𝓽𝔀𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼 ( ᵃᵖ )

@halfsplit ♡ ’d !

  there is an unspoken joy basking in the serenity of places like this, gentle hole in the wall buildings or spacious shops topped full with organized clutter crowding like woody overgrowth. sometimes he goes into them just to look around, often enough that he can spot things he saw a few days ago  (  which leaves a vague melancholy feeling, as some relics simply are left to sit there without an owner, collecting dust. waiting. a close friend of his calls it hoarder thinking  )  yet today he has a reason to be here, luckily :  it isn’t mother’s day, that’s already come  &  gone, but she has weeks where her smile doesn’t look the same and it seems as if someone has stolen her glow, replaced it with sleepy 16mm film instead. he never asks, doesn’t NEED to, because the answers are already there.

  she likes daffodils  &   lilies, maybe he can spice it up with irises, and he’s distracted with reaching out to gently touch soft petals when he bumps into the other  ;  it makes him freeze, cringing at how he doesn’t apologize or even look — but looking means possible CONVERSATION, and that’s always unnerving.   don’t make yourself be a burden, his mind grumbles, but it also says what damn flowers do I pick ?

For him,  working with the flowers had become a wonderful thing,  A THERAPEUTIC THING,  something he genuinely looked forward to doing.  He’d come in at 9 a.m.,  seeing how he wasn’t the owner,  grab his floral-patterned smock, and immediately go into the spacious greenhouse out back for some planting.  The planting was his favorite part,  the idea that he was giving something LIFE every day of his life always left him feeling lighter and happier...  and he really liked the way the soil felt.  Sometimes it was just nice to roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty.

After planting came rearranging.  He’d go inside  /  after thoroughly washing his hands, of course.  /  and roam around the beautiful selection of flowers,  turning ones towards the customers that needed to show their petals and picking out the dead leaves.  Sometimes he’d even water here and there,  but since the incident of him killing one plant because no one had told him that plants could have TOO MUCH WATER,  they tend to do it themselves.  He understands.

He’s simply doing his roaming,  attention glued to some gorgeous,  healthy  Zinnia flowers when he’s suddenly being bumped into.  It’s not hard enough to make him fall,  but it startles him enough that he reaches out and grabs onto the other’s arm instinctively to steady himself.  He lets out a soft,  relieved laugh  /  GLAD HE DIDN’T FALL  /  and drops his hands back down by his side.   ❝ — I’m so sorry,  sometimes I just get lost in these flowers.  I never pay attention.  Arthur says it’s because I’m part flower and that sounds cute at first,  but he also likes to say if I don’t get attention I’ll wither away and die,  LIKE A FLOWER,  so I’m pretty sure it’s an insult. ❞   When he gets to the end of his ramble,  he continues staring at the side of the other’s face,  eyebrows stitching together when the boy doesn’t even look at him.  He tilts his head in curious confusion      (      just like a dog.      )      and glances at the flowers.

                Kevin knew he should mind his business,  get things done,  but the urge to talk was too much.  Arthur kept warning him,  saying that the man didn’t seem like the friendly type,  but why would that stop him?  He simply wanted to brighten someone’s day with the gift of knowledge.    ❝ — Hey, did you know that the lotus flower was considered a sacred flower by ancient Egyptians and was used in burial rituals ? ❞   The question is asked with a CURIOUS tone,  lips forming a smile that he wouldn’t be able to swallow even if he tried.    ❝ Maybe when you die you can use the lotus for your burial !!  I think it’d be pretty neat. ❞   He looks down at his hand-picked bouquet of flowers,  them coming from the side of the street as he walked.

                   (      I don’t trust him.      you don’t trust anyone.      just walk away.      nope.      )

I forgot to make a post about this last night, but when one is in control he can still hear the other in his mind. 

so, to take away the confusion:

Arthur's internal dialogue will be bold

❝ Hey, did you know that Helianthus is the scientific name of the Sunflower, Helia for Sun and Anthus for Flower. Isn’t that neat ?  ❞   Kevin’s lips curl into a small smile,  eyes bright,  as he looks to the other.  It’s only natural that the facts he shares for the day correspond with what he’s doing  /  now being putting flowers together for the customers.

 (      for once,  just give her the flowers. I want to leave soon.                                how can she go on without knowing such an important fact, arthur?      uh, Blissfully.      )