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“Number 84? They’re ready for you.”
Flowery startled, and then jumped up from his seat with maybe a little too much spunk, judging by the reaction of the guy next to him. The lady who had called him over was already walking out the door, seemingly wholly uninterested in the audition process that could potentially make his lifelong dream come true.
“Um, yes! I thank you for taking the time to-”
“Just through here.” She cut him off, gesturing towards a heavyset door. As he turned to bid her goodbye, she was already briskly walking down the rest of the hallway, muttering to herself. Flowery blinked at her retreating form, then shrugged it off and put his hand on the doorknob with an inhale. Okay, deep breaths. Just like you practiced.
The inside of the audition room was completely padded with ugly beige panels, likely to soundproof it. The only notable decor was a potted deer fern (probably fake, he thought despairingly) and a cheap foldable table where the two judges sat. The taller one looked up at him and smiled.
“84, yes?” He said. He wasn’t too hard on the eyes, that’s for sure. Flowery shook the thought away and nodded with a plastered grin. It is so freaking hot in here, they should really look into installing an AC…
“Okay, perfect! We’re right on schedule, then! My name is Anthony, and this is my good friend Spam! Like the fake meat brand!” The other man-Spam, apparently-rolled his eyes at that. “And judging by your file right here, your name is…” There was an awkward pause as he shuffled some papers, and just when Flowery was about to simply introduce himself, Spam thumped a fist on the table.
“It says it literally right there, Ant. ‘Flowery Floradinn’. You just didn't see it because it's such a weird ass name.” He bristled. Fucking asshole. I'm blaming the humidity of this sweaty ass room on him.
Anthony laughed, as if they were all in on a big joke. “That's really funny coming from you, Spammy. Anyhow, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Floradinn. Let's hear what you got!” He could feel sweat trickling down his neck. If there's anyone watching this, please don't let me fuck it up!
Feeling a bit faint, he straightened his posture and set his feet slightly apart. The role he was auditioning for was one of the most prominent in the musical, and as advertised by the casting calls, it would require a strong voice and sharp stage presence. Fortunately, the song you chose to audition with was entirely up to each individual participant, which was a small mercy. Flowery had fallen back on his go to audition song: Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease. He always really disliked that movie, but the soundtrack was an easy crowd pleaser. Gah, I'm dizzy… please just let me make it through the next five minutes!
Was he already singing? He couldn't really tell. The two men didn't look appalled at his voice, so that was great, but it was getting harder to keep his composure when the room seemed to be spinning and spinning…
He thinks he made it about to the chorus before his vision dulled and he found himself staring up at the lonely light fixture on the ceiling. Huh, guess they couldn't get anyone to install soundproofing up there. Is someone saying my name?
—
He was so dead.
“Sir? You have to leave now if you're feeling a little better.” The lady from earlier seemed no less annoyed than before. If anything, she'd been even more snappy with him after Anthony had insisted she go fetch a water bottle.
Flowery could literally not be out of this building faster. “Of course, doll, I'm feeling right as rain! I'll just grab my bag and be on my way!” She rolled her eyes at him and turned to leave; probably to call the next person to the room.
He had awoken just about half an hour ago to find himself sitting in a folding chair down the hall from the audition room, with Anthony hovering anxiously over him. Apparently Spam had dissuaded his coworker from taking him to the hospital after he had mysteriously passed out. Right in the middle of a potential big break, too…
Leaving the building was a huge relief, especially after the embarrassment he just suffered. Ugh, at least Anthony wasn't a huge jerk about it, unlike that other guy. On the bright side, in New York, it was criminally easy to flag down a taxi and hightail it out of there.
The driver eyed him in the rearview mirror. “Where to?”
He smiled politely and listed off his address, thankfully only about fifteen minutes away if they got lucky with traffic. Absent-mindedly taking out his phone, he was met with 12 missed calls from Pink. That was a bit weird, actually. What the hell did she want? She only ever called if… ugh. Someone must have told her about his audition, and of course she'd want to pester him about it. And he thought his day couldn't get any worse.
“That'll run you 20 bucks, sir. Have a nice day.” He snapped out of his thoughts and paid the driver with a wink. He should really just walk next time, taxis are getting too pricey. That sounds like something Asgore would say, he's so keen on those little “nature walks” of his.
Arriving at his apartment to find the door unlocked was… unsettling. He's positive he locked it when he left, so either someone broke in, or-
The door swung open. “Flo! There's my little brother! Aw, don't look at me like that, you were the one who gave me a spare key.”
Terrific. “Hey, Pink, this isn't a great time, you know. I think York and Olivia are dropping by tomorrow, and Blake is tagging along with them, so by then I'll have everything cleaned up around here and you won't have to face the mess.”
