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It had all started with Scott announcing "I have an idea", when he walked out of the bedroom, a few days after they had officially made up and gotten back together again. Kip was sitting on the couch and scrolling his phone, having waited there after leaving the bedroom and giving Scott enough privacy to shift back.
They had, for the second time in the span of only a few days, done what Kip liked to call 'bunny time'. Kip had told Scott that as a shapeshifter who'd repressed his other form for most of his life, it was time to finally get a healthier relationship to his bunny form, which meant shifting into it on purpose on a regular basis.
Otherwise things like randomly shifting in public after a bad press conference would become the norm, because apparently, strong emotions were the thing that managed to tip Scott's balance (hence Scott's sudden loss of self-restraint about repressing his bunny form when he met Kip).
Scott had agreed that he probably needed to get in touch with this side of him more, (thank god) so now, they were not only back together, but Scott had also finally come around and stopped repressing the fact that from time to time, he just needed to be his tiny, cute and adorable bunny-self. Not that Kip would complain. He loved snuggling up with bunny-Scott as much as he did with the 6'2 human version of him. And now, Scott the human seemed eager to tell Kip something that he had most likely come up with as bunny-Scott.
"Yeah?", Kip asked, moving a bit on the couch to make space for regular-sized human Scott. "About what?"
Scott took a deep breath, as if bracing himself for something, rather than just telling Kip what was on his mind after all the cuddles and blueberries he'd just had. "About meeting your friends. We said we should do it soon, and I agree. We should. I really do want to meet them. It's just...", he sighed. "I am well aware that you had to lie a lot to them to keep my secret. And then after, they must have noticed that you weren't doing well, but you still couldn't tell them why..."
Scott sat down on heavily on the couch and looked at Kip with what could only be described as regret in his eyes. "I made you really fucking sad and they know that, even if they don't know me. Or like, some of them don't. Elena knows me and I'm sure she's ready to kick my ass as soon as I show up."
Kip took one of Scott's hands in his and squeezed it. "So you're more worried that they won't like you than coming out to them?", he gently asked.
Scott shrugged, "I don't know? Maybe? Coming out is still scary. Going to a gay bar is scary. But-", he immediately added when he must have seen that Kip started to frown. "I'll still do it. I've told you, I'd do anything for you, no matter how scary. I've just come up with an idea of how I could meet them and sort of get to know them without them immediately hating me", he said, looking a little bit more confident and less dejected than before.
"Go on", Kip prompted, unsure what Scott had cooked up there. "When you meet them at the Kingfisher tonight, you could... you know, bring along your new pet bunny. And everyone would find it adorable but then after a while the novelty will probably wear off. And then I could just observe the group for the night from like, inside of your bag or whatever, and get to know them a bit, learn about the inside jokes, so that when I meet them for real, which I will, I promise, then I already sort of know who they are."
Kip stared at Scott for a moment, unsure what to say. His hand was still clasping Scott's, but he'd stopped moving his thumb over Scott's knuckles in a soothing motion because... what? Scott wanted him to bring along bunny-Scott to the Kingfisher tonight? When Scott had said he'd come out, Kip had kind of assumed he meant as gay and not as a bunny. But then again, what Scott had proposed didn't sound like he wanted Kip's friends to know that he was the bunny.
"Okay?", Kip said, though it sounded more like a question than anything else. "So, wait. Let me get this straight. You want to meet my friends as a bunny first, but without them knowing it's you... so you get to know our inside jokes?", from his tone, Scott could probably tell that Kip wasn't convinced by the idea yet.
"It's just...", Scott started. "I know your friends are great. Otherwise you wouldn't be friends with them. And from what I've seen, they're also very protective of you. Which is why, if I met them for the first time as, well... me, then there will be tension. Which is fair, I deserve that. But if I met them as a bunny, instead of the guy that made you hide and then broke your heart, then I could meet them on neutral ground first. You know, they'd have their guard up less, and I could get to know them like that, before inevitably being scrutinised when I show up as a human."
Kip let that sink in for a moment. Even if it sounded ludicrous, Scott seemed to at least have some kind of point. His friends would be grilling Scott, do doubt. But would randomly showing up with a bunny really be that chill of a situation as Scott imagined? Kip would have to have a backstory for the bunny and explain where he'd gotten it from and what its name was and everything.
