Work Text:
It was oddly warm for February. Not that he minded. The sun was out and not a single cloud was in sight. Zane was sitting outside his favorite coffee shop, soaking in the sun of the early afternoon. He was enjoying it up until his co-owner sat down in front of him.
“Hm?” Zane raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Just thought you’d wanna know that Gene’s shop opened today,” Aaron said.
Gene. He purposely opened a rival tattoo parlor in the same town just to spite Zane. Just a few blocks away from his own store too.
“Great.” Zane said, he glared into his coffee cup like it had personally wronged him. “Aren’t you meeting Aphmau for lunch soon?”
“Yeah, heading over there now,” Aaron said as he stood, “You opening today or am I?”
“I’ll open, enjoy your lunch.” Zane inclined his head.
“Great, see you later Edgelord.” Aaron laughed.
Zane just rolled his eyes. He and Aaron opened Pen & Ink tattoo parlor a couple years ago. The shop was one of the things he was most passionate about. He learned to draw in high school and got into tattoos in college. Aaron loved them too and they became unlikely friends.
Zane knew he needed to go and open soon, but he figured he could open a little late today. He left the coffee shop about 15 minutes later. He passed a beautiful row of flower beds while walking to his car. They were full of tulips and daisies in many colors. An idea suddenly struck Zane. Aaron’s girlfriend owns a flower shop down the street from the tattoo parlor. It would be rude, bitter, and a bit cheeky. He loved it.
~~~
Kawaii~chan finished sweeping the floor when Aphmau~senpai came out of the back.
“Hey, think you can handle things for a while?” Aphmau said adjusting her purse on her shoulder.
“Of course! Going to meet Aaron~kun?” Kawaii~chan smiled.
“Hehe, yes. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” and with that Aphmau left.
Kawaii~chan sighed happily. She loved working here. Aphmau was a great friend, and boss, also she loved working with all the pretty flowers. She put the broom back in the storage closet and then went to the break room located behind the counter.
Grabbing herself a bottle of water she glanced at her appearance in the mirror. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail, her face dusted with dirt, and her name tag was askew. She fixed her name tag which read “Kc” instead of Kawaii~chan, she felt it was more professional and raised fewer eyebrows. Grabbing a washcloth she wiped her face then pulled her hair out of the ponytail letting it fall loosely around her shoulders. She walked back out to the counter and was about to wipe it down when a man came through the door.
“How do you passive-aggressively say ‘Fuck you’ in flower?” he said slapping a twenty dollar bill on the counter.
Kawaii~chan stared at him for a second. She giggled, slightly baffled by his request but very amused. She wasn’t all too surprised, he was dressed in all black which gave him a very edgy look. The look of someone who would say fuck you in flowers.
“Okay,” she said with a small smile and walked out to the floor, “Hmmm,”
She grabbed a handful of different flowers from various displays on the floor. Once she was satisfied with the flowers, she walked back and laid all the flowers on the counter. The edgy man in black calmly watched her during this process.
“So,” she began to construct the bouquet, “The Geraniums symbol stupidity, Foxgloves for insincerity, Meadowsweet for uselessness, Yellow Carnations mean ‘you have disappointed me’, and Orange Lilies for hatred.”
It was a stunning bouquet of yellows, purples, whites, and oranges. Many different petals added to the visual of the bouquet. Kawaii~chan wrapped the bouquet in plastic to help keep it safe and handed to it the edgy man in black.
“Here you go! One bouquet full of loathing.” Kawaii~chan giggled.
Kawaii~chan focused on the edgy man, he was kinda cute and had stunning blue eyes. Well, eye.
“Thank you,” he said with a polite smile. “You’ve been very helpful.”
“Hehe, you’re welcome,” Kawaii~chan smiled in return, “May I ask who these are for?”
“A rival,” his face scrunched as he said it.
“I’d hate to be your rival,” Kawaii~chan smiled. She didn’t know why she said that, but she wanted to continue the conversation.
She rung up the flowers and picked up the twenty on the counter, the total only came to ten. She handed the man his change.
“Oh no,” he said waving his wand, “Please keep the change.”
“Are you sure?” ten dollars was quite a bit of change.
“Of course,” he smiled.
The man looked at his watch and paled.
“Thank you again,” he looked at her name tag, “Kc.”
The edgy man smiled at her, took a business card, and left the store bouquet in hand.
Kawaii~chan smiled. She couldn’t wait to tell Aphmau about this.
~~~
Later on, Gene found a beautiful bouquet of flowers by the door of his shop, addressed to him. He kept them in water for weeks.