Adius returned to the room, dropping a paper brochure onto the dresser, and stopped at the foot of the bed, leaning against it and letting out a disappointed sigh with his head in his hand. Raising his face up, he turned to Justin, who sat staring, looking content in not wanting to ask or say anything with what little he knew.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m alright...” Adius spoke dully, before letting out a chuckle like the one before. “It’s nothing about you, trust me... Speaking of... why don’t we finish introductions?” The same stool moved to the same spot where Adius had sat before. Through the window, it was now dark, and the candles around the room were still lit, just as they had been when Justin arrived. Justin had been left by himself for 45 minutes, and his body ached badly, though he sat up out of respect.
Justin seethed, “Ah, my back!” He let out, hushed.
“Your back hurts?” Of course, Adius could sense they were in pain now, “I can help you, just like I did before!” Justin shot him an anxious look, “I can block your pain receptors... All I have to do is touch you.” Adius’ face had no trace of humor. He was serious.
“...How?”
“How? It’s... complicated. There has been research on it, though. There’s plenty of information.” He realized he gotten slightly sidetracked, “What do you say?”
“...Sure.” Justin still felt all the anxiety in the world.
“I’m going to grab hold of your arm, alright?” Justin tried his best to relax, though he found his muscles didn’t want him to. After a moment, he did feel the pain subside, and then turn nonexistent.
“Wow... Thanks...” Justin whispered in astonishment. “What else can you do?”
“As I said, it’s complex, but... I can try to summarize. Empathy lets us manipulate chemical production, neurotransmitters, and receptors in the brain. Chemicals like... melatonin, dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and along with that, we can affect the nervous and musculatory systems. I’d describe is as like... a flow, or a liquid. We can use it on command. It doesn’t always happen when... coming into contact with someone. We just need to focus on what we want the flow to “be” when we use it.”
“I... guess I get it... How long does it last?”
“Well, it’s similar to setting a timer. It can last anywhere from 30 minutes to... generally accepted, 10 hours. I gave you 10 hours worth.”
Justin gave a shy grin, “Thank you...”
Adius sighed, “I suppose I should tell you what happened... our majesty, Her Grace, was speaking with me, and... she’s replaced my position in the watchmen division because of me bringing you here. She wants me to watch over you until further notice.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. There’s nothing I can do now. Her say is final.” Adius looked at the brochure on the dresser before going to pick itup, “Speaking of watching you... I guess I should feed you, too. Here’s the daily menu. It’s past dinnertime, but I can bring a food cart up here.”
“Man, right off the bat a lot of these look good. Crusted tilapia, broccoli cheddar soup, sirloin steak? You guys really eat this?”
Adius gave a chuckle, “We’ve been self-sustainable for years now.”
Picking an item, Adius went to work fetching the meal, heading downstairs as he promised, and in a few minutes time it was delivered, with Justin shoveling the meal into his mouth.
“I’m glad you enjoy it!” Adius watched Justin seemingly ravage his food.
“Sorry, I eat fast, but it is really good.”
“And you’ll be staying here for tonight, or up to a few days depending on when I can find you another room. This is my quarters.”
Justin’s chewing slowed to a stop, smiling awkwardly, “And there’s only one bed,”
“Yes,” Adius returned the smile, “I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, I don’t, as long as you don’t snore.”
The rabbit laughed once again, “No, I don’t snore, I assure you, but yes, there should be a spare room I can put you in soon.”
“Good... I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind your company, but I like privacy.”
“I understand. If you’re finished, I’ll take your dishes to the washroom.”
After ten minutes, the rabbit returned.
“Alright, let’s snuff the candles and get to bed I’d say... put on my nightwear.”
“I wish I had some.” Justin joked.
“Yes, um... I suppose you can sleep however you want. I won’t mind, I’m sure.”
“Uh, alright.”
With Adius stepping into bed, and Justin finding himself comfortable, flipping over to his side, they laid, backs facing one another.
