How Green Becomes Wood

"You don't have a name yet?" Claire asked, wide-eyed, "You're a lot more patient than me. Most of my pets are named the first thing I think of, unless my parents or sister veto them. Astrid is a beautiful name, though!"

"I mean I guess," Milo replied, "and I am grateful, like it's nice that you care, but like... You're probably not the one who's gonna be planning the party, you know? So you don't gotta stress about it."
 
"I've just been wanting one for so long and waiting for her, so it's hard to think of the perfect name," Alec sighed. "I know I'm stressing too hard, but it's just so exciting!"

"I'll stress if I want to," Xander said lightly. "Because you aren't going to tell your grands what you really want, are you? And I won't get any chances to do something like this after this school year ends, so I'm seizing the opportunity."
 
"I get that! And it's so exciting!" Claire agreed, bending down to look at the picture again, "I keep asking my parents to let me adopt bunnies, but they haven't relented yet. I want them so badly. Oh, wait!" She looked at him with a frown, "I wish I had waited on making your mug, I would've made the cat inside look like her!"

Milo rubbed his arm with the heel of his hand, "Sorry. I just. I don't know right now. Asking me all the time isn't going to make me think of it. Just gonna make me name something so I'm not put on the spot again."
 
Alec laughed. "Getting your mug was so fortuitous! I love the cat it has, I really do. What kind of bunny would you get? I've never thought of having rabbits."

"I'll drop it," Xander agreed, "as long as you promise me you'll tell me when you know. I've been asking so much because I don't want you to dodge the question. I'll admit to full selfishness of wanting to do this for you."
 
"I don't really have a preference, I don't think," Claire admitted, "I think all bunnies are really cute, and I've read that even though in theory there are some breeds which are more affectionate, lived experience doesn't really support it? I do really like English lops though... They've got floppy ears and they're the longest of any rabbit species. All lops are adorable."

"I promise," Milo told him, "It's really nice you want to do something for me."
 
Alec waved a hand around his head vaguely. "The floppy-eared ones are lops? Those are so cute! I don't know what an English lop looks like exactly, but I know the idea of a lop. Do they get along with other pets? Like cats and dogs? I figure some of it's individual, of course."

"Course," Xander said simply. He offered Milo one of his homemade cookies. "The stables I work at, they got a new horse in, a donation, I guess, from someone who couldn't keep them, and it's a beaut. Want to see a picture?"
 
"Some do, yeah," Claire answered, "I mean, it depends on the rabbit and the cat or dog. Generally it's better to keep some level of seperation between them, but I've read like... Cats feel dominant when grooming, but rabbits feel dominant when being groomed, so it can work out well. Dogs are a bit more stressful because it needs to be a dog with a low-prey drive, because so many dogs are bred specifically to hunt rabbits."

Milo gladly took the cookie, thanking Xander as he did so, "Oh yeah, I'd love to see him. Horses are cool. I always forget how big they are, or can be."
 
"That's true, a lot were bred for that. I'd forgotten about that," Alec nodded. "I think it'd be great to see a rabbit and a cat all snuggled up to each other. Under supervision, of course. Do rabbits need multiple to feel happy? Or can you have just one?" He leaned on one hand, genuinely interested in Claire's interest even if he had zero interest in getting a rabbit for himself.

Xander pulled out his phone and scrolled a bit before showing Milo. "This one's on the shorter side, but still pretty big, yeah. You should come sometime. I'll introduce you to 'my' horse."

The picture was of an Arabian cross horse, a solid reddish brown who stood with arched neck and head held high. It was a delicate but proud looking horse that looked ready to take off running at any second.
 
"I think you can just have one, but it's typically better to have a bonded pair. I think of it sort of like... Humans can't do all of bunny communication, right? I'd be pretty sad if I only got to hang out with rabbits but didn't get to talk to a human."

"Oh wow," Milo mumbled, "That's a really cool horse. He looks like he knows he's handsome."
 
"Oh, that makes sense," Alec said. "Do you have a favorite color? Or pattern?"

"Yeah, he does. He's a nice horse, but he's a full spitfire. Not for the amateurs. He doesn't mean anything bad, but he's all about running and jumping and forgets to listen to his rider." Xander showed Milo a couple more picture, flipping to one too many and revealing one of Big John staring at Daisy, who had a bucket on his head. Not only a hilarious picture, but with Daisy being a pony and no humans for scale, it made Big John look even bigger than he really was.
 
Claire shook her head, "I just like their sweet little noses. And rabbits are so soft! And they have attitude, they're sassier than cats."

Milo's eyes widened, "That's the biggest horse I've ever seen. How many feet tall is he?"
 
Alec's eyes widened. "Really? I didn't think that was possible!"

Xander smiled at Milo's shock. "That's Big John. He's just under 6 foot tall at his shoulder. That's his best friend, Daisy, who is about 4 feet tall. Maybe a bit less."
 
"I know! But they get annoyed and they stomp their big feet, it's so cute," Claire sighed, "You should watch a video of it sometime."

"Oh," Milo exhaled, "Yeah, that makes more sense. I thought Daisy was a normal sized horse."
 
"Aw! I can see why you want a bunny. That sounds fabulous," Alec chuckled.

"Yeah, he's a pony. Funny thing, Big John's a rescue, and my mom met him while he was still pretty bad. He hadn't shown anyone or anything any interest, but when he smelled her, he came over and started asking her to hug his nose. So, when the stables got Daisy, they asked Mama for one of her shirts and strapped it to him. It look ridiculous and hilarious, but it worked."
 
"One day I'll adopt one, I might just be being impatient," She laughed, "By the way, I love your nails! They're so fun!"

"I guess your mom smells really good to horses, but I'm glad her old shirts helped," Milo commented, trying to figure out how that worked, "It's good personal trivia."
 
"Thanks!" Alec grinned, displaying them. "It was part of a game yesterday, and I had to keep them at least for today. Oh, and we got tattoos." He wiggled his brows playfully.

"Yeah, he loves her. She got to ride him once, and he was real careful with her," Xander said. "Daisy could care less. He's a stubborn thing. I think he's part mule."
 
"Oh my god, that sounds like such a fun game! I'd end up keeping them at least until they started to chip! Wait, Sloan, did you not play?" Claire asked, turning towards her best friend.

"No, I did," Sloan replied, "I just got super unlucky and rolled the same colours a thousand times."

"I would cry." Claire laughed, "What tattoos did you get? Like temporary ones?"

"That's really nice," Milo said, impressed both with how gentle Big John was and that Daizi could ride a horse, "Wait, I thought all mules are sterile?"
 
"It was pretty shocking," Alec chuckled. "I think Peter kept his, and it was pretty fun, but poor Emma got all the worst colors! And only one repeat! We really should do it together sometime."

"Yes, they are. It was a joke at his stubbornness," Xander told him.
 
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