literature

Gabriel Cottontail (Rabbit TF) - Part 2

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The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Audrey awoke. Memories of last night came flooding back to her, and she sat up, gasping. She had fallen asleep against the gigantic Gabe-turned-rabbit, but there was no sign of him now. As her gaze drifted downward, she saw a human Gabe, laying on his stomach, asleep on the floor. She let out a laugh of relief, throwing herself on top of him and wrapping her arms around him in a hug, ignoring the fact that he was presently nude.

Gabe jumped awake, letting out a yell of surprise. "Augh! Wh-what the hell?! ...Audrey?" he asked, perplexed.

"Gabe! Oh Gabe, you're back!" she cried happily, tears of happiness brimming in her eyes.

"Did I leave?" he asked, puzzled. He sat up, and as he did so he happened to glance downward. He yelped in dismay at his nudity, hunching over and covering his nether region. "I'm naked! Why the hell am I naked?!" 

She blushed, averting her gaze and letting go of him. She stayed knelt on the floor, one hand over her eyes for good measure. "You... don't remember?" she asked hesitantly.

His face reddened as well, his mind immediately going where a person's mind would typically go when waking up naked next to their crush. Had something... happened between them last night? No, he decided after a moment. Besides the implausibility of Audrey even allowing anything to happen, she was still fully clothed. Not to mention they were on the floor. He searched his memories of last night as he got up and shuffled over to his dresser. He pulled on a pair of boxers. Audrey had come over... gave him a birthday present... then... "I... broke the present you got me," he said guiltily.

She nodded, peeking out from between her fingers before lowering her hand and standing up. "Yeah... and... after that?" 

Gabe frowned, considering. Something had happened to his face? And then... He blanched as the rest of last night started coming back to him. "I-I..." He shook his head. That was insane. He hadn't... turned into an impossibly huge rabbit! That kind of thing didn't happen!

Audrey stepped towards him. "You... changed," she said slowly. She could easily see how he would think the whole thing had been some kind of dream, if he even remembered it at all. His mind had been altered during the transformation, so who could know if he would even get to keep the memories?

He nodded, his throat dry. "A... A rabbit," he said. "B-But that's impossible!"

Audrey shrugged helplessly, giving him an apologetic smile. "I know, but... You... remember it, right?"

"Kind of," he said, wiggling his hand to indicate the shakiness of the memories. "I... was scared. But you-" he cut himself off, blushing with embarrassment. "You were... nice," he finished lamely. That was how the rabbit had seen it anyway. He remembered being lulled to sleep, comforted by her gentle petting of his head. It had felt good. Peaceful. Audrey was so kind and trustworthy, and she would have kept him safe no matter what. His blush deepened as he recalled the rabbit's unabashed affection for her.

"Yeah?" she asked shyly, her cheeks more than a bit pink as well. Her smile fell as she gazed down at the floor. "I was so scared Gabe. I thought... you were... gone," she said, choking a bit.

He looked over at her, touched by her concern. He pulled a shirt out of the drawer and began getting dressed. "I... guess in some ways I was. But I still remembered you. Kind of," he said. "But, anyway, it's all over now," he said quickly.

She glanced up at him, blinking. "You think so?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. I broke the statue, turned into a rabbit as... I don't know, punishment, or whatever, and now I'm back,"  he said with a confidence that sounded forced.

Audrey frowned. "I... I guess it's possible," she said hesitantly.

Gabe smiled. "Don't worry. It was just one freak accident," he said. 

She watched him dress, realizing he was putting on slacks and a button up shirt. "Y-You're not going to work, are you?" she asked, astonished.

"Of course I am," he said. He laughed. "You think I can call in sick just because I turned into a rabbit last night?"

She folded her arms over her chest, unamused at his flippant attitude. "I'm serious, Gabe. What if it happens again?"

"It won't!" he snapped suddenly, whirling on her.

Audrey jumped back, startled. She stared at him, stricken. He'd never shouted at her before, even when they'd gotten into the occasional argument or heated discussion.

