Gray hadn’t lied. I woke up the next morning when the low buzz of the plug started, and a rush of warmth flooded my lower half. I moaned softly, stretching under the covers. If I could wake up every morning feeling like that, I would. I hoped I could. I still felt Gray’s chest under my head, still smelled his scent all over me, and so I slid my way up without opening my eyes and pawed around for his mouth. I grabbed both sides of his head and mumbled a good morning as I kissed him. We stayed like that for a while, my ears only now registering the faint sound of Gray watching some video on his phone over my head, now pressed into the crook beneath his chin. The plug kept vibrating, driving me closer and closer to finishing without him even having to touch me. I grabbed a fistful of his fur as I arched and did my best to hold it in, moaning louder.


    “H…hey,” I said shakily.


    “Go ahead, we both probably need to shower again anyway, and your clothes are still in the wash.”


    With his permission, I let go and the rush of the orgasm swept over me. I came all over his belly, feeling the stickiness bind our bodies together. Gray reached up his other arm to his phone and pressed a couple buttons, shutting the plug off. He yawned loudly, right in my face, and I got a lungful of his morning breath.


    “Ugh, what have you been eating?”


    “You,” he growled softly and kissed the top of my head.


    I couldn’t even argue with that. I had the split second thought to find out if I tasted as good as Gray, but when I slid off of him and moved towards his belly, he rolled out of bed.


    “You’d had enough, you little imp. Come on and get in the shower.”


    I got out of bed as well, sliding the plug out carefully and washing it in the sink before setting it on the counter. I turned the shower on, and heard the door click shut behind me.


    “You going first?”


    “Nah, just don’t want to wait for you to take forever. It’s not like <i>you’re</i> shy, we can just shower together.”


    I shrugged, and gestured for him to step in first. He did, heaving a sigh as the warm water trailed over his shoulders, and then I slid in too. Gray wasted no time in lathering me up, scrubbing around my torso and ears, cleaning around my parts. He did with such force and efficiency, I was almost surprised he didn’t flip me over and do my paws too. I offered to return the favor, but he just grunted and did it himself. Rinsed and clean, we stepped out and again Gray didn’t hesitate to towel me off. I didn’t try to offer again, I just picked up the towel and started.


    “Oh, you don’t have to…” he started.


    “Why not? I’m just supposed to let you be nice and <i>not </i>return the favor.”


    “I…kind of? I don’t know. I just…don’t really expect others to be nice, I prefer to do things for others.”


    “So acts of service, but not in return?”


    “What?”


    “You know, like the languages of love? Touch, affirmations, acts of service, gifts, and quality time. It’s the way people express and receive love.”


    “I didn’t know that. Where’d you learn all that?”


    I just shrugged. If I knew that, I would know where I came from. What happened to turn me into a rabbit. The whole mystery still ate at me, but I let the thoughts move to the side in favor of returning my focus to Gray.


    “So do any of those sound like things you like?”


    “You know, now that you mention it, I kind of like gifts and quality time. Those were always what touched me the most.”


    “Noted. I don’t mind acts of service, if that’s your thing, but I really love physical touch.”


    “Oh I bet you do.” Gray laughed.


    “Funny, you’re so funny. It’s not a sexual thing. Like I like holding hands and just like leaning on you and stuff like that.”


    “And if I combine these two things…”


    “I hate the way your mind works.”Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Gray ensured he was completely dry before promptly scooping me up in his arms and carrying me downstairs to the laundry room.  When he had managed to not only get my clothes off while I was sleeping, but also to sneak out of bed to wash them, I had no idea. I guessed I was a heavier sleeper than I thought. Luckily, the dryer had stopped, and I shivered slightly as I put the warm clothes back on. Gray as well had washed his shorts from the previous day, and I noticed the advantage of this right away as my sweatshirt smelled just like him.


    In the kitchen, I decided eggs were probably the best bet for a quick breakfast. I cracked them into a pan with some butter, and came out a little crispier than I’d wanted, but it wasn’t bad for possibly never making eggs before. Gray had disappeared again at some point up the stairs, and when I called for breakfast and set the plates on the table, he reappeared. He had changed, now wearing cargo shorts and a blue polo. He’d even taken time to brush the fur on his head into a more manageable shape.


    “You don’t have to dress up to impress me,” I said, “I already touched your dick.”


    “Oh, you did more than touch it.” He grinned and winked at me. “And it’s not for you. I have a meeting with a client online in about an hour, and they don’t love it when you look sloppy. “


    “Ah, well, I’ll stay out of your way. Maybe I’ll find out if I can bake, I can go door-to-door selling muffins or something.”


