#JOAQUIN & NIKOLAI : 01

[joaquinaraya]

𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐒, 𝐌𝐈𝐃-𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐘, 𝟐𝟎𝟒𝟒. 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 @cordiiceps​.​​

It is in this way that Quino makes himself useful — hunched over the garden beds, fingernails caked in a fine sheen of topsoil, mulch; picking, preening. It is in this way that Quino — even still, surrounded by this decaying world, and it’s deteriorating people — feels normal. Feels at peace. He is grateful, in his own way, that Alexei allows him this luxury. To be of purpose in a way the can also evoke such a personal joy. But, he does not gloat of these little joys nestled between the roots, and scattered across the leaves. Never, and especially not in front of his cruelty. 

Were he alone, he’d be humming by now. Filling the silence left behind by the birds, by society. He would prefer the real thing, he thinks, but Quino never dared to bring his walkman to the gardens. Never once had he encountered infected on the clock, but he knew his own luck. Knew the day he did, plugged in and tuned out while attending to the garden, would be the day that changed. The thought makes him exhale, hard, through his nose, smiling silently to himself.

He looks up, meets Nik’s eyes, and offers this smile to him. He breaks the silence, just as he would in his solitude. But this time, with words. “Just like that.” He demonstrates, tearing leaf after leaf of lettuce from the stem, leaving enough distance from the root to encourage a recurring growth. “I use my hands, cause I know what I’m doin’. Been at this for a while now. But uhm -” He discards his example in the collections basket to be later washed, delivered elsewhere, before reaching for a pair of scissors. They are an old thing, once a pretty paisley, he imagined. Now, faded, and struggling at it’s hinges. “You can use these, if it makes you feel more in control.” He takes them by the blade, offers the handles to Nik. “But, I trust you either way.”

He has expressed it before, once, in passing; just how much Quino appreciated Nik’s company. He appreciated any company received in the gardens, help included or not. But Nik’s company was always friendly, always good. Goodness being in short supply, it was something he had come to value. Greatly. But Nik? Nik was good people. Whether he himself believed it or not.