Just as the morning sun finally rose above the valley walls surrounding Sweetvale, a ping went off in Cubert’s head. His dreams faded away but he remained in a half sleep for the time being.
>Downloading Scout data from last night.
>Reviewing…
>No dangers to town found.
>No important events found.
>Calculating weather patterns…
>Updating calendar.
>Time to awake.
Cubert’s eyes snapped open.
He sat up, rolled his head to the left and then the right to loosen up, before casting his eyes over to Ivy who lay next to him peacefully. He admired her form in the early light for a few seconds before carefully getting out of bed without waking her.
Quietly he took to the bathroom to freshen up. He then went to the kitchen to start warming up the ovens and machines for the day ahead. Before continuing he turned on the radio so that the soft sounds of music could knead with the sweet smells of fresh Bread.
It didn’t take Ivy too long to wake.
She let out a cute yawn as she sat up. Her stomach then growled as she noticed the delicious smells of not just Bread but also sizzling Meat. After slipping on a bath robe and stepping into the living room she found Cubert ready for her with fresh Juice and soft nuzzles.
During breakfast he told her of the weather and humidity while gently rubbing her shoulders and nibbling her ears. Once that was done they took to the bathroom to take a long soak together. And it was during that soak that Ivy told Cubert of her recent dreams, her various new ideas, some thoughts about her writing. Cubert in turn listened to it all and only replied when needed to stoke her imagination with all new additions.
It was only after the pair had dried and gotten dressed that Cubert informed her that it had been nearly two weeks since the festival. She nodded in understanding. And mused about just how fast the days can pass.
As they had discussed a couple weeks prior. Ivy wanted to wait a bit before moving in properly so she should show her parents that everything will be fine. Now that enough time had passed she felt more confident in finally leaving the nest of her parent’s home and moving in with Cubert.
“I need to check on the Vineyard.” Cubert informed her.
“Alright. I’ll go get a start in packing.” Ivy replied.
She hopped over and gave him a kiss before bouncing out of the door and making quick and joyful hops down the road towards her family’s home. Cubert meanwhile went up the stairs to the Windmill that stood on the land above the Bakery. He knocked a few times to announce his presence before opening the trapdoor.
In the past week both Sage and Rose had moved into the Windmill in order to escape the constant chattering and debating from their parents. And in that time they had managed to make it look quite homely. On every wall hung paintings and cloth and curtains. Strings of lights had been threaded along the rafters and a larger lantern sat just overhead of the main area they had turned into a living space. It was not too different from the home away from home they had made in the caves out near the Mountain, except far more comfortable.
Cubert noticed a pile of letters near the Windmill’s door too.
Half of them had been roughly torn open while the other half simply sat ignored.
“Good morning Mr Milkway.” Rose suddenly spoke from the area above him.
Cubert turned his head up and found her looking back down from the edge of the upper level.
“Good morning.” Cubert replied as he moved to more comfortably observe her.
“Another status report?” She asked.
“Correct.” Cubert nodded.
Rose placed her paws on the edge of the upper floor before resting her head on them.
“Our parents are still not thrilled about us suddenly leaving but the letters stopped coming a couple of days ago. Either they ran out of paper or they gave up trying to argue. The Vineyard at least is going well. All the Shelves have been moved and new ones are being planted.”
Rose broke out into a sweet smirk.
“I swear Sage doesn’t know what sleep is for how early she gets up to check on it all.”
“Anything of concern?” He asked.
“Not currently.” Rose spoke up.
Suddenly a clattering noise rang out from behind her. Cubert’s eyes flicked over to the wooden floor above him and then back to her. Rose gave him a wide smile before clearing her throat.
“So you should be getting back to your… Stuff, right?”
Cubert’s eyes flicked to the right and then left slightly in thought.
“Understood. Have a pleasant day.” Cubert replied.
As he headed back to the stairs he could hear Rose shuffle away from the ledge and begin to whisper something. Not wanting to pry he turned his ears away and continued back downstairs.
After leaving the Bakery he headed down the pathways towards Ivy’s home. Once he arrived he found a large cart sitting outside with many little things already packed up. Moving inside, he found Ivy still sorting out the tangled mess that was her bedroom.
>Scanning environmental data.
>Cataloging items by size and weight.
>Calculating storage space of cart.
“I will help.” Cubert spoke up.
