Introductions

Three little fluff balls, still and quiet, rested comfortably on Nick's bed. The fireplace was stoked and the blankets were soft and comforting. Nick got to work quickly, first checking the gash on the sandy brown doe he had found. He cleaned and patched it with a linen cloth he had previously stitched together. Nick couldn't help but smile, his stitch work was always used to serve himself, this was the first time that he was able to use it to help another mammal, his father would have called this a milestone in his son's life.

Satisfied with his work, Nick checked over the other two bunnies. Only now did he get a good look at them all. They were all so small to him, the first bunny, the sandy brown doe with the injury, was the smallest. Nick could easily hold her entire frame in his two paws. The other two weren't much bigger; one, a grey buck with a black splotch on his eye, and the other a snow white doe with little black specks on her face. Both were larger than the sandy brown rabbit, but only by a hair's width. Or is it a hare's width? Nick asked himself, before huffing at his own bad joke. Sad when even I recognize how bad my humor has gotten.

The bunnies were easily carried back in Nick's foraging bag, but the sack was not meant to maintain heat, they were still so cold and the cuddling they had done with each other just didn't seem to be enough. Am I really going to try to warm them up myself? Nick rolled the question around in his head before seeing the most pathetic shiver from the sandy brown doe. With that pitiable display the last of his walls broke. He gently pulled himself up on his bed before wrapping himself in a ball, tail tip to nose, with the bunnies in the center. Night was now upon them and Nick was tired; he curled tighter around the shivering bunnies. The little fluffs shivering slowly ceased, and Nick was finally able to drift off to sleep with the bunnies.

Morning came quickly, too quickly for Nick. He had never claimed to be a morning mammal and on account of the fact that coffee wouldn't be invented for centuries to come, he never would. Normally, Nick wouldn't even stir in the mornings, being nocturnal would normally mean rising at the crack of noon, but this morning was different. Something was itching his ear, or... tickling, maybe? Either way, he was waking up to the strange sensation, whatever it was. He kept still, trying to figure out what was causing the tickling to his ear. It was soft, not really irritating, but- Nibbling. Something is nibbling on my ear. With this revelation Nick's eyes shot open, only to see the cutest sandy brown rabbit, still asleep, unconsciously nibbling at the tip of his ear. She was apparently a rough sleeper, during the night she managed to have crawled over her siblings and up against the neck of the fox before cuddling to the side of Nick's face and somehow managing to find his ear (or, in her mind, some dream snack.)

The fox chortled at the view he had in the corner of his eye. The other two bunnies eyes began to creak open at Nick's half-suppressed laugh. It didn't take long for the tired eyes of the grey and black rabbits to go from tired to fearful and alert. Oh yeah, that's right I'm a fox…

"Hey little fluffs don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." Nick tried to give a smile to the little bunnies, unintentionally showing off too many of his canines. The eyes of the two rabbits widened fearfully, and a scared squeak came from the white doe. Nick quickly closed his maw. So much for a good first impression.

Nick spoke as softly as he could, "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare y- OW!" Apparently the little conversation between the two rabbits and Nick wasn't enough to wake up the sandy furred bun who was still nibbling- or in the present, munching on Nick's ear. At the fox's yelp the other two rabbits trembled a bit more. "See," Nick said trying to ease their tension with a smile that was careful to not show teeth, "maybe you guys are more dangerous to me than I am to you." Nick let out an airy laugh at his own humor, he simply couldn't help but to joke. Nick took a paw to gently pet the brown doe biting his ear in her sleep. "I think this one is dreaming of the carrot farm, right fluffs?"

The two little rabbits were still staring wide eyed at the stranger. They were puzzled at the mammal before them, they had initially thought he was a wolf, but no wolf had ever acted like this! And why did it keep calling them 'fluffs?' The grey buck, without taking his wide eyes off of the strange ruddy not-wolf attempted to whisper, and quite poorly at that, to his sister, "wh- what is this thing, Ollie?"

In a somehow even less suppressed whisper the sister responded, "SHUSH, Ashie, he's right there!"

