#rabbitman

Though, you didn’t go often. With your condition plus helping at the store, going to the market was difficult on your own. Doing most things was difficult on your own, if you were honest. Since you couldn’t talk, many people were hesitant to work with you and often shied away from interacting with you. It was exhausting. The stares at your scars didn’t endear you to strangers, either. Without the buffer of your mother, Eli, or another of your friends who knew sign language, dealing with other people was a chore that you often avoided.

Eli seemed in good spirits today; chipper even. He was smiling at people and being much chattier than normal. You weren’t sure if you were enjoying this weird out-of-character mood of his or if you felt jealous; he normally only acted like this with you.

Well, and Marnie, too, probably.

Alright, you were jealous.

There was a candy stall set up that you’d never seen before, selling honeyed nuts and caramels and candied fruit. It was all crazy expensive, but the vendor seemed to be doing well for himself. Considering the price of sugar, candy was a rare treat usually reserved for the very rich. It seemed many people in town felt this novelty was worth the splurge, including Eli.

“Let’s go get some,” He said.

“But!” You protested. “It’s so pricey!”

“When’s the next time we’ll get the chance? A little bit won’t bankrupt us,” He said. “It’s a special day, after all.”

“Why?” You asked, dreading the answer. “What makes today so special?”

He simply laughed and pulled you by the hand toward the stall. He bought a small bag of honeyed walnuts for himself and several crystallized fruit sugar sticks for you. Despite the astronomical cost, he refused to let you pay for yours.

Your anxiousness was growing steadily throughout the day. He bought you things all the time, but it was usually small things, bits and bobs he thought you might like. The candy and the perfume from the other day were the most expensive things he’d ever bought in his life, as far as you knew, and he’d given them both to you. Why? Because he was leaving? Were these presents to soften the blow? If that were the case, you wanted to tell him to take them back, but you also didn’t want to hurt his feelings. It was clear he was trying to make your last day together special.

He took you to the pub for lunch, where you saw Marnie and Theo. She winked at you from across the room, although you weren’t certain why. When you asked them to join the two of you, Marnie declined, saying they had an errand to run before forcing Theo out of his seat and dragging him behind her out of the bar. Theo seemed as confused by Marnie’s behavior as you did, but Eli didn’t comment.

Just before sunset, he took you up to the hill that overlooked the town where you and he had often played when you were children, and the two of you sat there with the dinner he’d packed for the two of you: fruit and cheese and ham cooked into bread. It was another costly thing in an already extravagant spread that had been this day.

While you ate, the two of you sat and talked. It was a long, deep conversation, the kind the two of you often had, just discussing everything and nothing. Eli was the only person you could talk to like this. Gods, you’d miss this.

“You know,” He said, popping a piece of the candy into his mouth and crunching noisily. “I do love this town. It may be small, but it’s home. I’d be terribly sad if I ever had to leave.”

With those words, the dam of anxiety you had been holding back all day broke, flooding your body with panic. As hard as you tried to stop, you couldn’t keep the tears from your eyes, and they fell down your cheeks unabated. He was looking out over the valley that cradled Coleville, staring at the sunset, so you didn’t think he noticed you at first, but perhaps you made some small sound without meaning to, a gasp or a shuddering breath, because you suddenly felt his large hand on your shoulder.

“Hey,” He whispered softly, a degree of alarm in the deep timber of his voice. “Hey, hey, hey. What’s wrong? What is it? Are you feeling alright? Tell me what’s wrong, love. How can I help?”

For a moment, you were crying too hard to allow coherent thought, so he put an arm around your shoulder and snugged you into his side, letting you weep piteously into his shirt. Once you’d calmed down, you looked him square in the face.

“Are you going to take the job in Dunmountain?”

He seemed taken aback. “How did you know about the shop job? Did Marnie and Theo tell you?”

“It doesn’t matter how I found out, why didn’t you tell me?” You asked him, a frown on your face.

“Because I wasn’t sure how to feel about it and wanted to get my thoughts in order first.” He studied you pensively. “Do you think I should go? Be honest. Your opinion matters to me, so I want to know what you really think.”

You took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “The part of me that is your best friend says… yes. Of course you should go. It’s a good job, a great opportunity. I mean, running your own shop! You wouldn’t be Mama’s carthorse anymore; you could be the boss. And you’d get to move to the city, a big place that has everything you could ever need. Compared to that, Coleville is just a hole in the ground. The part of me that wants what’s best for you thinks you’d be so much better off if you went.”

“But?” He pressed.

“But,” You said, staring out over the valley, the tears falling anew. “But there’s another voice. A voice I don’t listen too as often as I should. One that’s usually quiet and easy to ignore, but now it’s screaming so loudly that I can’t hear anything else.”

