Work Text:
Aleksi woke slowly, enjoying the warm feeling between waking and sleeping for a long few moment before telling himself that he had errands to run that morning, he needed to get up before the others woke up
He opened his eyes to look at his mates; Joel was buried in Tommi's chest, the two tightly wrapped around each other and Aleksi wondered if Joel had had a bad night or they had just felt extra cuddly.
Joonas was between Joel and Olli, laying face down with his arms on both of them and snoring.
Olli had his face buried in Aleksi's neck, Niko laying on his chest, the two had their arms wrapped around him and Niko had a leg flung over his.
Aleksi smiled, brushing a kiss to Olli's forehead and the top of Niko's head before pulling himself away from their warm pile with a swift movement and watched how Niko rolled right into Olli and pulled against him.
Aleksi grabbed clothes and quietly crept to the bathroom to get dressed, marveling a bit at how his life had changed in the last few months.
He had been so terrified to indulge his wolf side, to acknowledge that he had mates, but they had shown him they didn't care about anything in his past, they loved him regardless.
They had been teaching him all about wolf culture too, and that's what led to that day's mission.
"It's a spring tradition," Joonas had told him one night a few weeks prior, "when the weather starts getting warm and the flowers are starting to be planted, you would get your mates bouquets on the May full moon, it's the Flower Moon."
"Not just any flowers though," Olli piped up, "and not just your mates, your whole pack. You were supposed to create a bouquet based on the flowers' meaning, so if you were still in your family's pack you would get everyone flowers that symbolize family and such and if you knew who your mates were you would get them flowers that symbolize love and commitment."
"You could get close friends flowers too." Tommi added. "Pack or not."
It had been one of many traditions and holidays they had been teaching him about, one they admittedly didn't really indulge in every year, but it had stuck in his head.
He wanted to get them flowers.
He had gotten dressed and walked into the living when he spotted a brown haired man casually sitting on his couch.
"Good Morning Robin." Aleksi said, looking to the front door.
Still locked. Of course. He had long stopped trying to figure out how Robin was always able to by-pass the locks.
"Morning Allu," the fae smiled, "ready to go shopping?"
Aleksi nodded, putting a finger to his lips to indicate he should be quiet, he didn't want to wake up the others.
Robin looked delighted at the fact they were sneaking, throwing a couple baskets he had brought over his shoulder and pressing himself up against walls like a secret agent, humming his own little theme song on the way out of the apartment and sneaking down the stairs.
"You're ridiculous." Aleksi told him once they were on the sidewalk.
"And you're grumpy for not having coffee." Robin told him happily.
Aleksi grunted a little, he wasn't wrong.
"So," Robin started as they got in the car, "what flowers are you looking for?"
"Oh, um…" Aleksi shifted a little in his seat, "I mean… I've done a little research. I want to get all of them red roses to start."
Robin nodded, "passionate love. Makes sense." He winked, "what else?"
Aleksi opened a list on his phone. "Let's see… baby's breath."
Robin snorted, "innocence? You can't tell me you haven't fucked-"
Aleksi blushed, "I read it was everlasting love!"
Robin grinned, "I'm messing with you! And some flowers have more than one meaning Allu, keep going."
"Lilacs for first love…"
"Light purple specifically, but yes."
Aleksi turned to glare at him, "maybe I should have just asked you what I should pick."
Robin cackled, "Nope, not choosing flowers for your mates."
"You know a lot about flowers."
"I'm fae, flowers and nature are kind of part of my culture." He pointed out. "We celebrate a lot of nature holidays and flower language is important."
Robin drove them for over an hour, with a brief stop for coffee, out of the city and to a gated area with a collection of outdoor stalls, flowers of every different type being put out as the sun rose.
"Is this a flower farmer's market?" Aleksi asked
"Yep." Robin told him, "I wanted you to have first pick so a friend that works here is letting us in a bit early… with the Flower Moon being tonight it's going to be really busy."
A slim young woman with pointed ears smiled when they walked up to the gate, quickly opening it enough for them to slip in, even as other cars started to pull into the lot.
"You only have 5 minutes before we open to everyone." She said, "So you better get to the popular ones right away."
