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Training to be a vet is hard. It’s long hours of studying, studying things that Gundham knows instinctually but needs to double check just in case. On top of that, the tuition costs are through the roof – his family didn’t exactly have a trust fund set up for him (and he would never ever his angel of a mother for that), so he works weekends at Forever In Bloom to top off his student loan. It’s not bad pay, and the work is easy. As an addition, his best friend works owns the shop. All in all, it’s not so bad.
Admittedly, he doesn’t know much about flowers when it comes down to it. He knows they are beautiful, but their deeper meanings are often lost on him. Sonia, on the other hand, has taken quite the interest in it since she opened the place. She builds beautiful bouquets for customers, writes little notes explaining why she picked each flower, and is generally far more invested in this than he is. That is, until the most striking boy walks into the shop one Saturday afternoon.
He is average height – maybe just below average – with almost blinding pink hair, and the oiliest green jumpsuit that both clashes and compliments it. He doesn’t ask for anything with a particular meaning, just a bunch of lavender that would be suitable for a desk. Gundham gets to work immediately, cutting and arranging the flowers. Sonia puts a neat little bow, in a similar shade, around it. The boy pays, and he leaves.
He comes back the next Saturday, and the week after that.
“Your girlfriend must be very lucky, to have you bringing her flowers every week!” Sonia’s golden voice rings in his ears as she ties the same bow that she ties every Saturday.
The boy splutters, face turning almost as pink as his hair.
“I-uh, don’t have a girlfriend,” He says, “They’re for the shop. Girls get kinda antsy comin’ in sometimes, so I was kinda hoping this’d make ‘em feel safer, y’know? I’m not gonna scam ‘em just because they’re girls, not everybody knows how to fix cars, but a friend told me she got nervous coming in to get work done so I thought this’d help.”
“A noble endeavour, mortal!” Gundham smiles from behind his scarf, before realising it’s the first time they’ve spoken outside of normal pleasantries, “I, Gundham Tanaka, Supreme Overlord of Ice approve of your conquest!”
Lavender Boy looks startled by him but laughs anyway, “Ha, yeah. I’m glad you think so. Anyway, I gotta head back now. Have a good one!”
He rushes out the door after that. The blush doesn’t leave Gundham’s face for at least five minutes.
“Ah, I fear I may have startled him, She-Cat. That particular mortal seems to have been unnerved by my power.”
Sonia just smiles back, and assures him that he needn’t worry about that sort of thing. He has been coming back for three weeks now, if he were to be truly intimidated by Gundham’s presence then he simply would not have come back after the first time.
As it so happens, Gundham has started looking forward to his Saturday shifts more. Lavender Boy comes in around the same time – just after lunch – to pick up the same bunch of lavender he always does. Sonia ties the flowers up in the same bow, and then he leaves. He’s always partly caked in oil, and while usually Gundham would find that verging on disgusting, he has come to enjoy the light smell of gasoline that wafts in every Saturday.
One such Saturday, Gundham has already prepared lavender when he arrives.
“Ah, Lavender Boy, we meet again. On such a fortuitous day as this, your usual spoils of the earth have already been constructed by the Dark Queen,” He says.
Lavender Boy’s face has shot to a pink that rivals his hair. Gundham doesn’t think much about it, since that boy is always blushing whenever he comes in. He rings him up, and he leaves, and that’s when Gundham realises what has happened.
Ah, fuck.
“Dark Queen!” He calls out to the back, “I have made a grave and fatal error, and require your assistance post-haste!”
Clattering comes from the back room, as Sonia rushes in.
“What happened?” She asks, eyes darting around the room for evidence of his mortal sin, “What did you do?”
“I fear I may have actually scared the pink one off,” He sighs, “I do not know what name ties him to this mortal realm, so I gave him an alternative name to call him by so that I do not confuse him with another of our customers.”
Sonia’s eyes light up.
“You gave him a nickname?” She squeals excitedly and beams at him, “What is it? I can’t believe you haven’t told me of this previously!”
“To say it so plainly, yes. It appears that the particular name I chose has had an ill-effect on him,” He looks at his shoes, suddenly rather embarrassed, “I may or may not have accidentally called him Lavender Boy. To his face.”