“What does that voice say?”

Sobs wracked your body as you forced your hands to say, “Don’t go. Please. Please stay. You’re the only reason my life still has color. If you’re gone, everything will be gray and cold. I don’t want to lose you, not to anything. Stay.” You covered your face in your hands, unable to stop crying.

He pulled you into a tight hug and held you. “Shh. Shh, love, it’s alright. Don’t make yourself sick. I wish I’d known you were so worried, I’d have told you sooner.” He pulled back and tilted your chin up so that you were looking in his eyes. “Winnie, I didn’t tell you about the job because I never intended to go.”

“What?” You asked. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” He replied. “Yeah, it’s a good opportunity and it’s a change of scenery, but who cares? My home is here, my life is here. I have no higher aspirations than to live out my life in our pretty little hole in the ground, as you said, surrounded by our friends. That’s all I want. And besides,” He said, laying a hand on your cheek. “No matter what I decided to do, do you really think I’d ever leave you behind? You’re stuck with me, love, no matter what happens. I’m with you for life.”

You blinked. “Me? Why?”

He gazed at your face for a moment before answering with an affectionate voice and a tender smile.

“I think you know why, Little Bear.”

Your heart sped up so fast that it felt like your chest contained a hummingbird, flitting about your ribcage as if it were a garden of flowers in full bloom. You shook your head, disbelieving.

“No? You don’t know?” He said, his smile becoming a little sad and rueful. “Well, if you don’t, it’s my fault, isn’t it? Forgive me. Allow me to be crystal clear.”

He bent his head and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips, hesitating to deepen it in case you pulled away. Elated, you responded by grabbing his face with both hands and kissing him harder. You hadn’t hoped for this. You hadn’t even dreamed of it, but it was happening. His lips tasted of honey.

The two of you broke apart and he laughed at your exuberant reaction. “I hope that means you accept,” He said, wiping the tear tracks away with his thumbs

“But what about Marnie?” You asked.

“I talked to Marnie last night,” He replied. “We’ve broken up. She’s going to take over the store instead of me.”

“Wasn’t she upset?” You asked with concern.

He shook his head. “It was a mutual decision. I told you, Marnie knew what our situation was from the start. Our relationship was fun, but I could never have with Marnie what I have with you. I love Marnie, but I’m in love with you. She knows that, she always has. This way, she gets the big job and I get to be with the woman I love. We both get what we want.”

“I still want to talk to her and make sure she’s okay,” You said with a worried grimace.

“Of course,” He replied, running a soothing hand through your hair and pulling you closer. “She and Theo will be leaving tomorrow afternoon. They’ll both likely want to say goodbye to you before heading off.”

You sighed, placated but not convinced. “Eli,” You asked him curiously. “Why did you ask me to come out today, if you were never going to leave?”

“Because I’ve always wanted to take you on a proper date, and I never could until today,” He said, smiling the sweet, warm smile he only showed to you. “I’ve always loved you, Winnie, ever since we were kids, but I was never sure if you felt more than friendship for me, so I always hesitated to make a move. I started dating Marnie in the hopes that I would move on and get over you, which is a terrible reason to start a relationship, I know. It didn’t work, anyway; I never stopped loving you. Breaking up with Marnie and turning down the job finally gave me the courage to act on my feelings. Even still, I wasn’t sure how you felt about me until just a minute ago.” He grinned ruefully. “I’m glad you didn’t smack me.”

“I might still smack you,” You said, your hands moving sharply in annoyance. “You should have told me about all of this a long time ago. At the very least, you should have told me about the job.”

“I know,” He replied regretfully. “I just didn’t want you to worry yourself to sickness over it. You’d already had a bad fall. I didn’t want to add to your stress, but it seems I did anyway. I’m sorry for not being more forthcoming. I’m sorry for not trusting in you.”

“Well,” You said. “If we’re going to be together, there’d better be no more secrets, mister.”

A slow smile spread like a sunrise on his face. His long ears twitched, one after the other, as they did when he was excited. “You’ll be my girl, then? Officially? I can shout to the world that were together?”

“Only if you promise not to hide things from me anymore, not matter what it is,” You told him sternly.

He kissed your temple. “It’s a promise, love.”

“Good,” You said. “Now take me home.”

He seemed disappointed. “Alright. Are you tired? I suppose it’s been a long day, though it’s been so great I don’t really want it to end yet.”

“No, I don’t mean the store,” You said. “Your home. Your room above the pub. I haven’t been in it before. Take me there.”

“...oh,” He said. He actually gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yeah. Sure, of course.”

It was actually adorable how nervous he seemed. He packed up the picnic and took your hand, leading you back into town.

