[Comm] Sleepy Diligence 1

Lost under the shadow of otherworldly trees, sandwiched between marble pillars and warm glass, the Heavenly Embassy’s greenhouse gardens was a step above all found within the burrows.

Although Galaeth didn’t quite see the magic as he toddled unsettled through the grass, his hooves digging into the soft ground beneath. 

His publishing firm had sent him on a excursion to research the process of ambrosia brewing for one of their authors; there was also the initiative of wanting to convince cherubuns the firm understood their culture enough to have new submissions sent in. There was plenty of money to be made in discovering new voices and in taking advantage of a new kind of bun.

Not that Galaeth had a hand in such things, his only desire was to return to his desk and continue editing manuscripts. He needed to get this over with.

The head of the embassy, Primrose, gave his permission so long as the succubun was willing to do work within the six week process. From his stern glare and twisted mouth, Galaeth had realized quickly that meant he was going to have to do a lot more than the firm told him.

He took a deep breath and looked around him. He had been instructed to find the flowerbeds and assist the current cherubun in charge of them with planting the newest generation’s seedlings. However this greenhouse wasn’t the east to navigate. 

It was a stroke of luck when his ears twitched from the sound of digging. He pushed through two large bushes, finding himself in front of not only the flowerbed, but a startled cherubun. 

Lessa cowered back in fear, her winds fluttering as she stumbled back. It was rare to see a succubun in the embassy and much less the gardens, she couldn’t imagine what they could want.

Her hands trembled as she clumsily signed, “Who are you?”

Galaeth stared for a few moments, until it seemed to dawn on him that he was scaring the cherubun. He lazily raised his hands, “I’m here to help with planting.” He didn’t want to bother with signing back long sentences, he wanted to get the work done.

Lessa’s shoulders still tense as she weakly nodded, she remembered Primrose telling her that someone could come by to help her. It was her mistake to believe he meant another cherubun. She signed again, her hands moving faster than before, “The seeds are in that bag. I’ll dig holes and you’ll drop the seeds in.”

Galaeth nodded, reaching for the seed bag and decidedly ignoring when the cherubun flinched. He wouldn’t let himself worry over her reactions, he had noticed a while ago that cherubuns were the fidgety sort, distrustful and afraid of succubun kind. That’s why the publishing firm needed to show them understood them as much as any succubun would understand each other.

Lessa grabbed her trowel and with one more frightful glance, she turned to the flowerbed. The small shovel pierced the soil easily, allowing the cherubun to move quickly as she dug a neat line of nearly identical holes.

Galaeth waited for her to move away, before he leaned forward to careful drop a seed in each hole. 

He took a step back when Lessa approached again, watching silently as she covered the seeds it’s the dirt again. He wondered briefly if cherubuns had more of a knack for gardening from what he head of the heavenly meadow, but he also imagined that line of thinking was what kept pushing the two buns apart. If he kept thinking they were very different to each other, then that’s all they would ever be.

He waited for the other doll to look at him again, but he signed a simple, “Is that all?”

Lessa shook her head immediately, gesturing to her side as three other flowerbeds were completely empty. It seemed they would have a lot more work to do.

Galaeth groaned softly, he didn’t have time for this. He glanced at the cherubun and noticed, with a start, that her shoulders were shaking.

Even with no noise coming from Lessa, Galaeth could easily distinguish when someone was laughing. He wasn’t sure what he was meant to feel, but he knew he wasn’t upset.

Instead he was curious.

He caught her attention with a small wave, before he signed a short, “Was that funny?”

Lessa looked panicked, her quiet laughter stopping immediately. It was only when she realized he wasn’t angry, that she weakly moved her hands, “You don’t want to keep working.”

He nodded, answering her with his own slow movements. “Does anyone?”

She looked uncertain, looking towards both of her sides, before she meekly answered, “Don’t tell, but sometimes it’s a lot of work. Too much alone.”

Galaeth could understand that, he remembered plenty of deadlines pushed onto him in his early days of being an editor. Expections were easy to be crushed under and he had a feeling this cherubun could understand. “I won’t.”

Lessa weakly smiled, she didn’t seem entirely comfortable around him but she was trying. This was no point in acting wary to someone that didn’t deserve her fear, in the end, it would only leave her with some lingering guilt.

She took a deep breath and shyly signed, “I will buy you a coffee for helping.”

That seemed to be the one thing Galaeth needed to hear as he quickly reached for the seed bag without bothering to answer.

Lessa understood him without words as she returned to digging holes in the other flowerbeds. It was a long and tedious task, but she didn’t seem to mind it.

Galaeth wondered where she got the motivation, but he supposed his own excitement and eagerness was easily contagious. Maybe his publishing firm was right about this kind of research, he had never thought about cherubun much before he came here. But now he was curious about them, curious about who they were and why they did the things that they did.

He wanted to understand Lessa.