It takes a bit of coordination for Bunny to let me sip at the bland and unpleasant instant coffee, the lack of milk really just leaving it bitter caffeine water more than anything else. Sitting on the sofa by the fire I slowly begin to get comfortable, Bunny seemingly knowing exactly when I want another sip as the mug is quickly brought up to my lips.
"So... park ranger... apparently..." I mutter, unsure about how any of this made sense. "Did you ever do like Girl Scouts or..." I ask, watching as Bunny gives me a thumbs down and a shrug. "Guess we can work that out as we..." I muse, my eyes darting to the whiteboard as I sigh.
"We have a job don't we..." I groan, my body sagging as Bunny seems equally dismayed. With a heave of our mighty frame Bunny begins to drag us over to the whiteboard, the helpful body letting me drink the last of the coffee before I begin to inspect the whiteboard.
"Huh..." I mutter, reading the listing under Jordan on the whiteboard. As I ponder just what 'Clearing Kindling and Debris' could actually entail I feel Bunny begin to tap our foot impatiently. After a moment of pondering the text, and lingering on the little love heart scrawled on the board, I feel Bunny reach up to poke and prod at my face.
"He... Hey!" I shout in my warm and breathy voice, my eyes twitching closed and my fingers jab at my cheeks and reach dangerously close to my eyes. "What are you... stop that!" I grumble, a brief reprieve thankfully following as Bunny places our hands on our hips.
I watch as she points blindly at the white board, our delicate hand gesturing wildly at the bright green marker in confusion.
"You..." I mutter softly, pausing for a moment as I try to phrase it. "Can't... read that?" I ask, my shoulders slumping as Bunny sadly points at the whiteboard again. "It says...Clear Kindling and Debris" I mutter, a shiver running down my spine as Bunny begins to once more rub at our exposed muscular arms for warmth.
I glance around the room, my eyes scanning over the limited range of vision for a moment before I call out.
"There! There... in the bathroom!" I shout, my eyes catching a thick light brown jacket hanging from the neck of the shower. In an instant Bunny lurches to the side, jumping a little in excitement before she bounds over into the cramped little bathroom.
The jacket look eminently warm, a thick layer of internal wool covered by a thick water-resistant fabric. Droplets cascade from the material as Bunny snatches it from the shower, the jacket still not dry from some previous day out in the wet. In an instant she slips it on, wriggling our shared arms into the soft lining of the sleeves.
I'm tossed around as Bunny practically dances for joy, our hands shooting into the pockets as she poses from side to side in front of the tiny cracked mirror above the toilet.
"Okay okay, we get it..." I huff, my vision whipping about as Bunny spins around to check the jacket from behind. "We look good, can we get some shoes on and get to work?"
The boots in the storage room and office come on easily enough, the heavily padded leather shoes simply zipping up the side to secure them in place.
As we go to leave I shout for us to stop, Bunny lurching us to a halt as I look towards the stove.
"Can you grab the kindling basket?" I ask, nodding to the scratched up red plastic bucket behind the log pile. "We can refill it while we..." I explain, stopping as Bunny gives me an eager thumbs up and begins to stride over to the stove.
Our shared arms flex as we lift the bucket, the large plastic tub still carrying a considerable weight with all the sticks and leaves at the bottom. With our arms outstretched, Bunny walks us over to the door before nudging it open with our boot. A rush of cool air fills the cabin as we step outside, my gaze shifting around the clearing as Bunny checks that to door does not lock behind us as it closes.
Dropping the side Bunny quickly takes us down the few steps down to the dirt road, the young woman zipping up our jacket as it clings tightly to our athletic frame.
The road itself is rather clear of any branches or detritus, the treeline being far enough back to really keep anything large enough to be a problem from tumbling down into someone's path. Its the edges of the clearing that are more of a concern, the dried out limbs and branches of the nearby trees acting as a real fire hazard.
As Bunny paces around the clearing, hands in our pockets in an effort to fight back the morning chill, I slowly come to see more of the cabin. In the rear, hidden from the road sits a bank of wall mounted batteries with wires tracing up the rooftop and out of sight. A small metal cage sits beneath the bathroom and kitchen, a large lock bolting it shut as the round canisters of gas are kept from sticky fingers getting a hold of them.
A large olive green water tank sits in the rear near the back bathroom wall, a slender level sitting on the side showing it as currently over halfway full.
"Well..." I sigh, really not looking forward to being puppeteered into physical labor. "I guess we'd better get..." I begin to mutter, my words stopping short as I bone aching crack fills the clearing. I wince as I feel it, my jaw crackling suddenly as my teeth shift painfully in my mouth. Bunny flinches as well, cringing as she seems to feel the pain and our shared right hand leaps up to cradle my face.
However, as our fingers run across my cheek I let out a slight whimper. Smooth delicate skin meets smooth delicate skin, my facial hair having fully disappeared in the time it took to explore the grounds and have our coffee.
