Prompt - Work Work Work

It was still dark when Vellum woke up, the first hint of birdsong in the air outside the window. They looked over at their timekeeper to see that it was exactly 5am, perfect. Beginning their morning routine Vellum promptly washed their face and hands, thoroughly brushed their fur, and absorbed the energy of a single large piece of fruit. Finishing the days preparations they stood in front of their mirror and adjusted their tassel, perfect, time to get to work.

Vellum stepped into their master’s office at exactly 6am, finding just as empty as they’d expected. With a sigh they sat down at the large ornate desk in the middle of the room and began working on preparing the stack of papers that towered over them. Technically the prince was supposed to do this as well as sign and approve it, but Vellum knew that would be a pointless endeavor as they can barely get him to simply sign them. They’d even considered commissioning a magical pen that would sign the master’s name for him, but that could easily lead to forgeries so Vellum had dismissed the idea. The bronze timepiece on the desk ticked softly as they worked. Sunlight gradually illuminated the room as the morning turned to afternoon. Lost is the blissful monotony of their task Vellum didn’t even notice when the browbird who was supposed to be doing this peeked his head through the double doors and stared wide eyed as Vellum pulled a new document from the stack, read, signed, and authorized it, and placed it in the growing pile of processed papers all within a matter of seconds. Totally immersed in their work Vellum was also oblivious to the aforementioned browbird softly shutting the door and sneaking away on his latest misadventure.

After eight hours had passed in complete silence, aside from the gentle tick of the timepiece, Vellum placed a final document on the completed pile to their left, which now measured several heads taller than the smaller then average kitbull. With a satisfied buzz Vellum stood and stretched. What a wonderful day, productive and peaceful. They took a final look at the timepiece before nodding and stepping out of the office to go find themselves some dinner.