Tea Leaves and Cherubuns

There was something comforting about walking the streets of the burrows, instead of the halls of the Heavenly Embassy. To feel the dirt and grit beneath his hooves, instead of polished floors.

Lapis still wasn’t entirely confident why Primrose decided to send him on this tea delivery to Dove, especially not when the cherubun knew what the other was thinking. He was shockingly different now, maybe he wasn’t one of them anymore.

“Stop it,” Lapis muttered as he shook his head, slapping a hand to his cheek to rattle his thoughts. If he didn’t pay attention he might end up tripping on the pavement and ripping his clothes more than they already were. It was a hard life to be into rock style, after coming from a meadow where someone practically dressed the same to Melangel’s strict rule.

He hummed to himself as he searched for Dove’s home, looking at the numbers of each building and trying to remember what Primrose told him. Thankfully, it didn’t take much longer to be at their door and while it took Lapis five whole minutes to get up the nerve to knock, he felt accomplished when he did.

There was a small bang and a yelp from the other side, the unmistakable sound of someone stubbing their hoof, before the door cracked open. A frazzled Dove started at him for a moment, before their eyes flickered up to their halo.

They smiled brightly, adjusting their ruffled clothes, “Lapis Lazuli.” They pulled their door open more, letting to swung slowly to the wall, “I almost didn’t recognize you.” They looked down again, their expression friendly but also the same bit curious.

The Lapis they remembered used to wear thin white linen robes and follow after the shadows of the cherubuns still clinging to their virtues, even down here. A rule follower that most likely only jumped from the meadow because someone else convinced him to.

“You look different,” Dove mumbled.

“Y-Yeah.” Lapis grew flushed as he glanced away and tugged at the holes in his ears. “I made some n-new friends and they thought I’d look cool,” he finished lamely.

Dove reached over to gently pat his arm, it seemed his nervous personality was still the same as it always was. “I think they fit you,” They laughed softly, “But I also don’t think you came all this way to show me your new outfit.” Not when they have not spoken more than a few words to each other in the past months.

Lapis nodded, “Oh! Sorry, yeah I’m here because of Primrose.” He reached for his bag, his hands shaking slightly as he opened it. He pulled out a thick parcel and held it out for Dove to take. “These are tea leaves, already dried and ground. Primrose told me you’ve been waiting for them.”

Dove perked up, eagerly grabbing the parcel. “I was wondering when they would be harvested! Thank you.” If it wasn’t obvious they had been waiting, maybe even impatiently, it certainly was now.

“You’re welcome.” Lapis’ tail wiggled, he liked making others happy, he missed when other cherubuns would smile around him. They just seemed worried about him lately. “I didn’t think Primrose would go out of his way to grow plants that weren’t ambrosia.”

“He doesn’t usually, but I made a special request.” Dove admitted, giving Lapis a little wink, “He might act all grumpy, but Primrose isn’t so bad.”

Lapis sighed, biting his lip before he admitted, “I guess not, but he sure is having trouble understanding why I’m spending so much time with my succubun friends.” Although when they were planting ambrosia seeds together, the stern bun seemed more concerned than entirely judgmental.

Dove frowned, looking at the parcel in their hands, “He’s still struggling to accept his new life here and that succubuns can be our friends. I don’t think he’s trying to single you out, but he’s worried they might hurt you.”

Lapis took a moment to respond, before he agreed, “I know, it’s just it’s hard to have changed so much and no one likes it. I can actually talk to people now instead of stuttering every few words.” The band had worked tirelessly with him and they never made him feel bad that he still stuttered every now and then. “But no one ever trusts what I think.”

“It’s hard to be yourself, but you’re not doing anything wrong,” Dove tried to cheer him up, “I know, why don’t you come inside for a little while? Jackal isn’t home yet and you can tell me all about your new friends.”

“You want to?” Lapis didn’t mean to sound so excited, but he loved his friends. They were loud, wild and a little gross at times, but they always accepted him without question and they cared about him.

“Of course, I can tell you more about Jackal too.” It could be a fun afternoon, sitting around and drinking tea while they swapped stories. Dove might also have a second motive and that was to see if Lapis was happy in the burrows.

Lapis’ mouth twisted as he considered it, “You don’t think Primrose would mind? He told me to come back to the Heavenly Embassy when I was done.”

“If he gets upset, just tell him that I wanted you to stay and try the tea with me. That’s technically the truth since I plan to put some on.”

Lapis played with his ears again, before he nervously smiled, “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad, he doesn’t need to know we talked about our friends the entire time.”

“Exactly,” Dove giggled, gesturing for Lapis to walk inside.

Lapis didn’t always know how other cherubuns would feel about him, but it felt good to have some of them be on his side. The burrows was new and frightening, but with his friend, everything felt more like an adventure instead of something dangerous.

He was happy to be in the burrows, happy to expression himself in the way he wanted.