"...So… Orin… I was wondering if you wanted to come and see Aud- my hybrid plant after the shop closes today? So we can work on that project for Botany…" Orin knew that he and Audrey 2 lived in Mushnik's Skid Row Florists by now, he had managed to drag about as much information about his life as there was to get out of him, save for his recent involvement with Audrey… although he might not believe it if he heard it, Seymour hardly did and he had been there… Orin swiveled around to face him, pausing his near daily ritual of putting his leather jacket that Mr. Mushnik always made him take off for rehearsals because 'Neither Tevye nor anyone in Anatevka has a leather jacket' back on so that it hung halfway off of him, mock astoundment crossing his expression. "He can talk!" Orin gave him one of those infuriating 'friendly' punches on the shoulder, hopefully for what would be the last time. "I knew you hadn't gone mute on us!" …He had heard him talking to Audrey… did that just… not count to him? He finished putting on that stupid leather jacket that totally was not one of the coolest things Seymour had ever seen before hopping off the stage and landing on the floor, as he always did to show off… "I'll be there with the only plant that can outclass even yours." As Orin obnoxiously laughed at his own joke, sauntering his way out of the auditorium, Seymour realized with dread what he meant by that. Hopefully the addition of some of Orin's 'taking the edge off' plants wouldn't make this situation worse… maybe a mellowed-out Orin would be easier to aim at?
Seymour shook his head violently, attempting to clear it of any images of the terrifying task that lay before him so that what little courage he had managed to gather wouldn't give out on him, before copying Orin's earlier gesture and jumping from the stage to the floor with as much grace as he could manage… What else could he do? He couldn't let him outclass him if he could help it. Immediately afterwards, Mr. Mushnik seemingly purposefully snuck up on him before addressing him way too close to his ear, nearly giving him a heart attack. "You invited him to the shop?!" Seymour turned to face him as confidently as he could, straightening out his posture slightly. "We're lab partners in Botany; we have a project and I suggested we could do it on Audrey 2." Mr. Mushnik looked at him skeptically, prompting him to continue. "...Plus this'll take care of his Wednesday night date with Audrey…" Mr. Mushnik nodded slowly, understanding flickering across his face along with… sympathy? "C'mon, let's go." He slapped him on the back, not too hard and with something that could almost be mistaken for friendliness if Seymour hadn't known him for most of his life… he didn't really know what to do with that as he followed him out of the auditorium. "Just don't let him wreck anything. I'm counting on you, Krelborn."
For the first time in a long time, they were able to have a car ride conversation… or just a conversation in general… that wasn't tension-fraught enough to make the possibility of jumping out of the moving vehicle seem at least a little appealing to Seymour, although his upcoming confrontation with Orin was easily able to do that all on its own. He even asked him if he was enjoying his classes! He never cared if he was enjoying them, just if he was passing them, especially after Seymour had had to stop doing his job at the shop thanks to them. After they had gotten back to the shop, Seymour tried to do some homework on integration but mostly just dreaded whatever would happen when Orin arrived. In the likely event that he failed to shoot him and he escaped, he could get him arrested so easily, and then Audrey would never be free of him and he would be in prison… someone of his socioeconomic standing wouldn't get juvie… but even if Seymour succeeded… blood would be on his hands forever. Horrible blood that deserved to be spilled, but blood nonetheless. And then what would happen with Audrey 2? He didn't know anyone besides Orin who deserved to be chopped up and fed to a hungry plant, how would he keep up with his unusual cravings after he was gone? He couldn't disappoint Mr. Mushnik now, things had been kind of okay between them for a full few hours at this point… that was so rare…
Mr. Mushnik banged the handle of the shop's broom against the floor, dragging Seymour out of his spiraling thoughts and signaling that the shop was now closed. Seymour made his way up to the storefront after a moment of hesitation, seeing with surprise that Mr. Mushnik had already left and the closing duties were already done. He must've hurried to get everything ready so he could leave before Orin arrived and not have to deal with him twice in one day, which Seymour definitely couldn't blame him for. The characteristic, infuriating sound of Orin's laughter became audible from what sounded like an improbable distance away from the shop, along with sounds of a… motorcycle? Seymour had half expected him to arrive in a Mercedes or something, but he had somehow managed to find an even more obnoxious, definitely not even cooler alternative. He and his motorcycle swerved into view through the shop's front windows, and Orin got off of it while it was still moving, with it stopping on its own somehow a moment later. Orin's stupid saunter towards and through the front door of the shop was much less balanced, less controlled than normal… Seymour hated that he knew it well enough to be able to tell that something was off about it now… and he suspected that he had gotten started on those 'taking the edge off' plants on his own before the smell, overpowering even that stupid cologne he always wore, confirmed this.
