Work Text:
Crack!
Ray jumped. The sound of bone cracking against bone—horns against horns—was enough to startle him. He looked up from his laptop, perched precariously on his knees. The start had nearly sent the device crashing to the ground if not for a shaky hand to steady it. His heart was racing, ears straight up and alert. His entire body screamed ‘danger, danger!’ out to him.
Crack!
Again Ryan and Geoff collided and again Ray startled. Mentally, he berated himself for being so frightened by the sounds of the two gents butting heads. It was just a way for them to release some energy and frustration, and no matter how loud the clacking sound of bone-on-bone was, Ray knew that it didn’t hurt either of them. Not to mention that it happened all the time.
Crack!
“God damn it!” Ray swore under his breath, his words inaudible above the sounds of Geoff and Ryan’s roughhousing. He couldn’t take it anymore.
He sat up, setting his laptop aside on the couch. Taking a deep shaky breath, he tugged lightly at one of his long ears—a nervous habit that he picked up since moving in with the other five. It helped to keep him from panicking whenever things got rowdy in the house, which was fairly often considering the diversity among the six. He cursed himself for letting the rabbit instincts in him take over. There was nothing to fear from the guys.
Crack!
Ray yelped, nearly jumped out of his skin. His cheeks flushed in shame and he glanced around the room, hoping that no one noticed his scare. Of course Geoff and Ryan were preoccupied, horns scraping against each other as they wrestled. Both Gavin and Michael were nestled into the large cushioned armchair, with Michael stretched out lazily on his back across Gavin’s lap, head tilted back to see the television screen. His tail hung over the edge, swishing contentedly as Gavin preened his wings, running his fingers through the feathers, making sure nothing got into them.
Then he caught Jack’s eye. The lion hybrid’s eyes were right on him. Ray swallowed. Shit, well so much for keeping his cool. He looked away quickly, suddenly embarrassed to hold Jack’s gaze. He was an idiot, and he knew that he was showing it with freaking out over something as silly as a couple of horned hybrids buncing heads.
He felt the other man shift on the couch to move closer to him. An arm draped gently around his shoulders and Ray automatically leaned into the touch, releasing his hold on his rabbit ear. “You alright, honey?” Jack’s deep voice murmured into his ear, giving him a squeeze.
“Yeah.” Ray nodded vigorously, his ears flopping with the motion. “Yeah, I’m fine. Totally cool.”
Jack wrapped his other arm around Ray, pulling him close. Ray nuzzled his face into the man’s shoulder. The embrace was nice. He didn’t even notice the scuffling between the other two gents, enveloped in warmth and just enjoying the cuddles.
“It’s alright to tell them if you’re uncomfortable with it you know,” Jack murmured into his ear.
He turned his head so that he could speak without his voice being muffled by Jack’s shoulder. “I know.” Ray kept his voice just as low. “But… it’s dumb.”
Jack ran his hands up Ray’s back, carding his fingers through the rabbit hybrid’s hair. “It’s not dumb, Ray. You should feel comfortable with us, and if they don’t like it then they can go outside to do their thing.”
Ray hummed in response, his eyes fluttering closed. This was nice, and Jack’s touches were soothing. Even the tickle of Jack’s beard on his face was pleasant. He felt safe and loved being held by Jack like this, so that he didn’t even notice anything else that was going on in the room. “Yeah. I’ll let them know then.”
But he would leave that for later. For now he was just going to enjoy Jack’s touches.