Chapter Text
June isn’t a busy month, but it’s a good one. Every bride in the world comes in for consultations (which Mikleo can charge them for) and they always want such interesting (or maybe the better description is bizarre, in some cases) things that challenge his talents. He looks forward to it, honestly, even if he can’t comprehend the fanatical obsession with being a June Bride - wearing heavy clothing in the summer would just make him overheat. Not to mention, in the heat the flowers never last very long.
Purple has been the most popular color this year. Flowers they never have a chance to order fill the cooler and the countertops, and the shop smells amazing. Lilacs, this time. The bride wanted Lilacs to be in every arrangement, so they ordered it a few days early to make sure they’d look okay. The orchids would come later. Maybe this isn’t what he wants to do with the rest of his life, but it’s times like these that he does enjoy the job.
He’s helping Zaveid load the day’s deliveries when he catches that guy across the street staring at him again. He’s been in the store twice; each time he awkwardly bought something simple, like a single rose, and left. His name is Sorey, and Mikleo only knows that because Sorey made a point to remember his name, and it seemed like a smarter choice to just play along. Even so, he can’t fathom why Sorey has made a habit of staring at him. It’s the kind of thing that only embarrasses him, and he tries not to let the others notice.
“Alright, that should do it,” Zaveid slams the back of the van shut while Mikleo is distracted, making him jump, “Mickey’s got something on his mind today, does he?”
“Only that you need to keep your shirt buttoned.” Mikleo answers, unimpressed, “You can’t keep presenting yourself to customers like that.”
Zaveid is unphased and shrugs, “Hmm! You’re definitely hiding something. A secret love?”
Mikleo sighs, ignores him and walks away. Zaveid is used to it and is gone before Mikleo is back inside the store. He glances back one more time, and finds Sorey still watching him. How does someone so easily distracted keep his job, anyway?
After he finishes (early today, around 2PM), for whatever reason he feels like trying whatever the bakery has to offer. He’s been there before once - they have some actual sandwiches and whatnot on sale for lunch and dinner - but he’s always more interested in the sweet pastries. He can’t seem to bake things like that himself, always forgetting them in the oven or something, so he usually prefers to make cold treats for himself at home. But he has a sweet tooth and he likes variety, so he’ll pick something out today. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll figure out what Sorey’s problem with him is. No use tiptoeing around the issue when he can confront him and move on.
Well, he thinks that, but as soon as the bell above the door chimes and Sorey looks up at him he freezes up. Sorey is beaming already, and Mikleo realizes he’s gotten things wrong. This seems… a lot worse, somehow. More embarrassing, at least.
“…Hi.”
“H-hey! Can I get you something?”
Mikleo breaks eye contact and glances around the displays, suddenly too tongue-tied to pick anything out for himself. “Just… Something sweet. Do you recommend anything?”
His eyes meet Sorey’s again just briefly, long enough to notice that he’s red in the face (and Mikleo, to be fair, probably is just as much after realizing what the problem actually was). He can’t watch but in the corner of his eye as Sorey fumbles around and pulls something out for him, holding it out for him just inches from his face, “Try this! On me. I'd… I’d be happy if you tried it.”
“Dude! Don’t just give stuff away, what’s wrong with you?” He hears a girl hiss at Sorey - he doesn’t know her name - and Sorey laughs under his breath.
“It should be okay since I made it, right…?” The girl glares at him but sighs.
“Don’t make a habit of it.”
“Um…” Mikleo draws Sorey’s attention back to him and adds, “I’ll pay for it, it’s fine. It’s just that I’m on my way home, so…”
“Right! I’m sorry!”
Mikleo looks away, catching an appraising stare from that girl while Sorey frantically wraps the pastry up to-go. Apparently she’s just as aware of it as he is now. He can’t get out of there fast enough. When he does get to eat the pastry, he decides it’s good, but his stomach hurts too much to enjoy it.
He’s making the centerpieces for the wedding when Sorey visits the next day. There’s twenty-two to make, full of lavender roses, lilacs and amber-colored cymbidium orchids, accented with various decorative grasses. It’s no surprise that they’re time-consuming, but the profit from them is well worth it.
He doesn’t immediately react to Sorey’s arrival, but he does notice that Sorey is watching him with a strange look of admiration on his face.
Lailah is the one to speak to him first, “Welcome back! What can we do for you today?”
Sorey looks startled, “A-actually, I was just stopping by to talk to Mikleo.”
“Oh~?” She sounds entirely too happy about it, that singsong lilt in her voice that he recognizes from when she’d make fun of him for something. “Alright then! Mikleo, why don’t I take care of those for a few minutes?”
He bites back his first reaction - it would have been rude to dismiss Sorey so quickly when he’d been so kind and hadn’t really asked for anything from him - and smiles, just a bit, as he accepts her offer and steps around the counter to talk.
…But maybe not. The silence isn’t all that comfortable, and it’s a good thirty seconds of pure awkwardness before Sorey speaks up. “Um. Did you like it?”
Right. Pastry. “Yes, I did.”
There’s a sigh, a smile spreads on Sorey’s face. “Good. That’s good…” He scratches the back of his neck and Mikleo wonders if it’s a nervous tic, “Listen, can I…”
Mikleo looks at the ground.
