Morg's Diligence 1

This was the last thing Morrigan wanted to do today.

What was meant to be just a flying visit up to the Heavenly Embassy to stock up on some ambrosia, turned into a lecture from the head cherubun. Primrose gave him a whole load of criticisms, but he really wasn't paying attention. From what he did gather, it was something about him “slipping too far into the succubuns' degenerative ways” and that he “needs to remember where he came from.” Well, that and something about them being low on stock, and on helping hands. But remembering… Despite his pleas, he still ended up hauling bags of compost from the storage sheds to one of the greenhouses. Just brilliant…

Where the other cherubuns always seemed to take joy in tending the gardens, it was a chore Morrigan dreaded every day. The dirt clinging to his hands, itching and irritating them. The watchful eye of an angel, cutting into his mind, seemingly judging his every move. Worst of all, the loneliness he felt during it. While everyone else was laughing, talking, and singing as they worked, he felt isolated. Eyes on the delicate plants, unable to read their lips, hands too preoccupied with the work to speak himself…

He shoved the memories to the back of his mind, and trudged along with the bag over his shoulder. The greenhouse he was sent to was deserted. Well, nothing he wasn't used to. He plopped it down next to an empty planter, before glancing around to find the storage cabinet. 

Intricate gilded mountings supporting shimmering glass, with rays of faux sunlight penetrating through. Inside seemed a lot brighter than the outside section of the embassy, lit up the same way as the rest of Burrowgatory. Probably the glass amplifying the light to support the growth of the delicate heavenly plants. He sighed. Melangel’s parting gift, as many called it, or just a painful reminder… “Get back to work. Sooner you finish, sooner you can leave.”

He opened the cabinet, searching for a trowel. Everything perfectly organised in the tool rack, structured identically to how… “No, dont. That's not here.” He tried to reassure himself, picking up the tool, and closing it. The cherubun returned to the planters. Well, time to start tilling. He poured some of the compost mix atop the soil in the four planters, before beginning to dig through the dirt, tossing and turning until the preexisting soil and the newly added compost were well mixed. Rinse and repeat with the other three.

Now, to find what he was sent to plant. Small pouches, all carefully wrapped to preserve the precious rose gold and white seeds inside, were kept safely in a container, away from any moisture and sunlight. Well, Burrowgatory’s equivalent. Couldn't really call it that anymore. He took one of the bags out of this box, gently opening it to check its contents. Primrose wanted two planters for shimmering golden flowers, one for the soft, delicate pink blossoms, and the final one for the plant with crystalline white petals… There were names on them, not that he could understand, though. Too complex, and similar to each other. Colour was enough to identify them. Gold packet, so he'd start with that. 

He began to push small holes into the soil. They were supposed to do neatly spaced rows, straight lines parallel to each other, but he really didn't care. He just quickly made a few rows, spaced what seemed to be a reasonable distance apart. The gaps were probably too big, and they zigzagged across the planter, but whatever. Who's gonna criticise him for it? Melangel couldn't. At least , he hoped they couldn't. Primrose maybe? That didn't bother him. What's the worst he could do, another lecture Morrigan could just pretend to pay attention to, and probably be off the hook for gardening duty again. He did the same for the second planter of these seeds, before getting to sowing. 

He held one of the soft, smooth seeds, examining it for a few moments. It loosely resembled a small, rounded, marble pebble, with thin veins of gold throughout, shining and reflecting the light that hit it. He wouldn't be surprised if the succubuns mistook them for the precious rock, though to him, it just seemed rather mundane. He dropped the first into one of the holes he had created, gently covered it up with a layer of soil, and repeated until they were all filled. It didn't look overly pretty, but hey, they're still gonna grow, and they shouldn't interfere with each other. Onto the next ones. 

Morrigan carefully wrapped the remaining seeds back in their packaging, and repeated the process for the other plant types, gave them all a little water, and put the tool he used away. “Finally. Hopefully this means I don't need to come here again for a while.” He went to look for Primrose, to let him know the job was done. 

“Oh, already finished? You can help out with some errands then, firstly-”

This was going to be a long and painful day, wasn't it?