2025-02-04 - Bunnies On Ice

Ever since taking on the role of the evil sorcerer in the Swan Lake show, Lucien had been practicing over and over again in the arena using the slightly taller, older form that he took on to play the character. While there was still a bit of makeup and costuming to make him the convincingly evil sorcery, he used much of his own magic to give himself a larger, broader physique and learning how to skate the show in a different body was a little bit of a challenge. Not to mention he was still training for competition in his own body, which meant long hours on the ice alternating back and forth for both and learning how to switch and adapt.

And so it is that he is in the middle of the routine for the show when he catches a glimpse of something pink out of the corner of his eye. He's become a little used to the icekin occasionally turning up. It's not as frequently as it was during the premiere of the show, but it still happens. But he wasn't quite prepared for the strange little pink furball that suddenly comes hopping across the ice, loses its balance, and skids around on its tummy, little feet scrabbling for purchase while it makes sad little chittering sounds.

"Oh," he blinks, coming to a stop, and then shifts back into his normal form, his clothing feeling a little too big on him. He doesn't want to leave the thing on the ice though to go and change so he skates slowly over in its direction. But it startles and starts scrambling again and suddenly shoots off toward the other end of the rink. "Hey, wait," he calls out, "I'm just trying to help you get off the ice."

The strange bunny-like creature seems to be in a panic, however, and every time it skids around, it seems to only grow more so, not able to get a solid hold in order to get to the exit of the rink, the door hanging open just a little bit.

Lucien glides closer, very slowly, as slowly as he can go and says softly, "Hey.. if you let me help you, I can get you back out."

But again, the bunny tries to run off, pausing to sing a sad little five-note song. Its ears swivel around and then it starts to run once more. This time, it slides along the outer wall of the rink, getting further away from the exit.

Without any snacks to entice it or knowing exactly what it might want, Lucien glides away so that he doesn't panic it even more, and instead heads over to the exit to open the door wide, making it much more clear where the opening is and the target a little easier to hit. He slides the guards back onto his skates and sits on a bench just by the exit to take them off, leaving him standing in his thick socks on the edge of the rink. From there, he calls gently to the bunny, whistling to it a little bit.

The bunny pauses at the whistling and it's little ears swivel around, trying to hone in on the sound. It sings its little song again and then begins hopping in the direction of the whistling. Eventually, it does make its way out the door and over to Lucien, staring up at him with those big alien eyes in its tiny bunny face. The sounds it makes are quiet and sad, but it repeats the song every so often.

"I don't know what you're trying to tell me, little guy. But if you want to come home with me, we can find you something to eat and maybe someone who knows how to help you," Lucien says, leaning down and petting it between the ears and down along its back.

Exhausted from the attempt to escape the skating rink, it doesn't put up much of a fight when Lucien finally picks it up and cradles it gently in his arms. It doesn't even protest when he sits it inside his jacket while he changes and gets ready to head home. It does, however, find the bag of M&Ms inside and tears it open and eats at least half of them before he notices.

"Uh, shit.. I hope chocolate's not bad for ... whatever-you-ares.."

Maybe his roommates will know what to do. Auggie has a lot of magical animal friends, right?