Work Text:
Today, Edward was in a good mood, which was certainly unusual, but even more unusual was the cause of said happiness: He had a date.
He had tried a couple of times before with some dating apps but it had never really worked out for him, finding most people fake or boring. Still, this time around he didn't even need one, he had met this cute boy in one of the riddles forums he would normally participate in and they just clicked all the right ways.
Although this was the first time they'd be meeting in real life, Ed could already imagine a second, third, hell even a wedding with the guy if all went okay (Call him a hopeless romantic or an obsessive person, you would be right either way).
So he grabbed and put on his best clothes: something clean and nice yet casual and of course in green shades and earthy tones, he didn't want to overdo it either even if that was his main thing in life.
They were going to meet up at a mall in the area close enough that Ed could get there walking, so he did.
On his way there though, something on the right side of the street caught his attention, a beautiful bright green shop, with dozens of colourful flowers exhibited at the front and a sun-washed-out yet legible sign that read "Wayne's Flower Shop" on a neat cursive font. A smile crossed Ed's face, this could be the final detail that would sell the date.
He then went through the door and entered the shop, eyes slightly wide as he looked around him: Lavish vegetation welcomed him and the smell of water, dirt and flower flooded his senses, all in quiet yet comforting peace. It was a stark contrast to the noises and odours of the city behind him as if he had entered a little secret paradise, his own Eden's mini-garden.
The door had to have a bell that rang and Edward didn't notice in his surprised state, because as soon as he entered a guy appeared behind the counter. He had to be around Edward's age if not a bit older, and his appearance wouldn't make you believe he worked at a flower shop in the slightest.
He had fair skin and sky blue eyes, but maybe that was all that wasn't dark in his appearance: He had really dark brown hair, dark circles around his eyes (Paired up with an eye-liner that actually looked really good on him), and simple clothes in a dark colour scheme. Hell, even his aura looked gloomy.
But this didn't discourage Ed, who promptly made it to the counter with a big smile.
"So! I'm having a date a bit later and wanted to get some flowers, any recommendation?" Edward asked lively tapping his fingers on the surface of the counter, but this happiness didn't seem to motivate the worker as he simply made a vague gesture towards literally all the flowers in the shop.
Edward's smile dropped the moment he understood that this guy could have been a human-sized piece of cardboard and it would be of the same utility, fine, if the guy didn't see Edward as a person worth talking to at least professionally then he would do the same.
He then looked around at some of the pre-made bouquets, Ed knew almost nothing about flowers and their meanings in any romantic sense, but he was intelligent and knew movies and books pretty well: White flowers, when used in either funerals or weddings so that was a no, and roses, were cliché and almost certainly too much for a first date. So he chose some flowers he thought were pretty -Ranunculus, the tag read.
He went back to the counter and paid without exchanging a word with the guy once he had murmured the price.
Once out of the shop he took a deep breath and put a smile back on his face, it was okay, he still had a date and had flowers, and that was the important part after all.
So with renewed spirits, he walked off to the mall.
...
Bruce had begun working in the flower shop fairly recently.
When he was younger he remembers being really excited at the possibility of working in the shop and playing to be an adult alongside his mom, even if he really wasn't at all interested in either plants or nature, then his parents had died and even going near the building felt like too much.
And indeed, the first week was too much. If it hadn't been for Alfred's insistence he may have never come back.
But now he could look at the shop with new eyes, appreciate it as an extension of his parents and an opportunity to somehow know them better, especially his mom.
His father was a very good and wealthy surgeon, he could have opened any other establishment but he chose a flower shop because his mom loved them, she found calm in the most mundane tasks of maintenance, in watering the plants, arranging the shells and selling flowers to young lovers (always with a piece of wise and sweer advice for free)
Bruce wasn't so invested in the last point though, but he had become used to it. Normally persons would arrive, make a purchase or order a particular arrangement and go about their day as usual.
What wasn't usual though, was to see a client return barely an hour after their purchase with the same perfectly unused bunch of flowers, and with a long face on top of all.
If Bruce recalled correctly this client in particular -Light brown hair, green jacket and thick-rimmed glasses- wanted something for a date, so apparently, that went badly.
The guy had left the flowers over the counter without saying a word, which confused Bruce, but just in case he signalled to the very clearly "NO REFUNDS" sign on the wall.
The guy didn't even blink when he answered:
"It's okay, you can keep them, well the shop can keep them, I didn't use them, well gave them, not that that really matters with flowers, does it? Like I guess you held them to put them there but before you someone else held them and that doesn't really affect them, does it? I don't want the money back, well no, I would like it but I won't make an act for not getting it, because I don't want to be entitled like in those TV shows where..."
The guy kept rambling for a while when Bruce stopped registering the words and took the time to look at the man in front of him: He must be around his age a bit younger if not, his clothes looked cheap and comfortable but were very clean and ironed, so he had prepared for this talked a lot and tended to lose the thread of the conversation -Well, monologue- and repeat himself constantly, but not because he didn't know how to get his point across but because apparently, his brain made a lot of connections between sentences and topics and he just had to say them out loud.
