Clovers, Carats, and Cravings

Gossip spreads through Burrowgatory as freely as the seasons change. The fresh springtime air is rife with all kinds of chatter, from the latest celebrity drama to strange speculations on demonic blessings. Friendships fall apart and form anew, idols reach new heights and plummet from grace, and the turbulent social climate of Burrowgatory clings to everything ultra-modern. Few succubuns look to the past, with the majority always favoring the future’s fun. 

Nevertheless, there is much to learn from one’s elders, and Emerald has patient faith in old buns’ tales - at least, as long as they concern geology. Anything concerning the formations and locations of cool rocks is worthwhile conversation, and in their avarice for minerals, Emerald finds themself talking to all sorts of people. Some of those people would rather pretend they are with the rapidly changing times given that their appearances do not betray them in the slightest, and so they find the green succubun an annoying reminder that they’re pushing eighty. But those buns are an exception to the rule that most beings genuinely enjoy sharing their knowledge when prompted.

It was several winters ago, Emerald recalls, that they learned from an older gem fanatic that there is a very easy way to identify areas with magic ore deposits in the springtime. Simply count the four leaf clovers in a field, and if there are much more than you’d expect - well, there is a sure chance that digging the soil up will yield a shining bounty! 

There’s no way it wouldn’t work, right? It sounds like a completely solid sign of a magnificent mineral extending its own luck into the plants that grow above it. Emerald thinks so, at least - and for the last four springtimes, they have been an avid clover hunter. Attention to detail has led them to find many more than the average succubun, but they’ve never hit the jackpot of a meadow carpeted in them, and hence have never had to dig up a public park. 

For a succubun who claims they don’t like getting their hands dirty to maintain the facade of a fashion-forward party animal, Emerald would go to any length for a fantastic deposit of ore - including digging up a public park. They own three different shovels, and have had many fantasies about getting their hands on a bulldozer. 

Fortunately for the buns who frequent public parks, Emerald has absolutely no need for a bulldozer this spring season. Despite taking time to inspect all kinds of green spaces near their home, they haven’t found any four leaf clovers at all. This, according to Emerald, is somewhat degrading. Crawling on the ground in one’s high heeled boots is an unusual way to spend a few sunny afternoons, and they demand compensation in the form of good fortune. Even the Wonderland Casino is more generous with prosperity than the plants this year, and though Emerald cannot complain about the extra hundred carats, they do feel like a fool for making such a mountain from a superstition. The last thing they want is to look like they’re genuinely that invested in the clovers themselves - that would be silly, or gluttonous. Clovers can make for a good snack sometimes, but Emerald can buy a better one with their casino winnings. 

If the clovers won’t crop up, maybe more carats will? Luck has never escaped Emerald, not fully - so another manifestation of it may be just around the corner. On a clear evening following a rainy afternoon too miserable to go to another park, Emerald decides to gamble with their prize. 

One hundred carats is enough for a slots spin, and as the triple sevens show themselves, Emerald feels twisted enough to try roulette. Parting with two hundred carats is not easy, but winning two jackpots in a row feels surprisingly simple and natural - the luck of the devil himself. Emerald is glad they chose to dress up for this night, as even Angora gives them an approving smile. If only, Emerald thinks, as they drink their sixth celebratory cocktail, if only they could find a nice meadow in a nice public park with lots of nice clovers… and bulldoze it. The longing drowns in the liquor, and for a lovely few hours, Emerald forgets about their obsession. 

After a silly drunk shopping spree in Burrowgatory’s finest mercantile menagerie, Emerald leaves with a beautiful set of lingerie and a small portable shovel - their fourth, to be exact. Delight flows over them like the cash flowed that night in Wonderland, and they can’t wait to get home and try on the new clothes. The night is wonderful, the air is crisp and clean, and who knows - maybe they’ll be showing off the lingerie to a mystery someone! The atmosphere is a tantalizing one, where fragrant possibilities swarm and dance and tease and flutter on the midnight breeze. 

The shovel is a cute little thing, pink with flowers on it in a pattern. It comes with a matching case, and though the idea of finding a magical meadow nags and lingers in some dingy corner of Emerald’s brain, this purchase was one of pure impulse - it looked adorable, and so they would have it. Tomorrow, if they feel up to it, Emerald may test it out as they help a friend with some gardening. 

Those are the thoughts that fill Emerald’s mind as they make their way home from the shopping center, and they’re certainly not looking for four leaf clovers. No, they’ve all but purged the pesky plants from their memory - so it is a surprise to see a clover standing proud and tall in a clump of grass by the side of the road, illuminated by a streetlight. It has four leaves, and it looks very content with being the symbol of Emerald’s luck at the casino. 

Before they know it, they’re crouching down and inspecting the grass for more, as if on instinct. There aren’t many clovers in that clump of grass, but out of the ones Emerald finds, half of them have more than three leaves. Though they’re drunk, they trust their senses enough to know that what they’re seeing is reality. Could this be the miniature meadow they’ve been looking for all these years? Oh, if only the road was covered in grass - if only they could see how wide these lucky clovers spread - and then they’d go at it with a jackhammer. That would be fucking awesome, they think. 

The ground that they kneel in dirties their stockings, but Emerald is too overcome with awe to notice anything but the third mark of ridiculous luck of the day. They almost forget about the reason they were searching for the clovers in the first place as the alcohol slurs their thoughts into sheer excitement, but they reach inside one of the boutique bags and pull out a gorgeous black harness. They promptly put the harness back, reach into the other bag, and pull out a little pink shovel. This, this is what they are looking for. And what better time to test it out than now, when nobody will see a well-dressed succubun digging up a corner of a street? 

Emerald folds the shovel into dig formation with a satisfying click. After a few minutes of digging down into the earth, they hear another satisfying sound - something solid! Looking down at their pretty gloves, Emerald decides that they do prefer getting their hands dirty to sullying good fabrics, but that it’s a little too late now. They reach down into the bottom of the hole, and retrieve a pretty big rock. It looks like a normal rock, but Emerald knows from experience that it’s a geode. 

A geode! How absolutely riveting! Completely forgetting their previous plans to use their pretty clothes and genderful wiles to seduce someone, Emerald knows for a fact that they will be opening rocks tonight, and not legs. 

Unfortunately, their neighbors will mind either way, as both produce loud banging noises.