Mimosa's Pursuit of Diligence: Chapter 6

As the elevator rose to The Heavenly Embassy, Mimosa let out a groan almost equal in pitch to the grinding of its internal gears and cables.  This was the last time she was scheduled to go up to the embassy to help out in the gardens, which she normally enjoyed despite it involving her leaving the house.  Unfortunately, she could no longer avoid the bun she was dreading to see again - Primrose was the sole cherubun at the embassy in charge of creating ambrosia.  Despite her pleas, there was no other bun experienced enough to show her the ropes, and so she had no choice but to reluctantly agree (plus, Fergus wouldn’t let her just quit volunteering altogether, saying something about “honoring her word” or some silliness like that).  

Using all of her willpower, Mimosa slowly shuffled her way over to the gardens.  Further inside was a building for storing flowers and other plants grown in the gardens, as well as ambrosia that isn’t quite ready for sale yet.  To the side was a door marked STAFF ONLY.  Sighing, Mimosa half-heartedly put her hand on the doorknob, pushed it open while staring at the floor, and lazily shut it behind her.

“You’re here,” a stern voice rang out.  Lifting up her head, Mimosa met Primrose’s golden gaze.  His expression was clearly one of displeasure, but there was something slightly off about it that Mimosa couldn’t quite place.  Was something on his mind…?  “Quit staring.  Let’s get started.”  His straightforward request snapped Mimosa back to reality, and she made a face behind him as she followed him over to a work station.

On a large desk were various set-ups of equipment used for processing flowers into ambrosia.  There were storage containers for stems, leaves, petals, and powdered forms of each, as well as various liquids labeled with types of flowers and additives.  Various contraptions made of glass, tubes, and metal seemed to be running, but Mimosa couldn’t make heads nor tails of what they were doing.  The one thing that she did recognize was a simple mortar and pestle, set to the side away from the more complex tools.  

“You will be helping me with the making of ambrosia,” Primrose stated matter-of-factly.  “Your job will be to pulverize dried leaves.  Be sure to do it properly.”

“Oookay,” Mimosa replied.  Dried leaves… which ones?  Glancing to the site of the mortar and pestle, she saw that a container had already been set aside in advance.  She reached in, grabbed a handful of leaves, plopped them into the mortar, and started mashing them with the pestle.  She almost asked Primrose if she was doing it correctly, but the leaves were easily breaking apart, so she figured that she didn’t need to bug him.  Still, despite the whirring of machinery and the sounds of crunching foliage, she felt that the air between them was too tense to ignore.  “So… uh… How long have you been making ambrosia?” she asked to lighten the mood.

“A few years,” he replies.  Mimosa waits, but he does not add anything extra.

“Oh… um, where’d you learn how?”

“A friend.”  Primrose wordlessly grabbed a container of pink liquid, measured a small amount to pour into a glass, and placed it on the desk.

“Ahh.. uhh.. Why’d you want to learn?”

“It doesn’t matter now.”  He continued his work, not even turning to look at Mimosa.

I guess a friendly conversation is too much to ask… Having sufficiently grounded the leaves to powder, Mimosa set the mortar and pestle down.  She looked over to the pink liquid in between her and Primrose.  It almost seemed to shimmer and glow in the lamp light, enticing one to drink it.  Mimosa had heard that ambrosia was dangerous to buns, but this wasn’t completed ambrosia yet, right?  Surely a little taste couldn’t hurt?  She reached out her hand to dip a finger into the mixture…

“STOP!” Primrose shouted, suddenly turning and grabbing Mimosa’s wrist.  “I can see you in the reflections of the glass in front of me, you fool!  Don’t you know that’s poisonous to buns like you?  It could KILL YOU!!!”

Mimosa stared at him like a Freign caught in headlights.  “I just thought… since it wasn’t finished yet…”

“EVERY part of these flowers is toxic to Succubuns!  Even at this stage, ingestion could be lethal!!  Ugh, I thought they taught you people things…” Before continuing his rant, Primrose locked eyes with Mimosa, seeing the fear within them.  His own eyes widened, and he let go of her wrist.  He slowly turned his gaze towards the desk.  “I… um… I see you’ve finished pulverizing the leaves… Thank you…” He reached over the container, picked up the mortar and pestle, and gingerly placed them in front of him.  Instead of getting to work, he continued quietly staring downwards.  Mimosa blinked in surprise.  Did he just… thank her?

