[Hana] Mushroom Boom

It was a sight straight out of a murder mystery flick: a bun was lying face flat on a field of soft, blue colored mushrooms, and beside her tiny body was a sharp gardening shear, stained with an alien liquid that tempted one to try a lick. She lay unmoving for something like half a minute before she suddenly pushed herself up, letting out a frustrated yell.

“Why are there so many. Damn. Mushrooms?!” Hops was not having it, and frankly, Hana was not very keen with this chore either. She much preferred the pretty and mesmerizing Hazeblooms that covered the gardens last year over these little bulbous fungi, and while it didn’t take them long to figure out that they could also be used recreationally, there was only so much of it that was fun until it started invading places where it shouldn’t. Like places where flowers should be. And toilets. The scream she let out that day…

Hana shuddered at the memory before resuming her attempt at trimming the horde of shrooms. This particular bunch had grown all over a flower bush, and if they didn’t get them out, it was possible that the mushrooms could kill the bush. Or something. She was no botanist.

“Have you even made a dent with all of these mushrooms, Hops?”

The bartender decided that she was not going to use the shears but switched to the trowel. She was digging them up violently and letting soil fly everywhere. After she had gotten dirt on her own face a few times, she decided to control the trowel better, but she was still annoyed. “I’m pretty sure I have. The path’s actually a path now.” she pointed (with her tool) at the cobblestone nearby where they worked. “But we definitely can’t leave them alone. Not till next month, I feel.”

“I guess they’re like the Hazeblooms in a way?”

“Maybe they’re from the same, twisted family.”

They shared a laugh, but Angora’s profitable eyesores were not going to prune themselves, so they kept on going, whether by snipping off stems, digging them up from the dirt, or just plain yanking them when they got tired of using tools. At times Hana was tempted to eat one to stave off the boredom, but the last time she tried, well, she saw some weird things, and wasn’t eager to end up somewhere outside of the gardens.

“It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s already been a year since the whole Hazebloom thing.” Hana said, tossing a basketful of mushrooms into a bigger wheeled container.

“Right?” Hops, on the other hand, was fighting against a particularly stubborn mushroom stuck on the ground. “I wouldn’t–oof!–say it was just like yesterday, but it’s also like…Jackal and the envies have been around for a year?”

Hana giggled, “That sounds like a band name.”

“Jackal should totally start a heavy metal rock band.”

“Maybe she’s doing it underground and we just don’t know it.”

The number of envy Succubuns that lived in Burrowgatory have certainly increased from when they first arrived a year back. Hana had been seeing a number of notable horns in the crowds, and they were the buns that caught other buns’ eyes until the Cherubuns started to live amongst them. The Cherubuns were much smaller in number, but who knows what was going on up there? Hana wouldn’t be surprised if a wave of them were coming soon, though in truth she did not know how many beyond Dove and the few others manning the Heavenly Embassy actually crossed over.

“You think the Hazeblooms will come back next year?” Hana asked.

Hops finally managed to get the shroom out and toss it in her pile. She sat down and took a break, letting out a sharp exhale. “Dunno. Hope so. Though if they grew as fast as these mushrooms, Angora would order me to cut them all the time anyway.”

“That’s true. Have you tried asking Jackal for help?”

“...noooo…though you know, you’re right. And we can let Dove try these out!”

“Uhhh, not sure if that’s a good idea.” Hana knew that the Cherubun was interested in trying out some vices (like, baby steps), but she wasn’t sure if the mushrooms were a jump too far into the deep end. What would she hallucinate though? The Garden? She thought back to terrifying memories of the three of them facing the towering angel in the heavens. Suddenly she was worried that Dove might cry or something. “But we could totally get Jackal here. She’d appreciate the extra cash, I’m sure.”

“Who says I’m paying her?”

“Do you want some more hooves helping you out or not?”

“Fiiine, I’ll pay her with drinks. No way am I pulling out carats out of my pocket. Angora already owns them!”

Hana couldn’t help but let out a snicker. Hops was hopeless some times. “Of course she does.”