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Marco really loved his job, he swore he did. He loved the smell of the old building and how he always left smelling like dirt and the perfume of hundreds of flowers. He loved helping young people try and say something with flowers they just could not say out loud. Marco was just not particularly fond of his employer or dealing with customers some days.
“Marco, dear, are these roses wilting? Please come water them again.” A voice said from behind a display of sunflowers. Mrs. Scaff was a centuries old and partially blind vampire who had taken pity on Marco as a fledgling wandering the streets a few years back and helped him get back on his feet and integrate back into society. She claimed that his good looks brought in more customers but Marco was reluctant to believe her when she just seemed to use him to do all the work around the shop.
“Mrs. Scaff, I watered them about an hour ago, I really would hate to kill them now.”
He sighed, the rose question had come up four times today and it was starting to grate on his nerves. He thanked whatever being might exist that the store closed in ten minutes, he could only take so much even as a supernatural being who never aged. So when the chime above the door went off, his teeth might have come out and he heard Mrs. Scaff yell from the back, “Marco, you put those away right now or you’ll have to fertilize every plant in this store.”
Marco turned to address the customer. The young man looked nervous, as if he was worried the tall flowers would suddenly grow teeth and bite. He seemed taken aback by the dark wood of the shop and the cacophony of colors surrounding every aisle. He seemed sort of familiar, Marco wondered if he had come in here before. “Can I help you?” He asked, trying to preserve his customer service smile. The sign on the door clearly said they closed at six but maybe humans had suddenly, mysteriously, lost their eyesight after 5:30, he wouldn’t be surprised.
“Sorry, I know you guys are almost closed, I really didn't want to be that asshole, I just needed to bring flowers to a uh dinner and forgot until I passed by,” The guy seemed genuine enough in his apology, so Marco decided to let him off the hook for now.
“Of course, don’t worry about it,” he said leaning on the counter,”Did you have any meaning in mind?”
The man blinked, “What?” Marco noticed his hair appeared to be different colors and he didn’t appear to be dressed to go out anywhere.
“This shop specializes in bouquets and arrangements that deal with the secret language of flowers,” Marco sighed, “It’s on the front door?” Was this human okay? Most customers specifically came to their shop because of the language of flowers. Mrs. Scaff usually handled the bigger orders due to her vast knowledge of all the flowers in the shop. He must have been mistaken to think this guy had been here before.
“Oh,” the man blushed, shuffling in front of the counter and coming dangerously close to knocking over the ailing roses.”I uh, what would be something to tell someone I liked them?”Perfect, Marco was great at this sort of request.
“Well it depends. We could use pink camellia if you are longing for this person or maybe pink heather would be good for luck, tell me about them so I can make something for them,” He turned around to find a vase to start.
“Oh! Uh well,” The blonde man seemed flustered, tripping to find the words, “They’re really tall and uh well they are oh gosh they’re so beautiful.” Marco chuckled, this guy was hopeless, whoever was the object of his affections was lucky. He listened to him ramble as he tried to decide what should be in the bouquet.
“And they’ve got freckles all over and they work at a flower shop and I was kind of wondering if maybe they wanted to go out to dinner with me?” The last few words were all strung all together and Marco almost didn't process them.
“Wait what?” He shook his head, this guy wasn't serious right? Not that he wouldn’t be against it, this guy was really cute but he didn't even know his name! “Are you talking about me?”
“Yeah I’m sorry this must seem really out of the blue, I just, you always come in to the bookstore I work at and I’ve been too nervous to talk to you before but I always walk by here and I am so sorry for rambling,” The man seemed to get redder and redder trying to explain himself, waving his hands around and accidentally knocking the roses over. He tried to catch them but Marco was faster, moving around the counter and righting the vase before the man could even blink. That explained why the man looked so familiar. Marco was always trying to memorize the different meanings of the flowers but Mrs. Scaff’s handwriting was almost impossible to decipher, so he usually went to the bookstore down the street to read the books on botany they had.
“It’s really okay, I don't mind, just don't kill the flowers in the process,” he paused turning to look at the other man,” uh, what was your name?”
“Oh my god, I forgot to tell you my name,” the man buried his face in his hands, “I’m Jean, I work down the street,” he straightened up, holding out his hand, “I’m really just a mess of a person, what’s your name?” Marco laughed, this Jean guy was cute when he was flustered. He picked up one of the roses and held it out instead of taking his hand.
“I’m Marco, and I’d love to go to dinner with you but I don’t really eat much if that’s okay with you.” Jean took the rose, twisting it by the stem, back and forth. His face matched the flower’s petals in intensity. Cute… Marco thought, turning around and going behind the counter to put away the vase as the bouquet was no longer needed.
“That's really okay! I don’t mean to pry but are you uhm,” Jean paused. Marco didn’t turn around,but he gripped the vase a little too hard.
“Yeah I’m uh vampire if that’s a deal breaker or something I totally understand. Most humans dont realy want to spend much time with the undead,” he sighed, his luck had just been too good lately. He knew the drill, Jean would make excuses, Marco would smile and apologize and cry himself to sleep later.
“Oh no! I was just gonna ask if you needed help to close the store, sorry I didn't mean to make things awkward, I don't care what species you are.” The blonde man turned the rose more, threatening to bruise the petals. This guy is more of a surprise than Marco had originally thought.
“Thank you for the offer, I’m almost done though just give me a few minutes.” Jean sat on a stool by the counter and watched as Marco hurried around the store, watering plants and turning off lights. With a final yell goodbye to Mrs. Scaff, he grabbed his coat and turned to Jean, smiling.
“Okay all ready to go on a date with someone really cute!” He watched Jean blush and stutter before grabbing his hand and leading him towards the door. He stopped and grabbed a sprig of lavender to tuck into Jean’s jacket.
“So, what does this one mean?” Marco turned around after he was done locking the door. Jean stood illuminated by the street lights, fiddling with the flowers. He smiled.
“Well lavender has a few different meanings,” He grabbed Jean’s hand again, “One is magic,” he grinned as the other man looked startled, “Another is devotion.” Jean sputtered again and Marco laughed, he could get used to seeing someone be so flustered. Maybe today wasn’t completely terrible after all.
……
The chime above the door sounded at 5:30 even though the little flower shop closed six but Marco didn’t even turn around. Instead he smiled, reaching for a small bouquet he had made earlier in the day.
“You’re early today, my love,” he said, holding the flowers to his chest as arms wrapped around him from behind and blonde hair tickled his neck.
“Mmm my boss let me leave a little early today,” came a muffled reply, “What’s in today’s flowers?” Marco smiled and turned around though the other man didn't want to break their embrace and looped his arms around his neck.
“Well, there’s sage, yarrow, and salvia both red and blue,” He pointed to each of the the plants in turn. “They mean immortality, everlasting love, i think of you, and forever mine,” Marco laughed as his face got peppered with kisses from the smaller man.
“You are the biggest sap in the entire world,” Jean hid his face in Marco’s neck, laughing at how loving his boyfriend was.
“Of course, but just for you, my love,” Marco tucked a buttercup behind Jean’s ear, “Just for you.”