Work Text:
1.
While Rohan doesn't mind paying someone to do manual labor for him, it's a bit unsettling when that "someone" happens to be Josuke Higashikata. An aloof comment he had made about the state of his backyard had Josuke springing up and offering to help. Though Rohan feels as if he's made a mistake letting Josuke tend to his plants for some cash. Sure, The teen had no problem plucking weeds and trimming the hedges, but it was only a matter of time before he slips up somewhere.
Under Rohan's supervision, he went about watering the many plants and succulents that were scattered around the yard. He came upon a row of cacti, and quickly waters through them, walking sideways while doing so, and not fully paying attention to his surroundings. His feet bump into a low table holding various potted flowers, and while he didn't knock into it very hard, one pot does end up falling over the edge, and breaks.
Josuke shuts off the hose, and he and Rohan walk over to the broken pot. The clay pot is shattered, and the soil and flowers spilled out to make a mess. He kneels down to quickly gather all the soil into one pile, and tries to pick out the flowers to brush off the dirt. The pot that fell over held a bundle of daisies, and came along with the house when Rohan first moved in. He had no attachment to the plant, but still, he seethed at Josuke's clumsiness.
Most of the daisies were starting to wilt and die before he had even tipped over the pot, but there were a few that were still healthy and blooming. Josuke finds one flower that looked perfectly fine, and hands it to Rohan.
"This one looks okay, you can probably still replant it."
That's when Rohan realizes how ridiculous Josuke looks-- covered in dirt and grass stains, on the ground, propped up on one knee, smiling and holding up a single daisy to him. Actually it was his position that was more awkward than ridiculous. To any stranger, it might have looked like Josuke was proposing to him. Rohan takes the flower anyway, and feels his anger slowly dissipate.
"Get up Josuke, you look like an idiot."
The teen stands up slowly and brushes some dirt off of his pants. "Sorry about your daisies." He bends down again to pick up a shard of the clay pot. "Here, let me just..."
Crazy Diamond appears in a flash to put the pieces of the shattered clay pot back together, though the soil and daisies remain on the ground.
"I think most of these guys were goners anyway."
Rohan holds the stem and twirls the flower around in his fingers. It wasn't as if daisies were his favorite flower, (or that he even had a favorite flower,) but the yellow middle that contrasted with the pure white petals gave off a sort of simplistic, under-appreciated prettiness that he had always admired.
"You okay Rohan?"
Then he remembered that Josuke was still standing right there.
"Yeah, I just..." Rohan gave the daisy one last look. "I'm gonna head back in. It's pretty warm today."
Before he makes it back to the door, he turns around to see Josuke out in the sun, removing his glove to wipe at the back of his neck. It was only Spring, but the sun at this time of day was harsh if you stayed outside long enough. And Josuke had been working for most of the day.
"Josuke," Rohan calls out, "why don't you take a break for now? I have lunch ready inside."
He quickly regrets the choice to take pity on Josuke, when he tracks in dirt all over the hard wood floor like some kind of untrained dog.
2.
"Whoa, fancy meeting you here."
Rohan was sketching the scenery in a cherry blossom filled park when the familiar voice bursts his bubble of focus. Rohan closes his eyes and inhales deeply to keep himself from yelling. When he opens them and faces up, Josuke is standing in front of him, plastic bag of groceries in tow. He was dressed plainly in a t-shirt and jeans, now that his second year of high school had just ended.
"What's up?" Josuke smiles. "Whatcha doing?"
Rohan sighs, concentration completely lost at this point, and lowers his sketchbook. It's fine that Josuke wants to be friendly toward him, but he really did make him lose his train of thought.
"Has your eyesight deteriorated at such an age? What does it look like I'm doing? I was drawing."
A light breeze passes through the park just then, causing pink flower petals from the trees surrounding them to gently dance through the air. Josuke lifts his arm up, catching a few, only to let them fly off when he opens his hand.
"They bloomed pretty early this year," he says. Josuke was right-- it was only the beginning of April, and yet the trees were in full-bloom.
But Rohan ignores him and turns his head back down to begin putting his art utensils away. He flips over his sketchbook to the cover, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to pick up where he left off anytime soon. Josuke hasn't said anything else, but Rohan can tell that he's watching him. And hopefully feeling guilty about disrupting his work.
"Hey, you've got something here..."
Rohan straightens his back and looks up just as Josuke is reaching over to brush something off of the top of his head. Though, Rohan's movement makes it so that Josuke is nearly touching his cheek. He chuckles at the bewildered expression Rohan makes, and goes on to pick whatever it was that was in his hair.
"Oh," Josuke smiles, "it's just a cherry blossom." He holds it in front of Rohan's face for him to see. The small, pink, flower rests face up in Josuke's palm, and he seemed to be offering it to him. In Josuke's hand, the flower looked even smaller, and more fragile. Just before he can pick it up, another breeze wafts by, and causes the blossom to fly right into Rohan's face.
