Laundry Conundrum

"Noa, look at all the spinny things!"

"You'll trip if you run around wearing that."

A bell hanging over the door rings as I grab the collar on Mira's oversized coat.

Our apartment has many rooms without washer/dryer connections, so it has its own laundromat available for the residents. The walls are lined with sets of washing machines stacked two high and the centre of the space is occupied by dryer machines. I wouldn't be surprised if the cost to use this place is more expensive than an external one, but you can't beat convenience.

A few of the wives around the room watch us with amusement as we approach the back wall. Many of the machines are active, but there are very few people.

"What are these spinny things for?"

"They clean the clothes for us. It takes a while, but it's much faster than hand washing it."

Mira stands right behind me as I shovel our clothes into the washing machine. At my gesture, she hands me the detergent and I get the process rolling.

"Now we wait."

"Why are the other ones spinning without people?"

The laundromat seems to have emptied out completely by this point.

"It takes a few hours, so most people like to leave them running and go do something else. I've had clothes stolen from the machine before, so I always stick through it."

It would be more than a disaster if Mira's single outfit were to be pinched. Normally I would have my laptop down here to do homework, but that means either leaving Mira here for a bit or dragging her up and down the stairs again. I can more than occupy myself during this time. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the rabbit with me.

I plop myself down on a bench and pull out my phone. Mira joins me, staring at all of the machines. She looks fairly docile right now, but barely a few pages of my book are flipped before Mira starts tapping on my shoulder.

"Noa, it's hot in this thing…"

The weather is pretty nice today, as we have already experienced before. But that isn't the case if you're wearing a jacket designed for temperatures half of what they are right now. As Mira turns in my direction, I can see the sweat forming on her neck.

"Alright, fine. But don't move around too much in case somebody comes in."

I unbutton the jacket, slowly revealing more and more of her small body and the single shirt keeping it covered. The cloth now soaked in sweat is sticking closely to her skin. Between this and Mira's tired breathing, I'm forced to look away as I continue. Mira releases a cathartic sigh when the last lock has fallen.

"I'm free!"

The moment the coat sags to the ground, Mira immediately leaps into the air with joy. The blue fabric flutters up along with her, letting the entire world catch a glimpse of the treasure that lies beneath.

I quickly drag the edge of her shirt back down to a safe position.

"You can't just jump around when you're dressed like this!"

"Why?"

Mira turns her head back to me and tilts it in confusion. If I didn't know she was a rabbit, I would have thought she was just bullying me.

"Because you have to be covered out in public."

"Isn't it easier to not have clothes?"

"I mean…"

She has a point if you squint. Think of how much money we would save if we didn't have to keep buying and replacing so many different types of garments. Heck, we wouldn't even be in this predicament right now if our society hadn't evolved to be one that required us to cover ourselves. Never would I have to put any thought in the morning into choosing an outfit to wear. Life would just be so much easier if clothing wasn't required.

"Wait, why am I humouring this!?"

I was about to fall down a strange rabbit hole with no outlet.

"Look, going out without certain things covered is against the law! We'll get in serious trouble if anybody sees you!"

"That's too bad…"

"Please don't look genuinely upset…"

Mira sits back down, but not without looking visibly unhappy about that bit of information. This girl for some reason has a sense of the law but not everything else required to survive. I don't know if I even have the energy to be surprised at the apparent existence of an organised justice system among rabbits. I know that I call them the mafia, but I didn't actually expect them to be this sophisticated. For all I know, the two of us could be wanted fugitives to rabbit society by this point.

Barely a few minutes pass before Mira is back on her feet, this time wandering around the machines. From where she is, nobody should have a clear view of her from the door.

"If you hear somebody about to come in, come back here quickly."

"Got it!"

I leave the rabbit to her own devices as I let myself become engrossed in the book on my device. It was a thrilling tale depicting the struggle of two armies facing off against each other, both commanded by the greatest generals of the time. Fifteen years of war culminating into a final confrontation. Each side had terrorised the other at different points of the war, but this battle would settle their fates for good. I can only imagine what could be going through the heads of the two leaders in that moment before the clash.

I unfortunately won't find out. A bell from the laundromat's front door interrupts my concentration.

"AH!"

Mira remembers our agreement, but spectacularly fails the execution. In her attempt to return from the opposite end of the room, she stumbles in her sandals and falls on her face in perfect view of the front door.

The young man at the door hears the commotion and looks down the rows of dryers to see what happened.

"AHHHH"

I leap to my feet screaming like a madman. The man jumps and looks in my direction as I sprint down the laundromat carrying a heavy coat. I throw the coat and cover the entirety of Mira's body, including her exposed rump.

"Safe…"

I sigh in relief before looking awkwardly at our audience. The guy at the door is understandably confused as I stand next to a blob on the floor.

"Ahahaha…"

The judgemental stare of this person I've never met burns holes in my skin. As he walks to the opposite end of the room, he consistently glances at me to make sure I haven't made any more strange moves. I want to crawl under the coat and disappear.

Mira peeks her head out like a turtle reaching out from its shell.

"Sorry, Noa."

"Don't worry about it."

I help the rabbit to her feet as she holds the coat over herself.

"Once we get you more clothes, we won't have to worry about this."

"Where would we get those?"

"I already have an idea."

I have a phone call to make, but that can wait. For now, the two of us sit back down and patiently wait for our clothes to finish washing and drying.