Work Text:
Jaime hummed softly to himself as he arranged bright sunflowers in a tall glass vase. They were a nice distraction from the rain that had been falling steadily all day, and sunflowers never failed to make Brienne smile, something he found himself looking forward to increasingly often since he had started working at Winterfell Florals.
Maybe the sunflowers would help brighten Brienne’s mood when she returned from her long lunch with Catelyn. Brienne was still anxious to prove her abilities as manager to their boss, and Jaime had watched with somewhat worried amusement as Brienne had left the shop in a harried rush earlier, clutching her carefully color-coded spreadsheets.
Jaime grabbed some stems of white delphinium and started to place them strategically between the sunflowers, nodding at the nice contrast the colors made. These would certainly cheer Brienne up after her stressful lunch.
Jaime’s thoughts were interrupted as the front door burst open with a loud crash. He jumped, turning to glare at the man who walked in.
Good gods, who was this? He looked like a wild man who’d somehow found himself transported to a modern city. Tangled red hair covered the man’s head and face, dripping water from the heavy rain outside. Jaime grimaced as the man shook his head roughly. He was going to be the one stuck mopping up the puddles this barbarian left behind.
“Can I help you?” Jaime asked flatly, unable to muster up his usual customer service charm.
The man looked at Jaime with disappointment and craned his head, trying to see around Jaime into the back. “Is she not here today?” he finally asked.
Jaime blinked. “Is who not here today?”
“The big woman!” the man exclaimed. “She works here, I know. I just wanted to stop in today and say hello.”
“The big... You mean Brienne?” Jaime asked disbelievingly. Who did this guy think he was? “How do you know Brienne?”
“We go to the same gym together,” the man exclaimed. “I’ve had my eye on her for a while. Just thought I’d pop by, maybe get her some flowers. A bit of wooing never hurts with the ladies, if you know what I mean.” He grinned widely at Jaime.
Jaime knew his jaw was hanging open but couldn’t quite keep the astonished look off his face. This man was trying to woo Brienne? She couldn’t possibly be interested in this barbarian. Could she?
It wasn’t as if she’d ever shown any interest in Jaime. And he’d finally started to come to terms with that, accepting that he was lucky to have Brienne’s friendship and it would be greedy of him to expect anything more. But was this Brienne’s type? Big and wild? No wonder Jaime didn’t stand a chance if this was what Brienne was after.
Jaime yelped as the man nearly knocked an arrangement of delicate vases off the counter as he tried to pick up one of the shop’s business cards with his large hands. “Sorry about that,” he laughed. “Sausage fingers, I’m afraid. I could never work in a place like this, I’d be breaking things left and right. The name’s Tormund, by the way.”
Tormund. So that was his competition now. Could it be considered a competition if he’d already lost? Jaime stomped down the annoying pang of jealousy in his chest. Brienne would never forgive him if he was rude to a customer, let alone one she might be interested in romantically.
“Jaime,” he responded weakly. “Well, Brienne’s not here right now. Shall I tell her you stopped by?” Like hell he would be doing that.
“Well, maybe you could help me get something together for her. Women all like flowers, don’t they?” Tormund said, looking at Jaime hopefully. “I don’t usually see her at the gym on Wednesdays so maybe I could leave it here with you to give to her. Do you think you could help a mate out today?”
Jaime suppressed a grimace. He had no interest in being Tormund’s “mate” and even less in giving him any help wooing Brienne. “Sure,” he said through gritted teeth. “I suppose I could do that.”
“Fantastic!” Tormund exclaimed, oblivious to Jaime’s reluctance. His booming voice reverberated through the whole shop. “I don’t know anything about flowers though. Do you think you could help me find something she’d like?” He looked around at the elegant arrangements scattered throughout the shop.
An inkling of an idea popped into Jaime’s head. He might have to help Tormund, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun while he did so. He waved a dismissive hand at the arrangements Tormund was eyeing. “You don’t want something premade and impersonal. Anyways, Brienne put together most of these bouquets. It’s a bit gauche to give someone something they made themselves, don’t you think?”
Tormund nodded uncertainly. “What would you suggest then?”
“Well, you could buy her a custom arrangement. It’s a bit more expensive, but we could come up with something right now to have ready for her when she gets back.”
“That would be fantastic! And you must know what she likes, from working here with her. Can’t say I’m not jealous,” Tormund said, winking at Jaime. “What I wouldn’t give to spend all day in the presence of such a magnificent woman.”
Jaime had to bite back his own fit of jealousy, when he suddenly saw a flash of movement outside. Brienne stood just outside the door, her umbrella hanging loosely in her hand and a look of panic on her face. She spotted Jaime looking at her and frantically held her finger to her lips before attempting slink away. Jaime suppressed a grin as he watched her go, her attempts at being surreptitious completely stymied by the fact that she towered over most of the other pedestrians.
So maybe this guy wasn’t Brienne’s type after all, if she was so desperate to get away before he realized she was there. Jaime turned to Tormund with a genuine smile on his face this time. “I think we can come up with something that’s perfect for you to give to Brienne.” He reached for a large clear vase from under the counter before shaking his head and grabbing the glittered orange one shoved into the back corner of the shelf. “The more colorful the better, don’t you think?”