She snorted. “Dude, your apartment is literally spotless. Quit making up excuses and tell me how your little audition went!”
“No! How did you even find that out? I didn't tell anyone except York!”
She arched a brow at him. He sighed, titling his head back. “Okay, yeah, I hear myself. You can stay if you make tea, yeah?”
“Deal!”
—
If Flowery could describe his apartment in one word, it'd probably be “bad.” If he could describe it in two words, he'd go with “really bad.” Out of the four Floradinn siblings, he was definitely the least well off. Pink had struck it big on Broadway (which he was trying to do) and was living in a literal penthouse suite, and York did a ton of gigs as a stunt man that had gotten him a pretty steady income. Not to mention, ever since he hooked up with Blake, they've been “flourishing together off of painstakingly hard work to realize their destiny”, which is how Blake describes his added financial support as a ballerina, apparently.
Not that he didn’t like the guy, though. He was a good match for his little brother. On top of that, Flowery’s final sibling, Olivia, was a huge fan of Blake. She recently turned ten and was very proud of it. Ever since their parents died a couple years back, York had ended up taking custody of her: His job as a stuntman, while a bit dangerous, had a flexible enough schedule to make him the most available to take care of her. Not that Pink and himself didn’t have a role in her life, though. Pink was a great influence on Olivia. York says she was jabbering about becoming a famous Broadway star “just like her big sister.” I should tell her it’s easier said than done!
“You PASSED OUT?” Ah, back to the present. Pink was staring at him like he had two heads, which didn't seem too unlikely going off of the awful day he’s been having.
“I didn’t really pass out, per se, just… got a bit dizzy and laid on the floor.”
“In the middle of your audition?”
“Yyyyeeess.”
She massaged her temples. “That doesn't just happen, Flo. Did you eat before you left? Have you noticed anything else strange?”
He hadn’t eaten, actually. Lately he just hasn’t been able to work up an appetite. Must be stress or something. Not like he was going to tell her that, though. “Y’know what? That must be it. I didn’t eat before I left. It’s on me. I’ll do better next time.”
She squinted at him before finally nodding. “Alright, if you say so. But if it happens again, you come to me. Got it?”
He smiled despite himself. He had such a dorky family. “Got it.”
—
It wasn’t hard to shoo Pink out the door after they finished their tea. It was getting late, after all, and she had a show tonight. The lead role, as per usual. What I wouldn’t give… he thought, maybe a bit jealously, which definitely wasn’t fair to Pink. She worked hard, and it was his own choice to refuse the money she kept trying to pawn off on him. York, on the other hand, had no such morales, and used the spare cash to buy Blake various trinkets.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He lazily pulled it out, then much less lazily blinked at the notification. Asgore doesn’t usually text, so that was a bit of a shocker. His heartbeat picked up a bit.
-Wanna meet up tmrw? Usual spot
Okay, now he was starting to feel like his heart was going to bust a hole in his chest. His siblings always dogged on him for how unserious Asgore seemed to be about a relationship, but they didn’t see the way that he clearly cared enough to reach out. They didn't see the type of guy he was when they were alone. Right! Gotta confirm.
-You betcha! Im gonna have fam over in the morning, so how abt around 3? :)
Three little dots popped up in the corner of his screen, and then disappeared after a minute or two, replaced by a single thumbs-up emoji. He smiled at his screen. Classic Gorey.
Now that he's thinking about the whole “serious relationship” topic, he figures it’s about time to try and bring it up with him again. Despite knowing Asgore for around two years, he’s never seemed terribly interested in settling down or even just calling each other partners, and he shuts down the conversation whenever it veers a little too close to “attachment” area. Flowery had been wanting to try and breach that barrier with him, but it just never seems like the right time. Tomorrow might be a good opportunity! And hey, he could really use something to look forward to.
Tomorrow then, he thinks as he drops down onto his bed.
—
He squinted at his wardrobe. I really need to get new curtains, it is super goddam bright in the morning. If he decided to wear something nicer to impress Asgore, then his siblings would surely catch on to his little date and pester him about it. But if he just wore sweats or something, he’d probably look like some kind of hooligan.
Ugh. Take one for the team (Asgore.) He could withstand a little prodding from Pink if it meant he was looking sharp. Dress shirt it is. And speak of the devil, he hears pounding on his door. Doesn’t she have a key?!?
“I’m coming, I'm coming, geez! I have neighbors, you know?” He swung open the door to reveal York, with Blake and Olivia in tow.
He coughed. “Oh, sorry, guys. I thought you were Pink. She’s probably gonna drop by too, if that’s alright.” He ushered them in.