"Seymour, ya gotta try this." He could barely even get through that sentence without bursting into deranged, nonsensical laughter, and Seymour instinctively shook his head at the… he thought they were called blunts? offered to him, wanting to keep his head clear for this and fearing the effects that they had had on Orin. "No thank you…" Despite the brevity of what he was saying, Orin interrupted him. "Suit yourself." He took a long, over exaggerated drag from the blunt he had… just offered to Seymour… that his mouth had clearly been on before, laughing in a more drawn-out way than usual after breathing out the smoke. Forget explaining the absence of the lead of his play to Mr. Mushnik, how was he gonna explain this smell? It was oddly fitting to Orin in its penetrativeness… "...So… what was the project on again?" Seymour vaguely gestured towards Audrey 2, hoping that Orin would get close enough for it to take care of him right then and there, but instead he just gawked at it from a distance. "Wow, that is incredible! It's so much bigger than last time! What've you been feedin' that thing?" Seymour looked away from him and towards the back of the counter where Mr. Mushnik's gun was, trying to gather the courage to use it as he moved towards it. "...Uh… plant food…" As Seymour stared limply at the gun, Orin stumbled towards him with little of his usual carefully controlled and presented charisma, laughing at what he had said about plant food for some reason before slumping over the counter and saying something about how his supply must've been laced with something this time that he also found to be hysterical, which gave him an idea.
"...Hey, Orin, do you wanna check out the roof?" Was he really doing this? He certainly wasn't gonna be able to force himself to use the gun any time in the next century, that was for sure… Orin took yet another drag of the apparently laced blunt, surprisingly having the basic courtesy to at least attempt to blow the smoke away from his face, before giving a slow, exaggerated nod. "Shure, ssounds like a good time." Aaaand he was slurring his words now… which was good for Seymour's purposes but still made him feel uneasy… more uneasy than he already felt, anyway… Seymour moved to the same side of the counter as him, hesitating for a long moment before awkwardly propping him up so that his arm rested over his back and some… too much of his weight rested on him before making his way to the door to the stairway that led to the roof, not the ladder outside, there was no way he could make it up it in this state, trying to not let the difficulties he was having bearing his weight show despite Orin probably being far too incapacitated and wrapped up in singing a drunk-sounding but still, infuriatingly enough, kind of good rendition of the Chava Ballet Sequence to notice. Why couldn't Seymour be big and sturdy like that… They finally reached the roof, and even in his out of it state Orin still practically pulled them towards the edge even while he was still under him, looking out at the bleak neighborhood similarly to how he had gawked at the plant. "Wow, that is ssomethin'! You really live in this dump?"
He didn't even sound like he was trying to insult him, really, this was just apparently how he talked when what little inhibitions he had were removed. Seymour hadn't even known that he had inhibitions to be removed, at least not that kind; there had probably at least been some involved in the creation of his current persona… as Seymour struggled to figure out how to respond, Orin cast his dubiously comprehending gaze along the roof, eventually settling it on the top of the ladder Seymour had opted to not even attempt to get him to use and grinning as if he had come up with the funniest joke in the world. "...Hey, Seymour, how d'ya think Audrey would like bein' tied up the-" He didn't get to finish that sentence and the last insult towards Audrey he would ever make before Seymour in his rage somehow managed to shirk him off of him and the roof altogether, barely managing to avoid falling with him. He stared at his… probably? dead body in horror, struggling to process what had just happened, what he had just done… the complete lack of any kind of noise or other reaction on Orin's part made it even worse somehow, even with how horrible he had been towards Audrey and how Seymour just had to live up to the trust Audrey had graciously placed in him, just had to at least try to be with her instead of him… and he had, and now at least the first part of the plan seemed to have worked and Orin seemed to be dead… he was pretty sure… Oh God…
Seymour swallowed the bile he felt rising in his throat before shakily making his way back off of the roof, using the ladder that had ironically been Orin's downfall this time. He opened the front door of the shop with his key, relieved that he had remembered to bring it with him for once, and after a moment of hesitation and staring at Orin in disbelief started the long and hard process of dragging him into the shop, much to Audrey 2's intrigue. "Oooh…" Seymour shook his head in disgust, not looking forward to what he was about to witness. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He managed to get Orin to the plant somehow, removing his leather jacket before struggling with lifting him into its mouth for an embarrassingly long amount of time, until it eventually took him up with its vines. Right before it started oh so horrifically crunching down on him with its surprisingly sharp teeth, Seymour almost thought he saw one of Orin's hands twitch.