Chapter Text
Nicholas D. Wolfwood had always assumed that God had painted the sky with careful strokes of blue and white, placing the sun and moon perfectly in place. As he grew and his faith faded from him, he took the sky for what it was.
A masterpiece painted by no one, shades of blue and black that could melt into purples and pinks. A sky where ice crystals could fall and howling winds could rage, a place where lightning danced and meteors kissed.
That was what he had believed until today, when he saw a pair of bright blue eyes under a mess of blonde hair. A pair of eyes that completely captivated him, a pair that caused a shiver to run up his spine as his skin attempted to fight off the gooseflesh that tickled at his skin.
The chill caused him to reach towards his neck, checking to ensure that his scent patches were still in place. While Nick was an alpha, he never once was boastful about it. His neighbor had raised him better than that. Standing here did remind him that the general public didn’t share the same ideas.
Usually he avoided public places during the day, waiting until the dead shifts to go places. His nose was incredibly sensitive to the pheromones around him. The sensitivity would cause him nosebleeds and headaches, but the most confusing part of it was that he could see the trail of scents people left. It felt incredibly invasive to be able to look at a group of friends and see who had been fucking who.
Swallowing hard, Nick forced his gaze away as he made a left turn at the first aisle. Shaking his head he pulled out the list that his elderly neighbor had given him. He had owed his Neighbor his life, after his parents vanished into their drug addiction and left him with a paid for shitty flat- it was Granny who came to check on him.
He could never figure out why the little old woman didn’t call Child Protective Services and helped him with every aspect of life, but for not sending him into the system he was forever grateful. It was possible that he did cry until he threw up because he had been in the system before and it was horrifying that solidified the decision for her.
Regardless of the decisions of the past, the woman continued to age as he did and was having a harder time leaving her home for larger grocery runs. Spring was in the air and Granny wanted to prepare her flower boxes as soon as she could.
Glancing down at the list he bit his lip, reading the messy script was hard enough; and the vegetables were easy, but understanding what flowers were for was something else entirely.
Hanging Basket; purples appreciate (Easy, purple basket)
Patio Tomato (Tomato that’s in a pot)
Red Geraniums (Not a damn clue)
Rose of Sharon Hibiscus (What is this)
Any Yellow Annuals
Surprise me!
“Shit Granny…” he muttered, one hand placed on the cart he was using to pile everything into, “What…”
The first two things had been picked out and placed, but the other two were a mystery to him. Looking up he kept looking between signs that said perennials and annuals and he wasn’t entirely sure what that was. He could find a fruit, a vegetable, but why were there so many sections and options for flowers?
“Welcome to Seeds Nursery,” a chipper voice disrupted his disgruntled thoughts, “Need help finding anything sir?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for,” Nick began, eyes shifting towards the voice, “Red Geraniums and…a rose of Sharon?
Sunshine was standing in front of him now, a polite smile on his face. Now that he was up close, Nick was able to better examine the young man. The first thing he noticed was this man didn't give off any type of scent, Wolfwood was able to assess he was either a Beta or patched. The young man wore a dark green apron and had a mole under his left eye. One of his arms was a high tech prosthetic that looked to cost more than Nick’s life itself.
“Both fantastic choices, do you need Seeded Geraniums?” the blonde smiled, though it didn’t fully reach his eyes.
“...Isn’t that how plants grow?” Nick cocked an eyebrow.
The young man chuckled, a sparkle showing briefly in those heavenly blues, “Mostly, but I’m going to assume those are the ones you are looking for if it wasn’t specified otherwise. Follow me!”
Nick did as instructed and followed the young man, one hand tightly held the list while the other pushed the cart. He kept himself at a distance, not wanting to get over excited and run the poor guy over.
“Geraniums are beautiful,” the young man smiled as he motioned to a table filled with multiple colors of the plant, “Let me know if you have any questions, these are my absolute favorite.”
Stuffing the list into his pocket, he grabbed a few red mini trays and placed them into his cart. Nick didn’t know much about plants other than the basics that Granny had shown him. Despite this, just being around these flowers had made this ray of sunshine shine brighter.
That customer service smile had gone as he introduced Nick to this place and for some reason, Nick really wanted to continue to see that genuine grin. Something about it was entrancing, even contagious. His own lips began to twitch apart at the pure joy this man had when talking about plants.
“Uh, What kinda…sun do they like?” Nick had to dig into his brain and recall something Granny had mentioned about plants before.
“These ones need full sun,” the young man beamed, “Now this next one, Rose of Sharon is actually a Hibiscus,” he motioned for Nick to follow.