Olivia’s eyes lit up. “Pink! Of course that’s okay, I wonder if she was on stage last night, oh man, do you think-”
Blake hushed her with a smile. “Now then, mind your manners, darling. We need to use our inside voices when we speak, yes?” Olivia grumbled, but acquiesced.
York was already rummaging around his pantry and pulled out some old oatmeal packets. “Is it okay if I use these, Flo? We grabbed breakfast before we came here but I’m still a little hangry.”
Flowery was starting to feel a headache coming on. “Yeah, you're fine. What’s mine is yours!”
Blake smiled at him. “A fine sentiment, indeed. Now, shall we discuss how your audition went yesterday? What show was it for again, hmm…”
Flowery gave York the stink eye from where he was heating up oatmeal. York grinned sheepishly at him. “I didn’t know it was supposed ta’ be a secret!”
Right on cue, he heard keys jingling in his door. Olivia bounced off of the couch where she had been sitting next to Blake and made a dash for the door.
“PINK!” She leapt up to try and jump into Pink’s arms, but only succeeded in making them both fall over. Pink laughed.
“Hey there, little one! I see you’re in a good mood!”
“Did you sing last night? Tell me, tell me!”
Pink turned to slam the door shut behind them, making Flowery wince. “I sure did, honey! I’ll tell you all about it after I say hi to the two lovebirds!” She stuck a tongue out at York, and winked at Blake. Flowery was resolutely ignored. Asshat.
Just as everyone settled down on his couch to discuss some plans for the day, Pink suddenly cut herself off and blinked at his attire. Here we go…
“Flo, why the hell are you dressed all fancy? Don’t tell me you’ve got another audition or something!”
He huffed. Well, lying won’t hurt anyone. “No, it’s nothing like that, Pink. I’m just going to run an errand later, it's no big deal.”
Pink narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re going to go see him, aren’t you!” Okay, maybe lying sometimes hurts one. It was worth a shot, anyways.
“I don’t see why you care! I’m the only one who’s romantic life you interfere with! You weren’t like this when York first started dating Blake!” York frowned at him. Ouch, I deserve that.
“Hey, it ain’t like that, and ya know it! Blake was always a dear from the start! This ‘Asgore’ of yours won’t even meet us, and you’ve known him since forever! Something’s off about him, Flo, I just know it!” Finished with his speech, York flopped back into the couch.
Flowery shot a quick apologetic look to Blake, who arched an eyebrow at him. “Look… I get why you’re worried, I just… you have to trust me on this. He’s a really good guy, and I really like him. Alright? I promise I won’t let him ruin our day. We were planning on meeting up at 3, anyways, and York has a gig at 2.”
Pink rolled her eyes, but she dropped it. Thank God. I probably got off easy just now. Olivia was quiet for a minute, but she started pestering Pink about her Broadway life pretty quick and just like that, the conversation relaxed again. If only I could, too!
—
Flowery inhaled the crisp autumn air as he walked down the side of a busy road. Saving some taxi money after all! After chatting at his apartment for a bit, they all decided to go catch a movie, some thriller flick Olivia wanted to see that he didn’t care too much for. He was always a sucker for the cheesy romance movies that released once a year. That is, if they were well written. Oh, what Grease could have been…
He ended up zoning out for an hour and forty-five minutes as everyone else threw popcorn at each other and laughed. He thinks he saw a couple sitting in front of their group leave. Ah well, none of them were really great at outside world manners (except Blake, obviously.) Instead, all he could think about was his nearing date with Asgore. He didn’t think he’d be this nervous when he decided he’d try and broach the conversation of a more serious relationship yesterday, but he was starting to feel a bit sick to his stomach.
Speaking of which, he was approaching the cafe that Asgore insisted they usually meet up at. It was quaint and well furnished; tucked away in a corner of the city so it was less overrun by rush hour customers, which was probably why Asgore preferred it. The lady who owned it was nice, too: She went by Kiki and would give him free hot cocoa with his orders.
The bell on the door chimed as he stepped inside, a wave of heat hitting his face in sharp contrast to the cold weather outside. He shivered.
“Hey there, hon. Your little friend is already waiting for you. You want the usual?” Kiki called out from where she was setting down plates of food on a customer’s table.
“Yes please, princess! You’re a real livesaver!” He responded with a grin as he shuffled out of his jacket. Straightening his shirt, he brushed off imaginary flecks of dust as he made his way to the back of the establishment. He could feel his heart in the back of his throat.
Asgore was totally absorbed in the menu, seemingly not noticing his approach. Flowery slid into the booth opposite to him, clearing his throat. Asgore startled, then softened as he set his menu down.
