Diligence 1 - Filigree

Dirt on her hands sounded like a miserable time to Filigree, but that didn’t mean she failed to arrive at the Heavenly Embassy on time. It wasn’t entirely because Primrose had said this would prove her diligence, of course. The whole reason she had even started coming to the Heavenly Embassy had been due to an entirely different cherubun, after all.

Primrose greeted her as she walked into the greenhouses, eyeing her clothing with barely concealed amusement. “Did you buy all of that new?” he asked her.

“…yes,” Filigree said, sighing. It was not difficult to tell, certainly, she was pretty sure most gardening clothing got at least dirt marks on it. “I’ve never gardened before…”

Primrose shook his head. “Of course you haven’t,” he said. “I’m surprised you’re even trying.”

It was never worth it to retort to Primrose, in Filigree’s opinion. He was too up his own ass to listen. Better to simply redirect, she felt. “So what do you want me to be doing?”

Focusing on actual work, Primrose pointed to a cart full of shimmering and glowing seedlings. “We’re planting these today,” he declared. “You’ll dig holes, and I will actually plant them - I won’t risk them to a novice’s hands.”

Filigree nodded, following him to one of the raised beds. “Are they hard to cultivate?” she asked him.

It was his turn to sigh, giving a look she couldn’t quite place towards the seedlings. “In the Heavenly Meadow, not at all. They grow naturally all over, and though we cultivate them there, it is not difficult. Here…” He pursed his lips. “They can only be grown on the clouds of our Embassy, and the seeds and plants we have here cannot be replaced. We have no way to contact Melangel for more, after all.”

They were quiet for a moment, Primrose’s mind elsewhere, before he plucked a tool from the cart. “This is a trowel,” he instructed. “You’ll use it to dig holes as I show you.” He selected one of the seedlings, and beckoned her towards one of the raised beds. “See the root ball?” he said, gesturing to it with the trowel. “We aim to dig the hole to be twice the length of this. It gives their roots room to break out and grow into the soil.”

Filigree memorized the visual of the root ball while he had it on display.

It was not long before he set it back on the cart, standing over the raised bed now with the trowel. “You want to dig this into the soil at this angle,” he explained. “It takes less force like this. The soil you dig out should be piled towards the right side, so as to not get on any planted seedlings. Is that all clear?”

“I believe so,” Filigree replied.

Primrose handed her the trowel, then, and went to fetch the first seedling to plant in the hole he had dug, while she tried her first one.

By the time he had planted the seedling, and patted the soil into place around it, she had managed her first hole.

“Well, it’s amateur work, but you’ll make progress as we plant more,” he declared. “Take a little more out at the bottom there.”

Filigree complied, though she found herself wondering. “Why are you letting me help with this, if these seedlings are so precious?”

Primrose smiled, surprising her. He seemed to do that only rarely. “Well, I don’t allow just anyone to help,” he told her. “I evaluate them myself, or another cherubun recommends them to me. Carefulness is quite important - I won’t take help from someone who might risk crushing the seedlings, or who I think might make more work for me in the long run.” He went silent as he settled the seedling into the hole and patted some of the loose soil in around the seedling, and gave a pleased look as he noticed that Filigree’s next hole was more to his standards.

“But why allow or seek our help at all?” She was happy to help, certainly - she wanted to learn more about cherubuns and to understand them, and understanding this felt part of it.

“I thought of it when I was working with the sculptor for the Garden of Virtues,” he continued. “My understanding of the upbringings of… your sort is that you are generally encouraged towards vices, with little guidance or care otherwise.” He wrinkled his nose. “Or complete neglect, such as the Envy buns.”

Filigree wanted to protest that it wasn’t as bad for most succubuns as he made it sound… but she didn’t feel like she really understood enough about where he was coming from to properly disagree. Better to stay quiet while she dug another hole and waited for him to continue. She noticed he quieted down each time he was settling a seedling into the ground - clearly focusing to ensure he did it perfectly.

“One of the things I noticed as I began building it was how great the divide in understanding was between succubuns and cherubuns. It’s easy for us to learn about your sort. We’re surrounded by the world you inhabit, after all, and while I am hardly fond of your Church of sinners, they have a great deal of experience in explaining the views that dominate your society and the factors that shape your lives, such as the sins that determine your horns.” Primrose quieted again, frowning as he planted another seedling. “But how can you learn about us?”

Filigree waited for him to continue, though she was pleased to realize that she was making decent progress with the holes. Due to the care the seedlings required, she would probably outpace him eventually.

“I could hardly see operating a church,” he continued. “My duties simply do not leave me the time, especially with so few cherubuns choosing to lower themselves here. So I created the Garden of Virtues, and, where I can, I take more time with those whose interest I believe to be more than passing curiosity, or who other cherubuns ask me to help better demonstrate our virtues up close. In my estimation, work in the greenhouses covers diligence nicely, as the work in it is regular over a great deal of time.”

“I’m glad you didn’t think my interest was fleeting,” she said quietly.

“It’s not difficult to discern after a while,” Primrose declared, almost more haughty than his usual demeanor.

They were quiet after that - Filigree lacked follow up questions for now, and they both seemed to move faster at planting when they weren’t talking.

She found she liked to look at the plants, and wished she had names for them. It would have been nice to know which ones were which… but she contented herself with simply memorizing the appearance of the ones she liked. Her favorite ones seemed to have little flecks of gold on its burgeoning leaves. It was a shame they couldn’t be cultivated outside the Heavenly Embassy’s clouds, she thought. She would have loved a garden full…

When she finished with the bed they had started with, Primrose put a hand up to stop her. “Drink some water, and then you can start on the next bed,” he said.

Filigree had completely forgotten about her water bottle, and she drank gratefully from it. She hadn’t realized how sore her arm was either from digging - she wasn’t used to using those muscles. She might want to consider a massage after this, she supposed… but there was a good deal of work left to do still.

Pursuing the track of the question that had led to Primrose deciding to accept her help in the greenhouses was certain to be a long road…

At least it might be a satisfying one, Filigree thought. Even just seeing the seedlings settled into the holes she had dug was making her happy, after all… After a few more moments to sip her water, she took up the trowel again to return to work, letting her mind wander to further ponder her conversations with Primrose…