I love Aradia's and Sollux's relationship like you don't even. Ah... enjoy~
Chapter 3-
The morning was left uneventful for weekend day. Dogs barked, babies cried, birds chirped, cops arrested people. Y'know, all that jazz. Sollux found it a little difficult to occupy his time as he thought long and hard about Eridan's deal. He couldn't finish his project without that server and each passing minute his finger itched to call that phone number on the white napkin the other left him. After Sollux's chess match with Mr. Deuce, he sat on his bed, just staring at the digits written gracefully on it. Half the time, Sollux contemplated the consequences of agreeing with Eridan, the other half he spent pointing out how feminine Eridan's hand writing was. Sollux couldn't manage much sleep that night so he occupied it with video games, trying to beat all of Karkat's high scores.
By the next day, Sollux was happy he had a job to fill his time. He dragged himself to work, somewhat regretting not sleeping that night. It was better than staring more at that stupid napkin which kept him up for the most part. Sollux opened the door to a flower shop, being greeted by a small bell rattling from overhead. He moved his hands out from his jeans and wandered towards a door near the back side of the store.
"Hey Sollux."
Sollux looked back before opening the door. "Sup Aradia."
Aradia gave him a small smile, holding several pots of flowers and arranging them around the counters. "I almost thought you weren't going to come to work today."
"What'd make you think that?"
"That project you started." Aradia responded. "It's almost like you can't live outside of your cave."
"Yeah, well, the electrithity in my cave ithn't going to pay itthelf."
Aradia gave out a small chuckle, waving her hand towards the door. "Alright. Okay. Fair enough."
Sollux nodded, opening the back door. He leaned in, stealing an apron with his name on it and draped it over his thin figure.
Sollux wasn't much of a florist. He didn't know jack-shit about how to arrange flowers, how much water they needed or what kind of soil each plant preferred. He just needed the job to pay for rent. Aradia was nice enough to convince –and ultimately lie- to the store owner that Sollux was a professional when it came to flowers. Sollux had to waste some time learning about some of the plants but it got him the job and that was all that mattered. He kept his post as the cashier for the most part and Aradia took the time tending to the plants, not at all afraid to get down and dirty with soil or water. They worked as a good team and their hours matched pretty closely so no one caught Sollux's ignorance to plants. If Sollux knew anything remotely related to flowers, it'd be all about bees. Those little insects were probably one of the only other things that made Sollux tolerate the job. On occasion Sollux would have to lug some flowers into the shop and set them up for Aradia to arrange. From some unknown place a bee or two would drop by and snuggle up against a pedal to steal away its pollen. It was both fascinating and soothing to Sollux to hear the bee's little buzz circle around his ear.
So, in some ways, working at a flower shop was pretty ideal.
"So what's all this talk about you needing more money?" Aradia started, placing a pot down over a shelf.
Sollux groaned. "Did Terezi tell you?"
"Maybe."
"It'th nothing. I jutht need a therver."
"You're not going to get one anytime soon are you?"
"Well… it all dependth."
"On what?"
"If I want to owe money to the tightest ath out there."
Aradia looked at the other oddly. "And that'd be…?"
Sollux sighed, bringing himself behind the front counter. "Thith guy I knew a long time ago."
"Was he that mean to you?"
"You don't even know." Sollux whined, rubbing his fingers over his forehead. "He had a thtupid crush on thith chick who he uthed to hang out with and he constantly harrathed me, thinking I wath trying to take her or thome shit like that. I wath little though and I really didn't care but he got all defenthive about it and made my life hell. I hated him for a long time."
"Maybe he's changed."
"Not from what I've experienthed. Once an arrogant athhole, alwayth an arrogant athhole."
"Now is that him or you you're talking about?"
Sollux smirked. "Oh gee, thankth."
Aradia gave a curt smile. She cleaned off some of the dirt on her hands over her apron and continued moving around pots with plants. Sollux leaned over the counter, mindlessly watching each flower being moved around if Aradia was in eyesight. Sollux chewed on his lower lip, slowly sinking into his thoughts once more.
"What would you do?"
"Hm?"
"If thome douche from your childhood came back and offered to help you out but you knew he wath thtill the biggestht bitch around. What would you do?"
Aradia held onto a small arrangement of flowers, looking at another collection within a large pottery piece. She stroked her fingers across one of the pedals as she thought about the question. "Well, knowing how desperate you are to get this done, if I were you I'd take the offer."
