TnB Bunny of the Sea 20

The next morning Doc Saito came with Karina when she brought breakfast. He watched and talked softly, in what looked like fascination, as he watched Bunny unhinge his jaw to eat his morning fish. He became further intrigued by Bunny's desire to try Kotetsu's food and damn near delighted when Bunny appeared to be, or at least trying to, listening when Saito spoke to the merman.

However Bunny lost patience when Saito reached towards Bunny's face. Though Saito had explained that he just wanted to feel Bunny's jaw, to get an idea about the cone structure, Bunny would have none of it, continuously moving away and when Saito persisted, Bunny thrashed and splashed all around until Saito, Kotetsu, the floor around the tank and Kotetsu's bed were all soaked. Only Karina had been smart enough to get out of the way and didn't hold back her laughter at their newly drenched appearance.

Still Kotetsu couldn't be too mad, Karina was nice enough to help him mop up and take his bedding to be washed and Saito sent Ivan down with buckets of sea water to replenish Bunny's tank. It was Bunny who sulked until the room was empty again save for himself and Kotetsu.

"You're going to have to learn to deal with people better if this is going to work," said Kotetsu, fully aware that he hadn't even told Bunny his plan to get Bunny out of the zoo yet.

As if trying to make it up to him, Bunny attempted a few sounds. Kotetsu couldn't tell exactly what Bunny was aiming for, it sounded like a slaughtered attempt at "cats" or "cat soup" without the "p" but Kotetsu smiled and encouraged it. He also used the opportunity to review the alphabet with Bunny and thought Bunny would say the letters and their sounds he wasn't interested in trying words yet.

Karina and Ivan joined Kotetsu for lunch again; helping to make his bed as well after the meal was over but stayed a while after trying to coax Bunny into interacting with them. They managed to get Bunny to play a few rounds of "rock, paper, scissors" with them, even thought Bunny didn't quite get the hierarchy of the symbols yet.

Almost the moment Kotetsu locked the door behind Karina and Ivan, Bunny lifted himself out of the tank and onto the floor. Thought he and Karina had just finished cleaning up not too long ago, Kotetsu didn't protest. Instead he got some towels from the bathroom and kneeled besides Bunny, putting a towel over his lap, another around his shoulders and a smaller one on top of the merman's blond hair.

Bunny, for his part, looked bewildered. He listed the towel on his lap, looked under it and tossed it to his fin but didn't touch it again when Kotetsu out it back onto his lap. His attention turned instead to the one around his shoulders, fiddling with the corners before holding it tighter around him as if it was a blanket. Still he jumped when Kotetsu started to massage his scalp over the towel, not realizing that the man was trying to dry his hair.

Kotetsu chucked, "Getting restless in that small tank of yours, Bunny?"

Not answering, Bunny reached up and began to fiddle with Kotetsu's tie. He ran his fingers over the length of it before yanking on it.

"Woah," Kotetsu emphasized his choking sounds. "Be carefully Bunny, that's wrapped around my neck."

For a moment, Bunny seemed to think the new information over before pullong on the ti again, this time more like a gentle but persistent tug.

With a smile, Kotetsu moved toward the merman.

Once Kotetsu was closer, Bunny released the tie and put his hands on Kotetsu's shoulders, using them as leverage to pull the Japanese man even closer.

Soon enough Kotetsu was hovering above Bunny, their faces mere inches apart. It was the perfect opportunity to kiss.

Instead, Bunny reached up and caressed over Kotetsu's face. First the merman brushed back some of Kotetsu's bangs, fingertips tickling the older man's forehead, then fingers swooped down his temple before cupping his hand over Kotetsu's cheek. This seemed like the time to kiss but Bunny then slide his hand down Kotetsu's cheek, fingertips dancing briefly over Kotetsu's lips, before landing on the chin, taking the opportunity to feel over Kotetsu's beard.

