Chapter Text
A pair of pale hands casually gripped around the terracotta pot, it was small enough to fit in the palm of both of his hands, a small cactus housed in its interior. The florist walked across the shop, placing it on top of a shelf with a bunch of other plants, a small tag hanging from under its pot, a handwritten price written on it with dark blue pen.
The shop was relatively small in size, just large enough to comfortably fit around 10 people, any more and it became noticeably stuffy. The walls had a uniquely rustic style, white-creme paint covering the wooden walls. In areas, paint was chipping off, revealing the dark wood under, giving the idea that the store had history in the most charming way (Although, this was mainly due to Nagi’s laziness to go and paint over the walls.)
Large windows let sunlight pour in with ease, feeding the plants with as much as they needed. On nice days, Nagi often found himself laying his head on the counter, letting the warmth of the sun be his personal blanket. Filled shelves lined the walls, a large display of premade bouquets and other large plants in the middle, creating an open O shape for customers to loop around.
Tucked away in the right, a simple brick counter with a black top sat, decorated with the cash register, a coffee mug filled halfway, and a small cactus, masking tape placed on its black plastic pot reading “not for sale”. Behind the counter, there was a small desk, various wrapping and gift papers neatly rolled up in a bin to its side, scissors and ribbon placed on top of it, where the florist would wrap bouquets.
Nagi shuffled back behind the counter, yawning as he took a seat at the stool placed under it, arms curling on its surface, his head finding comfort laying on top of them- effectively napping during the job. It wasn’t like they had many customers around this time, 10AM on a tuesday, the majority of society off to their jobs or school. Its not like Nagi minded, being paid to do a whole lot of nothing- it was one of the better jobs he had taken.
Nagi didn’t like to work, he liked to lounge and play games, finding solace in the isolation. He was a bum, to put it bluntly. He didn’t care for botany particularly. But his lone friend, Choki, the cactus that rest on the counter, had given him the idea of applying for the job. Better then some stressful office job, and he did have prior experience with plants (Although minimal.)
The most work he did on the regular was watering and tending to the plants, once you got the schedules and habits down, it became lightwork. Every two weeks for cacti, certain flowers needed everyday, others only needed water biweekly. He’d trim off imperfections, outstretching branches and leaves off with the simple snip of a scissor, maintaining each flowers’ unique beauty. A couple times a year, a giant order for tens, sometimes hundreds of flowers would come in. Weddings, parties, general events- it’d be the hardest thing he had to do. Not that he minded, although it was a giant hassle, they were few and far between.
Just as Nagi’s hand slipped into his black linen apron, reaching for his smartphone to play games, the shop phone rang. It was a landline, ancient and untouched, and they didn’t often get calls. The florist could only huff, his hand retracting, tracing up to his knee as he stood up, walking over back to the wrapping station where the phone awaited.
“Mmmm,” He grumbled, reaching for the phone. What a pain. “Nomura Flowers, how can I help you?” His voice was light and airy with his perpetual exhaustion, completely flat and devoid of any emotion, which if anything made him sound annoyed.
“Hello,” A voice came through, a man’s voice “I was just asking to inquire about an order?” they continued.
“Mmm,” Nagi acknowledged the other’s statement, giving him the nonverbal no-go to continue.
“Do you guys have any flowers in purple? And how large can orders be?”
“We have purple roses, lavender, tulips, orchids, anemones, carnations and others, I’d suggest you come in and take a look yourself. And for orders, it depends what you’re looking for.” Nagi answered, his voice softening a little as he listed the varieties of flora.
“Bouquets, I'm looking for around 50 or so. Large, purple and white flowers.”
“Mmm...” Nagi hummed a bit. 50, that’s a lot, but not the worse, he told himself, trying to soothe the part of his mind that just wanted to curl up and fall asleep. “ Well I need to know the specific flowers,” He spoke, sounding bored as ever “When do you need these?”
“A week from now.”
Fine. If the man came in today, picked out and paid, he could get that done. “Alright. Come in, we’ll talk about it.” Nagi replied, sliding the phone back into its holder, not giving the customer a moment to clarify, ask anything. Customer service wasn’t his strong suit, general social interaction wasn’t.
What a pain. A big order, he could only return to the comfort of his stool, hands reaching back down into his apron’s pockets, pulling out a sleek phone, the letters “MIKAGE” engraved on its back. Nagi, along with the apron on top of it, wore a gray hoodie made from a fleece material, good for maintaining an ideal body temperature while also being snug and comfortable. He often slept with it. Moving downwards, baggy cotton fabric sweatpants covered his bare legs, a white embroidered line moving through its side, his feet wearing basic black trainers, dirty and worn from his use since high school. He wasn’t broke or anything, he just couldn’t be bothered to buy new ones.
The noise of gunshots rang out from the phones speaker, “Triple kill” reading at the very top of the flat screen, Nagi’s hand moving with the same precision and skill he had with tending plants. His face was expressionless mostly, large soulless eyes fixated on the screen, the outside world fading away for a bit as he headshotted another enemy. Nice. Just as he raised his camera to shoot another enemy, the chime of the door’s bell ripped him back to reality, getting him killed, eliciting an annoyed click of his lips as he pressed the power button.
“Weelcommmee..” He greeted through a yawn, sitting upright as he raised his arms in a stretch, taking notice of how it was already dark now. Must’ve gotten wrapped up in the game. His gaze lazily stretched over the shop, until they met with a man’s.