“Why is it called a Rose if it’s not a rose?” Nick grumbled as he followed along.
“Not sure, I think I think it’s in the bible? Not sure though,” skillfully, the young man walked backwards through the store without a single misstep.
Oh.
“Oh, you’re right,” the expression clicked, “But why not just name a Rose that?”
The young man chuckled and shrugged, “That’s a good question, once you see it would you like to give it a different name?”
“I might, something that actually makes sense .”
Upon their arrival, Nick was completely baffled by the fact that this plant looked nothing like a rose at all. It was just a fancy flower on a fancy little tree.
“I feel incredibly misled, this isn’t even red!” Nick sighed before looking between each little tree, “I don’t even know how to tell which of these is different, Which of these looks like it won’t die instantly.”
The man put his fingers to his chin, scanning the group before placing it into the cart, “This one looks good. Be sure to water it frequently. Have a better name in mind?”
“Pink Hibiscus,” Nick was straight forward, “Straightforward and won’t confuse anyone.”
“Simple, I like it. Now let’s see what else is on that list,” The blonde smiled, a real one this time despite being timid.
Nick noticed the birthmark under his eye, how his eyes curved slightly when he wasn’t doing his customer service grin. How those eyes were focused on him as he spoke, not glancing around as though he had been a bother.
“Did you find everything else alright?” The employee asked, peeking from the list to the cart to ensure that Nick had found the correct things.
“Yeah, Simple color requests and a few vegetables. Nothin’ misleading about that,” Nick reassured him.
“Oh? Did you not see the Big Beef tomatoes? Or a Banana Pepper? ” The blonde could see those weren’t on the list, but the twinkle in his eye alerted Nick to see that he was being playful.
Nick looked down to the tomatoes and pepper he had grabbed, A bell pepper and a Roma Tomato. Neither of those he questioned, but if he thought enough about it he could probably argue against it.
”Who is namin’ this shit,” Nick muttered, “Large tomato…medium…yellow long pepper. It doesn’t gotta’ be hard.”
The man with him began to snicker, stifling his laughter as they walked. Nick noticed that these little giggles he made, some whimsical. He kept his distance, but he was instantly enamored by this person.
“But if we changed it now, wouldn’t it confuse everyone who was used to the other names?” The blonde hummed, his smile warm as he was led up towards the bundle of flowers.
“Easier to learn,” Nick felt calm, his mouth wasn’t fixing to hold onto a cigarette or sucker, “Those who know can learn it easy, right?”
“Mmm, I guess so.”
This employee did his job well, but Nick noticed that he held each pot and petal with love and care. If something had fallen over, he would step out of the way and pick the plant up, scoop a little dirt back into it and place it on a separate rack on their walk.
Being as observant as he was, Nick noticed how smooth his prosthetic arm moved. He wouldn’t ask, for the fear of being rude, but he assumed that it may be fully attached to the nerves in his arm. Though all of that was way out of his league, he wouldn’t attempt to wrap his mind around something that technologically advanced unless he was allowed to.
Every few rows a little Nursing Station caught his eye, plants that may have been loved a little roughly were place there. Nick assumed the workers would come and try to restore them. In a whisper, before the damaged plant was left at the new station, Nick heard the employee whisper an encouragement before gently caressing a petal or leaf.
His heart beat picked up when they made eye contact and the sounds around them siphoned off to silence when he began to speak. Walking through the rows of greenery and flowers, the scents of the other customers seemed to fade away. There weren’t any faded scent trails hanging around the corner either. It was as though this place was free of it, that or he was completely taken aback by this man that he couldn’t focus enough to notice.
Together they walked around the store, Nick trying to keep the man engaged in conversation as he asked clueless questions about the items in the store. The young man was happy to help and gave him his undivided attention until check out.
“Thank you for your help, My Gran will be happy with ‘em,” Nick mentioned once he paid.
“I’m sure your grandma will love them,” the young man handed him the recipe with a smile, “If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here whenever we are open!”
“‘Course, who will I ask for when I stop by?” Nick’s toes began to twitch, he wanted to straight up ask this man his name and number, but knew that wasn’t always acceptable.
“Oh! It’s Vash, you?”
“Nicholas,” although out of character, Nick put his hand to shake Vash’s.
“Nice to meet you, Nick! Take good care of my little plants, alright?” Vash smiled before waving Nicholas off, “Number is on the receipt!”
Typically, Nick would ride around town with his motorcycle but with such precious cargo he ended up taking the SVU he’d adopted from Granny. A silver SVU that was much newer than it should have been, but a year or two too old for car dealerships to harass you about trading it in.
