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Finally settling the last tray of seedlings into place on the shelf, Boris heaved out a sigh filled with what could only be described as bone-deep satisfaction.
It had already been a few months since Boris had started working at this little flower shop. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't pinched himself a couple of times after waking up and realizing this is what his life was now; going to work not dreading what patients he would see, but instead looking forward to caring for each and every bloom housed in this place. The air was always fragrant with petals and soil-- if a bit humid. But Boris wouldn't have it any other way.
He was currently swept up in listening to the tiny, delighted choruses coming from a newly-bloomed patch of forget-me-nots when he heard the chime of someone coming through the door. Boris quickly straightened up and dusted his hands off on his apron. While he wasn't the most enthusiastic about the customer-facing side of the flower business-- he'd much rather be in the back doting on daylilies-- folks stopping in to buy flowers were leagues easier to deal with than patients waiting for dental surgery.
"Hel-o, how can I help you tod- Oh!" Boris interrupted himself when he saw the person stepping inside was none other than Marv Truncler. It wasn't hard to tell, considering the man hadn't changed very much, if at all. The only difference was that today he had his long hair gathered up in a loose bun. The man looked a bit odd not holding a fishing pole.
"Aw hey! Well lookie here, there's a face I ain't seen in a while. Least not through a screen, I don't think. How's life treatin' ya, youngin'?" Marv crowed, unfazed by how much he had to lean up to look Boris in the eyes.
"Oh, ah- good! Verry very good, um, lately," Boris sort-of stammered. Truth be told, Marv was one of the last habiticians Boris had anticipated running into on good circumstances-- mostly because the man seemed to be more at home on the dock of a lake than in town. But it also certainly didn't help things that Boris couldn't get a good read on what exactly Marv meant by his mysterious... fish message, and even less so that the man hadn't said anything after Boris finally wrote out his apology. It seemed best to simply assume that anyone who hadn't attempted to contact him after the fact just didn't want anything to do with him going forward. It was more than what he deserved, anyway.
Wait. Shoot. Was that something he needed to write down on his list of 'things to talk to therapist about'?
Unaware of Boris' spiraling mental dialogue, Marv continued on with his conversation. "That's good ta hear, good ta hear. Seems like a lotta folks are gettin' to bein' at a better place'n they were this time last year. That clown fella ain't so... sobby no more, and last I heard that red-headed youngin' had a swing that could take a man's head off his shoulders from 30 yards," Marv said, his smile only seeming to get brighter at the mention of Millie's potential for destruction.
That helped pull Boris out of his head a bit. The smile on his face faded from forced to genuine. "Yeas, Millie has been practising-and-practising... She comes over to play with Putunia a-lot. So far no broke-in windows!" Boris said with a little cheer and crossed fingers.
"Heheh, sounds 'bout right. Hand that girl anything heavy enough and she's got a weapon. Kids are astoundin'," Marv chuckled. After a moment, he held up a hand to his mustache in deep thought. "Now what was I... Oh! Almost got carried away with all my gabbin', but I come in here for a reason if you'd believe it! I wanted ta get some flowers for plantin' around the lake so's the fish feel more comfy. You got anything like that?"
"Hmmnm..." With that, Boris' thoughts shifted gears into plant mode, which was a welcome distraction. "So, aqwatic plants, correct? I think that would deepend on how deep the lake is, or if your'e planning on planting them on the bank-- or, wait, were you wanting a flower-ing plant? Most of the aquatick plants we have aren't, but they are very easy to grow, like a creeping jennie or a water lettuce! Tho I am very partial to... em, water-lilies, if you'd want something like-"
Marv interrupted him with another boisterous chuckle that almost seemed to wrack his wiry frame. "Aw no sonny, I don't mean nothin' like that! I just need somethin' pretty to put in the pot on the dock so's the fishies can have somethin' nice to look at."
Boris' brain lagged for a moment before catching on. "Oh! Ah. I see," he said, a tad bit embarrassed for getting carried away so quickly. But thankfully Marv didn't seem to mind. "In That case, we have lots-and-lots of very pretty ones over here to choose from..."
Not ten minutes later, Marv was happily holding an assortment of marigolds, zinnias, and pansies in his arms, as well as a few small hand-written notes about how to care for them. "I really can't thank ya enough. I might know my fishes like the back'a my hand but when it comes to flowers I don't know a cactus from a carnation."
While he was a tiny bit confused by that last part, Boris allowed himself to beam with a little pride nonetheless. "It's no trouble at all, do'not worry."
Marv seemed to pause, and his eyes crinkled a bit with the smile he sent Boris’ way. "I'm real glad you got yourself in a better place, youngin'."
That caught him a bit off guard.
"Oh— ah. Thank you? I..." Boris managed to get out. Truthfully he wasn't sure if Marv ever realized the magnitude of his downward spiral during the Habitat, seeing as the man seemed content to simply fish in that little pond(? Did the puddle really count as a pond? Either way, he made it work). As far as Boris knew, the older man didn't really have any specific emotional problems that he'd hoped to resolve at the Habitat; the man just wanted a place to fish. And following that, it didn't seem too far out of the realm of possibility that Marv simply wasn't aware of what a spectacularly bad job Boris was doing of cheering up the other habiticians, seeing as his own needs had been more or less met.
Marv simply chuckled again. (A man who once spent an hour naming off various fish had no right to look so knowing.) "What's the look fer? Just because my eyesight ain't what it used to be, it don't mean I can't see what's right in front of me." Following another beat of silence from Boris, Marv let out a little sigh and continued. “Ya don’t get as old as I am without bein’ able to notice some things about the world, sonny. The way people act when they’re not doin’ so well under the hood is one of em. Not that I’m the type to know about fixin’ anything up there that can’t be solved with a day of fishin’, anyhow.”
Boris felt it was wrong to keep giving nothing but silence on his end. “I... under-stand. I hope that you were— that you saw my apology. And know that I really did mean what I said.” He couldn’t help but wring his hands together. This was hard. It was always going to be hard, dealing with the things he’d done and what he came close to doing, and facing the scrutiny of those who he’d wronged. But they at least deserved to know.
“Aw, sonny, don’t worry. I did,” Marv said, patting Boris on his arm. “Did’ja see my fish picture?”
“Ah. Yes, I did. It was... a good. Fish.”
Marv’s face lit right back up. “Why thank ya! It’s still the biggest one I’ve caught s’far this season.” The older man glanced out the window, where the sky was beginning to turn sunset-red around the edges. He let out a little whistle that made his mustache wiggle a bit. “Aw, I oughta get goin’ fore it gets too awful dark.” He readjusted the flowers in his arms, and fixed one last smile up at Boris.
“You be good, alright youngin’?”
The florist couldn’t help but return a smile just as genuine back down at him. “I will,” said Boris, and opened the door for the older man as he stepped through to go on about the rest of his day. Marv gave one last wave goodbye, and the door to the flower shop slipped closed with a small chime of the bell.
Boris smiled, and he couldn’t help but feel as though his heart had become a few bouquets lighter.
“...I will.”