Work Text:
Thursday. Another workday was about to start.
It wasn’t that King didn’t like working, he actually quite enjoyed his job at his family’s nursery, it was just that he had a certain brunette on his mind all week. And although the weekend was almost there, he wasn’t sure when he would see her again.
That was why he wasn’t looking forwards to another day at work.
King glanced at his phone as he turned his alarm off; a message from Elaine saying thanks, again, for taking her early shift that day. He normally worked the afternoon/evening shifts because he wasn’t much of a morning person, but Elaine had mentioned she had some sort of appointment in the morning that she needed before she could start work in the city. King briefly wondered who they would hire to replace her next spring, since she was no longer a student and would be staying in the city at her new job. Although they had no one in mind as of yet, he was sure another student would fill the position. One nice thing about the nursery was that their busiest season was summer break for students.
King rolled out of bed, dreading the early morning start as he readied for the day.
“Hey, brother. Thanks again for covering for me this morning,” Elaine said as she handed King a coffee she had brought back for him.
It was a little earlier than she had expected to be back, and she had dragged Elizabeth along with her.
“Yeah, no problem. And uh, thanks for the coffee,” he looked questioningly at Elizabeth, hoping that Elaine wouldn’t make him ask what she was doing there.
“You’re going to Glendale,” Elaine said simply, like it was a known fact to him.
“What?” King’s confusion was obvious.
“We have a delivery there.” Again, with the acting like this was something he was expecting.
“But father usually does the deliveries…”
“I told him he should send you. Since you have a reason to want to go,” Elaine smiled.
Of course, King knew they had weekly deliveries to the city, but never once in his 10 years of working at the nursery, had anyone but their father done the out of town deliveries. Hearing that it was about to change caught him off guard, to say the least.
As King was trying to process what Elaine had just told him, he heard his father’s footsteps come up behind him.
“I’m hoping if you get to spend more time with that new girlfriend of yours, then you’ll bring her by to meet us soon,” King’s father said with a chuckle.
“Uh, yeah. I was planning to whenever she comes to town…” King blushed at the thought of bringing her to meet his parents. They honestly hadn’t even discussed it, and he hadn’t even told his parents about her.
He quickly shot Elaine a glare; she had obviously been the one to tell their parents. It wasn’t that he didn’t want them to know, it was just that their relationship was still so new. He wanted to give them a chance first before introducing her to the rest of his family.
King’s father handed him the keys for the delivery truck and a book filled with relevant paperwork. “Everything you need for the delivery, call if you have any questions. Otherwise, we’ll see you tomorrow.”
King accepted the items from his father, still shocked by everything that had just happened in the last five minutes.
Thursday may have just turned out to be the best day of his week.
King stared at the lone pot of daisies remaining in the back of his truck. He had just finished his delivery and was technically done work for the remainder of the afternoon. Although Diane was unaware that he was in town, he knew she still had a couple hours left at work.
Before he left Grey Lake earlier, Elaine had talked him into picking out a plant for Diane, as a surprise, since apparently him showing up in the city wasn’t enough. He had been a little reluctant to go along with that plan, but his younger sister assured him that Diane would love it.
He had decided to go with the daisies because they were simple and beautiful. Plus, some said they symbolized ‘new beginning’. Which explained them well, considering they hadn’t even known each other two weeks yet. Another deciding factor was that they were easy to care for, since he knew she was often busy and wouldn’t have the time for something high maintenance.
The only downside to not telling her about his plans of being in the city was that he really didn’t have anything to do until she got off work. She had mentioned once, earlier in the week, that Meliodas was working on getting his bar up and running. King wasn’t sure if he needed, or wanted any help, but he figured he could offer. At least that would keep him busy until Diane got off work.
He wasn’t sure exactly where their apartment, or the bar, was, but he knew Elizabeth had stayed there their first night back from Octopus Island. A quick text to Elaine got him the address. She had also mentioned that Elizabeth had already messaged Meliodas to let him know King would probably be by that afternoon.
The place was a bit of a drive away, but it was relatively easy to find, and thankfully had decent parking for the delivery truck. King proceeded inside, thankful to find Meliodas expecting him.
~~~
Diane filed out of the office, along with almost everyone else at 4:30. She had a rather short commute home and she was thankful that it was Thursday. Only one day left of the work week. She was really hoping that she would be able to head to Grey Lake that weekend, but she didn’t have a car and often relied on Meliodas’. And she wasn’t about to ask to borrow it for the whole weekend, even if they were best friends. Meliodas had a lot going on, and she knew she should really stay home with him in case he needed something.
By the time she reached the apartment, she was tired and ready for a beer. Thankfully, that was one good thing about her roommate owning a bar. She knew Meliodas had been spending extra time in the bar to get things ready for opening, so when she got home, she decided to stop in to check on him.
Surprise didn’t even cover it when she opened the door to find King sitting at one of the tables across from Meliodas, the two were deep in conversation until Meliodas spotted her.
“Uh, hi,” she managed, still shocked to see King there.
“Oh, surprise?” King said as he stood and walked towards her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, beyond happy to see him.
“The nursery has weekly deliveries to the city. This morning my father handed me the keys and said I’m the one doing the Glendale ones now.”
“What? That’s wonderful! I had no idea you guys did deliveries this far out.”
“Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone other than my father do them for as long as I can remember.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck before asking, “So, do you want to have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.
Diane had noticed Meliodas slip into the kitchen a moment before. She suspected he knew what was going on. “Yeah, that sounds wonderful. Give me a few minutes to get ready?”
King nodded. “Absolutely.”
~~~
“Is this technically our first date?” Diane asked as they made their way to one of the restaurants Meliodas had suggested. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was nice enough for a date.