He was relatively average height, a little shorter then Nagi, with short-cut hair parted into a middle part, hair a deep rich purple, akin to a blooming petunia. His eyes were a darker purple, with a distinctly confident look, clear skin that was only a tad less pale then Nagi’s. He was adorned in a suit, ironed sleek button up that was white in colour, velvet gray blazer with silver accents, and matching gray suit trousers. On his feet, two shined dress shoes that reflected the fluorescent light of the shop right off of them, so shiny Nagi could probably come over and use them as a mirror. `
“Ah yes,” The purple-haired man walked over to the counter, a small smile on his face. The classic business man look, polite and forced in a way that would guarantee his interest be met. “I believe we talked on the phone!”
Right, he’d forgotten all about that conversation, placing the smartphone backside up onto the counter, grumbling as he pressed his feet against the height of the counter, pushing the stool’s wheel back, sending himself backward “Right..well, you were looking forrr–?”
“50 bouquets, purple and white.”
“Right right..” He yawned, standing up. Even with Nagi’s naturally shit posture, he still stood a little taller then the business man, beckoning the other to follow him with a shrug of the shoulder. He shuffled over to a shelf that was between two others, an array of various purple flowers sitting in shallow bins of water.
“Mm, do you have any recommendations?”
Nagi looked a tad bit surprised, his upper eyelids raising a bit as he considered, arm craning up and over his head, hand rubbing his neck.
“Ah. Well, I like hydrangeas.” He spoke, his voice still flat and dull.
“Right, okay.” He nodded, examining the collection of them “I think I’ll take them, and some others.” The fancy-man replied, pointing at a couple other flowers, purple and white in colour.
“ ‘kay” Nagi nodded, grabbing individuals of the ones Reo pointed at, “And for wrapping?”
“Blue and purple. But more of a purplish blue and a periwinkle purple”
Oddly specific, but a part of him appreciated that. Saved him the trouble of guessing what shade of purple- or having to order a new one if they didnt have that.
Nagi dragged his feet back over to behind the counter, moving his hands with intricate precision as he snipped the stems off, arranged the flowers- often shifting them around as the customer asked for specific details, finally wrapping them in the periwinkle purple and baby blue paper, a white ribbon folded to form a bow at the bouquets base.
The man cleared his throat, clearly put-off by the lack of the typical customer service from the white-haired florist, leaning onto his left leg with both his hands resting on his waist, fingers slipping his tailored pockets.
“Not much of a talker? Hmhmhm,” A soft laugh escaped him, “That’s rare to see nowadays with these kind of professions, its nice though. Someones not always trying to shove deals or offers in your face.”
Nagi remained quiet, eyes narrowing a bit at the comment, choosing to make the deliberate decision of ignoring it. After a minute of silence stretching over the two, awkwardness filling the air, the florist craned his head to face the man behind him, his body pivoting following with the bouquet in his hand.
“Here, thoughts?”
“Looks great! It should work, I’ll take em,”
“Cool,” Nagi shrugged, waddling over to the computer “Im just gonna need some info for the order,” He added, in which the other nodded “Email?”
“[email protected], em kay ar oh-”
“Got it, no need to spell. Phone number?”
“XXX-XXX-XXX”
“Venue address- if you’re looking for delivery. And time of course.’
“Ah, Odori street, Kaneshiro ballroom. I didn’t even consider delivery! I need it by Tuesday, the 7th, 10AM.”
“Yea, okay. Mmm, 50 right? Got it. Just need the name for the order and payment.”
“Mikage Reo.” The man said, his voice shifting into a weird tone, a little cocky- as if expecting the other to know him. Which he did, who didn’t?
The Mikage Corporation, one of the biggest in the world, a company with a steel-tight grip monopoly on most technology, even looking down at his own phone, Nagi noticed the “MIKAGE” engraving.
“Alright, card?”
The man, Reo, seemed a little surprised at Nagi’s lack of reaction, the white haired man’s tone that same monotone, bored tone.
“Oh- right. Yea.” The business man mumbled, reaching over to grab his leather wallet.
“Mm,”
He grabbed the machine, watching the screen flicker to life as he punched in the price. Quite costly, all the flowers Reo had picked surely met how he looked, and now that Nagi knew, it also met his salary. All pricey. All overboard. All too much.
Reo tapped his card, smirking as the machine dinged with a green checkmark. “Great, pleased to do business.”
“Mmm, anything else for today?”
“Nope! Have a good day, I'm excited to see those flowers,” The man nodded, turning on the tip of his foot to the exit, the clock above him reading 8PM.
“Mikage Reo, as in the Mikage corporation?”
Reo’s eyes squinted, his smile growing, as if he’d been expecting- no, wanting this moment, wanting for the other to break from his quiet-mysterious boy script and fold like any other.
“Yes, is something wrong?”
“Can I ask sumn’..?”
“Of course.”
“Why are your phones so crap?” He asked casually, lifting up his own Mikage phone model “This can barely run my games, don’t you know how bothersome it is?”
Reo looked stunned, at a loss for words. He wasn’t expecting that, that was clear.
“Aahaha-?” He chuckled, as if Nagi was joking. If it was said by anyone else, by anyone who wasn't so unmannered and straightforward, it probably would be. “I’’ll…”
“Mm, its fine actually. Just get out of here, its past closing, and I need to get home.”
And with that, the heir exited wordlessly.