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Mydei hums along with the violin tune playing throughout the flower shop. The blond's deft hands carefully place flower arrangements and pots on the wooden shelves, checking the soil's humidity and watering them if necessary.
The sound of Castorice's humming from where she's busy at the back reaches him, and he smiles. He's glad he finally gets to work with his best friend.
The shop itself is the most beautiful one Mydei has ever seen: made almost exclusively of large glass panels, the plants of various origins and shapes thrive under the sun rays as they would in a greenhouse.
Castorice often holds workshops on floral art, bouquet making, drying flowers… The happiness she exudes when she's able to fulfill her customers' requests or when she's allowed to go on a rant about her favorite flowers' meaning makes her look radiant in the cozy and welcoming atmosphere enshrouding the shop.
Having just recently completed his apprenticeship, Mydei can finally work at Castorice's shop properly - instead of lending a hand once in a while. They even did a lighthearted interview for the joke, Castorice not doubting her friend's skills and dedication in the slightest.
In short, she opened her dream flower shop and happily roped her blond friend in.
On the first day of Mydei's new full-time job, a sunny Monday morning, the bell chimes as a customer steps into the colorful flower shop and Mydei turns to greet them.
"Hello- oh."
Mydei's eyes land on the stranger and he forgets how to breathe when he finds the man's eyes.
A cloudless sky on a sunny day. The lightest shade of ocean's waves. Mydei is immediately lost in those bright pools akin to an endless sea. Losing himself in this stranger's otherworldly gaze, time slows down around them, or at least that's how it feels for the blond who's overwhelmed with the weirdest impression of familiarity at the sight of unruly and fluffy white locks.
When the stranger speaks at last, Mydei realizes how breathless he's feeling, completely and utterly mesmerized.
"Hello, I would like to buy a lily."
His voice is clear - like his eyes, like a sunny spell, a pleasant sound to Mydei's ears. He dismisses the thought as quick as it forms.
"Are you looking for a lily bouquet or a seedling…?" Mydei opts to ask, just to be sure.
White curls bounce lightly as the man shakes his head, "Oh no, only a single lily, please."
An unusual purchase… And yet the man himself is so, so familiar. Mydei is seized with the feeling of already knowing this man, but he has no recollection of ever talking to him. Yet surely such eyes and smile aren't forgettable, so Mydei dismisses the thought with a shake of his head.
"Very well, please wait here." Mydei says as he walks over to the racks of displayed flowers. He instinctively reaches out to pick the prettiest lily they have in stock before returning to the counter.
It's the first time Mydei is dealing with a client buying a single flower. The blond frowns, looking at the lonely flower in his hand. He can't just give it like that, it looks a little sad.
He grabs a white shiny ribbon and swiftly wraps it around the stem, deft fingers making quick work of creating a perfect bow.
When he looks up at the stranger's face again, he finds the other's eyes already on his face. Or rather, still on his face. The blond feels strangely small under the intense gaze staring at him so steadily, above a serene smile. Unable to bear it, Mydei's eyes fall down on the lily again. A much safer option; he's not sure he can control whatever expression he's making right now.
While it is an unusual sensation for a man of his stature and brazen character, Mydei doesn't hate the novelty of it. Much to his surprise, it feels rather… comforting. Like being truly seen, for the first time.
"There you go," Mydei's voice comes out a bit more breathless than he would've liked as he hands the lily over.
The stranger reaches out, and what should have been a swift exchange turns into a life changing experience as their hands touch.
Mydei swears he's never touched something so soft before, although he's touched a fair share of Castorice's silken dresses.
"Thank you," the man retrieves his hands as he belatedly says, breaking both the charged air around them and Mydei's dumbfounded state.
"Oh," the man says as he touches the little bow embellishing the stem, "There was no need for that, really."
Yet the smile lifting the corner of his mouth higher proves otherwise, at least in Mydei's opinion. Seeing him smile properly felt right, for reasons unknown to him. Seeing him smile properly, Mydei could swear it was simply the natural order of things.
