A dream of past memories

It didn't take long for James to drift off to sleep surrounded by warm blankets, cozy toys, and soft pillows. It was the perfect cozy nest for him, and even if he didn't plan on using it for anything other than naps, and didn't plan on having any kits, it was a constant comfort in his life.

Soon the darkness of sleep gave way to a fuzzy dream. There was a haze about the visuals of his dream, and it took him a second to become aware of the surroundings of his dream. It was the church where he had grown up! He was outside, and he could hear other kits playing, running around, and talking to their friends. As he looked around, he noticed several patterns of fur that he remembered, and he quickly realized that this was not just a dream, but also a memory of his childhood. This wasn't a specific memory, but instead he was simply taken back to childhood, when the church had raised him and all the other baby bunnies from the last mating season.

James, or as he was known as back then, Jiang, was a small bun with red fur. He was shy and found it hard to make friends. If the other buns ignored him, he was quicker to cry than most, and he typically avoided the bigger buns, as some were quite rough and strong for their age, and he was worried that they would be too rough with him. Plus, he was a sensitive child, and was sad to know that others might not like him.

"Jiang, why aren't you playing with the other buns?" A familiar voice asked, and James turned around to see Murmur, looking out at the group of buns in his care. He was specifically looking at the small red bun now, which caused James, even in a dream, to shrink lower and look up in surprise.

"Oh! I-I'm just...Well, you see..." James stammered, looking embarrassed. Normally baby buns got along fairly well with their 'littermates', but sometimes they did need a little push. Young Jiang was embarrassed to admit how shy he was.

"Do you not want to play?" Murmur asked, leaning down to get somewhat closer to the tiny bun's level.

"N-no! I do. I-I do want to play b-but..." Young JIang lowered his head and spoke softly. "I-it's too scary"

"What was that last part? You'll have to speak up, Jiang" Murmur encouraged, giving the young bun a soft pat on his head.
With the little bit of physical encouragement and comfort, young Jiang spoke up, looking up at the demon towering over him.
"I-I'm scared. Sometimes the bigger buns get too rough. And it's hard to go and talk to them."

Murmur thought for a second, before coming up with an idea and scooping the little red bun up in his arms.

"I think you just need some practice. Hmm... What can we..."

Murmur said, looking around. Finally he laid eyes on something that seemed to work for whatever he was thinking, and he picked up a small plush toy, small for him, but almost as big as Jiang. He handed the small bun the plush, and Jiang gleefully accepted it.
"This little friend is a good listener. He can help you practice talking to other buns so it's not so scary. And as for the roughhousing, maybe you just need to learn to set boundaries first, and maybe when you're a bit bigger you can roughhouse." Murmur explained.
Jiang was listening to everything Murmur was saying, but he was snuggling close to the new friend, getting his scent on the toy and rubbing his face over the soft fur.

"Ok, I will. Thank you Mr. Murmur!" He said, muffled with his face in the plush.

And Jame's dream seemed to change at that point, and he was grown up now, in his bun form, sitting in an empty room with that same plushie, which was even larger now, as is the nature of dreams.

"Hey, My name's James. Nice to meet you. No, that sounds too formal... Hi! I'm James. What's your name? No that's weird... Hi, I'm James. from class? I saw you and thought you were cute. You're still cute. I- Ugh. Ok, let me just start over!" James was practicing asking out a crush from a class he was taking, and in the dream, it wasn't going so well. He could feel his embarrassment rising, and in his dream, suddenly the larger than life plushie started to deflate, falling forward and on top of James. He jostled awake, flinging the blanket off himself in the haze of sleep, thinking it was actually the deflated plushie. It took him a second to look around and realize that he was in his pile of soft things and had just been sleeping. He had to laugh at himself as he pulled the blanket back into the nest, then got up and stretched.

"What a weird dream... Well I guess my brain wanted me to get back to plush repairs..."