With a quick "thank you", Robin led him first to the roses, helping him pick the best, brightest red ones for his bouquets while explaining what the different colors meant, grabbing a few stalks of baby's breath while they were at it.
They had to try a couple stalls until they found the right lilacs he wanted, Robin insisting the wrong color would change the meaning, and the gates were now open and a large group of people crowded around the several rose and carnation sellers.
Aleksi looked at his and Robin's baskets, they had 4 roses for each of his mates, 2 lilacs each, baby's breath…
"What's wrong?" Robin asked, "you're frowning at these beautiful flowers."
"I… I don't know if I want to give them all the same bouquet." Aleksi admitted, "I want to personalize it a bit but I don't know what else to pick."
Robin hummed a little, "well… let's start with Joonas. What's something that you love about him?"
Aleksi smiled, "he's such a sunshine, he can cheer all of us up when we're down."
Robin grabbed his wrist and hauled him off to a booth selling sunflowers.
"Easy," Robin said as he picked one out to be in the center of Joonas' arrangement, "how about Tommi?"
"He's so strong."
"He is a big dude." Robin laughed.
"Yeah but mentally, emotionally…" Aleksi stared at the sunflower in his hand as he remembered when he first properly joined the pack, the way Tommi would keep him tucked under his arm when they were teaching him about all of wolf culture and he'd start to get overwhelmed, the way he can calm Joel down when he's in his own head.
"Come with me." Robin led him to a booth that didn't have many people in front of it, flowers in spear-like stalks shooting straight up in different colors. "These are gladiolus." Robin told him, "They symbolize strength."
"Perfect." Aleksi said, picking a stalk of white flowers to contrast the red flowers.
Aleksi turned to look at the market, now flooded with people buying all types of flowers.
"Who's next?" Robin asked.
"Is there a flower for hope?" Aleksi asked, thinking how Joel was always so hopeful for the band's future, for the pack's.
Robin tilted his head a little and thought. "I'm pretty sure irises are hope and faithfulness. I saw an iris seller… over there!" He pointed and they ran to the next stall.
Robin smiled wide when he saw the sign confirming what he thought they symbolized, looking around while Aleksi chose some for Joel.
"What flower would be health or care?" Aleksi asked with a laugh as he paid, "Olli is slightly terrifying when one of us is sick, completely goes into nurse mode."
"Lotus." Robin frowned, "but those really don't work as a cut flower…"
"Coneflower." The older man running the booth told them "it symbolizes health and healing."
"Thank you." They chimed, looking around the market for said flowers.
"I'm not sure if they have those here," Robin muttered as they made a circuit, "how about Niko?"
"I'm the calmest with him." Aleksi told him, smiling at how they could just relax and read together, or listen to music, the nights they would stay up and write music.
"Lavender for calm and peace?" Robin suggested.
Aleksi nodded, it was perfect.
He had started to despair of ever finding coneflower for Olli, but a helpful fae overheard them talking and pointed out it was there, just selling under a different name.
Once they finally had all the flowers purchased, Robin ran back to his car and grabbed a bucket he had brought, getting it filled by an elemental witch before getting back to Aleksi.
All the blooms were settled in the water for the drive back to the city, Robin getting it strapped into the back seat to not tip over.
"I'll be right back." Aleksi said, quickly jogging back into the market and to one of the rose booths.
Most of the flowers were picked over at this point, but thankfully the color he wanted was still there.
He wouldn't have had any hope of doing this by himself, Robin hadn't hesitated to give up his Friday morning to drive him an hour away to help.
He deserved flowers too.
He ran back to the car with a bundle of yellow roses in his arms, half wrapped to conceal them while they sat with the others.
They were halfway home when his phone started ringing constantly, missed calls and messages popping up as they came back in range of the cell tower.
"Everything ok?" Robin asked.
"They're freaking out a little." Aleksi admitted sheepishly, he had forgotten to leave a note explaining why he wasn't there.
They had been together for less than a year as a proper pack and there was still some worry on their side that he would run from them again.
He never would. He couldn't; but he understood the worry.
Aleksi's phone started buzzing once again, a call from Joel ringing through.
