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The fight was going well. It was going splendid, in fact. Jude and Sharp were absolutely winning against Sharkilz and Swizu. Jude was on Shark, and Sharp was on Swizu.
Jude grinned as he blocked yet another hit from Shark. Despite the fact that he couldn’t see Jude’s smile due to his gas mask, the crinkle in the insane rabbit’s eyes was enough of a tell.
Shark gritted his teeth and pushed against the rabbit hybrid’s sword and twisted, knocking it out of his grasp. Jude cursed under his breath, then grabbed Shark’s wrist and twisted, forcing him to drop his sword.
He was taken aback for a moment, then opted to forgo his sword and lunged at Jude, tackling him to the ground. He landed with a thud, the wind momentarily knocked out of him, which Shark took as an opportunity.
He pinned him down with a hand at his throat and Jude’s eyes widened. He kicked up, but Shark pinned him further with a knee on his chest. He grabbed at the arm that was choking him, which inadvertently caused his hoodie to ride up.
Jude twisted and squirmed to try and escape, and as he did, Shark caught sight of something that was usually hidden under his hoodie.
A small purple tail. Not a pom pom type of tail, but a rabbit’s tail nonetheless.
Shark’s eyes narrowed as he grinned. He shifted most of his weight to the knee on Jude’s chest and the hand that was choking went up to yank his ears back.
Jude cried out in pain. Shark smiled further. His free hand grabbed Jude’s mask and grinned smugly down at him. (Imagine that one scene from ddvau iykyk)
“Jude, Jude, Jude.” Shark tsked, shaking his head. “Don’t hide your face. I wanna see all of it when I choke the life out of you." He yanked the mask off violently, but kept the firm grasp on his ears.
Tears formed at the corners of Jude’s eyes. His ears were sensitive. Very sensitive. No one touched his ears, yet alone yanked on them. The only times that even he touched them was to clean them, and even then he was extremely gentle.
This was not gentle.
“And I think I saw a little bunny tail under there, didn’t I?” Shark reached down, under Jude, and he stiffened when his fingers brushed the fur. “I did! Hm. I wonder if it’s just as sensitive as those ears of yours. Let’s find out, shall we? Oh, and Jude? Consider this payback for all the times you’ve trapped me and Swizu.”
Jude’s eyes widened, but before he could even open his mouth to protest, Shark grabbed his tail and pulled on both it and his ears at the same time.
Jude’s breathing stuttered. His pupils shrank to slits. Then he let out a screech. Not a scream. A scream could still be classified as human. What came out of Jude was a fully animal sound. Pain.
His thoughts left abruptly. All of the rational, human ones at least. What was left was raw instincts, with only a few thoughts repeating.
Run.
Run, run, run.
Hide, hide, hide.
Burrow.
Go to warren.
Warren is safe.
Not safe.
Need to run.
Shark’s grip faltered at the sound and Jude took the opportunity. He got his feet under his stomach and kicked up, throwing him off him. Shark landed on the ground and scrambled away from Jude.
“What- what the hell?!” Shark exclaimed, but Jude paid him no mind. He wasn’t trapped anymore.
Run.
Can run.
Run.
Hide.
Go to warren.
Go, go, go.
Jude scrambled up, but not onto his feet. He wasn’t thinking human enough to stand. Instead, he got on all fours and started running.
Running, running, running.
He was surprisingly fast like that. His body moved the same as that of a normal rabbit’s just… larger.
Jude ran in circles, around the colosseum. He couldn’t escape. There was no exit, to his eyes. No opening. All the doors were shut.
So he kept running. Searching for a place to hide, even though there was none, that place didn’t seem to exist.
Run rabbit, run rabbit. Run, run, run.
Sharpness grinned. This was going great! They were winning! He had taught Jude how to fight so well! He was such a good teacher.
Sharp’s and Swizu’s swords locked and Swizu’s stance faltered for a moment, enough for Sharp to be able to slash at his side. Swizu yelped and quickly threw down a health pot.
“What? Are you getting low already, Swizu?” Sharp dodged one of Swizu’s swipes easily. “Come on, it’s like you’re not even trying!”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t help that you’re so annoying to fight.” Swizu swung again at Sharp, but was blocked with a shield.
