Chapter Text
Martin sighed, thoughts flitting about as he filled some pies. Today had been a busy morning and afternoon. They'd actually sold out of some things by the end of the lunch rush. It had calmed for now so he was getting as much prepared for the evening rush as he could.
Martin sealed the pies, slotted the baking sheet into the oven, set the timer and shut the oven door. He took a deep breath, checked the other timers, nodded and headed to the front with two trays of refills. A scan of the front proved it empty so he set to restocking. It was almost unnatural how quiet it was when Tim had the day off.
The door's bell jingles and Martin glanced up with a friendly, "I'll be right with you."
The baker quickly set his trays aside and stood, disposing of his gloves. He turned to his customer, a wide and friendly smile across his lips, "How can I help you?"
The person before him was nearly as tall as he was, with poorly dyed black locks, and a menagerie of tattoos. They wore partially torn black skinny jeans, a chain belt, a dark green messenger bag, a mesh long sleeved top that was long enough to double as fingerless gloves, a band tee and a choker. They also held a vase of flowers. Martin couldn't help but blink at them. They raised a brow, "Are you Martin Blackwood?"
"Um, yes." Martin nodded.
"Good, this is for you." They placed the vase on the counter, fished a letter from their messenger bag and put it next to the vase. They turned and headed out with a salute.
Confused and more than a little curious, Martin opened the letter first. It read:
"Dearest Martin,
I hope this letter and bouquet finds you well. And I thought, my dearest, that you might like to know them and their meanings.
I ris of Blue for Hope and Yellow for Passion.
L avender for Happiness and Devotion.
O rchid of Purple for Respect and Admiration.
V alerian for Readiness.
E lderflower for Compassion.
Y arrow for Inspiration.
O x-eye Daisy for Patience.
U lex for Hope.
You mean more to me than even words can express and I hope the flowers might help in such matters. I’m sorry the letter is so simple this time but I trust you can decipher my meaning.
Lovingly yours,
Jonathan Sims"
Martin reread the letter, brow furrowing. It was odd how Jon had composed the letter and more, the flower names and their meanings, with the first letter of each flower name typed and in bold. The line about deciphering his meaning piqued his curiosity. Martin checked that the front was, in fact, still clear then quickly grabbed a pencil and a scrap of paper. A few moments later, he had the oddities written out.
The cipher Jon had apparently written him read:
“I love you.”
Martin felt his face burn with a blush and his heart turn to mush. Jon did say it, then. When they’d last spoken on the phone, that is. But now, he was saying it again. In a clever and discreet way. Martin covered his face with his hands and tried not to squeak too loudly.
After a moment of breathing, Martin took the bouquet and found it a place, then watered Sprinkles and tucked the letter back into its envelope and his own bag. He still had things he needed to do, so he could have a small, happy breakdown after work. Right, yes. Work then being head over heels with his boyfriend. Right.
***
Martin looked up at the sound of the door’s bell. Sasha walked in with an exhausted expression. Martin offered her a sympathetic smile, “Evening, Sasha, everything okay?”
“Mm? Yeah, just exhausted. Being what amounts to a substitute is a bit tiring.” She laughed and rubbed a hand over her eyes, “I just need some caffeine.”
“I can offer tea and normal black coffee? Tim’s got the day off, sorry.” Martin said.
“That’s fine, you’ve got matcha, right?” Sasha asked, leaning against the counter.
Martin nodded, “We do. Want anything to eat?”
“Thank you but no, I’ve got leftovers and I have to do lots of grading tonight.” She explained.
“Gotcha.” He turned to make her tea, “I assume you’re not planning on sitting?”
Sasha laughed, a weary thing, “Hell no, I’ll never want to get up again.”
“Fair enough.” Martin nodded. It took a few moments but the matcha was eventually ready and delivered to the tired woman at his counter. Sasha tried to hand him her card but he waved her off, “I’ve got you covered for today. I haven’t comped anything for myself today, so I’ll give it to you.”
“But you don’t have to.” Sasha frowned, brows furrowed.
Martin offered her a gentle smile, “I know, but I want to. You’re my friend, Sash.”
Tears formed in her tired eyes and she muttered curses as she wiped them away. She stomped her foot in frustration but it was light in her voice, “You can’t just say stuff like that when someone’s tired, Martin. Come on, man. Dammit.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Martin laughed anxiously.
“I’m not mad at you. What you said was very sweet.” Sasha sniffled, “Can you pass me some napkins?”
“Yeah, here, sorry again.” Martin passed over a handful of napkins.
“You’re fine.” Sasha sighed and wiped at her face with the newly acquired napkins.
Martin bit his lip and tapped the keys on the register light enough that they wouldn’t register but hard enough to make a little click sound. Sasha tossed the used napkins and took a long sip of her matcha. Then she put a hand on Martin’s shoulder and squeezed, giving him a watery but reassuring smile. She pulled away and sighed.
“You’ve got to go, I know. Mind how you go, okay?” Martin said.
“Will do. You too, Martin.” Sasha nodded and headed out.
Martin sighed and rang up her drink with his employee comp then turned to start tending to close up cleaning.
