Coffee Stop

Valentine and Dove found themselves in the garden more often than Valentine would have originally thought. On top of checking on the ambrosia Valentine was growing, she often found herself completing entirely unrelated tasks that seemingly had nothing to do with her own work. Valentine didn’t mind, of course - it gave her excuses. Tasks to keep busy with and brain-food to occupy her mind with. Dove didn’t seem to mind, either; consistently tagging along and filling the silence with comforting chatter. Occasionally, Val would spot Primrose tending to the gardens, though he didn’t often engage in conversation unless he was invited to do so. For the keeper of the greenhouse he was oddly elusive - though she supposed it could easily be attributed to the job he still maintained selling ambrosia. He was a busy bun - and one that only just barely tolerated Valentine’s presence, at that.

Today, Primrose was waiting in the garden with his back turned and hands clasped out of sight when Dove and Valentine entered with their own arms linked. There was a moment of pause as the two looked towards him, the only movement caused by the subtle rise and fall of his chest. The scent of vanilla and sunshine was especially thick around him; lingering from his no-doubt countless hours around it. Valentine and Dove looked to eachother briefly before the moment was over and he finally turned to face them, head held high and eyes perpetually angled to glare down at them.

“Good morning. I trust you've slept well enough to be ready for work?” His tone was cold as ever, though Valentine had learned not to mind it. At both her and Dove’s nods, he stepped away from his position before the door. His footsteps resonated against the tile before he stopped again before a table, grabbing a box and carrying it with both hands despite its small size. He returned to his position and presented the box with only one hand, tucking the other behind his back. Valentine could see coffee beans engraved on the side, the only indication of what the contents were.

“You’ll deliver these to the Paradise Café just across the street. I trust Dove here will be able to guide you if the task proves too much.” His snideness wasn’t unexpected; it was almost a staple from the cherubun. Valentine opened her mouth to accept the task, already extending her hands to take the box when she heard Dove speak up next to her.

“I don’t think she’ll need any help with finding it, she’s been there before. Haven’t you, Valentine?” Dove didn’t sound confrontational, only as though they were stating a fact that they assumed Primrose hadn’t known. Valentine wasn’t entirely convinced they’d even realized he was being snide.

“Oh, yes… I enjoy an Angora Au Lait from time to time… I’ll be able to find my way there!” Valentine didn’t feel the need to mention that it would be difficult to miss it. She took the box  and watched the hand Primrose had been holding it with previously shoot away, joining his other behind his back.

“I’ll hold you to it. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”  He walked away without explanation, disappearing elsewhere within the greenhouse and leaving Valentine and Dove to their mission.

The Paradise Café was visible by simply turning around and walking out of the greenhouse, the building one of many in the lightly-colored cluster of shops. This particular area was known to attract the most succubun tourists due to the greenhouse; the shops all being packed along the street reflecting the fact. As opposed to the greenhouse’s quiet, the street outside was typically filled with chatter - cherubuns and succubuns both bonded in their own conversations. Dove and Valentine walked past quite a few in the brief stretch of space between the greenhouse and the café, though they were paid no mind.

The bell overhead announced their entrance, the cherubun behind the counter perking up at the sound. Valentine had talked with Beanny on surface-level topics the many times she’d visited for a coffee, the conversations not quite substantial enough to note. Even still, the cherubun waved at both and leaned against the counter, beckoning them closer.

“Dove, Val,” she acknowledged each with a grin, eyes behind her glasses trailing down to the box the succubun held, “brought the goodies, I assume? Cost me a good amount of nagging just to get Prim to plant those things. You’d think I was asking him to kill every plant in his garden with the way he was acting about it. But, hey - one for Beanny, zero for Prim, yeah?” Beanny chuckled, tapping her finger on the counter to gesture for the box. Valentine placed it, matching Beanny’s default grin with her own.

“That so? Why wouldn’t he want coffee grown in the greenhouse?” Valentine asked, glancing to Dove despite the question being meant for Beanny. Their face didn’t match her own surprise at the tidbit, implying that they, at least, already knew the reason.

“Oh, coffee didn’t grow in the heavenly meadow. He was blabbing about it being ‘unheard of’ or one thing or the other. He’s more of an ambrosia guy, you know? Not big on something that wasn’t available in our old lives. Stuck in the past or something. Sucks to be him. But, hey! I get my coffee beans, and he gets - what does he get? Nothin’.” They pried open the box as they were talking, kneeling down to further deal with it under the counter. They popped up after a short time, still grinning in their usual unbothered-manner, “Now, how about a hot chocolate and an Angora Au Lait for the trouble?”

“Thank you!” Dove chirped out as Beanny placed the hot chocolate in front of them, beaming as they took to stirring in their cream. Valentine’s upper lip already bore the cream from her own drink, though she busied herself in wiping it away.

“It’s no problem! Always nice to see you out of Burrowgatory. You and Jackal doing alright?” Beanny nudged Dove with their elbow, brushing pink along their cheeks.

“Oh, um - yeah! We’re doing great… Oh, Val - speaking of, Jackal wanted me to ask you if you’d want to talk with her?” Dove’s quick change of topic did not go unnoticed by Beanny, the other cherubun snickering as they trotted off behind the encounter to assumedly work with the coffee beans that had been delivered.

“Oh, Jackal? That would be nice… Maybe I could talk to her about how you two have been doing?” Valentine chuckled, watching Dove’s face go back to the bright shade and hearing Beanny’s snickers behind the counter. She sipped at her own drink, preparing the words before she delivered them.

“...This is really good, Beanny. Maybe I should deliver coffee beans more often.”