Slenderverse One-shots

Rabbit or HABIT ⊗ EMH

A03 Request: Vinny is wandering around the house and finds a rabbit. He plays/cuddles with it until it's revealed that Habit shapeshifted and he was holding Habit the entire time while Habit just found it too awkward to tell him the truth.

It was oddly quiet the past hour. The screams reverberating through the house from HABIT's latest victim had fallen eerily silent. Vinny tried to shake off the awful feeling in his stomach, he couldn't have helped them if he tried.

Footsteps paused at the top of the stairs as Vinny found himself looking down at a... rabbit? "How did that get in here?"

Bloodied paw prints lead from the closed attic door and the poor creature's fur looked like it had been used to mop up whatever mess HABIT had made in there. So much blood soaked and tangled the long fur that he could barely tell it was white.

Shaky hands picked up the rabbit, grip tightening as it flailed momentarily to get out of his arms. "Hey, easy there. I'm not going to hurt you."

Unlike HABIT might. Vinny was mildly shocked the entity hadn't eaten this poor pet alive in front of its unfortunate owner. Well, it was safe for the time being with him. He carried the still struggling rabbit into the bathroom, dropping it in the tub and fighting to keep it in there while grabbing the shower head to rinse the blood off.

Once the water hit and he began scrubbing, the water turning a vibrant red, the rabbit settled with an indignant look that made Vinny chuckle. It wasn't an expression he'd thought a rabbit could pull off but there it was. Lavender eyes stared with an unreadable expression as the water turned from crimson to pink as the blood was nearly washed out completely.

"I didn't know they could have purple eyes." Then again, he didn't know much about rabbits in general.

For the next few hours he worked away at the mane of long fur around the rabbit's neck, trying to be gentle as he got the knots out of it. The entire time the rabbit tried to make a break for it any chance it got. Vinny tried to be patient considering the rabbit was probably scared shitless after whatever happened. By that night, he'd fed it and had started falling asleep on the couch with the fluff-ball in his arms while trying to think of a name for it—as if it would be safe to keep a pet in a house with an entity that would sooner rip it apart.

"Odd, HABIT hasn't been around." A half-asleep realization before drifting off completely.

A dull thump woke him up. Vinny jolted when he found the rabbit nowhere in sight, though he could hear muffled movements as it hurried across the tile hallway floor. A sigh as he got up and chased after it. He froze outside the dark kitchen as the sound of bones cracked and popped.

"Oh shit." He wasn't sure he wanted to see what HABIT was doing to the poor creature but his hand was already throwing the lightswitch into the on position.

The sight before him was... somehow much more confusing and worse than when he'd thought HABIT was tearing a bunny apart. Bones and cartilage finished shifting back into the familiar form of HABIT's vessel, lavender eyes shifting into Evan's natural color—even though Evan himself was still long gone from controlling the body standing before him.

"What..?" Vinny took a step back.

HABIT scowled, words reverberating with the growling undertone as he spoke. "Never do any of that again."

Thoughts spun in Vinny's head. He'd never realized HABIT could shapeshift, let alone into a rabbit of all things! A rabid dog seemed more fitting but at this point logic felt out the window. Heat rose to his cheeks as the information continued to process. That rabbit he'd bathed and cuddled had been this psychopathic murderer?

"Uhm..." Vinny took another step back as HABIT stalked closer. "Why?"

A squint, as if HABIT was trying to see if he was seriously asking.

"Why are—were—you a rabbit?" He choked out the clarification.

A toothy grin full of malice, eyes gleaming with sickening joy. "Because I can. Because I wanted to make our guest suffer. Do you know how much pain they were in as I gnawed through their legs?"

Vinny didn't just feel embarrassed now; he felt like he'd be sick. His eyes couldn't look at HABIT. "Why didn't you change back sooner?"

A snarl and a yank to his shirt collar, pulling Vinny down and forcing him to stare in HABIT's gaze. "You were bathing and cuddling with me. It's embarrassing enough you'll remember it for the rest of your short human life. I have to live with it forever."

HABIT shoved him away and headed for the stairs, not bothering to look over his shoulder as he gave a final warning. "Speak of this ever again and I'll make your remaining time on this planet a hell worse than anything your tiny mortal brain could conceive... Understood?"

"Ye... Yes, HABIT, understood."