Sonia coos at him, tells him that it’s adorable that he had thought to give him such a nickname. While Gundham feels that it would be best if the Earth itself were to swallow him whole, he is repeatedly assured that he has done nothing wrong, and that Lavender Boy was probably just flustered momentarily.
“You know, it is funny that you chose that particular nickname. Have you been reading any twentieth-century American fiction?” Sonia asks, while brushing down the counter, “Particularly in the nineteen-twenties, Lavender Boy was used as a nickname for a homosexual man.”
If he was blushing before, his face feels like it is on fire now. If only Mother Earth could hear his silent pleas to be removed from this world posthaste.
The next week, Gundham’s car breaks down at the side of the street on his way to work. This is not only an inconvenience, but likely an expensive one. Regardless, he calls the nearest mechanic to his current location to at least get the car out of the way of other drivers. When he enters the shop, the waiting area is surprisingly clean.
The receptionist has to make a call to their best mechanic, since apparently nobody else has the knowledge required to fix his old and slightly beat-up manual car. So, he sits in the waiting area. There is little to do, but he does text Sonia to let her know of his misfortune. Which is when he sees the week-old lavender on the desk. He can do nothing but prepare for his inevitable demise until the mechanic shows up.
“Hey, Soda. You’re gonna love this one!” The receptionist yells as Lavender Boy walks in, “It’s a manual, think the clutch has burnt out but you know that none of us know jack about that shit. Go take a look.”
“Oh, hell yeah! I haven’t gotten to work on a manual in like, a year and a half. Let me at ‘er!”
Gundham just stares at his feet. The receptionist calls him up a little while later to let him know what’s wrong with it – apparently the clutch cable has snapped, and it will take them some time to get a new one in.
Soda walks in, face lit up. He rushes up to Gundham to tell him exactly what needs to be done to fix the car, but it goes over his head. He knows nothing of mechanics, it is entirely lost on him. It’s only when he hears the estimate of the price of this service that he chokes up a little. He does have that money saved, but he wanted to send it home to his mother.
Soda’s face falls when he realises the thought process that Gundham has gone through.
“Listen, I know it’s an expensive fix, but it’s cheaper than buying a new car. Pretty sure we have payment plans, or – wait. You work in the flower shop, I can do a trade if you want? The repair costs about the same as two months of lavender.”
He has to call Sonia and ask if it would be acceptable to lose that profit once a week. She tells him that it is no issue, since wedding season is coming up and any loss from the lavender will be made up (and likely tripled) in the coming months, so as a favour for a friend she is happy to let a single bouquet go for free every week.
He also gets Soda’s number, for correspondence regarding the car. He is promised that it will take less than a week for the repair to be completed, and that the flowers will be acceptable payment for his work.
It isn’t that far of a walk to Forever In Bloom. He is somewhat nervous about piloting himself home after he finishes work, but that is a bridge he can cross when he gets to it. Actually, it is a bridge that is crossed more quickly than he expected, as Soda calls him to offer him a ride.
Gundham tries to turn the ride down – he is already asking a lot, and this is too much.
“Nah, we have your details in the system and I just checked it out – ya only live a couple blocks away from me, so it’s no trouble. I’m not giving you a choice in this one, you’re getting a ride for the week. Oh, I’ll pick you up before your shift too,” He talks like a whirlwind, doesn’t give Gundham time to say no.
Which is how he ends up getting chauffeured to and from his place of work by Lavender Boy – who he now knows is called Kazuichi Soda. That doesn’t stop the nickname from remaining in his head. Still, they talk daily now – he insists on taking Gundham everywhere he needs to go, and texts him often.
When Gundham finally gets his car back, after his week of having Soda forcibly injected into his life, he is both relieved and disappointed. He supposes this will be the end of seeing him so frequently. Of course, he will always come into the shop on Saturdays, but even after a short time he’s become accustomed to remaining in frequent contact.
He should not have worried, because even two weeks later, Soda still texts him almost daily. He’s also begun coming over every so often, cooing at his Dark Devas, and occasionally they meet up for lunch in between Soda’s work and his classes. This is not without significant teasing from Sonia, who asks if she should be preparing bouquets for them next wedding season at least once a week.
