[PRP] Quiet like bunnies (Finn/Aleksy)

[Silverah]

Finn hopped ahead of Aleksy, focus sweeping the path ahead of him. The prey-mind was hyper-vigilant, seizing on every shift in the underbrush, every suspect shadow. Even Aleksy's scent, coppery hunger, sent red flags right down to the base of his spine.

There was logic to this, though. A solid determination to master this form and see what advantages it might convey. He was closer to the ground. He could see the texture of the dirt and the leaves and the roots. But everything was so low and so loud and he couldn't filter all of the information he was being fed. How did real hares do this? How did any animal make it to adulthood?

He paused in the path and looked back towards Aleksy, long ears twitching in the rain. Finn wrinkled his nose, debated what to do next - and then shifted, animal-shape giving way to human-form.

"Ugh," he said, climbing to his feet. "That's a trip."

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"An adorable trip," said Aleksy. He had his hood up, hands deep in his pockets. He'd jacked Finn's letterman jacket--had new Finn been a letterman too?--some time ago because it was comfortable, too-big in all the right ways, and he was wearing it now over his hoodie. "Are you making any progress? I can't really tell."

He sidled up to Finn and bullied his way under one of Finn's arms. Even in the chilly spring showers, Finn was warm.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn's jaw tightened as he fought the urge to say the first thing that came into his head. Aleksy was trying to be supportive, he knew, and not trying to make light of his new situation at all, but--

Aleksy didn't have to live with the overwhelming consciousness of the prey-mind. The grinding of bone on bone each time he changed his form. It didn't... it didn't hurt, but it was certainly discomforting. Finn's hope was that the more times he did it, the more accustomed to it he'd become, but it hadn't happened yet.

"I don't know," he replied, looking off into the underbrush as he settled his arm around Aleksy's shoulders. "The switching back and forth comes more easily, but it certainly doesn't feel any better."

"The prey-mind thinks you're going to eat it," he added after a moment, cheeks going pink. "Despite all evidence to the contrary. It reads you as a predator."

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy frowned. "I would not eat you." Finn knew that, of course. Did it bear repeating? He thought it bore repeating. "It will take time. I am here for you while you adapt." He popped up on his toes to kiss Finn on the cheek, a little gentle peck. "I like watching over you." He was trying really hard with this communication thing.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"I know," replied Finn. Aleksy was handling all this... well, better than Finn would have expected. The old version of him, the version erased by the changing universe, would probably have cut and run. Finn couldn't hold anything against him once he took that into account.

"The prey-mind is going to take some convincing," he added. "That's all."

Things had been hard enough before he'd gone and thrown turning into a small mammal into the mix. It seemed like things were just one after another.

Finn smiled, albeit in a small way. "Yeah?" he asked. "It's not too weird?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"It is weird," said Aleksy. "But I am a vampire who consumes the energy of my friends." He nuzzled into Finn's shoulder, humming his contentedness softly. Was this the time to state the obvious? He needed, like, a buzzer. A Geiger counter but for times where he ought to be emotionally vulnerable. God damn, he was trying, and it was wearing him out. "Will the prey mind be unhappy if I hold you as a bunny," he asked, his voice muffled by Finn's raincoat.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn bit his lip. "I mean. If you want to. Okay."

He pulled his arm away from Aleksy's shoulder, and after a moment, shifted back down into the hare-shape, looking expectantly up at the vampire who now towered over him.

He would try to quiet the prey mind for Aleksy.

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy did want to. He hunkered down to approximately smaller-than-bun height once the transformation was complete, and very carefully scooped up the bunny version of his boyfriend. He had read umpteen guides, how to care for your bunny, how to pick up your bunny, how to calm a distressed bunny. Hopefully these guides also applied to hares. "This is nice," he said, tucking Finn securely against his chest. "Is this what it is like to carry me? Only I suppose I am much larger."

He didn't lean down to kiss Finnbun between his long ears, but only because he was worried the prey-bun inside Finn would interpret that as Aleksy wanting to eat him.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn got his bearings, head resting comfortably against Aleksy's bicep. He understood the question, filtered as it was through the layers of animal-mind, but had not human-larynx to answer.

He looked up at Aleksy unblinkingly, as if to say, you expect me to answer that?

He could feel the slow beat of Aleksy's heart inside his chest. For the moment, the prey-mind was still.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Yes, a silly question," said Aleksy, scoping out the area around them. Where did he want to go next? He adjusted his hold on Finn, ran a hand over Finn's back as he started off down the path. "It isn't as you can answer. Sorry, Finnsha."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn looked contentedly ahead, secure in Aleksy's arms and the knowledge that he didn't need to say anything. (He told himself he was okay with his muteness in this form because if he didn't it would become intensely frustrating.)

Did Aleksy prefer him like this?

His heart began to race. He looked nervously back and forth across the path, fighting the urge to burst out of his skin.

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy paused. He could feel Finn's little bunny heart racing, and that was concerning. He was trying to be un-frightening, but he was a predator even to other humans now. Maybe he was asking too much. Maybe he needed to just...

He set Finn down. "It is alright," he said. "Do you want to be human now? It is okay."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn shifted back in a flurry of limbs, panting for breath. He pushed himself to his feet, seeming disoriented... but like he was trying to get his bearings. "I had..."

He looked down uncertainly.

"This dumb thought. It sounds stupid."

But it had sounded reasonable. Enough to get his heartrate up.

"That you like me better when I can't talk back. When I'm like that."

Dumb, he thought. Dumb dumb dumb.

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy thought he'd been very good about taking all of this in stride. His boyfriend had been replaced with an alternate-universe body double at some point; Aleksy hadn't broken up with him and kicked him out, which he felt he would have likely been completely justified in doing. His boyfriend had turned into a were-rabbit, and aside from one mistake he thought he'd probably been incredibly supportive. He was going out of his way to make things right and make sure Finn knew exactly how much Aleksy loved and valued him, and then Finn had to come out with things like that?

Who the ******** did he think Aleksy was?

It took effort to swallow back the diatribe, but swallow it Aleksy did. "No," he said, sour but not angry, even though he was really actually irritated. "I like you best when you are like this, and able to talk to me, and say stupid comments about my tits." God, he didn't even like rabbits! He didn't like most animals, with the exception of like, his dog. And maybe Lady's cat. "I like you best when we watch stupid television or when we are ******** or when you are letting me put my head on your chest! Why would I like you better when everything that makes me want to kiss you is unavailable to me because you are bunny?"

He took a deep breath. Maybe he hadn't swallowed that upset so well after all. "I like to feel I can protect you. I do not get to feel like that when you are being a buff Greek god of forest, or whatever it is--" he gestured to Finn's all of him, stupid statuesque model boyfriend "--and if I seem pleased, it was nice to hold you and know you were safe! That is all it was."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

For all that Finn was sure Aleksy had meant to sound reassuring, his tone stung a little. Finn should have just not said anything, he thought. If he'd kept his dumb mouth closed...

A small part of him expected this Aleksy to be as hot-tempered and inches away from breaking up with him as the other one. Was he... was he testing the relationship? Looking for a breaking point of some kind? Was he that much of a moron?

Yes, he thought, probably.

"Sorry," said Finn, cringing as he made eye contact. "I said it was dumb. That's really sweet of you. Really."

He clenched his hands at his sides for a moment - and then reached out, trying to take Aleksy's hand in his.

"Do you want to go home?" Finn asked. "I'd like to go home."

Shibrogane