Apple Picking

"Hey Fortuna. I need a favor if you have the time. I'll compensate you for it too. I realized the bar is short in apples for the season and I need a bunch for some apple ciders. I know you live in the forest pretty close to the farms so if you could pick up a bunch for me I'd really appreciate it!"

Fortuna heard Hops voice over her voicemail and was immediately interested at the idea of being compensated. Hops tended to tip her very well especially for something as time-consuming as this too, so as soon as she finished the voicemail she sent over a text to Hops that she was on it and got some baskets and her cart in order for the travels.

Since she was already heading home from completing an errand for a neighbor it took little time for her to head over to an area she recalled having a lot of apple trees. She had actually been eyeing them recently for some apple tea she'd been wanting to make, but getting paid was a lot more important, especially when her friends were relying on her! Plus... she might be able to score a free cider if she stopped by once ciders were available at the Rabbit Hole.

There wasn't an actual road on the way to the trees, but Fortuna and her neighbors had worn it down enough by their consistent travels that it created something of a dirt path. Even though the apples weren't always available, it was still a great area for a picnic.

Fortuna had to walk past some trees that she figured had already been picked from. More telling of that was a stool someone had kindly left behind. (At least she assumed that was the case, as the locals here were much more open to sharing each other's things than in the city aside from some particularly greedy buns. As long as you left things where you found them when you were done it was considered fine to borrow things left around.) Knowing it would take time to get to the Rabbit Hole she went right to work, focusing on picking the best apples.

It was very tiring work to go around each tree, adjust the angling of the stool, and occasionally going back and forth to exchange her basket. More than that all the reaching upwards and stretching was hurting her arms, even with her being in good shape from all the exercise she regularly partook in doing errands for other buns.

When she finally was done with picking apples she decided to take a break and sit on the stool under the shade of the tree. She was quite hungry too, and couldn't resist the urge of grabbing an apple to bite into it as a snack. And when that didn't quite satisfy her, she took another... but she did resist the urge after that, and grabbed a couple more apples to replace them before she put the stool back where she found it and started walking the cart over to Hops.

It was a few minutes of mindless walking when it occured to Fortuna to send an update on her errand since it had been a while. She sent a text to Hops with a photograph of her full cart of apples and a message reading "Apple time."

Hops took a while to respond so she just kept walking in the meantime, but when her phone eventually jingled she smiled to read the response.

"My hero for real!" with a sobbing bun emoji.

Despite being tired from picking the apples and now pushing them along uneven ground and various hills, getting that message helped invigorate her to move a bit faster.

It was closing in on the evening when Fortuna finally made it to the Rabbit Hole, and she was especially tired and thirsty. On the way to the bar she encountered some buns selling some cheap yuzu popsicles and spent more carats than she should have eating them to cool off while she sat on a bench. A bit regretful, but very refreshing and worth it to recharge.

Hops' eyes lit up at the sight of Fortuna wheeling in the apples and tried to stand a bit taller over the buns in front of her to point Fortuna over to the back room. She said something to Fortuna but with the crowd of patrons, Fortuna heard literally nothing, so she just followed the pointing.

Eagerly awaiting compensation for her hard work, Fortuna sat down on a chair and enjoyed the nice air conditioned room while she waited for Hops to come in. A couple other buns working walked past her and ignored her, save for one who didn't expect her there and asked about it.

"Oh, you must be the person Hops asked to deliver the apples. I remember she mentioned that earlier."

"Yep," Fortuna responded tiredly, "I'm just waiting on her right now. Where should I put these?"

"There's a fridge in the back there that you can put them in. I'd help you but I actually gotta hurry up and go back out. Oh! And also—don't worry about the door closing behind you. It doesn't lock from the inside."

As the bun ran out with whatever it was that he grabbed, Fortuna wheeled over her cart into the fridge and started filling out the mostly emptied boxes of apples, taking out the older ones to set them on top to be grabbed sooner.

When she emptied her baskets, she heard the fridge open behind her with a very flustered Hops in the doorway.

"Wow! It feels great in here," she started. "Anyway, while I got you here, here's the payment for the apples. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Angora had given me the money to buy them at the store but I completely forgot about it with everything I've been busy with lately and was so stressed out so you are literally a lifesaver right now. If she found out I didn't get them in time and messed up her seasonal drink opening the debt would be astronomical, and I already basically owe my soul to this woman at this point."

Fortuna happily accepted the bag of carats and enjoyed the weight she felt in her hands. She could afford so many snacks from the store with this, it was going to be great.

"Any time! I'm always happy to help you out."

"I know! You are the best. But seriously, I have to go now. Thanks so much for helping me out! I'll text you once we start working on the ciders and you should stop by and get a taste of the first batch."

With a quick hug, Hops ran out of the room and back into the front to continue her work.

"Oh?—Okay! See ya!"

Fortuna felt kind of bad for her for having to work so hard, but they were basically in the same boat as far as constantly being broke went. It was something they both bonded over sometimes even if it was because of different reasons.

Not wanting to take up to much space, Fortuna regretfully left the wonderful freezer and headed out of the bar with her things. As expected, the first place she headed to was the grocery store, but not before grabbing a few more popsicles to go.