***
Martin paused as something caught his eye. He shifted his stack of books to his non-dominant arm and picked the item up. He examined the interesting pack of sticky notes, curiosity building. If they worked like it said they did, that could be really cool. He put the sticky notes in his stack then pulled out his phone.
"Darling, do you use sticky notes?" Martin texted Jon.
It took a moment before Jon replied, "Yes, mostly for annotating. Why?"
"Just at the store and considered picking some up for you." Martin answered.
"Oh!" Came Jon's message with a quick follow up of, "That would be absolutely lovely, dearest, but you shouldn't feel any pressure to do so. I do, however, appreciate the thought any which way."
Martin rolled his eyes fondly and replied, "Alright. We're still on for tomorrow, yeah?"
"Of course, unless something comes up on your end?" Jon asked.
"Unless an emergency happens, I should be free." Martin said and picked up a second pack of sticky notes. May as well, especially if they worked.
Jon responded, "Do let me know if it does."
"Will do, darling." Martin paused, considering, then sent, "I've got to finish my shopping trip, so I'll text you when I get home. Love you."
Martin had both arms full when his phone vibrated, likely with Jon's reply. He smiled at the thought and hurried in picking up the other items he'd planned to get this trip.
As Martin settled on the tube, he took a look at his phone. Jon, the cheesy man, had sent a photo of a bouquet of lavender flowers with loopy text laid across it that read, "I love you too."
Martin couldn't help his grin and pocketed his phone. He couldn't wait to see Jon tomorrow.
***
Martin entered the house with a grin, holding a bag from his bookstore trip with excitement. Jon greeted him with a bright smile, "Hello, dearest."
"Good morning, love." Martin pressed a kiss to Jon's temple and placed the bag in his lap.
"Oh? What's this?" Jon blinked at it.
Martin shrugged with a smirk and squeezed Jon's shoulder, "Why don't you open it and find out?"
Jon's eyes sparkled with curiosity and interest. He carefully put a hand in the bag and pulled out the first object, a lined journal with a cactus pattern on the cover. He laughed and did a quick flip of the pages then set it to the side to pull out another item. This time it was a book titled, "How to stop your cat from being a bastard: a guide."
"Oh wow, I need to get Georgie a copy of this so we can better train The Admiral." Jon grinned.
"Only if it's actually good. It had good reviews but I figured you'd be a better judge on it than me." Martin shrugged.
Jon squeezed his hand, "Thank you either way. Is there more?"
"Yup, two, no three, more things." Martin nodded.
Jon raised a brow but brought out the next item. He looked at it then dropped it back into the bag before putting his head in his hands with a good natured groan.
Martin smirked, "What's wrong, darling? You said you like mysteries."
"Scooby-Doo does not count in that." Jon shot him a playful glare.
"So you don't like Scooby-Doo?" Martin raised a brow.
Jon rolled his eyes fondly, "Don't be ridiculous. But really? The collection of films where the paranormal beings are real? Why these ones?"
"Because they're the best of the animated films." Martin waved at them.
Jon squinted at him then the movie collection. Jon sighed and put it with the other things and reached inside the bag. He frowned then used both hands to pull out a thick book. Jon read the cover inquisitively. His brows rose, "An encyclopedic book of English etymology? This is incredible! How did you find this?"
"Well, I knew I was going to have a bookstore trip and found that on the awful site. Asked the bookstore if it could be ordered and it could." Martin smiled, "So I did. I thought you'd enjoy it."
"I'm going to spend so much time reading this." Jon muttered.
"Well, there is one more thing in there and I think it might help with that endeavor." Martin chuckled.
Jon fished for the last item then pulled out the package of transparent sticky notes. His jaw dropped. When he picked it back up, he muttered, "There's no way this works."
"Why don't you try?" Martin offered him a pen.
Jon opened the package, took the pen, wrote something simple on the top note and placed it on a random page. And stared. It was almost perfectly translucent. Jon gaped and Martin couldn't help but chuckled.
"Good lord." Jon breathed.
"I know, right?" Martin said, "I tried them yesterday and was just as surprised."
"These are amazing, I need one hundred packs." Jon said.
Martin raised his brows, "One hundred packs? That is so many, Jon."
"I know." Jon nodded.
"Jon, darling, you probably don't need over a thousand sticky notes." Martin frowned.
Jon frowned back, "Maybe you don't, but I am a professor at a university, love. I have a lot of students. These could be very useful."
"Maybe start off with ten packs and see how far they stretch?" Martin suggested.
"That's," Jon's frown morphed to a pout, "a good idea. Darn."
"Love you." Martin smiled.
Jon rolled his eyes fondly, "I love you too. Should we get settled for our marathon?"
"Yeah. Here, I'll put these on the table." Martin scooped up the stack of books and put them back in the bag. He placed the bag on the table.
"Thank you." Jon smiled and reached for Martin's hand. Once he received it, he pecked the back of it.
Martin, flustered but emboldened, leant down and kissed the hand holding his. Jon made a noise of surprise then turned his face away.
Jon cleared his throat, "Right, the marathon."
Martin chuckled and followed his boyfriend to the couch.