Sollux dropped his upper body over the counter, leaving his head to fall against its wooden frame.
"You asked!" Aradia pointed out.
"I know but I wath hoping you'd thay don't do it."
"It's either now, then or later Sollux. If you can't let go of the stuff he put you through in the past then you're just going to have to wait."
Sollux huffed, cringing slightly at the words. He knew she was right and it was his own stubborn pride keeping him from getting any closer to finishing his project. A white blur fell through his vision, spotting what appeared to be a straw. He looked up to Aradia who was giving a genuine smile and holding out the straw.
"Here."
"What the hell ith that for?"
"I want you take the straw and suck it up." Aradia dropped the straw over the counter and continued with her work. "You'll have to get over it someday."
"Who thayth I'm ever going to meet the guy again?"
Aradia shrugged. "I'm not sure but something tells me your desperation is going to force you to contact him."
Sollux picked up the straw, twirling it between his fingers. Where did she get this? "Thomthing tellth me the thame thing."
"And who knows, maybe this guy won't be so bad after all."
He snorted. "I honestly dou-"
When Sollux's sentence seemed to drag on with a long pause Aradia looked to her friend. He was frozen still, eyes strained forward and body rigid. She looked around the shop, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. The woman walked around the aisle Sollux was looking at and saw nothing strange. She wandered to the cash register, leaning towards the other and waving her hand.
"Soll-"
"Sh!" He said raising a hand. "Do you hear that?"
Aradia blinked, looking around. "Hear what?"
"That buzz."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Aradia asked. "Maybe you should go back home."
"I'm fine… it'th jutht." Sollux scowled. "I can hear it."
"Sollux-"
Sollux ignored her, beginning to scramble through the counter for something. He shuffled through small pots and bags of seeds. Several boxes were pushed away and a small shovel or two. Aradia leaned further over the counter when in a sudden motion Sollux stood up. In one hand, he held tightly onto a fly swatter, face firm and body ready for action. Sometimes Aradia grew concerned about the other. It might have been because of the excess time he spent on the computer that made him turn out this way but there was no way of proving that. Still, a lot of Sollux's friends agreed with her opinion.
"What are you doing?"
Again Sollux raised a hand and scanned the shop. He grasped onto the fly swatter like his life depended on the weapon as he wandered the aisles. Aradia was close behind, trying to spot the thing Sollux was so determined on finding –and probably killing. At the back, where a layout of budding flowers resided, did Sollux stop and give a long hard stare. He breathed out a small "ah-ha!" before raising the fly-swatter. Aradia glanced quickly at what Sollux was ready to make an assault on. An eyebrow rose as she leaned forward.
"Is that a-"
"DIE FUCKER!"
SLAP!
"…wasp?"
Sollux grinned wildly, proud for killing the menacing mockery of an insect. "Not anymore."
Aradia giggled under her breath, shaking her head lightly. "You really are a wasp's mortal enemy, aren't you?"
"Damn thraight." Sollux said proudly. "All of them should fear me."
"I'm sure they do. And all the bees worship you like you're their queen bee."
Sollux smirked at that, chuckling lightly as he threw the swatter onto the counter. "Maybe not queen bee but I'm pretty chill with them."
The two escaped back to the front of the door where a customer had wandered in. Aradia gave the customer a smile, asking if she needed anything and remained polite. The woman merely shook her head, claiming she was simply looking around. When she continued onward, examining the many flowers around. Aradia looked back to Sollux who stole away a stool and sat lazily over it. She brushed her hands over her apron and tapped a finger over his forehead.
"Let's go to the park after our shifts."
"Why there?"
"Is there any other place you'd like to go?"
"Not really."
"Then the park it is." She stated with a small smile. "We could go get some ice cream too."
Sollux huffed. "Are you trying to make fun of how broke I am?"
"No, I was going to pay."
"You don't have to."
"I know but it's called being a good friend."
"You jutht want to bring me along to thee if we can find any dead animalth, huh?"
Aradia smiled more broadly now. "That's part of it."
Sollux stared at the woman but found himself smiling at her. It was hard to be anything but upset with her –and slightly annoyed, but that was only when it came to computers for Sollux. He was happy to have her as a friend. Sollux almost even considered her to be a sister. He'd do anything to protect her and keep her as happy as he possibly could. They used to do a lot of things together and played around a lot too. The best part was Aradia wasn't one to draw attention to herself and didn't demand it either. She also didn't scream at him like a rabid coyote with phrases unfamiliar to Sollux. That he appreciated quite a lot.
