[ARIETTE] PURSUIT OF DILIGENCE: CHAPTER 2

On a sunny summer afternoon, Ariette returned to the greenhouse gardens of the Heavenly Embassy to check in on the ambrosia seeds that she had planted with Dove a week prior. But, instead of encountering the sweet, cheerful Cherubun planting flowers like she had last time, this time, she saw a tall, blond Cherubun kneeling over a plot of ambrosia, pulling weeds and pruning flowers with a seasoned virtuosity. Immediately Ariette knew that this must be Primrose, the head of the Heavenly Embassy, and also the head groundskeeper in the greenhouse gardens. 

From some rather unfavorable rumors floating around Burrowgatory, Ariette had learned that Primrose had a reputation that quite preceded him. A reputation that consisted of him being rather prudish and puritanical in nature, as well as being overly dismissive to the Succubuns of Burrowgatory, much rather favoring the company of his fellow “uncorrupted” Cherubuns. 

Setting this thought aside, Ariette made her way inside the greenhouse gardens. She took in the beauty of the heavenly flowers as she walked over to where the blond Cherubun was kneeling. 

“Oh, hello~” Primrose called to her faintly without turning around, his hands buried in the dirt as he pulled a particularly stubborn weed from the soil. And then, dusting his hands on the front of his gardening overalls, he turned, and the smile faded from his face. 

“Oh.” he said, eyeing Ariette critically, staring at her rounded horns and pointy spaded tail.

“Hmm, and what brings you here?” he queried, dismissively turning away and once again busying himself with his work. 

“Oh, I’m just here to visit.” Ariette replied timidly. “The last time I was here, I helped Dove plant some ambrosia seeds. So, I stopped by today to see how they were doing.”

At this, the Cherubuns’ ears perked up. “Dove, you say?”  

Then he narrowed his eyes and turned to actually face Ariette as he began, “Actually I was just going to visit them today. But, as you can see, I’m quite busy today tending to the ambrosia flowers.”, he finished with a small flourish of his hand.

“You were going to visit them?” Ariette mused.

“Yes.” And then, with a slight frown, he continued. “But as I said, unfortunately I’m very busy and will be unable to visit them today as I had initially planned.” He pursed his lips, and then slowly began to pull off both of his gloves as he continued. “Would you mind taking a package to their home? You see, Dove loves the taste of embassy-grown tea, but tea leaves don’t grow very well in…let’s just say anywhere outside of the embassy.”

As he continued to speak, he slowly rose from his kneeling position and began walking to the back of the greenhouse as Ariette followed him curiously.

“So, it’s usually difficult for Dove to get embassy-grown tea because they…” He paused and shuddered, “They actually chose to live in Burrowgatory rather than here in the embassy. I haven’t the foggiest idea why, really.” he muttered dismissively.

“Anyways, if you would…be so inclined,” he said, squinting his eyes at Ariette, seemingly fighting back the urge to say something insulting as he spoke. “Would you please take this box and deliver it to them in Burrowgatory…?” he said, picking up a decent sized wooden box that Ariette only assumed could contain the aforementioned tea leaves.

At this, Ariette quirked an eyebrow at the blond Cherubun, intrigued by his seeming unwillingness to want to enlist her help, and the poorly masked dislike he had for her as he did so.

“He must really be busy today for him to actually be asking me to help.” She thought to herself.

“Alright.” she said after a moment of thought, and then took the box out of Primrose’s hands. The startled Cherubun stumbled back, almost as if he was offended by the idea of an “impure” Succubun touching his hands. 

“…thanks.” he said quietly. “Well, godspeed to you, or um… well devilspeed I suppose?” he frowned, seeming a bit flustered.

“Thank you.” Ariette said curtly, and without another word, she tucked the wooden box under her arm and left the greenhouse gardens as Primrose stared after her with indignation. 

“Tsk….” He muttered to himself. “Succubuns…”

~~~

As she neared Dove’s home, Ariette smiled with a warm fondness as she remembered the two of them planting ambrosia seeds together.

Ariette strode up to the door and gave a quick little knock, then rocked back and forth on the soles of her feet as she awaited the friendly Cherubun’s welcoming response. 

After a little while and no response, she knocked again, a bit louder this time, wondering to herself if maybe Dove wasn’t home.

And then suddenly, the door banged open and a very large and very scary envy bun with spiked ears bristled forward and glared down at her. 

“What do you want?” She asked harshly, folding her arms in front of her and giving Ariette a threatening look. 

Ariette nearly dropped the box in surprise, but quickly regained her composure, straightened, and then began, “Oh dear, I’m sorry! I must have the wrong address. I thought this was where Dove lived!” 

But before the taller bun could respond, a familiar voice called to her from inside the house. “Oh hello there Ariette!” The friendly Cherubun ran up beside the envy bun, slightly out of breath, yet smiling brightly. 

“It’s so nice to see you visiting today! Oh, and I don’t think the two of you have met before! This is my good friend Jackal!” Dove beamed, gesturing to the envy bun, who remained silent at this introduction, arms still crossed and brows still furrowed. 

“Oh well, it’s nice to meet you, Jackal.” Ariette said nervously, receiving only a response in the form of a slight inclination of the envy bun’s head as acknowledgment.

“Jackal was the first one to take me in after I came here to Burrowgatory, so I’m eternally grateful to her.” Dove hummed fondly, and then gave a warm smile directed at Jackal. “Anyways, what brings you here today Ariette? Did you just come to visit?”

“Oh, as much as I’d love that, Dove…” Ariette began timidly, “Actually I’m here on Primrose’s request.”

“Primrose?” The Cherubun questioned. “Oh, you must be here to bring the embassy’s tea leaves then!” 

“Indeed I am!” Ariette smiled, and then, quickly producing the box from underneath her arm, she handed it to Dove, who smiled as they took it.

“Thank you so much! You know…” they said, pausing for a moment. “I am surprised that Primrose would ask a Succubun to help him with something. He’s usually so…uncongenial in that regard.” 

“I know, but he seemed rather busy with tending to the ambrosia flowers this morning. So, I guess he felt like he had no other choice.” Ariette replied with a slight chuckle. 

“That’s Primrose for you.”Dove giggled. “Anyways, are you sure you can’t stay? Me and Jackal would love to have you over for dinner!” At this, Jackal raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Noticing this, Ariette replied. “No, I really must be going! Thank you though, Dove. I really appreciate the offer! But, I wanted to check in on the ambrosia flowers we planted last week, so I’ll be heading back to the Embassy’s greenhouse gardens.”

“Aw that’s okay! Some other time then!” Dove replied.

“Of course! Some other time!” Ariette said cheerfully. And without any other small talk, Dove waved goodbye and Ariette made her way back down the stairs.