“I’m annoying to fight?” Sharp barked out a laugh and swung, hitting Swizu’s arm. “Jude is the one who’s annoying to fight, if anything.”
Swizu quickly ate a gapple. “Maybe, but you-“
He was abruptly cut off at a screech. They both stopped, looking around for the source. It was very quickly found at Shark’s shout.
“What- what the hell?!”
Sharp and Swizu looked over in time to see Jude begin running. And running. And running, seemingly with no destination.
He moved impressively fast, and surprisingly, his hoodie did not get in his way at any point. He simply… ran.
“What the fuck is he doing? Does anyone know what he’s doing?” Sharp called out to the players who were watching what was previously a duel. Now… no one quite knew what it had turned into.
Swizu looked at Sharp in surprise. “You don’t know what he’s doing? Aren’t you his teammate?”
“First, does it look like I know? Second, just because I’m his teammate doesn’t mean he actually fully trusts me.” Sharp replied dryly, but he didn’t look at Swizu once. His gaze remained trained on Jude concernedly. “I’ve never seen this before.”
Someone pearled next to Sharp. It was Cow. “I know what he’s doing.”
Sharp looked at Cow expectantly but anxiously. “What is it?”
“It’s- I don’t know for sure, but I think something triggered his instincts.” Cow watched the still running rabbit hybrid with concern and sympathy in his eyes. “That basically means he isn’t thinking clearly, he’s not thinking like a human at all. He’s thinking like a rabbit, which probably just means running, hiding, or getting somewhere safe.”
“How do you know that?” Sharp asked cautiously, without even glancing away from Jude.
“Because it’s happened to me.” Cow remarked sadly. “It can happen to any animal or mob hybrid, but with prey based ones it’s a bit more… intense. And more easily triggered. It happens quicker and hits harder. Any trace of humanity is wiped away, leaving just his base instincts.”
“How do we snap him out of it?” Sharp shifted his weight. Nervous. That was rare for the blonde.
“Either find a way to make him feel safer or let him tire himself out. There isn’t really much we can do, honestly.” Cow’s tail flicked and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you know of any place that you can say for certain he feels safe at?”
“Um…” Sharp thought for a moment. “His base. Do you think that I could like, grab him and take him there?”
Cow tilted his head at Sharp. “Grab him how?”
“Like, how you’d grab a normal rabbit, round his torso. I’d wait to move him until he calms down a little, if he does that is. If he doesn’t, we could just open a door or something and he’ll probably just run to his base anyways, right?”
Cow blinked for a moment. “That… is a surprisingly well thought out plan. Yeah. That could work.”
Sharp nodded then turned to watch Jude again, who had not slowed his running. He thought for a moment, judging when and where to intercept the rabbit. Then he threw a pearl around two or three blocks ahead of Jude’s path.
Jude startled and attempted to dodge around the swordsman, but Sharpness hadn’t fine tuned his reflexes over years for nothing. He tackled Jude, looping an arm firmly around his torso and pulled him to his chest.
Jude whined and kicked and clawed, but Sharp held firm. He talked quietly, comfortingly, to the rabbit as if he were an actual scared prey animal that he was trying to calm.
“Jude, it’s okay. You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. No one is going to hurt you. Not Shark, not Swizu, or Tai, Noob, Cow, no one. You’re gonna be just fine.”
It took a good ten minutes, but eventually Jude’s struggling slowed. First he stopped trying to scratch or bite Sharp. Then he stopped twisting and whining. Then lastly, he stopped kicking, his legs curled up close to his chest. His breathing, however, was still going a million miles a minute.
Sharp had begun gently stroking Jude’s ears, which had pinned flat against his skull and back. Sharp kept repeating his comforting murmurs.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. You just have to breathe, Jude. Breathe for me. You’re going to hyperventilate at this point.”
Slowly, Jude’s breathing slowed. His eyes were still wide. His feet and ears twitched, showing he was still scared, on edge, and deep in his instincts, but he was most certainly calmer. That was a good thing.
