Chapter Text
The morning sun draped a warm layer of light across the old valley. A school bus filled with noisy children drove past the park, pulling Etho’s tired face into a small smile. He loved to see kids happy with their friends, it was one of the joys of life in his opinion.
Etho lived in a relatively small town, about seven thousand residents, and most people knew each other, especially if they had been living there as long as Etho and his sister had been. Etho knew as many people in his age bracket by name as he could, and also many of the kids in his neighborhood that considered him of an ‘Uncle status’.
But recently, about a month ago, Etho noticed someone he did not know despite looking a similar age. He noticed him for the first time on one of his morning walks as he was opening up the small flower shop that had been there for as long as Etho could remember. Etho had left a little early that morning by accident, and since seeing that man, Etho had kept up the habit, just in hopes that he would see the boy again. And lucky for Etho, he did. Morning after morning, the same man would open the shop at the same time, always by himself.
Etho slowed down his pace as he walked past the shop across the road. Perfectly on time, the boy with warm tan skin unlocked the door from the outside whilst flipping the closed sign to its ‘Open’ side. Etho had never seen the man smile before, but he could just tell in his heart that if he could get him to smile, it would light up the whole town.
Etho’s ears twitched at the small squeak of the old door of the flower shop pulled it open. He had slowed to a near stop at this point, loving to look at the employee as he turned on the lights and refreshed the water for the flowers. With a swish of his tail, Etho resumed his regular pace, not wanting to be caught staring at the cute boy across the street.
Etho finished his walk, stopping to talk to a few friends along the way, and arrived back home to find his sister studying. “You’ve been leaving before I even wake up most mornings now,” His sister mentioned, not looking up from her papers.
Etho let out a small sigh, feeling a little bad for her, knowing it was never fun to wake to an empty house. “Yeah I know, sorrey Gem.” Etho pulled down his mask, letting himself breathe a little more easily. He walked behind Gem and rested his head atop hers, feeling the fluffyness from her red fox ears on his cheeks. “Do you wanna join me next time or something?”
“No of course not,” Gem responded with a huff as she pulled her head away from Ethos, not liking the weight he added. “I jus’ wanted to know why?”
A light dusting of pick crossed his pale skin as he knew the real reason he had been leaving earlier. “Well, uhh—” Etho hesitated. He had a hard time admitting what he felt, not because he thought Gem would judge him thankfully.
Gem turned around in her chair to meet Etho’s face. She quickly noticed the pink on his skin as not a reaction from the cool temperatures outside, but rather from something else entirely. “Oh? Is there a real reason?” She prodded.
“You know that flower shop by the dog park? It’s called like ‘One hundred Reasons’ I believe,” Etho started, his eyes averting to the window that let light into their apartment. They lived on the edge of the north mountain, on a higher up floor, meaning they got a view of the entire valley.
“Oh yeah, I always wondered why that was their name,” Gem responded, accidentally deflecting the conversation.
“Honestly, me too. But point is—” Etho knew what he wanted to say, but it took him a second to let it out. “—theres this new boy working there and…”
“Oh? A boy now? Is he cute?”
Etho’s ears flattened as his tail began to sway back and forth at the question. He was embarrassed but clearly also wanted to talk about it. “Yeahhh,” Etho responded, melting into his answer, shrinking into a puddle on the floor.
Gem, finding this much more interesting, pushed her papers aside and joined her older brother on the floor. “So…What is he? What does he look like? What’s his name? What’s he like? Tell me everything, I am starving for gossip right now.”
Etho opted to ignore that last comment as he started to tell his sister everything he could. “He’s tan and has cute dark brown hair that I’ve only seen with his morning bed head. He uhh…” Etho struggled to continue before being cut off by Gem.
“Okay okay yeah, but what is he?”
“What do ya mean?”
Gem looked at him like it was obvious. She purposefully flicked her tail a couple times to make it a little more clear. Etho remained lost on her implication. “Is he a fox like we are, or I don't know, just what is he?”
“Oh, I get it now. I think he’s just human.”
Gem paused at the revelation, a tad stunned if anything. “And he’s new to town?” Gem questioned.
“Yeah I’m pretty sure.” a short silence settled in before Etho realized. “Oh yeah, that is kinda odd I suppose. It’s pretty rare for humans to move to Haven nowadays.
“I hate to assume things of course, but… This boy is chill with you being a hybrid and all, right?”
Etho delayed his response, knowing how his sister would respond. “Well… I haven't actually talked to him yet…” Gem wacked him on the head a few times as he tried to finish his sentence. “—But he lives in Haven, I'm sure he’s not racist or anything!”
“How do you even get a crush without ever talking to the man…” Gem sighed at Etho’s behavior. “Well, if you think he’s good, then I think he’s good.” She let her words linger for a moment before continuing, hoping not to bring up heavy emotions with memories. “It’s been nice to see you more out of your slump lately, especially seeing as how it’s Autumn now. If a harmless crush is all it takes to keep you happy from now on, I’ll fully support.”
