Sweet as pie

The grin fell from his face when she suddenly began to panic just from a small touch, his ears falling back against his head. He was such a physically affectionate wolf that he never thought twice about a little touch like that. He immediately lowered himself to his stomach after taking a step back from her, guilt stabbing through him. He never wanted to cause her any kind of fear or discomfort or anything. He just wanted to give her a friend, no matter how patient or gentle he needed to be to get there. He listened to her explanation of how she had been treated, how physical touch had never been a good thing for her. He understood completely. It was a fear he had seen too often in his sisters, one he had to overcome every time he tried to treat their wounds. It shattered his heart and made him want to scoop them up and hold them to protect them from the world, but he knew that would hurt more than help right now.

"No, I'm sorry, Gypsy. I'm so sorry," he told her softly, gently. He placed his paws in front of hers, not touching, but within reach. "We'll go at your pace, okay? My paws are right in front of yours. I won't touch you again unless you ask me to, but if you want to touch me you can. But you don't have to. Whatever you're comfortable with." He tried to keep his voice quiet and soothing, a small, encouraging smile on his lips even though he knew she couldn't see it. He was quiet for a moment, letting her breathe, letting her calm whatever thoughts or memories were plaguing her before he added, "You're safe now. I just want to be your friend, but only if you're okay with that. I can go if you want me to and we can try again a different day. I can bring you some more berries and we'll just visit from time to time. You just tell me what would make you happiest."

Segin Epsilon