Inflorescence

Re:lationship

CARNATION
The flesh is destruction.

Carnage personified.

Death hidden underneath the core of the inviting, pink petals, ready to seep out at any moment and bleed into the rest of lthe pretty flower, on the cusp of wilting.

Preparing to taint her next unsuspecting victim, she moves closer toward him. Reaching out her hand to touch him, he can feel a pair of delicate fingers rub against the Carnation resting on his right ear.

Hanging from his left side is a cigarette, perched on top of his cartilage piercing.

A thick head of dark hair covers the back of his head, and is beginning to brush the nape of his tanned neck. Smiling, she holds the flower in her fingers.

Turning around, he lets out a toothy grin and asks her if she likes his flower. To which she replies: "It's pretty, like you."

"More like you. You have a timeless beauty, just like the carnation," he adds, offering out his hand, "I'm Leandro, by the way."

"Emily," the bottle blonde replies back, "you even have a pretty name, pretty boy."

Leandro nods and blushes a little bit. "Thanks, Emily."

"You've very soft hands too. What do you work as? A florist?"

He shakes his head. "I do flower pressing in my free time, but I own The Pleasuredome downtown. I'm hoping to save up enough money and buy this place too."

"You actually own The Pleasuredome?"

"Yeah, I bought it off my Uncle. Saved up from the time I sold some music and paintings."

"So, you've always been an entrepreneur then?"

"I like the idea of investment and growth. I like taking things over, fixing them up and selling them on. They're like my babies, and am sad to see them go when they don't need me anymore—"

"—Cool—"

"—And yes, the sixty-nine cent sale was my idea."

"You're witty too. Are you even a real person, Leandro?"

He jokingly pinches himself. "I wonder about that myself sometimes too."

"Why?"

"All the days are beginning to blur into each other. It feels like an endless cycle of midnight sun. It's weird."

"Insomnia?"

He nods. "I lay awake at night too. Let the thoughts run through my mind."

"What do you think about?"

"Religious things. Heaven. The thought of existing forever is daunting for me as well, even more so than ceasing to exist forever. I get that we, as humans think that everything will be the same as before we die, but I don't think that's true."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when we die and leave our bodies, we're no longer gonna be humans. And as we're no longer humans and I believe our souls live on, we become something else. And maybe that something else has a different mind and body."

"So, you're saying that when we die, we become something else?"

"Yeah, but the soul still stays as the essence of our being. And we also will be less lustful, which will be weird, considering my line of business and how the flesh is basically the bane of our existence as a species. How it causes us to sin."

She leans in closer to him.

"Interesting. So, the thought of eternity scares you, but not entering it?"