Part of Kotetsu wondered if Bunny had ever seen a beard before meeting him since none of the scientists or the zoo officials that knew about Bunny had any facial hair. Plus Bunny never had any facial stubble and no means to shave as far as Kotetsu could tell. Maybe mermen didn't grow beards until later in life or perhaps not at all?

Slowly Bunny's hands drifted over Kotetsu's neck, barely touching him as he watched him breathe.

Still Bunny's face was very close to Kotetsu's, it wouldn't take much for Bunny to look up again, to close that distance and for their lips to meet.

Careful not to lose balance, Kotetsu lifted a hand to touch Bunny's waits, though still damp it felt more like skin than scales. It had the desfired effect of making Bunny look up and this time, Kotetsu wasn't going to let the kiss slip away. He captured Bunny's lips with his own, moving his hand at Bunny's waist around to Bunny's back.

Bunny responded immediately to the kiss, licking Kotetsu's lips and wrapping his arms around Kotetsu's neck. There was the familiar electric hum between their lips and wherever they touched touched, but muted as the merman dried out to become a human man.

Kotetsuprayed that he knew what he was getting himself into.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

With Bunny in his room it made Kotetsu's ability to get supplies rather nonexistent. He had to bribe Karina to buy groceries and a few extra items for him, saying the crayons were for his daughter. Though he didn't understand why Karina looked upset when Ivan volunteered to help her when Ivan overheard Kotetsu was going to make Karina fried rice as payment. He promised to make a big batch so Karina could have as much as she wanted but it didn't seem to help with whatever was upsetting her.

When they were alone, Bunny's lessons were going well. The merman seemed to have the alphabet memorized and his handwriting was improving. Once that was to Bunny's satisfaction, Bunny more of a perfectionist about it than Kotetsu after seeing Kotetsu's handwriting and printed words, Kotetus figured he'd teach Bunny cursive so Bunny could sign his name if need be. That is, once they figured out a human name for him.

The main problem was getting Bunny to talk, the merman completely uninterested outside of some basic sounds and Kotetsu thought people would find Ktoetsu suddenly having a blond mute friend awfully suspicious. And Kotetsu definitely couldn't bribe Bunny into talking with kisses in public. Kotetsu could, very well, blush to death.

"Come on Bunny," Kotetsu only half cared that he was beginning to whine. "You gotta start talking. I'd be very happy with gibberish at this point."

In response Bunny rolled his eyes and went back to flipping through the dictionary. His eye movement seemed to indicate that he was reading but it was really too soon for him to be able to do that, wasn't it?

"Bunny," Kotetu poked the merman in human form in his side, doing it again when he didn't respond. "Bunny, come on, talk to me Bunny." He pouted as he looked at the other man, grateful that he had gotten Bunny to wear a pair of Kotetsu's boders, the ones with hearts all over them. Still he couldn't look too low because the boxers were a little tight on Bunny, Kotetsu having a slimmer waist. Maybe next time he could get Bunny to wear sweat pants? They would definitely be more comfortable at least.

"Good communication is the basic of a good relationship," Kotetsu tried to no avail.

Giving up, Kotetsu sighed and flopped backwards onto the bed, spreading out. He stretched, arching his back in an attempt to crack it but it didn't succeed until he twisted from side to side. Another sigh escaped him as he relaxed back against the pillows.

Almost at the same time, Bunny laid down beside him, resting his head on Kotetsu's chest by his shoulder. However Bunny as still trying to "read" the dictionary and was having a hard time finding a way to hold the dictionary comfortably.

"Here, give me that," Kotetsu smiled, taking the book and holding it so they could both see, though closer to Bunny than himself since the merman definitely had weaker vision when he was human. He found the first word on the current page and began to read out loud since Bunny couldn't, or wouldn't.