Josuke throws his head back and laughs at his startled sputtering. Rohan brushes the flower off his nose, and holds it up with his fingers.
"Hey, we should go to a viewing sometime," Josuke suggests.
Rohan blinks. "We?"
Josuke brings both of his hands behind his neck. "Yeah. You, me... Okuyasu, Koichi... we could have a picnic."
Rohan looks up at the petals still fluttering around them. Then at Josuke. "That'd be nice."
3.
A knock at Rohan's door catches him off guard while he's working late in the afternoon. When he opens his door, he finds Josuke smiling nervously on his porch. He's got his school bag and for some reason, a styrofoam cup with him. Rohan also notes that he looks exhausted as well.
"Hey Rohan. Can I come in?"
Rohan crosses his arms and blocks the doorway. "What are you doing here?"
He sighs, seemingly embarrassed before admiting, "I got off at the wrong stop and ended up closer to your place. Is it alright if I just chill around here while I wait for the next bus?"
Rohan lets him in, seeing as how tired he looked. He couldn't leave Josuke to pass out in front of his house-- what would the neighbors think?
"I'll put on the kettle. Just take a seat wherever."
When Rohan returns to the front room, Josuke is seated back on the sofa. His bag lay on the ground, but he still held the cup in his hands. He sits down next to him and curiously peers into the cup Josuke is holding. He couldn't see it very well from where he was sitting, but in the cup, a flower seemed to be soaking up some green liquid.
"What's this?"
Josuke opens his mouth slightly, looking like he wasn't sure how it even got there. "Oh, it's from the floral arrangement club."
Rohan raises an eyebrow at him. "I didn't think you'd be into that sort of thing."
"No, I'm not. I just got dragged into their activity since I was in the classroom cleaning. I ended up staying later than I intended though." He scoots closer and brings the cup lower so that it's also in Rohan's view. "See-- this was a white carnation before, but when you cut the stem here, it absorbs the dye in the water."
Then Josuke gives Rohan the cup to hold so he could examine it for himself. And just as he said, the whole carnation was a light shade of green. It showed the most at the tips of each petal, which were a darker color than the rest of the flower itself.
"There were other colors like blue and pink too." Josuke shoved both hands into his front pockets and grinned. "You can keep it if you want. You like green, right?"
"Huh? Oh. Sure."
Rohan isn't actually biased toward any color in particular. As an artist, he appreciates all colors and how they can contribute to a work of art equally. Though he figures that his signature green headband is probably what gives off that thought in the first place. Green just looked good on him is all.
But it hits Rohan then that this is one of those "it's the thought that counts" instances-- where Josuke had actually considered his preferences. And for reasons unknown, it makes his stomach feel... floaty.
"Thank you."
The kettle in the kitchen starts to whistle just then, and Rohan springs up and leaves the room to tend to it. He places the cup on the windowsill over the kitchen sink to let the carnation bask in the sun as he prepares the tea.
4 + 5
Autumn is just around the corner, but it isn't chilly yet. The weather feels like it did during Spring-- warm enough to stay outside, but cool enough to put a light jacket on. During this time, no one else is available to accompany Rohan to the grassy fields just outside of Morioh-- that is, no one except for Josuke.
"Sure, I'll tag along," the pompadoured teen tells him. "My mom wants me out of the house anyway. And it beats hanging out at Okuyasu's, since he's got to study for some quiz."
"I don't need the details-- just come with me."
On Sunday, Rohan drives them both out to a field just outside of town to take reference pictures and sketch. Josuke helps him carry a camera stand and an art easel, and keeps him company. An hour in, he lays in the field and naps while Rohan takes a seat on a stump and draws.
Another hour passed when Josuke comes walking toward him from the middle of the field. Rohan looks up from his easel and sees him grinning and holding a yellow flower. Josuke jogs up next to him and moves to hold the flower underneath Rohan's chin.
"What is that?" Rohan tries to push him away, but Josuke catches his hand before he can even make contact.
"It's just a buttercup-- wait, I wanna try something. My mom used to do this to me."
Seeing as how agreeable Josuke has been for the majority of the day, Rohan figures that he'll humor him just this once. He tilts his chin up just a bit, and waits for Josuke to finish his little game... or whatever it was.
"When you put a buttercup under someone's chin, the skin there will turn yellow, which means..."
From his peripherals, he can see Josuke smirk. "Mmhm. Just as I thought."
Rohan rolls his eyes upward and frowns. "What are you talking about now?"
Josuke sits back and snorts. "Under your chin-- it's super yellow!"
"Oh, shut up, it is not."
"It totally is! It's probably because of all those snacks you eat at home," he laughs. "For a skinny guy, you could stand to be a little healthier, y'know. Here, you can do it to me."
Rohan reaches over and pinches Josuke's nose before snatching the buttercup out of his hand to inspect it. The petals are perfectly symmetrical-- curved upward and just barely touching each other. It's a plain, yet pretty little flower that Josuke's found, and Rohan absent-mindedly tucks it away into the breast pocket of his shirt before chastising the teen.