“Oh, pardon me, I didn’t see you there. You look very nice today, Flowery.”
He flushed. Score! I knew it’d be worth it to dress up! “Ahaha, thanks! Have you ordered yet?” He mentally slapped himself. Asgore literally still has a menu in his hands, of course he hasn’t ordered yet!
Asgore thankfully didn’t point out his idiocy. “No, I was waiting for you. I think I’m just going to go with today’s special, how about you?”
He smiled for real this time. This was the side of the man that his family refused to understand! “I caught Kiki on the way in, I’m just going to get my usual. I could flag her down for you, if you want?”
Asgore studied him carefully. Flowery shifted in his seat a little. Did he say something weird? “That’d be… nice,” Asgore said after a moment. “There’s actually something I’ve been wanting to discuss with you, but it can wait until after we eat.”
Doubly nervous now, he nodded and waved Kiki over to take Asgore’s over. I need to gather my nerve. It looks like we both have something important to talk about.
There was another break of awkward silence as they both waited for their food. Asgore gazed out the window. Flowery bit his nail.
His mind wandered to his late parents. They were both amazing people, but his mother was known to be rather eccentric, and had named both Pink and himself. There was surely some significance to why she chose such odd names, but her promises to share the story someday died with her. His father was a more modest man, and decided on naming his little brother “York”, and much later on, his little sister “Olivia”.
He was pulled out of his musings by Kiki setting down their plates of food on the table. Thankfully, it appeared to be a pretty slow day at the diner, so they didn’t have to wait too long.
“Let me know if you need anything else. And just something a little extra…” She set down a mug of hot chocolate next to his plate. “It’s cold out. Never hurts to have a little pick me up!” Winking at him, she turned to go serve another customer. Now left truly alone with Asgore, he doesn’t think he can stomach a bite.
Asgore ate in silence, his silverwave clinking together. Flowery stared down at his plate. It was time. Maybe he was making too big of a deal out of this, and they’d both laugh at how silly it was to be nervous later… only one way to find out.
“Hey, Asgore?” He forced himself to look up. “I’ve just been thinking that, er, maybe you could come meet my friends and family sometime, you know? I mean, we’ve been together for a while, and-”
Asgore cut him off with a weird expression. “We’re not together.”
He felt a little nauseous. “Uh, what? We’ve been meeting up for like… two years, now. What do you mean we’re not together?”
Asgore sighed, and set his fork down. “I didn’t want it to get to this point. Us, I mean. That’s why I asked to meet up today. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
Flowery shot up without meaning to. His stomach scraped against the table awkwardly, knocking Kiki’s hot chocolate over. “What? Where’s this coming from?” He felt like a broken record.
Asgore took a deep breath and visibly steeled himself. “Flowery, I never told you this, no, I never wanted to, but…” He trailed off. Just as Flowery was about to speak up again, Asgore’s next words hit him like a gut punch.
“I have a wife. I’ve been married to her longer than I’ve known you. I’m just… she’s pregnant, Flowery. Pregnant. I’m going to be a father, I can’t keep this up anymore.”
Flowery slowly sunk back into his seat, his ears ringing. “A wife,” he said dully.
Asgore winced at his voice, but nodded. “I meant to tell you, I swear I did, but you were just always so good to me, and I knew you deserved better, but I just never was brave enough to admit it. I'm trying to change now, Flowery. I’m going to be a father, for fuck’s sake! I just can’t keep…”
“Cheating. On your wife.” Flowery said, staring at him. Asgore winced again.
“Look, I should go. Here, I can pay…” Asgore stood up and shoved a roll of bills at him, probably hundreds of dollars. Way more than what lunch would cost. Flowery snapped back to the present.
“Wait, wait! Don’t go! I mean, can’t we work something out? Was there anyone else besides me? Does she know?” He leapt out of the booth and stood in Asgore’s path. They were getting stares now, something Asgore clearly didn’t want. Fuck that, he thought angrily. “Are you seriously just leaving?”
Asgore pinched his brow, clearly more frustrated now. “Look, I’m trying to make this easy, okay? Get out of my way. It was nice knowing you.”
Whispers echoed behind them. He could feel Kiki’s concerned gaze on his back. “No! What the hell do you mean, ‘nice knowing you?’ I’m not letting you just-”
Asgore slapped him across the face, hard. His ring cut a gash into his cheek. His wedding ring. I’m such a fucking idiot.
Asgore seemed just as stunned as he was. After a moment of silence, he pushed past him and left the diner. Flowery just stood there. I won’t give him the satisfaction of crying. I can’t believe he would just…
…I should have listened to Pink and York.
