"Audrey?! Audrey!"
Audrey felt herself being hoisted by her underarms and head being placed on something soft.
"Audrey can you hear me?"
Her shoulders were grabbed and someone was rocking her roughly back and forth enough to make her head wobble like a doll. This sensation was making her sea sick. She closed her eyes tighter.
"Jeez Krelborn, don't break her!"
The shaking immediately ceased. After a moment Audrey's eyes fluttered slightly. She moved her right hand up to her head and began massaging her temple with the heel of her hand. Her head hurt something awful. Slowly she opened her eyes. Her vision was grey and fizzing like a glass of coca cola. Slowly the blobs turned into shapes, and finally images. She was at work. She could tell that much by the intricate pattern on the pastel brown ceiling. She felt the cold linoleum against her back. She was on the floor. Why would she be on the floor? She lifted her head slowly and saw Mr. Mushnik in a crouching position in front of her. His face with a look of concern, if not worry. She lay her head back down. Craning her neck backwards she met Seymour's eyes as he stared down at her. He was on the floor too. Blushing she realized her head was in his lap.
"Audrey what happened to you?" Mr. Mushnik finally said.
Seymour moved his hands to her back and gently began to push her into a sitting position. Her head wobbled.
"Orin… is gas," was all she said.
"Huh?" Seymour asked.
"It's just the gas," she nearly slurred, sitting upright.
The two men exchanged looks but said nothing.
"Look Audrey, why don't I take you home, alright," Mr. Mushnik said grabbing her forearms and pulling slightly trying to get her to stand. Her head fell limp against the nape of her neck and she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling sick again. She wasn't budging though.
No! Seymour! She screamed internally Let Seymour take me home!
"No what?" Seymour asked nervously removing his hands from her back.
"Huh?" she asked, pulling her arms from Mr. Mushnik's grip and massaging her fingertips on her forehead.
"You just said 'no Seymour'."
Her fingers froze. Her eyes, which had been half open until now, grew wide.
"I… I did?"
Audrey glanced from Seymour to Mr. Mushnik and back. She placed her hands on her cheeks and felt her face growing hot under her palms. She hadn't realized she had said that out loud. Was that all she said? No Seymour? Both of them looked confused. Though the look on Seymour's face was confusion, not blushing or embarrassment, so she must not have said the rest. She heard Mr. Mushnik whisper something to Seymour she couldn't quite make it out. It was when she heard the word 'doctor' she intervened.
"No, no really I'm okay," she tried pushing her palms on the ground to help herself up but found she was unable, "Maybe just let me lay down for a minute."
"Just let me take you home Audrey," Mr. Mushnik said grabbing her arm again.
"No!" she exclaimed more aggressive than she intended, "I… I don't want to go home."
Mr. Mushnik dropped her arm and glanced at Seymour raising an eyebrow.
"Audrey, where are you going to lay down?" Seymour asked.
After thinking for a moment she scooted her body back a few inches and lay her head down on his chest. She snuggled in slightly and closed her eyes. Seymour was stunned. He had indeed fantasized this scenario before, though not exactly these circumstances. He felt a laugh growing in his chest and tried to suppress it.
Mr. Mushnik pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, "Audrey, come on."
She opened her eyes. His tone was getting more annoyed and she didn't want to risk a quarrel, though she hesitated. She felt so comfortable, so safe. She glanced up at Seymour who was smiling down at her with his crooked smile. He exhaled a laugh through his nose.
Audrey glanced around the room without getting up. Where else could she rest? She noticed the counter and reached her fingertips out toward it.
"Audrey, you can't sleep behind the counter," Seymour said nearly laughing at this point. Mr. Mushnik wasn't laughing though; he was growing more and more frustrated.
Audrey, still feeling the effects of the gas reached her hand up and placed it on the side of Seymour's face. She stroked his cheek back and forth with her thumb.
"But you did," she nearly whispered.
Seymour's smile faded. He had told her that ages ago. It was true he had slept under the counter, but not since he was a child. Not since he had found a bed and moved to the basement. From his memory it was cramped and uncomfortable behind the counter, even as small as he was at the time. It was not the place for Audrey. He glanced up at Mr. Mushnik who was now glaring.
"Look Audrey," Seymour said looking back down at her and taking her hand off his cheek. "I'll take you downstairs."
"Downstairs?" she asked gasping rather dramatically.