Scott must have sensed Kip's doubts, because he scooted closer and snaked his arms around Kip's middle to hold him close. "Please?", he asked. "I just want to have a glimpse of what it will be like to hang out with them, once I proved that I'm worthy of being your boyfriend. And I promise I will prove it to them. And to you."
And how could Kip have refused this ridiculous man after that?
**
Kip was having serious regrets as he made his way to the Kingfisher that night, bunny-Scott in his half-open messenger bag and all.
He knew that he had been talked into this ridiculous idea in a moment of weakness, because Scott had said something so sweet and romantic that he just couldn't help but agree. But now, actually having to execute the plan, Kip was kicking his past self for folding so quickly. How was he even going to explain to his friends why he had a bunny?
Obviously they hadn't even really come up a good backstory, because after promising that Scott was worthy of Kip, he had made good on that promise right there on the couch. So for the next hour or so, Kip's mind had been entirely elsewhere.
But now, as Kip was walking up to the Kingfisher from the ride that Scott had insisted he should take (Scott was fine with being a bunny in a gay bar, but not on the subway, apparently), he was panicking again. He had no idea how his friends would react to him bringing a bunny along. He was still pretty sure that one couldn't just bring a bunny to a bar, but Scott had insisted that if dog-owners could bring their pets everywhere, so could people with bunnies.
Kip would have loved to just turn around again, but he knew that this was important to Scott, and that he really wanted for Scott to meet his friends. So if this was what would make it easier for Scott, then he would go through with it, even if he hadn't even yet come up with a name for the bunny that he now allegedly owned. He couldn't very well tell his friends that it was called Scott. Elena would clock the whole charade immediately, then. But what else should he call it? What where appropriate bunny names?
He felt himself descend into a spiral, but then he spotted Elena standing just outside the front door, talking into her phone, and he knew that there definitely was no turning back now. He took a deep breath to steady himself and tried to school his expression into something that didn't look as panicked as he felt when he walked up to her.
Bunny-Scott was still pretty well hidden under the lid of his messenger bag, which was, however, still half open, since he hadn't wanted to close it completely with the magnetic buttons. Bunny-Scott needed enough air, after all.
Elena disconnected the call when she saw Kip and hugged him tightly as a greeting when he approached. He tried to move his bag out of the way as good as he could, not wanting bunny-Scott to be squished in any way. Obviously, she immediately clocked there was some tension in his shoulders, because she pulled back and said, "Hey babes. You okay?"
Kip nodded, and was just delaying the inevitable when he suggested that they went inside. Elena followed him, but immediately gave him one of her patent no-nonsense looks as soon as they sat down in a booth after quickly hollering a hello to Kyle behind the bar. "So... you good, Christopher? You seem off", she remarked and leaned back in her seat, which looked like a relaxed posture, but Kip noticed how he was being assessed.
"Yeah, no I'm good. I just...", he looked around, still absolutely sure that he would immediately get yelled at once he revealed the bunny. But well, there goes nothing. "I brought someone with me today", Kip said, obviously omitting who exactly he was brining and just let his actions speak for themselves. He opened the lid of his bag completely, revealing bunny-Scott sitting on a scarf that Kip had bundled up underneath him. His nose was twitching and Kip was one second away from just staring at the cuteness of bunny-Scott, instead of facing whatever reaction Elena would have about this turn of events.
"A bunny?", she asked with an unreadable expression and Kip nodded, trying to come up with a reason for why exactly he was bringing a bunny. Damn it, they should have thought this through better!
"Yeah it's... uhm...I just got it. It's cute, isn't it?", he tried, and god, even he could hear that this was going terribly. But what did you say when you got a bunny? They are cute, aren't they? Was he supposed to tell Elena breed name? Kip didn't know what kind of bunny Scott was, because it was just... Scott. Of course it was some kind of breed but what did Kip really know besides what bunny-Scott liked to eat and how to best get him to shift back when he got stuck?
"You got a bunny?", Elena asked again, and Kip could hear the disapproval in her voice clearly now. For a lack of better things to say, he half-shrugged and said "Yeah? Why not", though he was sure Elena was about to list him all the reasons why he should not have a bunny.
