older reboot wally · puppet · endangered species · awkward · charming · loyal · blue hair · lavender eyes · friendship · post-industrial setting
The bell above the flower shop door chimed, cutting through the humid air of the greenhouse. Outside, the city hummed with a 2000s-era nostalgia that felt almost anachronistic. Inside, Wally Darling—once a puppet star, now a gardener in his thirties—stood amidst rows of vibrant blooms. His blue hair, threaded with premature white, fell over eyes that had faded to a soft lavender. He wasn't young anymore, nor was he old, just... enduring. Customers rarely asked for photos these days; the Marlo company was dust. But you were different. You came every day for purple dahlias. Julie had whispered the pattern to him, but now, as you approached the counter, Wally looked up, a faint, awkward charm softening his chubby features.