Gabe flinched guiltily, but then his expression hardened. "I-It just won't, okay?" he said gruffly. "Now... c'mon," he said, leading her to the door of the small apartment. "I have to get ready for work. We can hang out later tonight if you want," he said, smiling a bit.

Audrey nodded, still looking worried and uncertain. "Can you just... text me once in awhile to let me know everything's fine?"

Gabe rolled his eyes, making a show of acting like he thought her unjustified concern didn't phase him. In reality, though, he was moved by it. It was nice that she cared about him so much, even if it was in a purely platonic way. Besides, some small part of him, deep down inside, knew that her concern wasn't actually unjustified. He didn't want to admit, even to himself, that neither of them really knew for sure that his change back to human was permanent. 

"Fine, sure," he said, waving a hand.

"I'm serious, Gabe!" she said for the second time, frowning up at him.

He smiled gently, nodding. "I know. And I will, I promise, okay?" he said.

She nodded as well. She clearly wasn't completely satisfied with the situation, but she still headed out the door, allowing him to finish getting ready for work.

Once she was gone, Gabe took a breath, running his hands through his hair and trying to calm himself down. He just wanted to forget about the whole thing and pray Audrey did too. There was no way Audrey would ever look twice at him after seeing him as a big stupid rabbit.

He spent the better part of his day at the office feeling twitchy and nervous. Some paranoid part of his brain wondered if his mind was permanently rabbit-y now, but he told himself it was just stress. Plain old, boring stress. Still, he kept his promise to Audrey, texting her roughly every hour, or whenever she texted him. As he did, he couldn't help but think back to last night. It had been scary at first, but... after he calmed down, it hadn't been so bad. Not really. The simplicity of the rabbit's mind was relaxing in its way. His blind affection for Audrey and his blind acceptance of her affection towards him. It wasn't romantic, of course, but nor was it purely platonic, either. It was just... affection, in a mind too basic to split that one simple feeling into multiple types. There was no over-analyzing his actions or hers, trying to dissect hidden intent or meaning. No wondering about any possible future together, no guessing at hidden secrets. Just the two of them, happy together. Safe.

And, of course, the rabbit's mind was completely unashamed to be a rabbit.

"Ah-HEM!" a voice coughed above him.

Gabe jumped, looking up from his computer to see his boss standing over his desk, peering down at him from the other side of the wall of his cubicle. He was a middle aged, balding man in a suit. Pretty much the stereotypical office boss, but then, Gabe supposed stereotypes didn't always come out of thin air. "H-Hey Tom," he stammered nervously.

"Gabriel," Tom said, dipping his head in a nod. He didn't look pleased. "You had an offsite meeting with your client today that I'm told you didn't show up to," he said, arching his brows as he awaited explanation.

Gabe blanched. "O-Oh, r-right, I forgot, I'll head over there now," he said, quickly getting to his feet and frantically unplugging his laptop, cursing as one of the cords fell behind the desk. "S-Sorry!" he yelped, mortified that he'd cursed in front of the boss.

Tom rolled his eyes. "Don't bother, Gabe. The meeting was half an hour ago, and they called to tell me they weren't waiting any longer," he said. He spoke in a calm, though displeased voice, but a pulsing vein near his temple betrayed his outrage at Gabe's failure. "I told them you'd meet them tomorrow. I trust you won't make a liar out of me?" he said sternly.

He gulped, nodding silently. Tom gave a nod as well, letting out a disgruntled huff as he walked away.

Gabe gave a quiet moan of despair, sinking into his chair and burying his face in his hands. How could he have forgotten about the client meeting? He'd been pushing for months to get the privilege of meeting with the clients directly. So naturally, he blew it on his first try. So much for moving up in this company. He'd be little more than a long-term temp for the rest of his career!