Tormund nodded eagerly as Jaime moved around the shop selecting a number of blooms from various pots and buckets. Once he had made his selections, he laid them on the counter, blinking at their garish colors. Normally Jaime was a stickler for an aesthetically pleasing color scheme, but this time he relished in adding as many colors and hues to the arrangement as possible. By the end he was almost impressed with the towering rainbow monstrosity he had managed to create.
Tormund breathed out heavily, and Jaime braced himself, preparing for the explosion that was inevitable now that the man had seen the finished product. “It’s perfect!” Tormund exclaimed loudly. “You were right, all those colors really do add something.”
Jaime blinked at him in slight disbelief. “Great. Well, if you’re satisfied with it, I’m more than happy to leave it here for Brienne.”
“Let me add a note so she knows it’s from me.” Jaime dutifully handed over one of their blank cards, and Tormund scribbled down a brief message before leaving the shop, thankfully without knocking anything over this time.
“He’s gone,” Jaime called out in a sing-song voice, having heard Brienne sneak in the back door. “You can come out from your hiding place now.”
Brienne cautiously stuck her head out from the back room. Jaime laughed as she glanced around the shop to make sure Tormund had really left for good. “So you’ve got a suitor, then?”
She glared at him. “I wouldn’t call him that.”
“Well, what would you call him?”
“A nuisance. At this point maybe a stalker given that he’s taken to showing up at my place of work.”
“Really?” Jaime asked with a small amount of alarm.
Brienne sighed and shook her head. “No, not really. I think I just need to tell him I’m not interested. He’s a nice enough guy, but not really somebody who can take a hint.”
“So you’re definitely not interested, then?” It was pure concern for a coworker that inspired the question, Jaime insisted to himself. No ulterior motives here.
Still he couldn’t help the rush of relief when Brienne quickly replied, “Absolutely not.”
“Well, he wanted me to give you this,” Jaime said with a mischievous grin as he stepped aside to reveal the gaudy arrangement.
Brienne’s jaw dropped as she stared at it. “He bought this for me?” She paused as she looked around the shop. “Wait, we don’t sell anything like this. Catelyn would have a coronary if she saw something like that out on the floor.”
“He wanted something unique just for you so I threw it together. He seemed quite pleased with it.” Jaime laughed as he dodged the weak jab Brienne aimed at his shoulder.
“You’re an ass. It’s hideous.” But she still walked up to the arrangement and pulled the card out from amongst the blooms. Jaime pretended not to watch her out of the corner of his eye as he picked up the leaves and detritus that had fallen on the countertop. A faint blush covered Brienne’s pale cheeks as she read the card.
Jaime frowned. What could Tormund have written that would make Brienne blush? It wasn’t the same bright red flush that Jaime loved so much, the one that meant he had succeeded at getting her thoroughly worked up, but it was a blush nonetheless. Jaime didn’t want anyone other than himself making her blush.
“So what did the giant have to say then?” he asked, trying not to reveal in his voice how invested he was in the answer.
Brienne shook her head and slipped the card into her pocket. “Nothing important. We should really get back to work. Catelyn was really pleased with our numbers for this past month, so we can’t start slacking now. Just because today’s a slow day doesn’t mean that we can sit around doing nothing. And you should really clean up the mess you made putting this arrangement together.” She stared pointedly at the stems still littering the floor.
Jaime sighed, disappointed at not getting more out of her, but went to grab the broom.
They worked in silence for a while, Jaime sweeping up his mess and wiping down the counter while Brienne carefully misted the blooms in the window display. Jaime kept shooting glances at her out of the corner of his eye but was still startled when Brienne suddenly spoke up. “My friend Renly thinks I should give him a chance,” she said.
“What? Who? That guy from earlier?”
Brienne nodded, avoiding Jaime’s eyes as she stared out the window.
Jaime felt panic rise up in his throat. Brienne couldn’t really be serious, could she? She’d just said she had no interest in him. “Why? Do you want to give him a chance?”
Jaime held his breath as she paused, feeling like everything was riding on her answer. “I don’t know. It’s not like there are men out there giving me flowers every day. I don’t exactly have guys knocking my door down, you know. Maybe I should at least see how things go with this one. He seems to like me well enough.”
A feeling of anger overrode Jaime’s panic and jealousy. Brienne shouldn’t have to settle for anyone. “Brienne, liking you ‘well enough’ just isn’t good enough! You deserve more than that. You shouldn’t settle for somebody you don’t even really like.”
“What do you know?” Brienne snapped back at him. “You don’t know what it’s like to not be gorgeous and charming and have people fall all over you all the time.”
She thought he was gorgeous and charming? Jaime fought not to preen at her words. That wasn’t the important thing right now. “That doesn’t mean you should settle for a guy like him!”
“So what should I do, Jaime? Just be alone for the rest of my life?”
“Brienne, don’t be ridiculous. You’re acting like he’s the only man who’s ever going to be interested in you.”
“And what if he is?” She stared hard at him, a challenging look in her blue eyes. “I don’t have a lot of room to be picky, Jaime.”