Slowly, Bunny traces down to my jaw as she begins to poke and prod gently in search of an injury. However, rather than finding any sort of break or fracture we're both met with the feeling of a cutting yet firm jawline. It feels narrower than it did before, more delicate yet still cutting a striking shape.
"Fuck... me..." I whine, my warm breathy and delightfully feminine voice filling the clearing. "That..." I wheeze, a gentle hand soon patting my head as Bunny tries to comfort me. "Th... thanks..." I mutter, letting out a long exhale. "I'd be happier if you let me move a bit or..." I begin to chuckle, only for the excitable body beneath me to jog off towards the tree line.
I'm forced to watch as she looks over branch after stick after branch in search of... something, the giddy young woman clapping excitedly as she find a long and thick branch that fits perfectly in our grip. With a tug she removes it from the pile, waving it around for a second before placing the tip to the dirt.
"Hi :D" she scrawls on the ground, the lettering and smiley face getting a little messy as she catches the firmer clay beneath more than once.
"H... Hey..." I mutter softly, my gaze locked to the writing as I look at it in confusion. "I thought... you can't read..." I stammer as Bunny quickly kicks at the dirt to refresh it and scribbles once again.
"Can't read - No eyes :'(" she scrawls, reaching up as she runs a finger down from my eye to mimic a teardrop.
"But... but you can write?!" I balk, our shared shoulders slumping as Bunny quickly erases the sentence to write something new.
"Wrote for Stacy every day" she explains, quickly kicking it away to write something new. "Hands write, eyes read silly :P"
I can't help but laugh a little as I read it, my body shuddering slightly as I try to instinctively move and Bunny strains to hold onto control. "I... well I can't fault that logic I guess" I muse, a long pause slowly following as I try to work out how to phrase something. "Can I... have... a go?" I ask nervously, a shiver running up our spine as Bunny wrings our hands nervously before responding.
"No?" she writes, quickly crossing it out before trying again. "Not yet? Please" she scrawls, stamping her foot as she erases the please and tries one more time "Not yet? Sorry, soon? <3" she scribbles, stopping as she gives me a little weak thumbs up.
"Why not?" I ask in confusion, my heart racing as I feel nervous sweat begin to build beneath our shirt. Bunny doesn't respond for a moment, just kicking at the dirt over and over as she seems to struggle with what to write.
"You'll" she writes, shuddering a little before writing the next section. "You'll leave me" she writes, shyly rubbing at our arm as she shuffles idly in the dirt.
"What the hell are you..." I huff, a little frustrated by her reasoning. Taking a deep breath I try to calm down, the sound of a long exhale through my nose soon filling the clearing. "I picked you" I explain, taking a pause before speaking again. "Why... how would I even get about leaving..."
Bunny quickly erases the 'You'll leave' before bringing the stick back down again.
"Stacy left me" she writes, shuddering a little in a physical whimper before continuing. "You'll go back to shop, and she'll take you off me before you're done, and you'll pick" she scrawls, her handwriting getting worse and more frantic by the second.
"I promise..." I sigh, trying to sound as soft and soothing as I can. "I'm not planning to replace you and... and even if I were... I mean I don't even know where we are, let alone that shop. So... can I at least move a little?" I mutter, watching of Bunny kicks out her rambling before pausing as she considers something.
"Later" she writes, pausing once again before striking at the dirt again. "Later maybe - work now" she scribbles, kicking it out in an instant before skipping into action as she rushes to the treeline.
Hours pass, the sun skirting across the sky overhead as Bunny fishes out branches and kindling before placing the larger pieces into a pile by the water tank. The smaller items, from leaves to small twigs and branches are carted off to the bucket, the red plastic filling more and more over the course of the day.
The work is rather dull, though I never seem to find myself tired or out of breath as Bunny runs back and forth or carries some of the larger tree limbs into the burn-off pile. Sweat builds beneath the jacket for sure, the independent young body beneath me having to unzip it at a point to cool off, however the lean and fit form beneath me seems more than capable of jogging around this clearing until nightfall.
By the time the sun in beginning to set we pile the last of the major tree limbs into the pile, my hand flying up to my face as Bunny wipes the sweat from my brow.
"Thanks..." I pant, taking a deep breath as Bunny stretches our shared back out.
Standing by the water tank I hear the sound of tires rolling across dirt in the distance, the deep revving of an engine rumbling closer and closer as the seconds pass. Suddenly a set of headlights flash past the side of the house, the high beams illuminating the burn-off pile before turning away as they fill the house.
Bunny slowly begins to creep us nervously around the edge of the house, the engine suddenly dying down as the loud clunk of a car door opening soon follows. Boots hit the dirt, a series of steps soon following as a voice calls out.
"Babe!" shouts the voice I had heard on the radio. "Good work on the pile, but can you give me a hand with the shopping, I'm soooooo not making it in one trip" she calls out, her use of the word 'babe' causing Bunny to jump a little.
I'm slowly brought around the edge of the cabin as I hear the back of the car ease open, the rustling of plastic bags soon following along with a series of quiet muttering. Looking around the corner I'm met with the sight of...
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