Welcome to Gaia! ::

Varduhi glared suspiciously at the smiling Soquili with big bunny toes, a fluffy bunny cottontail, and floppy bunny ears. There was no way she was trusting a bunny again. Not after that blood-stained bunny she'd encountered once many moons ago. Sure, it had been so many moons ago that it might not matter to some, and, in the grand scheme of her life, it was naught but a drop in the sea of the painful experiences of her childhood, but the fact remained. Bunnies were highly suspect.

Even if they were smiling in naïve, well-intentioned befuddlement. Especially if they were smiling in naïve, well-intentioned befuddlement. That bunny had smiled like that that time, too.

Varduhi laid her ears back and lowered her head, drawing her lips back to emphasize her canines. "Vhat do you vant vith me?" she hissed suspiciously.

The bunny-eared stallion blinked in surprise, smiling crookedly in confusion. What had begun as a bright and pleasant spring day was rapidly deteriorating in terms of social interactions. Which was a shame, really. The sun was shining, the first songbirds to have returned north for the summer were singing, the meadow was filled with flowers in a rainbow of colors...and this mare he'd just met was behaving in an unreasonably hostile manner.

"Ermmm...nothing? I was just enjoying this beautiful day in this spring meadow, me and my bunny," he added, lifting his stuffed bunny aloft before setting it back down, "enjoying the sunshine and the flowers and the birdsong, and then you started acting like...this?" he replied in deep confusion.

Varduhi blinked, startled. He was leaving, that easy? Was this some kind of trick? Or...was it possible he was sincere? His words cut into her, though. They were cut from the same cloth. She cringed inside. Back with her family carnival, they had often been mistaken for Shifters themselves, with their lupine features. Many had been fearful and quick to distrust, quick to anger, quick with fire and accusation and violence. And Varduhi had memories of how that frustration and abuse had turned toxic. Such accusations that any Soquili with traits from other species must inherently be Shifters had been harmful for her and her twin, Jasinda; how was that any more fair or even acceptable to level at a stranger she had only just met, to perpetuate the harmful stereotypes she'd been the target of herself, just because she was frightened that he might be a Shifter himself when she couldn't even see a pelt?

"I...I am sorry. That vas unreasonable of me. You do not have to go." Varduhi took a deep, rattling breath. "I met a bunny Shifter once, many, many moons ago, and it is not the sort of thing one forgets easily. Not vith how bloodthirsty it vas. Maybe I should go?" she mused, embarrassed at having probably ruined someone else's day. She lowered her glowing sapphire eyes against their black sclera behind dark scarlet locks, almost trying to hide from her shame, and the bunny stallion's compassionate eyes.

The bunny-eared stallion paused, regarding her a few moments. "I get it, you know? I don't think anyone would expect a Shifter to take on the form of a cute little bunny rabbit, and seeing a murder-bunny would probably mess anyone up good and hard." He took a deep breath, considering his next words carefully. "I don't think what you said was entirely your own fault; it was probably a traumatizing experience, you were scared, and you let the fear speak for you out of instinct. It's not a great response to a stranger you just met for the first time, but it's an understandable response. Also, I don't think it's fair to chase you off just because you reacted poorly to getting triggered. If you don't mind...would you join me and my bunny for an afternoon with the wildflowers and the birds? If you want, I could sit and listen to your story; if you don't wanna talk, we can just hang, and I'll point out all the different kinds of birdsong and wildflower. Though, if you have to go, it's okay, I get it, there's stuff people have to do, I just thought I'd make the offer, no skin off my nose if you refuse," he added hastily, trying to offer her an out if she wanted it.

Varduhi smiled shyly. "Thank you. I think I vill take you up on your offer. I do not know if I can tell you my story, but...thank you for not being angry that I got scared."

The bunny-eared stallion smiled amicably. "No problem. As I see it, a little kindness goes a long way, and can even go 'round in a circle, and come knocking back on your front gate."