Oh brother. Nick's eyes almost rolled out of his head at the two bunnies. "You two aren't going to save me from this vicious bunny that's trying to turn me into a sleepy rabbit snack, are you?!" Nick exaggerated in feigned distress. Before the bunnies could respond Nick continued his dramatics, "Woe is me! To meet such a fate, I'm nothing but a tasty morsel to a cute little rabbit doe!" He did a little glance at the other two rabbits to see their reactions, The boy, presumably Ashie, had a face of confusion at the scene, the girl however had a wide grin. Gotcha, Nick thought. And before he could continue his dramatics the white doe burst into giggles at the scene of little Cotton taking on this big creature. And now you're laughing at my terrible fate!" Nick said with a pout, but even he couldn't hide his smile.

The boy bunny, finally caught on too and even he couldn't contain his little laughs at Nick's drama show either. "Mister what're you doing, Cotton's not gonna eat ya!"

Nick was glad his little actions were able to disarm the fears of the rabbit, even if he had to look like a goofball. Truth be told, Nick felt happier in that moment than he did in a long time. When was the last time I got to joke like this? He thought. Nick let out a chuckle, "Well you better tell her that, my ear is getting all slobbery!"

At about that moment the nibbling rabbit's eyes began to creak open. "Wh- where am I?"

"Cotton!" The white doe, Ollie, said with a laugh. "You're biting the Mister's ear!"

"The Mister's ear…" at that she looked down to see the red creature her sibling was referring to. "O- oh, HI! I'M COTTON I'M SOWWY ABOUT YOUR EAR MISTER! SOMETIMES WHEN I SLE-"

The little brown doe rambled on, obviously not even thinking about the fact that Nick was some strange creature she had never even seen before. "Hey cottontail, calm down I'm not mad at you."

"Oh! I'm glad! I don't like it when people are mad at me! I want everyone to be happy!"

Nick was taken aback by the cute little doe's innocent statement. Not many mammals were like that, and Dammit the world would be a better place if everyone had that kind of attitude. With a smile Nick said, "I like that too, you just made me very happy." Now with all three bunnies awake, it was probably time to get some answers. "I'd love to keep calling you guys fluffs but what are your names?"

The three bunnies gathered up next to each other, the fox was still balled up around them, and although they didn't feel that he was dangerous like the wolves they had run into in the past, he was still a stranger. After a silent moment the boy bunny shyly said, "Y-you're a stranger…"

"Hmmm," Nick audibly hummed. These are smart kids, Nick thought. "I guess you're right, do I'll tell you who I am first and then you can decide if we're still strangers, does that sound fair?" The three rabbits huddled together and whispered to each other, again too audibly to hide anything from Nick. They broke their circle and nodded in agreement to Nick's question. "Well, my name is Nicholas Piberius Wilde-" Snickering could be heard from the three bunnies, "Wait, what's so funny?"

"Pi-Piberius!?" the little bunnies kept giggling at Nick's middle name.

"Hey! I'll have you know that Piberius is a cool middle name! My dad gave it to me and he was the raddest mammal who ever lived!" Nick said in faux indignation a small smile wisping on his lips. "Anyways, you can call me Nick if you want, and this is my house." The kits began to look around, just now taking in where they were. "I Like to make things with my paws and go on walks and sing and, oh my favorite thing is to eat berries, especially blueberries!" Nick's face looked content with the thought of tasty blueberries occupying his mind. He looked back at the little ones, "Well, am I still a stranger?"

"J-just one second!" the white doe said, they gathered back together in their huddle. Poorly concealed whispers ensued once more, "Well, what should we do?"

"I like him!" Cotton said with glee. "His ear taste kinda funny, but he's really nice AND HE LIKES BLUEBERRIES TOO!" And I love blueberries, so I know he can't be a bad mammal and-"

"Ok Cotton, I get it, I get it! What do you think Ashie?"

"He, I- I don't really know. He hasn't hurt us so that's good and he is funny an' not just weird funny but funny funny too!"

"Ok, I guess that's good enough." The three rabbits broke their huddle. "Ok Mister, we don't think you're a stranger anymore so we can tell you." Nick smiled at the little rabbits and their bravery. The white doe with speckles took a deep breath and finally told Nick her name. "My name is Ollie."

"And I'm Ashes,"

"And I'm Cotton!"

Nick smiled at this, he got the little bunnies to open up to him, but he knew he had a lot of ways to go and a lot more questions he wanted answered, but that could wait until later, he had a more pressing matter for the little kits.

"Well, Ollie, Ash, and Cottontail, you guys wouldn't happen to be hungry would you?"