[ Bunnery Bustle ] Buns & Blankets.

This was a waste of time.

Time was something that Lucius never had enough of, and instead of dutifully finishing the stitching of his latest project or drawing up future designs that would surely catch the attention of Vellure Modeling Agency’s finest model, Velveteen, he was here in the Bunnery. Just imagining that one day, Velveteen would wear something crafted by him caused a feeling of great pride and satisfaction to bloom within Lucius’s chest. His eyelids drifted shut, throwing his vision into darkness as he let his mind wander to the pleasant mental scenarios conceived by his imagination: Lucius’s clothing line and brand revered by the Burrowgatory as a whole and Buns willing to spend hundreds to thousands to millions of Carats just for the privilege of wearing his designs. On the contrary though, Lucius wasn’t in this business for the Carats, although it would be a nice bonus to be so rich to rival Wonderland Casino’s Angora. No, Lucius was working hard to be recognized in the industry so that his name would be in the mouths of every single Bun in Burrowgatory for years to come. 

So distracted by his mind’s overactive imagination regarding his future endeavors, Lucius had nearly forgotten where he was… Until the shrill chirps and squeaks of an exterior source roughly brought Lucius out of his pleasant daydreaming. Eyelids fluttering open to grant him his vision again, his weary gaze panned to the three cribs in front of him that were, in fact, occupied with a baby Bun in each one. One by one, the younglings had managed to squirm their ways out of the blankets that were swaddling them, which Lucius had meticulously spent his time on in hopes that they would just put themselves to bed so that the older Bun had a brief moment of reprieve from them. Although Lucius wished that he didn’t know why he ever agreed to Mercy’s request for his help, he knew exactly how he was roped into this mess. Breeding season in the Burrowgatory was always hectic, but this year, it seemed that nearly everyone in the Burrowgatory wanted to conceive a Bun or two… Or five. Lucius wasn’t guilt-free of this either, taking advantage of the natural instincts of their more primal ancestors to spread their kin into the next generation. Though in reality, Lucius’s main goal to have children of his own was to somehow rope them into his business to act as his models for free because Amia was, unfortunately, starting to ask for compensation that aligned with his vice instead of Carats, and Lucius simply did not have time to indulge his friend like that. 

When Mercy had approached Lucius to ask for his help with the new batches of baby Buns conceived this year, as they needed as many hands on deck as possible, the latter had been firmly set in his ways that he couldn’t waste his time taking care of babies because his work was too important to him. Lucius had been firmly set in his ways… Until Mercy had begun praising him and his clothing that he had crafted from his own hands, their honeyed words acting as verbal fuel for his inner ego. The way they smiled sweetly as delicate hands stroked the tail of his scarf that hung low in the front, verbally admiring the sheer craftsmanship and making a comment that the Church of Sulfur would greatly appreciate such a talented Bun to make a few blankets for the little ones. Needless to say, Lucius had fallen for Mercy’s flattery hook, line, and sinker. 

If Lucius were any less of a Succubun, he would have been pissed that just a few flattering words had swayed him to do whatever Mercy had wanted. At the same time though, he could admit that Mercy had been clever in the way they took advantage of his vice and his pride for his designs. Either way, Lucius was here now and he didn’t want to damage his precarious reputation with the Head Nun to just bolt and shirk the responsibilities that were forced upon him now. “Hey, hey, calm down now.” Lucius sighed out, his hands reaching down to the cribs one-by-one to pluck the tiny baby Buns to instead cradle in his arms. They responded to his actions with active chirps, immediately curling up within their blankets that Lucius had specifically made just for them now that they were securely in the crooks of the adult Bun’s arms. Each tiny one’s beady, little eyes were focused on Lucius, as if expecting something out of him, and although he had been so weary about it before, he couldn’t help but to admit internally that the babies were quite cute when they were quiet like this. “Oh, let me guess,” Lucius snorted, playfully rolling his eyes in response to the intense stares from the Buns in his arms. “You guys want a lullaby?” Although he knew that the babies were not able to verbally respond, let alone understand what he had just said, he had taken the chorus of tiny squeaks that followed his inquiry as affirmation enough. “Alright, alright, you little ones are lucky that I’m such an amazing singer.” 

It was easier than Lucius had thought, how something simple as just singing a song was enough to lull the little babies to sleep. In fact, if Lucius had known this, surely he would have done this in the very beginning instead of just swaddling them and thinking that they would fall asleep on their own. Then he could have left sooner so that he could get back to his work. Normally, he would have lamented the loss of his free time, but as Lucius stared down at the peacefully sleeping Bunnies all cozy and curled up in his arms, his lips curved into a soft smile. “You little Buns aren’t so bad, after all.” He murmured in a hushed whisper (he would never live it down if some other Bun had heard him), one of his hands carefully maneuvering to stroke the little heads of the napping Bunnies with a finger. “...Huh. I wonder if any of my Buns are still here, it’d be nice to see them until they get passed onto Murmur.” 

Maybe this wasn’t a complete waste of his time, after all.