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Lagomorphs
Copyright © July, 2015, FurryWurry
All rights reserved

Chapter 21 -- Visitors. Again.

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Jeff was still lying there, staring at the ceiling, trying to understand everything that had just happened, when he heard someone scratching at the back entrance. Again. Rabbits slept during the day, why not Rabs? He wanted to!

"Can we come in?" It was Swimmer. His sister was dragging him in this time, though, not his brother.

"Sure, why not?" Jeff sighed. How much more complicated could things get?

"Look, we can just go away if you don't want us here. It's not that important." Right. Like the shy Rab would get up the courage again. Had his sister just invited herself along or had she pushed him to keep his tentative appointment? What did they really want?

"I didn't mean it that way. Come in. Get on the bed." Everyone else did. "Talk to me."

Sunny started. "So wha' happened with Sky and Diver? Diver came back really upset. Said Sky kicked him out and tol' him never come back. Said Sky just abou' 'tacked him. I thought they were fren's. Wha'd Diver do? He wouldn't tell us. He musta done something really bad this time." She obviously was quite upset herself. Her diction had fallen apart.

"He fell asleep. You remember? He was already out when you came by earlier. Sky didn't like him sleeping here without permission."

"Oh! Oh, my. I didn't think. Of course. That would've made Sky really pissed. So he doesn't want Diver coming back? Ever?"

"Uh, no, not exactly. Sky told me all he has to do is ask. He has to ask to stay. That's all." Jeff paused, trying to remember exactly what else he'd been told. Other events had almost driven it out of his head. "You guys, too. He wants you to ask to stay, too. There's plenty of room and everybody here likes all three of you. He doesn't understand why you haven't, since you spend so much time here already."

The two Rabs looked at one another in dismay.

"Oh, shit. Mam'll kill us," Swimmer whispered.

"Well, she can't if we're not there any more, can she?" Now Sunny looked determined. "I'm tired of cleaning up after her [i]and[/i] her kits. All three batches of them. Don't try to tell me you aren't sick of them, too. Some are almost of age! It's time they learned to take care of themselves.

"They're not even our full sibs. Our own sire got Taken a long time ago. That made Gran'Sir really happy. He hates outsiders, and now he can fuck Mam whenever he wants. She really likes it, too," she explained to Jeff. He was not at all certain he had wanted to learn all this.

"So, does that mean you're going to ask Sky to let you stay?"

They both nodded, although Swimmer seemed to be taking his cue from Sunny. "Yeah," Sunny confirmed. "But we gotta go get Diver first. If Mam smells Sky on us, we'll never get near him. She's a light sleeper, too. I know he'll be really happy when we tell him what's happening. We both gotta go, though. I don't think he'd believe either of us alone. We'll be right back. Don't you go anywhere!" She grinned as she dragged Swimmer out behind her.

Waiting for them to return, Jeff went over to one of the shelves to admire the wood carving sitting on it, turning it over in his hands. It was somewhat rough, showing a Rab crouched and apparently ready to flee from some danger. The expression of fear on its face was unmistakable. Could it have been made by Jumper? There didn't seem to be any carving tools lying around, though. Oh, of course: all Rabs had carving tools readily available. Their teeth certainly were sharp enough. Gemma had mentioned how tasty bark could be. Evidently some Rabs did more with trees than just eat them. He had just put it back when he heard a voice in the tunnel.

"No, you're wrong. He was [i]really[/i] mad at me. Stop pushing! It won't do any good, I tell you. He'll probably bite my face off. Oh, hi, Jeff."

"Hi! So your sibs managed to find you OK?"

"That was easy. He was sulking in his snug, just like we expected." Sunny pushed her brother the rest of the way into the room. Swimmer followed behind, burdened with a few small bags.

"They're just pulling my tail, right? Sky's not gonna let us in, is he? I messed it up for all of us, didn' I?"

"No, I don't think so. That's not what Sky said to me." Jeff tried to be reassuring. "All you have to do is ask to stay. That's all he wants. That's what he told me. I suppose he might want an apology of some kind, but he didn't mention that."

"Really?" The Rab's brown eyes lit up. "That's all? Oh. But what'll Mam say? She won't like it at all."

"Who cares? She'll have to take that up with Flower and Sky. I can just imagine the fur flying!" Sunny grinned. "They'll put her in her place, all right. Come on, let's go see Sky now. Wake him if we have to. I can't wait. You come, too, Jeff. You can be witness. Leave our bags here, Swimmer. Hurry up!"

Witness? Would there be something to sign? How formal were such things, anyhow? He tagged along behind, barefoot, still wearing just his briefs and medallion. It was warm enough, and it wasn't as if they hadn't all seen him undressed already. Then, too, it would have felt a little strange to be fully clothed while everyone else was wearing just fur and loincloths. Colorful, shiny loincloths they were, too, not dull, boring white like what he had on.