Pursuit of Diligence Part 3

Rubi was determined to impress and show off his skills with his upcoming task. He heard Primrose mention how soon it would be time to water the flowers they had planted together, and he wanted to be prepared. He looked up the flowers they are tending and all the specifications they needed in order to grow. Watering would be a cinch with the new device he created just for this occasion. 

Primrose heard the odd clanking of metal heralding Rubicon’s arrival and turned to see the odd sight. It was a watering can with three extra spouts on each side. 

“How..? Why..?” Primrose struggled to find which of his many questions needed answering first.

“Heh, I see you are left speechless by my invention.” Rubicon says proudly. 

“What is that thing?” Primrose made up his mind.

“Just the best tool for this job. I welded all of the spouts just as far from each other as the plants are!” 

Curious, Primrose took a quick measure. 

“Precisely eleven and three quarter inches. You remembered.”

Rubi believed he could hear a tone of being impressed in Prim’s voice and thought he was off to a great start. 

“Let us begin then, shall we?” Prim said, already going towards the hose.

The hose was connected to a large reservoir, which in turn had many rain catchers and dew collectors feeding into it. 

“We must be careful. Every drop is precious.” 

“Oh yeah, your rain doesn’t smell like sulfur. Why is that?” Rubi inquires.

“These clouds were a gift from Melangel before we departed.”

Rubi had only heard about the angel as a boogeyman bun abductor, but something in Primrose’s voice didn’t make them sound quite that scary. 

Soon enough Rubicon’s quad spouted watering can had been filled and his chance to ask more had passed as it was off to work they went. Rubi placed the can upon his head as they went. 

“I read the water for these flowers can’t be any colder than lukewarm.” Rubi reported.

“That’s exactly right. I see you are using your head for thinking ahead as well as heating.” Primrose pointed out. 

Rubi felt good that he was breaking the expectations and going beyond them. Surely his next move would blow Primrose’s socks off! He even kept a perfect balance for the sloshing can above like the cherubun had taught him earlier with a stack of books.

Unfortunately this was where his competent streak hit a rut. Getting the water from the can to the ground required a dangerous game of tilting just enough for the spout to pour and not fall off of his head entirely. Primrose had to catch it a couple times to stop it from spilling. Trying to see if each flower was getting enough water was another challenge on top of everything. 

“Perhaps we could just try another-” Primrose began to suggest before Rubicon held up a hoof.

“This will work! This isn’t even my final form!” Rubi announces with the flames of humiliating defeat close to licking him. 

He quickly takes his doll form to lift up the can and start pouring from on high. This worked just fine, but it soon dawned on both of the buns that this was no more effective than a regular watering can as the water wouldn’t come out of more than one spout at a time. In fact, it was awkward and unwieldy with the extra spouts knocking into his knees. 

Primrose looked on the verge of another suggestion when Rubi decided to kick it up a notch. Holding the can far out in front of himself he began to spin it, deftly switching from one hand to the other. Water began to sprinkle out from all four ends and gave Primrose pause. It was working! The water flowed and left a small rainbow as Rubi hit four flowers at once. 

Soon around half the field was being water and in record time (minus the first fumbles). Primrose decided the good effort deserved a pat on the back. Oh what a misstep that was. Rubicon was fully focused on not dropping the slippery handle and once he felt someone touch him he turned quickly and accidently spun the quad can into both of them. 

“Oh shit.” Rubi thought, seeing the usually pristine bun splashed. 

“He’s going to be pissed. I’m going to be kicked out of the sky.” He worried. 

He hadn’t even finished the parachute he had been working on for if a disaster like this had happened. Instead something surprised him. The sound of a laugh. 

“You-you silly rabbit!” Primrose laughed and covered his mouth. 

Rubi couldn’t tell if this was endearing or if he was being mocked, but he started to laugh as well. Laughing at himself more than anything. This definitely wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for when coming to help, but he’d take it over defenestration from the embassy. As he considered himself lucky, Primrose picked up the aberrant watering can and held it close. 

“No more of this thing, although it may make for a nice fountainhead. We’ll be using the normal tools for the job.” 

“I won’t argue with that. Since you’re letting me stay and all.”

“Well of course. You worked to start this garden. Besides, we need to wring out our clothes and get the water back.”

“... come again?”

Like Primrose said, every drop is precious. They squeezed all they could from their clothes and went back to watering as they dried off. This time Rubicon let Primrose explain how to do things properly, although he was a bit distracted. The watering came easily, and the buns looked at how the plants were growing. A few had small buds coming in. 

“It won’t be long until they bloom. Then the harvest can begin.” Primrose said with some enthusiasm. 

“You mentioned that before. These aren’t just to look pretty?” 

“Far from it. These flowers have many uses for us cherubuns. Just for starters these will make great medicine for fighting off sicknesses. There’s quite a few in these burrows we aren’t used to dealing with…” Primrose began his tirade of the many uses for these flowers, and Rubi listened to the whole thing until they finished. 

“You know now that we’re done we could get our clothes and I know a great place for a drink-” Rubi began to invite Primrose when he suddenly got cut off. 

“That reminds me I have some important work to do before your next task. Beanny’s been asking for it.” 

And without many more words the busy bun was off to his next job and Rubicon sighed, heading home for the day to return again and see what next task awaits him.