Galdor's Pursuit of Diligence: Chapter 2

Deliver a box of tea leaves to Dove.  The second task on the itinerary created by Primrose seemed easy enough when Galdor read it.  Upon the scheduled pick-up date, however, Galdor realized that by “box,” Primrose had meant “wooden crate nearly half the size of his own body in doll form.”  He wondered how anyone could look at his waiflike physique and think that this could possibly be a reasonable request.

“I really would prefer to just plant seeds again,” Galdor thought to himself.  Unfortunately, Primrose had made it clear from the beginning that there would be no changes to the tasks.  Additionally, this task had no requirement for a Cherubun chaperone, so he came alone.  

After rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt and unbuttoning the collar, Galdor took a deep breath and prepared himself.  In one swift movement, he bent his knees, grabbed the bottom of the crate, and stood up while keeping his back straight.  His gracefulness ended there, however, as his limbs immediately began to shake from the weight in his arms.  “How much tea can they possibly need?!” he thought, trying to distract himself from the pain slowly building up inside of him.

Leaving the door open behind him, Galdor slowly walked out of the greenhouse storage room.  Each step was followed by a grunt, as it took all of the willpower in his thin and delicate body to keep himself moving forward.  His arms were beginning to lose feeling, and sweat from his brow stung his eyes as it dripped down his face.  “I have to do this… I have to… I have to!!!” he shouted over and over in his mind.

Despite Galdor's mental fortitude, his body hit its limit, and he dropped the crate to the ground and collapsed on top of it.  Gasping for breath, he wearily lifted his head to look forward - the elevator to Burrowgatory was in view, but it was still hopelessly far away.  He hung his head down in defeat as he went limp and slumped over the crate, oblivious to the concerned stares and murmurs from other buns in the Heavenly Embassy.  Everything around him seemed to fade away as he began to slip into unconsciousness…

“Oh HEY!  I know you!!”

A booming voice startled Galdor awake.  Still heaving for air, he turned his head just enough to see a muscular silhouette standing over him, with bat wings flared and a spiked tail flicking in curiosity.  “Who… Do I… know you…?” asked the exhausted bun hoarsely between breaths.

“Yeah!  You're that old guy that my girl keeps talking to!” replied the bun matter-of-factly.

“Your girl…?” After a moment, Galdor's eyes regained focus, and he recognized the sneering pride bun before him.  “Ah, you're Fergus, Mimosa's partner…” Galdor slid off of the crate and sat beside it.  He wearily looked up at Fergus.  “Well… Get on with it, I suppose.”

Fergus raised an eyebrow. “Eh?  Get on with what?”

“I know you muscular prideful types - you’re here to teach me a lesson, even though I have no interest in pursuing Mimosa romantically or physically.” Galdor let out a sigh.  “But I know you won't listen to reason, so go ahead, get your hits in - I don't even have the energy to pretend to defend myself right now.”

After taking a moment to process what was just said, Fergus burst into laughter.  “AHAHAHAHA!  You think I'm threatened by YOU?” He started to flex his pecs rhythmically as he spoke.  “You just keep her occupied when I'm busy - I'M the one she always wants at the end of the day!”

“I - I suppose that's true… Why are you speaking to me, then?” Galdor asked.

“I saw you totally wipe out while carrying this thing!” Fergus said as he lightly kicked the crate.  “Well, a bunch of other people did too, but it kinda looked like you died, so they were probably too scared to walk up to ya.  Good thing I have no fear!”

“A good thing indeed… I think…” Galdor sighed.  “I need to deliver this to Dove back down in Burrowgatory, but to be honest, I can barely keep my head up to speak with you…”

“Well damn, I should've got here sooner!” Fergus kneeled down and slapped Galdor's shoulder in camaraderie - a bit too hard, as it made Galdor wince.  “Ask for help next time, dummy!”  He grabbed the crate and held it up on his shoulder with his right arm.  With his left, he scooped Galdor up off of the ground and to his feet, holding onto him to keep him standing.  

