[PRP] 花ざかりの君たちへ (Aleksy & Horace)

[The Semblance of Unity]

After a major ******** at their last service (and not the first mistake by that florist), Horace had been given the task of finding a more suitable florist for their funeral home. He was told explicitly to make no deals without Ripley's input (by Ripley), but he could scout. Victor had told him to use his best judgment, and it was somehow so satisfying to know he was trusted this far. The first florist had been massively sub par, even the flowers pulled from the fridge in the back had looked drooping, lackluster, and just sad. The second had been underwhelming, and the third - a shop clerk had confessed the store was planning to close in a few months. A shame, that: the shop had such gorgeous displays.

Now he was standing in front of Pocket Full of Posies, wondering if the owners really meant to allude to the black plague in their shop title. It was just morbid enough to make him crack a smile. The window displays were lovely, and it was always good to patronize locally owned businesses. (Most florists usually were, anyway, but he could tell himself he was doing a good job anyway.) Horace poked his way in and, not immediately seeing anyone, meandered over to stare at some of the flowers on display.

shlbrogane

 

[shibrogane]

The owners were in the store. Insofar as there was one owner, and he was behind the counter, being short and easily missed behind an arrangement he was just finishing.

"Hello," said Aleksy, peering around the glass vase and all its greenery. He was small, redheaded, and overall kind of reminiscent of what a fox might look like as a person, if the fox also had thighs that could crush a man. (The thighs were obvious when he came out from behind the counter, dusting leaves off his gloved hands.) "Can I be of assistance?" He had a strong Russian accent, but he wasn't unintelligible. Small favors.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace turned at the voice, jerking a little in surprise. Well, it was a bonus that the shop keeper was cute. "Sorry, I didn't see you there." Nugget squeaked in his pocket; he pretended as though he didn't hear a thing, hoping the squeak could be played off as some sort of natural shoe squeaking noise or something.

He rolled up his dress sleeves, glad he'd left the suit jacket in the car. "I was wondering if you do arrangements for funerals?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"It is fine," said Aleksy, who frowned for a moment at the squeak, and looked for it. It wasn't hard for him to see Horace for what he was (which was a warg) and to notice where exactly the bond between man and beast went. It also didn't seem worthwhile to point it out. Still, Aleksy was glad that Horace wasn't looking to shake hands. He'd been electrocuted, and he had no desire to experiment with even static-shock voltage again. "I do arrangements for all occasions," he said, "funerals among them."

He turned back towards the counter, and gestured to the pre-made arrangements throughout the store. "My condolences for your loss ...?" Aleksy trailed off, waiting for a name, obviously.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Horace. Horace Nokoni. And, oh, no one's dead yet." He paused and grimaced. "That sounded stupidly ominously, sorry. I work for a funeral home." What a great first impression, he thought. Smooth as butter.

"Just looking around at different florists."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy nodded, and wasn't at all put off by Horace's introduction. He was not an epitome of grace himself, and Horace was polite about it, which was all Aleksy really wanted or expected from customers. Especially customers that might create new business relationships and increase his revenue. He had been looking into hiring someone to manage the store more often... a new relationship like this would be a great help in that regard.

"Aleksy Spektor," said Aleksy, "A pleasure."

He frowned, then. It must not be comfortable for Horace's warg, tucked away like that. If this was to be some sort of business meeting, then it would be polite to... "If you would like to let the bat out of your pocket, I do not mind," he said. Aleksy leaned on the counter, pillowed his chin in one gloved hand. "Provided it does not s**t in the store."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace's mouth dropped open a bit. He reached it and pulled out Nugget, who promptly took off because 'new place' and everything smelled delightful. "ah, Nugget! Don't eat anything or make a mess!" The bat was already skittering away, but Horace knew he'd come back.

"How did... how did you know? Are you one of those alternate alien people?" He gestured aimlessly with both hands.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"No," said Aleksy grumpily, watching the bat, "I am unfortunate enough that everyone I ever knew was replaced by them. No, my powers are such that I can see people as they truly are. Your bat friend was obvious to me."

He paused, then, with his portfolio in hands. "As is your propensity for shocking those who touch you. Please do not touch me, I have no desire to play with electricity." Aleksy set down the black binder. "Some samples of prior work are in here," he said, "along with a general listing of prices. Of course an established working relationship would result in lower prices, as is custom."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Oh! Awesome, I usually only meet aliens. I'm from this iteration, too." Horace moved forward to flip through the binder. He was here for business, after all.

"That seems like a useful, if... uncomfortable power. Can you turn it off?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"No," said Aleksy. "I suppose if I went blind... but magic finds away, which is unfortunate."

He watched Horace. Aleksy, what do your spook eyes see? Someone who looked fairly normal, for once, without the hyperrealistic cut-out effect of someone from another world. The dancing electricity between the strands of Horace's hair, between the cuffs of his sleeves and his skin, was intriguing and off-putting. Between Horace and Nugget, there was a strand of something brilliant gold. It would dull and tarnish as the warg bond got older, more lived in.

Someday Aleksy would find out what he looked like to other people with his ability to See. It'd be interesting. It wasn't today.

"My boyfriend glows," he said. "He cannot turn that off, either."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I hope I still look okay, even with your magic eyes..." Horace wondered if anyone had ever called Aleksy Legolas. Could he see if they were taking the hobbits to Isengard? Horace swallowed his snort. What an unprofessional thought.

Horace looked through the binder. The arrangements held a nice, artistic flair, but most weren't too avant garde to be usable in his field. Not that the dead cared about flowers, but the living sure did. The man knew at least some of his flowers. Horace had been made to study the basics of a good arrangement because of his job, but he still couldn't put two flowers together and make it look good.

"Your boyfriend glows? Oh my god, how do you sleep?" He paused. "Sorry."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy smiled. It didn't quite reach his eyes. He seemed to be doing it for something to do with his face. "You look much better than most people I see."

He settled onto the stool behind the counter, leaned over it. "Like a baby," he said. "That's the expression? The glow is quite comforting. Like reflection off a water."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Oh! He's like a nightlight!" That was kind of adorable, actually. Horace didn't think he could work with a glowing boyfriend, but the idea was ridiculously cute. He flipped a page. Boyfriend... now that was a thin he wouldn't have again. It was the truth of things, but it still kind of stung. Loneliness or something. He needed to stop thinking about it.

"I'll definitely pass your shop along to my supervisors." He smiled. "Would you like them to call at the main shop number to work out any details?" Horace had all the basic details in his small notebook before setting foot into the shop, and he wouldn't forget anything he'd read.

"On a, uh, more personal note - do you carry flowers with no or very little scent?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy's smile did reach his eyes that time. (He was a lot like Renard, actually, though Horace had no reason to know Aleksy's sort-of adopted parental set.) "Yes," he said. "I call him that, sometimes. He finds it embarrassing."

He pulled out a business card. "Sometimes I am not in the shop, and if I am not, this is my personal number. I can speak most business hours, but I close early on Friday and open late on Saturday, so earlier in the week is better." Aleksy wrote this down on the back of his card, and passed it to Horace. (His gloves were tightly fitted, dark brown leather, with a bronze zipper along the line between his index knuckle and his wrist.)

"Of course," he said. "Is there a particular purpose for them?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace smiled and gingerly took the card, still careful not to brush fingers. He could handle it, but he didn't want to. "Our director, Mr. Crowell, will be in touch." He tucked it away in his wallet.

The question had his eyes sliding off of Aleksy and towards anything else. "Uh, well, for something that's not really a date?" That sounded stupid, he thought. "It's a date but not." Even stupider.

shibrogane