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Inkcap was hiding in the bushes. If anybody asked him, he would have said that he was scouring the inner branches of the blackberry brambles for sweet, juicy early berries- but in reality, he was watching the oldest outskirters show off for each other. There was no official season for courting, but it always seemed that springtime was the season in which rabbits got seriously interested in each other.

This was a largely alien feeling to Inkcap. Despite what his peers were up to, the odd-eyed rabbit didn't really have any strong feelings towards any bunny in particular. He was perfectly content to snuggle with everybody who crossed his path, and enjoyed curling up in a pile with his sisters and mother at night.

But then there was Swift. She was a dear; a dainty, elegant female. Inkcap liked dainty, elegant females. Of course, he liked squishy females, too. As far as he knew, the only prerequisite was that they were female. He'd noticed that Swift often sought him out for silflay and offered to spend time with him in the burrows. But was this just the act of a friend? Or did she want something more?

He decided that the best thing to do was ask his father about it. After all, his father and mother were committed mates, and judging from their family's size, they'd been successful in their own flirting. His father would certainly be able to give him excellent, clear advice about how to deal with the opposite sex.

Tearing his eyes away from a pair of young bucks who were sparring with each other in full view of a bevy of interested does, he hopped back towards the burrow his family called home. It was early enough in the day that his father might be sleeping still; hopefully he could avoid his sisters. His mother, he knew, would be discreet enough to hop out of the conversation if things got awkward- or perhaps even provide valuable insight. If, of course, she was there.

"Parli?" he called quietly, thumping his feet at the entrance of his family's burrow. "Parli, are you there? I have a question!"

Impulsively, the outskirter hopped forward and nuzzled his father. "It's kinda important, I think. Maybe. Sorry to wake you up!" He hopped back and settled on his haunches, trying to keep the sun out of his sleepy father's eyes. "I figured that you're probably the smartest rabbit to ask about this- I mean, you and Marli seem to have it worked out. How do you know when a girl likes you? And how do you know when you like a girl?"

He noticed what his father was doing; it was right that he shooed away the younger kittens so the older rabbits could eat. He understood that older rabbits were really important to the warren these days; after all, there were lots of kittens, and they needed the experience of the adults. He was proud to eat with his father, and he hopped along in his footsteps.

"Aww, Parli. That's sweet! I bet Marli groomed your ears really well. She's so good at that!" He chewed the clover, too, swallowing before speaking again. "Toadflax grooms ears good, too. And Tawnytuft gave me a strawberry a while ago. They're so nice! But they're my sisters, and the others-" Immediately, he cowed, ducking his head and holding his ears low. What was it that Snubnose had said? Something about freaks and degenerates? And Willowswitch had laughed at that, and so did Silver and Turtle. All three of them were very pretty females, and Snubnose seemed to be well-liked.

A warm feeling tingled in Inkcap's cheeks, spreading to his ears and down his back. He thought about all the times his sisters had taken care of him, and it hit him so hard he almost went tharn. Of course. How had he not seen it? Certainly Fleet and Silver and Turtle and all the others were lovely, but his sisters were more than that. They were kind and caring and just wonderful. Tawnytuft's spunk, Toadflax's sweetness... "They like me?" he whispered, awed. "They like me the way that Willowswitch likes Snubnose?" But after thinking for a moment, he realized that he had an impossible choice. "But I love them BOTH! They're my sisters! They're the best does out of all the outskirters! I didn't think they'd like me! How am I supposed to choose? A-a-and what about Titmouse? If I love them both, who will love him?" He paused, scratching his chin with a paw. "Maybe I should let him pick first- I haven't asked him who he loves more." But there was a nagging in his mind.

"So how come most of the other outskirters pick rabbits outside of their own families? I mean... isn't that..." He thought a minute for the right words, but nothing came. He understood that his family's way wasn't the norm, but it seemed fine to him. "How come they don't?"