“Uh, when will you be finished today?”
“Four O'Clock!” Lailah announces loudly from the other side of the store, giving herself up as an eavesdropper. Mikleo clenches his fists, but hides that behind his back and nods in confirmation.
“Great! Mind if I come by then?”
“…I suppose not.” Sorey’s glee is remarkable, and Mikleo covers his mouth as though he thinks it’s contagious. “I should get back to work now.”
“Oh! Wait, here!” A paper bag with the bakery’s logo and a checker pattern on one side is shoved at him, and he holds it curiously before Sorey continues, “I thought you might like lunch.”
So much for not making a habit of it. He can’t help but smile a little, and he nods, “Thank you, then…I’ll see you later.”
Sorey is bright red when he leaves. Even his ears. Mikleo wonders briefly if those earrings of his are sanitary to wear in a place that serves food, but figures they must be.
Lailah peers around some of the flower buckets on the counter with a sly smile, “My, my…”
“Don’t start.” He goes back to his workspace and notes that she accomplished nothing while she was spying.
“That’s right! You’ve never dated anyone before!” Lailah cheers, “Oh, you’re so lucky! He seems so nice.”
“That’s not what’s happening here!”
“Aaaah, I wish a nice guy would admire me everyday like that! And he brought you lunch! It’s so sweet!”
He pauses and stares at her for a few seconds. “Zaveid does that. Literally, every day.”
Lailah stomps her foot, raises her voice (being dramatic for no reason, as far as he can tell) and tells him “Oh, you don’t get it, Mikleo!” And then gets to work helping him finish the centerpieces.
In truth, they’re done around three, cleaned up by three-thirty and Edna is already done with classes and loitering as always. Her family is friends with Lailah’s so she’s usually around, but Mikleo isn’t intrusive enough to pry into that situation, and just puts up with her bitter sarcasm every day he sees her (well, okay, he doesn’t so much put up with that as she baits him into arguments until he ends up with his foot in his mouth, but still). It’s annoying, staying later in the afternoon, but part of him is excited in a way he couldn’t really put to words if he tried.
Edna sits at the shop’s computer playing a game since it isn’t busy, Lailah writes the cards for days ahead, and he’s just waiting now, messing with a flower with a stem that broke too short to use. A carnation with red stripes that looks like peppermint candies. At ten minutes until four, he’s made himself so nervous that he feels ill again. Lailah eventually snatches the flower from his hand.
“That’s the wrong message entirely.” She decides, handing him something else. “Daffodil. That’s better.”
“I doubt he knows anything about flower meanings, and even then, this one is…”
He hears Edna stop typing, just for a second, and knows this is going to go horribly wrong when the door opens.
Lailah is still standing too close. Edna is staring. Sorey walks up to him and he can’t meet his eyes this time at all. “Welcome back, Sorey.” Lailah smiles at him, then back at Mikleo.
His face is burning.
“Thanks,” He says to her. Sorey seems so unbothered by their presence, and that annoys him more than he’s envious, “Mikleo, are you still busy?”
No, you idiot. He shakes his head.
“D'you maybe want to catch a movie? Or dinner, or something?”
He’s not troubled by Sorey looking at him now, it’s the expectant stares of the girls in the room that get to him. The stem in his hand is bent out of shape and useless and he shakes his head again, “Sorry. I’m not really interested in things like that.”
Sorey starts to actually deflate, and Edna speaks up, “By that he means he’s a total closet nerd. You’d be suffering trips to museums and historical documentaries. You’ll be bored to death.”
“Edna…” Lailah tries, “Don’t pick on him so much.”
A silence is building and Mikleo finally grows the spine to look Sorey in the face, finding stars in his eyes. He’s taken aback, but Sorey grabs his free hand, “Really? You too!? That’s so great!”
Mikleo wishes he could step back, but the counter is in the way. Instead he’s just staring incredulously, unable to answer.
“I love that sort of thing! I visit every new exhibit, and I just recorded the latest documentary on the Gaferis Ruins last night! And I–!” He pats his side, looking for something, then drops Mikleo’s hand. “Hold on, I’ll be right back!”
Another silence builds. Edna breaks it. “…Lailah. Did that really just happen?”
It’s the Celestial Record. That’s what he’d been looking for and made Mikleo wait for. It’s a well-loved copy, the spine damaged beyond repair, folded corners and post-its saving pages, but Mikleo isn’t really that impressed. Even so, somehow he was talked into letting Sorey walk home with him (Which is weird, because Mikleo is pretty sure Sorey has a car. He’s not sure why he thinks that, but he does).
The whole way, Sorey goes on and on about how much he wants to see the ruins and artifacts of the world. It’s the kind of thing Mikleo agrees with wholeheartedly, and he finds himself smiling at everything except the parts about the Celestial Record. It doesn’t take Sorey long to notice that.
“It's… Not that there’s anything wrong with the book, per se.” Mikleo tries to explain, doing his best not to air his family’s dirty laundry to a guy he’s kind of starting to like. A lot. And it’s strange that he’d like him even after bringing up the Celestial Record - the book is really well-known, and people have tried to get close to him because of it (and its author) before, but none of them had Sorey’s awkward sincerity. “I read it dozens of times growing up. The author is the problem.”