Two hours passed with no progress made. Justin’s eyes felt drowsy, but he was no longer comfortable, keeping his eyes shut for minutes at a time, unable to relax. Now, his side hurt, and he focused on it, wanting to turn around yet not wanting to feel awkward or embarrassed, and while waves of relaxation did hit him from tiem to time, they never lasted, and he would be once again tensed up. His eyes kept scanning the dark room, unable to see anything, yet it was for the internal satisfaction of mere sensory input. Feeling as if he should reach out, he was too shy. He didn’t want to wake Adius in the instance he could become upset. He had said they would have a big day tomorrow, exploring places and getting to know others, but it would be a tired one at this rate.
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“Hey,” A voice above a whisper said behind him, “turn around.”
Shuffling, Justin did as he was told, wriggling his body to his right.
“Can’t sleep?” Adius continued.
“No...”
“I felt so... do you want help?”
Justin thought of him using his power on him earlier, Empathy. Surely, it wouldn’t hurt to have it applied to him again.
Justin sighed, “...Sure.”
From underneath his pillow, Adius revealed his hand, resting it against the bed, letting gravity do the work. “Take my hand.”
Justin felt the warmth of their grip, a mixture of their body heat and their fur that covered it.
“Close your eyes.”
For Justin, a brief moment went by before he would be able to remember anything and waking up the next day, but for Adius, he felt something rather extraordinary. In lieu of them sleeping, their emotions and thoughts became nothing, and in time, the emotions they did experience collided, as if they were a conglomerate spherical mass of an element, suspended in a void while morphing and changing within him. Of course, it was forbidden to use Empathy on any other rabbits inside of the castle, and he held on to this moment, not just mentally, but physically, keeping his contact with Justin until he felt the need to finally break away. And the ball of emotions faded from his own mind, and he drifted off to sleep himself.
For once in his life, Justin awoke feeling refreshed, looking around the bedroom and wanting to jump onto his feet, however Adius was gone. As if on cue, Adius himself stepped though the now open door to the room, eyes locking onto Justin.
“How long have you been up?” Justin asked.
“Thirty minutes. I just finished bathing; I suggest you bathe, too. I don’t want you looking mangy when we head downstairs.” He smirked, “There’s a lot of people you could meet. I don’t want them to get the wrong impression of either of us.”
“Yeah...” Justin smiled back, “I’ll have to put my old clothes back on, though.”
“I can find you some scent to put on.”
Adius walked to the bed, making the comforter and organizing the pillows, before showing Justin the washroom he had just come from, and after some time, Justin took the same route as the rabbit had back to the room.
“Are you ready? We have a bit of walking to do today.”
“Oh, I’m used to walking,” Justin joked.
“Come on then.”
Making their way through a stone and marble floored corridor, every corner of every wall seemed like a carved pillar, not with meaning, but all with great detail nonetheless. On occasion, some walls had large etchings of lively rabbits in them, jumping around in fun games and activities; others had groups of bucks with bows, and with others does helping their community within the castle. Each one of these carvings the two passed, Justin admired them, fixated on them while walking, almost bumping into Adius at one point. Even the stairways had carvings around tunnels, with flowers and ornamentation snaking their way down, comprising the full lengths of some sets, wrapping around the corners of the entry and exit-ways, spiraling. All the while, Justin felt conscious of the dirt on his shoes making a mess down the washed and polished floor throughout. Adius told Justin not to worry, but he still felt like he was making unnecessary work for invisible people whom he would never meet.
Circling a third, more grand stairway, the duo stopped in what appeared to be a lounging area. Many large ornate rugs hugged the glossy floor, filled with reds, greens, browns, and yellows. Along every wall were rows of candles affixed, as well as candles on eight structural square pillars across the space, surrounded by numerous tables, chairs, couches, and other light sources, clumped together in groups. The ceiling was decorated with paint and more elaborate depictions—more cryptic depictions which Justin couldn’t even begin to understand. Pictures of hordes of rabbits among other animals, driving many of them away, seemingly as some sort of grim reminder of how this place came to be the way it is.
