[Grim] Naptime

Grim wasn’t sure when he’d consider himself a regular, but the fact that the sleepy store clerk recognized him even if he had just entered the shop seemed like a good sign that he was. It seemed to be a coin toss on whether Shibani was awake or not, and either or would not surprise him.

“Here to buy some dango again?” he asked with a yawn. It looked like he had just woken up from another nap, “Why not try some of the seasonal mochi this time? We have this sea salty one right now that the customers like.”

Grim raised his brows, “You’re actually trying to sell me something, Shibani?”

The pale, roped bun smiled sheepishly, “Dan scolded me earlier for sleeping too much.”

“Shame. Well, I suppose I can check it out. Is he here?”

Shibani shook his head, “He’s currently buying some more ingredients for a particular kind of mochi that a richie rich bun decided to order. Probably why he’s also in a bad mood at the moment.” he pouted.

Grim nodded, finding the hypothesis to be reasonable. He could already imagine a grumpy store owner trudging around the grocery store (or maybe a wholesale market), dumping things into a large shopping cart.

“Were you going to ask him something?” Shibani asked.

“No, I was just curious. I suppose I also wanted to tell him about how the dango kneading went last time.”

“How did that go?”

“Not as well as Dan would like, I’m sure.”

Shibani laughed a little, “He’s a perfectionist, but he’s a softie at heart. I think he’ll be happy that you’re trying anyway.” He then stifled another yawn, using his hands to cup his cheeks as he rested his elbows on the wooden counter.

And getting more money out of selling ingredients, Grim thought. “How long do you usually get to sleep, anyway? You’re always so tired whenever I visit.”

“Mmmm. Not sure, I don’t count, I just sleep.” he then opened his eyes and had a big grin on his face, “Hey, I have a good idea! Wanna take a nap with me for a bit? It’s so boring waiting for Dan to get back…”

“Huh?! Err…” was he going to get roped into something that he shouldn’t be, like what happened with Hutch? “Wouldn’t Dan mind?”

“Nahhh I nap with all sorts of buns all the time! Sometimes I don’t really recognize them, but they dive into the pillows.” a small pause, “Though, they don’t really stick around to sleep. Mostly they just fluff up the pillows for me and then leave.”

Grim furrowed his brow, “That sounds like buns with ulterior motives.”

“Maybe! But now my pillows are always fluffed, so I don’t mind. So..?”

The pride bun felt it difficult to refuse an offer from Shibani, mostly because he sounded really genuine about it, even if their nature as Succubuns usually meant that there was something behind an innocent smile. Well, the pale bun really didn’t seem like the type to do something in a nest of pillows, and he did look really tired. “Perhaps I won’t nap, but I can accompany you, I suppose…”

“Great! And you’d be surprised! All that fluffing has made my pillows very easy to sleep on, especially with large, sharp horns such as yours! Are they heavy?”

“I’ve gotten used to it.”

“But you need to rest your head anyway! Come come, I bet it’s going to be a slow day today.”

“It’s only going to be a slow day because no one is manning the counter.”

Grim had to admit though that the pile of pillows in a tucked in part of the house, away from Dan’s work station, was an impressive sight. It felt like he could throw himself in there and he would be smothered by cloth and cotton. Shibani didn’t even wait for the other bun - he jumped right in, fixed his position and snuggled up before gesturing to Grim to join him. He let out a sigh and decided to let himself go with the flow, walking up to the edge of the pillow mountain, turning around and trust falling into the soft mass.

Oh, this was really nice, actually.

He wouldn’t quite remember how the next things went. It was a blur of Shibani being very proud of that pillow mountain, and him closing his eyes, and sinking, sinking into a marshmallow cloud.

And then he was being roused from sleep to a rather confused and bothered Dan. 

“Kid, have you ever thought about, oh, I don’t know, saying no?”

Grim blinked, rubbing his eyes. “Uh.” he was then pulled up so that he was standing on his own two feet by the store owner. The purple bun would glance back and see that Shibani was still sleeping near where he had been, curled up and looking very content.

“Well?”

“Uhh…I’ll try next time.”

Dan let out a sharp exhale, scowling and crossing his arms. “I hope for your sake that you actually will try.”

Frankly, it had been a while since he had been scolded like this. It made him feel like a baby bun that was still learning the ways of the world before they got dropped off in Burrowgatory.

“By the way, are you free in helping me out with kneading the dough for the dango?”

“Oh? Sure–”

Dan glared at him. Ah, he was being tested.

“Err, I mean–”

“Daaaan, don’t eat the customer…it’s not niiiice…” Shibani whined in his sleep. The shop owner could only let out another sharp exhale and cover a part of his face, shaking his head.

“You’ll really need to work on that. Anyway, let me know what you wanted to buy so I can send you on your way. I’ll need to scold Shibani again.”

Grim idly wondered if “scolding” in this case was being said straight or meant something else, but there was no meaning in lingering on that. Not wanting to piss off Dan any more than he already did, he brisk walked back to the shop annex, picking out the dangos he was supposed to buy (and a sea salt mochi since Shibani did try to sell it to him).