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Lagomorphs
Copyright © July, 2015, FurryWurry
All rights reserved

Chapter 20 -- Sleeping Arrangements

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"What're you doing here?" Sky's annoyed voice broke into Jeff's dream of trees with furry fruit. "You've got your own snug. Why are you always visiting us? Do you want to move here permanently? That wouldn't make your Dam very happy, would it?"

"Uh, I was just, er, ...." Diver sounded almost as groggy as Jeff felt.

"We gave this snug to Jeff, not to you. Maybe you better decide where you really want to sleep. I don't think it's here. Maybe you better find some other place. I think our deasil cousins have room. Do you want to go there?" Standing next to the bed, Sky punctuated each sentence with a clawed forefinger, poking Diver repeatedly. He was obviously exasperated.

"Ouch! OK, OK, I'm going. You don't have to keep poking."

Climbing up on the bed, Sky poked the blond Rab again. "Well? I don't see you moving. Get up. Go on. Start going, why don't you?"

Grumbling to himself, Diver got down off the bed and disappeared through the back passageway.

Sky looked seriously down at Jeff, who felt barely awake. "This is our snugrow, you know, not his. He shouldn't be sleeping here. You shouldn't have let him."

Frowning, he leaned over and put a hand on each of Jeff's shoulders, getting close, holding him down. "He needs my permission to sleep here. Flower's, too. Our permission, not yours. You understand?"

Jeff swallowed, somewhat nervously. Those teeth were sharp. "Yeah, I understand." Sky was Sire of this snugrow. Everyone deferred to him. And to Flower.

"Good. Mind you, we'd let him stay if he asked; his sibs, too. We've got room, and we all like the three of them. They're here so much of the time, I really don't know why they haven't asked to stay. Their Mam's snugrow is a lot more crowded than ours."

He paused, still staring down at Jeff; now not so seriously, but still holding him down. "You asked, though, just as soon as we met." That wasn't quite the way Jeff remembered it, but... The Rab leaned closer and licked Jeff's cheek. "And I'm glad you did." Not letting go, he moved so he was kneeling directly above Jeff, one knee on either side.

"You do still want to stay, don't you?"

"Yes." Jeff stared anxiously up at the Rab, into those dark blue eyes. They obviously were evaluating his reaction.

"You really don't want to leave, do you?" Sky put his hands, then elbows, down on the bed, slowly moving his feet back, stretching out, until his warm, full length was lying on top of Jeff. Jeff was having trouble breathing, not just from the Rab's weight. The soft fur was rubbing his chest and stomach as the two of them breathed. "Do you?" the Rab asked again quietly. Jeff could feel his breath on his face, smell the hay he'd eaten that morning.

"No." God, no.

Sky slowly, intimately, rubbed himself against Jeff. Then he stroked his chin firmly along Jeff's shoulder, where Gemma and Cloudy had marked him before. There was no doubt who was Sire and who was subservient.

"Good. I'm glad that's settled," the Rab murmured. "Makers, but you smell good."

They lay like that for a while, with Sky's nose buried between Jeff's neck and shoulder, one long ear lying across Jeff's face. It smelled good, too, with maybe just a hint of ear-wax. For a while Sky managed to stay up on his elbows, mostly supporting his own weight, but gradually his arms slipped, letting his weight settle. He seemed to be falling asleep. Jeff slowly found it harder and harder to breathe.

Finally, he had to gasp "Sky, sorry, but you're too heavy. Can you get off?"

Sky rolled off and lay sprawled on his side, facing Jeff, smiling, eyes half closed. "That was OK, but, well... now my fur is all messed up."

It looked fine to Jeff. Sky's frontal fur was an even cream and smoothly soft with highlights in all the right places. He swallowed. Lots of right places. Maybe it was rumpled a little, but that just accentuated the beauty of Sky's appearance.

"Well, how long are you going to keep me waiting?" Sky was starting to look just a little impatient. Sleepily impatient, but impatient nonetheless.

Waiting? Waiting for what? Oh. Oh!

"Just a sec." Jeff reached out and stroked the Rab's upper arm. (Caressed it!) "I'll be right back!" Jeff hurried across the room to get a brush. Rabbit hierarchy was almost entirely about who groomed whom. Apparently, so was the Rabs'. And Sky wanted to be groomed now!

