Work Text:
An orange haired man sat behind the counter of a floral shop, his face resting in his hands, his mind wondering. It was a slow day at the shop, and the florist had nothing to do. He had already stocked and watered the plants, plus he had no new orders. The man, Tanizaki, decided that letting his mind wonder would be the best option to cure his boredom.
Naturally, his first thoughts were about his wrist, the main reason why he opened a flower shop in the first place. Tanizaki sighed and looked at his wrist, the words 'How the hell do you say 'fuck you' in flower language?! ' were neatly imprinted on his wrist. Those words were apparently the first words is soulmate would say to him, and honestly, Tanizaki didn't know how to feel about it.
Some of those words on his wrist sure got him into a lot of hell when he was younger. They were also the reason why he learned curse words so early on in his life. Besides that, the words were also the reason he became a florist. They caused him to wonder what flower language was, and long story short, gardening became a hobby of his.
Tanizaki's mind drifted to the thought of his soulmate. Would they like him? What type of person are they? Do they do drugs? Are they a bad person? The florist shook his head. It was silly to be stressing over his soulmate, he probably won't meet them for a while! Tanizaki sighed at himself, he was hopeless. He laid his head on the counter, deciding that a small nap wouldn't hurt.
[ . ]
The nap didn't last long, the sound of someone slamming their hands down on the counter caused Tanizaki to jump, banging his knees on the underside of the counter in the process. The florist looked up, opening his mouth in an attempt to speak. He wasn't are to get any words out before the male standing in front of him started to speak.
“ How the hell do you say ‘fuck you’ in flower flower language?! “
Tanizaki stared at the male in shock. So this person was his soulmate? He didn't expect to meet his soulmate so soon, and frankly Tanizaki didn't know what to think of him. The man seemed to be around his age, if not older. He had short, dark, messy, red hair. There was a bandaid on his nose even though it didn't seemed to be injured, what an odd fashion choice. His soulmate himself seemed to be aggravated, someone probably pissed him off.
“ Oi, flower boy, can you get my flowers or not,” The customer snapped, looking more like pissed off then before. Tanizaki nodded, standing up while doing so.
“ I'm sorry about that, I'll go get your passive aggressive flower bouquet right away, “ Tanizaki apologised, scurrying to the backroom labeled Employees Only.
Once the door shut, Tanizaki quietly yelled. He couldn't believe this was happening, and it seemed like his soulmate couldn't either, considering he could hear the man yelling from the other side of the door. He inhaled, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He needed to get to work.
The florist shuffled around the backroom, gathering the flowers that was needed for the bouquet. It definitely was an interesting bouquet. Tanizaki wondered who it was for, and what the person did to piss off his soulmate this badly. He shrugged the thought off and walked over to the door, having had the bouquet ready.
Tanizaki slowly opened the backroom door, and awkwardly walked out to the main part of the shop. He turned his attention to his soulmate, who was crouching on the floor, hands covering his face.
“ Uh, your bouquet is ready. “ Tanizaki spoke, not really quite sure to do in this situation. The man jumped up from the floor, face red from embarrassment.
“ Holy fuck, I'm so sorry, “ The shorter of the two apologized, covering his face to hide his due to embarrassment.
Tanizaki quietly laughed. He found the man adorable. The florist rubbed the back of his neck, he was starting to become embarrassed too. “ It's okay, you don't need to apologise. “
“ Right, so um, I'm Tachihara, “ The man, Tachihara, uncovered his face. It was still a quite red.
“ Nice to meet you, I'm Tanizaki “ The florist spoke, extending his hand for a handshake, which the other accepted. “ If you don't mind me asking, why do you need these flowers? “ Tanizaki questioned, not being able to hide his curiosity.
“ Well you see “ Tachihara started “Gin was being an asshole “
Tanizaki rose an eyebrow, he could've sworn he has heard that name before. “ Who is Gin? If you don't mind me asking.”
“ Gin? Oh! She's my coworker, Akutagawa's little sis”
“ Akutagawa… as in edgy, eyebrowless guy who's dating an absolute sunshine? “
“ Yep! That's him. “ Tachihara exclaimed. “ Wait, how the fuck do you know Akutagawa “
“ I'm friends with his uh, soulmate”
“ Furry dude with weird eyes? “ Tachihara squinted.
“ Yeah, that's him. “ Tanizaki laughed, that definitely was an interesting nickname for someone. Poor Atsushi. “ Okay, sorry for interrupting. Continue with your story. Why is Gin an asshole? “
Tachihara clapped his hand together,
“ Okay so, that asshole kept of teasing me for not having a date to her God damn engagement party. Like, who even throws engagement parties?! “
“ Lots of people throw engagement parties “ Tanizaki gently set the flowers down on the counter.
“ Fuck, you're right. “ Tachihara scowled.
“ The party is in a few hours at some dumb restaurant “
“ A few hours huh? My shift is over soon, if you want, I could come with you. “ Tanizaki sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back if his neck as a habit of his.
Tachihara's face light up. “ Really? You don't have to if you don't want to. “
“ No, it's fine. I actually kinda want to “ Tanizaki smiled at the shorter.
“ Jesus Christ, this is all just crazy. Who would've thought I would've meet my soulmate in a fucking flower shop! “ Tachihara sighed “ But hey, I'm not complaining “
Tanizaki nodded his head in agreement. He found Tachihara endearing. “ Ah, shouldn't we exchange numbers? “
“ Oh yeah, that'd be smart “ Tachihara fished out his phone from his pocket and handed it to Tachihara, who did the same.
Tanizaki quickly put in his information and returned the phone. Looking at his phone, he snorted. Tachihara had put his name in as ‘ hottie ‘. He shook his head, smiling as the placed his phone back into his pocket.
“ So, How much for the flowers? “ Tachihara asked, rocking back and forth.
“ Oh the flowers? They're on the house! “ Tanizaki walked out from behind the counter.
“ Wait really? “
Tanizaki nodded his head. “ My sister gets flowers from this store for her girlfriend all the time, it's fine. “ Tanizaki stated, handing the bouquet to Tachihara.
“ You sure? “ Tachihara accepted the flowers, other hand reaching for his wallet.
“ No I'm Tanizaki “ The florist joked “ Of course I'm sure “
Tachihara smiled “ That was a very shitty joke “
“ Of course it was “
Tachihara snorted, “ Well damn, I guess I should get going, I have to help set up the dumb party “
“ I guess that would be a good idea. “
“ Yeah… I'll make sure to text to the address and time for the party! “ Tachihara sighed, making his way to the door.
“ You better “ Tanizaki sat back down behind the counter.
“ Ya Ya, I will. See you later “ Tachihara opened the door, causing the little bell above the door to ring.
“ See you later, hottie, “ Tanizaki shouted, grinning widely. He could hear Tachihara mumble a few words under his breath, something along the lines of ‘ no you ‘. And then he left, leaving the shop once again empty except for the florist.
As soon as he saw him leave, Tanizaki screamed into his hands. He was happy for sure, he couldn't stop smiling. This day definitely was a day he'd never forget.