The home had a low ceiling, which made sense considering the bunnies' height, and my head was almost hitting it. The interior was divided into one large living room and many smaller rooms. For some reason, there were more rooms than the number of inhabitants, which was quite intriguing. I was made to sit at the main table with Zay in front of me. Waja sat next to him after placing a bowl of freshly washed mixed vegetables and fruits in the middle. I couldn't sit in their chairs since they were too small for me. Instead, I had to make do with a stool. Even then, my head was much higher than theirs, forcing them to look up.
It was now time for me to use what I learned during my training. I faked taking stuff out of a bag on my shoulders while using my storage in reality. The two bunnies looked at me curiously.
"Do you smoke, sir?"
"No, I don't."
The pipe wasn't a good present, in that case. Instead, I chose a high-quality pouch for him. For his wife, a piece of bracelet made of semi-precious stones. The simpler presents would have been food but since they produced their own, I didn't think that would be too impressive.
"Here's a little something for you."
My presents startled them. They looked at each other for a second before examining the gifts.
"Oh my, you didn't have to."
"That's a good quality pouch. Why the sudden presents?"
"Just a little something to celebrate our first meeting. Don't feel burdened, I'd be happy if you just took them."
"Well… Thank you."
The wife immediately put the bracelet on and showed it off to her husband.
"How is it?"
"It looks good, honey."
He appreciated the texture of the pouch with his fingers while answering his wife. The mood was great and I believed I started things correctly. A minute later, Zay focused back on the main topic.
"Thanks again. Now, let's talk about our deal. What crops are you interested in and in which quantity?"
"About this, I have a question. Would it be possible for you to change what type of food you're growing?"
"Of course. We're bunnies, we can grow anything. But, we'll need a guarantee that you'll buy what we grow."
"That's not a problem. What about fruits?"
"Which fruits exactly?"
"Apples, tomatoes, and oranges."
"Tomatoes are not a problem. Apples and oranges are a different story. Even if we plant the trees right now, they’ll need several years before they grow and bear fruits."
"That's true."
"There are two solutions if you want to buy fruits. The first one is to find someone else who already has an orchard and buy from them. The other possibility is to leave that to me. I have some good friends here who grow fruits. I can prepare any quantity that you need, for a small commission."
"That sounds great. I like the second option. It's easier for me that way."
"Great. Now, what crops do you want us to grow? How much do you expect to buy?"
"For now, I believe I can sell at least 160 kg of food per day. What I need is peas, cabbage, cucumber, onions, and potatoes."
"Honey, a piece of paper and a pen, please."
The wife soon came back with what he asked for and the bunny started writing while showing what he was doing to me.
"Each of our fields produces around 2 tons of food per season. Because the weather is warm here, we can harvest all year round."
"Don't you need to leave some fields fallow?"
"Bunnies don't need to do that."
"That's impressive."
"It helps a lot. Now, if you need 160 kg per day that means…"
He was struggling hard with the basic calculation and, after looking at him for a few seconds, I decided to come to his rescue. Using a pen I took from my storage, I wrote next to his scribblings.
"That means you'll have around 250 kg of surplus at the end of each season. A bit more for winter since the season is shorter. Fruits will also be surplus."
He looked up at me and laughed with embarrassment.
"Haha, yes, that's right. As expected of a merchant, you're good with numbers."
"It's part of my job. About that 250 kgs surplus and the fruits, I'll buy everything. I think I can probably sell more than 160kg per day when customers get to know about me."
"So, you'll buy everything we produce?"
"I think so."
"That's great! I'll switch the crops we grow after the next harvest. I hope we can have a great partnership!"
He extended his hand forward, but, right at this moment, a loud bell rang, the sound resonating in the whole village. The couple looked at one another before turning toward me.
"Oh, it's already relief time. I'm sorry about this, Tila. Do you mind waiting outside for a while?"
That took me by surprise. I wasn't sure what was going on but I thought it might be related to the particular needs of their species.
"Of course."
They showed me to the door and I left the house. Outside, there was a sort of fervor going on too. A lot of bunnies were leaving their workplace to enter their houses, looking like they were in a rush. Some of them looked quite flushed and excited, and I started to get an idea about what was happening. A good number of them entered a large building in the center of the village. Many others came out from the fields, including one that rushed into the home I just exited while avoiding looking at me. I only noticed she was a girl, probably one of the three children I saw working in the fields.
Soon, the bell stopped ringing. Its noise was replaced by the many moans and groans of the bunnies all around the village. This bewildering event allowed me to understand better what the potter trader had tried to express. It seemed the bunnies had integrated the concept of needing to have sexual relief every six hours on a societal level, where everyone took a break at the same time.
And then, here I was, in the middle of hundreds of copulating bunnies, the sensual clamors all around forcing me to get hard, my imagination running wild at what could be happening inside these houses.