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If Valtteri had to hear about Sebastian's bromelia one more time, he would have to scream.
"It's not flowering! I've tried everything! I've moved it to the bathroom, made the room more humid and it's still not flowering." Sebastian pouts dramatically, leaning over the counter with a deep sigh.
Valtteri, knee deep in customer orders and thoroughly fed up of Sebastian's dramatics, points with the milk foamer to the shop across the road from their coffee shop. "Instead of complaining to me about it, as I don't know shit about plants, why not go there? The shop has just opened."
Sebastian follows where Valtteri is pointing, seeing the new shop across the road with the words Kimi's plant emporium written across the sign in bold lettering.
"Hmmm." Sebastian looks curiously at the shop. "You really think the owner will know what's wrong?"
"It's worth a shot and honestly? I could really use a shift were I don't hear about your plants again." Valtteri pulls a face.
Sebastian rolls his eyes, but then nods. "Okay fine, I'll go over there on my lunch break."
"Amazing! Now stop moping and help me make a pumpkin spice latte." Valtteri wrinkles his nose in distaste at the order.
"Hey they sell well and that's the main thing no?" Sebastian asks, moving to make the drink.
"It's an insult to coffee." Valtteri responds, earning him a deep laugh from Sebastian.
"If you say so." Sebastian shrugs, amused.
He was actually looking forward to his break.
At exactly one o'clock, Sebastian opens the door of Kimi's plant emporium and steps inside. The first thing he registers is how the inside of the shop is cosy and dark, and has assorted plants all around the shop floor.
He walks around, silently marvelling at the different varieties of plants around him. Until a cough makes him jump and look towards the front of the store, where a man is watching him with a steady gaze.
A rather attractive man, with tattoos, older. Just his type. This must be Kimi.
"Can I help you?" Kimi asks, his voice monotone, but his eyes curious on the young man before him.
"I work at the shop coffee - I mean, hi I work at the coffee shop across the street, I was told to come to your shop as you know things about plants?" Smooth Seb, real fucking smooth. Of course he knew about plants!
For his part, Kimi looks amused. "I know things about plants, yes. What can I help you with?"
"I have a bromelia and it's not flowering." Sebastian takes out his phone and finds the photos he had of the plant, showing them to Kimi. "I've made sure it has the right temperature and even made a humid environment for it and it still hasn't flowered. I know it could take several years to flower, but I've had it for a few years now and nothing has happened."
Kimi hums, looking over the images on Sebastian's phone. "What's the room temperature you're keeping them in?"
"I try to keep the room at 21 degrees c." Sebastian answers, biting his lip as Kimi pinches the screen to zoom in on the photo.
"It looks healthy. If you're keeping it in the right light and also watering it regularly, then I recommended ethylene gas from ripe fruits. They might encourage flowering. You just place the bromelia in a propagator or plastic bag filled with ripe bananas or apples for up to two weeks, you should see results after that." Kimi advises, handing Sebastian's phone back to him, as he does so, Sebastian checks out the tattoos on Kimi's arms. Celtic symbols scrawled up his arms, damn, they looked incredible.
A gentle cough makes him remember to take his phone from Kimi and he blushes bright red as he takes the phone back. "Thank you! I will try that!"
"Let me know if it works." Kimi nods, giving him a little smile.
"I will." Sebastian grins, looking around the shop in interest. "I heard you've just opened, it looks amazing in here!"
"Thank you." Kimi nods over to the coffee shop. "I'm thinking of picking up some coffee after I close. Do you recommend your place?"
"If you were asking Valtteri, he would say no." Sebastian laughs softly,"but me? Yes, I think I make a mean espresso."
"Hmm maybe I will test that." Kimi grins, nodding at him. "I hope my advice works."
"Thank you, I guess I will see you later?" Sebastian asks, then clarifies. "At the coffee shop!"
"You will." Kimi answers, looking at him in amusement.
"See you then!" Sebastian waves awkwardly and then leaves the shop with the impression that he had been a colossal idiot in front of the older man.
Fuck.
Kimi arrives after 5pm and looks around the coffee shop in interest. Sebastian sees him walk in and his traitorous heart flips as the man makes his way to the counter.
"Hello again!" Sebastian grins as he leans over the counter. "Are you after that espresso?"
"Of course." Kimi says smoothly, getting out his card to pay.
Sebastian takes the payment and then sets about making the coffee, feeling Valtteri's eyes on him as he cleans the tables. "So, how has your day been?" He asks Kimi as he slides the finished drink over to him.
"Good, business is good in this area. I cannot complain." Kimi shrugs, taking the coffee cup and lifting it up to take a sip.
Sebastian watches him intently, ready to see what he thought of the coffee.
Kimi gives a little hum, smacking his lips as he looks up at Sebastian. "Not bad!"
Not bad? Sebastian can feel his face falling at the half hearted remark.
Kimi seems to sense this as he grins at him. "Not bad coming from me is good, I promise. It's a good cup of coffee."
Sebastian breathes out a soft sigh of relief, giving Kimi a soft laugh. "For a second there I thought you wouldn't like my coffee."
"Is the shop yours then?" Kimi asks curiously, leaning against the counter as he sips his drink.
"It is, well it was handed to my older sisters but they didn't want to run it so I took it over." Sebastian tells him with a smile.
"And you and that other guy are the only ones who work here?" Kimi asks, motioning to Valtteri.
"Yeah, well we have help on the weekends from Charles, but mostly it's just me and Valtteri." Sebastian replies.
"I make the better coffee." Valtteri interjects, making Sebastian huff.
"Well, he says that only because his girlfriend is obsessed with coffee like him." Sebastian explains to Kimi.
"I like your coffee." Kimi says, grinning to himself when Sebastian seems to light up like the forth of July.