    “That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard. You should definitely do that.” He started ticking off his fingers. “Meeting should take about an hour and a half. Plus, they’ll want some sort of draft by the end of the day, so add another two hours.” He thought for a second. “Let’s say five. Around five, we can go clothes shopping.”


    “And when you say we…”


    “I’m going to drive you to the clothes store and make you try on everything I pick up. You get no say in it.”


    “Wonderful. I love this.”


    I stuck my tongue out at him, and he just gulped down his eggs before returning upstairs. I ended up drifting around before deciding to just plop on the couch and watch TV. I flicked through the channels, making sure to keep the volume low. News. Fire somewhere I’d never heard of, old polar bear running for governor of wherever we were, local school kids volunteering at elderly home. Soap operas. I didn’t really care which of two fox brothers had fathered Eliza’s baby. Kids channel. Yes. The pinnacle of my unfounded nostalgia came with discovering Mr. Fox Rogers. A greying red fox in a cardigan, smiling at the camera as he talked to the mailman who was an owl. It tickled some part of my brain, as if I should absolutely recognize these people. I supposed it must be a show humans watched too, albeit with humans. Still, I was engrossed.


    Only when it went to commercial did I notice the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, and I caught the lion out the corner of my eye. It was crouched low, exactly in the corner where Gray had found me, eyes glued onto me where I sat. It licked its lips, and stalked forwards slightly on all fours.


    “What is this place,” it growled in a deep voice.


    I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Who was this, and why…why was the voice so familiar. It tickled worse than the show, as if it was imperative at that very moment that I knew who this lion was. And though I imagined briefly it could be that the beast looked ready to tear me apart, there was something else. Then a memory came unbidden.


    That same voice, growling at me still, echoed in my memories, and I saw somewhere else. A truck, carrying me somewhere as I sat in the back. As I was <i>made </i>to sit in the back. There was a man, a human, driving and talking in that voice.


    “...worthless. You don’t even deserve to die like a man. You can die like an animal…”


    The memory faded to black, and returned in a forest. I was against a tree, the bark rough against my bare skin. The man was above me, his face in shadow. He was still talking.


    “...no son of mine. You’re an abomination, a parasite. Die out here with the other beasts, Desmond.”


    I tried to move, but my limbs were bound to the tree, and I felt the cool breeze lick me from head to toe. The man turned, and I caught only a glimpse of his face before he disappeared, and the memory ended with me crying out after him…


    “Dad!”


    The lion cocked its head. “Desmond? That’s you? But you’re…” He looked at himself for the first time. “Oh, I’m an animal too. Hmm.” He looked back at me. “You’re alive.”


    “I’m alive.”


    Just then Gray came down the stairs. He saw me, smiled, and came into the living room just far enough until he saw the lion and stopped.


    “I was wondering….who you were talking to, but I guess that answers my question. Is this a friend of yours?”


    “This is my…dad. I’m not really sure. I’m only just now remembering that…”


    “You should be dead,” the lion growled.


    “Well, yeah, that, but I meant more so remembering my life as a human.”


    “You should be dead,” he growled again.


    Gray saw the lion tense, but he was too slow. I saw with only enough time to spring to my feet, feeling the lion’s jaws clamp into my side where my neck had been a second before. The teeth were fire ripping through until I could almost hear them make contact with my spine. I screamed. By then, Gray was in motion. His claws tore into the side of the lion, leaving long gouges that sprayed blood across the bear’s face. The lion flew back, catching itself just before it slammed into the wall. My vision swam as I saw Gray charge, his teeth bared as he bore into the lion with all his might, shaking the whole house as they went right through the drywall. My legs gave out, and I had only enough energy to put my arm out as I fell. Everything shrank to a tunnel, and I could feel every breath bring with it a spurt of blood. The whole of me was numb, unable to move, otherwise I would have grabbed the guts now torn and hanging out from me. The lion’s claws tore Gray’s shirt to shreds, but the whole thing ended a second later when Gray’s teeth closed around the lion’s throat, tearing it clean out.


    My vision closed off again, completely black, but I felt strong paws on my face. Gray’s voice came as if from a far way off.


    “Hang in there, Des. Oh fuck, oh god, fuck fuck <b>fuck fuck FUCK.”</b>


    <i>I love you</i>, I tried to say, <i>thank you for even this small moment of happiness we’ve shared. </i>But there was nothing left in my body to form the words. And then I was gone.