Just a day in the life of a wholesome protogen.

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Story By:  ExtremelyConcerned This was a gift, and they deserve so much attention for it AHHHH I love this story

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“You’re looking a little parched today!” Ravi’s slightly robotic voice
carried through the store. The fluffy pale cream protogen was bent down
watering a small fern with soil a bit too dry for their liking, their black vizor
showing a smiling green face with kind eyes. Standing up, they swished
their fluffy tail, it’s white tip brushing gently against the leaves of some of
the plants on the floor as they headed to the front of the store to check on
other plants.

The entrance to the shop was marked by a large sign clearly
displaying ‘Sun’s Flowers’ for any passerbys. The wide windows showing
off a variety of flowers and letting the mid afternoon sun shine down on
them. The rest of the shop was quaint, a small and worn wooden desk sat
in the corner with a cash register on one side and a variety of flower
wrapping supplies on the other. The rest of the shop held tables and
displays of potted plants and cut flowers of seemingly endless variety.

“Ah, you’ve had a bit too much to drink. I don’t think you’ll need
anymore for a little while!” Ravi chuckled while their mint green claws felt
the soil in the pot. Setting the plant aside, they reached up to scratch at
their ear, feeling their claw bump against the curved horn wrapped around
it. They continued to look over their plants, humming softly as they tended
to them all until coming to a small sunflower had been pushed aside out of
the light.

“Oh, look at you, all sad from being in the shade,” Ravi smiled warmly
at the wilting flower, giving it some water and moving it into the sunlight,
“Come now, cheer up! Today’s gonna be a good day!”

Just then, the bell above the door jingled and Ravi turned to see a
small cat walk in. She couldn’t have been more than 10, with amber eyes
and a patchwork of black, orange, and white fur under her pastel yellow
and blue romper. She glanced around the shop quickly, taking in the variety
of plants and flowers that she was now surrounded by.

“Ah, welcome!” Ravi greeted the cat with a smile and wave, “Is there
anything I can help you with?”

“Flowers!” the cat exclaimed, a wide grin across her face, “I wanna
get some flowers!”

“Well you’ve certainly come to the right place, there’s plenty of
flowers here.” Ravi gestured to the colourful flowers blooming around the
shop, “What sorts of flowers are you looking for?”

She pondered for a moment, ears wiggling in concentration before
giving her answer, “Flowers for someone I like!”

“Well, I’m sure any of these flowers would be good to give to
someone you like!” Ravi told her, heading over to a display of cut flowers.

“Well it’s not for someone I like…” the cat's voice got quieter, “It’s for
someone I like-like...”

“Oh… I see!” Ravi gave her a kind smile.

“Yea… I wanna tell them I like-like them and give them a flower! But I
don’t know what…” The cat went back to thinking again, humming and
hawing over the blooms.

Reaching over the display, Ravi grabbed a bright red tulip in full
bloom and held it down for the young cat to see. “How about a tulip?”

The cat took the flower and looked at it inquisitively, “A tulip?”

“A red tulip specifically!” Ravi explained while crouching down, “It
means that you’re declaring that you like-like someone when you give it to
them!”

She frowned at the flower, “But what if they don’t like it or say no?”
“Well,” they pondered for a moment, “Sometimes, you just have to
tell them! No matter what they say, it’s much better than hiding your
feelings from them.” Standing up, they reached out and ruffled the fur on
the cats head, “And besides, if you like them a lot, they probably like you a
lot too! So even if they say no, I’m sure you’ll stay friends at least!”

A grin broke out on the cat's face as she turned the flower over in her
hand. “Okay! Thank you!” She turned to look up at Ravi, “Uhm, how much
do I gotta pay?”

With a chuckle, they waved their hand in dismissal, “It’s okay, it’s
free! Go tell ‘em how you feel!”

“Okay!” The small cat dashed to the front door, clutching the tulip
tightly, “Thank you!” She called, running out the door. Ravi smiled as they
watched her sprint down the sidewalk outside, only to trip and fall moments
later. Pushing herself back up, the cat kept running, slightly damaged
flower in hand. Shaking their head and chuckling, Ravi went back to work
tending to their flowers.

A short while later, the bell above the door jingled again while the
protogen was moving some pots around. “Just a moment!” they called as
they slowly lowered a stack of pots into place, “Now what can I help you
with?”

“Ah, hey there.” Came a low pitched, tired voice in greeting. It’s owner
was a disheveled looking red fox wearing a black tee shirt a size too big
and a pair of jeans that had seen better days. The man stood with a slight
hunch, his demeanor conveying barely any energy at all. “I’m just looking
for a plant. Something easy to take care of, y’know?”