“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard,” Jaime exclaimed. His frustration at Brienne’s stubbornness loosened his tongue. “I know for a fact that that barbarian is not the only man interested in you. You shouldn’t have to settle for him when there are other options out there.”
Brienne stared at him in shock as Jaime registered what he had just said. Shit. Why had he told her that? Brienne barely tolerated him as a friend, the last thing he wanted was for her to know how much more than that he wanted with her. But he also couldn’t let her go on thinking she’d have to settle for somebody like Tormund because no one else would ever look her way. Even if she had no interest in Jaime either, she should at least know that Tormund wasn’t the only one who saw how incredible she was.
“What do you mean?” Brienne asked. “You know someone else who’s interested in me? Who?” Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Are you messing with me? Because quite frankly, Jaime, I thought we were better friends—”
Jaime lunged at her, meeting her lips awkwardly with his own. The sound of his heartbeat whooshed in his ears as he kissed her. After a few seconds his panicked mind caught up with him and he pulled away, staring at her anxiously.
They looked at each other in stunned silence. What had he been thinking, launching himself at her like that? Gods, she was going to hate him now. But he steeled his courage. There was no going back from that kiss, so he might as well be completely honest now.
“I’m not messing with you. I swear it,” he whispered solemnly. “I’m the one interested in you. I think you’re amazing, Brienne. It drives me crazy being here with you all the time and not being able to show you how mad for you I am.”
Brienne continued to stare at him, her blue eyes wide and startled. The longer she stayed silent, the more dismayed Jaime felt. How badly had he just ruined everything? He was probably going to have to quit and move to Essos just to escape the embarrassment.
He moved away from her, nearly knocking a stool down as he backed into it blindly. He winced as he grabbed at it with his good hand to keep it from clattering to the ground and started to babble frantically, anything to fill this endless void of silence as Brienne continued to stare at him in shock. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have done that. There was a much better way to tell you how I feel without attacking your face like that. That was probably the worst kiss you’ve ever received. I’m so sorry.” He grimaced and could feel his face heating in mortification.
Jaime paused when he felt Brienne’s hand on his arm, stopping his retreat. “It wasn’t the worst kiss I’ve ever had. Though that probably says more about my previous terrible kisses rather than this one being any good.” She smiled hesitantly at him. “Did you really mean all that?”
Jaime smiled back and ducked his head to stare at her hand loosely gripped around his wrist. Anxiety and hope warred in his stomach, uncertain which one would win. “Of course I meant it, Brienne. I think you’re incredible, and I have for quite a while now. I don’t think you should have to settle for anyone — not that Tormund fellow or even me, if that’s not really what you want.” He risked a glance up at her. The hope in his belly started to overpower the gnashing of his anxiety as he saw her smile growing wider, and he powered on. “But if it is what you want — if I’m what you want — then I would very much like to take you out to dinner tonight.” He looked her straight in the eyes now and grasped her hand in his own.
Brienne stared at him for a moment, then two, her blue eyes piercing as they examined him, and just before Jaime’s anxiety could rush back in full-force, she nodded and squeezed his hand gently. “Yes, I think I would like that very much,” she said quietly.
A ridiculous grin spread across Jaime’s face, making Brienne laugh, but he didn’t see any reason to tamp down his joy. After weeks of pining, he had not only managed to finally kiss Brienne but had actually convinced her to agree to go on a date with him. Both things he was looking forward to doing very often in the future.
Jaime tugged Brienne closer and pushed up onto his toes to press his lips to hers. He kissed her enthusiastically until Brienne let out a chuckle that made him pull back. “Are you laughing at my kissing skills? I’ll have you know that I’m an excellent kisser. That first kiss was simply a fluke.”
Brienne laughed again, the loud, unselfconscious chortle she rarely let loose. Jaime grinned — he loved getting her to laugh like that. “This was much better than the first one,” she conceded. “I think you nearly knocked one of my teeth out with that one.”
“Lucky thing I didn’t. We’d have had to spend our first date at the dentist. That definitely would have put a damper on things.”
“But that wasn’t why I was laughing,” Brienne said as she leaned in to kiss him again. “I was thinking that we really have Tormund to thank for all of this.” She gestured to the arrangement he had left for her.
“Yes, you’ll have to let him know that his romantic gesture completely backfired and ended up leading you into the arms of another man. A handsomer, more charming man who’s much better at giving flowers.”
Brienne laughed again. “Oh, I don’t know. Tormund might have bought that arrangement, but you were the one who put it together. I might have to have a word with Catelyn about your suitability to work here after seeing that.”
“Nonsense. That arrangement was terrible for a reason.”
“And what reason might that be?”
“Convincing you that I’m a much more suitable romantic partner than that barbarian and that you would be much better off dating me. And it worked didn’t it? Don’t worry, I’ll bring you something much better when I pick you up for our date tonight.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she said teasingly, silencing his indignant response with a kiss. Jaime would prove her wrong later, with the biggest and most beautiful bouquet he could come up with, but for now he was content to pull her into the back room and relish in simply and finally being able to kiss her as much as he wanted.