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Corwin Hall, Chapter 3

Lisa stood six feet or so away from Todd, her short rodent muzzle angled downwards, peering up at him with wide eyes. "You came."

"Lisa. Hey..." Todd put one paw behind his neck and looked her over, then shifted his eyes to the floor. The bulge in her crotch told him she was diapered like everyone else here, and his nose told him that she'd wet herself. Something in the back of his brain stirred at the scent, and he realized she would be in heat in a day or two. He felt adrenaline rise in his veins, and instinctively stared at Brutus for a second. He quickly moved himself between Lisa and the large Rabbit. "Did you really have to wear that, Lisa?" he asked in a loud whisper. Great icebreaker, Todd, said the head he wasn't thinking with.

"I - I was all dressed up yesterday. You called and said... but they said you'd left." She wiped one wet eye with the sleeve of her sleeper.

"Oh, jeez. Lisa, look -"

"It's the incense. Terrible stuff, right?" She sniffed loudly.

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit," Brutus said, and wandered off into the room, greeting people as they woke. Todd glanced back at Geraden, who was once more engrossed in rubbing Arvetis's belly. Lisa began to walk towards an unoccupied area next to the huge fireplace, and Todd followed.

Apologize to her, he demanded of himself. Tell her you're a mess. Tell her you haven't written a word since she left. Tell her she can wear whatever the hell she wants as long as you can be her fuzzy sex slinky again.

"You look nice," he said. Why couldn't he do it? The words which had flowed out of him so easily last night were hiding now. Now that he was looking at her face and realizing just how much he had to apologize for, he couldn't do it.

"You too."

"I didn't last night."

"Yeah, that's what Elyssa said." Lisa laughed a little nervously, then looked at Todd evenly. "Said you didn't smell great either."

"Elyssa?" Todd asked, dodging Lisa's point.

"The majordomo. She's Geraden's granddaughter. She greets newcomers."

"Oh, right," Todd said, remembering the Rabbit he'd thought was a receptionist. Majordomo?

"Todd, you're drinking again."

Todd sighed. "It was just one glass. I'm fine. Let's not get into this right now, OK?"

"Better now than - Night, look out!" Todd blinked and tried to process this sentence in a way that made sense, but a second later it cleared up when a something barreled into him from behind, knocking him a couple steps forward. He turned and saw a fluffy white Fox in a pink footed sleeper, diaper-bulge evident, moving quickly towards the hall exit with a strange gait.

"Sorry! Sorry! Outta my way please, I gotta -" The Fox stopped then, wrapped his paws around his belly, bent at the knees for a moment, and winced. He held that position for a moment, blushing bright through his white fur, then straightened up, ears folded back and tail tucked under his bottom, and walked cringingly out of the room.

"Did he just -" asked Todd.

"Looks like. You get used to it around here. Poor sweetie's actually incontinent, but he usually tries to hold it till he's in private. Oh, that's the reason for the incense, by the way. Tends to get a bit... stinky without it."

Todd made a face and looked suspiciously at the reclining furs around him, wondering exactly which ones were... loaded, so to speak. Then he remembered that Lisa herself appeared to be wet, and sighed, rubbing his forehead with a paw. Lisa put her paws on her hips and thrust her stubby nose up at Todd, apparently miffed by the look. The base of her muzzle, right where it became the bridge of her nose, got a little wrinkle in it that told Todd he was about to hear how things were, no ifs, ands, or buts.

"Look, Todd. There are two things we need to talk about here: your drinking and my diapers. You're avoiding both of them. I'll talk to you when you're willing to talk about something useful, all right?"

"Lisa -"

"I'm serious. And in the meantime, you need to make up your mind if you really want to be here. Because if you don't, then leave and forget I gave you the card. But don't hang around here acting like a third-grader at a girl's birthday party, scared of catching cooties. These people are my friends, and you're making them uncomfortable." Lisa looked at Todd for a moment, her expression unreadable, then turned and walked toward the pile of diapered sleeping Dogs, who were beginning to waken.

"Lisa!"

"Think about it, todd." With that, she waved to one of the Dogs and smiled. Todd sighed, unable to stop her from disengaging with him. He was startled by a large paw resting on his shoulder.

