Coffee Delivery

It was now late afternoon, and Zepp found himself once again ascending the elevator, being summoned by Primrose to help out with another task. He waited for the white marble and gold box to reach the enchanted cloud the Heavenly Embassy lay upon. Mirrorshades ready to at least lessen the effect of the harsh artificial sunlight on his eyes, he made his way across the cloud, towards the greenhouses, in search of the cherubun. 

It took some time to locate him, Primrose attending one of the furthest greenhouses, near the back of the garden area. Just looking through the glass walls, there was a strangely familiar look to the plants growing here, their leaves and fruits not being as vibrant in hue as the other plants brought from the meadows, and while it was still present, the shimmer under the light was not nearly as brightly. 

He cautiously entered the greenhouse, giving a small wave to the cherubun. 

“Uh, hey Primrose, you needed me for another errand or something?”

He didn't even glance in Zepp's direction, still focused on the task at hand. Picking whatever fruit these plants bear, it seemed? He was sorting through them, finding the largest red ones, and carefully placing them into a large brown bag. 

“Yes, I have another parcel I will need you to deliver, please wait there a few minutes, I'm still preparing it.”

“What is it, and for who this time?”

“Coffee beans, to be brought to the Paradise Café. Beanny needs more Embassy grown coffee for those experimental specials of hers.”

“Coffee?”

Remaining silent, he finished gathering the berry-like fruit, and carefully sealed the opening,v tying it off with white twine, then handed it over to the succubun. “Here. I assume you know where you're going. If you don't mind, I have other duties I need to attend to.”

Before Zepp could say a word, the cherubun had exited the greenhouse, leaving him standing confused. Coffee beans? They were a light creamy colour though, weren't they? These “beans'' were a vibrant crimson red, and well, Primrose was gone, and he didn't want to have to try to track him down to get an answer. He'd just ask Beanny when he was dropping the package off. So, he set off on the short walk over to the café. 

It was quite busy when he got there, a long queue of both succubuns and cherubuns alike lined up out the door of the building waiting for a cup of coffee. It didn't seem feasible to try to make his way inside past them, so he jumped in the end of the queue, and waited. 

It took some time just to get inside the café. The atmosphere was homely, natural light streaming through large, ceiling height windows, giving the room a warm feel. Hanging planters were suspended from the ceiling rafters, with brightly coloured flowers growing in each of them. Almost all of the warm brown wooden tables were occupied with patrons enjoying their drinks. The air was filled with the scent of cream and freshly brewed coffee. Beanny was behind the counter, as per usual her demeanour being joyous and lively, chatting away loudly to the current customer she was serving as she prepared their drinks. 

Finally, he made his way up to the counter, and the bubbly barista’s smile somehow seemed to get wider. “Good evening Zepp! What can I get for you? Frappé, as per usual, or are you looking to try something different?”

“Actually, I wasn't looking to order, but I will take that frappé, please.” Almost immediately as he said this, she began preparing it. “I was sent by Primrose to deliver what he says are coffee beans, but I'm not sure if he gave me the right package.” She placed the cup out in front of him, and he handed her the package, as well as his payment. 

“Ah, thanks! If you don't mind waiting around a bit, I'll check it and clear up any confusion once I'm closed up for the day!” She gave a quick glance over at the clock mounted on the wall. “If you're able to hang on for about an hour, that is. You can sit in the break room, if you'd like, not gonna get a table out here.”

“Yeah, no worries at all, thanks!” She handed him the key to the door, and he made his way back there, drink in hand, and sat down, set up some music in his earbuds, and waited for the cherubun to finish up her shift, eventually falling asleep in the chair. 

He was awoken to a hand gently shaking his shoulder. “Hey, sleepyhead, you there?” He blinked a couple of times to find Beanny standing above, looking down at him. “Usually it keeps people from getting to sleep easily, but you've been snoozing for a while. Thought I should wake you. What was your issue with that package? I couldn't find it.”

He slowly sat up, trying to remember what had been going on. “Oh, right, Primrose sent me to bring coffee beans, but I wasn't sure if they were the right thing… Didn't resemble them.”

She gave a hearty laugh. “Oh, that's what was bothering you about it? Here, do you want to see how I prepare them for use? I haven't finished separating the ones you brought yet. 

“Yeah, sure?”

She brought him to the other back room of the café, filled with a bunch of lab equipment and experimental ingredients. On one of the workbenches was a couple of bowls, one with some of the fruits he had delivered earlier, one with cream beans that more closely resembled what he thought coffee looked like, and one with red empty berry skins. 

“What you are thinking of are the seeds inside the berries.” She picked up one of the red berries, squeezed it over the second bowl, and out popped one of the beans. “I remove the seeds from the berries, then ferment them, and dry them, then they're ready to be roasted.” She picked up a bag from the floor, and opened it, showing him the dried raw coffee within. 

“Ah.. I didn't realise that's how coffee beans were made…”

She smiled brightly at him 

“Oh, yeah! The process takes a couple of days, but well worth the result! Especially with the Embassy grown beans, they've different properties to the ones grown in Burrowgatory soil, making them much more suitable for my experimental special brews. Here, give me a moment, I'll make you one. An iced coffee of some kind, I'm guessing?”

“Uhh…” She had already disappeared back into the main area of the café, returning shortly after with a glass mug in hand. Some dark coffee with a large round ice cube in the glass… Wait, it's not clear enough to be ice. “Is that ice cream?” 

“Yeah, it's one of my specials, I call it the Affogatail.”

He took a sip, and the drink was a lot more rich than the other coffees he had received at the café. Though there was a weird feeling across his body as well, mainly in his tail, it felt completely numb. He tried to move it up into his hand, it responded, but not as quickly as it should have.”

“It's nice, much more flavour than the normal drinks, but there's something a little weird about it. Think I'll stick with my usual.”

“Up to yourself, everyone has their tastes!” The pair returned back into the main area. “Oh right, thanks for bringing those over, I don't remember if I said it. Do you want something for the road?”

“Sure, please.”

“Coming right up!”

She mixed him up another frappé, and the pair bid their farewells, Zepp leaving the café cup in hand back to the elevator down to the city of Burrowgatory.