[Sweet or Savory?] Overcoming Anxiety Never Tasted So Good

“... Well, that’s all the energy I have today, folks. I’m gonna end stream here. Hope everybunny has a lovely evening! Thanks for coming. Bye bye!”

With a swift press of a key, Ghost ended his 7 to 8 hour livestream. He sleepily sighed and then yawned widely, stretching his stubby limbs out in all directions and shaking like an imp that just got a bath. After taking a moment to rest (and drinking whatever was left in the stale soda can sitting on top of his desk), he hopped out of his gaming chair, shut down all of his electronics, and went into the bathroom to relieve himself.

It was rather tiring having to put on a digital mask every day of the week, but he enjoyed his occupation. Ghost had started Vtubing a few months ago under a cutesy and androgynous avatar that looked nothing like his real appearance. A voice changer that made his avatar sound ‘kawaii’ and high-pitched covered up what he really sounded like, which was the polar opposite of that. Deadpan, monotone, and depressed was his true voice. And it wasn’t by choice; it was just his natural vocals. It also didn’t help that, well… he had a little problem following him around constantly. Something that appeared when he was very young and as long as he could remember… 

Idly floating right next to Ghost as he was looking in the mirror, a little white spirit with ear / horn-like appendages on its head swayed side to side, patiently waiting for him to finish what he was doing. The tired white bun wasn’t entirely sure what its inventions were, or if he would ever be able to get rid of it, but it never harmed him or caused trouble. It couldn’t speak, nor could it touch anything (or anyone). It was more of a nuisance than anything else. It was a pretty uncommon affliction that buns could possess, as Ghost had never really witnessed another bun in public with spirits following them around. It made him feel weirder than he felt like he was. 

After freshening up a little in the bathroom, he went into his bedroom to put on some pajamas. But, right as he was about to turn in for the night, his phone buzzed on the covers of his bed. A notification banner with a calendar alert reminded him that it was time to go grocery shopping. Ghost grumbled and rubbed his face with his hooves, dragging them down his fur and then letting them drop to his sides. Crap, he completely forgot about that. The LAST thing he was in the mood for was going outside and having to interact with other buns. Well, at least the store closest to them had a self-checkout option…

This is fine… all you have to do is go to the store, buy whatever’s on the list, then go back home. The white bun hyped himself up mentally before he gathered his apartment keys and headed out the door. 

The stroll to the grocery store would take your average bun approximately 20 to 30 minutes from where Ghost lived, but due to the sloth-like pace he normally walked at, that time was practically doubled. It was darker outside by the time he approached the lit storefront of the grocery store. The lights attached to the brick walls of the entrance and the street lamps were the only source of luminance. As Ghost walked through the automatic double doors, the faint sound of ‘coffee house’ type tunes echoed through the interior. There weren’t many patrons shopping around, as it was a weeknight. Most buns were holed up in their homes for the evening. Which is what Ghost wished he could be doing right now.

The sound of squeaky wheels of shopping carts reminded Ghost that he needed to grab one of those; the list was quite lengthy and he made the mistake of waiting longer to stock up. After casually picking out a cart from a line of them, he began meandering around the first aisle he arrived at. His little spirit companion quietly followed right behind him as it did. Every other time a bun would pass him, they would double take, but continue on with whatever they were doing. Ghost occasionally glanced at his phone, checking the shopping list and making sure he got the right items. The pace he moved at was its usual speed; he would slowly reach for whatever food or ingredients he needed before placing it mindlessly in the cart. The things slowly piled up as he made his way around.

As Ghost traveled near the back of the store where some more of the snack items were, something caught his eye, causing him to back up with his cart. It was rare for his eyes to open more than their half-lidded position, but there was a first for everything. They twinkled at the sight of what was down the aisle he happened upon: full rows of assorted Japanese snacks, candies, drinks… things that you could only normally find at a specific store in another part of Burrowgatory. A sudden urge surged up inside of Ghost. He looked around to make sure that nobunny was watching.

Ghost pushed the nearly full cart down the aisle full of his favorite goodies and plucked out a few items he already knew he wanted. Shrimp and crab chips, milk hard candies, chocolate ‘mushrooms’, almond Pocky sticks, marble soda, pretzel sticks, caramel corn… Ghost’s hooves moved faster than his brain could as he practically threw everything into the cart.

Well, there went his plans to use the self checkout… Ghost’s heart raced a little when he realized that he would have to get help from one of the checkout employees. What would they think of him once they saw the mountain of things in his cart? Would they make fun of him? Maybe he should put some things back–

“Good evening! Need some help with checking out?” By the time Ghost had unconsciously made his way over to the checkout conveyors, an employee already witnessed him. He looked up from his anxiety thoughts, making eye contact with a rather chipper looking bun. They were radiating a rather positive aura despite it being late on a weeknight. Most of the time, retail and grocery store workers looked like they hated their life, but Ghost got lucky this very moment, it seemed.

The white bun awkwardly pushed his cart up beside the conveyor belt. “... Hi,” he quietly greeted the clerk, trying to be quicker than he usually was at putting things on the belt so that they could be pushed towards the other bun. He also made sure to keep things organized instead of throwing things on there willy nilly. The clerk did giggle to themselves, but not out of malice. “I’ve never tried the new snacks we got with our recent shipment. Are they any good? Or have you had them before?”

“Oh… um… yeah…” Ghost meekly replied to them, eyeing all the snacks as they slid across the belt and to the clerk. Another bun appeared in order to help begin bagging the groceries. Another thought started to creep in: how would Ghost be able to carry all of this on his own?? As calm as he seemed on the outside, his brain started swarming like furious wasps. The little spirit (unfortunately) tended to mirror his emotions, so it began subtly vibrating, frowning, and widening its eyes. To which the employee bagging the groceries noticed and stared at, but tried to ignore.

“Are you alright?” the clerk ringing up the groceries asked, looking at Ghost with genuine concern. 

“Y… yeah. I’m okay. Sorry,” Ghost plainly responded and continued putting things on the belt until the cart was empty. He gently pushed the cart over to where the bagger was so that they could start placing the bags into the inside of the cart. Ghost even insisted on helping with that since he felt bad about all the items he was buying. Of course, it was their job, but his anxiety told him otherwise. 

Ghost’s grocery trip ended up being much more painless than he thought it would be. With the clerk being really friendly and the bagger offering to help him push the cart outside. Natually Ghost figured it would be smart to call a cab on the rideshare app on his phone, considering he obviously couldn’t carry all of the bags home. The bagger helped load the bags into the trunk of the rideshare car, and Ghost made his way home in the back seat.

Since Ghost needed her help unloading the groceries from the trunk and he had come back with way more things than expected, the driver kindly helped him carry the bags up the stairs to the floor his apartment was on. Once inside and most of the groceries were put away where they needed to be, Ghost grabbed the bags of shrimp and crab chips, pretzel sticks,  caramel corn, and chocoshrooms, then dumped almost all of their contents into one big bowl (meant for popcorn and not odd mixtures like this). His judgment was clouded by his cravings, and he lightly shook the bowl up to better mix all of the snacks. Thankfully nobunny wasn't there to bear witness to whatever the hell was going on in the kitchen.

Satisfied with his creation, Ghost wandered off to his room; bowl of an eccentric concoction in one arm and a marble soda in his other hoof. He happily sipped his drink and then popped a piece of tasty crab chip and chocoshroom in his mouth. His little spirit mote wiggling cutely as the rich flavor hit Ghost’s taste buds.