Pursuit of Diligence: Ch 2 [Ari]

“Have a good evening sir, I’d love to see you come again~” 

Ari let his guest pull him in for one final kiss, then waved coyly as he watched them head down the hallway and back up the stairs to the cafe proper. Only when the other doll was out of sight did Ari turn and go back into his private room, closing the door behind him. He started his cleaning routine, going through the checklist in his head. 

Bathroom fan, to air the room out. Light a candle… Haven’t used this one for awhile, sure. 

As Ari was halfway through stripping the dirty sheets off of the bed, he glanced down and realized his phone had fallen out of his pants pocket when he’d taken them off earlier. It lit up as he received a text, so he bent down to pick it up. 

< What was the point of giving me your cell phone number if you aren’t going to answer? > 

Ari raised an eyebrow and read through the other eight messages he’d received from this unknown number. There was a vague mention of inviting Ari to come over… but that didn’t narrow it down much, considering Ari’s pastimes. Shaking his head in annoyance, he hit ‘call’.

The phone rang three, four - does this bun want to talk or not? - five times before the other line was picked up. “Hello?” 

“Oh, Primrose. You didn’t introduce yourself in any of those texts you sent me.” 

“If I had, would you have actually replied?” It could’ve been a legitimate question, if the Cherubun didn’t sound so passive aggressive. 

“I’m at work, Primrose. And while some of the buns I entertain would have no problem with our time being a little more public, I don’t think you have any interest in hearing what goes on in this room.”

“Entertaining?” Despite himself, Primrose sounded intrigued. “What sort of entertaining do you do? I know Dove sings, perhaps the two of you could -”

“I’m a Lust bun. Do you think you can guess, or do you want me to spell it out for you?” 

There was a moment of silence on the other line, and Ari could practically hear the wheels turning in the Cherubun’s brain. Then - 

“Ah. No, no thank you, I don’t want the details.” 

“That’s what I thought. Anyways, what did you want so bad?” 

“I have another task for you. When can you come up to the Heavenly Embassy?”

“I get off at six. Can it be done after that or is it a whole day thing?” 

“That’s fine.” 

Ari didn’t even get the chance to confirm before Primrose had hung up on him. He looked down at his phone in disbelief, sighing as he updated the contact with the Cherubun’s name, then put his phone on the night table and continued with his post ‘Sweet Ending’ cleaning routine. 

~~~

Ari pushed open the door to the main greenhouse. “Honey, I’m home ~ “ 

Primrose looked up from where he was standing at a nearby table. “What? Oh, Reverie, finally. Come here.” 

“You can say please, you know.” Ari crossed his arms and stayed near the door. “I came as soon as I got off of work. I could’ve stopped home first, or made you wait until tomorrow.” 

The Cherubun stared blankly at him for a moment before sighing. “You're right. Thank you for coming… I would appreciate if you could do a small task for me tonight, one that would take you back into Burrowgatory.” 

“Back…?” Out of curiosity more than acceptance, Ari approached the table to see that Primrose was gently placing leaves into metal tins, which he then lined up in a small wooden box with some abstract engravings on the sides. 

“Yes. I need these tea leaves delivered to Dove, who I believe you met when you were here last. They live in Burrowgatory; I’ll message you the address.” Primrose packed one last tin and closed up the box, turning and handing it to Ari. A beat of hesitation, then - “Please.” 

Ari smiled at him, taking the box. “There’s a good boy ~” Leaving the Cherubun sputtering behind him, Ari turned around and left the greenhouse.

~~~

Ari looked down at his phone to double check the address, then back up at the house in front of him. Only after he knocked did he wonder if it was too late for a delivery like this; sure, it hadn’t even hit eight pm yet, but Ari had no way of knowing what time Cherubuns habitually went to sleep…

Before he could retreat, however, the door opened. 

“Hi, Dove, sorry to - oh.” The doll that stood in from of him was most definitely not Dove. They weren’t even a Cherubun; dark green Envy horns were clearly visible, shadowing their skeptical expression. “Uh, I must have the wrong place…?” 

The Envy doll stared at him a moment longer, then glanced down at the box in his hands. “Oh, did you come from the Embassy?” 

“Yeah, I have something for Dove… Is this the right place?” 

The Envy laughed - at him? - and stepped aside, holding the door open and gesturing with her head for him to enter the house. “Yeah, they’re in the kitchen. C’mon in. I’m Jackal, by the way.” 

