Work Text:
Peonies.
Daisies.
Cornflowers.
Tulips.
Roses.
All flowers that he often sold to his customers.
All flowers he had sold to one customer in particular. A customer that came in more often than any other customer.
He knew him by name, which was also not typical of most of his customers.
The first time he had come in had been for his mother’s birthday. Michael had helped him pick out a pre-made arrangement, commenting that if he really wanted to gift his mother, he could add in a few more expensive, special flowers, just to boost his own sales and to make the arrangement of basic carnations just a bit more special.
His customer had smiled, shaking his head no.
“I would, but these are actually my mom’s favorite. She thinks they’re really pretty, and she loves their smell. But I will keep that in mind for next time.”
An honest answer.
One that Michael had accepted.
He swiped his customer’s credit card, briefly looking at his name.
Yoichi.
Simple. Fitting.
Cute, even, the thought poking into his mind like a white hot iron. Stupid thought. This customer would probably never come back again because people either accepted his help or didn’t appreciate his pushy sales tactics that he only endorsed to keep himself afloat and able to sell another day.
Yoichi picked up the arrangement, and accepted his card back, and smiled his thanks. Michael bowed his head and waved goodbye, thanking him for coming in.
He rarely saw young men in his shop more than once.
And the young men he did see more than once… well. It was best not to get his heart too set on seeing him again, at least not in this context. If he saw him again here, he would likely be buying them for someone else. Most likely not his mother.
Maybe he would see him again somewhere else. In the grocery store or on the street, across a restaurant somewhere or from a distance somewhere else in town. Somewhere where he wouldn’t have to think about his relationship status or if he had someone else to go home to.
Downtime in the shop really did give his mind too much freedom to wander.
Sweeping up clippings from the morning’s design of premade arrangements, he tried to ignore the fact that he had made another arrangement of carnations, just in case Yoichi came back to get another for his mother.
Sweet little mama’s boy.
Michael really was weak to a kind, gentle man like that.
Ones who bought flowers for their mothers and actually knew their favorite kinds of flowers. He wanted to tell Yoichi his own personal favorite, just to see if he’d remember.
So many fleeting thoughts spent on a person he didn’t know and a face he thought he’d never see again.
He didn’t know why it was so easy for him to fall for someone he barely knew. Someone he had a maybe fifteen minute conversation with.
Michael sighed, switching his face to a happy welcoming smile as he heard the bell on the door ring as it swung open.
Ah.
What a terrible thing.
There he was again. Had a year passed and it was his mother’s birthday once more?
No, it had only been a month. And yet, here he was, gracing the tiled floor of his shop.
Walking up to the front counter, he greeted Michael.
“My mother loved the flowers,” he shared, twisting his hands in front of him as if he were nervous. And maybe he was, because he was here to buy flowers for someone else. No one came all the way to a flower shop just to thank the owner for helping them pick out flowers for their mother. “I told her where I got them, so you may see her soon. Sometimes she likes to buy flowers for herself, just because.”
“I’m glad,” Michael responded, though he was the very definition of anything but. He was conflicted. He was happy to see him again, but, also, he was quite disappointed to see him here. Still, customer service reigned supreme, and he kept his fake smile plastered to his face as Yoichi stood before him. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”
Yoichi nodded excitedly, the little cowlick on the top of his head bobbing happily as he indicated that there was.
“I think I’d like to get something different this time.”
Michael did not ask who they were for.
He didn’t want to know.
Yoichi selected a bouquet of peonies, in full bloom and a bright, soft, pink. He asked Michael if they could be put in a vase, the best way to keep them alive, and how long they would last.
Attentive.
Michael liked that.
Whoever the recipient was was very lucky.
Following the same steps as last time, Michael swiped his card, selling the bouquet and a clear, simple vase. Yoichi thanked him again, bowing his head in gratitude.
His cheeks were flushed as pink as the flowers. He must be excited.
The recipient was very, very lucky.
“See you around,” Yoichi waved goodbye with his free hand, the bouquet and vase held in the crook of his elbow.
“Until next time,” Michael responded.
Because he knew now there would likely be a next time.
He had a repeat customer. Normally, he would celebrate this fact, but how would he ever get over the sad little fantasy he had created in his head if Yoichi kept returning?
Daisies.
