "I think the fine, hardworking Spaghetti Factory employees would feel much better if we got out of their parking lot as soon as possible." He pulled open his door before realizing something was still clinging to his arm.

"Um, Lola..."

"Yes, Bugs?"

"I'm gonna need that hand to drive…"

"Oh, of course."