“Reverie.” Ari stepped over the threshold, letting Jackal close the door behind him and lead him further into the house. The decor seemed to be a pretty even split between Jackal’s obvious punk aesthetic and the gentle airiness of Dove… Ari wondered despite himself if they were a thing.

“Who was at the door, Jackal?” 

As the two Succubuns turned the corner into the kitchen, Dove looked up, immediately smiling upon seeing Ari. “Oh, Reverie, hello!” They glanced down at the wooden box and smiled even wider. “Did Primrose send you to deliver my tea?” 

“That’s right.” Ari held the box out for Dove to take, the Cherubun immediately putting it on the kitchen counter and opening it up, taking out one of the tins and smelling the leaves inside. 

“Ahh, just as I remember. The tea plants were struggling a little bit this time around; I’m glad they made it through!” They went to the stovetop and put a kettle of water on to boil. “Would you like to stay for tea, Reverie? These plants originate from the Heavenly Meadows, and Primrose isn’t able to grow enough to reliably supply the Paradise Cafe, so you may not get another chance soon…”

Ari threw his hands up in playful exasperation.  “Well how am I supposed to say no to that?” 

Dove giggled and opened up a cabinet, pulling out teacups for the three of them; a blue one for themselves, green for Jackal, and a pale pink one for Ari. 

Jackal pulled out a chair and gestured for Ari to sit, holding her hand out towards his bag. “Want me to take that? I’ll put it by the door.” 

“Oh, thank you.” Ari gave her the shoulder bag he’d brought with him to work that morning and took a seat, watching Dove as they prepared the tea. 

“How do you feel about Primrose so far?” They didn’t look at him as they asked, focused on their task. “I know he can be… a bit unfriendly at times.” 

“He’s not that bad; I deal with Pride buns on a daily basis.” Ari laughed. “Really though, I think he’s just shy. Probably hates having to admit he needs help from Succubuns; he doesn’t exactly seem like the type that came down from the Meadows willingly…”

“He…” Dove sighed. “I think Primrose feels that he had to come down, to ‘save the rest of us’, or something similar. He’ll stop fighting it so hard eventually, I’m sure, he’s just taking his time.” 

Jackal came back into the room, nodding as she overheard their conversation. “Yeah, so cut him a bit of slack, unless he’s straight up being an ass. Ah, sorry Dove.” 

Dove waved off Jackal’s apology. “Jackal’s right; Primrose can unlearn Melangel’s teachings at his own pace without being rude to others.” They turned then, walking over to the table with the pink mug and placing it gently in front of Ari. “Here you are!” They gave Jackal a soft thanks as the Envy doll brought over the other two cups of tea, and they sat with Ari at the table. “Let me know what you think!” 

Oh, of course they’re a purist when it comes to Heavenly tea… Ari smiled and took a cautious sip, expecting the tea to be bitter. But he was pleasantly surprised; even without his usually heaping spoonful(s) of sugar, the tea had a subtle sweetness underlying its distinct flavour. “It’s good!” 

Jackal laughed, taking a sip of her own. “I was expecting it to suck my first time too.” She laughed again at Dove’s sputtering. “But it’s really good just as it is. Definitely sucks that we can’t have it all the time.” 

Ari’s tail curled happily as he took another sip, brow furrowing as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and scoffed, showing his hosts who was calling. “Hi Primrose.” 

“Hello… Did the delivery go okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m at Dove and Jackal’s right now actually. This tea is really good.” 

“Oh? I see. That’s good… Have a good night.” 

Ari put his phone on the table. “That bun really needs to learn to wait until the other person says ‘goodbye’ before he hangs up the phone.” Ari didn’t even realize he had finished his tea before he was bringing an empty cup up to his lips. 

Dove sighed, but their affection for Primrose was evident. “I’m trying, I promise!” They noticed Ari’s tea shortage and moved to get up. 

“No, thank you, but I should be getting home. I went up to the Embassy immediately after work and I’m starting to feel it.”

“Oh, of course! Thank you for staying as long as you did; I’m so happy you liked the tea!” They still moved to stand, but Jackal put a hand on their shoulder and got up instead.

“It’s okay Dove, I have to show him where his bag is anyways.” She followed Ari towards the front door and pulled his bag down from the closet. “There ya go.”

“Thanks, Jackal. It was nice to meet you.” Ari slung his bag over his shoulder and opened the door. “Tell Dove thanks again for the tea!”