Kiki came up to him. “You okay, hon? That was quite the scene.”
He laughed, all choked. “Yeah, I’m sorry, truly. I’m just going to leave now, sorry, again, for the ruckus." He hurriedly walked out of the cafe, leaving his food cold and untouched on the table that was still dripping with spilled hot chocolate. I’ll have to apologize to Kiki for the mess, too.
—
It was still cold outside. He checked the time on his phone. 4pm, and about a dozen missed calls from Pink. He felt a flash of hot anger, before it faded into numbness again. She didn’t deserve his crappy attitude. She was right about Asgore.
He had no plans with anyone, and nowhere to be. Starting aimlessly down the road, he began to try and process what had just happened.
I can’t believe he had a wife all this time, and I never even suspected it. God, it seems so obvious now.
Lost in thought, he hardly noticed the man he was walking towards until they slammed into each other. He was so startled he almost hit the ground, but the man caught him and steadied them both.
“Agh! Oh dear, I apologize, I-” The man paused. Flowery glanced up, intent on quickly apologizing and setting off on his way, but startled when he caught a good look of his face.
“Anthony?” Sure enough, the judge who oversaw his failed audition was the exact person he almost mowed down on the sidewalk. This might be the new worst day of my life, he thought, feeling a little silly at the notion.
Anthony nervously chuckled. His eyes flicked to the surely forming bruise on his cheek. “Haha, yup, that’s my name! I remember you, too, it was Mr. Floradinn, yes?”
“Please, just call me Flowery.” He said, a little distantly.
“Of course, of course! Uh, is your face okay? It looks like you took a pretty nasty hit!” Anthony reached out and ran his thumb along the scrape on his cheek with a warm hand.
Like a switch, Flowery suddenly realized how close they were standing to each other and jumped back. “Yup! Never been better! My longtime partner of two years just told me he has a pregnant wife that he’s been using me to cheat on her with and then actually just hit me! I’ve never been better!” He grinned as charmingly as possible, feeling a little bit insane. “See you around!”
He got maybe two steps away from a bewildered Anthony before he heard a response. “...Can I buy you a drink?”
Flowery paused. That actually didn’t sound too bad. It was only four, but he really needed to take his mind off of Asgore and Anthony was a rather handsome man, himself.
He turned around again to face him. “There’s a nice little dive just around the corner.”
—
Flowery eyed Anthony over his glass. Maybe it was just the drinks talking, but he really was quite a striking man. Anthony had been buying them rounds for a couple hours by now, and Flowery was seriously starting to worry about draining his wallet. I should’ve taken those bills Asgore shoved at me, he thought deliriously. Should I have offered to buy him a drink? Would that have made him stay? That train of thought was too silly to keep entertaining: of course Asgore wouldn’t want someone to use his own money to buy him a drink. That would be like… Asgore buying Asgore a drink. Who was buying him drinks again?
“Ah, so, what you said when we first ‘ran into’ each other, ha ha…”
Oh, that was right, Anthony. That wasn't a funny joke. I bet he knows that. Should I laugh to make him feel better? He squinted at him.
Anthony couldn't read his mind, so he made no comment on his rudeness. He was still talking. “I mean, I don’t usually do this. Take someone out like this, I mean. But you sounded like you could really use someone to talk to, and I’ve been there before. With the whole relationship thing, I mean.”
Flowery blinked slowly at him. “The relationship thing.”
Anthony chuckled again. What was so funny? “You remember Spam? The other guy who was there with me yesterday? Well, we kind of had a thing, for a while.”
That made him feel a little more sober. “What? Really? With HIM?”
Anthony laughed for real this time, louder than the awkward chuckles he had been dishing out before. “He’s not exactly Joe Nice, is he? No, he just… moved on one day. Said he got bored. ‘Hope we can still stay business partners, Ant!’ That's a shitty breakup line, isn't it?” The faint light from the bar made him look like he was glowing.
Flowery looked down. His cheek was starting to sting again. “Yeah.”
A moment of silence passed between them. He saw Anthony study him out of the corner of his eye before tilting his head to get a better read on him. “Hey, do you want me to get you some actual food? I just realized we’ve been drinking all night and it’s getting a little late.”
He didn’t really want to take out his phone and see more missed calls from Pink, so he just twisted around in his seat to peer at the analogue clock on the wall behind them. 8pm. He feels a little better than he thought he’d feel, all things considered. He thinks it’s probably thanks to Anthony.
“You’ve been buying me shit all night. Do you want to split something off the dessert menu? It’s on me.”
Anthony smiled. “I said actual food.”
They landed on ice cream. They ended up sharing a spoon, and as silly as it was, it made his heart feel lighter than it had all day.