Gently, Sharp maneuvered Jude so that he was carrying him with an arm under his knees and the other behind his back with Jude’s head tucked against his chest. A bridal carry. (It certainly helped that one, Sharp was very strong, and two, Jude was small and light.)
Sharp stood up carefully. Slowly, as if he was letting every tiny movement let itself be known before it happened. He walked tentatively to the exit of the arena, which had been opened for them.
Jude stayed alert the entire time. His eyes darted this way and that, like his mind was trying to catalogue every single thing that his retinas caught sight of. Which was humanly impossible, but Jude seemed to be able to manage it. Like most things that Jude did, it seemed. He saw impossible as a challenge.
Sharp walked as quickly as he could without jostling Jude. After a few minutes (that felt to both of them like hours), they made it to spawn. Sharp quickly descended the staircase into Jude’s underground base.
As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Jude began to wriggle in Sharp’s grip. That latter slowly lowered the former to the floor. Jude shook himself out, ears flopping, then he hopped (still on all fours) to a specific section of the wall.
Sharp followed him hesitantly, but cocked his head when the rabbit began head butting the wall. The wall itself didn’t appear to be anything special. Just smooth stone like every other bit of wall. But Jude was fixated on this particular wall, head butting and clawing at it.
“Hey, Jude, you’re going to hurt yourself.” Sharp knelt next to the rabbit and gently moved him away. Then he pulled out a pickaxe. “Would you like me to mine it, instead of you breaking your claws?”
Jude looked at him for a moment, sniffed the pickaxe, then shuffled aside. Sharp mined a two block high hole in the wall and paused for a second as he caught sight of what was inside.
The most straightforward description of what it was would be a secret room. Though because Jude was a rabbit, it was more of a burrow, being in a wall and everything.
It was a small space, a three by five area with a three block high ceiling. Blankets and pillows were strewn across every inch of floor, with a general nest shape in the center. In the back right corner, a few blankets had been hung up to create a more secluded area. At the points where wall hit ceiling, light green fairy lights hung, glowing dimly. Where the lights attached to the ceiling before draping down, decorative vines and ivy hung. On the ceiling were many, many glow in the dark stars. They littered the ceiling and even trickled onto some of the higher areas of the walls.
It was beautiful. And cozy.
Jude hopped inside and sniffed at the pillows, meticulously rearranging them to his liking. When he seemed satisfied, he went into the covered area in the back corner.
Sharp stood there for a moment, just observing and taking in the room. Then he knelt down and removed his boots and armor. Then he sat and he waited. He didn’t want to intrude in Jude’s safe space and so he’d wait until he was invited in. And if he wasn’t, he would leave.
Simple as that. (Vampire lookin Sharpness Conexion, he gotta be invited in lmao)
Jude kept running until someone appeared in front of him. They tackled him with an arm firm around his belly. He kicked and whined and scratched and clawed because he was not safe.
…but they didn’t hurt him. They just held him. Stroked his ears back gently. Gently.
Gently, gently, gently.
They were gentle with him. They didn’t yell. They didn’t tug. They spoke softly. Touched gently. He could only catch fragments of their words through the pounding in his ears.
“…not going to let anything happen to you… no one… hurt you… no one… gonna be just fine.”
He quit scratching. Then twisting. Then whining. Then kicking, though he kept his legs close. Curled. Ready to run if needed.
He did not slow his breathing yet, nor his heart. He couldn’t. Not yet. He could not relax because he was not safe. He was still trapped. Surrounded. Caged.
Caged, caged, caged.
He hated that. But they continued stroking his ears. Gentle. Comforting. They kept talking quietly to him. With the beating in his ears slowing, he could make out more words.
“…okay… you just have… breathe, Jude… for me… going to hyperventilate at this...”
Oh. That would be bad. He’d die. He can’t do that. He could feel their breaths, fanning out into his hair, their chest pushing against his back with each inhale. He did his best to match them. His breathing slowed.
His eyes remained open and alert. His paws twitched, ready to run at a moments notice. But they hadn’t hurt him.
…yet. Yet.
They began to move him a little and for a moment he panicked. Then he realized they were just adjusting how they held him. He relaxed a hair.