At first it went well. But no matter how many nicknacks, ornaments, books, pictures, note pads and sketching books they managed to pack into boxes there was always more waiting below. It began to feel like an excavation of Ivy’s life, with each layer representing a different period. All the dust and crumbs surely helped sell the feel of an old ruin as well.
Ivy could feel herself blushing.
It was quite embarrassing to let her room get into such a state.
“We don’t have to take everything. Maybe a clean out will be good.”
Ivy spoke up awkwardly.
“Agreement. There are items of questionable value. However a large quantity of these possessions also show great sentimental value.” Cubert replied as he held up an old and crumbling drawing of a square jawed male Buun. Based on the one eye that had been erased and redrawn a dozen times, and the yellowing colour of the paper, Cubert could estimate this was from the early highschool years.
Suddenly Ivy snatched the drawing from his paws.
She crumbled it up into a tight ball before tossing it into the tiny waste bin near her desk.
“A fresh start could be good. Yep. Let me get some trash bags…”
Ivy said awkwardly before quickly dashing off to the kitchen.
She came back just as quick lest Cubert dig into her embarrassing past any further.
“Anything not related to my books can go, I think. Keep the ornaments and clothes.”
Ivy instructed as she quickly flicked through an ancient sketch book with garish stickers plastered across the front. She winced at what she found and promptly dumped into the trash.
“Noted.” Cubert replied.
Having to check what was useful and what was not took even more time but eventually the room emptied and everything of value was packed away on the cart. The problem was that, alongside several moving out presents her parents had gotten her, the cart was now weighed down to the point of creaking ominously.
Cubert put a paw on the back of it and gave it a stiff nudge before turning to Ivy.
“I will need assistance with this.” He said.
Turning around he found Ivy’s parents talking to her at the door.
Her father caught his eye and Cubert was beckoned over to join them.
“I know it’s old fashioned but…” Her mother spoke as she got out a small but beautifully polished wooden box. Inside were two necklaces, with two halves of a single broken stone tied to each.
“Clarification. What is this mineral?” Cubert asked.
“It’s a Splitstone. A special stone that breaks itself into two parts when it forms. And when you bring them together…” Her mother explained before pushing the two halves close. WIth a snap the two were pulled together into a single piece again.
>Naturally magnetic mineral.
>Possible usage in manufacturing.
>No inherent value.
>Extremely high emotional value.
>Appreciation is needed.
Cubert gently took one of the necklaces and observed the stone for a moment.
He then turned to Ivy and put the necklace over her head instead of his own.
Ivy bit her lip at the idea, and then did the same for Cubert.
“They are a wonderful gift.” Cubert said to Ivy’s parents.
“Do remember to visit.” Her mother said softly.
“And make sure you take care of her.” Her dad spoke to Cubert.
Cubert placed a paw respectfully on his shoulder.
He gave him a nod. And then struck their heads together with enough force to have the old man’s ears ringing. The dad’s head rolled dizzily for a moment before he shook it off and let out a deep and rumbling laugh. He placed a paw on Cubert’s shoulder and gave him a few pats while nodding in respect of the display.
With farewells given, Cubert and Ivy took to the cart. They both took to the harness at the front but as Ivy tried to give it a push, the cart did not even budge an inch. Cubert then took a step forward and gave it a push on his own. Suddenly, the cart creaked and groaned but slowly began to move.
Ivy realized that the assistance he desired was not in moving the cart but in covering up how one Buun would manage to make such a thing move at all. Now that she understood she made sure to lean into the harness to at least make it look convincing.
“How much can you lift?” She asked quietly as they rolled away from her old home.
“Upper limits are unknown. Lifting capacity is limited by my current mobile platform.”
“So your… Outer body.” Ivy mused as her mind started to unwind from one thread of thought to another. Just as she started to get tangled in her ideas however the cart bumped into her tail. She stepped forward and adjusted back into pretending to push. Cubert gave her a glance and she gave him a smile in reply to let him know she was fine.
Cubert parked the cart at the Bakery.
He scanned over everything that they had brought and began to calculate where to put it all. It would certainly fill out all the empty spaces and undecorated parts of his home. They would need to get some shelves and improve storage to keep it all tidy but it would be fine for now.
“Surprise!” Rose and Sage called out as Ivy opened the front door. Ivy stumbled back a few steps and almost fell over from the shock. Sage and Rose meanwhile let out a laugh at the sight.
“Need some help?” Sage asked.
