Prompt - pursuit of diligence 01

PROMPT - PURSUIT OF DILIGENCE 1

Succubun - MYO-4927, Aysel + mention of others owned by me
Cherubun - NPC, Primrose

With a soft whine, Aysel plopped down beside a big, square planter that was filled to the brim with freshly tilled soil. He looked up, greeted only by the glass roof of the greenhouse, and once again silently lamented being trapped here for the day.

Wholly against his will, the lazy little succubun had found himself helping out at the Heavenly Embassy for the day; he had never visited the place before, quite frankly hadn't ever thought of doing so, may have even forgotten that it existed until now... but here he was, first time visitor and immediate, uh, worker? Temporary employee? Volunteer without the “voluntary”?

This was quite possibly the single most unlikely place to find a bun like Aysel. He embodied his vice to almost comical degrees and strongly preferred sleeping the day away in his cozy little nest at Will's place, or napping on a miscellaneous pillow, also at Will's place. In fact, he rarely ever left the house, and if he did, he did not go far. And if he did go far, he'd stick to his roommate like glue... mostly by hitching a ride in his bag all day, presenting himself in his fluffy bun form.

It just so happened that last night, Will had come back from staying gone a full day, and it… it had made Aysel a little nervous, you know. So when he was set to leave for another full day this morning, the sloth bun had practically begged to become his bag passenger.

Unfortunately, Will was a good guy, and when something was entrusted to him, he would see it done. Apparently, yesterday he had met up with Miho—and Miho, apparently, had asked him to visit the Heavenly Embassy because he’d met a cherubun at the gym who had asked him about knowing any friends who’d be willing to help out there with some “unclarified tasks”. Sulfur knows Miho himself wouldn’t do it; severe commitment issues, you know how it is.

Aysel had peeked out of the bag at the wrong time, and the Embassy cherubuns were quickly led to believe that not just Will, but he, too, had come here to for some volunteer work. And now, here he was, stuck doing a job he didn't feel like doing! He wished he'd at least gotten to keep his emotional support Will—but alas, he was taking on a different task elsewhere.

Sighing, Aysel counted the seeds that lay peacefully in the palm of his hand. “Can't I just sprinkle them in here and call it a day?” he muttered. “It's all dirt anyway, surely they aren’t so picky about their spot…”

"No, you cannot." The cherubun accompanying him to keep an eye on him—Aysel couldn't remember his name right away, something like, uh, Peony? Plumeria? .. Oh, wait, Primrose, oops—raised his chin strictly and pointed at the seeds. "These seeds are to be handled with exceptional care. They grow into the only flowers us cherubuns can use to brew ambrosia, and we do not have the means to get more if they were to die out. Do you understand?"

"Oh..." Aysel almost pouted, his shoulders slumping. That sounded pretty dire. "Okay. Sorry. Um..."

It probably went without saying that he didn't have much of a green thumb. But he didn't want to hurt the flowers. So, under the watchful gaze of Primrose, Aysel took a trowel in his hand and dug a neat hole in the dirt, in which he snugly tucked a seed. Hehe... just like him when it was time for another nap. Smiling sleepily, he looked up at the other.

"Yes?" Primrose crossed his arms. 

Aysel blinked his eyes slowly, like an impup freshly awoken and already full of expectation. "Did I do okay?" he murmured. "I've never—yawn—done this before."

"Do you expect praise so- oh, what does it matter? You are doing well, yes." Primrose pinched the bridge of his nose, as though he could not believe Aysel would already want head pats for doing the absolute bare minimum.

But for Aysel, the bare minimum was already a lot!

With a pleased huff, the succubun continued his task, placing seeds into the dirt with the same care he would like to be tucked into his little nest with. He scooted around on his knees, humming a soft lullaby for the... um... baby flowers; something about plants growing better when you talk to them, he was sure he had heard it be mentioned before. Singing was probably good too, right?

Every now and then, Primrose would offer him instructions on how to plant the particular seed he was occupying himself with, or how to ensure that it would grow properly, being much more well-versed in the care of ambrosia flowers. He commented on the singing, but decided to let it fly after Aysel's explanation. “No, no, this one will need access to water for longer periods of time. Preferably place it a little deeper.”

“Ohh, okay." It was kind of fun, now he was actually focusing on the task instead of wishing he was somewhere else. Soon enough, though, Aysel would also really rather be a little seed in a little dirt blanket. "I'm tired," he said, tail dropping down on the floor. "Can we take a break?"

Primrose blinked in surprise. "But you're almost done."

"Oh... but I'm tired now. I'm sure I can finish it later."

"You succubuns..." Primrose, again, pinched the bridge of his nose. His words, however, were not venomous or meant to hurt feelings or anything; just a sincere observation. "I do not understand why you're complaining when you're so close to finishing. You're doing a good job, do press on."

Oh. Aysel smiled sheepishly, turning to look at the planter with a somewhat happy, accomplished feeling in his stomach. Well, he did suppose he'd been doing his best!

The praise was definitely doing something here. You know, maybe he would in fact finish the job first, and then take a nap. Surely, his nest wouldn't run away. "Okay, fine," he said, nodding until his hair softly bounced along with it.

Primrose seemed plenty satisfied with his compliance. “Now, these last ones have roots that spread far, so they will need a little more space.”

“Like this?”

“Yes. They are especially delicate.”

They worked for a while; Aysel planting seeds, Primrose guiding him around the planter and giving him instructions where needed. When the task was finally complete, Aysel was dead tired (okay, not really, but he did just really want to sleep). However, he was rather proud of himself, and Primrose did not seem shy on politely thanking him when it was time to pack up either.

With his head held high, Aysel met up with Will just outside the Heavenly Embassy. He was quickly caught up in telling his roommate all about planting the ambrosia flowers and being told he did a good job, and didn’t hear Primrose call out to him to remember that this was a six week program, and to please be back in time next week. He would likely have cried.

Luckily Will caught it, and he would be reminding him for sure!