"Allu!" Joel half shouted "where are you? Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you guys I was going out this morning." Aleksi said, "I just got all the messages."
"I kidnapped him!" Robin yelled.
Joel sighed, "of course he did. Ok well…have fun with Robin. When are you going to be coming home?"
"Probably a couple hours." Aleksi told him, "I won't be too long."
"Alright, love you."
"Love you too," Aleksi said softly, ending the call.
Robin drove them to his apartment and quickly helped him arrange the flowers into bouquets, wrapping them with red ribbon to make sure they held together until put into vases.
"Are you sure we're not missing any?" Robin asked as the final bundle was tied, "what about that package?"
Aleksi smiled and picked up the roses, dabbing the water from the stems before handing it to Robin.
"Thank you so much for your help today." Aleksi told him, "and everything you've done… well for years. You're a great friend."
Robin opened the packed roses and stared at them for a moment before inhaling their delicate scent.
He put them down and hugged Aleksi hard.
"Love you." He muttered.
"Love you too." Aleksi muttered back.
After Robin got his flowers in a vase he drove Aleksi back home, giving him a wink and telling him to have a great time with his mates.
Aleksi cradled the flowers as he walked up to their apartment, nerves coiling in his gut.
They had said this wasn't a tradition they took part in normally, was there a reason for that he didn't know? What if they hated the flowers?
He took a deep breath before opening the door, peeking his head in to see if any of them were near the entrance.
"Ale?" Olli called.
"Yeah I'm home," he called back. "Can everyone get in the living room and close your eyes?"
There were some grumbles and muttering but after a few moments Olli called that they were ready.
Aleksi quietly walked into the living room, seeing their noses flare as the scents of the flowers filled the room.
"Keep your eyes closed." Aleksi instructed, putting each of the bundles in their arms, Joonas dipping his head down to the flowers as soon as he got them.
"You can open them." He said softly.
His mates all opened his eyes and looked at their flowers, Joonas and Joel tearing up almost immediately as they took in the bouquets.
"You made us bouquets for the Flower Moon?" Olli asked softly, tracing a rose petal with a calloused finger.
Aleksi nodded, trying to read their expressions.
Niko gently handed his flowers to Tommi before hopping up from the sectional and tackling Aleksi to the ground.
"They're perfect." Niko mumbled as he buried his face in his neck, "thank you so much."
Aleksi wrapped his arms around him, hearing a rustling before several more bodies joined them on the ground, smothering him completely.
"We don't have any flowers for you!" Joel fretted, "or each other or…"
"We don't each need five bouquets." Tommi said calmly. "But Allu you're absolutely getting some."
"You guys don't have to." He said.
All five of them immediately disagreed, hugging him tight.
Aleksi wasn't sure how he ended up on the couch in Tommi's arms, but that's where he found himself as the others excused themselves, getting their flowers in vases and promising to be back soon.
He fell into a light doze as he waited for them, the early morning catching up with him. Sleeping on Tommi was something they all did, the large man always warm and comfy.
"We love you so much." Tommi said softly, rubbing his back, "I'm surprised you wanted to celebrate the day though."
"You're my pack," Aleksi muttered simply.
Tommi tightened his arms around him, mumbling for him to nap.
When he woke again it was to a hand running through his hair and pushing it off his face, Joonas kneeling in front of him.
"Lunch love, and we have a gift for you."
Aleksi pushed himself up and stared at the large bouquet.
A dozen red roses were mixed with hydrangeas, white daisies, a flower that looked like a lily, and one he didn't recognize.
"Red roses for love." Joel said.
"Hydrangeas for togetherness." Olli added.
"Daisies for loyalty." Niko said.
"Yellow Alstroemeria for happiness." Joonas winked at him
"Dahlias for commitment." Tommi murmured in his ear, indicating the one he hadn't recognized.
Aleksi teared up, taking the colorful arrangement and inhaling the sweet scent.
"I love you guys so much." He whispered.
He let Joonas pull the flowers out of his arms and let them all hold him tight.
That night they shifted and ran through the woods, play fighting and enjoying their time before going to a clearing where they had laid out all their flowers, laying in a pile and enjoying the mix of scents.
Aleksi closed his eyes and nuzzled into his mates, content.