The Fluffy Bunny Story

--

“Want to go on the floor?” Colin asked the bundle of fur in his arms.

Bunjamin was incapable of answering verbally, of course, but the way he was eyeing the ground was answer enough.

Colin held out his arms so the rabbit could jump down to the floor, though he kept careful hold of the leash in his hand. “Go on,” he said, “go find Ufo,” he shook the leash a little, knowing it didn’t make a difference. Bunjamin gave him a Look, and then hopped off to find his friend, leading his carefully leashed owner.

Ufo, a tiny gray rabbit with black ear-tips was sitting under a chair against the wall. Bunjamin invited himself over immediately upon spotting the gray, where he began licking Ufo’s soft fur. Colin sighed as his eyes traveled up Ufo’s blue leash to Ufo’s owner’s hand. Sometimes, he thought fleetingly, he wished he were as bold as his rabbit.

Arley laughed. “And here I thought hiding under the chair might delay you a little in finding us,” he said.

Colin’s eyes flicked up from the leash to Arley’s face, and then down to his chest, back up…realizing he wouldn’t be able to maintain eye-contact, and wishing he could lick the man just as his pet was Arley’s rabbit, Colin slid his eyes away entirely, hoping his blush would go unnoticed in the harsh florescent lights.

Arley’s hand touched his arm, bringing Colin’s attention back to himself. “How have you been?” he asked.

Colin nodded. “We’ve been well. Richard needed some dental work done, and I had to put Aslan on a diet. Oh, and apparently cord-protectors aren’t enough to withstand Bunjamin over there, since he ate through my laptop cord again. How have you been?”

Arley smiled. “I meant how have you been, not your bunnies.”

“Oh,” Colin said, blushing again. “I’ve been well, too. Work has been crazy as ever, but I managed. Hey, did I tell you that they finally accepted Lion-Headed as a breed, and that Richard won in his division? We’re going to the state show in the spring.”

Arley laughed at him. “You’ve told me five times now,” he said, holding up the correct number of fingers. “But you still refuse to tell me how many other rabbits he was up against.”

Colin shrugged. “I got him before they were an official breed, remember, so there weren’t that many.”

“So he won against the only other lion-headed rabbit in the city?”

“No, I didn’t enter Aslan,” Colin said, smiling quietly.

“So he was the only one in his category,” Arney said.

“Nah, there were four others.”

“Which means there might be a prettier one somewhere in the state.”

“No!” Colin denied quickly. “Richard is the prettiest in the land. You’ll see that when you meet him,” he added.

“Thank you for letting me stay at your place, by the way,” Arley said. “It’s a big help to me, hotels that allow rabbits to stay in them are so hard to find.”

Colin shook his head. “It’s no problem,” he said. “I’m just-“

But he was cut off by the announcer calling for Arley and Ufo’s division. Arley bent down to dig Ufo out from under the chair, and Colin stepped back slightly to admire the sight, snapping his eyes away the second Arley started to stand.

“We’re off,” Arley said. “Wish us luck!”

Colin nodded, watching as Arley walked off. Bunjamin came and sat on his feet, standing up on his hind legs, looking to be picked up. Colin smiled down at him. “Want to go watch?” he asked, reaching down for Bunjamin.

The rabbit practically jumped into his arms, and once there he didn’t settle down as usual. Instead Bunjamin watched curiously after Ufo, his head bobbing slightly as Colin walked. Stroking his rabbit’s ears, Colin stepped up to the spectator benches for the jumping competition.

Cutest sport ever, he thought as he watched the rabbit before Ufo go through the course. There were hurdles of varying heights and lengths placed every few feet along some mats, and the rabbits were expected to jump over them. Each rabbit was given two tries on the course, and points were given for clearing the hurdles and for speed.

Every time Colin came to one of these events, he was glad that his friend at the show rabbit show had recommended he look into it. He’d had to get a new rabbit for it, since Richard wouldn’t have anything to do with the leash, and he hadn’t had Aslan at that point, but Bunjamin was hardly a negative aspect. Besides, if he hadn’t started rabbit jumping, Colin would never have met Arley.

Not that Arley was the only reason Colin like rabbit jumping.

They’d met at his first competition. Colin had put Bunjamin on the floor, and the brown rabbit had bee-lined for the tiny gray one huddled in the corner. Arley had introduced himself and his rabbit. Colin been instantly taken with Arley’s cool demeanor, his soft-looking brown hair and his nicely toned body.