Their friendship becomes comfortable, if not plagued with brushing fingers and stuttered out apologies.
Over a lunch one Wednesday, Soda invites him to a party hosted by a friend.
“He said I could bring somebody if I wanted to, he’s a real nice guy,” he almost sounds nervous, “It’s not gonna be a huge thing. I think Sonia’s friends with somebody there too, I know that she’s been invited. Small world, right?”
Gundham’s instinct is to say no – parties are definitely not where he is most comfortable, especially not around strangers, but he can’t bring himself to when Soda looks at him so hopefully. So he agrees to go on Saturday night, and spends the rest of his time until then panicking. Sonia, ever the good friend, comes over before they are due to leave and helps him make a “killer outfit”.
The three of them mutually decide that it would be best to call a taxi, rather than relying on somebody to be a designated driver. Since they are all so close to each other anyway, they share the fare between the three of them.
It is the first time that he sees Soda without his greasy jumpsuit. Actually, he looks incredibly handsome when he is not caked in oil. While Sonia sits in the front with the driver, Gundham sits with Soda in the back. They all talk and laugh, and Sonia makes no mention of the nervous way that he glances at Soda throughout the drive.
The party goes as smoothly as seventeen twenty-somethings piled together drinking in the same house can. It’s more relaxed than Gundham had thought it would be – there is no blaring music, although there is the light hum of it in the background as they play silly drinking games. Some of which Gundham has heard of, one in particular that seems to combine many different elements using a deck of cards and a large cup in the centre of the table.
There isn’t enough room around the table for everybody, so he ends up with Soda sitting in his lap. He doesn’t quite remember how they came to this conclusion, but he is certainly not complaining when they’re both a little past tipsy and giggling about something the other said. At some point, they end up sharing a drink and a turn, and nobody seems to bat an eye at this – even Sonia is too busy giggling at something Peko Pekoyama has said to notice.
It is comfortable like this, with Soda’s face pressed into his neck. Occasionally, he is pulled down for Soda to whisper a silly comment into his ear, which sends him into fits of giggles. Once, he is pulled down to receive a kiss on the cheek, which makes his face feel like it has reached the same temperature as the innermost parts of the sun.
He doesn’t quite remember how he ends up kissing Soda too. He’s sure that it started with a brief peck on the cheek somewhere between getting a drink and sitting down with the others once more. Now though, he tilts Soda’s head up and presses soft kisses to his lips as if Soda is something so fragile that he might break if he were to be handled too roughly. They’re at the front of the house, waiting for a cab to come and take them home – Sonia is otherwise preoccupied with Pekoyama, so she won’t be joining them. They’re both far past drunk by now, and simply enjoying this affection as if that is how it has always been. When they get in the cab, they lean on each other and laugh about the events of the evening, from a drunk Sonia tripping over somebody’s legs and falling right into Pekoyama to Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu drinking just a little too much wine and either threatening or flirting with Hajime Hinata (Gundham can’t tell which it was) until the two of them disappeared together.
Perhaps Gundham’s favourite memory of the evening is watching Nekomaru Nidai being roped into drinking what can only be called an “absolute shit-mix” (according to Kuzuryu) at the climax of their first game. It was frankly impressive, and neither Soda nor Gundham are sure that Nidai swallowed the entire time – instead seeming to just open up his throat and pour the liquid poison down like a funnel.
Gundham is incredibly grateful that he doesn’t have work tomorrow. He can predict the incoming hangover as he reaches his door, Soda still attached to his arm. Right now, he doesn’t care.
The two of them throw themselves down on the couch, unable to hold back grins and laughs. They stay like that for who-knows how long, it could be ten minutes or an hour. Regardless, they end up laid down with aching stomachs from giggles and bright red faces. The couch isn’t really big enough to hold them like this for long though, so when they think the laughter has died down, Soda falls off which sends the two of them back into a fit.
“My paramour, surely you don’t intend to spend the night down there!” His face hurts from grinning, “If you wish to remain here until tomorrow, please take the furniture which is actually designed for sleeping. I will remain here.”