"Christopher, are you completely out of your mind? You work two jobs and are applying to grad school, when are you taking care of that poor bunny? Are you just gonna make this George's problem or what? Have you really thought this through?", she started lecturing, and Kip had to surpress a lot of comments there because of course he was too busy for a pet, he knew that too. And no, he obviously wouldn't be that irresponsible to just impulsively get a pet and then make it his dad's problem.
He was, however, impulsive enough to let Scott talk him into this stupid idea, and now here he was, getting lectured by Elena, which probably made Scott even more insecure about meeting his friends (well, Scott has met Elena before, and that hadn't gone that well either, so this was really not helping!).
And bunny-Scott did actually look kind of terrified there, almost shrinking into the bag as if that would stop Elena from half-yelling at both of them. Kip couldn't resist the urge to pet bunny-Scott a little, hopefully soothing him before he would cut off Elena's tirade and somehow (he didn't know yet how) make her stop worrying that he has lost his mind.
But Elena was faster in making this even worse, because her eyes suddenly seemed to get bigger and then she actually pointed at Kip when she said, "Oh my god. Christopher Grady. Did you get that bunny because you're still hung up on that stupid jock? Did you seriously think a cute pet could distract you from your heartbreak?"
Kip's hand on bunny-Scotts head froze, and it was in that moment that he realised he fucked up. Scott had convinced him that if he brought bunny-Scott along to the Kingfisher, he would meet Kip's friends in a non-hostile environment. Turns out Elena was even more hostile towards Scott like this, because surely, she wouldn't call Scott a stupid jock to his face. Right?
"This has nothing to do with him!", Kip hissed, not daring to say Scott's name out loud because for some reason, he also still worried that suddenly, everyone would know exactly who it was that Kip actually carried around in his messenger bag. It was irrational, really, because nothing about bunny-Scott screamed Scott Hunter. But well, sue him for starting to become as superstitious and neurotic as his boyfriend.
Kip's futile effort to make Elena keep her voice down seemed to have failed, or had maybe been a lost cause from the start, because of course, their whole argument had now also alerted Kyle, who sauntered over from the bar to stop dead in his tracks when he saw bunny-Scott. Sure, Kip had intended for his friends to meet bunny-Scott, but now that Elena had, Kip would actually gladly leave without any more meetings.
Tough luck, because Kyle was standing right there.
"Uhm. Did you bring a bunny to the Kingfisher?", he asked, and Kip didn't even know what to say to that because yes, that was exactly what he had done, and no, he had no useful explanation for it either. "I don't think we allow bunnies here", he went on, and Kip guessed this would be the time when he would say that thing about dog owners that Scott had told him, but he wasn't sure he could say anything with conviction at all right now.
Luckily (read: unluckily) Elena was ready to answer for him, as she said to Kyle "It's worse than we thought. I've seen him do a lot of stupid shit when going through break-ups in the past, but that's the weirdest one yet."
Kyle looked over to where Kip was sitting, hand still lightly covering bunny-Scott's head, as if that would prevent him from hearing all of that. "So you were dumped after all? Why did you tell Elena and not me, we work together! And, more importantly, how did you think a bunny would fix that?"
"Guys!", Kip exclaimed and decided that he and bunny-Scott both needed some comfort, so he took him out of the bag and held him close to his chest, scowling at his friends. "I did not get a bunny because I'm sad and I would appreciate it if you stopped being so anti-bunny right now, you're making him uncomfortable", he defended himself and bunny-Scott.
"Sorry, Kip's rebound bunny", Kyle deadpanned and Elena snorted.
"He's not a- Guys I'm not-", Kip argued, but then realised that his sentence would have gone in the direction of of I'm not fucking the bunny, which he wasn't. That was gross and illegal and a hard no. But also, he was fucking the person who was the bunny, so... whatever. He needed to diffuse this situation by making them stop associating Scott with the bunny (though they were, of course, not wrong in doing so).
"Can we just, for a second, give me the benefit of the doubt and believe that I thought this through because I'm a functioning adult?", Kip said, and that seemed to finally do the trick, because Kyle shrugged and Elena muttered a "Sure".
