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The younger person usually gardened somewhere near the graves. Vaas didn’t really mind the environments he’s traversed— Yara was almost just like Rook, but with less white tourists and more of the Spanish he’s feigned back when he was still a pirate.
He’s just taking his time, really. Shipments for Viviro were going to take awhile now that the Castillos were dead (pretty sad, but es lo que es or something like that. Poor kid didn’t stand a chance.) so Vaas took this as an opportunity to have a look around and have his time well spent before he makes another trip to wherever the wind takes him.
But for now, the wind took him to one Dani Rojas— the person who singlehandedly destroyed the country’s leaders in one fell swoop. (More impressive than Jason ever would be too. Still, that kind of thing? That shit fractures people. Dani’s doing a great job hiding it.)
And usually, he’d get under their skin, but it doesn’t really seem to matter that way. He watched as Dani was gardening by a few unmarked graves, and tried to think up the words to say to them in a manner that didn’t let him stumble. A few thoughts in a mix of broken Spanglish and a few smidgens of Indonesian in his scrambled mind later, he finally came up next to him and asked.
“¿Qué haces?”
Dani whipped their head to him. They looked back to the soil, the growing plants, the budding but not quite there flowers, and replied. “Jardenero.”
So he was a man? Vaas glanced at the edge of the collar where a strap— a bra strap, maybe? Sat there. His voice was also light. Ambiguous. Vaas decided he liked that air of mystery to him.
He crouched down, watching as Dani watered the earth.
“Te conozco.”
Vaas blinked and looked back at Dani.
“¿Qué?”
“And I can speak English too.” Dani said, seemingly bored. The clean, accented English was much to Vaas’s surprise. “You learning?”
“Known it since I was five.” Vaas said, taking out his little buddy from his shirt pocket and tossing it in his hand. “Nobody spoke it to me so I was just stuck,” he clicked his tongue.
“Good time to practice, then, no?” Dani asked. He turned off the water, and put the hose away. “Time for me to practice then too.”
“Huh.” Vaas bobbed his head at the thought. He got up. “So you’re the Dani, yeah? It’s like meeting a fucking celebrity up here.”
“And you’re…” Dani tilted his head, but not bothering to think.
“Vaas.” And he raised the little tennis ball in his hand, mouth stretched to a grin. “And this is Vaas too.”
Dani’s face scrunched at that. “Vaas and… Vaas the tennis ball.”
“’S my compa, actually!”
“I think I call him compa now.” Dani shrugged. He turned around, about to walk away.
Uninterested.
Vaas decides he’s going to have fun with him.
And maybe the universe was going to agree to this.
Because the next time he finds Dani, it’s in another spot where he gardens— another set of graves, another patch of budding flowers.
Dani turns his head when he hears Vaas come by, in which he’s muttering something to his little buddy and letting it talk back to him.
“We should talk to him more!” The little buddy says.
And Vaas pitches back to his normal voice, “But he’s busyyyy.”
“I was busy.” Dani watched as Vaas came in. “Did you need something?”
“Just wanted to pass the time. How are your flowers?”
Dani stayed quiet for a bit. “… Hoping not to water them too much.”
“If it starts to die, water it less.” Vaas shrugs. “You come here a lot?”
“There are graves I usually visit. When I want to stay, I garden. People say that it’s better than contemplating the deaths.”
“You know who these people are?”
“No. Just some innocents I had to bury.”
“You don’t even know their names.” Vaas tilted his head. “That’s a little weird, eh, little buddy?”
“It is, it is!”
Dani’s lips flatten, “it’s the least I can do.”
“Tell us what the flowers are.” Vaas’s hand, carrying his little buddy, waves over the growing garden.
“Crisantemos, girasoles, violetas, lirios. I don’t know the English. Just means ‘happiness’, ‘loyalty’, ‘faith’ and ‘purity.’”
“And you picked them out for that?” Vaas blinked.
“Yeah. Thought it would fit them.”
“They’ll bloom soon, with all that fuckin’ sweetness you’re giving them, ah.” Vaas grinned. Dani snorted.
He didn’t really know how they kept meeting— these past few weeks, with the shipment taking fucking ages (he’d have to check with Juan sometime soon over this), he decided that the universe just wanted him and Dani to be friends.
