[Comm] DILLIGENCE CHAPTER IV

Bev yawned widely and loudly, sitting up in bed to scratch at one ear.  He blinked sleepily, plopping a pillow over Trump’s face to stifle the other succubun’s snoring.  What time was it?

The buzzing in his head and at his side muted for the moment, he looked over at the alarm clock on his nightstand and cursed softly.  Five in the morning.  The usual time they’d had to get up to tend to their plants in the Cherubun garden.  But after their success with the pristine dew collection in the Heavenly Meadow the other day, Primrose had been so pleased with them and in such a good mood that he’d offered to give them a little time off.

“I do so appreciate you coming out as early as you did the other day.”  The prissy cherubun had simpered as the two succubuns were stripping off their gloves in the greenhouse and packing up from the morning’s work of tending the ambrosia flowers.  “We gathered so much more dew than expected with your… rugged working arms around.”  his nose twitched.  “I may consider making this a regular part of the succubun program we offer as you’ve proven you’re so dedicated to the work!  I only hope there are others in Burrowgatory who are just as committed to the task…”

Blah blah blah.  Yap yap yap.  Bev was doing his best not to yawn as the cherubun waffled on, which only made him jump suddenly when Primrose clapped his hooves together decisively.  

“... And as such, I think the two of you deserve a little holiday!  Those two delinquents from the embassy whose places you had to fill will take over the job of watering your flowers for the next couple of days so… why not take it easy, mm?”  he beamed.  “So go on, go off and enjoy those… unfavorable little hobbies you succubuns enjoy indulging in.  I’ll call you when I’d like for you to come back to work.”

And that was how they’d had their first morning without the alarm clock blaring in their ears.  But of course Bev would wake up at the exact same time regardless, of course.  He frowned darkly, glaring at a spot on the wall, before gently removing the pillow from Trump’s sleeping face.  Lucky him, able to sleep through the routine.  He looked so peaceful just lying there snoring away.

Bev was about to change that.  He started smacking the prideful bun in the face with his pillow.

“Trumpy!”  He hissed.  “Trumpy wake up!”

Trump rolled onto his side with a groan, pulling the sheets over the top of his head.  “Quit it.”  He growled.  “M’trying to sleep.”

“No you’re not!”  Bev replied cheerfully, despite the heavy bags under his eyes.  “You’re gonna wake up because I’m bored and I don’t want to be suffering alone.”  He swung the pillow again, bopping the other succubun on the horns.  “C’mooon, I can’t sleep!  I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts!”

Frustrated with the fact that he wouldn’t get a moment’s peace unless he complied, Trump resigned himself to wakefulness, grabbing Bev’s wrist when the lustful bun went in for another swing.  His scalding glare was met with only a grin of triumph, as Bev dropped the pillow and pulled back the sheets, shaking him off as he hopped out of bed.

“You’re buying me coffee for getting me up this early.  On my damned day off too.”  Trump growled, following him.

“There’s some in the pot, you can drink that.”  Bev shot back cheerfully.

Trump stepped on his tail, tripping him face-first into the carpet.  The flames that danced around his horns seemed to illuminate his eyes, burning fiercely in the morning’s weak light as Bev rolled over just in time to experience his wrath.

“You.  Are buying.  Me.  Coffee.”  the prideful bun repeated, and this time Bev found himself nodding weakly in agreement.  Trump looked murderous in the moment and surely he’d calm down with a strong cup of caffeine and sugar in his claws.

It took only moments to brush their teeth and comb their fur before the two of them were setting off down the road to the Burrowgatory shops, hoping to soothe the frustration of being awake at such an early hour with a nice, warm beverage.  They wandered the roads in silence, taking in the early morning scenery with gloomy frowns, Bev cursing softly under his breath every so often.  It was bad enough being awake on a day he could have slept in, but having to bring Trump to the coffee shop on top of that?  Thank goodness Paradise Cafe was a 24 hour venue…

The two buns stopped short in front of the cafe, Trump automatically reaching a claw out to push the door open, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise to find it locked.  He rattled the doorknob and tapped on the glass a few times with a frown before Bev cleared his throat and pointed at the little sign over the window that had been flipped around to say CLOSED.

