Bunny Love Baby

It was particularly hot in the lab that day. Not because of the pseudo summer heat that permeated Burrowgatory, but for the constant churning of the reactor prototype, Barbra’s latest experiment. It was still currently on the miniature scale, still being tested, and without any active radiation, but that didn’t stop the sheer amount of heat the thing kicked up. She’d been working on its cooling system for hours, but it was still nowhere close to being done. 

Barbra collapsed into her chair with a deep sigh, pulling her goggles onto her forehead. She rubbed at the red rings left in their wake, the silicone suction irritating her skin and leaving heavy indents that would likely be there till the next morning. She groaned into her hands, head and messy mop of hair dangling over the back of her chair as calculations passed behind her eyelids. This roadblock was gonna cost her.

“It’s advised to take a ten minute break every two hours, you know. For optimal productivity.” Came a voice from behind her, one she did not know was there but was unsurprised all the same. 

Barbra peaked through the gap between her fingers to spy the inverted figure of Tsubaki standing behind her, arms crossed and a small yet smug smile across her lips. 

Babs blew a raspberry, sitting upright in her seat and swivelling around to face her boss. “Optimal, smoptival. I gotta get this shit ta’a consistent 15 degrees or we all go kablewy when I actually start tha fission.” She jabbed a finger at the machine currently sitting on her desk and quietly steaming with its residual energy. The idea of an enhanced reactor had enamoured her at first, but she failed to understand the heat output and working around that had proven to be a massive problem. 

Now that she was right side up, Barbra could see the somewhat disgusted expression on Tsubaki’s face, and the nice clothes she was in. Well, Tsubaki was always in nice clothes, it was just nicer than normal. Fancier. Barbra couldn’t help but raise a brow. 

“I can see your problem.” Tsubaki murmured, taking a small step back and putting a hand under her nose. “You're covered in more fluid than the coolant.” 

Barbra was about to make a remark, flicking her hand with dismissal when she felt the awkward squelch of her coat. Looking down she realised it really did seem as if she had drenched herself in coolant, the sweat pretty much rendering her entire lab coat transparent with an off smell to accompany it. Slightly embarrassed, Barba shrugged it off, folding her arms over her chest somewhat defensively, “Ya didn’t come all tha way down ‘ere dressed heaps good ta tell me ta shower.” Barbra huffed, “What’s up?” 

Tsubaki raised a brow herself, obviously quite amused by Barbra’s well… barbs. “I was going to ask if you’d like to go out for drinks and gambling with me, but I can see by the time you’d be ready they’d have already stopped bar service.” She followed it up with a haughty chuckle, one that made Barba roll her eyes. 

“Shoulda came earlier then, ya know I’m workin.” Barba swung back around to her prototype, beginning to manually reset it as she continued the conversation. “Sides, I always get kicked from those joints. Get Kasa ta go with ya.” 

The quiet and wistful sigh from her boss/friend/business partner caught her slightly off guard. “I can’t, she’s out on a date.” 

“Tha blond guy?” Barbra said, trying to mentally recall the last person she saw Kasa with. 

“No.” 

“Purple haired lass?” 

“No again.” 

Barbra paused for a second, glancing over her shoulder at Tsubaki. “Tha… other blond guy?” 

Tsubaki gave a light laugh and shook her head. “No one you’ve met, no. Someone new.” 

“Huh.” Barbra turned her head back to her work, trying to think of something to fill the air and take Tsubaki’s mind off whatever was bothering her enough to seek companionship in a smelly physicist. “Good fa’ her, I guess. Never could understand tha physical n’ romantic ping pong myself.”  

Though she wasn’t facing her, Barba could hear the quiet clicks of Tsubaki’s hooves on the linoleum approach her. “Romantic ping pong?” The question was rather confused and somewhat unsure. 

“Yeah,” Barbra knew there probably was a proper word for it, but she was never one for eloquence, especially with the intricacies of mortal relationships. “Like, bouncing around from one partner ta another. Very casual like. Tha stuff most buns do.” She waved the end of her screwdriver around as if that would help articulate her point better. “Not for me. Imma one or none type gal. Mostly none, not gunna lie.”

Tsubaki’s dark silhouette appeared in the corner of her eye, the conversation obviously doing its job as a distraction if the upper crust Bun was willing to put up with her stench to properly converse. Not that Barbra planned on fully engaging with it. Heart to hearts wasn’t her thing unless it was in a more literal sense. 

“So you're… monogamous?” It sounded as if Tsubaki herself was trying to wrap her brain around the idea. 

“Yea, thas’tha word for it. Knew it had a term.” Barba tapped the head of her screwdriver onto the workbench, swapping it for something smaller as she continued to mumble into her arm rather than to Tsubaki directly. “I dun know ‘bout Kasa, but I ‘ave a long list of enemies tha’ would like nothin’ more than ta see me ash ta’tha wind. Need ta know someone real good like before I bump uglies with ‘em. Keep ma’ organs inside ma’ body.” She gave a shrug. “That and I don feel nothin’ unless I know ‘em good.” 

Honestly, this was not the type of conversation Barbra was expecting her to have in her lab with her boss at 2am, but she couldn’t help but be intrigued. This was by no means an opening up moment for her, she could care less how other buns viewed her and her sexuality, or how it differed from them. They could look her in the eye and tell her marriage was stupid and she’d probably get divorced and Barbra would just laugh at them back. She had always figured it would be the same for someone like Tsubaki, so many heads above the rest of the idle crowd. Instead, here the powerful woman seemed almost comforted by the fact she was not alone in her feelings. 

“I’m.. surprised to hear you take your relationships that seriously.” Tsubaki said, folding her hands in her lap as she sat on the edge of the workbench, eyes carefully scanning the small movements of Barbra’s hands as she unscrewed and rescrewed. 

“I take everythin’ seriously.” Barbra smirked, tapping the curl of her bright pink horns. “‘Tis ma burden.” She abruptly pushed her leg out and sent herself rolling across the linoleum floor to the other side of the room where her prosthetic leg was resting against a desk. “Alrightie, let’s get outta ‘ere before ya get me ta start spewin’ company secrets with ya sad puppy eyes.” She strapped on her leg, ignoring the awkward feeling of sweat struggling against the suction of the upper thigh grip. She’ll fix it after the shower. 

“What secrets? This is my company!” Tsubaki said, eyeing Barbra down to see if the physicist was joking or not. Barbra just gave her a mouthful of yellow stained rabbit teeth in return. 

“I gotta keep someofma work close ta my chest. Else ya’d steal it ‘nd replace me.” Barbra dramatically placed a hand to her chest in mock offence, miming a face of indignation. 

Tsubaki laughed aloud, a bright sparkling laugh that let Barbra know things were on the way back to normal. “You’re simply irreplaceable, Barbra.” She said, maybe a little too genuinely. 

“Ya too kind ma’am.” Barbra replied, her smile as well, maybe a little too genuine.