Chapter Text
The hazy lights of New York City make a lovely glow on the streets below. A human staggers toward the subway, staying alert just enough to keep awareness as the day turns to night, but drifting into their subconscious enough to ignore the blaring street lights as they start to come on.
Their eyes squint as a large yawn erupts from their lungs and give their body a nice shake. “Woah, Jay, C’mon you gotta stay awake for a little longer” they mutter to themselves.
The sound of the transit reaching its destination alerts Jay later as they wake up from their semi sleep, cuddling with their bag in a defensive rest. They finally make the way to their humble apartment.
Jay checks the mailbox, fiddling with the key longer than needed, biting their lower lip. “Stupid hand-glitch” they groan as their hand spasms and drops the key.
As they lower themselves to the ground to pick up their key, they feel the jostle of bumping their rear into someone. “Oh shoot! I’m sorry” Jay cries and sees a teenage girl tilting back as she adjusts her footing. Jay pales as they realize she’s a kid. “Are you good? I’m so sorry I’m a little clumsy.” They apologize with a wince.
The girl smirks, adjusting her cat-eye glasses and shrugs “Hey no problem, I was heading out.”
Jay looks around the atrium “At this time of day? On a school night?”
The girl huffs and crosses her arms “What are you the police?”
Jay waves their hand defensively “No, no…but I work with kids, so I can’t help feeling a little concerned. Do your folks know what you are up to?”
“Yeah…enough” The girl brightens up “So wait, are you a teacher?”
“Preschool, actually” Jay smirks, and shuffles their feet. “My name is Jay, don’t be a stranger, yeah? We are neighbors after all.”
“Oh..yeah…Um…I’m April…”
“Well April, have fun with your plans and stay safe. Please try to get back by curfew.”
“Okay, mom,” April replies nervously.
Jay winces “Naw, not exactly…” They shift their weight awkwardly, not wanting to bother explaining their pronouns, and watch the girl walk down the street. They sigh and unlock the inner door.
A moment later they unlock the door to their tiny apartment. It was more or less one room with a bathroom in the corner, a kitchenette in another, and a futon couch spread out in the middle. There were grid enclosures intersecting with the walls as a gray ball hopped from under the futon.
“Hey Flynn” Jay crooned, stepping over the enclosure crouching next to the small rabbit. They lower themselves and gently hold out their hand when the rabbit grunted and swiped his front paws against Jay’s hand. “Ouch! Oops, I’m sorry…you weren’t ready…” They shake their hand slightly from the sting of the rabbit’s nails, and shift their weight to lay down on the floor. “I needed a nap anyway.” They take a deep breath and relax for what felt like ages.
Eventually they feel pressure on their legs. Jay slowly moves their head and watches as Flynn places his front paws on his owner’s leg and starts licking their jeans. “Awww…” Jay croons. “I know you love me.” Flynn scoots back and scampers under the futon flicking his hind legs. Jay just chuckles as they stand up to make some dinner.
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Several days pass keeping a nose to the grindstone. Jay was trying to save vacation days to visit their family, but without significant travel funds, they were just getting more and more burnt out.
“Fuckin’ hell” they muttered as they microwave some ramen for the third time this week. “Flynn, you need to remind me to do my meal prep on the weekend.” The gray rabbit just started cleaning his hind legs in response.
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Jay woke up suddenly hearing some strange rustling sounds. It was not unusual for tenants to come home late at night, especially those who did night shifts.
“Goodness, that is a large group clodding around…” they groan. “I hope it’s not a dancing party.”
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Jay lay on their futon legs twitching with pent up energy. “Gah…okay I don’t care if it smells like marijuana out there, I need some fresh air!” They stomp over to their window and open it wide. They groan as they see a large hole in the screen. “Right….I forgot about that…now where’s my tape…” They shuffle around their desk, looking for duct tape. They didn’t hear the buzzing sound drifting toward the window.
Flynn starts sneezing and Jay turns with a sympathetic whine. “I know, baby, it’s gonna take a couple days for your meds to start…” They gasp and drop the tape. Hovering over their rabbit is a large bug, with bioluminescent green radiating off its thorax.
“What the FUCK is that!?” Jay shrieks and walks quickly as the bug perches over the lagomorph. “Hey!” They whisper-scream “You’re not laying eggs on my baby…” They try to swat at the bug without hitting their pet. Unfortunately Flynn did not see it that way and turned around and bit Jay on the wrist hard. “OWW! Dude…” Jay winces, and sees the bug flying away. They slam their hand down on the bug squishing it into the rug.
“Ahh!” They wince as they feel a sharp sting on their neck, and slaps against the skin, feeling a strange goo splat on their nape. They move their hand to see the same ooze that stained the carpet. “I’ve never seen these bugs before…Oh baby” Jay croons with tears in their eyes. They pick up their bunny cuddling him and kissing him. “Please don’t get sick, did it bite you too?”
The little, gray rabbit’s nostrils flared quickly and made a little moan with each breath. Suddenly they nip at Jay’s clavicle, scrambling to get out of their arms, and a high pitch squeal erupts. The sound makes Jay’s heart drop into their stomach.
“Baby…you’re hurt? Oh no!” Jay cries, tears streaming down their face. “Oh no!” They watch with horror as their beloved pet flattens their abdomen on the floor and squeals.
Suddenly, Jay lurches and grasps their temples. Something didn’t feel right and they released a scream of their own and collapsed on the ground. Human and rabbit continue writhing in pain and Jay’s consciousness slips with delirium.
The moment passes and it’s quiet. Jay looks around and feels their senses sharper. “What happened…Flynn…You better be alive...” While they had heard a rabbit scream before, it was the first time they heard one from Flynn. They only make that sound when they are terrified for their life. The stress can induce cardiac arrest.
Jay groans and stretches out their limbs and that’s when they notice, their pale arms look hairier. Usually the body hair on their limbs were blond, however in this instance it looked similar to the brown hair on their scalp. And it was thick and short, like fur.
“What the fuck…” Jay mutters rubbing their arms. It felt plush like rabbit fur, similar to Flynn’s. “Okay…bad dream, bad dream…” They sit up and slap their face, which to their horror also felt soft. Trying not to panic they start punching the floor, each strike, sending pain into their elbow and knuckles. “C’mon…wake up! Wake up!”
They stop suddenly when they hear a soft voice cry “Ah…Ahhh…Ha….” Who was that? Jay lived alone, except for…but rabbits don’t vocalize.
“Bad, dream, bad dream…” Jay repeats haggardly as they look behind them. In the place where they last saw their beloved pet, lay an anthropomorphic rabbit, with gray fur, about the size of a human child. Their brown eyes were bulging with panic and they looked over toward Jay, nostrils flaring.
Jay’s breath hitched, and it took a moment to push out a question.
“F-Flynn…..I-is…that…y-you?”