(npc prompt) everything starts with a dream...

“ ‘apa, ‘apa!! Look at this drawing I made!!”

“Ohh, Desirée, how lovely! This is your fifth one today, isn’t it? You’re working hard!”

“Yup!! Me and everybun else are gonna rule the world one day, and then nobody will be able to tell us what to do!! So, I gotta work hard!”

“Awww, I truly am raising a tiny monster, aren’t I? Hehe… But you know, Desirée, world domination isn’t something that can be done so easily, even for ambitious buns like yourself.”

“It’s not?”

"Nope! So, if you truly want to, you have to promise you'll share it with everybunny. Do we have a deal?"

The voice’s hands open themselves to her, and she eagerly flings herself into them with a giggle. She’ll really do it. She’ll conquer the world, and then everybunny can live big, happy lives just like she has! If anyone can do it, it’s gotta be her! And it’ll be PERFECT!

Just as perfect as these kind and warm hands that have raised her.. Yes, these large, all encompassing, pillowy hands… Wait, pillowy? They’re definitely soft, but not THIS soft… Wait, isn’t it a bit like she’s sinking right into them?! Aah, or rather, right THROUGH them?! Hold on, hold on-!!

“GAH!!”

The bun wakes with a start, jolting upright in a frenzy and scattering various pillows to the winds. It’s disorienting, waking from a dream where you’re certain you’re falling, and this one is no different. Although, even though the corners of her mind are still foggy, and the memory of the dream is beginning to fade, she can’t help but feel like she hasn’t had such a good dream in a while. In a LONG while, in fact.

Ah, yes. A dream. She had been sleeping. Except… the more she takes in her surroundings, she’s beginning to realize that she’s not… in the same place she started sleeping in.

Desirée thinks back and distinctly remembers the tree she passed out under, after that busy day helping out the nice buns at the Bunnery… But this is, very evidently, NOT there. No, even if she rubs her eyes a hundred times more, this is still very much the inside of a building. It looks to be a shop of some sort and- Ooh, something DEFINITELY smells good here..

But no, not now! The most important thing is figuring out how she ended up in somebunny else’s building. Was she taken? Was she kidnapped?! Were the streets of Burrowgatory just as treacherous as she had feared, and now she was doomed to live out the rest of her life as somebun’s bartering chip or plaything?! Goodbye, sweet world domination… Though maybe if it kept smelling this good, she could live with it…

“Something bothering you~?”

No notice given. No presence sensed. No type of warning of any kind. Right behind her, as if the speaker didn’t have a care in the world.

Desiree experiences her second heart attack of the day in record breaking time.

She backs up away from the voice with another embarrassing shriek, only to slip and fall ass over teakettle into a pile of… pillows. Pillows? Oh, like the ones she had sent flying earlier. How had she not clocked that before? And quite good quality pillows at that. Arranged in a way that would almost make her think…

…Of a nest?

…Oh, no.

She’s in a nest. She’s in somebunny else’s nest. In somebunny else’s nest, in somebunny else’s house, and judging from the voice, unless it belonged to a ghost (she’d almost believe it, with how easily it snuck up behind her), she had not woken up alone.

The amount of implications was already beginning to make her head spin. 

“Morning~ Did you have a scary dream~?” The voice of dubiously paranormal origin pipes up again, still as airily as before, and Desirée promises herself that ghosts aren’t strong enough to hurt someone as cool as her before she braves a glance in its direction.

She would not be surprised if the sight before her truly did belong to a ghost, because somebunny living could simply not look this ethereal after just waking up.

Right, someBUNNY. Another bun sits before her, pillows slowly falling away from their form as they strain a little lazily forward to get a better look at her. They are pure white, pure as the first snow of winter, except for their eyes, which gazed at her with gentle befuddlement, and a ribbon adorning the side of their head, both a stunning shade of red.

No, not a ribbon. A.. rope? And as she looked further, it wasn’t just their head that was decorated. Indeed, it seemed like their entire body was decorated carefully and QUITE professionally with the red ropes, hugging their frame quite flatteringly in a fashion she knew but couldn’t quite remember the name of, this soon after waking- …Bondage.

She had woken up next to a bun wearing bondage. …Oh, no.

Her brain frantically worked to come up with a response. For the ghostly buns part, they sat there quite patiently, kicking their feet back and forth idly as she tried to form words.

“Did…”

“ ‘Did’~?”

“Did we have sex?” Desiree blurts out, with all the grace and finesse of a newly born impup.

