Chapter Text
Dainty little flower tattoos were adorable… to some people. Not to Derek. He didn’t care what you wanted inked on your body, but he simply would not be the one to put it there. He loathed those with the burning passion of a thousand suns and then some. He had done enough flowers to fill a garden in his lifetime and he had reached his limit. Whenever a client came in asking for flowers, roses, or sprigs… he very politely declined them all, sending them Raph's way. They were more of Ralph's expertise anyway. He was better at them, and Derek wasn’t above admitting it.
But his sister... his goddamn little sister, Marti, aka light of his life, was turning 18 and all she wanted for her birthday was her first tattoo. Derek was more than happy to do it for her. But of course, of course, she wanted some flowery shit. He tried his normal spiel. “Ralph has a beautiful portfolio!” but that didn’t work on her. She knew better. She wanted her brother to do it. And he couldn't say no.
Well, he could... technically, he did. But then she pouted her bottom lip and gave him the world's most effective puppy eyes and whined, “But Derek!” and he was a goner. She was far too old for that trick to still work on him. But it did. (It probably always would.) He knew he was too easy on her. But it wasn't his fault. She was the baby. She was practically his kid the way he raised her. So he gave in. Yet again.
If he had to be the one to give his sister the tattoo, it wouldn't be some basic cookie-cutter kind of piece. No, he needed free range, complete artistic freedom. Marti gave it over willingly. Derek wanted to do something different for her. Something that screamed Marti. It was on the tip of his tongue… But he needed inspiration. Something to trigger his hand to draw. To paint. To create. It has been a while since he was allowed that much freedom, the limitless options were borderline suffocating.
Lucky for him, there was a flower shop next door that could help get some creative juices flowing... It was relatively new, and given that Derek wasn’t the flowers kind of guy, he hadn’t had any need to pop in there. Plus, Sam had already welcomed the newbies to the neighborhood, so he had no real reason to stop by.
He was however well aware that there was a very cute brunette who worked there. He knew that because he’d seen her around; walking by his front window headed into work a few times a week.
She resembled spring like some sort of Persephone incarnated. She looked like a breath of fresh air in her cute flowy dresses. The sun always found a way to shine directly on her, making her light brown hair glow like a halo around her head. The breeze made those long ringlets dance around her shoulders when it was down, and yet all that hair managed to balance on top of her head like a ballerina when it was up. Was she some sort of fairy? Could she control the elements?
He wasn't sure. But he did know she controlled something. Because every time she walked by, she was taking a call with a coffee in hand. She always looked busy, like she had somewhere to be; a businesswoman for sure. Smart and sophisticated. It was all very intriguing to him, and he wasn't sure why…
He wasn’t shy about approaching women. Normally he’d slide over, charm rolling off of him in waves. He’d smile and introduce himself, eye her hand for a ring before asking her out for drinks. It was easy, effortless, and worked more often than not. It was not that he was cocky. His friends and more importantly his little sister would never allow him to get a big head. But he wasn’t dumb.
But this woman...that wouldn't work at all. Mostly because she wasn't his type. Not at all. She was far too soft, too delicate, too sweet for the likes of him. And yet, anytime she walked by the shop, he’d watch from the corner of his eye anyway…
The boys liked the poke fun at his silly little crush. He didn’t mind, he could dish it just as much as he could take it. But he didn't expect it to last that long. It had been three whole months and he was still sneaking peeks at her whenever he got the chance. He felt like a high schooler who spotted their crush across the hall.
Sam and Ralph told him just to go over, to introduce himself. But he had no reason to go inside...Until Marti of course.