People Don't Eat Rabbits

"Is she…okay?"

"Uhhh…probably?"

Edward and I are now sitting on the couch with nothing but complete peace between us. Our clothes are all wrinkled and our sweat is still drying, but that conflict blew over like any other. Guys will be guys after all.

"Mira, how long are you going to camp down there?"

While my long time friend and I find the scuttle to be a particularly ordinary event, the rabbit that just recently joined the party does not seem as amused. Whether because of the screaming, violence, or both, Mira has not reemerged from the depths below the mattress. I can sometimes catch a glimpse of her face cautiously peeking out before receding back into the shadows. I placed Edward on the side of the couch furthest from the bed in hopes of getting her used to his presence, but it doesn't appear to be working.

It's in times like these that I remember that Mira isn't human, or at least not exactly human. Her entire body, which I've had the displeasure and/or pleasure of seeing, is distinctly human without any outlier details. Yet she's reacting to this situation like a cat straight from the shelter. I thought of her in-your-face nature to be normal, but only I have lived to see it and tell the tale. Nobody would believe me if I described how she acts while we're alone.

Edward keeps an eye on the bed while sipping a bottle of water.

"Is she some kind of sheltered child?"

"You could say that…"

I pop open my own bottle.

"But it doesn't help when you charge in here like a madman."

"Come on man, you really can't blame me for this one! How else am I supposed to react when I see you wrapped up in a girl!?"

"I guess so…"

I'm sure I would want to strangle him into the dirt if I saw him in the presence of a girl.

After downing half of my bottle, I catch a glimpse of Mira sticking her head out. She waves her hand to get my attention before pointing at the bottle in my hands. Confused, I placed the bottle on the floor in front of her. Her small hand reaches out and quickly swipes away the remaining water. A few quiet grunts later, the bottle returns empty.

I get down to the floor and look at the girl curled in the darkness.

"Come on Mira, Ed isn't going to hurt you or anything."

"You should be more worried, Noa! He's a violent beast that could strike at any moment!"

"Don't worry, I can fight him off if need be!"

I show Mira a thumbs up. However, she does not join the rest of us in the lighted room. She instead grabs my hand and attempts to pull me under the bed with her.

"That's too dangerous! We should hide down here until he goes away!"

"Sure, he looks like a delinquent if you squint, but he's actually harmless. I mean, just look at him."

"Um, guys? I'm right here you know…"

I ignore the target of our insults and grab onto Mira's hand. Normally this action would leave me flustered, but I feel just fine. Maybe the adrenaline from earlier is still running its course.

"It's safe to come out. Just trust me."

Fear still forms a lens over her blue eyes and I can feel her body trembling slightly. For several seconds she doesn't move, simply staring at the feet of our visitor.

To Mira, Edward must appear monstrous. He's easily half a head taller than me and he has more muscle on his bones. His voice is loud and obnoxious and his gestures are dramatic. If he felt like it, Edward could probably sling the rabbit girl over his shoulder and drag her away for supper. Meanwhile, I'm not even confident at the idea of carrying Mira on my back.

Just when I'm about to give up, I feel Mira wrap her fingers around one of my hands. Her eyes stare into mine as she stutters her words.

"H-He isn't going to eat me?"

"Eat you? Pfft! People don't eat rabbits!"

I burst out into a brief fit of laughter before returning to making eye contact with Mira. She winces in thought. Her eyes land on me again and her body begins to relax.

"I-If you say so, Noa…"

I sit up against the bed as Mira slowly emerges from the shadows. The light catches her silky blue and white hair, which mostly retains its form aside from a few messy patches. Mira always kept one hand in mine, from when she first started crawling all the way until her entire form was visible.

She flinches when making eye contact with Edward, but doesn't try to run away.

"This is Ed. He's a friend that I've known for years now. Ed, this is Mira."

"H-Hello…"

"Nice to meet you, Mira! What grade are you in?"

Crap, I hadn't thought this far. I wanted to keep her real identity a secret just in case, so I made a convenient lie. However, I didn't anticipate the topic of her age and education status. The former is entirely ambiguous and the latter physically does not exist. Ed's question is such a classic conversation starter between young people that I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it.

"She's um…uhh…"

I take a close look at Mira sitting next to me. The examination is almost useless, since this girl could easily be anywhere from 12 years old to basically any age before wrinkling and greying occurs. Her human knowledge seems to put her somewhere around the age of eight, but that will very quickly increase with time. For all I know, she may be done growing and this is basically her adolescent or adult form.

I just need to pick a number and live with it. I doubt I can claim her to be in high school with us given her behaviour, so I'll just aim lower.

"She's…14…?"

"Well don't you sound confident?"

"Hey, it's hard to remember these kinds of things after a while!"

Mira looks confused as she leans against my shoulder. She has released my hand and is instead pressing her hands against my upper arm.

"Mira was…homeschooled for a while. So she isn't used to people."

"Dang, that sounds kind of rough. Wait, then why is she here? School is still going."

Dang it Ed, I need you to stop asking good questions. I get that you're curious, but this conversation is making my head hurt.

"I-It's complicated! But hey, thanks for bringing the clothes over!"

I reach for the bag on the ground in front of the couch, pulling it towards Mira and myself.

"Look Mira, Ed brought you some clothes to wear."

"More clothes?"

"Yeah, so we won't have to do laundry every time your dress gets dirty."

Mira watches intently as I start digging through the plastic grocery store bag. I immediately pull out a dress very similar to the one Mira is wearing. Edward smirks in satisfaction at our surprised expressions.

"You said she liked dresses with frills, so I tried to find as many of those as I could. They seem to have fallen out of style with my sister as she got older."

"Yeah, this is actually perfect! The size seems about right as well!"

I pass the dress to Mira as I dig for more cotton-based gold. I find plenty of colourful socks, shirts, and shorts very fitting for a girl in elementary school. We obviously made Mira to be a bit older than that, but this still fits her just fine.

"It's no big deal. She grew out of these clothes fairly quickly when she hit middle school. My parents were annoyed when they had to buy all of her clothes a size bigger!"

"I would imagine…"

I look over at the girl admiring her new dress.

"Mira, you had better not grow any taller."

"I can get taller? Will I be as big as Noa?"

"Hopefully not…"

The idea of watching this girl sprout up to be taller than me is scary. I don't want to be the one that has to look up just to make eye contact. A pair of items at the bottom flashes like a diamond beneath the fabric.

"There are even shoes in here!"

"I wasn't sure if they fit, but I brought them anyway."

"Mira, stand up! We need to try these on!"

Mira jumps at my excitement as I show her the small white shoes. After a brief bit of confusion, she stands up and shows me one of her bare feet. I carefully manoeuvre the laceless footwear over her foot and around her heel, keeping a close eye on the position of her toes so as not to crush them.

"Yes…perfect…"

The shoe is not too big and not too small. Mira seems unsure as to how she feels about having her entire foot covered, but I'm sure she'll get used to it. Meanwhile, my eyes see only dollar signs.

"Hahaha! This is a steal!"

"Noa, you sound like a grandma who just got a discount…"

Edward can only sit and watch as I joyfully dig through the bag of things I don't have to buy.