—
“He didn’t even seem that torn up about it. I mean, contemplative, sure, but not like he really cared, you know?”
They had ultimately called it quits from the bar ‘before the weirdos come out’, as Anthony put it, and ended up walking vaguely in the direction of Flowery’s apartment. Anthony had reassured him that he only lived about a block or two away from him, so it really wouldn’t be a problem to walk the rest of the way home alone. I don’t think we’re close enough for me to invite him over yet.
The night air was still cold, but home wasn’t far. He’d been relaying his exact experience at the cafe to Anthony, trying to pick it apart in his mind at the same time. Anthony was a good listener.
“He was kind of angry at the end, and… y’know,” he gestured at his face, “but it was mostly nothing from him. He didn’t look sad at all. How was he not sad?” Thinking about it too hard is probably going to make him cry, so he arches his neck up to study the streetlamps instead.
Anthony avoided stepping on some broken glass on the ground. “I don’t know. You guys knew each other for two years, right? I was torn to shreds when Spam dumped me, and we were only together for maybe eight months.”
“I asked him to meet my family,” he said miserably. He could hear the whine in his voice, but he thinks the circumstances excuse it. “He said we weren’t even together.”
Anthony grimaced. “Asshole. All things considered, you’re taking it pretty well, though.”
Flowery sighed. He could see his apartment building from here. “I’m glad you think so. I really can’t tell.”
They walked the last 20 feet in silence. When they reached the door, Anthony stopped him. “You’re not going to… see him again, right? After this?” His eyes flicked down to the bruise on his cheek.
Flowery snorted. “I don’t know how I’d manage that. I don’t even know where he lives! Oh God, why didn’t I ever care about things like that?”
Anthony looks a little relieved. “Okay, sweet! Uh, not ‘sweet’, really, but good. I think.”
Flowery studies him for a second. “You want my number?”
“Yesthankyou.”
—
His apartment door was unlocked again. God damn it, Pink… Now that he was thinking about it, though, didn’t she have a show tonight? It was unlike her to call in sick, as impressive as her understudy was.
He shouldered his way through the door and flopped down on the couch. Pink had been clattering around in his kitchen, but the sound of pots being thrown around stopped when she heard him come in.
“Do you have any idea how pissed off I am at you right now?” Her back was still facing him. He eyed her over the armrest of the couch.
“Aren’t you supposed to be off performing somewhere?” He said, in lieu of answering. He heard her snort.
“Fuck my performance! I was too busy ringing your phone and worrying that you were dead in a ditch somewhere! I know that you were ignoring me!” She finally turned around, pot in hand. He buried his face in a pillow. It was immature, sure, but he wanted to put off the conversation about the bruise on his face for as long as he could. He didn’t think he could stomach an ‘I told you so’ right now.
He heard Pink sigh. “Look, I wanted to say sorry for earlier. I shouldn’t have made a scene in front of everyone, but I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Unable to stop himself, Flowery let out a muffled giggle into the pillow. If only she knew! There was a moment of silence before he heard the clank of Pink setting her pot down.
“...Are you drunk?” Here we go. Couldn’t keep her off my tail forever.
He raised his head off the pillow, but decided against sitting up straight like an adult. Pink inhaled sharply. “I’m not drunk, I’m tipsy. The distinction matters!”
“Did you get into a fight? What the hell happened to your face? Jesus, why didn’t you call?” She hurried to flick on a light and hissed when she got a better look at his face.
“I didn’t get into a bar fight or anything, if that’s what you're thinking. I’m no angry drunk! Angry tipsy, I mean.”
Pink rolled her eyes at him, but there still was a shadow of worry coloring her expression. “Then who the hell-” she cut herself off. Started. Stopped again. “Flo, did- did Asgore hit you?” She looked utterly horrified.
Okay, he thinks this is a little melodramatic. It’s not like Asgore had even laid a hand on him before today! And it was just a slap. Sure, it left a mark, but he’s much more sore about the whole ‘I’m cheating on my wife thing’. He can picture Pink’s thought process though; probably something like ‘how could I have never noticed after all this time!’ He should set her straight.
“Ugh, I don’t care about my stupid face! Yeah, it was Asgore, but it was more like-”
She still hadn’t wiped that look off her face. “Flo, that’s not okay. You know that, right? That’s not okay! Christ, I’m going to pound his shit in!”
Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. “No you’re not! It doesn’t even matter anymore, we broke up!”
She seethed. “Good.”
Flowery pushed himself off the couch with a grunt. “It’s some bullshit, really. Apparently he has a pregnant wife or something. Who cares? I just want to wipe myself clean of him.” He brushed by Pink to go peer inside the pot on the stove. It was soup, their mother’s recipe. His heart hurt a little.
