[Bunnery Bustle] New Beginnings?

Everyone had a designated calling in life. Be it a talent you could share with a crowd by amazing them for entertainment, a handy skill involving creation that could fill bellies or cause wandering eyes to focus on a canvas hanging on a wall… Then there were those talents that leaned more towards the unconventional category. Ones that were either more uncommon, or ones that were frowned upon. 

As much as Marianna tried to move on from his past, it would often haunt him. Constantly nagging at him to crawl back to it like a scorned ex. The amount of lives he was forced to take as a demon’s little hired attack dog was a reminder that he was right at home in Burrowgatory now. The only place a sinner could thrive. It wasn’t like he chose that path, but it seemed like the only way to get by at the time. He couldn’t escape it… until many years later. 

He had distanced himself from his bloodstained history. Managing to escape to Burrowgatory and hiding away under a completely new look and name. Away from his loveless demon caretaker that he had been unfortunate to receive his childhood from. ‘Marianna’ wasn’t always his name, and he didn’t always have the brownish-gray fur with glassy horns and hooves; gold-colored markings on seemingly selective parts of his body. This was all thanks to the notorious bartender, Hops, who made special drinks that could change one's entire appearance. It was perfect in order to leave his past life behind. Nobody he used to know would be able to find him. And he intended to keep it that way.

Nowadays, Marianna used his newly found free time doing odd jobs and volunteer work wherever he could. It was a very strange pastime for any sort of Succubun to do anything other than indulging in things seen as selfish or for one’s personal gain. Were you truly part of the flock if you didn’t drink yourself silly every time there was a Happy Hour? If you didn’t participate in the nearest orgy down the street? It sounded ridiculous if someone were to say all of this out loud, but it was exactly what Marianna perceived nearly everyone around him as. Nothing but sinners. A result of their own vices. 

It wasn’t like he judged anyone for this, though. On the contrary, he sympathized. He had to prevent himself from going out and partying or allowing himself to give in to the temptation of doing whatever he pleased without a care in the world. Instead, he would make the effort to carry out his usual rounds to the most well-known place of worship within Burrowgatory: the Church of Sulfur. It was the closest thing to a peaceful venue where Marianna could be alone with his thoughts as he pondered his very own existence.

The lone bun made his way to the front entrance to the lobby before the sanctuary, to which he swiftly made his way over to where the pews were aligned along both sides of the church. It was rather empty other than a handful of other buns – sitting scattered here and there in their own seats. Quietly praying to whatever deity they worshiped or rethinking their life choices. Whichever came first. Marianna placed himself in one of the benches in the front closest to the familiar red, shiny statue that was more than twice the size of any bun. A goat-like head with bunny ears and opened bat wings that could easily envelop anyone. Marianna wasn’t entirely certain what it was supposed to represent, as he had laid eyes on a demon before. They looked nothing like that. Many Succubuns didn’t know what it was like to lay eyes on something that was incomprehensible to the naked eye of the inhabitants of Burrowgatory. It was uncommon for them to even know what a demon could take the form of. The only one that most buns spoke of was ‘Murmur’ – the one who took a liking to raising buns until they were mature enough to be out on their own. Marianna had no memory of him, and he was certain that Murmur wasn’t his original caretaker, unfortunately.

The stoic bun sighed and rested his chin on his small hoof-like hands, curling his tail around his lower body as he sat in the pews. Not praying to anyone in particular. Just wondering if there was more to life than aimlessly wandering around; looking for a purpose.

Before he could get too lost in thought, the sound of a loud THUD snapped Marianna out of his trance. His head whipped to look in the direction of one of the side doors. A frantic looking bun with champagne colored hair and ears adorning a long headdress scurried into the sanctuary. Marianna tilted his head, wondering what her damage was. That was until their eyes met as the nun bun caught her breath. She pointed a stubby limb in his direction without much hesitation. 

“You there…! Please come with me,” she somehow nicely demanded before going back the way she came. Marianna blinked, looking around and making sure that it was indeed him that she pointed to. The other buns in the sanctuary pretended not to notice and quickly went back to what they were doing: sitting and doing nothing.

Not wanting to get in trouble for something he did or didn’t do, Marianna got up from his spot and followed the same path that the nun took, leading him down a hallway to where he could see her disappearing into another section of the church. Once he arrived, he could hear what sounded like the faint crying of… babies? He opened the door and was a bit taken aback by what he saw. There were rows of baskets placed atop wooden end tables with drawers filled with blankets and toys. 

“Sorry to be so blunt… I see you visit the church often and was in too much of a hurry to explain myself,” the mysterious bun sheepishly apologized as she slowly rocked a tiny bundle of fur in her arms. “I’m Mercy, by the way.” She introduced herself as an afterthought.

Marianna’s gaze panned down to the little one, unsure of how to respond until he chose his words carefully. “It’s… it’s alright. I was just confused, is all. But if you… need my help with something-”

“Ah, before you say anything, can you hold them for me, please?” Mercy didn’t give Marianna much of a choice before putting herself in his personal space and practically forcing him to cradle the crying creature. 

“I-I-... oh… okay…” Marianna sighed as he watched the eccentric nun bun scurry off to a back room. He awkwardly looked down at the bun as its cries softly filled the air. He had never handled an infant in his life; let alone a child. His eyes darted around the room. How was he supposed to calm the poor thing down? Think, now… 

Marianna’s eyes landed on a half-box lined with what looked like milk bottles. They appeared to be full… He slowly walked over to them and picked one up to examine. It felt warm against his hooved hands. These must have been freshly filled. Thank the demons. Marianna looked down at the baby bun handed over to him and lowered the nipple of it into the little one’s mouth. It immediately latched onto it, ceasing its sobs and suckling with satisfaction. 

Much to his relief, Mercy came back out of wherever she ran off to and walked back over to him with an article of clothing in her hands. “Since you’re going to be helping me out, I figured it would be appropriate for you to wear this.” She lifted a white headdress that looked similar to hers and walked behind Marianna, neatly placing it upon his head. It almost felt like an unorthodox coronation of sorts. But, for whatever reason, he wasn’t against it. It felt comfortable resting where it was.

Mercy put a hand over her mouth and giggled. “Looks like I don’t need to train you much, do I? You already seem to have a knack for this kind of thing… To be honest, it’s painstaking to find anyone who wants to help out in the Bunnery. Most Succubuns would rather backflip off of the roof of the church than handle an infant. But I see you sitting in the sanctuary every other day, so upon seeing you during these trying times I instinctively called out to you.”

Marianna slowly nodded, not paying too much attention to Mercy’s words as he was fixated on the now relaxed baby bun. It looked like it was never upset to begin with now that it had a belly full of milk. “Well… nobody usually asks for my help for anything, so… I guess I didn’t give it too much thought.” He turned his head to look around at all the other baskets lining the walls against the stained glass windows. There were so many of them… and it was just Mercy handling them (give or take one or two other nuns, but not enough, really). It was a wonder that this place stayed above water.

Once the little one in his arms finished off the bottle, Marianna removed it from its mouth. It smacked its tiny lips and yawned before beginning to drift off to sleep. For the first time ever, Marianna felt a small smile spread across his face. Could this be his calling?