He finally asked him after the fifth meet if he wanted to drink together, and to his surprise, despite Dani’s seeming disinterest, was actually interested.
“Whatever gets me the fuck up.” Dani said. “You know where to drink, Vaas?”
“I don’t fuckin’ know, hermano, you’re the native. Take me where you like me!”
And he did take him— this little tropic-looking bar, right where the sea sat under the bridges and the sound of people were buzzing. It was so lively, but somehow so… clean, with Vaas unused to the lack of taste that usually came about back in his islands. Yara was different. Yara was beautiful.
And so were the drinks.
Because four bottles of white rum in, they got fucked up good.
Vaas howled another shot in, and Dani pushed himself up from the table to keep himself up.
“Sometimes I miss being fucking young!” Vaas barked out, flopping back into his seat.
“Why…” Dani opened his eyes to meet Vaas’s, “the fuck would you ever ask about that?”
“Because I’d beeeeee…. fucking pretty again, no?” Vaas laughed, “if you saw me before, Dani, we’d be the beeeest of fucking friends. And I used to have a mohawk like yours!”
Dani rolled his hair back, before taking the bottle and slamming it down. Vaas cackled, laughing harder as he slammed it back down the tabletop. “Easy now, easy!”
“I only… prepare myself like this, if I have something in my mind.” Dani drifted.
Vaas moved near him. Their knees touched and Dani let it.
“Are we sharing secrets now, hermano?” Vaas gasped, “Keep it in English, nobody needs to understand!”
“I….” Dani drew out the vowel, “like youuuuu.” He said with a sigh, “and I think you’re pretty the way you are.”
Vaas paused.
“You fucking with me, Dani?” Vaas said with a disbelieving chuckle.
“We need to be more fuuuucked up if you want the real answer.” Dani said, wiping his face.
He leaned closer to him, head on Vaas’s shoulder now while his hand snaked up to the space between Vaas’s thigh and knee. “But… why would you need to be pretty for us to be friends, ah?”
“Maybe you’d like me more.” Vaas said, lowering his head, giggling. “And maaaybe, because I’d think you were cute.”
“Am I not fucking cute now?” Dani pulled back, offended.
Vaas reached up to cup his chin. “Hmm… I think you still fucking are.”
Dani’s cheeks were squished in Vaas’s hand. He huffed, then leaned forward. He knocked his forehead against Vaas’s.
“Can you read my mind, Vaas?” Dani asked.
Vaas’s eyes crinkled as he laughed. “What are you thinking about?”
“Thinking about…” Dani said, then tilted his head back again. “Thinking about…”
He drank one more from the bottle, then passed out.
The flowers were blooming.
Dani’s efforts were working, and Vaas joined his side as they watched every other day in every other spot in Yara.
“When you leave, these flowers might already be ready.” Dani said.
“Ready for what?”
“Giving.” Dani said. Vaas cooed at that. Dani looked away.
“They have to be good for other things, no?” Dani muttered.
Vaas noticed that this particular patch wasn’t a grave like the rest. It was near the beaches, unusual and new.
“Who are these for?” Vaas asked.
Dani didn’t answer him. Just continued to garden.
A little bit of forever, later, got Vaas about to board the boat with packages and packages of viviro on them. Dani stood by, Juan smoking one of his cigars at the dock.
“I have something for you,” Dani said, reaching to a little box next to him.
Vaas tilted his head, “I gotta hurry, Dani, but! For you? No rush.”
“Hmph. Here.” Dani said, giving him a bouquet. Vaas’s eyes went wide.
“Dani?” Vaas held the bouquet, and he looked over it— the colors were amazing, and so was the overwhelming smell, but he had no idea what to really call them or what they meant.
“Comienzos pequeños,” he said, pointing at the purple ones with the long petals, “amor joven,” pointing at the red, complex petalled one with the golden accents, then pointed at the sharp, lilac flowers, “primeros emociones de mi crush por ti.”
“What was that last part?” Vaas asked— it’s the part he couldn’t believe his ears on.
Dani snorted. “You’ll figure it out.”
Vaas took the bouquet with him, and Dani waited until the boat had left before he did too.
He tried to calm down, really did. He squeezed little buddy in his hand and asked, “what did he mean?”
His voice pitched up— but it broke as he answered himself. “He’s got a crush on you.”