Diligence Chapter 5

It was an absolutely stunning thing to see, all the flowers and blooms across the Embassy. The way that the light shown upon them made it feel like they were almost glittering. And to think that all of these flowers would become part of the cherubuns ambrosia was truly something that she could barely comprehend. Of course to be honest she wasn't too surprised by the process, all sorts of different plants were used to create different delicacies, that's the whole purpose of farming. But seeing something like this, something so other worldly and precious being harvested was something that she had never dreamed of. 

 

Primrose had told her that every part of these flowers was to be used, the leaves, petals, nectar, stem, and even the roots. It made her reflect on how every person could also be useful in their own way no matter where they were from, everyone just had to find their own purpose. That was a lesson she had steadily been learning here, that she had a purpose, even if it wasn't what she or anyone else had expected.

 

The secrets she held deep down burned bright like a fire in her soul, smoke pouring out now that she had had the chance to open up and show more of her true self. She had confided in Primrose and Amore, convinced that they would understand her at least to some capacity. While neither of them seemed to fully understand her dreams they did encourage her in the pursuit of them. If what she had dreamed of was possible it could change so much. 

 

But for now she would work on a different change.

 

She was careful digging out the flowers, making sure that the roots didn't get split as they were pulled out, carefully shaking off the dirt before putting them inside of the basket meant to carry them inside. It was there that the flowers would be turned into ambrosia. Primrose hadn't told Ellie too much about the process. Instead he watched from a careful distance with a look of content on his face. It seemed even he couldn't hide the gentle glow of his pride over the new batch of flowers that had bloomed. Now they would be used for frosty ambrosia, a sweet yet minty drink according to some, but of course the accounts on that were varied. Since she herself couldn't taste it Ellie could only inhale the fragrance once the time came and she was sure that it would be used widely by the cherubuns during the holiday season.  

 

Primrose walked over to her and took out one of the blooms from the basket, observing it carefully and making sure that no blemishes appeared on it. The quiet thoughts that she had shared with Amore about pests in the soil had slipped out of her lips in front of Primrose some weeks ago and it had kept him on his toes.

 

"So far the blooms all look healthy. A surprisingly good job for your first time. You should congratulate yourself, but not too much. There's still work to be done and plenty of flowers left to harvest." Ellie smiled at him and nodded, brushing off some dirt from her gloves before resting her hands on her lap. 

 

"I'm glad to help, hopefully I can do this again next season. It's been really nice to be a part of all of this." Primrose hummed in response and moved to get up, though not quite leaving her side. "You know before I started volunteering here it was a little hard to feel like I was doing something worthwhile. Sometimes you want to see the change in the world around you, not just experience it. If you're not seeing things happen, how do you really know that you've had any effect, you know?" Primrose watched her but didn't say anything, waiting for her to carry on. He had known her long enough to suspect that she had more to say but choose not to interrupt. She liked to think his silence was in encouragement, a quiet form of friendship or maybe it was just a kindness. Regardless she was happy for it.

 

"Burrowgatory is such a strange place, no matter if you're in the city you're out in the countryside, the church or the Embassy, a small hole in the wall casino or one of the biggest casinos in the city. It doesn't matter, it's all different and all strange. You think with all that strangeness we'd be able to find more common ground with all the buns around us and oftentimes we can. We're peaceful people, we care and listen, but there are just some things that people can't agree on, some things other people can't understand no matter how much you want them to." She looks around and reaches to pull another flower from the dirt, carefully scooping the dirt from around it and loosening the roots, scooping it under her hand, and gently crumbling away the dirt.

 

"Here though, it feels sort of like I'm a bit more understood, I feel like I can relate to people here more. Seeing how the cherubuns are all still adjusting to Burrogatory and how different things are from what they expected them are wanted them to be makes me feel less alone. The changes that they see, the changes that they would make, the things that they plan on doing, it gives me hope. You know we're all like these flowers, beautiful in our own ways and valuable down to out very roots, but it's not just up to us to make ourselves into something beautiful. With the support of others we can become something even greater. We can learn to help or hinder or become something entirely now with people around us. I like to think that this place has made me into a better person, that volunteering helped to me grow. I've made changes, things that I can see. I've learned new things that I never thought I could, and I've made friends with people I'd never even thought could be close to me." 

 

She smiles at Primrose. The cherubun looks a little taken aback but simply listens on. "If you'll have me I'd like to keep helping out here as much as I can. I know that my work is valuable, but even in a time where you have more assistance I want to be someone that you can all rely on. Even though I can't change things to make them exponentially better for everyone I can at least sit here and help you all in some small ways if it's alright." Primrose pauses and watches her again, his gaze is focused but after a moment he sighs and glances away and huffing out a breath. 

 

"Well given how much time you've already spent here I thought that your continued presence in the Embassy was given, with or without work." She beams up at him and nods, gently placing the flower amongst the others. "And besides, once you're done here there's going to be plenty more work for you. After all, I'll need extra hands for the ambrosia this time around. Preparations for Cherubmas aren't going to prepare themselves and it needs its own drinks."

 

Ellie stairs and blinks at him, realizing what he had said in those words before beaming. "Of course Primrose, just let me know what you need and I'll be here!"