Seymour knew he had to move quickly to avoid Mr. Mushnik's temper. With a grunt he hoisted her up into his arms. At first her head flopped back like a corpse but then she lifted it and placed it on his shoulder. She nuzzled her nose on his neck and buried her forehead in his hair. As he turned his back on Mr. Mushnik her fingers began to trace his collar. Seymour's face blushed a deep red and he silently hoped she wouldn't notice. As he started walking she started humming. When he reached the top of the stairs she was singing. Her voice was in a whisper and her words slurred, so Seymour couldn't understand what she was singing, though the tune was lovely. He realized he wouldn't be able to carry her down the stairs and gently put her down. Her feet wobbled and she leaned on his shoulder to avoid falling. Slowly he walked her down the steps as she continued to sing, though swapping some parts for just humming the tune. Seymour still couldn't understand what she was saying as they reached the base of the stairs. Moving off the final step she stumbled, tripping over her heels. Luckily her arm was still on Seymour's shoulder, and in a flash he swung his other arm around and caught her. She didn't move for a few seconds. She had stopped singing altogether momentarily. Startled, she looked back up at him with wide eyes. Her lip started to quiver and she threw her arms around his neck. Awkwardly he hugged her back, though smiling faintly. Her hands caressed up and down the back of his neck and she continued to hum. He felt his stomach do a flip flop and his heart beat so hard he wondered if she could feel it. Her song returned but it had slowed down. With her head right next to his ear he heard her sing.
"Far from Skid Row, I dream we'll go, somewhere that's green."
"What's that, Audrey?" He asked pulling her away at arms length. Now he could see her face.
"Huh?" She had closed her eyes again and was rolling her neck.
"That song."
She opened her eyes wide and met his.
"Oh!" She bit her lip and looked down at their shoes. "It's nothing."
His face fell. He realized he'd disturbed a private thought. A daydream he wasn't meant to see. Taking both her hands he walked her slowly across the room. He cursed himself for not being cleaner as he walked her around clothes and debris on the floor. When they reached his bed she put both her hands out to cushion her fall. She nearly missed Seymour as he hastily moved to remove a box of pots he had carelessly left on his pillow. She pulled her legs on the bed and lay on her back sighing dreamily. He smiled down at her.
"I'm going to go get you some water alright?"
"No!" she exclaimed sitting upright and grabbing his sweater vest with her claw like nails. She didn't want him to go.
"Hey it's okay," he explained. He tried to untangle her fingers from his sweater as she stretched the fabric.
"Seymour," she said looking him directly in the face.
He paused his motions and looked back at her. She bit her lip.
Now, do it now! Her subconscious sang.
She took a breath before responding. "I like you!"
He smiled, "Ah Audrey, I like you too. Now please get some rest," He said as continued to work to detangle her fingers.
"No!" she shouted.
"No?"
She hung her head and started to cry. He didn't get it! He didn't understand! Audrey how could you be so stupid?
"Audrey?"
He sat down next to her. He hesitated on whether he should grab her hands in his or put his arm around her shoulder. Or whether or not that would be too forward. Even as close friends as they were, they rarely touched. And he feared that since they were both sitting on his bed, she'd think he was trying to…
He shook his head of this thought.
"Audrey what happened to you?" he finally asked.
She took her face out of her hands and glanced sideways at him. She dropped both her hands in her lap and stared down at them, still feeling fuzzy.
"It's Orin. It was his handcuffs, then the gas…" she trailed off finding an interest in her fingers as she twiddled them around.
"What handcuffs?"
She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a ring of purple and green bruises just below her wrist. Seymour gasped and took her hand.
"Audrey what happened?"
"Handcuffs," she replied as if it were obvious.
He studied her wrist, turning her hand slowly. It didn't look as if it had just come from today. There were older bruises too, yellowing, just under the purple.
"And gas?" he asked.
"Uh huh."
He looked up at her, surprised to see her smiling. She didn't look ashamed or embarrassed or even hesitant about telling him these things. She was just telling him as simply as a child would tell their parent about the projects they made in art class.
"What gas Audrey?"
"Orin's gas, nitrous oxide. Before work I told him my wrists were hurting and he gave me a puff and told me to 'stop being such a whiny bitch'. I had never tried it before. I must'a taken too much."
Seymour felt as if he were about to cry. He looked from her face, unmoved by what she was saying, back down to her arm. The bruises so visible on her pale skin. How could something hurt someone so gentle?
