Work Text:
Jacob hadn't even realized that anyone bought the haunted Marigold house in town until it was too late to protest. That place held good memories for him and his siblings and it seemed they wouldn't be able to relive them this coming Halloween. Or any year after, for that matter.
He'd been staring out of the window when a figure across the street caught his eye. A dark-skinned woman with her hair tied up by a bright green strip of cloth stared just as intensely at his shop as he was the blank space in front of him.
He didn't have a chance to really think about it until later as a sudden influx of orders came in. He ran a hand down his face and sighed wearily before putting his apron back on so he could get back to work.
Not more than two hours later, John burst through the door on cloud nine. Jacob, older brother that he was, threw his apron at him in way of a greeting.
"You can't take this away from me!” He cried. “I just saw my favorite girl in the world and there's nothing you can do about it."
Jacob grimaced. If John had been where he thought he'd gone (and it was usually the studio up the street), he'd be absolutely insufferable for the rest of the day.
Faith came out from the back, arms full of a large vase brimming with several types of white flowers. She was obviously pouting and must've heard John. Granted, Jacob would be surprised if the whole county hadn't.
"I thought I was your favorite; I even picked up your shift!"
John shrugged and smiled at her, whisking the bouquet out of her grip and depositing it on the main counter.
"Apart from you, dear Faith. But Es holds a special place, specifically in my skin. Look at what she did!"
He'd rolled his sleeves up to show off a tiny cluster of blue orchids sitting neatly in a little pot under the plastic square. Faith gasped with a high-pitched exclamation of "Oh, it's adorable!"
John grinned and click-clacked over to show Jacob too. He had to admit, it was rather accurate and well done. The lines were even and the color was vivid enough to draw the eye.
He grunted and nodded in agreement. "Looks good." He mussed John's perfectly coiffed hair just to fuck with him and earned a squawk of protest in reply.
"Get to work, Johnny."
The rest of the day went by slowly, so they were able to close up early. John and Faith chatted about different tattoos while they cleaned up and planned to go by the studio after they finished, leaving Jacob to his own devices. He was grateful to be left out, of course. He had gutters to clean.
His weekly meetings with Mrs. Wilhelmina were something he could neither avoid nor procrastinate. That woman could be meaner than a snake when she was crossed. Her wife Mrs. Iris, on the other hand, was a nice woman that fed him. He knew better than to ask how they met.
After locking up, he made his way over to their little orange house. Its lawn was jam-packed with flowers that he tried not to crush with the ladder as he went around clearing out the muck and leaves.
Not too long after, Jacob completed his task for the day and went to wash up before meeting the two women for tea and scones as was his payment for a job well done.
He couldn’t help but notice the intricate lines of a curling fern on their ring fingers. Mrs. Wilhelmina had a keen ear for things left unsaid and mentioned the ‘nice girl down at that new tattoo parlor’. It turned out that she’d given the two women matching wedding bands for their 50th anniversary at a significant discount.
“You’re such a sweet boy, Jacob. You deserve some niceness in your life.”
Mrs. Iris always meant well but was often heavy-handed when it came to meddling. And nosey.
“I’m forty-four, ma’am.”
“Still. You don’t have to be alone forever, dear.”
“We’ll see.”
The women bid him a goodnight shortly after so he briefly passed by the shop on his way home for the hell of it. He knew her work was good, saw it every damn day on John and he'd probably be seeing some of her work on Faith now, too. He'd even seen her lines in the healing eagle on Mary May's wrist the other day. He'd gotten so good at recognizing her work that he could spot her coiled scrawl blocks away on the sign hanging out front of the studio all lit up like a beacon.
He wasn't very interested in getting any work of his own but his curiosity had gone on unfulfilled for far too long.
As he was staring at the shop sign, a body came barreling out of the front door and right into him. They managed to catch his arm before he cracked his head open on the sidewalk. The hand around his wrist was warm and steady as he righted himself. With a little help.
"Shit! Sorry about that. You good?"
He recognized her face from the window earlier before noticing the bright sunflower tattooed against the dark skin of her neck.
After a lengthy silence, Jacob finally gave her an affirmative grunt and she smiled kindly.
"Good. I can't go running over any more Seeds. Your brother is my best customer."
“You know me?” He must have looked as surprised as he felt by the look of amusement clear on her face.
“With the way John and Faith hype you up, I bet I could pick you out of a crowd of grumpy older brothers.”
She wasn’t very funny but he cracked a half-smile anyway. He had manners. Sort of.
“Jacob Seed.” He held his hand out for a shake and she shook it firmly.
“Well hi there, Jacob Seed. Call me Esther.”
We’ll see indeed.