Diligence Prompt Part 2

“... and now as you have accepted this path of Diligence I, on behalf of the Heavenly Embassy, grant you your next quest. Enclosed in this package are tea leaves grown right here on heavenly grounds to be delivered to the cherubun known as Dove…”

Rubicon’s attention began to drift as the letter from Primrose continued on and on. He hadn’t realized helping in the gardens would lead to more work, but with the way Prim had put it, Rubi saw this as a challenge and one he wouldn’t easily back down from. 

Besides, delivering some leaves to someone was easy work for him. He tucked the letter away as he wasn't going to remember the directions himself, and either Prim had sprayed it with something fancy or the paper itself just smelled nice. 

The heavenly embassy always had some fancy surprise for Rubi whenever he’d show up. He didn’t expect to enjoy a place with so many rules, but it was worth not causing a ruckus when the wind chimes all sound a chorus together and the floors were shiny enough to see your reflection in. 

“They must be doing something right.” He thought.

While never having met them, Rubicon had spent enough time at the embassy to have heard of Dove. The first of the cherubuns to venture down to Burrowgatory even before they had this nice set up. As he went back down to the noisy bustling city that smelled of brimstone, he realized Dove must have had great taste. Who wouldn’t love it down here? His mind immediately flashed to imagining Primrose down in the smog and filth and that answered that question. 

He could hear the heavenly bunny’s voice in his head as he reread the directions on where to find Dove. Rubi had no worries about getting lost, but he wanted a short route to his destination. If he was going to deliver a package he was going to do it right. Which in this case meant not risking something happening to the precious cargo as he got lost. 

Thankfully the directions were verbose and Rubi made it to the right neighborhood quickly. There he faced his next challenge leaning up against the wall of an alley. 

“You lost, sparky?” Came a gruff feminine voice.

Rubicon had of course heard of the infamous Jackal. First of the pronghorns and leader of the envy succubuns. She was one of the few buns Rubi looked up to in terms of coolness, and there she was, smoking three cigarettes at once. That was twice Rubi’s record. 

“You gonna say something or stand there and catch flies with your mouth open like that?” 

She sneered and began to reach for a fourth cigarette. Rubi saw his chance and switched into his doll form to match her height. 

“Need a light?”

He offered, trying to play it cool as he pointed a flaming finger her way. Jackal sized him up for a long moment. If it wasn’t for his mask she’dve seen the sweat drip down his brow as her gaze burrowed into him. Wordlessly she then pressed the end of her cigarette to his flame and took a long drag. 

There was a stillness, and Rubi shifted to lean on the opposite side of the alley as Jackal took her time. He had almost forgotten about his mission until she spoke up again. 

“I see you’ve brought the goods from the man upstairs.” 

Rubicon eyed down at his package and then back up with a nod. 

“Sure do. Special delivery for Dove.”

Jackal’s demeanor softens slightly at her partner’s name. 

“Their stash has gotten low. C’mon.” 

She gestured for Rubi to follow, so of course he does, one hand in his pocket and the other holding the package close. She led him down the street through another alley right to a small garden. It wasn’t nearly as glorious as the embassy’s, but it was clearly well loved and cared for to survive this deep in the city. 

“Babe! Tea’s here!”

Jackal called, and immediately the sound of excited steps came from inside the house. A haloed head pokes out of the window to see Rubi with the goods and ducks back in just as quickly. Jackal puts out all of her cigarettes on a birdbath repurposed to a well used ashtray before heading in, opening the door to let out her partner mid dash. 

“Oh joyous day!” 

Dove picks up the box and does a little spin as Jackal mutters something about it being the same time every week on her way in. Dove then turned to the bearer of good news and offered a hand to shake. 

“Hello there. I’m Dove. Thank you ever so much for bringing my tea leaves. Who might I thank for this?”

Dove asks, eyeing the masked bun curiously. As soon as Rubi realizes he can drop the cool persona he introduces himself and offers a toasty handshake. Dove goes for it and just briefly flinches before feeling the flame is more warm than scorching. 

“I can see Primrose has set another on the path of diligence then. I was hoping he’d come deliver them himself. It would do him some good to come down from his clouds and unwind sometime.”

They say, and Rubi laughs in agreement. 

“That would be a funny sight to see. He didn’t even get any dirt on him in the garden. The city might be too much.”

Dove beams at the news of gardening but ducks inside to start brewing some tea in exchange for a chat. Rubi, seeing no reason to turn them down, starts to tell them all about how the gardens in the embassy are doing and the new plot he has begun. The halo having hare listens intently and returns as quickly as they can with a fresh brew. 

“So tell me.” They begin.

“What brought you to help out the embassy?” 

“Well I have to earn my stay there. Loitering is looked down on.” Rubi replied

“But why not go someplace else?” 

Rubi took a long moment to put his thoughts together while taking a long sip, spilling a little as he tries to keep his mask as low as possible, but the scalding tea doesn’t phase him. 

“There’s lots of fancy places in the city: the bars, the clubs, the casino, and so on. Those places are made nice and stay nice because they want buns to stay and spend their carats. Not that the owners are just in it for the money, ‘cept Angor and her lousy slots…” 

Rubi grumbles for a bit over some weeks of bad hands dealt and stingy slot machines that lead to him swearing off the casino. 

“Um, you were saying.” Dove pipes up.

“Oh right, anyways. The embassy is fancier than all of those places and they aren’t even raking in the carats. Unless that cafe has a side hustle like you wouldn’t believe.”

“So you’re just curious about the money?” Dove wonders aloud.

“What? No, not at all. There’s always a hole burning in my wallet. The point is that somebunny cares about that place a whole lot that they’d make it nice without a baby carat of a profit. I want to see why that is.” 

Rubi has a big grin of excitement that can be seen past his mask. Knowing someone’s passion for the embassy rivals the lust for life he has gets his motors going. Dove catches on to this quickly. 

“So you’re looking for someone with a real fire in their soul?” Dove poses.

“Oh there’s a fire somewhere. Maybe the loins. Surely they’d have to be into it to stay this devoted to the place.” Rubi theorizes.

Dove is a little stunned.These succubuns and their vices never cease to surprise them.