Blooming Agony

Chapter 1 : Grand Opening

It was an early morning in Cyber City, everything was just kicking up and getting busy. At one store in particular, there was a large crowd surrounding it, cheering and jumping with excitement. Today was the grand opening of a local shop that sold plants of many varieties and the people were eager to see inside. They all talked and whispered to one another about who was running this new storefront. In order to open a store in Cyber City, they would have had to get permission from... the boss... the one who runs the city with an iron gun. So of course everyone was very curious who was allowed to open a new shop, they hadn't seen a new store in years. Lucky for them, they're about to find out.

Someone was approaching the door, made from thick blurry glass, from the inside. It was hard to see much other than a tall silhouette. The glowy neon open sign was turned on and the door was opened to reveal an Addison. They were a minty green color, their fluffy feathery hair was tied up in a messy bun and they wore blue overalls with a sunflower design stitched onto it, as well as a cute lavender shirt underneath. They gave the crowd a shy smile and wave.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to my shop! I hope its content pleases you!" Min beckoned them inside but most were frozen in place in... Fear? Shock? Among the crowd was a reporter who bravely took a step forward.

"Excuse me, might I ask you some questions?" The minty Addison looked at them confused, then nodded. "Are you involved with The Addisons?"

The minty Addison looked a bit confused. "I mean I am an Addison, but that's just my species, not my name! I'm not part of the mafia..." The whispers in the crowd grew a bit louder and ominous, so shaken because they had never seen an Addison, outside the ones running the city, opening a store. The Addisons were very strict when it came to other Addisons selling things in their territory. They had never given them a building to use as a shop before. At most, they'd just get a stand on the sidewalk or a desk at one of the many buildings the big guys own.

The reporter looked at them suspiciously. "How did you ever convince them to give you a building for your shop?"

The Addison shrugged, "I just asked? And paid a bit extra?"

The reporter looked bewildered, stunned into silence for a moment. "They must just really like you then, huh? What's your name?"

A little blush appeared on mint face and min smiled at them while running mint fingers through mint hair. "My name is Miniethe." They stuck out their hand for a shake. The reporter hesitantly took it. "Please come in and look around, don't be shy!" The reporter let them go and a few brave others approached the storefront and went inside, looking around at all the plants in awe. Most people were too afraid to approach the store, in fear of running into gangs running the bad side of town.

Despite everything, Miniethe made some pretty decent sales that day. It didn't take long before min had to restock some shelves here and there. When the day was over and the night cycle came min started tidying and closing up the shop. Just as pe was finishing, pe heard the classic door chime that let them know someone had entered.

They swerved around to see who it was and their heart skipped a beat. The person who stood before them was a well known figure in Cyber City, as a matter of fact, they had just spoken with him yesterday about opening their shop. The yellow Addison stood slightly over the 7 foot mark, dressed in full black leather. Black leather jacket, black leather boots, black leather fingerless gloves. In one hand he held an energy drink and the other was stuffed into his pocket.

He approached them rather quickly which almost made Miniethe drop the plant they were holding. He stopped right in front of her, and leaned down slightly to look at them better, a smug look on his face. He took a long swig of his drink before finally speaking.

"Hey, shorty." Miniethe gulped and tried to calm min nerves. Did this guy not know what personal space was? Not that min would ever say that to his face.

"H-hello, Mister."

His smirk grew wider at their stutter and he straightened back up. "Just call me Morris. How's the sales?" He started looking around their shop, analyzing it up and down, his smug look never leaving his face. It took a second for Miniethe to compose herself.

"S-sales are decent, for some odd reason a lot of p-people are afraid of me." That earned them a chuckle from him but no response other than that, leading Miniethe to ask their own question.

"Why are you here?"

Morris stopped dead in his tracks and turned on his heel to look back at them. "Just checking some things, making sure you're holding up to your word. I'm also here for my cut of the sales, remember?"

Miniethe's eyes widened in surprise."Oh, yeah! I almost forgot. The fees." Miniethe nervously shuffled over the cash register and pulled out a decent stack of dark dollars. "Here ya go!"

Morris walked over and took the stack in his hands, checking over them in the light then counting them. Afterwards, he gave a curt nod of satisfaction.

"Nice, you did get a decent haul." He pocketed the money."So what are you doing after closing up shop?"

Miniethe paused at the question. They honestly weren't sure, they had just recently moved into Cyber City, they were just going to take care of the plants all night until morning again, as usual."I don't have any particular plans, why do you ask?"

Morris's smirk turned into a grin. "You should celebrate, this is big, is it not?" Miniethe pondered for a moment then nodded. "Cool, cool. After you're finished closing up, meet me outside, I've got a nice place to show you that's good to relax at while you wait for morning."

Min smiled warmly at the offer and nodded again. "That sounds nice, I can't wait!"

Morris really wasn't as bad as a lot of people made him out to be, sure he was loud, intimidating, and a mob boss, but he just had this bubbly, energetic attitude that Miniethe couldn't say no to.

Morris took his leave and waited outside their shop, sitting on the steps while tapping his foot, drinking his overly sugary energy drink. Suddenly, his smug grin melted off his face like it was never there. His eyes narrowed after a short moment and his foot stopped tapping. He slowly stood up and approached the alleyway between the plant shop and another building.

He stared into the darkness with a death glare. If looks could kill he would have murdered whoever was there on the spot. The hand that was stuffed in his pocket slowly pulled out to reveal what was hidden, a handgun. He slowly walked down the alleyway, tapping his gun on his hip. Then he stopped, raised his gun, and fired three times. The sound of a cry and whimper was heard, then a loud thud.

"Damn werewires, they've been off the fritz lately. Might need to do an extermination run later..." He mumbled as he lowered his gun. He turned and saw Miniethe coming out the back door, looking frightened.

"Is everything alright?!" She hadn't noticed the dead werewire behind her. There was an awkward silence between them, staring into each other's glowing eyes in the dark.

"Yeah... Everything is fine. The alleyways were having a bit of a pest problem so I just took care of it." Miniethe sighed in relief.

"Oh, okay, that scared me." Min huffed and went back inside the store to finish up closing. Morris chuckled at their frustration and went back to the front of the shop to wait for her. It didn't take much longer for Miniethe to finish and they were soon walking together in the night. Miniethe was staying close to Morris. It was dangerous walking around this late in this virus infested world.

Morris didn't seem to mind but was attempting to keep at least an inch of space between them. They soon safely arrived at a nice and simple looking bar. There was a bright orange neon sign above the door labeled, "The Storm Brewer". Morris smiled down at them, his eyes and grin giving off a soft faded yellow and silvery light in the dark that made Miniethe feel... Welcomed.

"Home sweet bar." He laughed and opened the door for Mini, following them in after. It was a very nice bar, lots of warm orange light lit the rooms. Lava lamps, candles and neon signs gave the atmosphere a very warm and welcoming feel. There weren't many Darkners, so it was nice and quiet. Morris led them over to the bar, where an orange Addison seemed to be polishing a glass. The orange Addison looked up at Morris with a small smile, seeming to radiate with the same warm glow as the bar.

"Hey, Morry, who's the new customer?"