He was lifted up. Carefully. Careful, careful, careful. Slow. Giving him time to adjust to every movement.
They started walking. He remained alert. Observing everything that did and didn’t move. His nose twitched, categorizing scents as well as sights and sounds.
They quickened their pace, but not enough for him to panic at all. That was nice. They seemed nice to him.
They approached his territory. Neared his warren. His burrow. His den. They descended down. He wriggled in their arms. Impatient. Burrow is near.
Have to get to burrow.
Quickly.
Then be safe.
They set him down and he beelined for his burrow. The wall was in the way. He clawed at it, frustrated.
They crouched next to him and nudged him away from the wall “…going to hurt yourself.” They equipped a pickaxe and he sniffed it. “Would you like me to mine it, instead of you breaking your claws?”
He stared at them for a moment. Judging their authenticity. And more importantly, whether or not he could trust them in his burrow. His den. His safety.
They hadn’t hurt him so far. So unless this was an elaborate ruse, they were trustworthy. He moved aside.
They mined a two block gap. He entered immediately, nosing his way past them as they stared into his burrow. He readjusted pillows.
Had to be perfect.
Why? It wasn’t mating season. He had no one to impress with his nest and burrow, right?
Hmm… maybe.
He shook his head, ears flopping, and he went into his den. Inside it, he rubbed his scent onto pillows and blankets. His nose twitched. It wasn’t right. Not complete. Not perfect.
Jude poked his head out of hid den, searching. What was he missing? He looked around the nest, nosing through blankets and pillows.
What’s missing? Where?
He felt eyes on him.
His head snapped up. Ruby red eyes met jade green. Oh. They were still here. Watching him. They had not moved into the burrow?
Why not? It’s safe inside. Had he not made it safe enough? He thumped his foot. They tilted their head at him. No. No, no, he tilted his head.
Jude knew him. Sharpness. Sharp. Sharp, Sharp, Sharp. He liked Sharp.
He hopped over to Sharp and bit his sleeve, tugging loosely. (He did not bite skin.) Sharp chuckled. “Alright, I’m coming, I’m coming.” He moved into the burrow and settled into the nest.
Jude huffed, satisfied for now. That was better. His eyes landed on the open wall and he whined. That’s bad.
Open.
Danger.
Bad.
Bad, bad, bad.
Sharp almost instantly moved over and plugged up the hole. Jude relaxed.
Good.
Better.
Safe.
He returned to his den. He sniffed his pillows. They smelled… fine, he supposed. They smelled like him. But something was still missing. What?
He poked his head out again. Sharp hadn’t moved. Jude thumped his foot. That was it! That was what he was missing. What he needed.
He hopped out, once again tugging on Sharp’s sleeve. The man laughed softly. Jude liked that sound. “What? What do you want, bunny? Do you want me in the… den- thingy in the corner?”
Jude clicked his teeth and kept tugging. Sharp indulged him, following the rabbit to the den. Jude sniffed at his pillows again. He whined.
Not right yet.
Not complete.
Not perfect.
Had to be perfect.
He looked back at Sharp, who had sat in the corner. Jude went over to him and sniffed his arm. Yes. That. He needed that. He rubbed his cheek on the arm, drawing out a chuckle from the man.
“Are you scenting me, Judy?”
Jude’s nose twitched. He went behind Sharp and pushed him over. Maybe a little harshly, but the man was fine. So it was fine.
Sharp landed with a grunt on his stomach and turned over to face Jude. “Hey! What the hell? Why- Jude!” Said rabbit had proceeded to flop on top of Sharp, nuzzling into his neck and inhaling his scent.
Good.
Good smell.
Vanilla.
Good, good, good.
Safe.
Safe smell.
Jude relaxed. His eyes shut and his ears laid back comfortably.
“Wh- Jude. You seriously can’t be- falling asleep on me. Juuuuude…” Sharp complained, but Jude paid him no mind. He was warm, comfy, and safe. In his burrow, in his den, with his colony.
With his m-…
…they were not that.
Not yet at least.
Jude drifted into sleep.
