Rating:

General Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types

Relationship:

Kip Grady/Scott Hunter

Characters:

Kip Grady, Scott Hunter (Game Changers)

Additional Tags:

Bunny Scott Hunter, Shapeshifting, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Animal Shifter Scott Hunter, Fluff, Rabbits, Scott Hunter Loves Kip Grady, Kip Grady loves Scott Hunter, Bunny Shifter Scott Hunter (Game Changers)

Language:

English

Series:

Part 1 of rabbit heart

Collections:

Bunny!Scott Fest

Stats:

Published: 2026-09-05 Words: 1,534 Chapters: 1/1

in the spring, I shed my skin

Summary

“Don’t laugh,” Scott repeats and then – he’s gone. His clothes collapse in on themselves in a heap on the couch, suddenly no human inside them anymore, and Kip has a little moment of panic. What if Scott turned into something really small? What if he can’t find him and accidentally sits on him and crushes him –

The pile of clothes moves and a little head pops up through the collar of Scott’s t-shirt. Shiny brown fur, big dark eyes, and large floppy ears.

-
For the Bunny Scott Fest challenge: Kip meets bun Scott for the first time.

Notes

“Why do you want to know?” Scott asks, brows drawing together.

A frown is not what Kip likes to see on his face when they’re having a really lovely evening like this, dinner and a movie at Scott’s apartment, kisses on the couch so unhurried and sweet that they both know they’re not going anywhere just yet. And now, apparently, Kip has asked the wrong question, or asked it too soon. It’s hard to judge these things when they’ve been going a mile a minute for the past few weeks together; normal relationship timelines don’t really seem to apply.

“I just – I mean, I’d like to know everything about you.” He presses a kiss to Scott’s forehead and Scott makes a content little sound, cuddled into Kip’s side with his head on his shoulder. “But it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Many animal shifters who are in the public eye choose to keep their second self private, and Kip gets it. It can be a risk to their safety. Not everyone turns into a giant brown bear like Matti Jalo and wants to post cool videos about it on Instagram, picking up speed on his skates and then shifting mid-jump, paws hitting the ice with a roar. Who the hell is going to try and mess with a bear (or Matti Jalo, for that matter)?

“No, I mean…it’s not that I don’t want you to know.”

Scott seems to be considering it and then decides, sitting up next to Kip, shoulders straight and a very serious expression on his face.

“You’re not allowed to laugh.”

“Why would I laugh, Scott?” Kip says gently. “I promise, okay? Even if you turn into –”

Oh no, he’s setting himself up for disaster. Scott raises his eyebrows at him, amused by Kip’s momentary distress.

“Even if you turn into – a stink bug?”

“The Bug Shifters’ Association will send you a strongly-worded letter for that kinda talk, you know.”

“I know,” Kip groans. “And they’d be right to do so. But you know what I mean.”

“Okay,” Scott says, schooling his features back into a focused look. “I’ll just show you.”

Kip moves back a little, giving Scott room, and waits.

“Don’t laugh,” Scott repeats and then – he’s gone. His clothes collapse in on themselves in a heap on the couch, suddenly no human inside them anymore, and Kip has a little moment of panic. What if Scott turned into something really small? What if he can’t find him and accidentally sits on him and crushes him –

The pile of clothes moves and a little head pops up through the collar of Scott’s t-shirt. Shiny brown fur, big, dark eyes, and large floppy ears.

“You’re – oh my God, you’re adorable,” Kip says, looking at the small bunny sitting next to him where human Scott was only a moment ago.

Bunny Scott’s little nose twitches rapidly and Kip holds his hand out for him to sniff at like he would for a dog he doesn’t know, hoping it’s the correct thing to do. He isn’t exactly experienced with rabbits.

Scott hops out of the pile of his clothing and puts his front paws on the side of Kip’s thigh, propping himself up and sniffing at his hand and forearm, the soft fur on his nose brushing against Kip’s skin.

Kip doesn’t dare to move, watching Scott get to know him with this different set of senses. He can probably smell so much more this way. Kip hopes he smells nice to rabbits.

Seemingly content with whatever new things he finds out about Kip, Scott puts his head on top of Kip’s hand and rubs his chin against it for a bit. Maybe he’s itchy? Kip isn’t sure, but he seems all right anyway when hops right into his lap a moment later.