"Val! I told you people liked my coffee!" Sebastian calls to the younger man, earning him a middle finger. But Sebastian only laughs at him.
"I have to go, I need to get home and tend to my own plants." Kimi looks at Sebastian, "I'll come back tomorrow evening?"
"Yes sure! It's a date!" Then Sebastian pauses, "wait no, not a date! No, I mean- I cannot wait to see you again- no I mean, uh-"
"See you tomorrow?" Kimi asks, saving Sebastian from more of his broken ramblings.
"Yeah, see you." Sebastian answers, watching him leave.
At closing time, Valtteri is saved from the constant ramblings about bromelias, but now Sebastian lies across the counter whining about how stupid he had been around Kimi.
So much for his plan to have peace working out.
Over the next week, Sebastian puts Kimi's plan into action. He buys a propagator appropriate for his bromelia and surrounds it with the ripe fruit. He does this every day, making sure the fruit doesn't get rotten and is replaced.
In that week, Kimi keeps coming into coffee shop after work, and he somehow makes sure Sebastian is the one who is making his coffee. Once the coffee is made he stays at the counter talking to the younger man the entire time.
Valtteri even brings it up during the end of the week. "I've seen him, you know, loitering around until I go and clean the tables. It's rather funny. Sometimes I even try to see how long he will wait until I go away from the counter. Surprisingly long is the answer."
"He doesn't loiter!" Sebastian scoffs, shaking his head as he makes an americano for their customer.
"He so does, he clearly has a thing for you. What are you both plant nerds or something?" Valtteri grins.
Sebastian rolls his eyes. "We happen to both have a collection of plants, yes. Doesn't make us nerds."
"Sure." Valtteri doesn't look convinced, "how is the bromelia anyway?"
Sebastian's face lights up. "She seems to be perking up! I'm hoping to get flowers soon, she'll look so beautiful."
"She." Valtteri intones, his eyebrow raised.
Sebastian just shrugs. "So what?"
"Has Kimi seen your plant collection yet?" Valtteri's grin is playful.
"Not yet." Sebastian feels himself blushing at Valtteri's words.
"God, just ask him!" Valtteri shakes his head, watching Sebastian hand the americano to the customer.
"It's not that simple." Sebastian murmurs.
"Not simple? All you've got to say is, hey Kimi, I'm drooling over you and your tattoos, wanna come to my house to see my huge plant?"
"I hate you." Sebastian huffs, shaking his head.
"No you don't." Valtteri replies cheerfully, grinning at him.
Sebastian says nothing in reply, lost in thought at Valtteri's suggestion.
Kimi continues coming into the coffee shop, almost every evening. It becomes the highlight of Sebastian's day. He even goes to Kimi's shop on his lunch breaks, admiring the plants Kimi gets into the store.
One day, Kimi has a bunch of 'black coral' colocasia into the store and Sebastian admires them wistfully wanting to add one to his collection.
Kimi sees him admiring the plants and comes forward, carefully handing one to him. "Take it."
"I-what?" Sebastian blinks at Kimi, speechless.
"Take it, consider it a little thank you." Kimi nods at the plant.
"For?" Sebastian is confused. All he had done was ask his advice about his bromelia, he hadn't done anything special.
"For becoming my first friend since moving here." Kimi answers, "and for the delicious coffee."
Sebastian feels his heart squeeze at Kimi's words, but he shakes his head. "Kimi I cannot take a plant from you. I refuse."
"I know it will be well taken care of." Kimi steps closer, pushing the plant closer to him and looking into his eyes. There's so much in Kimi's gaze that he isn't saying out loud. If Sebastian is brave enough, he could uncover it.
Sebastian looks at the beautiful plant in his hands and then at Kimi's earnest gaze. Kimi had spent so much time with him, maybe Valtteri had been right about Kimi's interest in him.
Maybe he could be brave.
"How about I accept the plant and we go out on a date this weekend?" Sebastian asks, voice soft, but rather strong. He's proud of himself.
Kimi's eyes widen and this breathtaking happy smile appears on his lips. "I'd love to."
Sebastian's heart stops, then begins to pound again. "Are you serious?"
Kimi gently takes Sebastian's free hand and gives it a gentle kiss. "I am deadly serious."
Sebastian's knees go weak. "R-right so uh, this weekend then?"
"Sure." Kimi's grin is light and happy. "Sounds like a date."
A date. SEBASTIAN HAD A DATE.
He leaves the plant shop, grinning like an idiot. A date with Kimi, it sounded unreal.
That weekend as Charles arrives to cover his shift, Sebastian and Kimi decide to go on a date at the local garden centre. An usual choice of first date, maybe, but for them it's perfect. They wander around the various plants and vegetation and admire and also scoff at the care of the plants. In the end they both leave with armfuls of plants to 'rescue' them.
Afterwards, they go have dinner in the little restaurant set next to the garden centre. Sebastian has to admit it looks good in the outdoor seating area which is surrounded by plants. The company is good too. He and Kimi do not stop talking the entire time.
When it's time to go, Sebastian takes Kimi back to his place and invites him in. It's nice having someone in his home who has the same passion for plants as he does. But not only that, having Kimi there makes his home feel warmer, brighter.
It's only natural that while talking on the sofa, Kimi leans across and kisses Sebastian. The kiss seems to make Sebastian feel like there are fireworks all around him. He kisses Kimi back, putting everything into that one perfect kiss.
He feels like this could work out, even more so when Kimi asks if they could go upstairs. Maybe he had finally found his soulmate. It was rather a beautiful thought.
Meanwhile, unbeknown to Sebastian, as he headed upstairs with Kimi and the first tentative buds of new love grew, his bromelia grew it's first flower.