It was after dark when the two of you got back to the pub, so most of the stalls had shut down and the pub was packed with people. As such, no one noticed the two of you walk through it, hands clasped, and head to the stairs at the opposite end. He stopped in front of the fourth door on the right in a long hallway on the third floor, letting go of your hand so that he could pull a key from his pocket and unlock the door.

The room inside was tidy and small, with a bed and a table on one side, and a wash basin and bureau on the other. There was a small fireplace on the opposite wall and a candelabra on the mantle. Eli set down his basket of food on the table and went to light the candles while you explored. The room was bare of personal belongings besides his clothes and a few books, although you did notice a little wooden rabbit, faded with age, sitting on his bureau.

“I can’t believe you kept this,” you told him.

He smiled. “Of course I did. It was a present.”

“I remember,” You said, returning his smile. “I scraped up every penny I had to get it for you. It was hard because I had to go to the market and try to get the vendor to understand what I wanted, even though I couldn’t talk to him.”

“All because I told you I’d never gotten a present,” He said, coming close and taking it from you, turning it over in his hands. “A lot of the kids at the orphanage never got presents, you know. Why did you only get one for me?”

“You were special to me,” You told him, looking up into his sweet brown eyes. “You still are.”

With his eyes locked on yours, he set the rabbit down and wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you tight against him. You stood on your tip-toes to kiss him, kicking off your shoes. His hands reached for the ties of your bodice, untying the knots and pulling the strings loose. You started on the buttons of his shirt.

It started slow, but as more and more clothes fell to the floor, the urgency became more intense, the kisses deeper, the clinging more insistent. By the time both of you had shed your clothes, you were gasping so hard you could barely catch your breath. You fell onto the bed together, and the sound of his antlers knocking against the wall brought you both back to reality. The two of you laughed self-consciously.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked.

“Don’t you?” You asked in return.

“Oh, I’ve dreamed of this,” He replied emphatically. “I just don’t want to rush you. I know this is all a bit sudden, so if you want to wait…”

“I thought I’d never see you again after today,” You told him. “I was fully prepared to pine for you for the rest of my life. I’m ready for this. More than ready.”

“If you insist,” He said with a grin, maneuvering the two of you to the head of the bed so that his antlers weren’t scraping the wall anymore and bent to kiss you again.

His hands, the pads of which were rough like sandpaper, roamed your body, touching every hidden inch. When they grazed your breasts, you made a noise involuntarily, a soft whimper. Eli popped up on his elbows and looked down at you.

“Did you like that?” He asked. You nodded. “Can you do that again? Make that noise?”

Since the carriage incident when you were little, something in your brain prevented you from being able to form words, but you could make sounds. You didn’t like to do it around other people because it made you self-conscious, but Eli seemed to be enjoying it. As Eli kneaded your flesh, you did it again. Eli bit his lip, his hand moving further south.

“If I do something you don’t like or feels wrong, or if you start to have an episode, push me away, alright?” He said as he reached down to open your legs, throwing one over his hips as he lay beside you, and you nodded again.

He flipped his hand so that his knuckles caressed down your belly to your core, the back of his pointer finger slicked down your slit and back up again, rubbing against your clit and beginning to move in slow, tight circles like a gentle massage. You tried to keep your eyes on his face, but they closed on their own as the pleasure began to flow through your body. More of those sounds he liked so much issued from you as your breathing became uneven.

You were on your back, and Eli was on his side next to you, caressing you and watching your face. You hand was down by your side, and you felt something nudge it. Your head came up and looked down, and you were shocked to realize his cock was fully erect and right next to your fingers.

He looked down as well. “Oh!” He said, pushing his middle away from you. “Sorry.”

You shook your head. “Touch?” You asked with one hand and pointed at his organ.

“If you want to,” He said, returning to his previous position.

Looking down over your body to his, you reached out and touched the head of it, hesitantly at first but with growing confidence. It was smooth and silky, the same dusky grey as his fur with a blush pink tip. Eli buried his face into your hair and inhaled deeply, sighing with satisfaction. His massaging sped up, and your legs began to twitch.

As the two of you touched each other, you kissed lovingly and lasting. You pulled up your knees instinctually and he moved his hand to reach underneath your thigh, continuing the pressure against your clit. Your pelvis moved against his hand and the pitch of your noise increased. Eli responded positively to that, moving his lips to your nipples and taking them into his mouth, circling his tongue around them.

A crash of explosive bliss rushed through you, your muscles tensing and your back arching.

“You’re alright?” You heard Eli ask anxiously. His voice was a little distant, due to the rushing sound in your ear. You turned and cuddled into the fur of his chest, nodding happily. He wrapped his arms around you and snugged you in tightly, his nose pressed into your neck.