Kip nodded. "Thanks. Because I really just wanted you all to meet the bunny, and like, enjoy with me how cute it is, instead of lecturing me and scaring him", Kip really, really hoped that Scott was still willing to meet his friends after this. He honestly wouldn't be mad at Scott if he wasn't.
"I mean, it is really cute. He, did you say? What's his name?", Elena asked, and Kip saw a peace offering when he was given one from her, so he nodded and deposited bunny-Scott on the table, an offer for her to pet him. If buny-Scott wanted that and would hop over to her, of course. "I, uh. I haven't named him yet", Kip said, hoping that the conversation might go into the direction of the group wanting to find a name for bunny-Scott, rather than telling Kip why he shouldn't have a bunny in the first place.
"Kip you can't just put him on the table", Kyle argued, and now Kip was ready for his dog-owner argument, and even went one step further when he said, "Kyle, I work here too, remember? And I don't know about any no-bunny policy. And I'm sure some shifters who have been to the Kingfisher are bunnies, so we can't really exclude them. And anyway, dog-owners also bring their pets everywhere." There, a convincing delivery.
"Just let the bunny stay Kyle, it's not like you can ban us from bringing in outside food either", Elena said as she reached out her hand so that bunny-Scott could sniff it. He approached it very slowly, but did in the end hop close enough that she could carefully pet bunny-Scott's fur behind his ears. Kip could tell that he still wasn't fully comfortable with the situation, but at leat he didn't look as spooked as before, when his friends had still been arguing.
"Oh my god guys! Whose bunny is that? It's so tiny and cute!", that was Maria, who just arrived at their table, Shawn trailing behind her. "Jealous guys. I've always wanted a hamster but my parents never let me", he remarked as he slid into the booth next to Kip, while Maria sat next to Elena.
And even with their initial reactions to bunny-Scott being better than Elena's and Kyle's, Kip was still nervous because both Maria and Shawn were actually shifters, so maybe they could see through it all? Was that how it worked? Did shifters recognise other shifters? Probably not, otherwise Scott's teammates would have clocked him a long time ago, right? Or maybe they just hadn't because they'd only ever seen him in his human form?
Kip was pulled out of his anxious thought spiral when Elena tapped his foot with hers under the table and said, "Right Kip?" He could only blink in confusion, and Elena probably saw that he hadn't paid attention, because she rolled her eyes and presumably repeated what she'd said before.
"Kip said he just got it and he's made it very clear that it was a thought-through decision and has nothing to do with his constant moping around", she told the newcomers, and Kip was about to protest again when she went on.
"But, that's not as important. Much more important is, what should Kip name him?", she was still scratching him behind his ears, but moved her hand away when Maria brushed her fingers over the fur on his tiny spine.
"What about Fluffles?", she suggested, and Kip had to almost suppress a laughter when he saw how bunny-Scott basically whipped his head around to give Kip a look. Yeah, no, Fluffles wasn't Scott-approved at all. And also not Kip-approved, really.
"I don't know", Kip said and Maria shrugged, apparently not having clocked the moment of eye-contact that Kip and his bunny had had there.
"Just don't give it a stupid human name. I hate it when people call out for their dogs and then you have to deal with the fact that the poodle that comes running is called Michael", Kyle said and waved, indicating that he was getting their usual drinks.
"I forbid you from calling that sweet little thing Michael", Shawn agreed, whose turn it now was to pet bunny-Scott. Kip was actually awed how, after the rough start, his friends now all seemed to warm up to bunny-Scott sitting in the middle of their table.
"One of our neighbours growing up had a cat called Florian, so Michael the bunny isn't even the weirdest thing to me", Elena said, and Kip actually remembered Florian, an orange cat with really big ears.
"What about Prince? Or Bowie? You know, a bunny with the name of a queer icon for the queer icon that you yourself are", Shawn suggested and Kip actually had to cover his face with his hand for a moment to not show his friends how close to tearing up that brought him.
Not only because of the compliment from Shawn, but also because of the implication that bunny-Scott, or well, Scott could be a queer icon too. And maybe he would be, once he was ready to come out publicly. But for now, Kip was sure that if the mood stayed friendly like this, then the chances of Scott coming along to their next friend group gathering as a human, and coming out there, were pretty high after all.
