The Sweetest Dreams

The night was bright and full of noise and laughter. All across every corner of Burrowgatory, the streets were lit with beautiful, paper lanterns, and adorned with banners and kites and tapestries alike. Up above, in the dark, cavernous sky, fireworks popped and glittered, set off all over by buns enjoying the festivities. Today was one of many moon festivals, celebrating the new year’s spirit. It was a joyous — if not rather raucous — occasion, giving buns the chance to let loose (or at least, a little more than usual).

Shibani, quiet and demure as he usually was, was not at all exempt from the partying, no matter how late into the night it lasted. He liked the atmosphere, really; it was so bright, everyone had so much fun, and he liked seeing the orange and red lantern-lit streets and smell the scents of all the street food vendors lining the sidewalks and calling out for customers. There was music in the air, and all the dissonant notes of the different musicians somehow felt more harmonious than ever, if only because it was festival night. The atmosphere alone could make anyone and anything feel like a warm, soft pillow.

The soft, white-haired bun trotted down the streets, feeling a bit woozy. He smiled and waved to the vendors as he went by, but he didn’t stop; he wasn’t hungry, and in fact had stuffed himself just a little too much already on mochi and kebabs and various sweet-scented drinks. Oh, the drinks — there was a hell of a variety to choose from during a party like this, and Shibani had not held back even a little from trying as many different flavors as he dared. Besides which, it was only once a year, right? It wouldn’t hurt. It was supporting the local baristas, he told himself.

He couldn’t deny it made him dizzy though, especially as it grew later and later into the night. Eventually, he’d had to call it quits, and, wrapping a pretty blanket around his slender shoulders that he’d brought along to keep himself warm, he finally began to return home so he could rest off the alcohol and hope that the next morning would be merciful.

Before long, the lights and the noise were behind him, and Shibani found himself on quiet streets with only the distant sounds of the popping fireworks behind him. His feet finally brought him back to Dan’s dango shop, where he stepped right inside and shook out his fluffy hair and ears. The shop was quiet — Dan, of course, was still out at the festivals to run his stall (where Shibani had most definitely, totally not taken advantage of Dan’s affections for him to snag as much free mochi was he could), and likely would not return until morning. It miffed Shibani just a little to be alone for the night, but he couldn’t blame him; if not for the alcohol he’d gone a little overboard on, he might’ve stayed out longer too.

“Sleep… sleep time…” the bun mumbled to himself, and made his way to the back of the shop, where his luxurious pillow pile awaited him.

The pile was already occupied by a few buns he didn’t recognize, but that was nothing unusual. Stepping over some tails and ears he shuffled into the middle of the pile and unceremoniously plopped himself down onto the soft cushions, letting out a sigh. He hardly even had to curl himself up — the moment his body made contact with the pillows, he was already pretty much out, letting himself float off with the cushions and drift immediately off into a pleasant sleep.

Mochi… the smell of mochi… and sweat?

Shibani hummed contentedly in his sleep. His dreams brought him a familiar and comforting vision — all of Dan, of course. In his dream, he was the only one allowed into the dango shop, and Dan was hard at work pounding away, grunting and exerting himself in a very attractive manner. The pile of mochi he was hard at work making was all for Shibani. No one else… no one else at all. Shibani smiled. He had a front row seat to the best view in the house, too. Dan was quite muscular, owing to the hard, strong work he put in every day, and Shibani was not at all shy about taking in as much as he could — if not a little coy about it.

He blinked, and the dream shifted. The mochi tasted good. He didn’t know how much he’d eaten, but it was definitely a lot, and Dan sat next to him, taking a break from his efforts. He let Shibani lean onto his side and fed him bites of more and more and more mochi, as much as Shibani could possibly eat. All different flavors, too — things he didn’t even usually think about eating, but his dream seemed to want him to try.

The dream shifted once more. He felt so warm now, cuddled into Dan’s chest as his full stomach made him drowsy and eager for affection.

“You’re insatiable,” Dan huffed fondly, and Shibani giggled.

“Only when it comes to you~” he cooed back full of affection.

He closed his eyes. Warm, so warm, so very warm…

When he opened his eyes again, he was met with afternoon sun, bright and high in the sky, pouring in through the shop’s now opened windows. The warmth he’d felt in his dream hadn’t gone away — and he realized, with a burst of affection in his chest, that it was because Dan had returned home at some point, and lay against him, just like in his dream.

Shibani smiled. Why need dreams like that when everything was already perfect when he was awake? Sleepy, happy, and hardly even feeling a hangover, Shibani settled right back down against Dan’s chest and drifted off back asleep, happily snuggled and feeling better than ever.