“Looks like you cleaned out a library on the way back.” Rose mused as she looked at the cart.
“Your assistance would be appreciated.” Cubert replied as he took a box from the back.
“Please relocate the containers to the living space for organization.” He then told them.
“Right on boss man, but that’s not our surprise.” Sage replied as she stepped in front of him. She took the box from him, and then nearly face planted into it from the weight. After pulling her head back up she gave a nod over to Rose.
“You’ve been terribly busy over the past month so we thought it would be nice if you could have some time to yourselves for a while.” Rose explained before handing Ivy a leaflet and two tickets.
“Explain.” Cubert asked.
“Hotsprings. I didn’t know we had hotsprings?” Ivy replied as she looked it over.
The leaflet explained that the recent rockslides had revealed natural geological hot springs on the far side of the mountain. Construction was already being done in the area to improve the hiking trails and so they took the opportunity to build a cozy bath house. The tickets meanwhile covered all expenses for a weekend trip.
“Clarification. You formed a partnership with them to supply frozen Grapes.” Cubert spoke up.
“That obvious, huh?” Sage asked.
“It is logical. And a good business expansion.” He said honestly.
“It’s certainly a nice gift. We should take a trip this weekend.” Ivy spoke up.
“No. We should go. Tomorrow.” Cubert replied as he picked up another box.
“Tommorrow? What about the Bakery?” Ivy asked.
“Temporary workers. I have catalogued several who would be willing to help on short notice.”
Cubert explained as he placed the box just inside of the Bakery.
“Well, that’s useful but… I don’t know. Isn’t it too sudden?” Ivy asked.
Cubert placed another box down on top of the first.
He then turned his eyes to Ivy. Cubert hopped over to her before tilting his head to the side.
“Do you want to go to the Hotsprings with me for two days?” He asked simply.
“Yes?” Ivy replied.
“Then we are going.” He replied.
Cubert placed his paw under her chin before tilting her head up towards himself. He then leaned in and put his lips to hers. The touch lingered softly for a moment before he suddenly pushed harder and split her lips apart with his own. Her eyes went wide and her ears sprung outwards, but then she relaxed, and quickly melted into the touch.
Once they broke away, Ivy moved forward and wrapped her front legs around Cubert’s body.
She placed her head against his chest and listened to the slow beats of his heart.
Cubert meanwhile put his chin onto the top of her head.
“I’m going to penetrate you in the forest. Multiple times.”
He whispered very quietly into her ear.
“And then several more times at the Hotsprings.”
Ivy let out a soft giggle as her whole body shuddered excitedly.
“We have much to unpack and the Bakery to open.”
Cubert spoke up more loudly.
“I need to contact the temporary workers soon as well.”
“Oh I could do that for you.” Rose spoke up quickly.
She placed one more heavy box down with the rest before hopping over to Cubert.
On a scrap of paper he wrote the names and addresses of those she needed to contact.
“I shall be back later. Have fun unpacking, Sage!” She said teasingly.
Sage, now realizing what she was up to, gave her an annoyed glare.
She sighed. And got to picking up the next heavy object.
Between the three of them, it would not take too long to unpack everything away. But as they worked the thought still remained with Ivy. It was only after they had put everything away and Cubert had started to warm up the ovens for the day ahead that her curiosity got the best of her.
“So what’s the real reason you want to leave so soon?” Ivy asked him once again.
“It sounds pleasurable.” Cubert replied just as simply.
“Well yes, but we could just wait until the weekend.” Ivy spoke.
>Clarification is requested.
>Processing…
>Thinking…
“I am excited.” Cubert admitted.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you be impatient before.” Ivy teased.
“Most of my memories were lost. What I know of your world is from pictures and writing. I can’t travel due to having a stable job and a place within the community. But the Hotsprings are close enough to not affect that. They are sure to have interesting geological formations that show fascinating historical records of how the geography has changed.” Cubert explained.
“Oh he’s kind of nerdy.” Ivy thought to herself.
“The upper Forests have all kinds of wild flowers that we don't get down here.” She added.
“There will be many varieties of insects. I desire to catalogue them.” Cubert spoke.
“We could bring a sketchbook and make it a whole thing in the evenings.” Ivy suggested.
Cubert agreed and the pair continued to excitedly form new plans and ideas for the upcoming trip. And not just that. Their minds also wandered to the nearby towns, Forests and Lakes. For Sweetvale did rest between many interesting locations.