“Oh! I get plenty of folks asking about plants like that!” Their
expression changed to an exclamation mark as they headed over to a
variety of cacti. Checking the spiky plants over, they picked up a small
ball-shaped one with a pink bud on one side and passed it to the man.

“A cactus?” the fox shrugged, “Sure, they don’t need much water
right?”

“They don’t need much at all! Just give them plenty of sun!” Ravi
smiled warmly at him, “And plus! This one is going to bloom soon!”

“Ah… It probably won’t,” he sighed, “I’ll probably forget to water it
sometimes, or leave it in the shade all day by accident.”

“Oh this one will still bloom regardless!” They poked at the small bud
gently, “And besides, cacti are tough!”

Before the fox could respond, Ravi continued, “Even if you only
remember to water once in a while, or only give it a little bit of sun, it still
helps.” They smiled at the fox, “Besides, doing something a bit is better
than not doing it at all after all!”

The fox glanced down at the small cactus in his paws, admiring it for
a few moments before looking at Ravi flashing them a small smile and a
quiet “Thanks.”

Together, they headed to the desk in the corner of the shop. “How
much for it?” The fox inquired, pulling out his wallet.

“Normally they’re twenty dollars, but I’ll give it to you for ten if you
take good care of it.” the protogen smiled, typing the amount into the
register.

“Wha…” The fox was dumbfounded for a moment before regaining
his composure, “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure!” Ravi grinned, “But I will need those ten dollars
still!”

“Oh, of course.” The fox replied, passing them a bill. Taking the
money, Ravi quickly completed the purchase and passed the man a
receipt.

With another tired “Thanks,” the fox slipped out the door, Ravi giving
him a wave before heading back to cleaning up the shop.
A good while passed before another customer entered the shop. The
sun was just beginning to dip below the city’s skyline outside as the bell
above the door jingled and Ravi looked up from their sweeping. A grey wolf
had walked into the shop, a red and black floral sundress that was slightly
too small covered her grey coat. She was holding a black purse that had a
shiny blue, pink and white charm attached to a zipper. As she stepped into
the shop, she adjusted her dress, clearly uncomfortable with how it sat on
her.

“Welcome to Sun’s Flowers miss!” Ravi’s voice rang out warmly from
where they were cleaning, “What can I help you with?”

“O-oh! Hello!” the wolf replied, surprised at being addressed so
suddenly, “I’m just looking for a bouquet, something to liven up my new
apartment a bit.”

Setting aside their broom and dustpan, Ravi beckoned the wolf over
to a display. “Here’s our selection of cut flowers, feel free to pick whatever
you’d like and I’ll wrap them up for you after!”

“Ah, thank you…” her voice trailed off as she began looking the
flowers over. Leaving her to do her picking, the protogen went back to
sweeping. A few minutes passed and the wolf hadn’t said a word to them,
so Ravi headed back over to see if they could help.

“Having trouble deciding, miss?” Their gentle voice startling the wolf
who had seemed more intent on adjusting her sundress than looking at the
flowers.

“Ah, I am,” she let out a polite laugh, “I’ve got absolutely no idea what
flowers look nice together. I’ve never had to make a bouquet before.”

Ravi gave the woman a warm smile, “Making a bouquet is simple, I’ll
help you decide!” Leaning over the display, they began looking over the cut
plants, “What type of flowers are you looking for?”

“Oh I don’t know… Something bright I think, I want them to stand
out.” the wolf replied.

“Hmm, let's go with some roses then!” They said, grabbing a bunch
red ones from the display. Heading over to the table in the corner they laid
out some paper and began wrapping the flowers up for the wolf.

“Ah roses are lovely!” she smiled, “But why red ones specifically?”

“To match your dress, it looks lovely on you!” They replied warmly,
their claws deftly wrapping paper around the flowers.

The wolf looked away bashfully, “Does it? I’m sure you can tell but it’s
my first time wearing it out… I wasn’t sure if it looked good or not...”

“It looks wonderful on you!” Ravi’s expression changed to a heart with
their reply. Tying a bow of ribbon around the bouquet with a practiced
motion, the protogen typed the cost into the register, “And that’ll be fifteen
dollars please!”

“Ah well, thank you!” The wolf beamed while digging through her
purse. Passing Ravi a twenty, they handed her back her change and
receipt.

“Thanks for stopping in, please come by again!” They called as the
wolf waved to them, heading out of the shop with a bit more confidence in
her step.

Ravi sighed, tired from the long day. Rubbing their hands over their
horns they smoothed the mussed fur on the top of their head and headed
to the entrance of the store to close up.

Glancing down at a table near the entrance, Ravi noticed the small
sunflower from before, standing up tall and turned to face the setting sun.
Leaning over to rest on the table, they gently stroked one of the sunflowers
leaves with their claws, “See, I told you today would be a good day.”