Words caught in his throat, Mydei only stares as the white haired stranger slowly lifts the lily to his face. Time slows down - or the entire universe does, perhaps - as the man closes his eyes and takes a whiff, aquiline nose pressed among red petals. Taking in the lily's smell, he sighs with what Mydei can recognize as melancholy briefly flashing on his face.
Then, the man lowers his hand and opens his eyes again, and with it time returns to its normal flow.
"Is Castorice absent today?" he asks out of the blue.
It almost gives Mydei whiplash. Does this man not realize the mesmerizing effect his eyes and everything have on people?
"She's here, she just wanted to handle other things today."
"I see. Good to know she hasn't grown bored of me or something," the stranger chuckles, rubbing his neck.
"Castorice is not like that," Mydei instinctively answers with a slightly defensive huff.
"Claiming to know her would be pretentious, but I'm sure she's not; I was merely joking."
"Good. I'll kick out anyone who dares to badmouth Cas." Mydei warns with no real heat.
"Count on me to help with that!"
Mydei huffs, a small smile creeping up his lips, the stranger's contagious grin getting to him.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Mydei follows the stranger's frame as the bell chimes when he steps out of the shop and dissolves back in the flowing mass, lost to Okhema's streets buzzing with its people.
When only the stranger's scent lingers in the shop, Mydei regains his composure and lets out a long and shaky breath, feeling like he has just broken free of a spell - albeit a very handsome looking one. Sounds returns to his ears, other smells find their way to his nose again.
Looking at the pot of lilies, Mydei reflects on what just happened.
Strangely, Mydei finds himself already missing the man's clear eyes on him. But more than that, he can't shake off this impression of familiarity. Yet no matter how he racks his brain to remember where - if - he's seen that man before, Mydei's efforts are fruitless.
Deciding to indulge his curiosity, he walks to the back of the shop to find Castorice. The stranger didn't act like it was his first time coming here, so perhaps she knows him…?
He finds her working on her latest arrangement idea, camellias and lilies in her hands, humming to the ambient music enveloping them.
"Say, Cas, do you happen to have a regular with light blue eyes?"
She perks up, her natural soft smile greeting the blond.
"White hair, simple yet stylish outfit, buys a single flower?"
He nods, impressed by how quickly she guessed who he was referring to with such a lacking description.
She hums, returning her attention to her bouquet, "His name is Phainon. He comes by daily, always buying one lily. Isn't that mysterious and kinda poetic? You think you'd only find that in books," she chuckles, "Quite inspiring if you ask me…"
Mydei raises an amused eyebrow at his friend's antics. He wouldn't be surprised if one of her novels' characters is inspired by their blue eyes customer.
"Quite mysterious indeed…" He muses, mind filled with piercing blue eyes.
˜˜˜
The next day Phainon is back, like clockwork. Mydei expected it, yet can't help but be caught off guard when the same feeling of deja vu overwhelms him.
And just like the day before, Phainon pays little to no attention to the rows of flower pots and bouquets filling the shop, going straight to the counter.
"Hello! Is Castorice avoiding me today again?" He jokes lightly.
"Indeed, she is. No luck, you're stuck with me again," Mydei says, somewhere between sarcasm and deadpan.
"Unlucky me… Ah, may I ask the name of my tormentor?"
Mydei rolls his eyes, "The name's Mydeimos."
"Mydei…" Phainon tries it in a whisper, blissfully unaware of the effect it has on the blond.
Trying to conceal just how the sound of his name rolling on the handsome blond's tongue is affecting him, Mydei crosses his arms, glaring at Phainon.
"HKS. Who said you could call me that?"
"I wouldn't want to mangle your name, I'm not the most skilled when it comes to Kremnoan names," Phainon smirks, full of playfulness.
I could teach you, Mydei's traitorous brain supplies, longing to hear Phainon pronounce his full name.
"Too bad. No ribbon with your flower today, you rascal."
Phainon whines, a pout instantly overtaking his features and Mydei laughs. What kind of human sized dog is he?
