The Curious Case of Fluffy and Erik Lehnsherr

by flightinflame

Summary:

Sometimes, secondary mutations involve turning into a rabbit. Erik finds this out the hard way. Things get worse when Nina brings him to Show-And-Tell.

Notes:

Ridiculousness inspired by a conversation with Midrashic, Niofo and Insertsthmeaningful. Thank you to Niofo for betaing.
Written for the Monthly Prompt: Uncover

The thing with secondary mutations was that they were a response to heightened stress. The exact nature varied. Sometimes it was related to the adaptations a mutant individual held - making them faster, stronger, more powerful. Other times, it was unrelated - the ability of a telepath to turn to diamond, or a telekinetic gaining the ability to see events before they happened. The secondary mutation would come about in the moment it was needed, and the mutant just had to deal with the consequences.

And the result of this was that Erik Lehnsherr could turn into a rabbit.

Now, this might sound like an incredibly unhelpful ability. Or indeed, the kind of ability which felt like an insult - after years as a test subject, only being a guinea pig could have been worse. But, like all secondary mutations, it had come about for a reason.

In his case, it was his daughter falling down into a rabbit warren as a child, and getting hopelessly stuck too deeply for an adult to reach her. He'd heard her distress, and before he could respond to it rationally his mutation sprung into action. There had been one horrifying moment where he'd panicked over whether or not he was going to be able to return to human form. And then he'd pushed that aside - what mattered was his daughter.

He'd managed to free her, and afterwards ended up quivering on her lap, as she gently brushed the dirt from his fur. He had kept her safe. It was alright. She pressed a careful kiss to his forehead. "It's okay, Papa. I'm safe now."

That was the reassurance he apparently needed, his body unfurling back to its natural form. He was a man again, and that was a relief. He went to get dressed, and tried to put it out of his mind, as Magda laughed to herself behind him.

Things moved on. They moved into the mansion, and settled into life there. Charles found his new ability hilarious, but he wasn't cruel about it. Erik came to almost appreciate it - being able to curl up secretly on Charles's lap, feeling him pat through his fur. And Nina adored his rabbit form. Things could be worse. It was awkward, but his wife and his partner loved him, his daughter fed him carrots when he was in his rabbit form, and he was content.

***

Nina thought her Papa being a bunny rabbit was the best thing ever. Ever ever, even. He was adorable, and soft, and warm, and he could curl up in her arms, and his nose did a cute little twitchy thing when he was cosy, and sometimes he even did that when he was person-shaped! But she knew sometimes her Papa was sad about being a bunny rabbit, because he was scared that someone would be mean about it. And because of that, she was careful not to tell anyone. She would also make sure to give him lots of cuddles, if he was a bunny rabbit, so that he could be extra sure that he loved her. Daddy and Mummy agreed that Papa was the best bunny rabbit, but Papa didn't seem to understand that. So she thought she'd try to make him feel happy and safe. And that meant giving him lots of carrots, and telling him he was good, and not embarrassing him by telling her friends.

The thing was, if she was sad or scared sometimes all she wanted was to cuddle with Papa as a bunny. She liked normal Papa cuddles, and she had other bunny friends in the grounds - Papa hadn't liked them very much, when she'd tried to get them to say hello - but Papa-bunny cuddles were the best when her tummy felt all twisty and she was scared.

She wasn't scared lots. She had lots of friends, and she liked the other children in the mansion. But sometimes things exploded, or children appeared suddenly, and it made her jump. And at times like that she'd go and find her papa, and curl up around him, and he'd make her feel better.

But the other children saw her cuddling Papa, and so she had to take him to class. He sat on the table, looking very very cross for a bunny (she thought of the snack that Daddy made sometimes with Mummy's help, which was called a hot cross bun, and giggled to herself). Daddy, who was teaching the class, gave her a smile that showed he thought it was funny too, and then the other children came over to have a look. She watched them carefully, needing to make sure that no one hurt Papa.

"You have to pat Fluffy with one finger." She told them seriously. "Gently." Fluffy wasn't a great name for a bunny, especially not one that was her Papa, but she couldn't think of anything better at that moment.

The children all crowded around, and patted Papa, and because Papa was very brave he sat there and let it happen, only giving the occasional wiggle of grumpiness. Her daddy, who could read Papa's mind even when he was a bunny, looked like he was trying not to laugh. But Papa was good, and didn't bite any of her human friends.

Megan and Victor came up to her after class. Nina had lots of friends, but these were two of her favourites - Megan's wings looked like a dragonfly, and Victor was like some kind of lizard. But they had a look on their faces that made her worry a little bit, like they wanted to be naughty.

"What is it?" she asked, patting her Papa gently.

"He's the same colour as your daddy." Victor pointed out.

"Your papa!" Megan corrected, because she was smart and she remembered the difference between Nina's fathers. Nina nodded, cuddling her Papa closer, and wondering if she should have let him hop up onto Daddy's lap. If she had, Daddy could have wheeled him out of this conversation and to somewhere safe.

"It's a good colour," Nina agreed.

"I think it's your Papa." Victor said, with the certainty of a small boy. Nina bit her lip. Papa hadn't said she couldn't tell, but she knew that Papa felt funny about being a rabbit, and she knew that if Megan found out, Megan would tell everyone.

"That's silly."

"No it's not." Megan paused. "Your papa didn't take you to class today, and he always takes you on Fridays."

"He was tired."

"Or he's a bunny!" Victor agreed, going to pat Papa. Nina dodged out of the way, because Papa was getting wiggly, and she didn't want him to bite her friends just because they were being a bit mean.

"Papa isn't a bunny, that would be silly." Nina answered, trying to hold Papa still so that he didn't bite anyone. Biting wasn't nice, even if sometimes her friends might have deserved it a little bit. Not like, a big bite. Just like the cats did to each other if one was being annoying.

"Prove it!" Megan answered, crossing her arms. "Prove he's not a bunny."

Nina felt very worried. She didn't know how she could possibly do that, when Papa was a bunny.

It's alright, Nina. Daddy said in her mind. I'll handle this.

She was thinking back a thank you when the door opened, and Papa walked in. He wandered to her, and patted her hair. "Come on, let's take this one back to your Mummy." Papa... who couldn't have been Papa - lifted the bunny-Papa from her lap, and winked at her. Not-Papa's eyes flashed yellow for a moment before they went back to normal, and Nina giggled.

Victor looked down, and mumbled an apology.

Nina gave him a big hug. "It's okay, we're still friends." She promised. "Do you want me to see if any of the squirrels want to play?" She led her friends down to the gardens, excited.

***

Raven winked at Erik. "I know you owe me a favour now, but don't worry. You're cute enough that I'll forget."

Erik shot her a glare, tugging at her bracelet in irritation. She just smiled, and walked from the room in her blue form.

Charles reached out and squeezed his hand. "You are very cute, dear. And don't worry. We'll protect you from the scary children."

Notes:

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