“You met him?!”
He nods, and somehow Sorey picks up that this is a touchy subject. He shrugs. “You can even have my copy, if you want. It’s signed.”
“Isn’t that important?”
It’s not. It’s really not. It’d be easy for him to get dozens more if he spoke to his uncle again, but it won’t ever happen and he doesn’t need it to. Instead, he takes Sorey’s copy from his hands and opens it to a random saved page. There are notes in the margins, and it makes him a little happy to see it. “We can trade, if you think it’s worth it?”
Sorey’s cheeks are red and he seems to be starstruck. Mikleo is starting to find it annoyingly cute.
“I’m more interested in seeing what you’ve added to it. What do you think? Deal?”
They’re standing in front of Mikleo’s apartment building now, and he’s feeling a little bold when Sorey nods. He enters the building code (somehow he can tell Sorey is looking over his shoulder, and he doesn’t mind. If Sorey can memorize it from just seeing it now, more power to him) and takes Sorey’s hand to make him keep up on the stairs to the second level.
Once inside, he sets Sorey’s copy of the book on a table and skims his bookshelves for his own while Sorey stands awkwardly in the doorway. He’d correct him, tell him to just come inside and stop being weird, but right now being weird feels about right. He thinks they’ll be good enough friends in time, and slides his smooth, like-new copy of the Celestial Record off the shelf and into Sorey’s hands.
“Please date me.”
“That’s a hell of a way to say thank you.” His confidence has returned to him now that he isn’t surrounded by people who like to provoke him. He smiles though, because even if Sorey’s weird it’s really endearing right now.
“I mean it! I wanted to feel things out today, but you're…”
There’s a pause, tension growing into butterflies.
“You’re perfect.”
Mikleo claps a hand over his mouth and laughs, “Are you seriously human?” Sorey looks upset and he corrects himself, “Who says things like that?”
“Well you are!” Sorey insists, gesturing at the bookshelves, “We read the same things over and over, your place is decorated with replicas of stuff I’ve wanted to go out and see since I was a kid… I dunno, it feels like I hit some kind of jackpot.”
It’s true, from where Sorey is standing, the shelves are full of all sorts of books but only certain types have the spines worn out from repeated reading. The ‘replicas’ around his place aren’t really all replicas, but that seems useless to point out - mostly they’re gifts from his uncle, and they just interest him too much to throw away, or sell. “…What are you going to do if I’m not interested?”
Sorey holds his new book protectively against his chest, as if that statement were enough to snatch it from his hands and slam the door in his face. “I’ve been under the impression that you were for a while now…” he says, looking aside, “I mean, you kept staring at me, so–”
“Isn’t that the other way around?”
“Haha… Yeah, a bit.”
Their conversation dies, a few seconds pass, and Mikleo finally says, “Okay.”
“Huh?” Sorey is startled, but elation blooms on his face with the realization, “Really?”
“Yes, really. Hurry and come in and close the door, will you?” From the start, he’d never planned to say no anyway. Originally, he thought he’d talk sense into him, point out that they have nothing in common. This feels like a much, much nicer outcome.
The wedding bouquet is a wild cascade of orchids, lilies and lilac. He’s added heather because it looks nice, not because he was told to. Sorey’s been watching Mikleo make it since he got off work, but he hasn’t said anything yet. Lailah has started getting weirded out, and glances between the two of them periodically once she finishes the altar decorations. “D-did something nice happen yesterday after all?” The tips of her fingers cover her mouth, but she’s only acting bashful. Really, she just wants to hear gossip.
It was nice, sure, but nothing grand or world-changing. Sorey stayed over for an hour or two, they talked about an upcoming exhibit at the history museum in the city and made plans to go to see it, and then they spoke of their goals for the future and got awkward when they matched up so well it almost sounded like they were meant to be together, if either one of them believes in fate. And Lailah does, so he’s already sure he never wants to tell her that the thought crossed his mind.
“I think I’m in love.” Sorey announces, and Mikleo nearly drops the bouquet.
Lailah smiles sweetly at him, her hands over rosy cheeks, “Oh, really? Do continue.”
“Sorey, no.” Mikleo tries to be as calm as possible, but the heat has risen in his face and he knows he can’t keep his cool.
Sorey smiles too, but just at him. Once Lailah realizes she’s not getting an answer, she moves on to prepare little bundles of lilac and ribbons for the pews. “Sorey, would you like to come with us while we decorate the church?”
“Can I?” He asks Mikleo. The first thought is that it’s cute, even though he’s gotten the offer he still asks.
“I won’t be going. I’m taking care of the shop while they set it up.”
“Oh. I’d rather not then.”
Lailah’s stifling her laughter, but she compares Sorey to a puppy and hands him a short piece of lilac with no explanation. Mikleo knows that she likes to treat flower meanings like fortunes, and considering how unusual it is to have the lilac in store, she’s read too much into it as always.
It means 'first love’, and Mikleo won’t tell Sorey that even if his life depends on it.