That was the second set of flowers Yoichi bought for someone other than his mother.
Michael again did not ask this time. Yoichi also did not greet him when he entered the shop, as it was a bit more busy than last time. Michael was tangled up with an older gentleman who was meticulously picking every single flower that would go in a bouquet for his wife, that he wanted by tomorrow, right before shop close.
Michael didn’t mind, though he hated the man questioning his recommendations as this was his area of expertise, not his , but eventually, they came to an agreement, the man paid, and all of a sudden, Yoichi was before him again.
He set the vase of daisies in front of him, reds and oranges being the primary color notes of his selection. Quite pretty, a very good choice. Michael had been thinking of taking this exact bouquet home if no one else had taken it by the end of the work day.
Michael shook his head, putting his smile back on as he discarded his surprise and the negative feelings he had towards the customer that had just left.
“Good to see you again,” Michael commented, pulling the flowers close to him so he could remove the price tag and ring the flowers up.
“Thanks. Your hair looks nice like that.”
The comment was unexpected, and Michael automatically lifted his hand to his head. He had forgotten that he had pulled his hair back, a messy bun not worthy of a compliment gathered at the nape of his neck. It had been such a busy day, running back and forth between the coolers of flowers in the back to the displays in the front, mopping up messes when people bumped his bouquet stands and splashed water all over the floor. He couldn’t help but pull his hair back, just to get it off his neck for a little while.
“Thank you.”
Yoichi smiled at him, his nerves from the last visit still present, as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
“What was that guy’s issue?” He asked, noisy and curious, but the other customers didn’t look like they needed attending so Michael didn’t mind. He would have looked for an excuse to keep Yoichi here for a few more minutes to talk anyway…
“Just a finicky custom order, nothing to worry about.” Michael explained, accepting Yoichi’s card as he passed it over, following the same routine as their previous interactions. “Some men are just so particular about the flowers they buy for their wives. A good trait for their wives, surely, but a bad trait for me and every other florist ever.”
Yoichi cocked his head to the side, eyes wide as if he had heard him incorrectly, or maybe as if Michael had spoken a combination of magic words that made little sense.
“Custom order?”
“Yes, so you can select exactly what you want.” Michael slipped a folded pamphlet across the counter to Yoichi. It listed all of his prices and what flowers were available to be included in the custom bouquets. “Whatever you imagine, I can do with advance notice.”
“Good to know.” Yoichi folded up the pamphlet and placed it in the wallet before picking up his flowers. “Thank you, as always.”
Michael nodded, already trying to disengage his feelings from that cute smile on that cute man. He turned his head away, rearranging something on the counter, just so he wouldn’t have to look at him anymore.
“See you,” Yoichi offered as he departed, exiting the shop and soon getting lost in the crowds in the outside streets.
Michael exhaled, letting go of a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding before turning to the next customer who approached his counter.
Life just really liked to stick it to him sometimes.
Cornflowers were next, which was a really strange choice by anyone’s account except Michael’s.
Typically, cornflowers were not sold on their own, as they were small and bright and worked well as an accent flower in a variety of bouquets and arrangements. Usually, he paired them with a contrasting color, yellow roses or daisies or sunflowers, just to make the blue of their unique little petals stand out in the arrangement. They were one of the few flowers that grew such a natural, vibrant blue, making them unique and one of Michael’s favorites. Sometimes they needed to stand out on their own, their beauty too great to be a compliment to something more common.
But of course, it would make sense and be just his luck that Yoichi would pick out that exact arrangement, the bouquet of cornflowers and nothing else, held together with a rustic bow.
Walking it up to the counter, Yoichi seemed to have a question on the tip of his tongue, a thought he could not quite express. So instead he held his tongue, only speaking when Michael told him the price of his purchase for the day.
“How are you?”
How was he?
Worse for wear, but surviving every day. Business was steady, a constant ebb and flow, but, today it was just him in the shop, and he had sent all of the other workers home.
And maybe that had a little bit to do with the fact that he had a feeling that Yoichi would be coming in today, as it was a Friday afternoon, exactly two weeks since his last visit.
Because maybe , Michael had a hope that the pattern would continue, as Yoichi had come in for the daisies exactly two weeks after the peonies. And he always came around the same time, probably right after he got off work. He hoped his theory was not misplaced, and it wasn’t.