The drive was quick, only fifteen minutes away from their unit. Nick wasn’t surprised that he never noticed the Seeds Nursery. This was the first year he went to get plants and he usual only ventured out at night.
Parking in their space, Nick took a few trips up while she met him at the door. Her smile wide as she reached a wrinkled hand from her walker out to touch the side of his face. He leaned down and gave her a grin, as usual she smelt of lemongrass and mint. Her smell had never bothered him, her smell always mad her feel like home.
Granny was able to tell right away that Nick was completely starstruck, his eyes were open more than normal, a little bit of pink kissed his tanned nose.
“Nicholas, what has you been in such a stupor? Did you find a flower you can’t live without?” she teased.
“Yeah- No, no these are mostly annuals. They don’t come back,” Nick recited a random fact that Vash had given him while they walked through the multiple greenhouses.
The elderly woman laughed, “Oh I know that my dear, I have never seen you so…bewildered. Did you catch a rather nice scent at the Nursery?”
“Ah no, not at all. But I can admit, I had no idea where half of these were,” he changed the subject before he began to transfer fresh dirt into the flower boxes, “I needed help.”
“Oh? I absolutely love the workers there, who helped out my sweet Nicholas? I’ll have to tell them thank you,” Granny smiled, her hands clapping together as she looked over each of the plants with a wide smile.
“You don’t have to do that Gran. I would have figured it out eventually, everything was labeled. Just woulda’ taken a minute…” Nick sighed as he began to dig his hands into the dirt.
“I’ve been going there for years. Next time I will send you some cookies to give! Which employee helped you out?” the old woman pried, leaning forward as she reached forward and began to prepare the plants for replanting.
“Ah, Blonde. Name’s Vash-”
“Oh I adore that young man! He’s the owner you know, he grows all of those plants. That’s why the hours are so short, he is there every day! He loves my sugar cookies! I’ll start making some now,” after she freed the plants from their nursery pots, she grabbed her walker and turned to head back into the building.
“Now? But Granny, your balcony is all done, what else is there?” Nick stood up, wiping the dirt off of his hands as he watched her enter her condo.
Ever since her fall a few months back, he was full of anxiety as she went over the threshold of the sliding glass door. Nick took her on walks, went shopping for her, and took her to her doctor's appointments. Even with surgery though, she was at an age where things may not get any better. It hurt Nick and he knew that it hurt Granny, she was vivacious and independent until that fall.
“My dear, much of the vegetables I give you come from my little garden. This is the year I teach you how to tend your own, when I die. I need you to be able to whip up yourself a fresh salad,” she spoke with a warm smile upon her face.
Nick’s heart sank as he slowed behind her, “I…I wish you didn’t talk like that.”
“Nicky-poo,” she teased as she turned around, reaching her hand out to him.
Obediently, Nick leaned forward and allowed her to touch his face. Her hands had a little dirt on them, but that didn’t bother him. He had been wallowing in filth before she had come into his life and cleaned him off, this dirt was alright. It helped nurture life.
“ But as all things come to an end, I want to leave you best prepared for a life without me. Store bought is fine, but homegrown with all of my love tastes better. Right?” her thumb gently ran over his stubble, her eyes twinkled, “When you find someone, you can express just how much you love them with simple things such as this.”
This was a conversation that Nick wanted to avoid and she said it with such joy in her eyes. She spoke of death as though it didn’t scare her, she spoke as though her time was coming sooner than it was later.
He wanted to open his mouth and tell her that she had shared so much with him, he had learned so many things from her that something as little as gardening wouldn’t leave a larger impact on him. She had taught him how to cook and if he ever decided he could stand someone long enough to love them; he would then cook for them.
But she wouldn’t see it that way and he couldn’t deny her. Instead he nodded a bit, blinking away any tears that attempted to pull towards the surface as he looked at the stars glittering in her eyes.
“...Alright,” Nick sighed, “I’ll start a garden.”
Granny’s grin was wide, “There we go, Dear. Now why don’t you finish those plants up while I get these cookies made. I’ll prepare a list for you and you can pick everything up tomorrow!”
Nodding, Nick returned to his previous task and carefully planted each of the flowers in their new home. Water them carefully before picking up the scraps and throwing them away. The entire time his mood remained low, he hated thinking about being left all alone again.
Yes he had everyone he worked with, but he could barely stand his coworkers and the kids that he worked with part time didn’t count. Coming back into her condo he felt at home, even though he didn’t live there he spent many nights here.
At one point they had merged their living spaces, only for her to separate them once more when he hit eighteen.