"If you'll name him anything Bowie adjacent it has to be Ziggy though", Elena snickered, and Kip was instantly reminded of a memory so embarassing he'd rather hoped it wouldn't be shared in front of bunny-Scott. Too late. Because as soon as Elena said it, Shawn cackled and Maria asked, "Huh? What's that about?"
Kyle, who had definitely heard the story before, betrayed him without even a second though, because when he brought along a tray full of beers and cocktails, he told Elena to, "Share your story with the class, please."
Kip groaned and let his head fall on the table, which made bunny-Scott turn to him and look at him with big eyes. Kip could see the curiosity even in his bunny-eyes, and groaned some more, because Scott was about to hear one of his not so fine moments from back in the day.
"Oh my god right, we didn't know each other back then", Elena said to Maria, but instead of turning to her and just telling her about the disaster in private, so that bunny-Scott might actually not overhear it, Elena raised her voice. With a shit-eating grin, she launched into the tale.
"Okay so picture this. Freshman year. We're young and dumb and at a pride event in a bar somewhere in Astoria. Everyone is a few drinks in and they've already fired up the karaoke machine. Allan, one of our friends, is in full drag, six inch platform heels and all. And Kip here thinks that walking in those is easy peasy, asking Allan to switch shoes with him when his name was called to the stage."
Elena makes a dramatic pause that is filled by both Shawn's and Kyle's laughter, while Maria looks back and forth between Elena and Kip, probably imagining where this story would go.
"Turns out wearing platform heels is harder than just looking at someone who's proficient to do death drops with them. And so, our Kipstopher fell from the stage before he even got to the first chorus of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust."
Everyone around Kip started full on laughing now, and after he rolled his eyes, even Kip had to kind of chuckle at the memory. It was that moment in which he had sworn to himself to never again be that guy who went sure, looks easy, I can do that too. Not that Kip was like these men in the video compilations who thought they could best a female professional athlete at her sport. But he'd overestimated his skill set a bit too much there and it had been a lesson. He was just glad that he hadn't actually ended up in the ER. That would have been an extremely stupid bill.
Bunny-Scott's reaction to the whole story was hard to read, but he came hopping over to where Kip had propped up his head on the table, looking up at him with a nose twitch. Kip stroked his fur and sighed as he said, "And this is what it it's like to hang out with my friends, bunny. Better get used to it", he didn't say that it was probably him who had to get used to Scott learning embarassing stories about him. Because as soon as his friends would accept Scott as his boyfriend, which Kip would make sure they'd do soon, Scott would get along splendidly with them.
"Girl, why are you still calling him bunny? His name is Ziggy now, we've decided that unanimously", Maria snickered and Kip massaged his temples, looking at bunny-Scott for help, but obviously not getting anything back other than another nose twitch. "Sure", he conceded, letting his friends re-name bunny-Scott with the nickname they used to call Kip for at least a semester after the platform heel incident.
**
The night progressed without further incidents and thankfully no more embarassing stories about Kip. Over the course of the roughly three hours that passed, bunny-Scott had probably learned all about Shawn's sister's relationship drama, Kyle and Kip's distain for the Kingfisher's owner and their boss, and some new and hot office gossip from Elena.
Once, when Kyle had been busy behind the bar, Shawn had gone to the restroom, and Elena was taking another business call outside, Kip and bunny-Scott were alone with Maria. It was then that she asked him, "So. How are you? You know, with the hot hockey guy not coming into Straw+Berry anymore...?"
Maria didn't know-know that he and Scott had dated (and were now dating again, in fact!). She had only ever speculated about them making fuck-me eyes at each other in the smoothie shop, and agreed with Shawn and Kyle during hockey watch parties at the Kingfisher that Kip totally had a crush on him. And she hadn't been wrong of course, so now she also noticed that there was a distinct absence of Scott in the shop and the Admirals on TV whenever they were at the Kingfisher.
"I'm good, really. Thanks for looking out for me though", Kip answered earnestly and stroked over bunny-Scott's head, hopefully conveying to him that Maria wasn't mad at Scott, not really, at least. She was just worried about Kip. But once she and the rest of the gang learned how happy Scott could make him, and how happy he was about Scott wanting to come out to his friends and his dad, then surely they would give him a chance?
