Work Text:
Andrew thought rabbits were...weird. Sure, they were cute and fluffy, but they never let you get close enough to feel how soft they were. Andrew had always wanted to pet one, but they were too skittish. They always ran away when he got close, which made him feel a bit bad for scaring them. So, he learned to appreciate them from afar.
That was until he met a rabbit. His name was Neil Josten. Okay, he wasn’t an actual rabbit, but he sure did act like one. He joined Andrew’s class a few months into the school year. When the teacher asked the new student to introduce himself, he had that same skittish look in his eyes that a rabbit in a field had when it saw Andrew approaching. When the kid said nothing, the teacher showed him to his seat next to Andrew.
Before Mx. Rey walked away, they crouched down next to Andrew's chair and whispered, “Andrew, this is Neil. Today is his first day with us, and I’m hoping you can make him feel welcome. Do you remember your first day? And how scary it can be?” Andrew thought back to when he first started school and how scary that was. He nodded his head and promised to himself that he would make Neil’s first day a lot better. “Now,” Mx. Rey started as a grin spread across their face. “Do you think you can help make Neil’s first day a little less scary?” Andrew nodded once more, and the teacher went back to their desk.
After the first part of the day ended, everyone lined up for lunch. Usually, there was a number order everyone followed, but Andrew stood behind Neil regardless. The first time Andrew tried to talk to Neil was at lunch. Andrew usually never talked to people at lunch. Actually, Andrew didn’t usually talk to people in general. He felt there were other ways of communication that were much more efficient. But Neil was...different.
“Hi.” Andrew said. He hadn’t heard his voice in a few days. No one at home or school really talked to him, so he could go days without talking and it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Neil’s eyes went wide, like they had in class earlier. Andrew sat down one seat over from him so Neil wouldn’t feel crowded. Andrew knew how to handle rabbits.
“I don’t bite, honest.” Andrew told the wide-eyed redhead in front of him, mostly trying to break the atmosphere. That’s when Andrew noticed that Neil didn't have lunch. So, Andrew split his pb&j in half and placed one half in front of Neil. The two of them ate in silence, but it was something.
The next day, Andrew tried again. This time, he’d brought an extra sandwich in case Neil hadn’t packed lunch again. Same as the day before, Andrew sat two seats away and slowly slid the Ziplock bag containing the sandwich to Neil. This time, Neil whispered a small “Thank you.” Before eating. Andrew thought it felt nice to hear him talk.
This time, they didn’t eat in silence. Andrew decided that maybe if Neil listened to him talk, he would be encouraged to talk too.
Andrew told Neil all about his favorite thing; space. He rattled on and on about the galaxies, planets, stars, and everything else he could think of. “Did you know that only one state considers Pluto a planet? Also, Neptune, sadly, isn’t that cool deep blue they show us in textbooks; it’s actually a pretty boring washed-out blue like Uranus is.” Neil perked up at that. “Did you know the planets were named after Roman Gods?” Neil quietly told Andrew.
While Andrew wasn’t too familiar with the Romans, he knew all about Greek mythology. The two boys spent the rest of lunch and recess talking about space and Roman and Greek mythology with smiles on both of their faces.
That night wasn’t a very good one for either of them.
Andrew’s twin brother, Aaron, who ended up being in the grade above him because he was basically a genius, had to help clean up Andrew’s busted lip after a fight with their mother. It was over something stupid. Andrew was too excited about how his day went and forgot to empty his backpack. But Aaron was there, so everything was okay. Everything was going to be a-okay. Andrew had made a friend, which was more than enough to keep him happy. Maybe all that rabbit stalking worked out in the end.
Meanwhile, Neil was still adjusting to his new home. His adoptive parents, a couple named Wymack and Abby, were lovely people and they had a lovely home, best of all they were lovely parents. But Neil had only been to their house for visits before they adopted him. And when you're ten years old, and suddenly every familiar thing in his life was changed and taken away, even great things can be scary. But he made a friend. And on his second day, too. Someone wanted to be his friend. Maybe one day, when Neil is more settled in with his new life, Andrew could come over and they could hang out. But for now, he was happy to have someone to talk to.