[Comm] Persuit of Diligence Part 2: You Can (Not) Deliver

With her fingers caked in a fine line of dirt and the lingering scent of burnt rubber from tire treads, Maxwell finally set down her trowel. She stood up, her knees aching as she gave a pitying look to her failed robots.

With luck, she could return home and rework the code, maybe adjust how close the sensors needed to be for the gardening robots to function. She would also need to change their prerogative, there was no sense in continuing to garden when they proved a failure.

Maxwell was lost in her thoughts, her fingers twitching as she reached for her tablet. It was only when someone clears their throat loudly that she looked up.

Primrose stood with his arms crossed, a pinched expression as his lip curled. “The garden is acceptable for now, but don’t think I will forget that mishap.” 

Maxwell remained silent, she had a feeling an apology wouldn’t be enough for the cherubun.

Primrose continued, reaching for a small bag he had clipped to his clothes. He had gotten it earlier, when Maxwell was busy finishing her mess. “You’ll be mailing a delivery for me.”

“A… Delivery.”

“A delivery, do keep up,” He tossed her the bag, “Tea leaves for Dove down in the burrows, at that one… unsavory envy bun’s home.”

Maxwell stared blankly.

Primrose huffed and stomped his hoof, “Consider this payment for all the damage you caused.”

“But…I–” Maxwell was about to protest, instantly quieting when the other bun looked at her sharply.

“Get going now.” He demanded, turning away before she could say another word.

Maxwell sighed and left the garden, she had no choice as she wanted the task to be done quickly.

As she left, Beanny found themselves in the garden, “Say where’d your helper go?”

Primrose shrugged carefully, “I sent her to deliver the tea leaves I picked out for Dove.”

Beanny looked curious, tilting, “What right now? At the height of rush hour down there?”

“Rush hour?”

“You know? traffic, when every bun is trying to get somewhere at the same time.”

“Oh.” Primrose was quiet for a moment, until a disinterested look crossed his face. “Maybe that will teach her some patience.”

Beanny only shook their head, they felt bad for the succubun that had to listen to Primrose.

As for Maxwell, she quickly left down the embassy’s elevator and got into her cargo truck parked nearby. She didn’t want to waste time as she enjoyed her truck to start and practically peeled away from her parking spot.

It was only when she was down the road and around a corner that she found herself trapped in the evening rush hour. Every minute seemed to only give an inch and every car seemed to be at the same snell pace.

Two and a half hours passed until Maxwell slammed her head against her steering wheel. This was torture, she would have rather fixed up the garden a hundred times over than look out at the sea of cars that blocked her in. What was she supposed to do in the slow lane when she was used to her world going much faster?

She had to do something about this.

On the next street block, she parked her truck in a space just wide enough and hopped out her driver’s side door. She went around to the back and propped open the cargo bed’s metal door.

There between bits of machinery and loose wires, was a moped.

She clicked a button near the entrance of the cargo bed, a small ramp extending just far enough for her to pull the moped down without any strain.

“Sigh...It’s get this over with”

Once the moped was on the concrete, she put away the ramp and closed the cargo door. She made sure to lock it tightly, doing the same for the trunk’s main doors.

She wasted little time in getting on her moped and speeding off between cars on the busy road. She kept the bag of tea leaves in her jacket’s pocket, patting them periodically to make sure they stayed right where they were.

It was only when Maxwell was halfway to Dove’s home, that she realized she was being followed by a pair of motorcycles. She tried not to think about it, until one of them drifted dangerously close to her, hands reaching for her pockets.

She slammed on the brakes, nearly colliding with the other motorcycle as she weaved her way backwards through the cars behind her. 

When she got her bearings, Maxwell drove to the other side of the road, cursing under her breath when the motorcycles followed. She wondered if this was a new method of pickpocketing, since it would be nearly impossible to track down a thief that worked quickly and in a team.

She wouldn’t make it easy for them as she continued on her way, but there was another part of her that felt something twisting in her stomach. It was and enough she was on an errand but now she had to deal with other people.

They continued to follow her for blocks, gaining ever closer until her moped slowed down, It seemed that the fuel tank ran out and remembered that she forgot to refuel it sometime ago. 

Maxwell braced herself when the motorcycles slowed next to her. She wondered if they would be disappointed that all she had on her was the tea leaves.

When one of the dolls began to speak, there was a big bang from behind them.

“You fuckers! You came back?!” An envious doll yelled, her eyes enraged as the would-be thieves fumbled over themselves. “Yeah I know it’s you!”

Jackal stalked forward, her shoulders shaking with barely concealed anger, “You tried making off with a cherubun’s groceries the other day, on my street!”

The thieves revved their bikes in a desperate attempt to get away from the other doll. They were already driving away by the time she got to them.

“Unbelievable,” Jackal scoffed, shaking her head, “What kind of crappy thieving is that? How much can they even steal with that setup-”

She trailed off, looking towards Maxwell. “Hey you alright?”

Maxwell did her best to reply causally, even as she felt that familiar uneasiness of being social. “I have a delivery for um…Dove.”

So much for a casual response, she completely ignored Jackal’s question.

The envy raised an eyebrow, before she shrugged, “Eh…Sure thing, Dove should be home.”

Jackal encouraged Maxwell to follow her up into her place, calling out when she got through the doorway, “Dove! Someone’s here to see you!”

The cherubun could be heard in the back, messing with some pots, before they called back, “Just a minute!”

Maxwell stood awkwardly next to Jackal, fidgeting with her hands as the other doll yawned loudly. She was relieved when that minute was up and the cherubun walked into the hallway.

They smiled brightly, “Hello, you came to see me?”

Maxwell patted her pockets, until she picked out the small bag and handed it to Dove. “It’s from Primrose.”

Dove opened the bag curiously, but their nose twitched in excitement. “It’s the tea leaves he promised me! I knew he didn’t forget.” They seemed elated by something as simple as leaves.

Jackal chuckled, “That’s what you were waiting for?”

“Of course, the tea in the burrows is good but there’s something special about the ones Primrose grows.” Dove explained as they got a small sniff of the bag, seemingly happy with whatever scent they got.

Jackal smiled, her expression soft as she shook her head, “Well I’m glad you’re so excited.”

Maxwell wasn’t sure what to say as she stood there, wondering what was so important about tea that she had to make an errand of it. After all, if this was just a social visit, why couldn’t that stuffy cherubun do it himself?

She almost startled when she realized Dove was trying to get her attention. “Huh?”

Dove gave her a kind look, “Thank you for bringing me this, I’m sure it was out of your way. Especially knowing Primrose, I don’t think you got much of a choice.”

Maxwell shrugged, “I just wish he didn’t send me out during rush hour.”

Dove nodded, “It was definitely terrible today, oh I know! Why don’t you stand a little longer and I can make us some tea?”

“I don’t know if I should-”

Dove waved their hand, “Please let me, consider it a reward for the trouble of bringing over more of my favorite tea.”

Maxwell didn’t particularly care to stay longer since she still needed to go back to collect her robots from the embassy, but with one look towards the happy cherubun, she didn’t think she could say no.

She sighed heavily, “...Alright, if you insist.”

Maxwell truly did think the cherubuns were something else, but maybe spending time around them would give her more inspiration for her other projects. They must have problems that are unique to them and not to succubuns, a whole treasure trove of possibilities that she could uncover.

Maybe this trip wasn’t a complete waste of time.