“Closed?!”  He growled.  “I thought this place was supposed to be open all hours!”  He heaved a sigh of frustration and sat down on the stairs, massaging his temples and grumbling under his breath.  “Where the hell am I gonna get my morning fix now?!  This is a terrible day off.”

From somewhere in the shop’s interior came the sound of approaching hoofsteps, a bespectacled cherubun’s face appearing in the window for a split second before the door opened with a click.

“Mornin loves!”  Beanny put a hand to their mouth in surprise, cherubun wings fluttering a little in alarm.  “Sorry about the sign, I didn’t think I’d see any succubuns coming by at this hour.  Every cherubun for miles got the notif but the rest of you…” they sighed heavily, crossing their arms and tapping a finger on their chin.  “... Hey.  You’re part of that Succubun-Cherubun diligence exchange program that Prim has set up, right?  Would you wanna do a gal a favor?”

Bev and Trump looked at each other before squinting at Beanny suspiciously.

“What… sort of favor…?”  Trump cautioned, tilting his head to the side.

“Reason we’re closed is cuz I ran out of beans to brew with!”  Beanny chuckled.  “Normally the folks up at the Embassy bring em in fresh every morning but…” they shrugged.  “Guess they’ve been behind schedule with all the ambrosia brewing lately.  I can’t fault them for that but… I’m sure my customers will.”  They raised an eyebrow at Trump, who stared tiredly back as though to confirm their case in point.

Bev was frowning.  “We’re on our day off actu-” he yelped suddenly as Trump yanked hard on his tail.

“We’ll get your beans.”  he said deadpan.  It sounded almost as though his soul had left his body, he must have really needed the caffeine.  “Bev here owes me a drink.  And I won’t be going home without one.”

Bev laughed nervously.  “Still on about that, huh?”

Beanny smiled.  “Well!  You bring me a couple of bags of beans and I’ll be more than happy to whip something up for the both of you!  First round on the house even!  But if you want more after that…” they rubbed their hooves together, indicating they’d be paying customer prices as per normal.

Trump nodded, getting slowly to his feet as he yanked Bev’s tail again and began to drag the other succubun backwards behind him.  “Off to the damned embassy again…” he mumbled as Bev tearfully waved goodbye.

The two trudged down the road, tottered up the embassy stairs and tiredly asked reception where the coffee beans were located.  A very polite cherubun offered to take them there, leading them down a corridor and out an ornate glass door to a patch of the cloud that housed the cherubun gardens.

The two succubuns had never seen such a lovely sight!  All sorts of plants, vegetables, and flowers, arranged in neat rows and displayed in elegant beds, each with its own nameplate so that the cherubuns could keep things labeled and organized… wandering through them was akin to being in something of a museum but… these were all plants from Burrowgatory!  If they hadn’t been feeling so moody and sleepy, Trump thought he might have had time to appreciate them more… perhaps he could have a little wander around another day.  Nibble the plants here and there.  He couldn’t help but wonder if cherubun grown food was tastier due to that high and mighty cloudy dew they kept yammering on about.

But the coffee patch in particular was down a ways, through some exquisite looking garden beds filled with aromatic herbs and lovely, fragrant flowers.  It was almost enough to wake the two succubuns up, if they hadn’t been so dead set on drinking their morning brew.  There seemed to be a commotion in the patch itself however, someone barking orders, sparkling haloes drifting between the rows of bushes, the rustle of leaves and the soft grassy pop of berries being pulled off the vine by the handful.

“You’re all so lucky there are no succubuns awake at this hour!”  A familiar voice chided the busy workers.  “Goodness, slacking on the job to go participate in an… an…. I can’t even say it!  This place is rubbing off on you, for shame!”

