Work Text:
"Jesus Christ, Jack. If you don't do it soon then I'll just have to do it for you."
"Fuck off Roger, I'm just taking my time, alright? Would you just stop breathing down my bloody neck about it already."
Jack Merridew, owner of renowned London tattoo parlour Beastly Ink, was facing a crisis. His reputation as one of the toughest, most hot-tempered members of East London society was being seriously threatened, and it was his own damn fault. Now, it wasn't Jack's fault that the pansy flower shop directly across the road had hired a new assistant about a month ago, however it was Jacks' fault that he had ended up falling for said worker, rather badly in fact, and found himself unable to get up. Most people would look at Jack's unruly red hair, heavily inked arms and stretched ears and would never suspect that this man ever had a heart, much less that it was currently aching mercilessly for one particular boy.
The new worker who had been hired at Stems Florist about a month ago was a boy about Jack's age, maybe a little younger, although much shorter in height. He had tanned skin and golden, layered hair with a messy fringe that seemed to fall over his eyes in just the right way, and framed his heart-shaped face to perfection. The navy blue apron he wore to work every day did wonders for his slight figure, and although Jack hadn't been close enough to know for certain as of yet, he was pretty sure that his eyes were an enthralling shade of emerald green. Everything about how perfect the boy was made Jack weak at the knees, from the way he smiled so warmly to all of his customers, to the way that he would subconsciously bite his nails whenever he was in deep thought or worrying about something, a bad habit that Jack found strangely endearing.
"You don't even know his goddam name, though. You've done nothing for the last few weeks except stare out the window like some lovesick puppy. I'm almost worried for you man, this isn't like you at all." Jack sighed at his employee's blunt but painfully accurate observations. He had been spending an almost unhealthy amount of time obsessing over the boy across the street, and it was unlike him to be this caught up on another human being, especially one he hadn't even met yet.
"But what if he doesn't like me, you know what kind of..." he hesitated for a moment, searching for the correct term "...reputation I have around these parts. He'd probably be absolutely terrified of me. Besides, I bet he's bloody straight."
"Come on Jack, be realistic. What kind of straight man would work in a bloody florist's?" Jack didn't know whether to laugh at this comment or whack the shorter man square across the face, so he ended up settling on a slightly irritated glare. "And I can't believe that you, the one and only Jack Merridew, would be so terrified of rejection. You aren't supposed to be afraid of anythin!"
"Tch" was all Jack could remark, a blush creeping up his inked neck. After much debate with himself inside his head, he eventually gave in. "Fine, fine, I'll talk to him. But I-"
"Great!" the raven haired boy exclaimed, his usually emotionless face suddenly glowing. Before he knew it, Jack was being pushed outside the doors of his own shop, and heard the key turn the lock behind him. For such a short boy, Roger bore an unusual amount of strength.
"Wait a minute, you can't lock me out! I'm your bloody boss!" Roger did nothing but smile and wave back cheerily.
"Hopefully after this is over you'll finally get some work done. Buy me some lilies, while you're at it, yeah? They could really liven this place up a bit!".
"Up yours, Roger!" Jack growled back almost viscously, his face red with fervour. God he hated that boy. But, despite his pretences, he knew that it was now or never, and anyway he was pretty sure that Roger wouldn't let him back into the parlour until he'd at least paid a visit to the flower shop. "It's not as if I have to ask the kid on a bloody date or anything." he muttered to himself as consolation, "I just need to buy some flowers and then this will all be over with."
The short walk to the florist's was incredibly nerve-wracking, so much so that Jack nearly got hit by a couple of cars in his apprehensive state. As he reached the doors to the flower shop, he turned around to face Roger one last time, who was watching intently and giving an overly-enthusiastic thumbs up, to which Jack responded with a rather obscene gesture with his left hand. With one last breath of courage, Jack pushed the door to the flower shop open and as he did so, he heard a bell trinkle followed by an airy male voice begin to greet him warmly.
"Hello and welcome to Stems Flori- oh it's you!" Jack looked up and finally, after weeks of waiting, made eye contact with the boy he had started to become rather preoccupied by.
