Hazebloom Stakeout: No Fun Allowed

Ugh, this really super fucking blowed. And not even the fun kind.

Gardening had never really been anything Damian had been particularly interested in. Sure, he appreciated most of the things that gardening, farming, produced, but putting the work into everything that went into such an endeavor himself? Nah. He had more than enough other interests to fill any potential ‘hole’ gardening could have left.

So then; why had he bothered with doing something he claimed to have had little to no interest in this time around? Simple; hazeblooms were rad as fuck. Also, he liked Hops and had wanted to help her out. Those were a lot of orders that needed filling, and while he was far from the only bun in Burrowgatory to help the clumsy bartender out, well… It was what it was.

Hazeblooms were rad and he liked Hops.

…he could also only imagine what concoctions the bartender could come up with, using hazeblooms as an ingredient.

So then imagine his frustration when barely even a week ago, the blooms he had so painstakingly helped care for were pretty much destroyed by some unknown force… Outwardly he kept his cool pretty well, he thought. Inside, though? Oh, he was mad. Feel sorry for his opponents later that night and at least the following day. He was definitely grateful that he had a job that allowed him to vent his frustrations in a healthy-enough way. Before that it would’ve been more akin to ‘feel sorry for any random succubun hanging out in a random back alley at the wrong time’ kind of deal.

Similar methods to vent, but he actually got paid for one.

Still… Hazeblooms needed to be harvested before the month end and he wasn’t gonna quit on Hops now.

One could probably see where this was going, seeing as we were now pretty much another week further from the last incident… And now Hops was fuming right next to him. Hell, the sight of Hops being mad almost made Damian forget how pissed off he was feeling seeing all that hard work destroyed once again. Hops didn’t get mad easily. This was serious.

A stakeout was definitely a good idea. If anything he was a little annoyed that they hadn’t done that sooner. Imagine all the heartache that could have been avoided if they had actually been a little more proactive the first time around.

Ah well, that was then and this was now. Though, while Damian did agree that a stakeout was a good idea, and he did his own fair share of helping with collecting the necessary things to do so…

Hecking Hell just sitting here and waiting was boring as fuck.

It also didn’t really help that Hops was not really her usual, bubbly self right now either. Something which was entirely understandable, though it wasn’t like understanding made the situation any less bearable.

Hops was serious. Quiet. No-nonsense. Basically, everything Hops usually was back at The Rabbit Hole and even outside of working hours? None of that. If he were allowed a moment to be perfectly dramatic; this Hops was nothing like her usual self.

It wasn’t like he wasn’t taking this seriously either. Damian was taking this very seriously; he did not want this batch of hazeblooms to be ruined. After all, this one was their last chance. He hadn’t worked as hard as he had this past month, on top of his regular activities, to get absolutely nothing in return. And, selfishness aside, he wasn’t the only bun in Burrowgatory that was looking forward to the hazebloom harvest, among other things. There was kind of a lot riding on this last attempt not getting destroyed.

… Okay, rationalizing it like that, he could understand Hops a little more as to why she was just so serious.

…still though…

He couldn’t really talk considering every time he opened his mouth even a little smoke would escape past his lips, and gold smoke wasn’t exactly subtle against all of the green of a garden. Even if it was dark. Even if that hadn’t been an issue, though? Every time he tried to say something, he found himself shushed by Hops, which wasn’t a particularly great feeling.

He’d even made an attempt to loosen her up even a little bit and maybe have just a little bit of ‘fun,’ but he only really needed her swatting his hand away from her thigh just once to get the message about that.

No talking, no quickies, no fun of any kind… He should have brought cards with him, and he didn’t even like cards.

It felt like all he could really do, besides being bored out of his mind, was offer Hops the occasional dango to snack on and maybe a shoulder to lean against every now and then when the sleepiness of staying up so long started to kick in. Not that either of them ever fell asleep, just… The occasional ‘resting of the eyes’ and the likes. One couldn’t be alert all of the time; that’s why they took turns keeping an eye out on the blooms, though Hops seemed pretty determined to prove him wrong on that.

…yeah, another thing he could do; get Hops to actually rest a little during all of this. She was gonna wear herself out before the night was even out if she kept this up.

Forcibly picking her up and putting her aside. Taking her binoculars away from her so he could use them, even though he had binoculars of his own. Stuffing some dango in her mouth before she could really protest about any of his actions when it was his turn to keep watch, “not yours, Hops.”

It was something to keep him busy, and a little less bored.

Hopefully the culprit, or culprits, would show itself, theirselves, soon, though. He wanted to be done with this dumb stakeout, give the culprit(s) a piece of his mind… And get the fun, bubbly Hops he liked so much back again.