Chapter Text
It only took five sweltering minutes for Ivan to learn why the mascot position was perpetually empty. If you weren’t utterly desperate for the money-- which Ivan wasn’t --the combination of children’s screaming/manhandling and the sweat pooling between Ivan’s body and the inside of the suit would be too much to bear.
The clock in the center of the plaza told Ivan that he only had thirty minutes left on his “shift.” At least he thought it did, it was hard to tell through the mesh holes making up the blush on the bunny’s cheeks. Ivan could have stopped whenever he wanted. It wasn’t even his job. He overheard Sua and his aunt complaining about losing yet another mascot employee and on a whim he’d volunteered.
His real job was behind a desk. Head of publicity and marketing. What had he been thinking when he confidently told Sua he could manage and entire shift? He hadn’t been thinking. Or more precisely he had been thinking about something else. Some one else.
A certain silver haired performer the park had been trying to scout for the past three months. He was an up and coming musician. Solidly pop-punk but with enough off theme top hits to catch Ivan’s eye. His newest release, Mi Vida Loca, had inspired an online dance trend. A trend that Ivan had been more than ready to take advantage of.
All it took was a soft suggestion to Mizi, Sua’s girlfriend, and certified social media starlet that she should do the trend in front of the park's doki-doki heart themed fountain. Suddenly lines were forming at the fountain and tickets were being bought just to get a chance to join those lines.
The obvious next step was hiring the musician himself. Easier said than done when said musician, a man only known as ‘unknown’ online, refused to respond to any and all official attempts to form a partnership. The day Ivan volunteered himself to this hell he’d been frustrated. More than frustrated. He felt like he was beating his head against a brick wall. A change of pace sounded fun, novel, possibly the spark that could ignite new ideas in him.
Unfortunately for Ivan, the heat was melting his brain. He could feel his sanity and creativity dripping out of his ears as his body shriveled up inside the all black bunny suit. Ivan wanted to take it up with whoever decided that the mascot would be all black, he had a few choice words for-
“Sorry kiddos! Ibanny needs to sit in the shade for a little! We’ll be back in ten minutes!”
Ivan wanted to fall to his knees and kiss the feet of his handler. A young park employee named Marty who’d gone white as a sheet when she realized she’d be in charge of second generation park royalty. Her fear was clearly unfounded. She was attentive and respectful. If she was even half as respectful to regular mascot employees Ivan was sure she was the favorite handler.
She led Ivan to a bench and activated the fan on the back of the bunny suit. Ivan slumped forward and sighed audibly. The show of exhaustion forced a strangled laugh from Marty. She slapped a hand over her mouth but Ivan could see her shoulders shaking in mirth. Before she could mutter an apology Ivan lifted a hand and waved her away before flashing the signal for O.K.
She smiled and leaned in to whisper, “If you need to go in early no one’ll blame you.”
Ivan was about to fold, more than ready to nod his comically large head hard enough to knock the damn thing off, when a familiar silhouette caught his attention.
It was hard to tell through the red tinted mesh, at least it would have been if Ivan hadn’t spent the last six weeks pouring over the man's social media and all but stalking his live performances. The man hesitantly glancing at the mascot booth, mask over his face and cap pulled low, was Unknown.
Ivan shot up so fast he almost knocked Marty on her ass. Concern etched her delicate features but it was background noise to Ivan. The whole world had narrowed down to the undercover musician. Unknown was there, in Ivan’s park, looking for Ivan. Or at least looking for the character Ivan was playing. There wasn’t a snowball's chance in hell of Ivan losing this chance.
After making the T shaped signal with hands indicating he was good to clock in, Ivan pushed past the curtains to the mascot booth.
As always, Ivan’s intuition was spot on. The moment he- the moment ‘Ibanny’ stepped through the curtain, Unknown’s teal eyes lit up. He glanced around anxiously, and after confirming they were alone, took a tentative step towards Ivan, towards the bunny.
“A-ah” His unmistakable voice broke and he cleared his throat before continuing, “Are adults allowed to get hugs too?”
Red was staining every visible expanse of skin. His eyes flitted about anxiously and his fingers flexed awkwardly around the strap of the bag slung over his shoulder.
Ivan was stunned into silence. Better than being stunned to speech since Ibanny was meant to be silent. Unfortunately Ivan’s lack of reaction must have read as dismissal because Unknown took a hesitant step back and looked ready to run away. Unwilling to lose this musician, not when he finally had him in his grasp, Ivan opened his arms welcomingly.
Unknown made an excited squeaking sound that Ivan found much cuter than he should have before falling into Ivan’s embrace. Even through the suit Ivan could feel Unknown’s heart hammering in his chest. Maybe a grown man showing this level of excitement towards the brand's mascot should have been a red flag. Any other PR rep would have written Unknown off as a scandal waiting to happen and moved on to the next trend. But Ivan wasn’t put off in the slightest, in fact, he felt like he’d somehow managed to fall in love.