But not being as bold as Bunjamin, Colin had to content himself with the occasional phone call and the more frequent emails that they exchanged.

Bunjamin, unable to communicate thusly with his bunny-friend, still managed to find Ufo at every single jumping competition they had both been to. And the one Arley hadn’t been able to make, Bunjamin spent the entire time depressed and scored worse than ever.

This time, however, the competition was in Colin’s hometown, and when Arley had complained about trying to find a hotel, Colin had offered his own house for the evening before he even realized what he’d done.

--

“…but that’s only if you get lost,” Colin said.

Arley nodded and finished writing down the last of the directions. “It’s still light out, so I shouldn’t have a problem, but if I do loose you, and then loose myself, I’ve got your cellphone number, right?”

Colin nodded, pulling up slightly on the leash in his hand. “Bunjamin, it’s-“ He stopped, following the line from his hand to where it disappeared into a carrying case. Ufo’s carrying case, to be exact. Both rabbits’ leashes disappeared into the cage, and when Colin bent down to peer in, the two bunnies were comfortably snuggled at the far end of the case.

Arley laughed. “I guess it’s a good thing we’re going to end up at the same place,” he said. “Would you like to take them? They look too comfortable to disturb.”

Colin nodded, reaching his hand in to unclip their leashes, though he left the harnesses. Hopefully neither rabbit would chew on them, although he had spares for exactly that reason. “Can you take my cage, then?” he asked. “I don’t have enough space for two at the moment.”

Arley nodded, and between the two of them they got everything settled into both cars, and headed off to Colin’s place.

--

“Richard!” Colin called as he pushed open his door. “Aslan! We’re home!” There was the click of nails on hardwood floor, and the head of a rabbit too fluffy for its own good poked around a corner.

“They come when you call?” asked Arley from behind him. “That’s impossibly cute.”

But Arley’s presence scared the bunny off, more clicks indicating his speedy departure. “It’d be cuter if I hadn’t trained them to be that way by giving them treats every time I come in the door,” Colin said, putting the carrying cage down and opening it. Bunjamin shot out at top speed, but Colin had been expecting that and managed to grab him before he got too far. “Let’s get that harness off first, hmm?” he said, settling with Bunjamin on his lap.

Arley had a harder time getting Ufo out of the case, and had to resort to coaxing him out with a treat.

As soon as Bunjamin’s leash was off and he was allowed onto the floor, he hopped over and into Arley’s lap, where he began grooming Ufo.

“Well, we don’t have to worry about him not settling in,” Arley muttered, harness in hand as he pushed both rabbits off and onto the floor. Bunjamin hopped off towards the food-bowls, and Ufo followed.

Colin watched them with a faint smile.

“They have the right idea,” Arley said, nudging Colin. “I’m famished.”

“Oh!” Colin said, reminded that he had a guest. “I can fix-“

“No, no,” Arley interrupted. “Let me take you out to dinner. It’s the least I can do for letting me stay here.”

“O-okay,” Colin stammered. Was Arley- was he a little too close? “Let- let me just go and get ready.” Colin said, and beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom. “Not a date,” he muttered quietly to himself once he’d safely shut the door. “Just a thank-you meal. Not even close to a date.” He repeated it as a mantra, trying to convince himself that it was true. “Not a date,” Colin muttered one last time before opening the door. “Just let me grab a different shirt,” he added with a smile as he exited the bathroom.

“Who’s this in the picture?” Arley asked, waving a frame in the air. It was moving too fast for Colin to see, but he knew which one it was anyway.

“It’s Hazel, my first show rabbit, just after she won her last medal. It’s pretty much the last picture I have of her,” Colin called from across the tiny house.

Arley laughed. “She was a pretty bunny, but I was asking about the other guy in it.”

“Who?” Colin asked, reemerging from his room in a blue-green shirt that matched his eyes. So maybe it wasn’t a date, that didn’t mean he couldn’t look nice. He glanced at the picture. “Oh, that’s my ex,” he said.

“Boyfriend?” Arley asked.

Colin froze—he hadn’t even thought it could be a problem. “Yeah,” he said. “Is it-“

“No, it’s fine,” Arley said. “I just hadn’t realized.” He set the picture down. “Why did you two break up? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Colin shrugged as he slipped back into his shoes. “He said I spent too much time with my rabbits.”

“And you keep the picture of him out because…”

Colin frowned. “Because it’s the last best picture I have of Hazel. I’d cut him out if I could.”

“Of course,” Arley said, a smile in his voice, “it’s a picture of Hazel.”

