How Green Becomes Wood

With Ivy's fingers dug deeply into his beard, Dark went to check in with Tristan that this was okay, not wanting to throw off his routine, but Daizi assured him they had gotten permission for this and everything was fine. After all, she was only going to be there during his already scheduled break.
 
Dark agreed without much argument and, checking the time, decided to take his wife and baby to the next-door bakery, who was also making very, very good buisness that day. It turns out a high tide raises all boats, so when the floral shop does good buisness, so do the other shops on that street.
 
Tristan remained primarily behind the register while Dark was gone. Normally, he would go out onto the floor more and actively try to help customers, but he was running out of energy, and there were so many customers it was hard to move, anyway. So, unless someone addressed him, first, he remained mostly stationary while making fairly continuous sales. Thankfully, the crowd was thinning as the day slowly crept into evening. There were still plenty of last-minute shoppers, but there were fewer and fewer.
 
Despite the delight at his wife and baby coming to visit, he came back into the store one minute before his break was over. Daizi made her goodbyes and left with Ivy in the car. About ten minutes after she left, Dark went back to the counter where Tristan was and asked, "Have you found time to take your own break yet?"
 
Tristan was watching a young man not much older than the twins staring at the walls of flowers with an expression reminiscent of a deer in the headlights. He clearly had no idea what he was doing. "Hmm? Break?" he asked absently. "Yes, you still have a few minutes left, I think. Did you have a good time?"
 
"Oh," Tristan said, turning his attention to Dark. "I suppose there aren't many here." He hesitated, one hand trailing idly along the top of his armrest as he considered. "I suppose I could just go into the back for a bit. Maybe clean up a bit now instead of waiting until we close so I can leave earlier."
 
"I can assure you, if what happens out here becomes too much for me to handle, I know where to find you." Dark reminded him, stopping just short of pointing out he's much older than the other employees of Tristan's he had met.
 
Tristan tapped lightly on the arm of his chair and finally nodded. "Alright." He turned his chair and started toward the back room. "You will come fetch me if you need anything?" he asked, pausing halfway through the beaded curtain leading into the back.
 
Tristan went into the back with the full intent of starting to clean up. He got one table cleared off. Then, when he paused to catch his breath, he ended up sitting and staring at the wall for a good ten minutes. Finally, he shook himself, scolded himself for wasting time, and headed back into the sales room.
 
Tristan was highly pleased to find everything looked well in the store and complimented Dark on his work. The rest of the day went by smoothly with a thin but steady stream of customers, only stopping when Tristan flipped the closed sign, helped the last two, and finally indicated to Dark to shoo a dawdler out of the store so he could lock the door.

"I'd say the business did very well today," Tristan said, highly pleased. "And you did very well for yourself." He handed Dark the packed tip jar. Then pulled a second jar out from under the counter and handed that to him, as well. "Never let it be said that humiliation doesn't pay!"
 
Tristan chuckled and shook his head. "You shouldn't. You did an amazing job, really. Thank you for coming and helping." He looked around. "Tomorrow, I'll open my doors for a few hours for the stragglers, but most of what I'll likely be doing will be putting in orders for more flowers! There are hardly any left. And then I think I'll sleep until Monday." He turned and headed for the back to clean up before heading home.
 
"You are welcome. And I am sure you earned enough over this week to take some needed time off, I did not realize quite how busy floral shops become this time of year." Dark replied, then after a moment asked, "Do you need anything else from me?"
 
"No, no, thank you," Tristan said, waving one hand while the other reached for the trashcan. "You go on home to your family. I am aware that you do not celebrate Valentine's Day as such, but I am sure your wife will appreciate you home no matter what day it is." He took the trash can and started cleaning up the various flower stems, leaves, ribbon bits, and torn paper that had been abandoned during the rush.
 
"I will. Drive safe!" Tristan encouraged him. He focused on cleaning up the backroom, trying his best to ignore the sheer exhaustion pulling at his limbs and the pain spiking sporadically through his body. Just a little bit more, and he could go home to rest. Maybe he'd put on his favorite brain-rot show and fall asleep to it.

It took him a little over an hour to finish cleaning up and tidying the store between his own slowness and how many little things had gotten everywhere. He supposed he could have asked Dark to help him clean up, but he really didn't feel like he could ask anything more of the man. He finished, dragged himself into his car, ordered pizza to be delivered to his place, and drove home to a dinner of pizza in bed while watching reruns of "This Old House" until he fell into an exhausted sleep. He'd be embarrassed to find he'd slept with his pizza in the morning, but tonight, it was enough to be fed.

~~

Not long after Dark arrived home, so did Alec and Emma. They said goodbye with a kiss at the driveway, and then Emma took her car and went home while Alec headed inside, humming the whole way.
 
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