Sharp had found himself in quite the predicament. He was being held down and hostage by a sleeping bunny that he did not want to disturb, in a blanket den in a secret room hidden in a wall.
Which sounds very insane of him out of context.
The main issue with the whole thing, actually, was that he did not entirely mind it. Having Judelow asleep on top of him, that was. Sharp would never admit it to anyone, but it had been a literal dream of his.
…multiple dreams, actually. Many, many dreams that left him feeling cold and lonely when he woke up. Because there was absolutely no chance that it would happen, right?
Jude didn’t like him like that. And whatever this was didn’t count because wasn’t in his normal headspace. If he was, there was no way that this would be happening.
…right?
Sharp sighed. He adjusted into a more comfortable position so he wouldn’t get a neck injury. Jude whined and tightened his grip, but relaxed when Sharp didn’t move more or leave him.
“Shh… it’s fine, bunny. I’m not going anywhere.” Sharp murmured and pet down Jude’s ears. The rabbit melted and sighed in his sleep.
Sharp stared at the blanket ceiling. This whole situation was absurd. And he knew that when Jude woke up, he’d try to brush the whole thing off. Which Sharp was not going to let him do, no way. He deserved an explanation for… this.
Whatever. He’d have to wait to do anything until Jude woke up. Which might be a while. So. Sharp might as well get some shut eye himself.
Jude woke up slowly. Like you would after a long nap after multiple nights with hardly any sleep. Which wasn’t… too far off.
The first thing he noticed was that he was in his burrow. Which he only went to when he was either really upset or when he was deep in his rabbit instincts and needed to be safe. Which was odd, considering the last thing he remembered was him and Sharp actively winning the duel with Swizu and Sharkilz.
The second thing he noticed was what he was laying on. It was too hard to be a pillow or a blanket. And last he checked, those things didn’t emit warmth. And they didn’t move. Why was it moving?
Jude quickly blinked his eyes open to quickly realize exactly why his pillow was moving. Oh. His pillow is Sharpness. What on earth had happened? Why was he sleeping in his den on top of Sharpness?!
The man was asleep, eyes shut and breathing even. He quickly woke up when Jude scrambled off him and pressed himself into the corner, making himself as small as possible with a small whine.
“Wh- Jude? Wha’s wrong?” Sharp blinked blearily and rubbed his eyes. His voice was low and rough from disuse and it was doing things to Jude’s poor heart, which was currently going through a lot.
“I- I don’t- what…?” Jude swallowed hard, ears pressed flat against his skull. “…what happened?”
“Uh… what’s the last thing you remember?” Sharp yawned and sat up, looking entirely too cute. What- no. Bad Jude, no. That’s weird, he doesn’t- no.
“I… we were fighting Swizu and Sharkilz and… Shark did… something. Then… I don’t remember anything until I woke up.” Jude rubbed his forehead and he sat normally, less tense. His ears raised slightly.
“Well, um, the thing that Shark did was… yanking off your mask and pulling on your ears and tail. After that, you ran around the colosseum on all fours. Cow said you were in your instincts and to get you somewhere safe, so I… grabbed you and brought you back here. You came over to this wall, I mined in, sealed it, and you tugged me in here, pushed me over, and flopped on top of me. So. Yeah.”
Jude processed that for a moment. Then he promptly face planted into a pillow. “That is so embarrassing.” He muttered into the fabric.
Sharp patted his back sympathetically. “Yeah. But everyone that saw could see how out of it and how genuinely terrified you looked, so I don’t think anyone will give you crap about it. And if they do, I’ll kill them.”
Jude turned his head a little to look at Sharp with one eye. “Would you actually do that for me? Like, really do that?”
“Yeah. Course’ I would.” Sharp answered easily, like that was a simple fact of life. Grass is green, the sky is blue, Tai’s an idiot, Sharp would kill someone if they gave Jude crap about this. Simple.
He said it like he didn’t just say something that made Jude’s heart do a backflip in his chest because he’s never had someone say that to him. Not a teammate, not a friend, no one.
…he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the one who said it being Sharp.