"M... me?" was all Jack could manage to get through his mouth. Oh shit, he's gorgeous. The boy's eyes were welcoming and warm, and Jack didn't know whether it was just the flowers playing tricks on him but they somehow reminded him of nature and summer days.
"Yeah! You work at that tattoo parlour across the road, right? I always see you and your friend with the black hair working over there. It's Jack, right?" So he had noticed him! Jack smiled awkwardly and let out a nervous laugh.
"Um... yeah, that's me" he stuttered, then cursed himself for sounding so idiotic. "I was just looking for some lilies."
"Calla lilies, right? You're in luck, we just had a new shipment come in yesterday. I'll just get them wrapped up for you. How many do you want? Half a dozen?" Jack could do nothing but nod as his instinct told him to shuffle closer to the desk where the blonde was wrapping a bunch of lilies in gorgeous red ribbon with delicate precision whilst humming a contented tune to himself.
"It must be fun working in a tattoo parlour, eh? I'm afraid I just don't have enough creativity or a steady enough hand." the boy on the other side of the desk laughed to himself, an amiable sound that Jack could only compare to the sweetness of honey. "I've always wanted a tattoo, though. Maybe a small anchor on my wrist for my dad. He used to be in the navy, you know? Wanted me to join as well. But I've always just loved plants and flowers, so I could never do that. Plus I get sea sick really easily..."
Jack just nodded along, content as he listened to the boy's ramblings. After being told the price, Jack dug around in his pocket and passed the money over the counter.
"So who are these for, anyway? You got a girlfriend back at home?"
"Oh no, I'm not interested in girls". If Jack wasn't so self-conscious of his own actions, he would have noticed the boy perk up at this. "These are for Roger." The boy's smile didn't drop at these words, however it did falter slightly and his eyes betrayed a look of disappointment.
"Oh, I see. Is Roger your lover?" Jack couldn't help but splutter then laugh at loud at these words.
"What, that idiot? Oh god, no! He's most likely incapable of love anyway. I think the only reason the bloody sadist works at a tattoo parlour is because he loves seeing pain in others." the blonde was equally scared and relieved by the redhead's words, and so joined in with Jack's contagious laughter nonetheless.
After they had cooled down and had settled into a somewhat comfortable silence, the boy asked Jack a question; "Hey, do you know what lilies symbolise?" Jack shook his head at this, of course he didn't have a bloody clue what lilies symbolised. He'd drawn a few in his time as a tattoo artist, but that was as far as his knowledge of the flower stretched. "They symbolise purity and refined beauty. I've always been interested in the meanings behind flowers, especially lilies. I feel the meaning just fits so well-" the boy stopped talking, his face flushed in embarrassment after letting out this geeky, over-enthusiastic side of himself straight away to this cool (and admittedly attractive - in a menacing kind of way) stranger. After a few moments of thought Jack looked down from the flowers and back up to the blonde.
"I suppose I should really only give these to you then" he said, taking one of the flowers from the bunch and tucking it graciously behind the other boy's ear. A bold move, but he really couldn't stop himself. The florist was just too cute, and if he was blushing before then now his face was burning red with the strength of a thousand suns.
"Th-thank you. But they're your flowers-"
"They're yours now." The redhead smiled in an uncharacteristically sheepish manner, "After all, if they symbolise 'refined beauty' then it really only makes sense that someone such as yourself should possess them." The boy grinned, his green eyes sparkling at such a direct compliment.
"Hey, do you want to maybe go out for a coffee after work? My shift finishes at-"
"Five. I know. So does mine." Jack finished. "And I would love to. My aunt owns a great little place on Leonard Street. Want me to pick you up after work?" The blonde boy smiled again, and nodded.
"Absolutely." Jack beamed at this, and as he turned to leave he heard the voice call out, almost as an afterthought, "My name's Ralph, by the way." Jack turned his head back around.
"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Ralph." And with that Jack left the shop with a spring in his step and a hell of a lot to tell Roger.