“Technically yes…” King laughed. They had been through enough on Octopus Island that they were a little past ‘first date’ status.
Meliodas had helped him plan out their evening, since King knew nothing about the city. Luckily there was enough to do within walking distance, since he didn’t want to have to drive the delivery truck around all evening.
“Thanks for surprising me today,” Diane said softly.
“I wish I would have had more time to plan something,” he admitted.
“You could have planned pizza night in bed, and I would have been happy!”
King had originally thought they could spend the evening at the apartment, but he had forgot that they had a house guest, and the place would be a little crowded with five people there. And he wouldn't really get to spend time with just Diane.
“Well, hopefully tonight is a little more entertaining than that.”
“I can’t wait to see what you have planned!”
After dinner, the two made their way to a nearby park that Meliodas had suggested. King was relieved to find it quiet, as Meliodas said it would be. It wasn’t specifically for the university students, but it was mostly used by them during the school year, and often forgotten about in the summer. King was impressed by the park. It was mostly grass with tall pine trees throughout. There were various flowerbeds lining the paths, along with several benches and picnic tables. The park itself was large; much bigger than he would have expected for a city.
The two made their way down one of the paths, stopping when they reached a large pond with a fountain in the middle.
“Do you want to feed the ducks?” King asked, pulling a small bag of feed from his pocket.
“Yes!” Diane nearly yelled.
“Shh, you don’t want to scare them away like you did that otter,” King laughed.
“Hey! It came back… just like I said it would,” Diane huffed.
They laughed together, reminiscing on one of their first moments together; just the two of them. That day had been the start of an incredible week. Part of him could hardly believe that was only two weeks ago.
King handed Diane the bag of feed, it was a fairly small bag that he had picked up earlier after Meliodas’ suggestion, but it was enough for one day.
Diane tossed some of the seeds and grains into the pond, drawing the ducks closer.
“They’re so cute!” Diane cooed. “Look at the babies!”
King smiled as he watched Diane feed the ducks. One of the babies came to the edge of the pond, but the mother scared it back into the water, much to Diane's displeasure.
Once she was out of feed, she tucked the empty bag into her pocket and turned back to King.
“Should we keep walking. There’s a lot of paths through here.”
King nodded. This was turning out to be a wonderful first date.
“I absolutely love this park. I definitely don’t come here enough, but it does get pretty busy during the school year. I rarely see it this quiet.”
“It’s really nice. I’ve never seen a park like this in a city before.”
“How well do you know cities though?” Diane laughed.
“You’ve got me there. I really haven’t spent much time in any city. I guess I just never imagined that they would have parks like this.”
Diane wrapped her arm through his and pulled him along as she wandered over towards one of the large maple trees. “This was one of my favourite spots to study on nice days.”
King smiled as she continued.
“I once sat under this tall pine tree on the other side of the park, it was a really pretty spot and had lots of shade, but I noticed when I stood up that I got sap all over my t-shirt. I hadn’t even noticed when I sat down.”
King let out a small laugh. “It was probably a fir, they’re pitchy.”
“Oh yeah? You know that just from me telling you it got sap on my clothes?” she teased.
“When we first got into the park, I noticed there’s a lot fir trees. So, it was just an educated guess.”
“Pfft, okay. Well, what about that bush over there. What’s that one?” she pointed to a leafy green shrub beside the path.
“Eh, those are lilacs. They only bloom in the spring.”
“Yeah, I remember them. They always had such beautiful purple flowers and a wonderful scent near the end of the semester.”
“That sounds about right. Although some people think they smell too strong,” King admitted.
“I like them.” The two continued down the path. “So, what about this tree?” Diane asked, reaching up to gently caress one of the bright red leaves that hung just above their heads.
“It’s a Japanese Maple. Well known for its vibrant leaves.”
“It’s one of my favourites. I love the colours. It stays so colourful all winter too.”
King loved talking about trees and plants, and until now, he had never really known anyone who enjoyed talking about it so much. Sure, she didn’t know a lot when it came to foliage, but she wanted to know, and that was good enough for him. The two walked hand in hand as Diane pointed out various trees, shrubs and flowers, asking King each time what kind they were. He suspected she knew some of them, but he was still happy to share with her.
They made their way back to where they started by the time the sun began setting.
“I guess we should head back now,” Diane smiled. “I still have to work tomorrow.”
“Yeah, and I have to drive back home tonight,” King mumbled. Something he was not looking forward to.
“Oh, right. I completely forgot. I hope it’s not too late. I should have been watching the time.”
“No, it’s okay. I don’t work until 10 tomorrow anyways.”
“Do you want to stay the night?” Diane asked without thinking about it. “Oh wait, you have Oslo waiting for you. I forgot.”
“No, well yes. I mean… I would love to stay. Elaine has a key for my place so she can just go get him and bring him to her place. If you’re serious about wanting me to stay.”
“Yeah, of course. I mean it might be a little crowded in the morning, but you’re more than welcome to stay.”
King smiled. He hadn’t thought much about staying, but now that she brought it up, he liked the idea. It had been nearly a week since they spent the night together, and after a week of sleeping in the same bed- well, hammock- on the island, he had gotten used to having her close.
As they neared the apartment King remembered that he had brought the daisies for her.
“I just have to stop at my truck quickly.”
Diane nodded and let him lead the way.
“I brought these for you. I can’t help but think of you when I see them.”
“King!” she smiled. “They’re beautiful. I love them.” She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug, careful not to knock the pot out of his hand. “I love you. Thank you so much coming. For our official first date. For the flowers. For everything. Tonight has been wonderful. I love you.”
“I love you too, Diane.”