“ You need to learn independence and an old grandma in your space isn’t going to allow you to blossom!” she had said, “ A handsome young Alpha like you doesn’t need me interrupting your little hangouts!”
“Can you imagine, my dear? You bring over some friends and I walk in with cookies? Embarrassing!” She laughed.
Little did she know, Nick didn’t plan on gathering a lot of friends and if he did have a few. They better love Granny’s cookies or they would be hitting the road. He didn’t find her embarrassing, but he also wasn’t expecting to bring people home. She might have assumed that he would be like her own pups as they had spread their wings and left.
He didn’t blame her for thinking that he just wanted to mess around with people his age, but despite presenting as an alpha; he couldn’t stand the smell of most people. Everything was overbearing and weird, no one really smelt attractive to him. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a sex drive, he just didn’t care to deal with making relationships.
“Dragging your feet? I didn’t make you that sad did I?” she teased as she worked scooping perfectly shaped dollips of cookie batter on a cookie sheet.
“Granny, you said that Vash was the owner of that little shop?” Nick tilted his head to the side.
“Oh yes yes! When you hand him these cookies, please send him my love. I am sure he is wondering what became of me,” she turned to look towards her wall phone, a relic that Nick was impressed with, “I do have his number, with everything going on I never thought to call him.”
“Were…you close?” Nick pushed his sleeves up and washed his hands and forearms, joining her side at the kitchen island as he helped her scoop out lopsided sugar cookies.
“I knew his mother, a terribly sweet woman. When he first started manning that place alone he would often call some advice about plants. This is my first year not stopping by, maybe you could help bring him around for me?” Granny nudged him slightly, “I’d love a few visitors.”
“Jeez, Gran. You have me walking up to this guy with cookies and asking him over after meeting him once. I could be any random dude,” Nick couldn't help but laugh in spite of himself, “You said you call ‘em, why not give him a call?”
The old woman stopped and pointed a wrinkled batter covered finger at him, “When I die and your plants get diseased, the only person I trust would be that sweet boy. Plus, you don’t have many friends.”
“ Really? ” Nick gasped, “Yah, really think I’ll be that useless without ya?”
“Says the little boy, getting into cigarettes and waiting for me to get home from work just so you could sit on my balcony? Useless, no. Shy and lonely? I think so! The company you keep is a wrinkled bag of potatoes.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll see if he’ll stop by yer place, but I make no promises of me bein’ there too. You can’t force these things, Gran. Don’t make it weird,” the alpha gave in and sighed.
“Wonderful! Thank you for entertaining this little old lady, now sit down with a pen and paper and get to writing what you’ll need to get tomorrow,” though she had aged, her demands had always been to the point.
Wiping his hands off, Nick was once again at the elderly woman’s mercy as he grabbed a floral notepad and began to write down what he needed. The price was going to be hefty, but she insisted that because she was making him do it, she was going to pay for it all this year with a little joke at the end.
“If I die, In my will I will add that if Nicholas D. Wolfwood keeps up with the garden, my estate will pay for your next year's plants. If not, it will be directly sent to the Seeds Nursery!”
“Gran, I didn’t know you were this excited to keel over!” the alpha groaned.
“When your friends are more than half a century younger than you, you know it may be your time to go!” she laughed as she carefully placed her cookies into the oven and sat down beside him, “I won’t go until I know you are ready for it.”
Nick’s throat dried, his tongue felt as though it was too big for his mouth and the desire to light up a cigarette nearly guided his hand into his plants pocket. Swallowing hard he looked at her as his head was angled downwards. This accident gave her a taste of death and it seemed she enjoyed the flavor.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for that, Gran.” he admitted, voice low.
Reaching over her old wrinkle hand and grabbing his, she spoke softly, “But if you have friends who love you, it will be easier for you to move on.”
“Havin’ friends who love me, is jus’ another person to be upset about when they die,” Nick pushed back, but flipped his hand over and allowed the old woman to intertwine their fingers.
“But those memories you make with them are worth more than the end,” she promised, “I’ll ease your heart and stop the talk of death, but I would like to see you trying to make friends. Even if I live for another ten years, I’d hate to see you lock yourself inside for the rest of your life. The world is too beautiful!”
“...Alright,” Nick once again agreed, he didn’t want to admit that she had made a few decent points, but she did, “Do I at least get a few cookies for the trauma?”
She laughed, “Of course! You know you always have to taste ‘em and make sure they aren’t poisonous.”
“Hey,” his eyes lightened up a bit, “You never know. Today could be the day you accidentally put in a laxative or somethin’ in ‘em.”