[PROMPT] Diligence Ch.5

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Another flower drops into the basket, as Tsubaki works on clipping them away from delicate stems. Primrose is beside him working on another row of flowers. There was a calm quiet that settled over the two of them as they worked. Over the weeks of Tsubaki coming to work in the Heavenly Gardens - or being Prim’s delivery bun - the two have gotten somewhat comfortable with each other. Of course, Primrose still acts all holier than thou but it doesn’t particularly bother Tsubaki anymore. 

“Don’t forget the stems.” Prim hums, breaking the comfortable silence between them as he looks over and notices Tsubaki’s harvesting technique. “These are for Ambrosia, every part of the plant is important.”

Tsubaki nods, now starting to clip the stems and then the leaves. Prim gestures to baskets set aside for the respective parts and he drops them in there. “Sorry, I should have figured when I saw you doing the same. I thought you were just getting ready for a new batch of seeds to sow.” He gave a quiet laugh as Prim simply tuts at him for the mistake. 

“So…” Now that the silence was broken, Tsubaki was feeling a bit chatty, “How long until these are processed?” He hummed, hands still working diligently to harvest the plants in front of him. Given his life as a homesteader, Tsubaki took a little bit of interest in how the heavenly blooms were to be put to use. With how they are being harvested, he assumed that these were more than just a pretty decoration for a dinner table. 

“Next week, you will be helping me render them.” Prim starts to explain. He takes a moment to adjust his gardening gloves, making sure the cuffs of his shirt are tucked in to avoid any dirt staining his garments. “The petals and leaves need time to dry and the stems need to be milked for their sap.”

Tsubaki hums in interest, a quiet noise to let Primrose know that he was listening to the explanation of what was on the docket for next week’s work. He moves on to the next row of blooms, quickly working to remove the flower, stems and leaves as Prim continues.

“The sap and leaves will be handed off to the others, they will be processed into a medicinal ambrosia. We, however, will be working the last batches of Bitter Ambrosia this season.” Finished with his current row, Prim also stands to move. Dusting off his gardening apron before looking over Tsubaki’s current yield of plants, he let out an impressed huff at the sight of how well they were harvested. “I see you’re used to this?”

Tsubaki is snapped out of his concentrated trance before looking up at Prim and giving him a nod. “Yeah, actually. Me and Swain prefer to plant a lot of our own foods and medicine. We only really buy necessities and things that are otherwise a pain to plant or process. Like mushrooms…” Tsubaki shivers as mutters about the mushrooms. 

“Mushrooms?” Prim muttered, looking a little bemused but also intrigued as to why Tsubaki seemed to loathe growing fungi. “Please, continue on about the Mushrooms, I’m curious as to why you seem so apprehensive about them.”

Tsubaki groaned, glove hands falling into the dirt as his head lulls back with an exaggerated grimace on his face. “So… we had a shed that we weren’t really using aside from maybe storing extra tools and I had the wonderful idea of using it to grow some mushrooms. Someone in our scattered community was selling grow kits!” Tsubaki grumbled sarcastically before returning to work, still murmuring about his story. 

“Little did I know, that between some water damage last summer and the shotty quality of homemade kits, that the spores would get loose… While they were growing in their little containers, some spores must have gotten into the wood because when I went to check on them a couple weeks later, those little shits were growing everywhere!” For a bit of dramatic flair, Tsubaki raises his hands in the air, giving a quick little jazz hands. “It’s not that big a deal since it was just the shed… but still… I don’t want to deal with that again…” 

Tsubaki’s face heated in embarrassment as he heard Prim start to laugh over his mushroom induced misery. His gloved hand covered his mouth as he took a moment to marinate in the humor. “What a predicament! Are they still there?” Prim laughs out.

The question makes Tsubaki groan again, shoulders haunching as he gives a pathetic nod. “Some of them… yeah. No matter how hard we try we can’t get them to stop growing…” He mutters, as his shears clipped at the plants in front of him. “I think we’re just going to dismantle the shed and toss the logs into the wood. We weren’t really using it anyways.” Tsubaki further explains, looking up at Prim with a sheepish smile. 

The topic lingered on that of Tsubaki’s knowledge and occasional misfortunes of his adventures in homesteading. Primrose seemed to find it amusing, which was a little embarrassing but Tsubaki would take it over the usual snooty Prim that he was used to working with by now.  As the fields of blossomed flowers get harvested, Tsubaki starts to wonder about Ambrosia again. “So, what does Ambrosia even taste like?” He asks, giving one of the flowers a sniff.

“That depends on the type you are drinking.” Prim explains, plucking the flower that Tsubaki was smelling and tossing it into the basket below. “The medicinal ones are extremely bitter, while the Ambrosia processed for recreational use is more sweet. If you use the nectar alongside it, you can unlock transformative properties, much like those boozy drinks your like indulges in.” Prim says that last part with a sneer but Tsubaki shrugs it off. “The ones we will be making are a fall exclusive. The petals get made into a tea and then roasted over a flame. When mixed into the Ambrosia base, the initial taste is very bitter before it ebbs into a more… nutty flavor brought out by the roasted petals.” 

“Hm… that sounds pretty good… I may have to find something similar to try…” Tsubaki muttered trying to think of similar drinks that he could try, given that he was unable to drink Ambrosia. 

The rest of the work goes by quickly. Tsubaki and Primrose chat as they finish up harvesting the fields of the Heavenly Blossoms together. Of course the work doesn’t end there, both of them having to bring in the parts of the plant to places where they could be set out to dry or be processed into sap and nectar. Even after that, tools and gardening clothing had to be cleaned and put away by Prim’s insistence. Once things were done Tsubaki was escorted to the doors of the Heavenly Embassy by Primrose, there’s a moment of hesitation from the Cherubun but he shakes Tsubaki’s hand as they exchange goodbyes.

“I’ll see you next week, Tsubaki.”