"You don't have to worry about me," said Brutus.

"Huh?" Todd turned and regarded the Rabbit. He was calm but somber.

"Earlier, when you smelled her, you almost pushed me out of the way. But you don't have to worry about me. She isn't my type."

Todd looked a bit surprised by that. "Oh? And what's wrong with Lisa? Think you're too gorgeous for her? You can do better?"

"No, no. Let me rephrase. She isn't my gender."

Todd looked more surprised by that. "Oh! Oh. I'm sorry, then. I didn't mean to be rude... sorry."

"Don't be. Shall we continue the tour?" Brutus asked quietly.

"Tour?"

"You haven't seen everything yet. Would you like to?"

"Uh... yeah. Yeah, I guess." Todd became aware that his hackles were still raised from the argument, and took a deep breath, consciously smoothing them.

"I'm sorry that happened with Lisa, Todd. But you can't force anything here." Brutus led him through the maze of cushions to a small door on the side of the hall.

"It's just that she's never done anything like that before. I mean, don't get me wrong, she could be a firecracker. Stubborn when she wanted to be. But she never turned her back to me like that. Even when we got divorced, she just wanted us both to be happier."

"She still does."

"And before, whenever she got some stubborn idea into her head and fought me, she'd usually cry or mope or something to make me feel bad. That helped somehow. It showed she wasn't perfect either, you know? Not this time. Hoo, boy. Not even out of diapers, and she's acting like she's in charge."

"This place can make caltrops out of doormats."

"And who are all these new friends? Where did they come from? Where were they during the divorce, when she claimed she felt so alone?"

"Wasn't she?"

"And what's with her worrying so much about me drinking? I've never had a problem with it."

"There's an alien spider climbing your leg and getting ready to lay its eggs in your balls, Todd."

"I'm not sure this place is healthy for her. She's losing her grip on the real Lisa. She's letting down her defenses."

Brutus rolled his eyes. "If you're ready to listen, we're at the next stop." Todd blinked, and realized they were standing in another corridor off the main hall, this one carved out of stone and even smaller than the rooms in the outer building. He had hunched down without even noticing. There was a door at the other end, heavy oak by the look of it, and banded with steel reinforcement. This was a defensive position.

"Would you like to see our Chapel now?"

"Chapel?"

Brutus opened the thick door, straining even his large frame to start it swinging, then stepped through. Todd followed, and immediately shielded his dark-accustomed eyes to the bright room. When he could see again, he lowered his paw and drew in a bracing breath.

The Chapel was nothing like the rest of the warren. It was huge, for one thing, perhaps thirty feet across and stretching at least forty feet high - it must have taken up the entire height of the monolithic building as seen from the road. It was shaped like an equilateral triangle, except with the sides bowed outward, like some architectural study of non-Euclidian geometry. The floor was flawless marble, and two of the walls were solid polished stone, with no cracks or mortar. The most striking thing, though, was the far wall.

The entire length and height of it - all forty feet, from floor to ceiling - was composed of a tremendous, awe-inspiring sheet of what appeared to be stained glass. There was no picture, just an uneven pattern of brilliant colors. It was divided into small, shard-shaped sections, each one a different color than its neighbors. It seemed to be lit from behind by some kind of intense firelight, for it was brighter at the bottom than at the top, and flickered constantly.

Todd drew his eyes down from the incredible wall, and saw that, in front of it, and almost ridiculous in contrast to it, was a small altar. It was barely more than a wooden table with a white satin cloth laid over it, and on that was a simple, wooden cross. In front and to the left of it was a lectern, and a few bare pews were laid out in front of it. Behind the lectern, Todd could see spiked railing around a stairway leading into the ground, hewn straight into the marble. He took a moment to find his bearings in the strange room, then looked at Brutus, who was leaning on a pew, eyes closed, and seemed to be listening to something in a reverie.

"So... Corwin hall is a Christian organization, then?"

"Hmm? What? Oh, not exclusively, no. The Chapel's all modular, except for the walls themselves, ready at a moment's notice to be re-configured to suit any number of faiths. Sadly, Arvetis and I are the only ones who really use it for its intended purpose these days, and since we're both members of the Leporidan Church, it doesn't see much change."