But how was he?
Crushed, quite honestly, that his predictions had been right and Yoichi had returned to his shop for a fourth time to buy flowers for someone that wasn’t him.
“I’m just fine. Ready for a break this weekend.”
“Me too, me too,” Yoichi echoed the sentiment, bobbing up and down on his toes as he handed over his card, paying for his purchase yet again. “Any plans?”
“Probably none so exciting as yours,” Michael responded, pushing the flowers back across the counter. Maybe he was being a bit too short, but maybe he was feeling a bit too bitter as well.
It really was such a double edged sword when the person you really anticipated seeing also brought negative feelings along with them. He begged the universe for Yoichi to return each time, but each time, he also regretted seeing his face again.
Yoichi smiled, a bit uncomfortable and a cat catching his tongue, but he took the small bouquet in his hands none-the-less, and thanked Michael for his service as always.
“Come again soon,” Michael said, though he was unsure if he meant it.
“I will!” Yoichi responded, his excitement in contrast with the dullness of the mood, and then he was gone.
But he was back a week later, earlier than expected.
It must be getting serious then.
Michael was busy working on an arrangement for the next day when Yoichi walked in, so his assistant for the day walked up to greet him. Yoichi smiled politely, and indicated that he knew his way around, but even so, dawdled longer than he usually did.
He seemed more focused this time. He took more care in inspecting each flower, running his fingertips across the petals gently so as to not disrupt Michael’s hard work.
He was waiting, it seemed, for Michael to be finished with the arrangement he was working on, as he approached his table as soon as Michael handed the arrangement to his assistant to stash away in the cooler.
“How can I help you today?”
Holding the crumpled up pamphlet in his hands, Yoichi smiled.
“I was wanting to place an order for next week. On Friday, if you are available.”
Michael plastered his customer service smile on in response to the inquiry, the action paining him as he pulled out his orders notebook.
“Of course I am. What were you thinking?”
Yoichi explained his vision, gesturing broadly, hands crafting his idea in the air. He wanted the cornflowers from before, because he thought they were quite pretty.
“And, I was thinking something white, so they stood out. What do you think would work?”
“Well, maybe it’s a bit cliche for a florist, but roses are my favorite. And I should have a good stock of white ones next week, so, I think that could be pretty.”
“That makes sense,” Yoichi pondered aloud, indicating that…what made sense? Michael cocked his head to the side, questioning his statement. Yoichi straightened his back, seeming a bit embarrassed, before pointing to his own neck. “Your tattoo. But blue roses don’t grow.”
“I wish they did,” Michael sighed, knowing the idea of blue roses were one sought out by botanists and florists alike, but was as a realistic a dream as one day getting to take Yoichi on a date. “So, anything else you’d like to add to your bouquet?”
Yoichi shook his head, stating that he was good. He paid in full up front, and grabbed a bundle of pink tulips to add to his bill as well. He smiled, and thanked Michael for all of his help before leaving, bouncing as he walked, happy as a bee covered in pollen.
.
Oh to be in love.
It must feel nice to be on that side, because being love sick was not a feeling Michael enjoyed. Not one bit.
He fantasized about banning Yoichi from the shop, just so he wouldn’t have to be reminded of his little crush, but that wouldn’t solve anything (nor would it be a good business practice). He would still dream about Yoichi and wonder what he was doing, even if he wasn’t there.
He would still wish to see him on the streets, in a setting he couldn’t control, just so he would know he was alive and okay.
He would still think of him as he built arrangements, now each one with carnations and peonies and tulips and cornflowers and daisies reminding him of Yoichi because those were the flowers Yoichi had purchased with the thought of the one he loved in mind, and that person was not him.
He wished it could be him.
Yoichi did not arrive precisely when he usually did the next week.
He arrived closer to closing, when he was sweeping the floors and adding water to the planters and assuring that the cases up front were fully stocked for the weekend. He himself did not usually come in on the weekend unless there was an emergency, rather, he left the shop to his employees and spent the weekend recuperating and healing the numerous pricks and cuts on his hands that came from thorns and florist wire. On Friday nights, however, he was usually the only one left, because he liked to make sure everything was perfect during the two days he was out of the business that brought him his livelihood.