Soon after their little one-on-one, the group gathered again at the booth, with even Kyle coming back to their table more often than necessary to get a few more minuted with bunny-Scott, or how his friend group now called him, Ziggy.
At one point, Kyle even brought over a peeled-off label of a sprite bottle, asked Kip if he could put it on Ziggy, and then declared bunny-Scott Ziggy Sprite-Dust. Kyle argued that they now only needed to find an orange bunny to put a fanta label on, and a black bunny to put a coca cola label on. Then the set would be completed.
Kip really hadn't anticipated this turn of events when Elena had lectured him about how irresponsible he was for owning a bunny when he first had gotten here. He was even more surprised, that when the night was winding down, that she actually took him aside for a moment (while the rest of the gang was giving goodbye cuddles to bunny-Scott, ahem Ziggy Sprite-Dust).
"I'm sorry about earlier. I totally overstepped there", Elena said as she hugged him. Kip nodded into her shoulder as he hugged her back.
"It's okay. I know that you're just looking out for me but, you know, as I said, I have things under control."
Elena squeezed his shoulders as she let go of him. "I know. It's just that you've been sad for a while now and I feel really protective over you. But you're an adult who can make rational decisions. You don't need me to protect you from yourself. You know what you're doing. And if you say you can make having a bunny work, then you can", she said, and Kip wasn't so sure if she would be saying the same thing if he had told her that Scott and him were back together, so he just nodded.
Kip knew that Elena didn't get the greatest impression of Scott, but he would let Scott right that, in Kip's opinion, wrong judgement of character himself. For now, she had at least warmed up to bunny-Scott, and in turn, bunny-Scott hadn't looked uncomfortable at all when she had given him good night pets before (which was an improvement to how he had reacted when she first had tried to pet him).
"I try to reach out more when I need help", Kip promised. "But I'm actually okay right now, I think." More than okay, really, but Elena and the rest of the group would learn about that soon enough. And then Scott and him wouldn't be a secret anymore. But for now, Scott had, as a bunny, taken the first important step towards meeting his friends and coming out to a bunch of people.
"I'm glad, Christopher. I really am. I want you to have sunshine", she grasped his hand in hers and squeezed it. Kip squeezed back, hoping she would get around to the idea that being with Scott could mean sunshine.
**
Saying their final goodbyes hadn't been as easy as Kip had thought, because over the course of the evening, his friends had really latched on to his fluffy new companion. Maria had insisted twice that Kip would bring Ziggy around soon again, and Shawn had already promised (read: threatened), that he would definitely also show up unnanounced and Kip's house if he denied them bunny cuddles for too long.
At this point, Kip was wondering whether they would actually care for him dating Scott, because Kip having a bunny was all that seemed to matter. Kip knew that Scott didn't want to tell anyone that he was a bunny shifter (less so, actually, than the fact that he was gay), but he was pretty sure that this revelation would put him in good standing with all of his friends almost immediately. Maybe even Elena, who would for sure be relieved to hear that Kip didn't actually have a pet next to work and soon grad school. Sure, she had said she respected his decisions, but that didn't mean she actually agreed with them.
Kip was relatively quiet on their way home, bunny-Scott in his half-open bag once more as they were driven back to the penthouse by the car service that human-Scott had previously insisted on. He was anxious about the debrief they would for sure have as soon as they were back at the apartment and Scott had shifted back.
Had Scott been comfortable? Was he still willing to meet his friends as a human and come out to them? Did he think Kip was a jackass for telling a drag queen that walking in her shoes looked easy? Had he even been fully present with his human consciousness the whole time to learn all about Kip's great embarrassment? Or had he been stressed and his mind had retreated into bunny-mode?
Kip wasn't sure what to expect, but he tried not to convey all of his nervousness on bunny-Scott either, so he scratched him behind the ears and looked out of the window to see the city lights pass by on their way home.
As always, Kip set bunny-Scott up in the bedroom with a few greens, some carrots, and blueberries to snack on, as well as a water dish. They didn't quite have a routine yet, so Kip couldn't really tell how long Scott would take to shift back, but they were working on it.
