Chapter Text
Shaking his head, he gulps down a knot forming in his throat. It’s been there for hours now, making it impossible to breathe. Well, for that- and other reasons.
Large eyes blink up at the ceiling of what had been called his new bedroom. It sure doesn’t look like an adult man’s bedroom. Pink walls. Tea party table. Kiddie bookshelf. And what’s with those glowing stars on the ceiling? Who put them there- the person before me?
His heart starts pounding. Oh God, was there someone who had this room before me? Where are they now? Did they wake up from this nightmare? Did they escape it somehow?
Eyes dart from wall to wall. The dark room feels like it’s shrinking on him all at once. He heaves in a blind panic.
No! I must get out of this dream! I don’t care what those other freaks said earlier! There has to be a way to leave! I-
DING DONG!
The sound of a doorbell makes him rashly sit up. Terror seizes him as gloved hands grip the patchwork quilt under him. Oh no. What if it’s that crazy mouth-head man thing again? I cannot deal with him right now!
DING DONG!
Or maybe it’s one of those other things. Like that doll woman. She seems nice enough. Or the block toy person.
DING DONG!
The string lady with the mask, perhaps? Or that nutcase chess piece. Maybe that clown guy?
DINGDONGDINGDONGDINNGGGGG-
He holds his breath.
-DONG!
“Hey, rabbit! You gonna open the door or what?”
He blinks toward the door. Do I move? Maybe whatever it is will go away if I-
“I’ve got a key to your room, and I ain’t afraid to use it! So either you open the door, or I bust it open! Your choice!” The voice chimes. It pauses only for a moment before snickering. “Well, actually, it’s ultimately mine, since I’ve got the key and- oh, just open the door already, dingus!”
Releasing his breath, he decides there’s nothing he can do. Just like everything else today, this is out of his control.
Slowly, he climbs to his long legs (purple. Why on earth do I have to be purple?) and tiptoes over to the bedroom door. A shaky gloved hand grabs the doorknob and twists.
He peeks through a thin sliver of the door ajar. There, he sees the owner of the voice: the frog woman from earlier. Just like before, she’s wearing a smirk and puffing out her chest like she owns the place.
“Good choice,” she sneers, placing a hand on her hip. With her other hand, she wiggles the room key at him before placing it in an invisible hip skin pocket somehow. “I’ll be keeping this for next time, just in case.”
He stares blankly at her, waiting for her to say more. When she proceeds to just stand there, arms crossed in this overly obnoxious way, he scowls.
“And you came to bug me why?” he hisses, eyes scanning her up and down.
She doesn’t answer at first. Her smirk only grows as her eyes go half-lidded.
“No real reason,” she states vaguely, wiggling her eyebrows at him. “Bugging people is what I live for-”
“Well, go ‘live’ somewhere else,” he growls. “After the day I’ve had, I’m in no mood for this.”
He starts to slam the door shut but is stopped when she puts her hand against it.
“Wait!”
Groaning, he opens the door a little wider to glare at her. Only, her face is far softer than before. Gone is that pompous look, and in its place is a small look of compassion. Worry, even.
“Listen… I’m sorry.”
“Whatever. Just don’t come ringing my-”
“No, I’m not sorry for that.”
“Then what are you sorry for?”
“…You ending up here.”
His body tenses as he eyes her. He stubbornly shakes his head. Oh no. Not this discussion again. I already had it earlier with that doll lady, and I refuse to hear it again.
“I didn’t 'end up' anywhere," he snaps. "This is just a stupid dream I’ll wake up from eventually.”
I think. I hope.
The frog lady starts to open her mouth but closes it when no words come out. Her resisting hand slowly comes off the door, and moves to rub the nape of her neck. She looks away, biting her lip as she seems to mentally debate on something. Finally, she sighs.
“If that’s easier to accept, then okay.”
Her response irritating him, he clicks his tongue in disgust.
“I’m not 'accepting' anything other than the truth.”
To his annoynace, that annoying, unfazed smirk returns to her round face.
“Uh-huh. Well, truth is, you’re a purple rabbit now, Bunny Boy.”
He yanks the door fully open and narrows his angry eyes at her.
“Just for the time being, until I wake up,” he argues. Suddenly, he tries to throw her smirk back at her. “And don’t call me that, Froggy… Girl.”
Snorting, she rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.
“Ooh, ouch,” she complains sarcastically, dramatically placing her webbed hand over her heart. “Any more stab wounds you feel the need to inflict, Bunny Boy?”
Gripping the edge of the door, the rabbit man snarls.
“I said don’t call me that.”
“Well, technically, this is just a dream, right? So I can call you whatever I want with no qualms," she flaunts, narrowing her eyes with glee. "And I want to call you Bunny Boy."
His cheeks burning red with embarrassment, he forces himself not to snap. Instead, he rolls his eyes right back.
“Hey, at least I look like a guy,” he shoots, gesturing rudely toward her body. “Which, sadly, I have to say the same thing about you.”
Mouth twisting to the side, she plants her hands on her hips. Unbothered, she raises an eyebrow.
“Eh, avatar glitches. They happen,” she shrugs flippantly as she pretends to examine nonexistent fingernails. “I can’t help that I got a bow tie instead of a hair bow.”
“And no clothes?”
The second the words leave his mouth, his eyes flash wide in realization. Wait… she doesn’t have any-
Gulping, his face goes as red as a tomato. He shields his eyes with his hands, groaning when he hears her chuckle. Oh no.
“Yup. I be nakey,” she taunts, her voice dripping with asumement at how he squirms. She sighs loudly. “Quite the dream, isn’t it? A bare-butt frog woman. An anthropomorphic rabbit in overalls-”
“Hey, I wouldn’t dream any of that!” he cries, and through his fingers he hears a snort. Double oh no.
“Oh, so a nude frog woman and dressing up as purple rabbit is just part of your daily reality, then?”
“N-no,” he says quickly, his long ears starting to flatten. “That- ”
“Okay, so what is this, then?”
Annoyance at an all-time high, he hisses through his teeth. His face still blushing, he peeks back at her, feeling gross as he does so.
“Good grief, can you get more annoying?”
In response, the frog woman flashes an innocent fake smile his way. She suddenly strikes a pose, batting her thick eyelashes at him.
“Yes. Considerably, actually-”
“Argh!”
He buries his face in his hands and doesn’t look up when he hears her giggle. I’m really getting sick of this amphibian.
“By the way, there’s no need to shield your eyes, you pervert,” she tells him in a mocking tone, making him grip the sides of his face. “The Digital Circus here isn’t exactly accurate when it comes to natural human anatomy. Hence, just like frogs, I don’t have anything that needs to be covered up.”
Gulping, he slowly lets his hands fall to his sides. He blinks at her smirking form, mind trying to process her words.
Wait. The Digital Circus…
The term he’d heard earlier, when he first popped up out of nowhere into this overly colorful, insane place.
No. This has to be a dream.
Right?