About half way through the third page, the way they were laying and reading together struck Kotetsu as very nostalgic. Back in high school he and Tomoe would lay on a blanket outside and study together like this, with Tomoe being the one reading since Kotetsu was the one who needed the tutoring. Then when Tomoe was pregnant they would read baby manuals and parenting books in bed together. Later, when Kaede was young, they would read bed time stories like this, cramped together on Kaede's little bed until Kaede fell asleep, each f Kotetsu's favorite girls having their own shoulder to rest their heads on. Bedtime stories didn't last much longer after Tomoe died, Kaede insisting she was too old for fairytales. Still there had been a few occasions when Kaede crawled into bed with him to read to him under the disguise of wanting to practice her reading, usually during a thunder storm or when one or both of them had a bad day.

It had been a long time since Kotetsu had a head on his shoulder like this. And the last time Kaede read to him was when he was in the hospital after his injury and Kaede had sat in a chair beside his bed, scared of hurting him.

A soft nudge to Kotetsu's side made him realize that he had stopped reading at some point. He couldn't even recall what word he read last. His eyes had excess water he had to blink away, taking a moment to run a hand through Bunny's hair and kiss the top of his head, just enjoying the closeness.

"You're making it real hard on this old man, Bunny," Kotetsu murmured. "How am I supposed to let you go?"

Forgetting the dictionary, Bunny wrapped his arms around Kotetsu and snuggled close, silently encouraging Kotetsu to keep stroking his fingers through Bunny's hair.

They stayed like that until Karina and Ivan returned with Kotetsu's shopping. The dictionarwas placed off to the side while Bunny slipped off Kotetsu's boxers to slip back into the tank, standing and walking just fine on his own despite seeming so weak at it before, needing Kotetsu for support.

"You're just a sneaky Bunny, aren't you," Kotetsu could keep a frown in place when Bunny smiled at him.

Once Bunny was settled, Kotetsu tossed the boxers into his hamper before letting Karina and Ivan into the room, "Hey guys, how was shopping? Did I give you enough money for everything?"

As Ivan gave Kotetsu his change, Karina scolded him for all the junk food on his list, saying she never would have agreed to it at all if she had looked at the list before they left. The only healthy thing he got was some bananas.

"Hey, the vegetables are healthy too," protested Kotetsu.

"Not when they're solely for fried rice," said Karina.

"Wait until you try it before you judge," said Kotetsu, washing his hands before going to work on dinner.

Soon they were gathered around and eating Kotetsu's special fried rice, Ivan complimenting it as Karina admitted that it was "not bad". When Bunny looked curious, Kotetsy offered him a spoonful, Bunny surprising the lot of them by eating off the spoon while Kotetsu still held it.

"You let him eat off your spoon," Karina mumbled.

"He knows how to eat off a spoon," Ivan exclaimed.

"He probably just figured it out from watching us," Kotetsu didn't want to tell them about the oatmeal.

When Bunny opened his mouth for more fried rice, Ivant ried to offer him a spoonful from his plate but Bunny was completely uninterested. That is until another offer came from Kotetsu.

"Sorry Ivan," Kotetsu had to resist patting the pouting boy's hair. "I guess Bunny just likes my germs."

Karina called him gross but the rest of the meal went nicely, the large batch of fried rice easily devoured between the four of them.

"You know, Bunny seems to understand us pretty well now," Ivan said after observing him for a bit. "Do you think he can learn how to speak?"

"He never makes any noise," Kotetsu hoped he did not jump to answer too quickly. "He may not be able to speak like we do."

"What about sign language then?" asked Ivan.

"Do you speak sign language?" asked Karina.

"No," Ivan faltered for just a moment. "But someone on the team might. And if not we can learn."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," admitted Karina. "It would be nice to know what he's thinking."

"I'd say," Kotetsu nodded, glad that the interns didn't think that was strange, "Hey what is Saito and the rest of the team doing since they can't observe Bunny; vacation?"

"No, they're going over data and helping with the aquarium," Karina explained. "It should be a lot more comfortable for Bunny once it's done."

"Well that's good," said Kotetsu. He considered opening the curtain to get a sneak peek at the aquarium but decided to wait to be surprised.