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Fakir was frowning at the tulips that he had assembled before himself. What was supposed to be the star of the show, a hybrid tulip bred to be a dainty yellow that fades to a stunning white at the edges of the petals, was starting to drop at the weight of its flower, which Fakir couldn’t help to note looked a bit like the curve to a swan’s neck. At the very least, the fringed tulips that he had taken special care to grow as well were as gorgeous as could be, looking like feathers or the lining of a puffy tutu.
Not that these had anything to do with anyone that happened to have feathers or regularly wear a tutu, despite the fact those were typically only worn by the older prima donnas at their school. Completely coincidental.
It’s not like Fakir had started to grow the flowers after a certain girl’s love letter was handed to him. He definitely hadn’t retrieved the letter when he had found it later forgotten on the ground after confronting Ahiru about it, and he certainly hadn't kept the letter pinned to the wall of the shed Karon kept behind the house where Fakir grew flowers in secret.
Fine, maybe they were for Ahiru, Fakir would allow himself to admit that. But it wasn’t as if there was anything romantic about it.
Romance was a mere trifle when he and Ahiru were neck-deep in working within Drosselmeyer’s grand scheme to reunite Mytho with the last pieces of his heart and help him get back to the story. This was merely an appreciation gift; Fakir was mature enough to acknowledge that Ahiru had been involved, maybe even a motivator, in the way he has been able to grow as a person on their quest to give Mytho back his heart.
He ought to thank her; it’s only polite.
And that’s what the flowers were, a simple thank you present. He happened to grow flowers already, a hobby his late mother had always involved him in that he carried on doing as he grew even in her absence. Honestly, the only things his flowers typically got used for was to dot the few scattered vases in his home, so it’s not any loss to him to give a bouquet away.
Fakir did lament the fact that all he had to wrap up the tulips were cheap butcher paper; they definitely deserved better. When he was really young, there had been an actual florist in town that would wrap their arrangements in beautiful, shiny, translucent paper, but the florist was one of many people killed in the crow attack all those years ago and no one really filled that void in Gold Crown Town since.
So no cellophane, or any real options better than butcher paper.
Okay, maybe he was a bit upset about the butcher paper, but it was only because he felt like his flowers deserved something a little bit better. No other reason.
Before leaving, he double checked the assembled bouquet. The fringed tulips encircled the lone yellow hybrid tulip like a dancer encircled in a feathered dress that was swirling about her.
Fakir couldn’t help feeling a bit of pride at the fruit of his labor. Tulips weren’t the most agreeable flowers to work with and cultivating a whole dozen bouquet-worthy tulips out of a humble gardening shed was a feat so impressive that Fakir couldn’t help the small prideful smile on his face as he left the shed bouquet in hand.
Karon eyed the bouquet with questions in his eyes as Fakir walked through the house, but thankfully he didn’t voice any, just nodding at Fakir as he went out the door.
His adopted father had been a bit inquisitive about the subject of girls as of late, which made most conversations between them awkward. He seemed to believe that Fakir and Ahiru were more than friends –friends was already an overstatement if you asked Fakir– and Karon’s questioning would always circle back to assuring him it was perfectly alright if Fakir had a girlfriend “at this age”. So Fakir was glad to be able to avoid that confrontation.
He began the trek towards the school, grateful that it was a weekend so the school grounds were relatively empty.
A couple of girls were chatting around the fountain on the mall and audibly tittered loudly at the sight of him with the flowers.
Ever since Mytho’s heart was dyed in raven’s blood and the mess that had arisen from that fiasco, Fakir had gained a bigger reputation as the resident “bad boy”-- hell, he was still finishing up his suspension for the “pushing” incident. There was no doubt in his mind that by the time he is able to go back to classes, the hallways will be filled with all sorts of conjecture about girlfriends that he supposedly has.
Great, he’ll be able to look forward to people hounding him about girlfriends at home and at school now. Fakir sped past the mall, feeling the burn of the girls’ gaze leave his back as he entered the grove behind the school.