There was a pause that took over the atmosphere, and it seemed to last for centuries. Then…

The ghostly bun gave a little snort, and started giggling. Then, full on laughing.

Desirée could really only watch as this adorable creature let out the most joyful sounds she had ever heard. It was quite impressive really, how one could sound both so alive yet so relaxed at the same time, especially while doing something like laughing. Eventually, the laughter died down into giggles again, and the bun wiped at their eyes with a sleeve.

“No, silly~ This is my napping pillow pile~! If we did something like that, we would have used the designated spot~” They point over to a corner, where indeed, there were a couple more.. scandalously designed pillows set up, along with a bunch of equipment that Desirée did not currently have the brain capacity to process.

“O-oh.. I see..” The words feel pathetic even just leaving her mouth, and she can feel her cheeks beginning to burn under the weight of the assumption she had just voiced. Well… At least it got a smile out of the other bun?

“Wait, then-!” She shuffles closer to them, suddenly re-energized. “How did I end up here?! I was sleeping outside, and this-! This is VERY MUCH not outside!”

The bun nods, still smiling, though not unkindly. “Right~! This is the back of Dan’s Dango, the veeeeery best dango shop in all of Burrowgatory~! It’s one of my favorite places to nap~”

“Ah.. …Then… Does that make you the owner? …Are you Dan?”

The bun lets out another snort, and Desirée’s cheeks are absolutely burning with shame now.

“No way~ Working all day pounding mochi is exhausting~! And I usually only ever watch, so that’s saying something~” They extend a hand to her kindly, cheeks rosy with delight and eyes full of warmth.

“I’m Shibani~! Like I said, this is one of my favorite places to nap~!” 

Somehow, the lackadaisical cadence of the buns voice is enough to set her at ease. She takes the other buns hand and shakes it gingerly, trying to ignore how soft their palms felt. “I’m… My name is Desirée. Nice to meet you, uh… Shibani?”

The smile on the bun- Shibani, he said his name was- grows just a little bigger, and yet it’s like a new ray of light has illuminated the shop. 

“Desiree, huh~? That’s a pretty sounding name~ This must be your first time here, hm~?"

“Y-yeah… I think a couple nuns might’ve mentioned it actually, when they were talking about food they were craving.. B-but wait! That brings me right back to where I started! How did I end up here?”

Shibani, seemingly satisfied after the handshake, began snuggling himself back into the pillows. “I was out for a pre-nap walk, so I could make sure my next one was really good and long, y’know~? And I saw you passed out under the tree~! You were out pretty soundly, but... ~” He points to one of the windowsills in the shop, and Desirée notices the dew clinging to it.

“It was gonna start raining, and it didn’t feel right to just leave you to sleep like that~ All the times I’ve slept in the rain, I’ve gotten a cold, and Dan’s gotten really upset with me~” He chuckles a little, and Desiree has to ignore how it sounds like the tinkle of bells.

“So..” She ventures hesitantly. “You brought me here?”

“Yep~!” Shibani nods, looking a little proud of himself. “If there’s anywhere in Burrowgatory somebun can get a good rest…~ It’d definitely be here, y’know~?”

Desirée… isn’t quite sure how to react. On one paw, she feels bad for putting this seemingly very lethargic bun out of their way for her sake, and on the other paw, she feels a strange sort of… warmth. To let a complete stranger into one of his favorite places to nap, and even further, into his own specially made pillow pile.. Shibani definitely did NOT have to do that, but he did anyway. It was a simple act of kindness, but… somehow, just like the kindness of the buns at the Bunnery, she still found herself blindsided by it. 

As she’s pondering, Shibani finishes getting comfortable in the pillow pile again, and clasps his hands together excitedly. “So~ Did you have a nice sleep~?”

She looks at him, and not an ounce of his expression seems to suggest any ill intent. Just genuine curiosity, laced gently by that aura of nonchalance he always seemed to have.

She settles herself back into the pillows as well.

“Yeah.. Thank you, Shibani.” 

The other bun smiles happily, and Desirée feels the corners of her mouth begin to turn up in return. Maybe world domination could wait just a little bit longer.

--

Time has passed. Desirée’s not sure exactly how much, but the rays from the window have shifted from where they were when she had first awoken. She can’t exactly bring herself to care, though. Not when she’s this comfy, and chatting with somebun even comfier.