Colin frowned at him for a moment, trying to figure out what Arley found so amusing. Then he asked, “Where are you taking me for dinner?”

“Hmm, I was thinking Thai, if there’s a good place nearby. I’ve been craving chicken satay for days now.”

Colin nodded. “There’s a place that’s really good in walking distance from here, if you don’t mind walking.”

“What’s to mind, with such lovely company?” Arley asked.

Colin didn’t know what to make of the comment, so he just ignored it, grabbing a light jacket and opening the door.

--

“I don’t think I’ve ever bothered to ask why you named Ufo that,” Colin said while they waited for their dinner.

Arley laughed. “It’s actually UFO, and stands for ‘Unidentified Fluffy Object.’”

Colin laughed, too. “How did you come up with that?”

“Well, I’ve got a sugar glider, whom I named Zambine, as in The Flying; and a Chinchilla named Comet, because he has a dust cloud after he takes a bath. Then someone gave me Ufo, and the way Zam and Com looked at him seemed like they were saying ‘what is that thing?’ Plus it goes with the space-theme.”

“Zambine isn’t anything to do with space,” Colin pointed out.

“Well, we’re not all perfect. How did Aslan get his name, anyway?”

Colin sighed. “I didn’t name him. After I got Richard-“

“The Lion-Headed, right?”

Colin nodded distractedly; the breed was named after the extra mane-like fluff around the rabbit’s heads. “Yeah, my niece thought he was really cute and threw a fit until my brother bought her one. But she never took care of him, and her parents wouldn’t do it, because he was her responsibility. So I visited them once, and got really upset at how he was treated. I showed Ana exactly how to take care of him, and explained why she needed to, and then said that next time I came, if he was in the state I was when I arrived, I was taking him with when I left.”

“I take it she didn’t start taking better care of him?” Arley said, voice sympathetic.

Colin shook his head. “I was back only a week later, but she and her parents had fought so much about her taking care of Aslan that she more or less shoved him into my arms when I arrived.”

Arley tsked. “Poor bunny, is he okay?”

“Yeah,” Colin said. “Or, he’s as okay as a rabbit that looks like a dog trying to look like a cat can be.”

Arley laughed again, and Colin really liked the sound of it. “And here I thought you thought the lion-headed ones were pretty.”

“I do,” Colin insisted. “But that doesn’t change what they look like.”

“True,” Arley said. “And at least your rabbits don’t think they’re chinchillas. I’m positive that’s the only reason Ufo can jump so high. He doesn’t realize he’s not supposed to.”

Their food came, and talk turned to other things. They stayed in the restaurant far longer than necessary, Colin, at least, unwilling to ruin the illusion that this was a date. And when they finally did leave, it was already dark outside. They walked back, side by side, companionable silence between them, if not a whole lot of space. About halfway back Arley’s hand accidentally entangled with Colin’s, who did nothing about it. Arley could remove his own hand if he was uncomfortable.

Arley didn’t.

And when they were almost to the last intersection, Arley even shifted his grip so that they were properly holding hands.

Colin stopped, looking down at their clasped hands.

Arley stopped, too—he had to—and followed Colin’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Do you want me to-“ he started to pull his hand back.

“No!” Colin said, grasping it harder. “But- why?”

“Because you don’t realize you’re cuter than any rabbit. And because I’ve wanted to since I first met you, but I didn’t know if you’d be okay with it. Not until you explained the picture.”

“Oh,” Colin said. “I’m cute?”

Arley nodded. “If I put you in a show, you’d win first place, no competition. And it wouldn’t be because you’re a new breed, either.” He placed the quickest of kisses on Colin’s lips, and then tugged him along back towards the house.

Colin trailed behind, unable to do anything else.

When they reached the house, Colin unlocked the door in a daze, and nearly jumped out of his shoes when Bunjamin hopped forward and nudged his ankle in the dark. “You want a treat,” Colin said breathlessly, grabbing at his heart. “Anyone else want a treat?” he asked as he bent down to give Bunjamin one.

“I do,” Arley said from the door. He stole an almost-grope, running a hand down Colin’s spine.

Colin straightened up faster than ever, his heart racing even more now, though for different reasons.

Arley stepped closer, putting his arms around Colin.

Colin gave him a shy smile. “Would you like an almond?” he asked. “Or maybe a yogurt drop?”

Arley smiled back at him, tightening his arms. “What I really want is right here,” he said, leaning forward and pressing their lips together.