Bruce could also deduce that he was pretty expressive because as his rambling kept going the initial sadness in his tone gave place to a determinate tone and strong hand gestures. Interesting.
Suddenly the rambling stopped and for the first time, Bruce meet the stranger's gaze, finding that he maybe had the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen, but he couldn't be really sure as he immediately broke the eye contact as soon as it had started.
Bruce got his eyes up and looked to the space just next to the stranger's face and noted his expecting expression, shit, he should have asked something while Bruce wasn't hearing and now expected an answer.
Bruce then looked at the multicoloured ranunculus bouquet still on the counter and probably took a bad decision as he grabbed the bouquet and signalled the stranger to follow him to the backdoor of the store.
He didn't turn his head to check if the guy had followed him but clearly heard him gasp when they made it through the brooms closet to the greenhouse at the shop's back patio.
And Bruce couldn't blame him, it was indeed a very nice place if a bit hot in the summertime, there were roses and lavender bushes over the sides, and big pots with various succulents types everywhere along with various kinds of gardener tools and smaller pots and jars.
Bruce approached one of the workbenches after grabbing a jar and began disarming the bouquet when he felt the stranger approaching his side and watching his moves attentively.
"Soooo, have you been working here for long?" The stranger asked after a few seconds, tapping his fingers on the desk surface just as he have made on the counter a mere hour or two ago.
Bruce didn't say anything, just made a 'More or less' sign with his hand and then pointed to the hose at his right, next to the stranger.
The stranger seemed a bit confused at first but quickly understood him and gave the hose to Bruce, speaking again. "My name is Edward by the way," he said, but not in a rude 'You obviously forgot to introduce yourself so I will do it myself' way, but in a genuinely 'I did forget to introduce myself' manner. "And yours?"
"Bruce." He answered in a low voice, maybe the third or second word he had spoken today.
"Oh cool, that's a cool name." Answered Edward rather awkwardly, and then added in almost a whisper "A much cooler name than Dave anyways."
Bruce turned his head in Edward's general direction and arched a brow at that.
"Oh yeah, the date I mentioned earlier you know? Guy's name was Dave, I should have supposed that he was a dick just from the moment I knew his name, no one named Dave can be a good person you know!"
Bruce left out a small chuckle at that and for a moment he saw a glimpse of a smile on Edward's face, but it soon vanished as his green eyes found themselves looking at the jar with the flowers, Edward then left an exhausted sigh and propped himself on the workbench with a hand under his chin.
"Did I tell you that he didn't even show up?" Edward spoke again, sounding so sad that Bruce almost wanted to pat him on the back or put a reassuring hand over his shoulder, almost.
Instead, they stayed in silence for a while, just looking at the jar and hearing the occasional buzz of the bees that found their way into the patio.
This time was Bruce who broke the silence.
"Do you... Do you know what ranunculus means... what they mean in flower language?" Bruce stumbled his way through the words, a problem he had always had since childhood and that seemed to aggravate itself when talking to new people, Edward didn't comment on this, however, just making a negative sound at the question.
"Ungratefulness," Bruce said firmly, and now was Edward who turned his head to meet him with raised eyebrows, Bruce kept talking, now more confidently. "This guy is ungrateful for not wanting to meet with you and wasting your time."
"So you think I'm someone people should be grateful to talk to?"
Bruce departed his glance, suddenly finding the bench surface really really interesting and shrugged, "You sure talk a lot, but it's interesting to hear you, so yes, I'm grateful you came back."
Bruce's ''confession'' was only met with silence, and for a second the dark-haired man feared he had made the other uncomfortable or that his comment was out of place.
But then he turned to see Edward's face and was met with a sincere smile and a really sweet "Thank you."
Bruce didn't say anything, but couldn't help to smile too.
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes again, until the silence definitely grew uncomfortable and Edward pulled himself into standing straight, a hand scratching the back of his neck.
"So, this was nice and all but I think I should get-"
He couldn't finish his phrase when Bruce raised his hand with the palm facing Ed in a "Wait a minute" gesture, he then rushed towards some pots and buckets full of flowers at the back of the greenhouse and came back with a small bouquet of five petals small purple flowers and handed it to Edward.
"What are these?"
"Heliotropes, take them... they are on the house," Bruce murmured looking everywhere but Edward's face.
"Oh I see, thank you, do... do they mean anything in particular?" Ed asked, suddenly smiling as he realized where this conversation was going.
Bruce didn't humour him with an answer, just tugging his hands at his apron's pockets and shrugging it off with a not-too-innocent smile on his face.
"Oh I see, so I shall take this as a challenge then, Bruce?" Edward asked with a wide too toothed smile.
Bruce just watched him in the eyes and raised his brows with a smug smile.