“I can’t believe this is really happening. I’ve loved you since we were little kids. I never believed you’d love me back.”

“Why?” You asked him, looking at him curiously. “Why would that be so hard to believe?”

He shrugged and avoided your eye. “I don’t know. I… I guess maybe… I felt like you blamed me for what happened with the carriage.”

You sat up in shock and stared at him in disbelief. “What? I’ve never blamed you, not once! How could you possibly think such a thing?”

He sat up too, pulling his knees up and resting his elbows on them, his head down. “I was right there, right next to you. I could have pulled you out of the way, but I wasn’t fast enough.”

You pulled his arms away and tugged his head up, climbing into his lap. “Have you been shouldering the idea that this was your fault all this time? No wonder you’re always so grumpy. It was no one’s fault but my uncle’s, you know that, Eli. He was a cruel, selfish man who will got what was coming to him.”

“I’d have killed him if you’d let me,” He said darkly.

“Well, I didn’t. Forget him. I have.” You kissed him again. “He’s gone. Let’s not think about him. Think about us, about where we are right now.”

His guilty frown transformed into a bright, lovely smile. “Happily.”

The two of you took your time, kissing and touching while you were straddling his lap, and when you asked him to, he reached between you and pressed his cock to your entrance, carefully guiding you down onto him. There was a sharp pinch, but it didn’t hurt as much as you thought it would.

He grasped your hips and showed you how to move as he thrust into you from underneath. He kissed your face and neck and chest and whispered how much he loved you over and over. You grunted and moaned and made more noise than you likely had in your entire life. When you came again, it was like fireworks, like sunrise, like every beautiful thing. He pulsed inside you and threw his head back, wheezing unsteadily.

You went limp in his arms with your head resting on him. He pressed his lips to your shoulder and went still as well as the both of you recovered in silence. Eventually, he lay you down on the bed and covered you both with the blanket.

“It’s gotten late,” Eli said, yawning. “I’d love for you to stay the night with me, but do you think you’re mother would be upset?”

You snorted. “Are you kidding? I think she knew this would happen eventually.”

“Your mother is a smart woman. She always has been,” He said.

“She’s smug about it, too,” You gestured snidely, and he snickered.

“In that case, sleep, love,” He said. “I’ll be right here.”

With your face nestled into the softness of his chest fur, you were happy to comply.

The next morning, Eli ordered in breakfast and the two of you lounged until noon. It was the closest thing to a vacation the two of you had ever had. You started to feel guilty around lunchtime, though, and headed back to the shop. Your mother had a smug smirk on her face as the two of you came inside, which you ignored.

An hour later, after you changed clothes and helped with the sweeping, Marnie and Theo came by to purchase some provisions for the road. After they made their purchases, you and Eli followed them to the woodcarving shop and met with Cetzu and his father in law, who were loading up two covered wagons that were full of inventory for the new shop in Dunmountain.

You gave Theo a hug and kiss and then stepped back for a moment so that Marnie and Eli could talk privately. Their farewell was brief, and after a short hug, Eli waved you over and went to bid Theo farewell. You went to Marnie and pulled her aside, out of earshot of the others.

“Are you really okay with this?” You asked. “Breaking up with Eli and moving to a new city?”

“Yeah, it’s exciting!” She said, her face bright. “I’ll have my own store, just like you will someday! It’s wonderful. I get my fancy life in the big city, and you get Eli, like he’s always wanted. Everyone wins.”

You felt like her words were sincere, but also like she was overselling it.

“Marnie,” You pressed. “Do you love Eli?”

She continued to smile at you, but it had changed almost imperceptibly. She pulled you into a tight hug.

“Don’t look so sad,” She whispered gently into your ear. “Everything is as it should be. Be happy. Take care of the big guy for me, eh? And take care of yourself, too.” She pulled away and continued to smile kindly. “If anything happens to you, Eli won’t know what to do with himself. He loves you more than anything in the world, you know.”

You nodded, unable to keep the regret off your face. “I’m sorry, Marnie.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be. I’ve got a new job to keep me busy. I’m happy about that. And I’ll send you letters telling you all about it.” She hugged you again. “Be well, little sister.”

You wrapped your arms around her tightly and squeezed for a solid minute. When you released her, she kissed your forehead before taking a step back and swinging up into the driver’s box of her covered wagon next to her hired escort. Theo followed suit in his. Marnie snapped the reins and the caravan took off toward the glittering city.

Eli came up and wrapped you in his arms.

“You alright?” He asked. “You look sad.”

“I’ll just miss them,” You said.

“Me too,” He said. “Maybe I’ll take you on a trip one day to visit them. Maybe it could be our honeymoon.”

You turned with a shocked look on your face and he chuckled.

“In time.”

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