Lowkey requested by ninjafairygirl while we were casually talking about the Bunny Children in Epic Mickey. It was such a cute idea, it had to be done in some form.
Thank you for reading!
When Ortensia invited them over for a small fall party, Ventus didn't quite think he'd spend most of the time trapped in his girlfriend's bedroom. Not that they were doing anything exciting to begin with. Playing mancala had been Sabrina's idea, but now she looked like she was ready to go to sleep. She laid against her stomach with her head cradled in her arms, the mancala board at the foot of her bed, and Ven volunteering to sit on the floor. Sabrina's eyes drooped lower whenever Ven took his turn.
"You're allowed to go to sleep." he told her at some point. "It's just me, Terra, and Aqua."
"And Vanitas." she spat back. "There's no way I'm going to sleep with that creeper in arm's distance."
And so, indirectly, Ventus now had the reason why she had him trapped in her room. She needed someone to keep her awake. Someone that wasn't going to be too loud or annoying just by sharing a room with her. Someone, in other words, that she trusted.
He did not feel lucky knowing he was that someone.
"What did you do last night?" he then asked her. "You look so… dead inside."
Sabrina opened her mouth to retort -a possible 'that's because I feel dead inside' if he knew her well- but was cut off with six little voices calling, "Sabreenie! Sabreenie!" from the other side of the door. Without skipping a beat, Sabrina shouted back;
"Buzz off!"
"But we need you Sabreenie!" three voices told her.
"And Ven-Ven too!" a single voice reminded them.
"Yes! And Ven-Ven too!" two others chorused in agreement.
Sabrina let out a low groan as she buried her head further into her arms.
Even though he knew she didn't want to hear it, Ven told her, "Can't you humor them for now? They are your siblings."
"Not by blood." she grumbled as she started to get off her bed anyway. Ven fought the urge to fondly smile at her while she sat straight up, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes using the palm of her hand. It looked enough like a scene from a movie that Ven wondered if she did it for show.
His opinion on this was squashed easily when she did rise to her feet. If it wasn't obvious Sabrina was exhausted, it became quickly apparent as she made her way to the door. She had a light, unintentional sway to her gait, which almost led to her bumping into the mannequin she used to test outfits before she wore them. It was actually kinda weird that she had it out- she usually hid it in her closet when guests were coming over.
Regardless, she made it to her door with otherwise ease. Sabrina opened the door and was greeted to six bunny children. They had stacked themselves by their shoulders- but even with the added height, the bunny kid on top was just barely tall enough to see above Sabrina's shoulders.
"You have three minutes." Sabrina said to the bunny kid on top.
"Mama made a cake!" they happily told her.
Sabrina cocked an eyebrow at them. "And…?"
"Mama told Junior, Roy, Ray, Ruth, Herb, and Elias that cake has to wait until dinner." came the sullen reply. All six of the bunny kids hung their head in misery.
"And I assume you want it now?"
The bunny children eagerly nodded in unison. Their little tower swayed for a moment from the small weight change, but the six were able to readjust quickly.
"Why didn't you guys get Vanitas?" Sabrina then wondered, casting them a suspicious glance.
"Van-Van is napping now." one of the bunny kids told her. The others gave a solemn nod in agreement.
"But why Ventus too?"
"Sabreenie always hides Ven-Ven." the bunny kid on top told her.
"We want to play now!" the others happily chorused.
"In other words," their adoptive older sister mused as she leaned against her door frame, "You need a scapegoat."
"Why would they need a scapegoat?" Ven curiously wondered, appearing by Sabrina's side. His girlfriend looked back at him with a disinterested raise of her eyebrow.
"When you give a bunny kid a cake," she informed him, "Nothing after will go down in your favor."
Now it was Ventus's turn to give her a funny look. He looked back at the bunny kids and saw their pitiful little faces. It was absolutely heartbreaking seeing their long faces; Ven could already hear a few random bars from Sarah McLachlan's Angel playing in the distance. 'In the arms of a bunny child...'
"Aw, come on Sabi," he tried to gently tease, "Look at them. Look at those sad little faces..."
There wasn't even a moment of hesitation before she spat, "Those are the same faces they make before half the house gets set on fire."
The bunny children let out a unified sound of surprise, then gave her a rather prude raspberry. Even with her being a good 13 years older than them, Sabrina retaliated with a raspberry of her own.
"You know," Ven gently said to her, "You're not much different." To the bunny kids proper, he said, "I'll help you."
