Prepare Yourself!

✿          “well, have you been hugged properly before??”

“Octavo! Are you okay?!” Colette flies over quickly, only to see her friend writhing in a bush with the white rabbit uncomfortably trying to not be squished. She complies by taking the rabbit from his grasp so he can properly untangle himself, though he’s now covered in little scratches. None of them, that she can see, look terribly deep, so that’s a good sign. 

Colette holds the rabbit carefully, pressed against her body with its chin on her shoulder. It lets out a little bunny sigh, a soft snort through its nose. Colette seats herself on the grass beside Octavo as he disentangles himself. 

Suddenly she feels a tiny little tongue along her jaw, along with a furry little nose and whiskers. The tickly sensation makes Colette giggle.

“Ehehe. I think part of the prize was bunny kisses!” Colette plants a gentle little kiss on the rabbit’s head, and then holds it in her arms so it’s facing Octavo. “Do you want a kiss, too? Maybe it’ll help you feel better.”

She allows the bunny to then hop away, seemingly to get their other prize for them.

“I know a little bit of first aid,” Colette says, scooting closer to Octavo to examine his cuts. Many of them are surface scratches, but there are a couple small beads of blood that she can see. “I actually carry a little bit with me. Since I need it sometimes when I trip,” she confesses sheepishly. “Here, if it’s okay with you, I can help you disinfect some of this while we wait for the bunny to come back.”

“I will pass on the bunny kisses.”  He sounded the better part of dejected as he pulled the bramble that latched onto him from his fall.  He certainly did make a habit of embarrassing himself, it seemed.  He must be allergic to just existing, he supposed.

“I would rather not trouble you.”  He didn’t outright reject the notion, he just wasn’t one to accept help so easily.  “You’ll probably need it more than I do.”  Of course there was some bramble on his tush too, because why wouldn’t there be?  He was the epitome of laughing stocks, it felt.

“Your own trick? I can’t wait to see it!” Octavo promises it will be harmless, and Colette trusts him. The little bunny is innocent after all, it just wants to play!

She waits until the rabbit is turned away so that she can move undetected. 

Colette is leaned in a little close so she can speak quietly to Octavo. “Okay. Keep a close eye on him. Here I go!” With that, she quickly but carefully makes her way through the trees. Hovering with her wings, she’s able to avoid making a sound on the forest floor, though the downside is the bright visibility of her wings. 

The rabbit is on the move, picking its own way through the underbrush. Within a minute or two Colette is a ways in front of it, the rabbit now between her and Octavo. 

She inches forward carefully. If she can catch it herself, all the better, but like she suspected, it notices her pretty quickly and in an instant turns around to dart in the other direction, back towards her partner. 

Colette waves and flutters her wings, signaling to Octavo quietly that the rabbit is heading right towards him.

“I do hope you like a good performance.”  Because he sure did love to perform.  It was no actual wonder how he really got roped into this, actually, any chance to show off what skill he claimed to have.

“Got it.”  He affirmed with a nod, pulling his hair back so he wouldn’t obscure his view of the target anymore than it already was with the setting.  Which, everything was going smoothly until the rabbit had caught sight of Colette.

Nevertheless, this was something he was more than capable of.

Since he was in the direct line of the rabbit, he was most certainly harder to see, though, to be safe, when the rabbit was distance, he disappeared in a flash, effectively teleporting behind the rabbit.

Whether this could be counted as a success or not was another thing, though, as he had landed face down into a thorn bush.  If it was any consolation, he did have the bunny.

“…” You are literally so mean.

“No, that’s not it at all! Neither of you has to be better than the other. You can both be great without using each other like that or competing.”

“YOU CAN’T IGNORE SCIENCE!”

“Don’t say that, Octavo! You’re both very smart and talented. And anyway, you’re your own person, too. You don’t have to compare yourself to him!”

“Huh…”

“Wait. Vaati…?! Really?”

“Who were you based on, Octavo?”