“Can I…pet you?” Kip asks and Scott stretches out, head tipped against Kip’s belly. That looks like a yes.

“Okay,” Kip says softly and lowers his hand, making sure Scott can see the movement, until one finger carefully meets the top of his head.

“You’re so soft.”

Scott’s fur is beautiful, looking shiny and healthy, matching the color of his hair as a human. Kip gently strokes his finger over his head, feeling so protective of how small and fragile it is. Tiny skull and tiny rabbit heart, pounding away in Scott’s chest. It feels like a miracle to Kip.

“Is that okay? Does that feel nice?”

He knows Scott obviously can’t respond to him, but the way he stays very still and closes his eyes does seem to be a type of positive feedback, at least.

“You’ll have to tell me some time, how to do this right,” Kip says gently, a little braver in his touch now and stroking his hand over Scott’s back. “And all the things you like to do while you’re a bunny.”

What do bunnies actually do? Run and jump around a lot? Scott certainly has the excess energy for that kind of thing.

Kip has to admit he doesn’t have a lot of experience with shifters at all. The gorgeous black cat that Elena turns into doesn’t really want that much interaction; she mostly does it to be left alone, actually. Though she will accept pets from Kip if she’s in the mood. Cat Elena really isn’t all that different from regular Elena – the world only has to march to the beat of her drum and everything is absolutely fine.

“Do you like to…uh, dig holes maybe? I could take you out to the park some time, I’ll watch out and make sure nothing happens.”

Scott wiggles around in Kip’s lap a little and gets up on his hind legs, front paws pressed against Kip’s stomach. He gives him an expectant look (as much as rabbits can do that; maybe Kip is reading into it).

“Oh, do you want…?”

Kip carefully places his open palm under Scott’s bunny butt, his other hand on his back to hold him steady, and scoops him up. He holds Scott against his chest, up high enough that he can put his little head on Kip’s shoulder. Kip can feel his rapid heartbeat, his body soft and warm.

“Yeah? Like this?” he whispers and then squirms and laughs when Scott sniffs around his ear, whiskers tickling him.

Scott butts his head against Kip’s cheek as if to scold him for moving around too much and then presses his nose against it more softly and Kip feels a warm and wet sensation, little bunny tongue licking his cheek.

“Oh,” Kip says, his heart feeling almost unbearably tender towards the tiny animal in his arms. “Did you give me a little kiss? Is that what that was?”

Scott does it once more, as if to confirm, and then lays his head on Kip’s shoulder again, leaning into the crook of his neck. Kip strokes his hand over his back, trying different spots to pet and finally presses a kiss into the silky fur on top of his head, right between his ears.

They sit that way for a while and he thinks maybe Scott fell asleep until he gets a little twitchy and restless and Kip sets him back down on the couch beside him.

He barely has time to blink once until the bunny is gone and there’s human Scott instead, in all his naked glory.

“Uh, hi,” Scott says and gingerly puts on his boxers that he quickly pulled out from under the pile of his clothes, as if he’s suddenly a little self-conscious. “So, that – that was me, I guess.”

Kip knows he must look a little ridiculous, the way he’s staring at Scott with hearts in his eyes, but he can’t stop himself. Scott clearly feels a bit nervous about his animal self and Kip will absolutely not have it.

“That was amazing,” he says quietly, reaching out to hold Scott’s hand in his lap. “You’re so –”

He’s not sure he should be saying cute, because the insecurity on Scott’s part probably comes from being just that, when some other hockey players in the league famously are things like bears and wolves and panthers.

“Just, amazing,” he repeats instead. “Was it okay to pet you? Can I put in a request for more bun time to do it again?”

Scott laughs, a little flustered. “I mean, sure, if you want? I don’t do this by myself a lot, but, uh…that was very nice. The way you held me and – yeah. That was good.”

Kip has so many questions about it all. How does it feel to be a bunny? Elena describes shifting as having her human consciousness combined with cat instincts and a cat nervous system, and sometimes the body wins out over the brain. Is being a prey animal stressful? And do Scott’s friends on the team ever see him in his shifted form? Do they all run and play together or is it too risky for Scott in case he accidentally gets hurt?

“I definitely want that, Scott,” he says softly. “I want to know every part of you.”

Especially those adorable bunny ears.