Unified squeal of joy came from the bunny kids as they hopped off each other and into Sabrina's room. Once everyone was in her room, Sabrina grimaced as she shut the door. The bunny kids might have been small, but with all six it still seemed like there wasn't enough room for everyone. Sabrina sat back down on her bed as Ven and the bunny kids started with their game plan.
"Our plan is simple," he told the kids with a sense of mirth, "Ortensia usually leaves the cake in the fridge before we actually eat it. To avoid a crumb trail -literally- we should take it to the laundry room. All we really need to do is get some plates and forks from the…"
"This isn't going to work."
Ventus and the bunny children looked over at Sabrina with the same look of bewilderment. It was Ven who soon gave her a rather cheeky grin before asking, "Jealous because our plan doesn't involve you?"
"Hardly." Sabrina snorted. "While it is rather smart to eat it in the laundry room, Ortensia will hear you all clatter around the kitchen like a batch of chickens with their heads cut off."
Ven's face immediately fell. "Oh."
"This is where a divide and conquer plan would come in handy." Sabrina went on, moving herself so the other seven could get a better look at her. She even pulled out the mancala board to better illustrate her plans. "Half of the six will go distract Terra and Aqua by directing them outside, the other half will keep Ortensia upstairs. Maybe Oswald too, but he's either-or in this kind of situation."
"But who's getting the cake?" Ven asked, looking up at her with a curious tilt of his head.
"You are." she claimed. "Alone."
"Why just me?"
"Because I am making this plan foolproof, and I don't want to get between Ortensia while she's in guest kisser mode."
Ventus recoiled a little and didn't look at her directly when he mumbled, "I wouldn't say Aqua, Terra, and I are guests..."
"You're not," Sabrina affirmed with a huff, "But try telling Tense that."
Ven let out a contemplative hum before looking down at the bunny kids. They looked back up at him with wide, adoring eyes that practically read 'isn't our big sister the best?' When he turned to Sabrina again, Ventus admittedly (and rather embarrassingly) zoned out slightly as she went over the plan to her siblings. There was a sense of concentration etched into her furrowed eyebrows as she went on. If she wasn't so interested in fashion and aesthetics, Sabrina would have made a good strategist.
"Roy, Ray, and Junior, take Ortensia upstairs and be loud about it. Junior might want to cause an 'accident' in the bathroom to be sure. Pops can jump in on that if it's real bad, so he's out of your hair too. Ruth, Elias, and Herb, your job is probably the easiest because Aqua and Terra love the stuffing out of you. Take them outside and show them your jack-o-lanterns. They should still be standing perky after a month. If not, make up a sob story of how much hard work you put into them and now they're rotting. Get some waterworks going and Terra will be eating out of the palm of your hand. All in all, you can only hold Mom's attention for about ten minutes before she figures something is up. Ven should have gotten the cake by then, so let's make that our time limit. Everyone good? Good. Break."
"Break!" the bunny children immediately repeated with a clap of their hands. The six of them immediately left Sabrina's room to do as they were instructed. Ven remained where he was for a moment. Sabrina looked at him, a soft smirk appeared on her face.
"You didn't hear a word of that, did you?" she asked him.
"Of course I did!" he told her as he stood up. "I just gotta wait for the Six to clear everyone from the kitchen, then I've got less than 10 minutes to take the cake from the fridge and to the laundry room."
A small snicker came from his girlfriend as she shook her head. "Good guess." she gently teased. "Now go steal that cake before Ortensia finds out."
. . .
Sabrina could deny it all she wanted, but the bunny kids got their sense of stealth from her. Or maybe the plan she made really was foolproof. Ventus waited out in the living room while the bunny kids tried to distract their respective roadblocks. Terra and Aqua had been easy targets; at least one of the bunny kids hopping into Terra's arms, and the other two tugging at Aqua's skirt to get her attention. Ortensia was harder to budge. It took two bunny kids to finally make her crack- running down the stairs (how they got up undetected to begin with was beyond Ven) in hysteria.
Just to be sure though, Ventus did wait an extra minute or so before going into the kitchen. He tried to walk as casually as possible, but the sudden anticipation of getting caught made him want to walk on tiptoes. He did find it rather hilarious that Sabrina as indirectly trying to help hide the noise he could have made in the kitchen- not that Cheyenne Kimball's One Original Thing was the best soundtrack to this moment.