Soda pouts at him, “Nope, I’m not stealing your bed. It’s yours.”
They go back and forth like that for quite some time, until Soda gets the genius idea of just sharing. He makes an incredibly good argument, too.
“If we just share, that means that I don’t have to stop holding your hand, right?” He says it like he’s just cracked the code to all life, “And it means I can keep kissing you.”
It’s a good enough reason for Gundham to pull himself up. In a single moment of clarity, he grabs two bottles of water and some painkillers for the morning, and leads Soda across to his bedroom. He can’t wipe the grin off his face, even when he lies down and feels like the entire Earth is spinning separately from him.
The two of them lie there, eventually getting tangled up in each other with kisses and smiles. They talk, about not much in particular for a long time – it even begins to get light outside.
“Hey Gundham,” Soda mumbles into his chest, “What was it you called me that one time?”
He’s taken aback for a moment, but the answer is easy.
“I believe it was Lavender Boy.”
He gets a nod in response, and he can feel Soda grinning.
“Yeah, that. It’s cute, don’t stop doing that.”
Gundham doesn’t quite know when he falls asleep, but he does know when he wakes up to a pounding headache. When he tries to roll over to fix his dry mouth, he’s stopped by a sprawled-out Soda clinging to him.
“My dear Lavender Boy,” He whispers, “I must alleviate myself from the consequences of ingesting alcohol. Might I have control of my person back for just a few moments?”
Soda manages to roll off him, and Gundham coaxes him into drinking some water too. Neither of them want to get up just yet though, so they stay in their half-awake daze for as long as they can before consciousness fully kicks in. It’s all light touches and soft kisses through some pretty rank morning breath.
They end up spending the whole day together, just lazing around Gundham’s apartment. When neither of them want to cook, they order in food. When it gets late, and Gundham realises that he has to go to class tomorrow, their goodbye takes much longer than it has any right to – they’re too busy with short hungover kisses and promises to see each other afterwards.
Soda calls him the next day. And the one after that. They meet up for lunch, and nothing much changes. They hold hands, and delight in stolen kisses before they have to leave. On Saturdays, Soda spends a little longer in the shop than usual. Sonia teases Gundham about his Lavender Boy, but it’s all in good faith.
Slowly, more of Soda appears in his apartment. At first it’s a toothbrush and clean underwear, then it’s socks and jumpsuits, and a set of tools from when Gundham asked him to fix his shower. Then it’s car manuals, sugary drinks, hair dye, and a motorbike which is most certainly not road-legal in the empty garage that he pays for but has no use for. Finally, it’s another car and the man himself. Soda hasn’t left in over a month at this point. They don’t officially move in together for around nine months, until so much of Soda is here and not at his own apartment that it doesn’t make sense for him to continue paying the rent on it.
They partake in the joys of apartment hunting, eventually settling on somewhere small but with two parking spaces. It’s hardly more expensive than Gundham’s rent to begin with, and splitting it means that he has extra money to send home – and maybe most importantly, for gas to take Soda home to meet his angel of a mother. Suffice to say, she loves him. He’s all bright colours where Gundham is dark ones. Soda stomachs his mother’s cooking, even though they drive out to get take-out afterwards.
Of course he’s not perfect, he’s a whirlwind of mess wherever he goes and has to be supervised whenever he dyes his hair because he is liable to coat the whole bathroom in hot pink. It doesn’t matter though, Gundham laughs when he gets spots of pink at the tip of his nose, and eventually convinces him that gloves might be a useful addition to the dyeing process. In exchange, Soda acts partially as a translator for him – although he does learn when it is inappropriate to call people sinners in broad-daylight. The wedding bells don’t ring, and probably won’t for a long time, but that’s not something they can focus on right now.
Training to be a vet is hard, but it’s made a thousand times easier when Gundham comes home from his long day of schooling to find that his Lavender Boy has already made dinner, already made sure that the Devas are properly fed. There is always a bunch of lavender on the table, always a kiss for him when he enters the apartment, always an evening where it feels like that first one just when Gundham thinks he might have gotten used to everything.