“...I’m sorry,” Primrose says softly.  “For yelling at you.  Just now, and weeks ago, when you first visited.  About preparing the gardens.  Of course you wouldn’t know how we do things - this is all new to you.”  He closes his eyes, almost as if he’s wincing.  “It… it was supposed to be easier, you know?  You succubuns were supposed to be dirty, vile degenerates that I had to keep away from my kin.  Instead, you’ve all been so nice and accommodating to us - even going so far as to come up here to help us!  You’re supposed to be awful!  Terrible!  Nothing but hedonistic monsters who don’t care about anyone but themselves!  Why can’t you just be like that?!”  He clenched his fists tight.  “Why do all of you have to prove everything I learned… everything I’ve ever known… It was all lies…”  His voice cracked, and he covered his face with his arm in a poor attempt to hide tears.

Mimosa was completely at a loss.  Was this really the same bun who shouted at her moments ago?  “U-umm… Well, if you’d like, I could be more of a jerk and slap you across the face or something, if that’ll help…” she muttered.

Primrose let out a chuckle.  “Heh, no, I don’t think that will be necessary…”  He wiped his eyes with the frilly end of his sleeve.  “I shouldn’t be projecting my frustrations on to you, or anyone else… I’m truly sorry.  I promise I wasn’t quite this angry before…” 

“I dunno, Dove and Beanny both say you’ve always been snooty,” Mimosa said in jest.
“Th-they what?!  Oh, I’ll get those two for that…” Primrose stands up straight and takes a deep breath.  “Alright, it’s time for the finishing touches.  Watch closely…”  For the next several minutes, Mimosa watched as Primrose gathered various glasses, tubes, and ingredients, mixed them together, and explained the process in a way that completely flew over the succubun’s head.  Eventually, Primrose poured his concoction into a golden filigreed bottle, and closed it with a shining jeweled top.  “There.  One Ambrosia Drop, completed.”

“You needed to do all that for just one tiny drink?!”  Mimosa gasped.  “Shit, I’d be cranky all the time, too!”

“Hmph - small as it may be, this potion has amazing restorative properties for any cherubun.  It’s truly a shame that your bodies cannot process it.”

Staring at the bottle, Mimosa shrugged.  “Eh, I don’t feel like I’m missing out - if anything, I feel bad that you guys can never have wine!   You’ll never know the joys of being absolutely shitfaced!”

Primrose laughed.  “Haha!  Oh, maybe someday, we’ll have something similar… but instead, we’ll just have to both compromise with coffee.”  He placed a friendly hand on Mimosa’s shoulder.  “Your role today was small, but it was of vital importance.  You should be proud of the work you’ve put in.  Truly… thank you.”

“Heehee, well, it was kind of fun!” said Mimosa.  “Next time, you’ll just have to come down to Burrowgatory - I know a great bar where you can order nachos and watch freaky people get it on!”

Primrose’s face immediately flushed a bright red.  “I… uh… m-maybe uh… C-come on, let’s head over to Paradise Cafe, I’ll buy you a drink!”  He quickly ushered Mimosa outside as his face returned back to its proper color.    “Come on now, no time like the present, hurry hurry!  No time for speaking of such indecency…!!”

“Woah, a free coffee from YOU?!  I know that’ll never happen again,”  Mimosa said with a grin.  “Alright, I’ll just have to reschedule my nap!”

As Primrose began babbling about how such acts should only be done privately between a loving married couple, Mimosa smiled and got lost in her own thoughts.  Not only did she put in work to help out the cherubuns, but she managed to become friendly with someone she thought would be her eternal nemesis only weeks ago.  She couldn’t believe how much had changed in both Burrowgatory and her own life in such a short time.  I wonder what will happen next, she thought to herself.  I just hope I’ll still be able to get some sleep in…