"Two members? That's it? Don't you have a priest or anything?"

"We have a preacher," said Brutus, and fell silent. His tone made it clear he was willing to explain that much, and no more. Todd realized that Brutus, naked except for his diaper, which was beginning to show a pale yellow spot in the crotch, made an almost comic image set against this numinous backdrop.

"You know, I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"This place. The whole warren is so... somber. So momentous. I feel like there are a thousand years of hidden history here. But what you people do here, how you dress and behave, well - please don't take offense, Brutus - but it's so silly." Brutus smirked.

"If you think on it, Todd, you'll find that that same description applies to many factions, governments, and faiths who have been respected and revered throughout history. We don't even aspire that high; we only want to be left to exist, and do what we do best."

"So there's some danger of that not happening?"

"Oh, yes. There is for everyone."

Todd thought about that a moment, then nodded. "I suppose that's true," he said. Still, he couldn't help feeling that he just didn't understand at all.

As Todd reflected on this, his gaze returned to the brilliant rear wall of the Chapel. Shortly, he realized that his original perception of it was off a bit. It had no dividing lines of metal between the shards of color, as one would find in stained glass. They simply ran into each other. Whatever material it was made out of, it was colored that way naturally. And a smooth curve like the wall had could never be achieved with glass on such a scale; it would shatter. Come to think of it, the illumination seemed less like firelight the more he looked at it. It didn't exactly flicker. It was more of a complex pulse, and Todd thought that, if he watched it long enough, he might discern its rhythm.

"Brutus, what's that wall made out of?"

"What, now? Oh, err - stained glass, of course. Made in France, cost a fortune." Brutus spoke quickly, then blinked and looked away. "Come on, let's move along." He began to walk back to the door, but Todd stayed put.

"You're not being honest with me." Blunt, but to the point. Brutus looked up at the vaulted ceiling for a moment, then walked back to Todd.

"I'm that obvious?"

"Afraid so. Plus, I wrote a few articles about cathedrals for a magazine a number of years ago. I know what stained glass can and can't do, and that," Todd pointed at the wall, "is not even on the radar."

Brutus nodded softly, then put a paw on Todd's shoulder. "Please understand, Todd, that even knowing this place exists is an honor, and a symbol of great trust. Not only from us, but from Rabbitkind itself. Think about it. You've never read about this place in a history book. You've never seen pictures of it in an architecture magazine. You don't even know its real name. Nobody does, outside of a few who have to. Some of the people in that hall back there only know that there's a private chapel behind the oak door, never ask to see it, and are never invited. You're a good person, and you can take good from this place - that's why I showed it to you. But there are limits. For now, at least."

"All right. All right, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry too much, Todd. Except where it really counts, of course. Come on, let's go back to the hall." Todd followed silently, wondering about this place. As they walked through the stone corridor to the great hall, Todd realized that it was long, and had branching side exits. He must have really zoned out on the way down here.

"So what's next on the tour, big guy?"

"Well, there really isn't much. You'll be sleeping where you woke up this morning. Not luxuriant, but we don't have suites here. There are more quarters, but they're pretty much the same, save that some of them are in older sections of the warren. There's a bigger kitchen and dining room, but you'll see that at dinner. What you want to do next is really up to you."

"What was down those stairs in the Chapel?"

Brutus coughed. "Oh, not much. Stostly morage - er - mostly storage. Brooms, chapel supplies, decorations. Shoes. Insect spray?"

"All right, stop! Stop! A long nose looks terrible on a Rabbit."

"Am I really that bad? Maybe I shouldn't be the one giving the tour..."

"Creative fiction is not your strong suit. I get it, though. Don't ask."

"Not yet. Sorry." They reached the small door to the hall, and stepped through.

"So," Brutus asked, "what would you like to do with your afternoon, Todd?"

Todd gave a sheepish little smile. "Well, I've been here long enough to know what the Romans do, even if I think the Romans are a bit off their rocker. Maybe it's time I put on a diaper. While I'm conscious, I mean."

"Really?"

"This place has me hooked, Brutus. I want to stay. And I'd like people to think I'm not an asshole, which I think I've failed at spectacularly so far. Never too late to make a second impression, though."

Brutus clapped a paw to Todd's back. "Good man!"