Thankfully, he didn’t need to look too hard for Ahiru. She was at the gazebo, chatting away to what seemed to be… a dove? That was a bit weird, but Fakir figured that it may make sense since Ahiru was such a weird girl. But on second thought, maybe since Ahiru was a duck, maybe she could understand him?
It didn’t really matter, he thought. Just get this over with.
“Oh, hello, Mr. Dove. How’s your wife doing? Shouldn’t you be with her? She must be getting awful lonely.” The dove cooed back at Ahiru conversationally, making the girl laugh and Fakir reconsider if he was wrong to think she couldn’t talk to other birds.
“Ahiru, I-”
She turned towards him jerkily and somehow smashed her face directly into the flowers. She backed up violently, windmilling her arms as she almost toppled backwards.
It was almost surprising how much of a disaster this girl could be, thought Fakir, but he still found himself smiling.
“Oh! What lovely flowers!” Ahiru reached out as if to take the tulips before hesitating and pulling her hands back. “A-are… are these for me, Fakir?” Ahiru asked, looking around quickly as if some other girl was going to walk over and snatch up the flowers.
Fakir frowned, feeling the warm beginning of the flush rising in his face. Ahiru and her antics always seemed to have that effect on him. “Why would I be handing them to you if they weren’t for you, idiot?”
After he spoke, he already half-regretted his words. If she was a duck, there was a chance this could be the first time she had ever gotten a gift at all, or a gift like this at least. And here he was ruining the experience for her.
“Just take them.” He thrust them forward into her hands.
“Oh,” she stopped to study the tulips carefully before looking up at him with a smile that made Fakir’s heart flip flop. “They’re so beautiful! I can tell whoever raised these flowers took care of them very well.”
The flush in Fakir’s face was now in full force, so he looked violently out into the grove rather than continuing to look at Ahiru. “My mom used to keep flowers, so I grow some behind Karon’s shop.”
“That’s wonderful! I bet she’s really proud you can grow such pretty flowers.” Ahiru continued to gaze down thoughtfully at the tulips. “You ought to give such pretty flowers to someone you love though.”
“Don’t be stupid, Ahiru. They’re just a thank you gift. We don’t have time for something trivial like love while trying to help Mytho. At least you shouldn’t if you’re taking all of this seriously-” He turned to glare at her.
Ahiru’s face burned red in anger. “Hey! I am too taking this all very seriously! I’m doing my best to find the rest of the pieces of Mytho’s heart, okay?”
“Really? What does talking with some bird behind the school do to help Mytho then?”
Somehow, Ahiru’s face got redder. “I- Well- Um, I-” She stuttered a bit before stomping her foot. “Fine. We’ll go search the town for the last remaining pieces right now then.” She made to start stomping back towards the school, but stopped to look down thoughtfully at the bouquet she still had in hand. “But these are so nice. I should go put them in water first.”
Fakir crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “Do whatever you have to do then.”
Ahiru glared back at him. “You wait here while I go find a vase to keep them in then.” She stormed away, clearly peeved but was carefully cradling the flowers in her arms.
Fakir watched her go, getting a bit overwhelmed in his thoughts.
That didn’t really go to plan. He imagined he would have been able to give them to her without making her feel insulted, but Ahiru seemed to be able to make any planning Fakir put into things useless for better or for worse. That really didn’t bode well at all with the way things were tracking with Mytho. Fakir could sense things would be progressing into the end game sooner rather than later, but he couldn’t help to feel comforted that he and Ahiru were working together.
Even if she was a bit of a klutz.
He sat down at one of the stone benches in the gazebo, trying not look too deeply at why he felt so giddy at the fact he’d be spending the afternoon with Ahiru. Maybe once they had solved more of the mystery of Mytho’s remaining heart shards and how to return him to the story, he’d try to unpack what exactly about that made him feel like smiling like an idiot.