Submission (#42426) Approved

(Take 2, this time I chucked the story in the comments just in case you guys can't access the file still! Ty for the hard work <3)

That strange Bun from above

“Finally, some time off! This week was exhausting.”, Flora sighed as she cleaned up her shop, ready to enjoy the rest of the afternoon since her little café closed early during this season. It didn’t take long for her to sweep the floor and get dressed, on her way out, Flora grabbed her bag and stretched thoroughly, before locking the door behind her.
The street was bathed in a soft glow as the late afternoon hours called for a nice stroll in her favourite park. Ever since Flora had opened up her café there had barely been any time to take a breather and unwind amongst the lush greens. With the soft breeze going, it looked like the perfect opportunity to catch some fresh air before heading home and resting for the day so with quick steps she headed towards the nearby park.
It wasn’t too long before she crossed the entrance to the park that was fenced off pretty tightly so buns who were playing amongst the green would not have to stray too far to pick up lost items. With a deep breath and a soft smile, Flora greeted her favourite place in Burrowgatory.
Spring was slowly approaching and the barren trees had started to show the first buds of the year, signaling to the Succubun that a few months had already passed since she’d been to the park. Last time, she had visited during the summer where all trees had sported a full, green gown of leaves. Either way, her happy place was unchanged, unlike Flora’s life.
Her mind wandered amongst those trees while she wandered to find a place to rest and take in the atmosphere, when Flora’s ears perked as she overheard a soft voice, gently filling the air with sound. It wasn’t.. unusual for someone to just sing so freely, especially in this park where musicians sometimes sang their hearts out but this voice was different, enchanting, almost irresistible to her.
So, she followed. Followed the rhythm, this sweet, honey-like sound that drew her in like a moth to the flame.
Then, amongst the wooden bars of a gazebo, on top of a small bench, Flora saw them.

A strange bun like Flora had never seen before. They lacked the Succubun-esque horns, their ears were fluffy and almost looked like feathers (not like she’d seen REAL feathers before). It was a few seconds after her discovery that she noticed that this Bun was the source of the song filling the park with sound.
Slowly, she crept up to the gazebo, her ears and tail twitching in anticipation, scepticism. The strange Bun opened their eyes to meet Flora’s gaze and shrieked in surprise when she noticed the Succubun creeping up on her.
“Oh Murmur, I’m so sorry!”, Flora exclaimed, her cheeks flushing red and burying her face in her hands because of the sheer embarrassment. She absolutely had forgotten how creepy she probably looked to them when she approached them without even saying hello.
“It’s no problem, you just startled me!”, the gentle voice replied, the Bun’s lips now depicting a gentle smile. “Then again, this isn’t the first time someone approached me during my afternoon song! Why don’t you just sit with me?” With a soft pat, the strange Bun signaled for Flora to sit down next to them. Flora was hesitant but in the end obliged, plopping her bag on the bench and sitting down next to the cute Bun.

“So uh,” Flora began nervously, “I know this sounds weird but I was just so enchanted by your song and I followed it to check whose voice it was and then - who or what are you?”, she inquired while the Bun next to her fumbled around with their soft, white dress, meeting Flora’s gaze.
“I’m Dove. My.. fellow Buns and I are not from here, as you can probably tell. We come from the far heavens above and they call us ‘Cherubuns’. We left behind our home to start anew in this beautiful place you call Burrowgatory.”

A.. Cherubun? Heaven? Excuse me?
This sounded strange, almost like a conspiracy theory. But there they were, with their shining halo and their lack of horns.
“Okayokayokay, Cherubuns. Heaven. I see… WHAT?” Flora shook her head in disbelief. This couldn’t be real, heaven was just a strange tale as old as time and yet, there they were again. In the very real and absolutely tangible flesh. “Deep breaths, Flora, deep breaths”, she thought to herself, eventually regaining something akin to composure.
“And you just.. hang out here? In this park? Isn’t it scary, being all alone in this strange place without anyone you know?” Flora eventually asked Dove, cocking her head slightly and looking up towards the strange Cherubun. “It was, at first. But everyone I’ve met so far has been kind to me plus now I know you as well! You don’t seem like a scary person, just a bit confused.”, they giggled, their voice sounding like chimes in the wind. A pleasant sound.
“I suppose so. I’m Florentina by the way. Just call me Flora. I run a little café nearby.”, she said, fumbling around with her bag, still a little stressed from the culture shock she had just received.
While she had a minor identity crisis, Flora’s little friend, Grace, peeked its little, strangely formed head out of the bag, clearly being startled by the Succubun’s fumbling. When it saw the Cherubun, the little Virtue slipped out of the bag, excitedly dancing around a fellow former resident of heaven and putting its little fabric-like wing around Flora’s arm to help her calm down.

Before she knew it, Dove picked up their song as if to say ‘Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay’ and enveloped the park once again in their magical, honey-sweet voice. After a few verses, Flora recognized the song herself, timidly joining in with her own version of the song. While she didn’t know the lyrics or any direction this song would take, Flora still poured her heart into collaborating with the Cherubun, every word sung along with little Dove giving her back more composure.
Both of them stayed for another long while and picked up another song between chatting and slowly connecting. Dove explained to Flora how they loved to drink tea and that they would adore to visit Flora’s café one day to enjoy a brew together. They also taught Flora about the Heavenly Embassy that was built to accommodate Cherubuns other than herself. So far, there had only been a handful of new arrivals but Dove was expecting more of them to follow the call to the Burrowgatory, excitedly shifting around on the bench while talking about seeing their friends again.

In a flash, night was approaching and the last few rays of daylight bathed the two Buns eagerly chatting and occasionally singing along to strange songs either of them had just made up on the spot. “Oh no, it’s late, I need to sleep or else I’m gonna be late tomorrow! Dove, it was lovely with you, please visit me!” With a broad grin Flora shoved a little piece of paper into Dove’s hands before standing up and grabbing her bag, waving to the cute Cherubun.
She had made a new friend today and despite looking quite odd.. maybe these Cherubuns weren’t so bad after all.