How Green Becomes Wood

Dark sighed, relieved he had redirected them, and as a sign of good faith, accepted the daisy from the girl, even tucking it into one of the top button holes of his shirt. They were still barely adults. Pushy ones who didn't seem to quite understand boundaries, but very recently not children. So, as much as he was glad to end the conversation, he went up to the two who had asked him to choose their flowers, and said, softly, "Foxglove," and, "Buttercup." And pointed them out.
 
The two girls brightened and each picked out a couple of flowers. They took Dark's recommendations as hope and hung around for q little longer, but a couple of women pushing a stroller came in, and the girls finally admitted defeat. They left as abruptly as they came, leaving a bit of disorganization in their wake.
 
When they left, Dark sighes, rubbing his face. That was the hardest of all of the flirtier encounters he had working here, because it was a different sort of boundary he needed to establish. Their age and desire to be close with him, with how young they were... it bothered him. A moment later, he shook it off and went about tiding the shop.

With the new customers, he tried to avoid looking into the stroller, because just the sight of it made him miss Ivy, but eventually curiosity got the better of him and he peeked in.
 
A tiny white dog peered up at him. It blinked sleepily and then laid down next to a chubby little baby, who was fast asleep. The baby immediately reached out with one fat fist and buried its fingers into the dog's fur. The dog didn't seem to mind as it yawned at Dark.

"Can I help you?" asked the woman suspiciously. She was a very put-together professional woman, reminicsent of Ciara, but small and slim. Her friend, also dressed nice but in a more casual way, glanced over at Dark, interested but not at all concerned.
 
"Oh, the dog's mine," the other woman said sheepishly. "We've been walking for a while, and she ran out of energy. At least Cloud and little Ray of Sunshine there get along so well! And RayRay is nine months now."

"Please do not call Raymond 'RayRay,'" the mother sighed. She did relax just a little when Dark mentioned his child, though she was still guarded. She looked like the type of woman to always be guarded.

The other woman didn't look too bothered. "We're usually in here every couple of weeks, but I don't think I've ever seen you here before," she remarked, smiling at Dark.
 
Dark related to always being on guard, and had only mentioned his child because he wanted to make sure she knew he wasn't a creepy man. Otherwise, he was largely unwilling to open up to strangers, "That is because I am not typically here. I am filling in for my son."
 
"Oh, that adorable little red head?" she smiled. "He is such a help! A little too eager sometimes, but I can appreciate that." She eyed him thoughtfully. Then she spotted the ring on his finger and looked disappointed but not surprised.

"Far too eager," the mother said stiffly. "He needs to learn to listen to what the customer wants before making a thousand suggestions."

"He's learning," said the other woman with a little shrug. "I think he is fantastic. And with great color sense."
 
"He is enthusiastic, certainly." Dark replied with equal formality, although without rudeness, not quite appreciating how this mother spoke about his child, "His ideas can run away with him at times, but I appreciate his lack of apathy." He paused for a moment, "Is there something I can help you with?"
 
"I'm looking for some flowers in the red family," the woman said. "I'm going to need six medium sized bouquets, if that's possible, with as little white in them as you can. Beyond that, I do not really care what goes in them. It's for a business function that I really could not give two beans about."

"And that is why you have not risen any further in the company," the mother chided. "If you put some effort into it, then they would notice and give you a promotion."

"No, they'll notice and give me more work," the woman said dryly. "You should know that better than anyone. Besides, I am putting in the money for someone else to put in the effort for me."

The mother sighed. "At least try to match the room?"

"It's a boring meeting room with horrid florecent lights that aren't going to do any of the flowers any favors," she responded.
 
"Easily done," Dark promised, briefly looking into the stroller as he walked towards the red flowers. Ivy was cuter. Much cuter. And he missed her, "To be absolutely certain, any red flowers are acceptable?"
 
She nodded. "Any red. No matter what color I pick, it's not going to look the same in the boardroom, it never has, so I give up. Red is in the company logo, so any red is good enough for me."

The chubby baby started mumbling sleepily. It woke up, blinked blurrily, but instead of crying, it started trying to eat the dog's tail.
 
Dark nodded, and begun assembling bouquets, using a variety of shades of red, but made sure to only choose reds which worked with each other. This way it looked intentional and complex, rather than like chucking lots of flowers in a vase, and allowed him to add dimension without adding in much white at all. When the baby stirred, he paused for a moment, like he would when he was waiting to see if Ivy was okay, much to his own surprise. Reacting to a different baby had never occurred to him as even a possibility.
 
The mother noticed what was happening fairly quickly and moved the dog's tail out of reach, replacing it with a soft toy. The baby accept this, though it did look a bit skeptical at first. He gummed his little creature of indeterminate species and sleepily stared at the flowers and the people around him. The dog was watching Dark intently.
 
God it was hard being away from his baby. He didn't even care if his twins would make fun of him. Ivy was doing okay at home, he knew that. It wasn't that he was worried about her, it was that he enjoyed playing with her, and he loved how it felt when she looked up at him with her big, sweet eyes. "My daughter likes trying to play with our dog, too." He told them as he wrapped the bouquets, acknowledging the dog's stares as best he could without being able to touch him at all.
 
The mother made a quiet noise that said she heard him, but she didn't seem willing to continue the conversation.

"RayRay loves my dog," the woman grinned. "Pets are good for children." She was watching his work curiously.
 
"I agree," Dark replied, not nearly talkative enough to be the one to have to carry the bulk of the conversation. The only thing he was willing to talk about was his children. What else could he say, anyway? I never had pets as a child because my parents hardly had enough money to feed me? So he continued making the bouquets as quickly as he could for them. The mother didn't strike him as a particularly patient woman.
 
Tristan came to Dark's rescue and caught the woman's attention. "Good afternoon, Miss Rachel."

"Oh! I didn't notice you there!" the woman squeaked, going to the counter. "I am so sorry. How are you today, Mr. Walsh?"

Tristan made small talk with her, keeping her mostly occupied. It was the usual, light things of people who saw each other enough to be friendly, but not really being friends.
 
Dark finished making the bouquets and brought them carefully, one at a time so no flowers were crushed, to the counter, grateful he wasn't being forced to carry a conversation. Once everything was ready, he went behind the counter to complete the transaction.
 
"Thank you very much for your help," the woman said with a grin. "Really, this is fantastic!"

The mother gave a little nod and thanked them before helping the woman with her flowers, putting a couple of them on top of the stroller's shade awning. Then they left, still talking about how much dedication one should put into their job.

"Sisters," Tristan told Dark. "I think they might even be twins. Fraternal, of course. That, or less than a year apart."
 
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