Happy Birthday Shibani!

“Fatima, must we really?” Velveteen asked, as they were gently tugged along by the arm by the young woman ahead of them.
“Of course! You want more friends who aren’t just your fans right?” She asked, smiling broadly at them.
“You say that but my fans are fine and I already have a friend. That’s enough for me.”
“I understand that but, Dan said I could bring a friend to Shibani’s party and I decided to bring you! Come on, it’ll be fun, I promise. Plus, you work too hard.” She giggled and gently booped their nose before continuing down the road towards The Rabbit Hole.

Once they reached the building, the pair headed inside then towards the bar and lounge where multiple buns were sitting at a few tables and at the bar.
“Hey guys, I’m finally here and look who I brought with me!” She says, gently tugging Velveteen into the doorway.
“Good afternoon.”

“Yo! You brought the famous model with you?! How’d you manage that newbie?!” Jackal exclaimed, waving the pair over.
“It wasn’t easy, let me tell you, but I managed to persuade them.”
“Yeah? How? I’m pretty sure this is the first time ever that I’ve seen Velveteen at my bar.” Hops chimed in, setting a glass in front of Jackal.
“She… offered me homemade sweets.” Velveteen answered, voice low as warmth flooded their cheeks.
“Really?!”
“Man, Fatima must make some delicious sweets then if they can convince Velveteen to take a break.” Jackal chuckled.
  “Mind making me some later?”
“Of course! I wouldn’t mind making you some homemade treats if you’d like. Just let me know when you’d like them.” Fatima says, her eyes scanning the area.
“So, where’s the birthday boy?”
“He isn’t here yet but I think Dan just went to go get him. Quince is in the back baking the cake. It should be done soon though.” Hutch chimed in, waving from one of the tables.
“Oh good! We made it in time for cake and gifts!” Fatima smiled, sitting at a nearby table.
“Well, the gifts aren’t going to be exchanged until after the cake but, yeah you made it just in time.” Hops says.
“That’s understandable. Is anyone else coming?” Fatima tilts her head curiously.
“Well, Miss Angora was going to show but then she changed her mind and decided to go home early. She did leave a gift here for him though. Oh, and she mentioned that we can use the machines in the casino if we wanted to afterwards.” Hops mentioned.
“Nah. I don’t really have that many people to invite to a party. Hell, I’m not even supposed to be here. I just came for a drink and Hops decided to invite me to stay for a party and since I wasn’t doing anything tonight I figured, why the hell not?” Jackal says, holding up her glass of Celestiale and taking a drink.
“Quince invited me over after I closed up the shop. I wasn’t planning on doing much today either, so I decided to show up. It’s nice to meet you, my name’s Hutch by the way. I own The Imporium.” They say, waving to Fatima.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hutch. My name’s Fatima.” She smiles softly and curtsies to them.
“By the way, if I may, could I ask who decided to have the party here? Not that I mind. I’m just curious.” Velveteen interjected.
“Right, I was actually wondering that too but I assumed that it was because The Rabbit Hole is far more spacious than Dan’s shop. Just in case the others showed up.”
“Yup! That’s exactly why and it was Dan’s idea. He even helped me and Quince set everything up.” Hops says, waving her hand at the few balloons, the birthday themed table cloth, the paper plates, and the large banner that reads, ‘Happy Birthday Shibani!’ on it.
“Speaking of Dan and Shibani, shouldn’t someone be on the lookout for them?” Fatima asked curiously.
“Hmm, surely we would hear them approach?”
“Not Dan and Shibani. I heard those two are pretty quiet.”
“We can’t forget that everything is lit up with candles out there so they may be a bit hard to see?” Hutch added, placing their hand on their chin in thought.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure they’d be illuminated by the candle.”
“I’ll be happy to check for y’all, since the cake just finished.” Quince offered, exiting the kitchen and making her way towards the entrance of the club.