While he waited, Kip busied himself with his phone, grinning at the pictures that Maria had sent into the group chat. Bunny-scott sitting next to a couple of drinks, Shawn and Elena posing with bunny-Scott, bunny-Scott wearing that stupid sprite label around his body.
He wondered if he could post one of these to his story later, or whether that would freak Scott out. But then again, only days ago, Scott had desperately offered to Kip that he would come out to everybody if that's what Kip needed from him. Which he really didn't.
But Kip guessed that he could at least ask Scott about posting a bunny picture. And if Scott would freak out, then they could sit down together and talk it through. Because that was what they now did, or at least what they promised each other to do.
After about fifteen minutes of scrolling through Instagram Reels – his algorithm still mostly showed him hockey compilations, even if he and Scott had been broken up for months and only gotten back together very recently – Scott finally emerged from the bedroom.
The only thing he wore was a pair of loose gym-shorts, and a huge grin on his face. "Ziggy, huh?", he prompted, and Kip groaned, letting his phone fall on the couch and leaning his head back against the cushions.
"When you said you wanted to hear inside jokes from the friend group I thought that you might hear a story about Elena's work or Shawn's dating life but not this", Kip lamented, still mortified about the fact that they had to unearth exactly this story that made Kip look like an incapable idiot. Which, to be fair, he had been in that moment, but still.
But Scott only shrugged as he approached the couch, "I don't know, sounds to me that all in all, you had a lot of fun that night. I wish that I could have been out and drunk at a pride event when I was 18."
Scott threw himself onto the couch next to Kip, who instantly felt bad about complaining about a moment from his past that for Scott, was still something he couldn't even have.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-", Kip began, still mindful about the few months of break that lay behind them, not wanting to upset Scott again so soon after only just getting back together. Kip shouldn't forget that Scott really wanted to come out, even if he was too afraid to do so. But obviously he wanted to be out and joyful about it.
"No, don't be sorry. We're meant to celebrate. I went to a gay bar for the first time tonight, after all", he grinned, and Kip felt a wave of relief wash over him. If Scott was in the mood to celebrate, then the whole experience couldn't have been all too bad for him.
"I know it's not quite yet what you asked for when you said you wanted me to meet your friends, but after tonight, I might actually be a litte less afraid to meet them for real soon", Scott, declared, and Kip raised an eyebrow, because in the beginning, he had been sure that they'd driven away Scott forever.
Scott chuckled at Kip's skeptical expression and replied, "Yeah, okay, the beginning was rough. I felt like they were going to kick us out any minute. But then it became more and more clear that they all just really care about you. I guess even I would be worried if you actually got a pet with your busy schedule."
Kip let out a quiet laugh. "Oh, because having a boyfriend with an equally busy schedule means so much less stress than a pet?", he teased.
"At least I can feed myself", Scott argued, but then amended that with, "Most of the time. When I don't get stuck in bunny form."
"Which is why you should shift more on purpose", Kip nodded, and Scott made an offended expression because, "Hey! I shifted out of my own volition twice today. And I didn't even get stuck."
Kip let out another laugh at that. "Yeah, okay. Fair enough. Let's keep that up then, yeah? No offence to Carter, but the next time I'll meet him, I would like for all three of us to be human, and for the whole thing to maybe be planned this time." He remembered crying in Carter's arms not even a week ago in Scott's apartment, when Carter had found bunny-Scott in the bathroom of MSG, and called Kip for help.
"I'd like that too", Scott said, and then added, "I mean. For you to meet Carter. Officially. Like I'm going to officially meet your friends. And then we can bond about how cute your bunny Ziggy is", Scott had a mischievous glint in his eyes, and Kip sighed.
"Are we really gonna keep up the charade that I have a pet bunny called Ziggy now?", he asked with a hint of exasperation, and Scott firmly nodded.
"Oh, absolutely. You friends loved me as Ziggy, and I need something to bond over with them, soo", Scott said, as if this was the only logical conclusion that came from all of this.
Kip rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling, because despite all of this ridiculousness, Scott was willing to meet his friends, and they were moving forward.
He really still loved Scott, and he was so glad they had gotten back together. Even if he did ludicrous things like shift into a bunny to meet his friends, or started singing Bowie songs with way too much pathos, like he did right now.
"Ziggy played guitar..."