Shibani, although still with his drowsy disposition, has been very patient with her and her swarm of questions about Burrowgatory, gently answering each one to the best of his abilities and offering alternatives to the ones he doesn’t know much about. It’s like the time she tried asking the nuns, except this feels much less formal. Instead, it feels like she’s been chatting with a friend she hasn’t seen in a long time.

Yes, this is bliss. Although she prides herself on being a very hardworking and awesome bun, she DEFINITELY sees the appeal of staying in all day and just doing nothing now. Especially if it means she can do it with such wonderful company.

“There are many places you can apply to if you wanna work a job~" Shibani continues, still as airily as ever.  "Me, I’m perfectly cozy with where I am, but…~ There’s surely many buns out there who would take you on as an apprentice, right~? I think…~ It just depends on what you wanna do~!”

“What I wanna do? Heh! That could be anything!” Desirée puffs her chest out, clutching the pillow she had taken the biggest liking to. “There’s lotsa skills you need to learn if you wanna make it big, y’know? Financing, interpersonal communication, carpentry… And those are just to name a few! I’m not gonna stop until I learn EVERYTHING~”

Shibani giggles, also snuggling with his own pillow. “Wooow, that sounds like a lot of work~! Hmmm…~ I’m not sure about carpentry, but…~ If you wanna learn those first two things, maybe you could work here for a bit~!”

“Oh! For real?!”

“Mhm~! Iunno if Dan’s taking apprentices or anything like that..~ But I don’t think he’d say no to somebun else managing the register~! I’ve tried it a few times, but… I usually end up dozing off, hehe~”

“Hmmm…” Desirée ponders for a moment. “Well, if he’s willing to give me a shot, I suppose I could be convinced! Fear not, new friend Shibani~ I shall take the reins, and you can rest all you need to be prepared for hauling in the next bun who falls asleep in the rain!”

“Wooow, so cool~!” Shibani claps his hands lightly in appreciation. “Ah, but~ It wasn’t me who brought you in, y’know~?”

“Oh… Wait, you didn’t? I thought you said you brought me here.”

“Oh, did you think I meant physically~? Goodness, no~!” Shibani laughs and waves a palm, as if she’s suggested the silliest thing imaginable. “It’s true, I was the one who found you~ But the one who carried you in was Dan~!”

Desirée freezes.

“...Dan did?”

“Yup~! It took some pestering, but he’s a nice guy, so he also wasn’t able to leave you outside, hehe~”

Suddenly feeling a smidge more awake, Desirée allows herself to look around the room again. As far as she can tell, it’s just her and Shibani in the pillow pile, and she can’t hear the sounds of anybun moving around anywhere else. “And Dan is..?”

“He went out to get some ingredients~ Ooh, you should thank him when he gets back~!”

That pulls her out of her sleepy reverie, and she is suddenly acutely aware of the fact that she has slept in somebun else’s house without giving them some form of payment. 

In other words, she owes them a debt. She owes her potential new employer a debt.

And she looks like she just crawled out of a very fluffy dumpster.

Desiree shoots to her feet abruptly. “GOSH Shibani, I would LOVE to do that, only I JUST remembered I left my stove running and my refrigerator on, so silly of me~ I totally should go check to make sure I haven’t burnt the place down first, hahaha-!!”

“Ehhh, are you leaving already~?” Shibani calls out, a slight trace of worry in his tone as he watches her flail desperately around looking for the door. And then, slightly more puzzled sounding: “..You have a house…~?”

“No need to worry! I’ll be back as soon as I’ve checked on it! Should take about a day, maybe two, maybe a month, who knows! Thanks again for all your help, ciao!!” 

This is the worst. She thought she would have time to at least clean up and rehearse a couple lines before meeting this guy, and now she finds out his first impression of her has already been cemented! As a dopey layabout, sleeping in the grass and dirt on a night it was going to RAIN, no less! Oh, if it had just been Shibani, he would have completely understood the position she was in. But if it was a more strict, disciplined bun? She was FINISHED. No chance in hell her ass was getting hired!

She needs to retreat for now. A strategic retreat, mind you! Not a defeated retreat! Just… long enough for this Dan guy to forget all about the weird bun he had to carry into his OWN shop. Long enough for her to figure out a way to sell herself as competent. Long enough to… Aah, geez, just get her out of here, already!! 

As she finally locates and rushes to the door, willfully ignoring Shibani’s pleas to come back, a single phrase runs through her mind.

“You know, Desirée, world domination isn’t something that can be done so easily!”