Two handfuls of rabbits were inside of the lounge, one scattered, and another grouped, talking amongst each other. Two more white colored bucks stood on the far end along the right corner, blocking a door and having a one-on-one conversation.
“This is the grand lounge area. Personally, I can see you coming here a lot in the future.” Adius lightly nudged Justin, “I’ll introduce you to some of the bucks in here.” From then on, names were tossed into the air as they both went around the room casually, Jaks, Besil, Lukas, Schreider, all of them greeting with visual ecstasy at Justin’s presence... until they reached the black one. The black, tall, armed rabbit that Justin saw across the floor immediately when he stepped off of the final stair. The one with the scar across its nose, stretching past the left corner of their mouth and piercing their jawline, and their greyed ear tips standing out among the background. They finally approached him.
“Justin, this is Oden. Oden, Justin.” Oden gave a very unamused glance.
With the biggest smile he had given thus far, Justin gestured, “Hi.” he said, awkwardly quick. Oden’s eyes shifted to Adius’ face, still cold and serious, expression unchanging.
“May I... speak with you for a moment?” He continued staring at Adius, “In private?”
“Yes!” Adius himself gave a massive smile, following Oden behind one of the pillars holding the room.
In one motion, Oden grabbed Adius, pinning him against the pillar and drawing his knife to his neck, “How dare you incite violence in this kingdom!” His voice was a whispering yell, “After what happened before, and you bring this- thing in?!”
Adius gave a mocking smirk, “And you chose?”
“Do not play games with me, Adius! You know as well as I do we do not need more!”
Adius dismissed, “I knew you would behave like this, Oden.”
“If you don’t get them out of here, I won’t hesitate... It’s either one... or many.” He paused for a moment, “I know they’re trouble.”
“You don’t know anything, sir, with all due respect.” Adius’ tone flattened.
“And neither do you! You don’t believe me... I know it... But you’ll find out... Once there’s more blood shed.”
“Hey!! What’s going on here?!” The two rabbits nestled near the door came rushing over.
“Nothing!” Oden very quickly withdrew his blade, “Absolutely nothing.”
One of the bucks stared at the black one, as if attempting to challenge Oden on who could be the most serious, “You cannot be abusing your seniority, Oden! Your seniority means nothing if you’re threatening other members! If I see anything like that again I’m reporting you!”
“Me, too!” The other white rabbit beside him added.
“Me, three.” Adius interrupted, giving yet another mocking smile, “And I’m tempted to report you for using Empathy on me.”
Oden jutted his gaze between all three, before becoming more enraged, “Get away from me!” Storming past Justin without so much as a glance and heading for the stairs, others tipped their heads up, following him with their eyes, before he disappeared up the grand staircase.
“Thanks, Hayl, Venith. You looked over just in time.” Adius joked again.
“Sorry... we were caught up in our conversation...” Hayl said.
“If we were on duty we would’ve just went straight to the report book.” Venith added.
Adius shot Venith and annoyed look, “You could’ve done it just now?”
“Eh, we’re not on the clock. We know he won’t do anything.”
Adius turned to Justin, “I’m so sorry about that...’ He wiped at his shirt, “We call Oden ‘Odd-en’ sometimes for things like what just happened. Sometimes he gets a little... over-stimulated.”
“It’s alright, really. I just don’t want to see people get hurt I guess, in front of me.” Justin admitted.
“Neither do any of us, not anymore. That’s perfectly understandable, and it’s unprofessional what he did threatening me... and you. He’s... overprotective of people he cares about.” The rabbit looked Justin in the face, “I’ll try and make sure we don’t cross paths with him again.” His face gave a short burst of being ashamed, then moved back in line with more seriousness, “Knowing him, he probably went up to is room to think about things ...He does that a lot.”