Etho instantly knew what she was referring to. How could he not? Especially with the reminder it was already Autumn. “Y-yeah, I’m glad too. Genuinely though. I’m excited to be, well, excited again.” Etho had a hard time keeping eye contact while responding, it felt too direct and personal, even if he was just with his sister. He did better with the thought when he disconnected himself from it.
“Okay, well, you better talk to him tomorrow. I’m not gonna be siblings with a stalker.” Gem laughed, lightening the mood. “Well, I should get back to this dumb homework.” Gem stood back up, returning to the counter she had been working at.
“Yeah probably… Wait a second! Why aren't you at school!?” Etho questioned, remembering the bus he saw that morning leave without a particular red head inside.
“Hey! Don’t come at me! Pearl is still sick and school is just so boring without her there,” Gem explained. “Not to mention, you know full well my grades are good enough to miss a few days just fine.”
Etho grumbled knowing she was right. “Okay fine, but if you’re gonna be skipping because of Pearl, I want you to go see her and make sure she’s okay. Bring her some soup or something. I know you guys like that, right?” Etho knew this was the furthest thing from a punishment, Gem would be ecstatic to go and see her best friend, but he did not think a couple days missed warranted a real punishment, it was just high school after all.
~~~~~~~~
Etho let a few hours pass on by as he built up his courage to go to the flower shop and finally talk to his little crush. He left the apartment to find the afternoon sun above his head and a cool breeze caressing the mountains.
Etho took the same path he walked every morning, noticing many familiar faces. He found himself in the same spot he stood every morning, the grassy park filled with trees across the street from One Hundred Reasons.
The name continued to strike Etho as odd, he could find no correlation between it and the flowers sold within. To be fair, Etho had never been inside before, maybe there was an answer if only her were to look.
He crossed the road when there were less cars around, not bothering to use the crosswalk forty feet away. He stood outside the glass door, somewhat scared to open it. But he knew Gem was right, if he did not talk to the flower boy soon, he would just look like a stalker.
He pulled open the door, hearing the chime of a small bell above as he did so. Etho turned his head to the right, where he saw his crush helping a customer, same flat expression on his face. Etho wandered the small store as he waited for the customer to be done at the counter. Though he may have been a little far, Etho could hear the voice of the employee he had come here for. Etho instantly knew that he could listen to that voice for hours, something about it just felt oh so comforting to him.
Etho, not wanting to walk up to the counter empty handed, picked up a small plastic pot with a flower he thought looked quite lovely. “Chrysanthemums…” Etho whispered to himself, trying to pronounce the name on the tag. The cylinder esc shape of the petals drew him in. Etho lightly dragged his fingers across the edge, making contact with the velvety feel of the flower.
As he continued to admire the flower, he heard the sound of the bell chime, letting him know the person hindering his mission was now gone. Etho made his way to the counter, not knowing what to say when he got there.
“Hello sir, would the chrysanthemum be all for you today?” He pronounced the name so flawlessly it made Etho wonder how long he had been working as a florist.
“Uh, Yeah. That’s all.” Etho knew he needed to say more, anything to learn more about the boy in front of him. He looked for a name tag but was unable to find one. In fact, it did not even look like he was wearing any sort of uniform, just some regular clothing. “Hey, I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you new to town?”
The man sitting across the counter finally looked up at Etho, accepting his fate into small talk. Before he could respond, his dark brown eyes were drawn even further up towards Etho’s ears. He slightly shook his head, bringing himself back to reality, forcing his eyes to meet Etho’s, where they got distracted once again.
Etho felt awkward at the stares, knowing the man was looking at the things that made them different. His pointed fox ears and his white eyelashes covering his red eyes.
“Sorry, sorry. Your eyelashes caught me off guard, they look really cool though.” It sounded as if he were being honest, but he was not entirely. He really found Etho’s eyelashes pretty, but he was too scared to say so, it would have been weird for him to say that to a random man. “And yeah, I moved in about a month ago.”
Etho was grateful his mask was likely covering the light pink spreading across his face as he thanked him. “Well it’s nice to meet you, my name’s Etho, Etho slab.” Etho reached out his hand, hoping the other would accept the handshake. Etho was never the one to initiate handshakes, or most physical contact for that matter, but he was hoping to maybe feel the man’s skin.
“Call me Bdubs,” He responded as he lightly took Etho’s hand, only shaking it to be polite. He quickly finished the transaction, likely wanting Etho to get out of his store sooner than later. “Have a nice day then.” his face stayed neutral, making Etho wonder what it would take to get Bdubs to smile.
“You too, Bdubs,” Etho responded with a grin in his eyes and on his covered mouth. He left the store, feeling it was a successful first interaction. He walked home with his new plant, hoping to find the perfect spot for it. He thought of the window overlooking the valley, the flower would make the view even better, especially knowing it came from Bdubs.