Bev and Trump looked at each other with raised eyebrows.  It sounded like this group of cherubuns had also taken a trip down to Burrowgatory central to indulge in the pleasures of life for a change.  It made sense why coffee production had slowed to a stop.

The duo approached Primrose, who was busily directing his workers to pour big baskets of coffee cherries into the hopper of a whirring machine. The two succubuns watched in mild curiosity as the berries went in and roasted beans spilled out into an awaiting bag at the other end.  The air was heavy with the delightful aroma of coffee and Trump couldn’t help sniffing appreciatively.

“Need a hand, Prim?”  Bev called, tapping the cherubun on the shoulder.

Primrose whirled about, wings flapping in distress, his tail wiggling in irritation.  But upon seeing the two buns, his startled, irritated expression faded into one of puzzled relief.

“Oh, you two!” he exclaimed, bristling fur settling quickly.  “I… did I call for you?  This morning has been such a blur without my usual cup… I can scarcely remember what I’ve handled and still need to handle…” he shook his head, waving a hoof at them.  “I thought I gave you the day off, but I’m so grateful you’re here!  Would you be able to sprint a couple of bags of beans over to Paradise cafe?  I’ve been hounding this lot all morning trying to get them to meet quota but we’re hours behind.”  He ran a hoof through his hair.  “And worst of all there’s a virtue running around shaking the berries off the trees thinking that it’s helping.”  he sighed.

Bev snickered a little imagining a diligent little creature getting underfoot and slowing the cherubuns work further.  “I wonder if it’s Diligentia…?”

Trump snapped his claws at him, startling him out of his musing, already at work loading a few small sacks of beans onto a push cart.  “Who cares.  Help me with this.”

“Oh, of course.” Bev said blithely, waiting for the other succubun to finish, before climbing on top of the stack and making himself comfortable.  “What’re you waiting for then?  Let’s go!”

It was a relatively painless trip back down the road to Paradise cafe once Trump had dislodged Bev from his coffee bean throne and they’d figured out how to get the cart down the embassy stairs.  Beanny opened the doors with a gleeful smile, ushering them around the back to a dropoff point where they could unload the beans into an empty back room.

“You’ve saved Burrowgatory a world of grief this morning, you two!”  The cherubun was in such good spirits as they ushered Bev and Trump into the main dining area of the cafe.  “Take a seat and put your hooves up!  I’ll make you something delicious in just a tick!”

Trump rested his chin on the countertop and closed his eyes as Bev put his feet up on a second chair with a sigh.  It wasn’t long before the sounds of Beanny’s professional barista machine were filling the air with buzzing and hissing and the clanking of ceramic, lulling the prideful bun back to sleep for a moment.

“Hey champ.”  Beanny's voice was in his ear startling him back to wakefulness a moment later.  “You have anything on your coffee?”  They raised an eyebrow at him as they heaped a big squirt of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles onto Bev’s drink and the lustful bun tapped his paws on the countertop in anticipation.

“No sugar.”  Trump mumbled tiredly in response.  “I just want it fresh.”

“Hey, you’re in luck then.”  Beanie slid a full mug over to him, passing Bev his own drink a second later.  “Enjoy, you two!  I’ll be around back letting Prim know we got the shipment ok.  Take your time, alright?”  They shuffled off into the back room, closing the door behind them.

Trump took a big, slow sip of his coffee after letting the aroma waft up to his twitching nose.  After the morning’s work it was a lovely reward to feel the hot drink slide down his throat and fill his belly with comforting warmth.  The caffeine began its work on his system, slowly perking him up as the minutes passed and Beanie returned.

“You lads want seconds?” they asked.  Both succubuns were more than eager.

After some time Bev looked over at Trump, the prideful bun in a lowkey fugue state as he quietly enjoyed his fresh coffee and stared blankly at something on the wall with a little smile on his face.  He beckoned Beanny over, pointing at the extra cups of coffee the two of them had been drinking.

“We’re paying together.”  he murmured conspiratorially to the cherubun, who nodded as they tallied up the bill.  “And Trumpy’s gonna be the one who covers it all!”