Jude rolled over onto his back to glare at the ceiling for existing. His foot thumped once, annoyed. His ear twitched when he heard Sharp giggle. Giggle. Sharpness Conexion just fucking giggled.
…how on earth was it that the same man who could mercilessly kill people for fun could sound so damn cute while giggling about something Jude did? Something that Jude did. It did not make sense in his head.
“I never noticed you do that before. Thumping your foot, I mean. You also did it when you were all rabbity earlier. Just so you know.” Sharp grinned and Jude glanced at him.
“Oh yeah? What other dumb things did I do?” Jude sat up, ear twitching to one side.
“For one, you practically dragged me in here. For another, you rubbed your cheek on my arm then nuzzled into my neck and inhaled.” Sharp leaned forward on his elbows, hands framing and holding up his face. “Did you know you purr?”
Jude blushed vehemently and stared pointedly at the wall. “…I did not know that. And, um, you don’t happen to know why rabbits scent things, right? Particularly people?”
“Is it not the same as cats?” Sharp tilted his head. “Like, claiming stuff?”
“Y-yeah, that’s what it is for objects and most people. But, um, when they scent other rabbits, specifically their neck, it’s uh…” Jude trailed off, taking time to examine the very interesting wall.
“…isn’t it, like, mating?”
Jude stiffened, ears pinning back against his skull. “…yeah.” He mumbled. “Y-yeah, that’s- yeah.”
“…Jude. Can you look at me?” Sharp said quietly, sounding very serious. Any previous amount of teasing had gone, leaving a version of Sharp that Jude hadn’t ever seen much of.
Jude slowly turned to face Sharp. “Do you like me? I mean, like like me? And please don’t try to deflect it, I just- I need to know.”
Jude went completely still. He focused his gaze on Sharp’s left ear, because in no way did looking at his left ear make Jude want to shrivel up and die. And gods, he wanted to deflect it, joke, change the subject, anything.
…but Sharp had asked him not to. And he looked about as nervous as Jude felt. So. For once in his lying, scamming, cheating life, Jude should… probably tell the truth.
“…yes. I do. I like you, Sharp. A lot, actually. Probably more than I should, I just-… yeah.” Jude answered quietly, terrified to death of Sharp’s response. Because what if he rejected him? What if he laughed in Jude’s face, called him names, called him stupid for ever daring to love-
“Good.” Jude blinked at Sharp, who smiled at him. “Because I like you too.”
“Wh- like, actually? Because I-“ Jude stuttered.
“Jude.” Sharp cut him off and moved closer. Close enough for their foreheads to touch. “Don’t overthink it. Which I know is like telling you not to breathe, but still.”
Jude huffed out a small laugh. Sharp smiled, his hand coming up to rest on Jude’s cheek, who leaned into the touch, eyes falling shut.
“…Jude?”
Jude looked at the blonde man in front of him. “Yes, princess?”
“… okay, I’m going to ignore what you just called me, you bitch, but… can I kiss you?”
Jude’s cheeks turned a light pink. “I- I mean, I wouldn’t object if you-“
“Good.” Sharp cut him off and silenced him with a press of their lips together. Jude absolutely did not squeak, Sharp is lying.
Sharp pulled back first. “Was… that okay?”
Jude blinked for a moment. Instead of an actual verbal response, he pulled the blonde back into another kiss. This one was longer. Less tentative. Less scared and more sure. The next time they pulled away was out of necessity for air, and they did not stray far, their breaths mingling.
“…Sharp?”
“Mm?” Sharp hummed in response.
“I am still very tired and feel like I’m on the verge of passing out again.”
Sharp blinked. “Oh. Do you want to go to an actual bed, or is here still good?”
“Here’s fine.” Jude flopped over, his back to Sharp. “Shaaarp… can we spoon?”
Sharp giggled again and it was unfair how cute that that sound was. “Sure, bunny.” He laid down behind Jude and pulled the rabbit’s back to his chest, an arm over Jude’s side.
Jude intertwined his fingers with those of the hand that was draped over his side. He sighed contentedly. His ears angled forwards so they wouldn’t be in Sharp’s face.
“…night, princess.”
“Goodnight, Judy.”