She seemed stuck in place. “A wife! Holy shit! He is so dead! Who the hell does he-” She shook herself out of her stupor and placed a careful hand on his shoulder. “Flo, I need you to tell me where he lives. I have to go run an errand.”
He groaned. “I don’t know! Also stop trying to beat him up! It’s over now, I’m done with him, and I’m fine!” He wasn’t actually sure if ‘fine’ is what described him at the moment, but after his talk with Anthony, he was feeling a bit closer to it. And that meant something, didn’t it?
Pink glared, but he doubted she was actually mad at him. She let him off the hook for the moment. “You know what? You’re right. It can wait just a moment. We’re going to eat soup. Ugh, when was the last time you even ate?”
He smiled, thinking about Anthony. “Not too long ago, actually. But I could go for some soup right now,” his head throbbed, “and some aspirin?”
She grabbed a ladle and brandished it at him, “Not on an empty stomach! And, uh, Flo?” She looked a little nervous.
He eyeballed her.
“He hasn’t done this before, right? Hit you?”
His heart hurt again, but in a good way. “No, Pink, I swear. Today was just a really shitty day.”
She nodded sharply, and turned to start digging around in his pantry for bowls. “Go get your aspirin. No taking it until after soup, though!”
—
They ended up talking for hours. Flowery admitted pretty much everything that happened at the cafe, and was a bit touched seeing how affected she was by all the grisly details. He thinks they were both a little teary eyed by the time he got to Asgore’s little stunt, not that either of them would admit it. Despite that, the conversation got a bit lighter when he began to talk about running into Anthony and the drinking date they had.
“We exchanged numbers before we split ways. Maybe it’s a little quick, but I have a good feeling about him, Pink.”
She studied her spoon. “I want to meet him. Sooner rather than later.”
He swallowed. “Yeah, I think that can probably be arranged. I want to get to know him a little better first, though.” A thought occurred to him. “Hey, I’m actually going to text him real quick, see if he got home alright.”
Pink scooted her chair closer to peer curiously over his shoulder as he typed Anthony’s number in. He elbowed her playfully, but let her stay.
-Hey, you run into any trouble on the way home?
No response. Flowery stared at the screen for a second, then shrugged. “Maybe he made a mistake when he wrote down his number.”
Pink stuck her tongue out at him. “Or he just went to bed! It’s late, you know.”
“Touche. You want to stay over? It’s way too dark out to catch a taxi. Or to catch a good one, anyways.”
She rose from her chair, clapping her hands together. “I’ll set up the couch! Give me a yell if you need anything!”
He pretended to trip her. “I think I’ll manage.”
—
Did he ever mention that he really needs to replace his curtains? The abrasive sunlight was seriously too much in the morning, especially with the dull hum of a hangover in the back of his head. Do I still have aspirin?
His phone buzzed on his nightstand. Reaching out with a groan, he forced himself to open his eyes and squint at the text he just received.
-Sorry for the late response! I crashed into bed right after I got home, but I thankfully had an uneventful walk there. There was actually something I wanted to discuss with you. Let me know if you can call sometime today!
Flowery stared at the text, unsure of how to respond. The last time someone wanted to discuss something with him, it didn’t exactly go so well. His face aches as a constant reminder of that. In fact, the whole text feels eerily reminiscent of Asgore’s earlier request to meet up. It miiight be making him overthink his response just a little. I’m going to wake up Pink. I bet she’ll know how to craft a normal, well-adjusted response!
He had slept in the same clothes from yesterday, but the scent of cheap wine that clung to them really wasn’t helping his headache. Probably best if I clean myself up a bit first. Anthony left me on delivered all night, he can wait thirty minutes.
His apartment had only one bathroom, and unfortunately, it wasn’t connected to his bedroom. He decided to just grab some fresh clothes and a towel to shower up before bothering Pink with his nonsense. Quietly making his way through the cramped hallway, he caught a glimpse of her sleeping form: there was absolutely no way her neck was going to feel alright when she woke up.
It was after he stepped out of the shower that he first got a good look of the mark on his face, and it was not pretty. Now it made a little more sense why Anthony and Pink were acting so weird about it; he took a pretty nasty hit. A sick feeling rose in his gut as he tried to match the bruising on his cheek to the man he thought he knew, but his thoughts were interrupted by a thump sounding from outside the bathroom.
“Give me a second to get dressed and I’ll be right with you!” He yelled. There was an affirmative shout. Probably affirmative. It might just be the neck.
He emerged from the bathroom feeling a million times more like himself. “Pink, Anthony texted me back, but he says he wants to call at some point today? I really don’t know how to respond besides a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, do you have any idea how to not sound insincere?"