"Audrey who is Orin?"
"A dentist!" she said proudly beaming.
This confused Seymour greatly. He was going to ask more but she pulled her arm back slowly, as if to say she was done talking for now. She lifted her feet back up on the bed. He got up as she lay her head down on the pillow and turned her back to him.
"I'm going to get you that water now."
The back of her head nodded "yes" in response. He took several steps back, keeping his eyes fixed on her before he turned around. He sauntered over to his sink and rinsed a cup thoroughly before filling it. He paused after he turned the tap off, trying to think of what to say next. Slowly he turned back around. Audrey, sensing he was coming, flipped over onto her back and reached out her hand to receive the cup. He placed it in her palm but she didn't move. She smiled a childlike smile up at him as they both held the cup. Finally she took the glass and with both her hands she held it on her chest. She was laying down so she'd have to sit up to drink it. Instead though, she just lay there admiring the cup. An off-white mug with flecks of blue and a navy blue rim.
"Audrey, can I ask you something?"
She turned her head to face to him, smiling.
"Sure," she said, her accent driving out the end.
"Why was a dentist putting you in handcuffs?"
Her smile fell. She turned back to the glass and scowled.
"He's… my boyfriend."
Seymour didn't say anything. He didn't realize she even had a boyfriend. She kept her after work life very personal and he was careful treading the topic. Mentally he started kicking himself for not paying closer attention before she got hurt.
"You know what I love about this room?" she exclaimed pulling him out of his thoughts. Her head was moving back and forth slowly examining the plants. There were dozens. Many were in the traditional brown clay pots but several were in coffee or crisco tins, old mugs or ice cream buckets.
"What?" he asked.
A smile spread across her face. Not the peppy smile she had been sporting when discussing the handcuffs. This one was different. It was a smile of dreamy satisfaction. The kind someone has after being told they are beautiful.
"All the green," she answered, barely audible.
Seymour glanced at his plants. He had never considered this. Living in the city everything was brown, black, or grey. But down here there was so much green.
"Is that what you meant?" he asked.
She turned her head to him, though said nothing.
"When you said 'somewhere that's green'?"
She pursed her lips and turned her eyes back to the mug.
"Well… kinda."
She didn't say anything for a minute or so after. Her gaze moved from the mug up to the ceiling. She could hear Mr. Mushnik moving around upstairs. No doubt he was wondering what was taking so long. Though she didn't pay much mind to this. She was off in her own little world. Seymour assumed this was the end of the conversation and began to move toward the stairs.
"It's just a daydream of mine." She said making him pause where he was and turn back around. "Somewhere far away from here."
There was so much light in her eyes as she spoke these words.
"Where, Audrey?"
She thought for a minute and sighed as if relieved. She moved her gaze from the ceiling back to his face. She had a look he had never seen on her before. Surely no one had ever looked at him this way, though one can dream. He saw it often, when a man came into the shop to buy flowers for his beloved, or when a couple walked down the urban sidewalk arm in arm. No. No one had ever looked at him like that. And here it was, plain on the face of the girl he loved as she lay on his unmade bed surrounded by his plant collection.
"Anywhere you go, Seymour."
He cocked his head and smiled. This was sweet to hear, though he didn't quite understand the context. He thought to ask her another time when she was feeling better and Mushnik wasn't upstairs pacing, waiting for him to come back up.
"I… I gotta get back to work. Holler if you need anything, alright? I'm right upstairs."
She nodded and seemed to snuggle in a little more before closing her eyes.
Hesitating he paced slowly up the stairs.
"Seymour!" she called when he was halfway. He ducked down to see her, still unmoving on his bed. The mug still clutched in both hands.
"I like you," she said finally.
He smiled, still not fully understanding. "I like you too Audrey. Please rest."
She moved the glass from her hands to the side table drawer and rolled onto her side. He admired her for a beat before returning to the stairs. Once he reached the top of the stairs he shut off the light for her, and gently closed the door behind him.
Author's note: this may seem out of character for Audrey but I figured if she's high on laughing gas I could get away with it. Also in my mind "Somewhere that's green" is (or I should say should be) more about Seymour than the suburbs, based on her fondness for him she expresses throughout the show and not just in that number. This idea is also present in my first story. Anyway, that's all I got. Oh and you know this already but I don't own Little Shop of Horrors or any of it's characters