prompt - pursuit of diligence 05

PROMPT - PURSUIT OF DILIGENCE: CHAPTER 05

Succubun - MYO-4927, Aysel + mention of others owned by me
Cherubun - NPC, Primrose

So... may have gotten a little overzealous here, opting to go alone entirely all of a sudden. The decision had sort of served Aysel well, in the sense that Will had to go out early and wouldn't have been able to bring him anyway, but—going places was hard!

Or... getting to the Heavenly Embassy specifically proved to be difficult, especially for someone with the navigation skills of a walnut. Where was it again..? Hell, where am I? The succubun made his way downtown, gaze flitting around hastily in his attempts to find some landmarks or something that he could use as guidelines; anything he recognized from previous trips.

He was failing spectacularly right now. In fact, if you saw Aysel stuttering through this process, you would think that he had genuinely never gone outside before. He meandered through the streets without real purpose, the occasional whimper escaping his lips.

Ugh, this was stupid! Why was navigating the outside world challenging at all? They were just a bunch of roads and alleys, and it worked out fine when he was with someone else! Aysel held his phone upside down and turned it around, but he could barely read the digital map as was, so that really only served to make it more complicated.

Was this his left or the map's left? Was there even a difference between the lefts in this case? "Um, um, um..." This sucked. Should he just go home, maybe..? No, today was harvest day—and, shocking as it may be, coming from his mouth in particular, he really wanted to be there for it.

Lo and behold, it was like his whiny pleas had been answered when he spotted something across the street: a backside with small, feathered wings and a fluffy cherubun tail sticking out, belonging to a cherubun who was rushing down the streets with a clear goal in mind. Gasping, Aysel set into motion, following the bun.

It was only through sheer luck that the bun in question actually turned out to be headed to the Heavenly Embassy… Otherwise, Aysel would have had quite some explaining to do.

His shenanigans had him run a little late, but Primrose took one look at his heaving stature and lack of transport, and decided not to mention it this time; Aysel's current state was surefire evidence that he had actually done something before getting here today, and it was noteworthy enough.

Aysel slumped with relief, trailing after the blonde. Okay, overzealous as it may have been… he did do it, though! Maybe he could count it as a small win, as a treat.

“Welcome back,” Primrose said, leading him down the familiar hallways, to the Embassy gardens. He looked a lot less pent up than usual. “Well, now that you're here, you will be pleased to know your hard work has indeed paid off! Every seed you had planted, has grown into a beautiful ambrosia flower. Of course, my guidance was of great value here, but—well done, Aysel.”

A little flustered, Aysel quickened his pace. Oh, he couldn’t wait to see!

Primrose took him to the planter they had occupied over the past weeks, and Aysel stood in awe at the sight: all those buds he had watered just last week had grown into their full glory now, lining the plantar with blooming ambrosia flowers in all kinds of colors. Obviously, they were vastly different from anything he had ever seen on Burrowgatory soil, entrancing him all the more. Some flowers were much larger than others too, he noticed, but none seemed any less healthy for being on the smaller side.

“Whoa..!” Aysel’s heart skipped a pleased beat, and he clutched tightly onto his fluffy bag strap. “They’re so pretty!”

Primrose nodded proudly. “Indeed! They are now in full bloom, as you can see, and this means that it is time to harvest them,” he said, pulling a set of golden shears and garden scissors into view. “After all, they have reached the perfect state for a successful batch of ambrosia. And that is what this was all about in the end, no?”

“Ohhh… Yeah, guess so.” Huh. It was almost a little disheartening, seeing these pretty flowers go so soon. But, the prospect of making (and possibly tasting) ambrosia was exciting enough to soothe the sad thoughts. Aysel flopped down on the planter, earning a surprised look from Primrose. “So… I guess we can’t just pluck them?”

“.. No.” The cherubun smiled a bit and sat down beside him, offering him the tools. “Hm. Great to see you get ready without needing to be asked to. It seems as though all this hard work has been paying off in more ways than one. In any case…” Before Aysel could properly compute that compliment, Primrose started his explanation: every bit of each plant was to be used, so the flowers should only be cut with scissors, and other parts should only be acquired using shears. No plucking, no ripping, no snatching—only poise and elegance, as Primrose said.

“And remember, next week we shall be making this into ambrosia—so the more care you put in now, the less of a struggle we will face then. Though… I am not too sure whether you should actually…—” Whatever Primrose was saying, quickly devolved into untypical mumbling.

Well, that was not a flat-out "no" on Aysel concocting ambrosia! Good enough for him.

The two got to work, though Aysel just a little more than Primrose, as the bun in charge had to ensure no mistakes would be made in the final stretch. The work was a lot more tedious than planting seeds and watering them, and even more tedious than making deliveries; the tools weren’t easy to use, and Aysel’s fingers were bruising rather quickly, and added to that, it really was quite a shame to see the pretty flowers taken down—and Primrose kept clearing his throat when he was about to do it wrong. But he liked to think it was worth it once ambrosia time came around.

Speaking of that… "Oh, can I taste the ambrosia we’ll make next week?" he asked hopefully, gazing up through gleaming yellow eyes that had got to look more awake than ever before.

Unfortunately, Primrose's response to that was, first and foremost, looking like he had swallowed a bulbug. Was the question that bad…? “Er, no,” he said, his tone some sort of combination of irritation and the attempt to politely mask said irritation. "Your delicate succubun interior would not be able to handle the refined taste of ambrosia. In fact, I think you might handle it so poorly that you'll never want to eat anything again."

Oh. Well, that sucked. Imagine if, all those weeks ago, the tea leaves had indeed been cherubun code for ambrosia and Aysel had tried a sip! He deflated pointedly... but he continued working; no need to spur him on anymore, he was already used to putting in some effort.

Even if he couldn't taste the stuff, he was having a good time harvesting. And making something potion-y was always bound to be fun! That was the only way he ever cooked anyhow, when his exceptionally rare turn came around; Will never knew what exactly his lazy ass had concocted and frankly, neither did Aysel, but it was good enough, usually.

Yeah! This was alright. Aysel smiled to himself, cutting off another flower by the stalk and placing it in the wicker basket Primrose had fetched in the meantime. He was still looking forward to next week.