Maybe Ivan was the red flag…
Unknown screwed his eyes shut and nuzzled against Ibanny’s chest contentedly. His face was pressed close to the mesh cheeks so Ivan got a perfect view of his sharp brows and gentle eyes. On stage he always exuded this air of annoyance and distaste for the world. But here, in Ivan’s(Ibanny’s) arms, he seemed so sweet and sincere.
“Um… Would you like a picture with Ibanny?” Marty’s shaky voice came from the curtain. When Ivan turned to look out the costume's other cheek he saw horror shining in her eyes. Her fingers aggressively adjusted her nametag, the signal for checking if a guest was going too far.
Ivan patted Unknown’s back soothingly with one hand and flashed the O.K. signal with the other. By the time Unknown pulled away Marty had turned on her customer service smile, much to Ivan’s relief. The artist was skittish enough. He was sure to bolt if he noticed that the handler considered him a threat.
“If you’r- Um,” Unknown looked away from Ivan and snapped his arms to his sides self consciously, “If that’s ok with Ibanny.”
Holy shit he was so fucking cute. Ivan might pass out… actually that might have just been the heat. Still, Unknown was adorable.
Ivan shifted his shoulders so the mascot head bobbled in a ‘yes’ motion. The corners of Unknown’s eyes crinkled up in what Ivan assumed to be a smile. A pang of something warm and uncomfortable went through Ivan’s chest.
Marty smiled brightly and gestured for Unknown to stand next to Ivan. The other man happily slid under Ivan’s arm.
“Would you like to take your mask off?”
Ivan wished he could warn Marty to shut up with his mind. Even if he’d written the script she was following, couldn’t she tell Unknown was uncomfortable?
But Unknown shocked Ivan once again. He glanced around for a second before nodding and pulling the mask off and balling it up in one fist. Marty gasped and smacked a hand over her mouth. Ivan had been wrong before. She was a terrible handler and she would need to go through extensive retraining.
“You-” Ivan held up a gloved hand and wagged a finger at her before holding it to the bunny’s lips in a shushing motion. Her eyes went wide with understanding.
From Ivan’s side, Unknown spoke, “Thank you, I’m trying to stay undercover. I’m not very good at this whole famous thing.”
If anyone could have seen the way Ivan’s eyebrows migrated into his hairline they would have fallen over laughing. Ivan turned towards Unknown and examined his face through the restrictive mesh. Unknown had already looked back at Marty and started smiling. He held up a peace sign and Ivan mimicked him out of habit.
“Um- I’m sorry Mr. uh….” Ivan snapped over to glare at Marty who was staring between the camera, the printer, and Unknown. Maybe she needed to be moved to a different department altogether.
“You can call me Till.”
She deserved a raise and possibly all of Ivan’s shares in the company.
“Alright Mr. Till. Would you like a message from Ibanny?”
Unknown, Till, rubbed the back of his neck anxiously and nodded his head. When Ivan remained still he startled and spoke, “Yes please! Sorry, I forgot you probably can’t see me well.”
Till’s awkwardness restarted Ivan’s heart. Everything about this divine encounter was rewiring Ivan. He sprung into action and took the large pen into his gloved hand. He scribbled “Till” and drew a curly heart around it. He tried to pick the photo up but predictably failed with his giant paws. He put his paws against the mascot's face and shook his head mournfully.
Beside him Till laughed openly. When Ivan looked up he was resituating the mask on his face and taking the photo from a flustered Marty.
“Sorry if it’s overstepping but-” Ivan glared at Marty warningly, not that she could see it through the cheerful bunny mask, “-I’m a huge fan. Are you here because you’re thinking about performing here? I’ve heard PR was reaching out to you but I’d never heard anything about you accepting so I assumed it was just a rumor. But if you’re here then there must be some truth to it!”
Ivan wondered if it would traumatize the passing ten year old if Ibanny started beating the shit out of his twenty something handler.
“Wait, those requests were real?”
Ivan turned toward Till so hard he was afraid the head would spin itself off. His gloved hands came up to steady it just in case, which had the unintended consequence of looking like he was covering his ears.
“Oh- I don’t think I was supposed to talk to that with guests.”
Whatever communication Ivan and Marty had managed previously must have been coincidence. She seemed determined to misinterpret Ivan’s every action from the moment Till showed up.
“But…” She leaned towards Till and whispered conspiratorily, “You should reconsider. Our PR manager is obsessed with you.”
Did she think Ivan couldn’t hear her because his hands were pressed over the mascot's ears?
“I guess I will. Thank you- Thank you both.” Ivan was going to give her the company. Till turned towards Ivan, “Sorry if this is weird, but you smell nice.”
Till took off towards the exit. Leaving Ivan weak at the knees and Marty looking overjoyed with her accomplishment.