(OLD) Finding Him, bxb+

[Chapter 28]: The "Lettuce" Garden (2)

Sup guys, last chapter was longer than I thought so I split it. This is the second part. Kinda uneventful, in my opinion but I hope you guys like it!
Chapter edited 1/5/23

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From the black metal panels between the wood-lined panes of glass, hung lanterns of an unknown material. All Kallie knew was that they looked expensive.

Everything looked expensive. Especially the plants. The many, many potted exotic plants.

Kallie felt warm, standing inside the glass building. He didn't know whether it was the luxury of it all overwhelming him or the actual temperature. Greenhouses were meant for plants accustomed to warmer environments, right?

At the far end of the greenhouse, a beige, rattan couch sat filled with large, soft and fuzzy looking pillows. There was even a blanket, just as fluffy as the pillow above it. The light filtered through the clear glass, lighting up the entire place. It was cozy, and so inviting, that Kallie didn't believe this place to be where you'd keep dirt covered plants and what-not, a possibility of tiny bugs crawling in their leafy folds.

"Sorry I'm late, Dream Bar. Thankfully, I was able to finish the work with some help." A soft, shaky sound echoed through the otherwise empty room. It was followed by a muffled clank, as a heavy object made contact with another harder object. "I promise I'll be right on time for tomorrow's feeding."

The low-spoken voice with the slightest hint of emotion snapped Kallie out of his thoughts. He finally noticed Cedric, kneeling beside a large oval shaped indent in the corner of the structure while setting down a shaker of some sorts on a nearby table. It was a pond, surrounded by small vegetation and filled with water. Floating in the water were medium sized blobs of white, black, and orange. It took Kallie a second to realized that they were in fact koi fish. And Cedric had called one of them Dream Bar.

The meaning behind the name would not have been understood if Kallie didn't happen to know of the iconic vanilla flavored ice cream bar encased in a shell of orange sherbet. The ice cream bars that he remembered buying every time from the vending machine at the laundromat he'd go to with his parents as a child, although sometimes he alternated with a wonderful strawberry shortcake bar.

"Aww, you named them all? Which one is Dream Bar?" Beside him, Johann let out a friendly sound of endearment as he walked over to the ground level fish pond. Kallie followed, still wallowing in his unexpected nostalgia.

"He's the one with white and light orange colors." Cedric turned towards the strawberry-blonde briefly, before returning his focus onto the fish and pointing at a specific one. He moved his finger to a different koi, all black and white. She was named Toro and supposedly, was quite the fighter. The next one was even more of a pleasant surprise. "That's Eugene."

Cedric didn't explain, but Kallie could tell the reason for his namesake without even asking. The particular fish had grayish blue scales along its back, seeming as though it wore jeans. He didn't know why he could tell this but he just could, and it made sense.

"This is Dream Bar's evil twin, Creamsicle. Don't let his name fool you." Cedric declared with a finality that left no room for questioning while indicating to another orange and white fish with much darker coloring. Not that either of the blondes would dare oppose him. They let him do his thing, as they exchanged glances every so often, smiling at each other.

"And this one is Sunny, he's a very friendly guy." A yellow koi swam by, zigzagging through the water as he seemed to attach himself to a different one of his kin each second.

"He definitely looks friendly. They all look lovely, in fact. Right Kallie?" Johann's warm smile never faltered upon his attractive face. Kallie could feel those paternal instincts rolling off the strawberry blonde. But he wasn't one to talk, as he wanted just as much to praise the lettuce head in front of them for being so clever with the names of his pet fish. He wanted to rub the other's head even. Only by chanting in his head that Cedric was the same age as them, and definitely not a child, had he stopped himself.