The Emperor's New Look

He was always picky about his ears.  

The succubun sat in one of the many rooms of his burrow. It was a townhouse, richly decorated and almost grand enough to be called a mansion.  Almost, but not quite.  The room he sat in was painted with warm hues of red and peach, a mosaic of glittering glass forming a scene of the burning crystals in a lake somewhere in the underground.  While the dresser was too large for him to merely sit in front of as a bun, he had installed a little pair of stairs to the side so that he could climb on up effortlessly. The same was done to the rest of the furnishings in the dressing room, even though it was expressly designed with his doll form in mind.

There he sat now, tiny digits massaging soft ears. He always tied them in front of himself. The mirror was covered in little hooks that held his favourite accessories. Today, despite the gold gleam, they felt tacky and worthless. A scowl made its way onto his cream coloured face as he scooted to the edge of the dresser to use a foot and open one of the top drawers.

Not this one; it was full of trinkets and carats and jewels that meant nothing. Not the middle one, either, as that one was empty. Funny, he swore he filled it before, but maybe he was remembering wrong. Maybe it was another room with a very different lavish layout but similar dresser; sometimes he might move things and not recall as it barely mattered in the long run.

Behind him, on the circle carpet printed with swirls much like those on his ears, Dice ran in excited circles. The impup had yet to sit still and it wore on him while he tried to get something done so that he could look cute and sweet today. A dismissive, absent wave was sent in the pup's general direction.

"Calm, Dice."

Bark! It had such a ridiculously shrill voice.

The Impup settled down and rolled over onto its stomach, then over again, then again. Despite this, it was ignored as the last top drawer was opened with a little effort. It was nearly wedged shut and for good reason-- when it was opened, there was an assortment of old jewelry, ribbons and more. He reached down to pluck a gem encrusted bangle from the pile. It was platinum and held dark, rich blue stones all around it. While he tried to match it to the powder blue on his stomach, he used another tiny paw to get the bun-sized brush and begin to get any knots out of his pelt.

After the brush ran cleanly and smoothly through his fur and his ears-- which took no time as he always took care of himself-- the bun pulled one ear up and over his head. Well… no, this will not do. Maybe if he did both of them up? No, it made him look far too wanting. Sure, those grand, polished onyx horns of his were just as much an indicator of his greed, it did not mean he wanted to frame them that way!

It was not good. Simple as.

Maybe if he did little puffs! It was all the rage lately, with buns trying to tie their ears into ridiculous little dango-like ropes. It looked painful and, judging from how hard he had to twist to get the right consistent bulb… also not worth it. Not to do rows upon rows of them. While his ears began to unfurl from the recent abuse, stinging as they were from such a sharp and careless twist, he pondered his reflection.

An ugly mark. A little pathetic half-circlet of dots… The succubun averted his eyes and ears before he pulled out a ribbon. He ran a paw over his ears a few times. Once, twice, five times. A much less intense twist and he looped both ears to the side of his head and used the ribbon to secure each. A ribbon per ear, that is; he already had twisted them to try and do puffs, he was not interested in doing more to hurt himself.  What was this style called again? Pigtails? It was sufficiently cute, though not in name.

More confident in his newfound style, he twisted himself about and held both paws out as though in front of a crowd. A crowd of one. The bun traced the designs to make sure they looked right, as his ears were patterned so specifically, but ultimately decided that the heart still remained and the swirls over them were a nice accent. Plus, they matched the mark over his eye! It was as if a mask was not complete, but still cute. He was still cute.

He massaged his cheeks with a cheeky smile. Behind him, the Impup barked again before it got a whipping of the tail and an angry, steely glare in response.

"I think today is a walking day for us both. No dango, of course. We cannot have you stealing the spotlight."

The impup made a sound like a deflated balloon as he walked down, confident and with both arms behind his back, the staircase. Eye contact with the imp was maintained, to which the smaller of the two tried to wiggle uncomfortably out of. When he stood in front of the imp, the bun tilted his head slightly with an holier-than-thou smirk.

"I thought you wanted to go out. Come. Now or never."