Stories of Reformed Daniel

A Small Act...

Daniel sat on the ground outside, on his lap was a salad. It was lunch time at Camp Campbell and blonde man decided to eat outside for once. Normally, everyone would eat lunch inside the mess-hall, but today Daniel wanted to eat alone. It wasn't that he didn't like eating with the campers, David and Gwen, he just wanted some time to himself. Sometimes a man just needs a little alone time. Today had been surprisingly good. David had kept to his word and spoke to Max about his constant insults, while he didn't completely stop, he did tone it down a little bit. Even the other campers hadn't messed with in a while. It was still evident that they didn't trust him very much, but it was progress. Maybe the children were getting used to him being around. He honestly hoped so.

He sighed contently, stuffing a spoonful of salad into his mouth, some of the lettuce falling from the spoon and onto the ground. This was nice. As Daniel went to scoop up another bit of salad, a loud crunching noise coming from beside him caught him off guard. The blonde looked down, confused at what could be making that sound since he was the only one outside at the moment. A pair of small black eyes stared into Daniel's sky blue ones. A little rabbit sat next to the man, it's white fur dotted with light brown patches, a bit of lettuce hanging from it's tiny mouth. Daniel blinked, staring at the small animal for a moment. The rabbit mimicked him, then it put one of it's little front paws on his leg. At first Daniel didn't know what the little creature wanted, but after watching it paw at his white jeans for a minute, the pieces clicked together.

"Do you want more lettuce?" He asked, plucking a handful of the greens from his bowl and carefully holding it in front of the rabbit. The little animal sniffed the offering, then it jumped forward a little bit and munched on the crunchy food. A small smile formed on Daniel's face as he watched the rabbit eat the food from his hand. "I guess that was what you wanted." The rabbit finished the lettuce quite quickly and bumped it's head against the blonde man's leg. He brought a hand down and gently rubbed the small animal's head. It leaned into the touch without hesitation. Daniel took in the rabbit's appearance. It was really clean, or as clean as a wild rabbit could be, however, it's back right leg had a bit of dried blood stuck to the fur.

Daniel slowly scooped up the little bunny, making sure not to startle it, and looked over it's leg. He could make out some deep teeth markings on the limb, obviously from some type of large animal. Daniel sympathized immediately with the little creature. Further examination, told Daniel that the bunny was a male. How he had managed to escape whatever had bitten him, the blonde didn't know, but one thing was obvious, the little guy needed help. Daniel looked around for a moment, making sure no one had come out of the mess hall, before standing up and walking off to the counselor's quarters, bunny and bowl of half eaten salad in hand.

Two days had gone by since Daniel had found the little rabbit, or more like it found him, and it had become very evident that the little guy wasn't leaving anytime soon. The blonde counselor had brought the injured animal back to his room, washed and dressed his wound and fed it. In the short time the rabbit had been with Daniel, it seemed to have become attached to him and the man couldn't bring himself to make him leave. Thus, the little rabbit was now living in his room. He had even given him a name. It was Mocha. It was a funny story actually, on the second day of having the rabbit, Daniel had taken the little guy into the common area in the counselor's quarters so he could get him some food.

He took his eyes off the bunny for a few seconds to look through the cabinets, when he heard rustling. He looked over in the direction of the rabbit and stared in surprise. The little animal had jumped onto one of the counters and was going through the various packs of coffee sitting on the table. Daniel made his way over the little troublemaker. "What are you doing?" He asked, staring down at the small bunny. The bunny looked up when he was addressed, a packet of mocha hanging from his mouth. Daniel picked up the bunny and plucked the packet from him. "You, good sir, are not allowed to have coffee. You're too hyper as it is!" He paused, reading the packet.

"Although it is a little funny that you picked out David's favorite kind of coffee. He really likes his mocha." The bunny's ears perked up, making Daniel look down at him. "Hm? Do you like that word? Mocha?" The bunny nuzzled into his arm, seemingly confirming the question. "Mocha... It fits you, you hyper little furball." The bunny only looked at him, tilting his head to the side. "Mocha it is then." Daniel smiled, placing the packet down and returning to his search for food.

Daniel had been keeping Mocha in his room, one, because he didn't want to lose him if he ran off and two, he didn't want everyone making fun of him for keeping the bunny. However, Daniel was not a very good at coming up with lies and David was beginning to become worried about him. David knew that Daniel was an introverted man, he liked his alone time, but he did make it a point to hang out with him. But for the past few days he had been avoiding doing anything with him, he would go straight to his room and stay in there for the rest of the day. It was making him feel worried. Had he done something wrong? Did he make him upset? Why was he avoiding him!?

By the third day of this treatment, David had finally had enough. After the day's activities were over and the campers were all in their tents, David marched straight to Daniel's room and knocked on the door. "Daniel? Are you in there? I need to talk to you about something!" No answer. David frowned and knocked on the door again, louder this time. "Daniel! Open the door, please! We need to talk!" Still not answer. David didn't even knock again, he just threw the door open. "Daniel, please, stop ignoring me! I need to ta-!" David froze, staring down at the scene before him. Daniel sat on the ground, looking like a deer in the headlights and holding a half eaten carrot. Next to him was a little white and brown bunny, staring up at David with a blank face.

Silence reigned across the room for a moment, both men stared at each other. Finally, Daniel broke the silence. "D-David, I-I can ex-explain!" He stammered, face flushing in embarrassment. David didn't say anything, he simply ran forward and scooped Mocha up into his arms. "You never told me you had a bunny, Daniel!!" The animal lover exclaimed, cuddling the small rabbit close to his chest and grinning wide. Daniel looked away sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was worried someone would make fun of me." He muttered. David stared at him, tilting his head in confusion. Mocha mimicked him, tilting his head as well. "Why on earth would anyone make fun of you for taking care of this adorable little bunny??"

Daniel just rolled his eyes. "Because I'm me. The campers would surely make fun of me if they knew I have a rabbit." He responded. "No, they wouldn't! If I didn't make fun of you, then they won't make fun of you!" The blonde shook his head and chuckled. "Whatever you say, David." David joined the other man on the floor. "What's it's name?" He asked, rubbing Mocha's back softly. "His name is Mocha." Daniel responded, earning an amused look from David. "Mocha? Really?" The blonde's face flushed a dull red. "Hey, I'm not good at naming things, okay!" David laughed, making Daniel's heart melt. Goddamn, his laugh was fucking adorable! "I think it's cute." The brunette beamed, looking down at Mocha, smiling, his forest green eyes sparkling.

Ow. Was David trying to kill him with his cuteness today?? "He's an adorable wittle bun-bun!" David sang, holding Mocha in front of his face and nuzzling his nose. Yep, he was trying to kill him, Daniel was going to die from David's cuteness. The rest of the day was spent with the two counselors chatting quietly while playing with little Mocha. Daniel was a little glad David had found out about Mocha. It gave him a good opportunity to see the man be absolutely adorable with a baby animal and an opportunity to internally swoon over the man's adorable actions. Funny how a small act could lead to Daniel being just a little bit happier.