Pink was lying flat on the carpet, face first. “Mphf.”
He dragged her to her feet. “Up and at em’! You were the one who decided to stay over!”
“You invited me.”
“And you accepted! I see no relevance. Read this.”
She took the phone from him with an exaggerated sigh and considered Anthony’s message. “Huh. His grammar is way too good for a text. Punctuation and everything!”
“Can you focus? I don’t know how to respond to this!”
“Just say you’ll call him right now! I want to say hi to him, make sure he’s not a creep!” She started to type something out.
Scandalized, Flowery snatched his phone back, and deleted whatever nonsense Pink had been typing. “Don’t text him! Look, I’ll call him now, but only if you don’t say a single word. Promise?”
She nodded innocently. He shoved her away with a snort and tapped out a response to Anthony. Maybe he actually didn’t really need her input, but it ended up lessening his nerves.
-Can u call rn?
He decided to strike up an awkward but necessary conversation with Pink as they waited. “Do you think I should tell York about what happened?”
She chewed her nails and conspicuously avoided looking at his face. “I mean, yeah, he'll find out that you broke up with Asgore one way or another. I already told him that I was going to camp out at your place last night until you came home, but he'll probably want to see you in person soon anyways. I could call him ahead and tell him all the… gritty details so he doesn't freak out, if you want.”
He considered that. It would definitely be nice to avoid another scene about the mark on his face from one of his siblings. “Yeah, that's probably for the best.”
Suddenly, his phone rang, and both of them jumped. He steeled himself to try and be charming and answered the phone, putting it on speaker for Pink’s sake. “Hey! I hope you're not too hungover from last night, doll. What was it you wanted to talk about?
Anthony chuckled nervously on the other end, caught off guard by the endearment. “Ahaha, yes! I mean no, no, I'm not doing too bad on the hangover front! I actually wanted to call, well, about your audition a couple days ago, you know…”
Flowery and Pink exchanged a look of surprise. “Er, yeah, not my best moment. Was there something about it in particular? Besides my little blunder?”
Anthony was quiet on the other end of the line for a moment. “Well, I've been emailing Spam this morning and-oh! The person, not… spam emails, haha. And I was wondering if you'd want another shot at auditioning?”
Flowery’s jaw dropped. “What?? There's no way he agreed to that.”
“Well, he's owed me a favour ever since… Nevermind. What's important is there's a second round of auditions after we weeded some of the good contestants out, and I convinced him to put you on that list, too.”
Flowery just sat in stunned silence. That's a really big gesture, especially after what he's already done for me.
Anthony must have taken his silence for dissent, because he quickly backtracked. “I mean! Only if you want to, of course. I could always take your name out again!”
“No, no!” Flowey cut in, ignoring Pink's excited hand gestures. “Anthony, you have no idea how much I appreciate that. Of course I'll do it! God, this is huge! Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
There was a cough on the other end of the line. “Would you take me out on a date?”
—1 Month Later—
Flowery never ended up running into Asgore again, despite Pink and York’s claims that it was ‘on sight’. He probably moved, after they made such a big scene in the cafe. You never know what kind of word will spread, or people you’d run into. Asgore probably thought that moving away was the only logical thing to do in his situation, lest his real family gets torn apart.
He doesn't know quite what he feels, all being said and done. In his head, he always imagined some sort of dramatic showdown, where Asgore grovels and apologizes, but it turns out real life isn’t always that easy. He doesn't think he'll ever really be okay with what happened, but funnily enough, he’s okay with that.
After the results were decided for the musical auditions, it turned out he didn't land the leading role he'd been hoping for, but rather was cast as a supporting actor. It isn't what he's always pictured when he thought about making it big on Broadway, but he wouldn't give it up for the world. Without all that craziness, he never would have met Anthony.
“I don't look stupid, right?” Anthony adjusted his tie as they strolled down the sidewalk, arms linked together.
“Far from it! In fact, I think you look quite dapper.” Flowery squeezed his hand. The sun was beginning to set behind them, casting the street in its golden light. Anthony smiled at him, all warmth.
They approached the restaurant that Pink had insisted on, a more high end establishment than he was used to. A month ago, he might have been adverse to going to yet another food place, but his appetite had seemed to return in full ever since he and Anthony officially started dating. He was looking forward to some fancy food, now.
“Is that the place?” Anthony fiddled with his tie some more as he gazed at the ornate doors.
Flowery pulled him in for a quick peck on the cheek. “Yup. And don't be nervous.” He leapt ahead and held the door open for Anthony with a little flourish. “My family is going to love you.”