Ventus carefully peeled the door to the refrigerator open and nearly let out a sigh of relief to see that cake was placed on one of the higher shelves. It had to be a higher shelf because of the Six, even if they attempted a bunny stack, but it must have been too high for Oswald and Ortensia too. Terra or Aqua must have placed it up there. For Ven, it was an easily reach and careful extraction. He set the cake down on the counter with care.
Ortensia had really outdone herself with the cake's presentation. Looking to be about three tiers, the cake was covered entirely with chocolate frosting with hand piped rosettes around the top edge. In the center was a neatly twirled covering of whipped cream, hand cut chocolate strips decorated the top of it. For a moment, Ven almost felt bad that he was an accessory to a soon to be cake murder by six ravenous 4 year olds.
Almost.
"Cake is for after dinner, Ventus."
Nearly jumping out of his skin, Ven quickly tried to find the source of the voice before noticing Vanitas coming down the staircase. His twin had an undeniable smirked etched on his face. Seeing it made Ven's blood run cold.
"What are you doing in the kitchen?" he questioned. It sounded so accusatory, as if Ventus himself wasn't trying to do something that would have warranted the wrath of some very angry adults.
"Woke up from my nap and the wabbits weren't there." came the reply, simple as day. "Came downstairs to harass Terra, I guess, and here I run into you…" Vanitas looked his older twin up and down with a smirk on his face before asking, "What'cha gonna do with that cake, Ven?"
"Eat it." came the automatic answer. Ventus immediately flinched upon hearing himself. This answer only seemed to amuse Vanitas as he got closer.
"All alone?" he snorted. "I doubt that very seriously." That was when a certain thought crossed his mind that almost made him laugh hard enough to tears. "This is a cover up operation! Hate to break it to you Ven-Ven, but giving Sabreenie a whole cake isn't gonna help with her seasonal depression."
Ventus's face immediately scrunched into distaste. "She doesn't have..." he tried to argue, but was soon distracted when one of the bunny kids came down the staircase. The tiny four year old gave the cake a look, drooled a little, and in realizing that Vanitas was there, got right back into action.
"Hey there, squeaky." Vanitas greeted when the little rabbit jumped high enough to be noticed. "What's eating you?"
But the bunny kid was speaking so quickly, it was hard to follow exactly what they were trying to tell Vanitas. Knowing that the message wasn't easily going through, the bunny kid changed tactics, leading Vanitas into the living room. Ven could only watch in a small awe as Vanitas willingly followed the bunny kid. Apparently Terra wasn't the only pushover when it came to them…
Ven shook his head. The mission was almost a success, and with the unexpected roadblock gone, he had to finish the deed. Carefully picking up the cake again, Ventus made his way around to the laundry room. It was no hassle in setting the cake down on top of the dryer. Letting out a small sound of relief, Ven wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from his brow. He left the laundry room as quietly as he entered it. The mission was accomplished- now all he needed to do was tell the bunny kids and possibly get them a spoon or two.
Going into the living room did lead to a small shock. Somehow, the bunny kid that had gone to distract Vanitas had gotten the teenager to go back to sleep. It took everything it had in Ventus not to let out an unflattering snort. When the bunny kid noticed him, Ven was given a doe eyed look of question. At his nod, the bunny kid let out a happy, "Thank you!" before bounding off to get the others. It was rather adorable, honestly, and Ven felt good about himself as he went into the kitchen to get spoons for the seven of them.
He didn't expect for all six of the bunny children to beat him back into the laundry room by the bunny kids. Someone really needed to come up with a reason why these kids were so fast. It didn't seem right.
"Ven-Ven helped us..." the oldest of the bunny children decided.
"So he gets first slice!" the others finished off with a solemn nod.
Ven chuckled a little. He took his spoon and made a rather generous scoop of cake. Normally, doing such a thing would have physically hurt him. But at the moment, knowing that the cake wasn't going to survive much longer, he chose to ignore it.
"I think this is all I need." he decided out loud. He gave them all a smile before adding, "Thank you."
"Is it for Sabreenie?" one of the bunny children curiously wondered. But Ven looked at them for a moment before giving a sly wink. The bunny kids went into a flurry of giggles as Ven started to leave. A smile was also pressed into the corners of Ventus's lips. Sabrina had been a major factor in their cake heist, so of course she deserved a piece of it too. Sure, cake might not help much with seasonal depression, but at least it could show that he still cared about her. And that, for now, was enough.