The bell on the door jingled, and Michael called out that he would be out in a second from the back room of the shop. His arms were full of two arrangements that he was moving to the front display coolers in the shop, just to make sure his workers tried to sell and push those first before the rest. They were large and dramatic, expensive pieces to make and worth a pretty penny to his bank account when they sold.
When he emerged behind the floral wall, the front of his shirt a bit damp from spilled water and a petal or two in his hair, he saw Yoichi, smiling sweetly and waiting patiently. He held his hands in front of him, twisting his fingers around themselves, and Michael held up a finger, returning to the back to grab Yoichi’s order.
Holding it out to him, hoping that the interaction wouldn’t drawl on forever as the other man had already prepaid, Michael asked him if he liked it.
“It’s beautiful. What do you think?”
“It’s one of my favorites from the week,” Michael answered honestly, wrapping the stems of the flowers up in a cone of paper so they would not drip onto Yoichi’s shirt as he traveled with them to his recipient.
“Good, I’m glad…” Yoichi smiled to himself, looking down at the bouquet with a fondness Michael could not place. He was a strange one, this man that haunted his dreams and his daydreams, but Michael couldn’t help but admire him.
He tried so hard not to stare.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Michael asked, wiping the water from the flowers onto his apron, restless, and looking for a way to end this interaction.
“Would you like to keep them?” Yoichi asked, finally looking up from the flowers, and holding them back out to Michael. Michael was confused, and he knew his expression said as much as he pushed the flowers back towards their rightful owner.
“That’s very kind of you to offer, but you paid for them. Go take them to whoever you bought them for.”
Now, it was apparently Yoichi’s turn to be confused. His eyebrows knit together as he reviewed their current conversation, and as he realized his mispeak, his eyebrows rose, mouth forming a silent “oh”.
“No, I mean. I ordered them for you. I want you to have them.” Yoichi pressed the flowers into his hands again, and this time, Michael accepted them, not wishing to damage the delicate petals in this game of floral hot potato.He did not verbally respond though, which seemed to stress Yoichi out as he ran his hands through his hair. Michael just did not know what to say, and he waited, hoping Yoichi would explain himself before trying to leave once again.
“I bought them for you, because I’ve been trying to ask you out for weeks . I just…the first time I came back, I chickened out because I felt weird trying to ask you out while you were at work. And then there were so many people in the store, and you seemed really busy, and I chickened out again.” Taking a deep breath, Yoichi tried to steady himself before gesturing to the flowers. “And so I decided to order flowers just for you, because you mentioned liking the cornflowers and the roses, so, I figured I wouldn’t avoid asking you if I had something to give you.”
Michael felt like a fool, mouth hanging open as he stood there, still unable to speak. Yoichi seemed so nervous, still fidgeting with his hands as he rocked back and forth on his feet, waiting for him to answer.
“I’m sorry…I thought…I don’t know what I thought. Nevermind, but keep the flowers though you did a really great job-”
“Wait…” And Yoichi waited, pausing in his rambling apology that he didn’t even need because there was nothing Michael was upset about. In fact, he was over the moon happy, he just didn’t have the words to express such joy when he didn’t expect it would ever come. “Who were all those other flowers for… Your mom?”
“No…they were for me.” Yoichi scratched at the back of his head, seeming embarrassed as he admitted this confession. “I needed an excuse to come see you, and buying flowers was the only logical answer, right? I have so many half-dead bouquets in my house right now, it's kind of ridiculous. But it just…reminded me. That I needed to ask you out. So here I am. Again. Sorry.”
Shaking his head, Michael tried to clear his mind because surely this was all a dream. A big, fake, dream where none of this was real because there was no way he could get so lucky.
There was no way he was the lucky one that he had been so envious of for the past few weeks.
Michael felt his cheeks flush, entirely lost for words and entirely overwhelmed as he stood there in front of Yoichi. Yoichi’s face brightened at the expression, his smile like sunshine and soon he was writing his number down, working out the logistics of a date that was now set to happen the next day.
A dinner for two, off in some other area of town, where there would be no flowers around them and no counter and register between them.
Yoichi teased that he would still bring him a bouquet, just to keep the theme going, though Michael detected that it was more of a threat than a joke.
He firmly expected many more flowers in his future, simply because Yoichi could not stay away and would buy a flower every time he entered this shop to say hello, goodnight, or give him a kiss in the back office just because.