Rabbit In A Hat

“Come on!” Nobuyuki’s hand gripped Kenton’s, grinning giddily as he dragged his fellow performer through the backstage hallway. The two of them were more than used to the hustle and bustle backstage, weaving around the other performers with a smile and a greeting. Kenton pulled himself a little closer to Nobuyuki to avoid tripping an assistant with a box of new playing card packs, while Nobuyuki wished the flamboyantly dressed woman headed out to the stage good luck. Soon, the two arrived at Nobuyuki’s dressing room, Kenton’s eyes immediately falling on the table. There was something there, some sort of box, covered by a deep red blanket embroidered with stars and moons. Nobuyuki immediately made a beeline for it, standing on the other side of the table and bouncing on the balls of his shoes.

This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, not really. Nobuyuki loved showing Kenton his ideas for magic shows, and this certainly seemed like a setup for something like that. The two had only been dating for a month or two, but Kenton was Nobuyuki’s new go-to for new tricks, something he definitely didn’t mind. He gave a warm smile, same as always. “You have a new trick to show me?”

“Something like that! Now, behold!” Nobuyuki cast the blanket off, and Kenton immediately realised that it hadn’t been a box at all. It was a pet carrier. And inside that pet carrier sat a large, fluffy, white rabbit, sat politely with its nose twitching as it looked up at Kenton. Nobuyuki dropped the blanket on the floor and made a little jazz hands gesture. “Ta-da!”

Kenton blinked in surprise for a moment, staring at the rabbit, before leaning down to get a better look at it. It was a real rabbit, that much was for sure. It looked up at him with big black eyes, nose twitching at him curiously. Nobuyuki flipped the latch on the front of the carrier, and out stepped the rabbit, surprisingly confident in its new space. Nobuyuki watched it with a smile, pure delight in his eyes. “She’s so pretty, isn’t she? The adoption shelter across town dropped her off. Apparently she’s a rescue, some other magician on the strip wasn’t taking care of her properly… they brought her in to me. I went by there a few weeks ago asking about a rabbit, and they know I have all the setups to take care of one, so they figured I was best for the job.”

It was true, Kenton knew that. Nobuyuki had been so excited about getting a rabbit, had been talking about it for weeks, getting all the right preparations and materials ready just in case one suddenly became available. And now, he was cradling his dream rabbit in his arms, cooing affectionately at her while she sniffed at him. He couldn’t help but feel a great sense of joy for him. Nobuyuki so rarely seemed to get the things he wanted, especially when they were important to him, so to see him with this rabbit… it made his heart soar. “That’s… amazing, Nobuyuki, I’m so happy for you… What’s her name?”

“Ah, y’see, that’s where the trick comes in. I figure she should have a new name for her new family! So, you’re gonna do a magic trick for me today!” Nobuyuki placed the rabbit back down on the table, fussing her for a moment before looking back at Kenton. Kenton tilted his head to the side slightly, curiosity lighting up his expression. So this was a magic trick. Well, he was always excited to see Nobuyuki practising, and Nobuyuki seemed excited too. They held up a piece of card, making sure the blank side was facing Kenton. “I’ve written the name I picked for the rabbit on this piece of card,” Nobuyuki began, their voice slipping into that stage performer’s tone Kenton knew so well. “I’m going to put this card into this envelope,” they continued, acting out their words as they spoke, “and seal it. Kenton, can you confirm that this envelope is sealed?” Kenton nodded, running a finger along the edge of the envelope’s seal. “Seems pretty sealed, yeah.” Part of him wasn’t fully sure how this trick was going to go. Was Nobuyuki relying on sheer luck? Or did they have a plan? Nobuyuki certainly wasn’t letting on, just looking up at Kenton with a grin.

“Now! Kenton. What should I call her?” Nobuyuki smiled at him, leaning towards him expectantly.

It shouldn’t have been a difficult question, really, but Kenton found himself hesitating. He wanted this to mean something to Nobuyuki, it was their rabbit after all, but they’d asked Kenton for a reason. And if Kenton, not anyone else but Kenton, was going to name this rabbit for Nobuyuki, there could only be one name.

“…Sprinkles.”

Nobuyuki blinked in surprise, leaning a bit further over the table until they had their arms folded against the top of it, peering over the top of the carrier at him. “…why Sprinkles?”

Kenton leaned forwards too, extending a hand towards the rabbit. The ball of fluff moved to sniff the tip of his finger curiously. “Thought it was a cute name. Plus, it reminds me of our first proper date, y’know?” He chuckled a little as the rabbit pushed against his hand, sniffling appreciatively as Kenton scratched along her forehead. “When we went to that cute little diner, and we got the milkshake together, the vanilla one with the whipped cream and the sprinkles and-” “And we shared the straws,” Nobuyuki finished, drawing Kenton’s attention enough for him to look up. Nobuyuki was staring at him, eyes wide and vaguely shiny with tears, and he was holding the envelope out towards Kenton. “…open it up,” he mumbled, expression unreadable.

A sudden sense of dread gripped Kenton. Had he guessed wrong? Was he reading too deeply into this? With a small gulp, he unfolded the envelope, and took out the card inside. A sleek, white piece of card, and, in elegant handwriting, a name.

Sprinkles.

“…I didn’t even think about it meaning all of that when I wrote it,” Nobuyuki admitted, as Kenton looked back up at them with absolute glee in his eyes. “I just thought the name was cute, and… you really remember all of it, huh?” Their unreadable expression suddenly seemed to become clear, one of joy and surprise and absolute bewilderment, even as they began to tear up. At that, Kenton immediately moved around the table, pulling them close. “Of course I do, Nobuyuki. You’re… you mean so much to me, of course I remember our first date.” He pressed a kiss to the teary-eyed Nobuyuki’s forehead, brushing their hair out of their eyes to look at them properly. “I never wanna forget.” Nobuyuki’s arms wrapped around his waist, pulling Kenton closer. “…I love you,” they mumbled, grip tightening for just a second as they looked up at him. “I love you too,” Kenton beamed, leaning down to kiss them properly.

And, in all the affection and excitement, Kenton didn’t notice the loose bottom fold of the envelope’s back, or the pen hidden behind the pet carrier, or the card reading ‘Flopsy’ that was now tucked underneath the tablecloth. And he certainly didn’t notice the folded-up card in the wastebasket, reading ‘Sprinkles’, with smaller text adding ‘like our first date’.

In truth, Nobuyuki hadn’t thought Kenton would value their first date so sentimentally. Part of him hasn’t expected the performer to care so much. But cheating at his trick didn’t matter, not if, with a little bit of sleight of hand, Nobuyuki could make Kenton feel just that little bit more loved. Especially if Kenton cared that much in return.

Besides, after all that, the name Sprinkles really did seem better.