Test of Patience

A little over half the buns that worked at the church of sulfur would knock before entering a room. It was polite, of course, to notify those inside that they had company. It also kept buns from interrupting important business, whatever form that may take. A little under half the buns that worked at the church of sulfur did not knock before entering a room. Their entrance was notice enough.

When the door to Mercy's office was flung open, the head nun only sighed, refusing to look up from their paperwork. Not the foot that started tapping nor the noisy throat clearing was enough to break their concentration. They would finish what they were doing. Whoever it was could wait.

"Uhm, 'scuse me? Why am I here?" Apparently, this person could not wait. Mercy let out a longer sigh, slowly lifting their gaze to glare at their unannounced visitor. "To learn how to knock, for one." The visitor only rolled her eye, taking a step closer to Mercy's desk and rapping her knuckles atop it. "Ta-da! Can I go now?" Mercy squeezed their eyes shut, sucking in a deep breath. They did not want to have this conversation right now. Then again, they'd probably never want to have this conversation. They might as well get this over with. 

"No. Sit." Mercy motioned to the chair in the corner of the room. The doll pursed her lips but complied, dragging the chair to the center of the room and plopping down. "Aerona, we need to have a talk about your behavior," Mercy began their spiel. "The church is happy to harbor any buns looking for sanctuary, but we've now had more than a dozen complaints about your recent actions from patrons and employees alike." Mournfully pushing their paperwork to the side, Mercy reached into one of their many drawers and pulled out a rather hefty file. "There have been reports of you... swapping out prayer beads with anal beads, filling water tanks with red food dye, and teaching all the wild mercia how to to hide and jumpscare people." Aerona was clearly holding in a giggle. "Oh, please, Oleander probably can't even tell the difference between prayer beads and anal beads. I don't see a problem." 

"It's a problem when he puts prayer beads up his butt." Mercy remained deadpan, eyes glued to their notes. "There have also been several accounts of the holy sex toys being replaced with a box of sciels, and everyone knows about the chandeliers that have been falling down during sermons. Though we have yet to find a direct tie to you," Mercy finally made eye contact with Aerona, who had pulled out one of her most innocent expressions. "We're pretty sure you're to blame for those, too."

Aerona blinked her big, innocent eye, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Innocent until proven guilty ...right?" Mercy's glare narrowed. "I personally saw you three nights ago. You were skulking around with a screwdriver, and the next day another chandelier fell. My only question is how you time it so damn well." Aerona's eye flashed, her innocent expression instantly morphing into a wolfish grin. "If you saw me... 'skulking', as you put it, why didn't you confront me then and there?" Mercy pursed their lips, refusing to comment. Aerona took that as a sign to continue. "I saw you too, Mercy the oh-so-righteous. And I have to say, I’ve been wondering, why did the tithes box need so much maintenance?" Mercy's frown deepened. "Routine cleaning is none of your concern. We're here to discuss your behavior in the church."

"And to reprimand me for breaking the rules, right? But that'd be pretty hypocritical, now wouldn't it?" Aerona wiggled her eyebrows. Mercy struggled with another sigh. "I didn't break any rules. I was only cleaning, something you could learn to do more of. But instead, you’ve broken nearly every rule we have." Aerona's grin began to falter. Midnight cleaning was clearly a ruse, but it was no fun if Mercy denied it to the bitter end. She wanted to see them squirm.

Without any warning, Aerona leapt out of her chair and darted toward Mercy's desk. Shock painted Mercy's expression and it took them a moment too long to react. Aerona started tearing through drawers, ignoring the ones full of paperwork. Once Mercy's shock finally wore off they stood and attempted to tackle the other doll. Aerona was faster, swiftly transforming into her bun form, clothes be damned. She wiggled into the bottom drawer of Mercy's desk, popping back out with a squeak of triumph. In her hooves she held several hefty bags of carats. "Oh Mercy~, what are theeese?"

Mercy was about to have an aneurysm. The conversation had been painful enough, and now they had another mess to deal with. "That's. My. Pay. Give it back, now." Without thinking, Mercy grabbed the gremlin by her ears, dangling her around until she dropped the carats and roughly tossing her onto the pile of clothes she'd abandoned on the floor. "Ouch! Damn dude, that hurt." Aerona pet her sore ears, giving Mercy a look befitting of a wounded animal. A hint of compassion flitted through Mercy's eyes but they fought it back, continuing to glare at the bun. Aerona sighed. "Ok fine, but what I'm getting at here, there is no way working at this church is that profitable."

"It is when you're the only one doing any damn work around here!" Mercy’s hands flew up. They were nearing their breaking point, and Aerona could tell. Pushing it any further would likely be at risk of her place to stay. Then again, she couldn't help but wonder what Oleander would have to say about all this…

Mercy let out the longest sigh Aerona had ever heard before collapsing back into their chair. "Just... get yourself cleaned up. We're done here." 

Aerona shrugged, transforming back into her doll form and picking up her clothes. She didn’t have much to put on in the first place. As she finished dressing, she snuck a glance back at Mercy, who was sitting with their head in their hands. "Sooo, we're really just done here?" Mercy met Aerona's gaze, eyes devoid of life. "Look, I don't trust you. At all. But, I'll keep your secrets as long as you keep mine. The second you spill, you’re gone. Now get out of my office."

Aerona just smiled, giving Mercy a small wave as she sauntered away. Her skeletal feet clicked and clacked as she gleefully skipped down the hallway. It seemed it was time for her to plan some new pranks!