"Hello?"
Sollux and Aradia looked to the front door, spotting a rather built man. Sollux's chipper attitude suddenly disappeared in a flash. He furrowed his eyebrows down, nearly glaring at the man. Let's just take this moment to say once more that Sollux honestly sees Aradia as his little sister. And, as acting big brother, he did not favor the idea of some bulky ass weirdo from God knows where barging in two years ago and hitting on said acting younger sister. Sollux didn't get in the way of whatever relationship this hunky hulk was trying to develop with Aradia. So long as she didn't seem bothered or annoyed by the man Sollux wouldn't intervene. The moment he did become a pest, Sollux would do all in his power to make the man back off.
"Good evening Equius." Aradia smiled at the man, dirty hands folded neatly in front of her. "Are you looking for some more blue bells today?"
"Perhaps…" Equius breathed.
Jeeze, the guy's breathing was like he was a professional porn star. Sollux raised an eyebrow, noticing Equius' excessive perspiration. Uh-oh. Looks like this built boulder was getting nervous.
"And maybe a few others for the selection." He added on.
"Okay, let me see what I can get." Aradia said, guiding the man around an aisle.
Sollux huffed, kicking his legs over the counter and leaned back. He pulled out his cell phone, trying to ignore the heavy breaths and lengthy vowels Equius spoke. They took their time trying to pick some plants that met Equius' fancy but he was a picky bastard. Then again, it wasn't so much that Equius was picky; Sollux knew it was because he wanted to try and spend as much time with Aradia as possible. He smirked, thinking of how lame his strategy was. What a loser. Sollux picked at his teeth, not aware of how much time he actually spent on his phone until Equius' breathing grew louder.
"Thank you Ms. Megido." Equius murmured. "This selection is rather… lovely."
Sollux raised an eyebrow at the two across.
"It was no problem. Just make sure to water them daily since they are still young."
"Ah, yes, of course." The man pursed his lips together. "I have one more question I need to ask."
"Yes?"
"You wouldn't happen to be doing anything today, would you?"
"Oh! I'm sorry. I already have plans with my friend." She looked over to Sollux who kept a straight face. "Maybe some other time."
The man nodded, sweat dripping down the back of his neck. "That would be pleasant."
Equius took his plants to Sollux, resting them on the counter, and waited patiently for the other to scan them. Sollux lazily took his time, glancing at the products with little interest. He announced the amount, got Equius to pay, and offered no smile when saying "thank you". The large man took a while to say good bye to Aradia. When he finally left Aradia huffed.
"You could be a little nicer, you know." Aradia stated.
"I could," Sollux rested his head over his hand, "but I won't."
"What do you have against him? Sure he's a bit… interesting, but he hasn't done anything wrong."
Sollux simply shrugged. "The guy creeps me out."
Aradia shook her head, going back to her work.
The rest of their shift went on with customers coming now and then. It was a mellow day, and Sollux found himself dozing off from his messed up sleep schedule. As promised, Aradia took him to the park and they walked with ice cream in hand, keeping a look out for dead creatures –or at least Aradia did; Sollux gave up right when she bought him ice cream. They consumed their time with meaningless talks, whether it'd be about school, friends or other events within their lives. It ate up most of the afternoon, which led Sollux to stay at Aradia's and watch some adventure movies. She kept swooning over every actor portraying Indiana Jones, leaving Sollux to just sigh and critique every special affect or CGI he could spot. When the night grew late, Sollux made his way for home. He threw himself over his bed, hearing the buzz of the servers scattered in his room without any particular order.
Well… now what?
Sleep?
Haha! He only wished. That buzzing noise seemed to nag Sollux to call Eridan. Oh little voice, don't you understand? Eridan is not even worth his precious time. Was he that desperate? In some ways, Sollux was beginning to believe he was. Aradia was right, though: he needed to suck it up and get over it. Sollux pressed his lips together in a straight line, glancing at the clock. It wasn't midnight yet. He wondered if that pansy fruit was still up. It wouldn't hurt to leave a voice mail, Sollux guessed.
He reached in his back pocket, grabbing his phone and dialing the number given to him.
Ring.
Please don't answer.
Ring.
Pleeeeaase.
Ring.
Oh for the love of God don't-
"Ampora speaking."
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-
Fine…
"I'm in."
