"It's nice to see you collecting plants again." Audrey said with an affectionate smile as she watched her husband carefully water the greenery he'd been starting to gather on a shelf in their bedroom. "I wasn't sure if you were going to."
Seymour's expression was thoughtful as Audrey came closer to look over how the growing process was coming along. He hadn't quite decided yet if he wanted to get back into his hobby of strange and unusual plants. It had been something that fascinated him for a long time, but now, it was hard to shake the worry that he might come across another one that would prove to be too unusual.
But there were still flowers, and ferns, and reliable, run-of-the-mill succulents. And he'd found that having a bedroom didn't quite feel complete without them. Besides, he hadn't started up much of a collection yet, and he could always decide what sort of plants he wanted as he went along.
Audrey had noticed that some things hadn't quite changed since Skid Row. For one thing, Seymour was still washing out finished-off food containers so he could use them for planting. She knew it must have been difficult for him to lose the whole collection that he had poured a lot of time, care, and sentimentality into, and now that he was returning to something that meant a lot to him, she wanted to show that she supported it.
"You know, I'd be happy to pick you up some flowa' pots." She offered as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
The gesture made Seymour automatically lean closer, but he shook his head.
"That's alright. I like doing it this way." He glanced over at Audrey, then back at his plants, and his expression grew worried. Audrey found a lot of joy in having a perfect home, and it occurred to him that maybe she was bothered by him filling the bedroom shelf with something that could be considered junk instead of nice, orderly pots. "Is that okay?"
He was relieved when Audrey gave his shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
"You can do it howeva' you like. I'm just glad to see you happy."
He nodded, and a smile that looked oddly sentimental crossed his face as he looked over the three plants he'd gathered so far.
"If you don't mind telling me, why do you prefer it this way?" Audrey asked.
"Well, um…" Seymour reached to pick up the one with vines springing from what had previously been a container of strawberry ice cream. "Do you remember that time when you invited me over because you had a pint of ice cream in your freezer, and you offered to share it with me? You'd only been working in the shop a few weeks, and it was the first time I realized you might think of me as a friend."
"I do rememba' that." Audrey said, seeming to light up at the memory. "You asked me if you could keep the tub to plants flowa's in, and that was the moment I knew for sure that I was right to like you as much as I did."
Seymour flushed pink, but the smile never left his face.
"I picked this 'cause it reminded me of that." He explained as he set the plant back into place and reached for the one next to it. This one was smaller, a thyme plant growing out of a can labeled chicken-noodle. "And this one makes me think of that time I was real sick with the flu, and you were always making sure I was okay."
"You're my best friend! I couldn't just leave you miserable and freezing all alone in that basement."
Anyone else in his life would've, Seymour couldn't help thinking. But he didn't want to say that out loud when they were mulling over nice memories. It was better to think of how Audrey had brought him soup, and made sure he was keeping warm enough.
Lastly, he picked up the plant sprouting up from a jelly jar. He'd always like peanut butter more than the jelly, but peanut butter jars were much harder to clean.
"There's not really any one memory for this one." He said as he idly examined the bud that looked as if it might start to flower soon. "I just remember that we'd sometimes make sandwiches together after work if neither of us were busy. I always wished I could afford to take you out to eat, but you never seemed to mind."
"I was happy just to spend time with you." Audrey assured him. She had never really stopped to think that the little moments she'd shared with Seymour might mean as much to him as they did to her, and she felt a warm glow inside as the two of them looked over the shelf. "This is all so sweet. Did you do this back on Skid Row?"
"No, not really." Seymour replied with a small, bashful shrug. "There weren't as many good moments there. I figured we'll probably have a lot more out here, so I wanted to make sure I'd remember."
With a feeling of peaceful contentment washing over her, Audrey pulled him closer and lay her head against his shoulder. There would be a lot more good moments coming along, she was sure of it. She couldn't wait to see what memories he would add to his plant collection.