As he sat, stewing in his own misery, he felt something twitch on the sides of his head. "No..." he whispered fearfully. As he held his hands to the sides of his head, he felt his ears lengthening, becoming fuzzy and pointed. He was changing again! He glanced around his cubicle, panicking. Should he make a run for it? But where would he go? This office building was in the middle of a city! There would be nowhere safe for him nearby- he'd just be a giant rabbit darting in and out of traffic!

The work day was nearly over, and most of his coworkers were already checked out. Mentally if not physically. Maybe if he could just... slow the changes down enough, he could stay hidden til everyone left.

 It seemed to be working. His ears stopped growing once they hung just past his shoulders. They didn't become the beach towel-length monstrosities he'd ended up with last night. He grabbed his hooded jacket from where he'd hung it on the side of his cube, putting it on and covering his head. He felt his nose twitch, and knew it was shifting into a rabbit nose. His front teeth poked slightly at his lip, informing him that they, too, were changing. Long, white whiskers appeared in his peripheral vision. 

He couldn't just stay at his desk... Of course! The supply room! Why didn't he think of that sooner?

Gabe hopped to his feet, but immediately noticed something was wrong. Standing up hadn't made him any taller. He was still far below the walls of his cube, his shoulders barely a foot above the desk. He glanced down, seeing his slacks pooled around his ankles. He was getting smaller? Maybe he'd actually be a rabbit sized rabbit this time! At least it'll be easier to stay hidden, he thought as he ducked under his desk. It was easy for him to press himself into a corner, out of sight of anyone who passed by his cube. Most likely, they'd think he'd just ducked out early. 

He felt the fur sprouting all over his body, feeling uncomfortable against the fabric of his clothes. He debated removing his clothes altogether, but that internal debate lasted too long. His hands had already turned into paws, and soon he shrank down into his clothing, leaving a small rabbit huddled in a pile of office clothes. 

He tried to keep calm. With great effort, he steadied his breathing, waiting for the rabbit mind to kick in. Waiting for himself to go blind with panic at being wrapped up in human clothing and stuffed under a desk, terrified at scent of many other, probably unsafe humans around him. Waiting for the overpowering desire to go back to his burrow...

After several moments, he blinked in confusion. Was he actually staying in control this time? He felt the rabbit side of his brain there, with him. He knew it wanted to go back to the burrow, and that it feared the other humans in the office. But, ultimately, it was Gabe who was in control. That was a relief, at least. He knew he wouldn't dart out and blindly run about the office, only to be grabbed up by animal control or something. Still... a human mind in a tiny, scared rabbit body was no picnic either.

Maybe he could wait it out. Just... hide out under his desk til he turned human again. Because surely he would be human again eventually, right? It was just going to be a... back and forth thing. Rabbit and human. Right? He tried desperately to convince himself that was the case.

"Oh my god, did Gabe seriously ditch early?" came a young male voice from outside the cubicle.

Gabe froze, praying they wouldn't look inside the cubicle or under the desk. Though the logical part of his mind reminded him that randomly looking under the desk would be a silly thing for them to do.

"Did he really? Jeeze. Because Tom wasn't pissed off enough before," another voice said.

"Right? Well, goodbye Gabe, hope the job hunt treats you well," the first voice chuckled sarcastically. 

Gabe's floppy ears seemed to droop even further. Well that was just great. Now his job was in jeopardy for this whole stupid rabbit curse! He sighed, curling up in the massive nest of cloth that was his work outfit. He felt tears of frustration and grief sting at his eyes and he made a small noise of disgust in the back of his throat. Perfect. He was still capable of crying. Being a tiny bunny was apparently too manly, the universe just needed to let him keep the ability to cry. 

He remained under his desk after everyone had left. He almost didn't even care if he turned back. Bunnies didn't need jobs, and soon he'd be out of a job. A match made in heaven, he thought wryly to himself. It was just after five thirty by the time everyone was gone. A few more minutes passed before the overhead lights began to switch off. Gabe remained where he was, sullen and dejected.
The hijinks continue! Gabe is having a rough time. :( And so am I, because my uninspired choice of title has caused the Peter Cottontail song to be stuck in my head. Karma? ;P

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