Jeff no longer had to think about devising situations where he could sit close to Sky just so he could feel the radiated warmth. Now he was allowed, no, now he was required to be intimate with the Rab: to pet him, to scratch his ears, to give him a massage, to brush his fur. Whatever Sky wanted, whenever he wanted it. And he was unlikely to object is a subservient member of the snugrow offered to do some grooming at other times.

"I'll brush your ears first, OK? Then your back."

Sky rolled onto his stomach, with his head resting on his arms and ears outstretched. "Go 'head," he murmured.

Jeff gently ran the side of the brush's bristles the length of both long ears, straightening some ruffled fur. He firmly massaged the Rab's shoulders and back, then brushed them smooth. Fluffing the tail, he could see a slight contrast between the white underside and its creamy upper. He proceeded to the long, powerful legs and undersides of the slightly dirty feet. The brush removed it all. The Rab was purring quite audibly while he cleaned out the brush, dumping the loose fur and grime on the floor. He'd pick it up later.

"Roll over. I'll do your front now."

Sky just mumbled and lay there. Half asleep? With some difficulty, Jeff rolled the limp, heavy Rab over onto his back, then spread the Rab's muscular arms and legs for better access, stroking them as he did so. The quiet purr continued unabated and the finely furred eyelids stayed closed.

He brushed the arms first, then ran the brush along Sky's legs, firmly along their outer sides, then more gently along their more sensitive inner sides. Finally the insteps of the long feet. Lucky Rab feet, still connected to their owner.

The Rab lay there without a single flinch, even while Jeff brushed his upper thighs, close to very delicate parts of his anatomy. Running the brush over the Rab's chest and belly didn't invoke any change in either breathing or purr, either. This was so unlike how Flower and Diver had reacted, and they hadn't been nearly as exposed. Why the difference?

Kneeling over the spread-eagled Rab, Jeff massaged his chest, then brushed the soft fur flat again. Moving down, he pressed, squeezed and finally brushed Sky's stomach, still not eliciting any complaints, although the Rab's breathing developed a hitch.

"This doesn't bother you?"

"No, of course not, why would it? It just feels really, really goood," Sky moaned, his eyes still closed.

Jeff was getting a little tired. It was a good tired, though. "I think that's about it. Did I miss anywhere?" Well, there were a few areas, but he thought they'd be just a little too intimate at this stage of their relationship. Maybe another time.

"No place that matters. Thanks," Sky murmured, still sprawled on his back, arms outspread, eyes closed, barely awake, incredibly vulnerable, trusting.

Jeff flopped down on the bed himself, on his side, facing Sky, admiring his profile, watching him breathe, then reaching out to briefly caress his slightly rounded stomach. He must have gotten enough to eat before the morning's traumatic events.

This was just too good to be true. Had Sky come visiting just for this? Just! Jeff smiled to himself. No "just" about it. But....

"Sky?"

"Hmm?"

"Why'd you stop by?"

"I was on my way to spend some time with Flower. She isn't feeling well and wanted me to come rub her feet. When I heard two people snoring in your snug, I wanted to see who was sharing it with you. I wasn't expecting it to be Diver." He snorted.

"I see. So Flower's waiting for you?"

Sky's eyes opened wide. "Oh, shit! She's really gonna be pissed! I better go!" and started to get up.

"Hold on, just a minute," Jeff grabbed Sky's arm. "Let me scratch your ears one last time."

"No, I don't have the time now. I've gotta go," Sky insisted, but he didn't try to get away.

"Just once more." Jeff pulled firmly.

Sky didn't quite relent, but he let himself be pulled back down on the bed. "I've really gotta go. Now."

"Just a minute more." Jeff kneeled over the Rab, a leg on either side of him, holding Sky down much like he'd been held down himself. That seemed like it had been an eternity ago.

"Jeff, please...." but Jeff was relentless. He rubbed between the Rab's ears, fluffing the fur on his head, then slowly and gently ran his hands the length of those long, soft extensions. Sky didn't even try to wiggle free. He just lay there, eyes closed again, purring.

"OK, I'm done." He got up and slapped Sky on the stomach. "Get out of here."

"Ouch! Hey!" Rubbing his belly, the Rab finally managed to get down off the bed, scowling back at Jeff as he started to leave. Then he grinned. "See you later!" and disappeared down the passageway.