“What in the hell are you doing?!” Galdor exclaimed as he grabbed onto Fergus to stabilize himself.

“Getting this shit delivered, obviously!  Just tell me where Dave lives!”

“It's Dove…” Galdor's face flushed with embarrassment at his predicament.  “I prefer to do things alone - that way, I can't be let down…”

Fergus grinned.  “Oh, well don't worry!  I've got a firm grip on ya!”

“That's not what I - nevermind… Alright, I'll guide you as we walk…”

“Sweet!  This'll be a pretty good workout!” Practically dragging Galdor alongside him, Fergus marched towards the elevator heading down to Burrowgatory.

—

After about an hour of the strangest walk Galdor had ever been on, him and Fergus arrived at Dove and Jackal’s doorstep.  Since his arms were still full, Fergus knocked on the door by kicking it a few times.  A familiar Cherubun opened up and greeted the two in surprise.  “Oh!!  Hi, Galdor!  Wow, you look pretty tired… and umm… Hello, Succubun that I don’t know!” said Dove.

“The name’s Fergus, baby!  And don’t you forget it!”  Upon finishing his boisterous introduction, Fergus began flexing his pecs again.  

“He really just does that, huh…” Galdor said, briefly hypnotized by the moving muscles.  “Ah, hello again, Dove!  Sorry, I ended up needing assistance with the tea delivery…”

Glancing over to the crate balanced on Fergus’s shoulder, Dove’s eyes lit up.  “OH, the tea!!  Thank you!  Wow, there’s soooo much!!  Come on in, Jackal can show you were to put it!”

Fergus released Galdor from his grasp, causing the older Succubun to nearly fall over.  After stumbling inside and regaining his composure, he watched Dove introduce Fergus to a confused Jackal.  The two gruff Succubuns walked into the kitchen and through a door in the back.  Dove noticed that Galdor was still standing idly by the front door, and came back over to him.  “You’re welcome to stay for some tea, if you’d like!  Jackal’s really taken a liking to it!”

Galdor smiled.  “Heh, I wouldn’t have thought that… though I suppose you can’t really tell how someone is just by looking at them, can you?”

“That’s definitely one of the things I learned by coming down here,” Dove stated with a nod.  “Jackal was a little scary-looking at first, but she’s been nothing but wonderful since we met!”

“And I had the wrong idea about Fergus entirely… well, he talks about how I expected him to.  But to actually help me?  Now that caught me off-guard…”  Galdor sighed.  “I’m going to have to let Primrose know that I can NOT do whatever heavy lifting he thinks I can do, though…”

Dove giggled.  “Sorry about that!  Maybe he just assumed that you’d ask for help, or something!”

“Heh, he really doesn’t know me, then…” Galdor glanced up at Fergus and Jackal, who were now chatting with each other in the kitchen while Jackal looked for a tea kettle.  “Though… I suppose anyone can change… even myself.”

“That’s the spirit!” chimed Dove.  “Hmm, I better help Jackal out… Sit on the couch over there, I’ll bring you the tea when it’s done!”

As he sat upon the couch, Galdor closed his eyes.  Another diligence task completed - though this one felt like 10 tasks all at once.  He would’ve thought more about what the future held for him, but he was too excited at the prospect of actually getting something to drink, as well as having somewhere to sit down.  The seat was awfully comfortable, too… Surely he could rest his eyes for a moment as the tea was being prepared…It wouldn’t be very long…

—

After talking with Jackal and Fergus while the tea steeped, Dove came back out from the kitchen ready to serve Galdor a cup.  When they saw him sleeping almost serenely, they turned back around to the others.  “Shhh!  It looks like someone had a long day…” They giggled softly as they placed the teacup on the table in front of Galdor, and spread a blanket out over him.  “Take your time - you earned this,” Dove whispered with a smile.