Everyone waited patiently and talked among themselves until, “Dan and Shibani are coming!” Quince exclaimed, hurrying into the room.
“Alright everybunny, places!” Hops called, clapping her hands as everyone got into position.
Once Dan and Shibani rounded the corner, “Happy Birthday Shibani!” everyone exclaimed, followed by a burst of confetti from the poppers they were holding.
“Guys… what-?'' He looked around, stunned, mouth agape as his eyes scanned the room, Dan walking up to him and placing his hands on Shibani’s shoulder, a smile on his face.
“It’s your birthday party. Happy Birthday Shibani.” Dan said, kissing the sloth bun’s cheek; as tears welled in his eyes.
“Are you alright?” Velveteen asked.
“Oh no, did we overdo it?” Hops asked, frowning.
“I-I hope not…” Hutch says.
“Shibani? Did I mess up?” Dan asks, standing in front of him, worried.
Shibani sniffled and shook his head, looking at Dan with a smile on his face.
“No. I-It just caught me off guard. You guys didn’t have to do this for me, you know?”

Everyone sighed with relief.
“Murmur, don’t scare me like that Shibani. I thought I messed up big time by throwing you this party.” Dan sighs, hugging the white succubun tight before stepping away.
“Sorry, sorry. You’re fine, really. Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it.” Shibani says, wiping his tears.
“You gonna be alright?” Jackal asked, making her way over with the others.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. These are happy tears I swear.” Shibani laughed softly.
Fatima tilted her head for a moment before turning towards Quince and tapping her shoulder.
“I know what’ll cheer him up. The cake! Come on, I’ll help you bring it out.” She offered, heading towards the kitchen.
“You know what makes birthdays even better? Cake!” Fatima exclaimed, smiling widely.
“Happy Birthday Shibani! I made you my specialty, a chocolate strawberry jelly swiss roll! I hope you like it.” Quince said, placing the cake on a nearby table.
Shibani’s eyes lit up as he made his way over to the table and stared at the cake, as Hutch moved to grab the paper plates and Hops handed him the knife.
“This looks delicious. Are you sure it’s enough for everyone?”
“I’m positive.”
“Since it’s your birthday, I think you should have the first slice!” Hops suggested.
Shibani nodded then cut his slice of cake, stepping away and taking a bite, his eyes lighting up.
“This cake really is delicious!” He complimented, smiling widely, taking another bite.
The group of succubun laughed softly as they all took turns cutting the cake.

“If everybunny’s finished with their cake, I think that it’s time for Shibani to open his presents! Who wants to go first?” Hops asked, eyes scanning the room as her tail flicked behind her.
Fatima stood up and grabbed a bag she had placed behind her seat and made her way over to Shibani.
“Happy Birthday! I hope you like it.”
Shibani took the bag and opened it, pulling out three sets of different colored Shibari rope plus what looked like a book on intricate patterns.
He smiled softly, examining the ropes closely, one was mint green, another was lilac, and the other was sky blue.
“Are these silk ropes?”
“Yes! I figured that maybe you could wear them to bed? Or, for Dan perhaps?” She asked, turning towards him and winking, causing him to blush.
Shibani burst out laughing, even though he was blushing too.
Hutch, Hops, and Quince were next to give Shibani a gift and they were all different types of pillows.
Hutch’s pillow was firm and fluffy with different imps patterned on the case.
Hops’ pillow had a case over it that looked to be pastel in color with different polka dots on it.
Quince’s pillow case was cream colored with lots of different sweets on it.

Dan went after those three and gave Shibani a set of colored shibari ropes that had small and simple designs on them.
Even though she wasn’t supposed to be there, Jackal handed Shibani a bag of cookies that Quince helped her make.
“Happy Birthday. I hope you like those cookies, they're chocolate chips.”
“Thanks. I love chocolate chip cookies.” Shibani smiled, then turned his attention towards Velveteen.
“This is for you.” They hand him a bag with another intricate shibari art book and a video tape.
“What’s this?”
“A video about a very well known shibari art exhibit. It didn’t arrive this year; however, they made their videos available to everyone.”
Fatima blinks a few times.
“Wait, what? I didn’t know you actually liked shibari, Velveteen.”
They gently scratched their cheeks.
“I… didn’t at first but when I did that photoshoot for it I had to do research and, once I tried it out… it’s actually rather comforting.”
Shibani stares at the video and smiles.
“Thanks Velveteen. You should come by sometimes when Fatima and I have our shibari night.”
“I… shall consider it.”
Shibani chuckled then stood up, placing the bag on the table beside him.
“Thank you for the gifts and the party everyone. I actually didn’t expect anyone to show up.” He laughs nervously.
“But I’m glad you did. I really do appreciate it. Especially the gifts. Now, since Hops told me that Angora’s allowed us to play the casino games, who wants to play Blackjack?”