"I'm not interested in some childish game," Rohan scoffs. Though he does begin to blush from feeling a little self-conscious about his poor diet (and decidedly not from the way Josuke is smiling at him). "Anyway, it's getting late. Stop goofing around and help me get this stuff back into the car."
~
"Rohan..?"
"What."
"I gotta pee."
"You seriously can't hold it?"
"I really gotta go! No one's around, it'll be fine."
Rohan had only been driving for ten minutes when Josuke voiced his... need. He parks the car on the side of the dirt road, and waves a hand. "Fine, just make it quick."
He pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes as Josuke leaves the car and starts walking away. He's gone for no more than a few minutes, though the heat seeping into the car makes it feel longer. When Josuke returns to the car, he's holding something else-- some kind of plant. A wild sunflower. It had lost a few petals, but it was still recognizable.
"Why are you bringing this dusty old thing in here?"
Josuke touches a small leaf with his finger and shrugs. "It just reminded me of my... my old man." He gets a bit quiet then. "He said the first person he fell in love with liked sunflowers."
Rohan wasn't sure what to say. Josuke's father was a complicated subject to talk about, and while they both had arguments and disagreements, it wasn't as if Rohan would go out of his way to make him feel uncomfortable. At this point, he could tell that Josuke was staring to focus on far more than just the flower. Rohan wasn't used to seeing him in a solemn mood, and spoke up to get his mind off it.
"The one he loved had good taste then. Sunflowers mean adoration and loyalty. And even wild ones like this... they're quite beautiful when taken care of properly."
Josuke turns away and says nothing, but from the side view mirror, Rohan can see that he's smiling out the window.
"Yeah," Josuke replies, "they're pretty nice."
When they make it back to Josuke's house in the evening, Josuke thanks Rohan for driving and letting him come along. And it's only after he waves goodbye and shuts his front door, does Rohan notice that he left the sunflower in the passenger seat.
+1
Josuke was invited over to Rohan's place to help him with some Spring cleaning. He's dusting off the bookshelf in the foyer downstairs when he notices a book out of place on top of the shelf. There weren't any available spaces for it in the bookshelf, and he wonders if Rohan had somehow misplaced it.
The book was as thick as a dictionary, and quite heavy as well. But opening the front cover showed that the whole book was blank. No words, pictures, or anything inside.
He leafed through the pages quickly, and sees a bit of green stuck in the middle section of the book. He opens it up and keeps flipping until he found whatever it was. There in between the pages, was a dried and pressed daisy. Turning a few more pages revealed more pressed flowers. There were only five, since the pages become blank once more after the sunflower.
"Wow... these look really delicate."
"What does?"
Josuke nearly drops the book, startled by the sound of his boyfriend's voice suddenly behind him. Standing at the entrance of the room, Rohan walks over to him to see what it is he's looking at.
"Oh... these are your flowers."
Josuke furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, they're mine?"
Rohan picks up the pressed daisy carefully, and holds it in his palm.
"I mean you gave these to me. From about a year ago." He places the flower back onto the page gently. "I almost forgot about this."
"A year ago...? I don't remember ever... ah."
Slivers of memories from last year flood Josuke's mind. He technically did give these flowers to Rohan. There's the sunflower he picked from the side of a road, the buttercup he teased Rohan with in the field, the carnation that he dyed green with the floral arrangement club, the small cherry blossom that was caught in Rohan's hair, and the daisy from the backyard that seems to have started it all. Josuke never held any romantic intent at the time he had given Rohan the flowers, but maybe that's how it was received.
Underneath his prideful demeanor, Rohan is actually quite sentimental. He doesn't often show it, but he cares about the little things in life. The details that most other people would look over and miss. Even something as offhanded and innocent as a cherry blossom fallen from a tree would hold some significance to him. Being one of the only people to know this about Rohan makes his heart swell.
"Rohan, that's really... sweet."
He stares at Josuke before his eyes widen, and he begins to blush furiously. "It wasn't like I was pining or anything back then, I just put them in there and forgot about--"
"Even you have a cute side like that too, huh?"
"I just said... ugh, forget it." He turns and walks away, grumbling about how Josuke never listens. Josuke puts the book back to catch up to him, and wraps his arms around his waist. He pulls Rohan in close and leans over to kiss his cheek.
"Aw, c'mon baby, I just like that part about you. All the things you don't say..." He leaves kisses down Rohan's jawline. "You always think about what really matters most of the time."
Rohan can't really stand the pet name, but he relaxes back against Josuke's chest and sighs contently anyway. He tilts his head to the side so Josuke can continue to kiss down his neck. "And what do you suppose I'm thinking about right now?"
"Ummm, right now actually, I'm not too sure... mind giving me a hint?"
Rohan laughs and drags him upstairs to the bedroom.