They banter some more as he prepares the prettiest lily of the stock for Phainon, like he does every day.
"Won't you ask for my name?" Phainon points at himself, looking like a treat deprived puppy.
Ah. Mydei forgot he knows it because his curiosity lead him to Castorice, and he is not admitting that. Phainon can't know he's been haunting his mind.
"Won't you just tell me?"
"You're so mean to me!" Phainon's pout widens before a charming grin splits his face again. "I am Phainon, nice to meet you!"
A huff leaves Mydei's lips purely to tentatively conceal the pink dusting his cheeks when Phainon's thousand-watt smile dazzles him. Why is this HKS introducing himself like they haven't been talking every day when he stops by? It's ridiculous… ridiculously charming in its ingenuousness.
Mydei loves it.
He practically shoves the lily in Phainon's hands and shoo him away before he can notice the blush on the Kremnoan's cheeks.
˜˜˜
A few days later, on a rainy day, Mydei finally asks the question that has been running in his head ever since the first lily he gave Phainon.
"Why do you come by everyday? Why the lily?" He inquires when Phainon asks for his daily purchase.
Mydei almost regrets his words when that strange look of melancholy cloak Phainon's face, the same one that mars his handsome face every time he takes a whiff of the lilies he buys.
"…Promise you won't make fun of me?" Phainon's question is a whisper, uncharacteristically unsure of himself.
"Of course not, I'd never," Mydei frowns but answers in a tender and honest tone.
"I'm… I've been looking for someone."
They both fall silent, Phainon seemingly reminiscing memories of a distant past, Mydei studying his face.
"Sounds stupid, I know," Phainon chuckles halfheartedly, "It's not like he's going to magically show up…"
"Don't say that,"Mydei scowls before his voice softens, "There's no rule of what's stupid and what's not when missing someone."
Here and now, past the fluttering feelings Phainon awakens in him, past the inexplicable longing always depriving Mydei of thinking about anything else when Phainon is around, he realizes he wishes to learn more about him.
Phainon smiles warmly, ocean eyes stroking Mydei's skin like the warmest breeze, "Thank you."
Sensing how intimate and important the subject is to Phainon, Mydei doesn't pry further although his curiosity is even worse now. He'll wait for Phainon to tell him himself, if he wishes to.
Silence blankets them as Mydei prepares Phainon's lily of the day, both men deep in thought. Phainon departs after offering a fond smile to Mydei, a thing that's become an habit at the expense of the blond's heart. That day, Castorice closes the shop early, taking him to her favorite coffee shop to celebrate their first week of working together. Her giggles flow in the shop at Mydei's commentary on the pastries they try, ever analytical when it comes to baking. And if he ends up admitting his fondness for their most curious regular, no one but Castorice has to know.
~~~
As time passes, Mydei finds himself dreaming of blooming lilies, their blue or red petals entangled as they dance with the soft breeze. He dreams of lilies vibrating under a faceless child's grateful touch before he feels the stroke on his on hands, so vivid he often wakes up with his skin tingling.
One day, as Mydei is wrapping a ribbon around yet another lily, Phainon asks out of the blue:
"Aren't you going to ask who I'm looking for? Aren't you curious?"
Mydei's eyes widen in surprise and he looks up to meet blue eyes.
"Of course I'm curious," he huffs, "But I didn't want to pry." I can sense how important it is to you remains unsaid, but conveyed nonetheless.
Phainon's gaze softens - if that is even possible with how he's already looking at the blond.
"This flower, the lily… Someone I dearly miss gifted me one a long time ago. It was the first time I saw one… And also the last. I lost my vision shortly after." Phainon reveals in a soft voice, baring his heart out for Mydei to pick up and hold.
Mydei's eyes fly open in surprise. Words stuck in his throat, he studies Phainon's eyes. Those mesmerizing, breathtakingly beautiful eyes… How cruel of Fate to snatch one's vision away only to grant them those.
"But even if I can't see them no more," Phainon gestures to where he guesses Mydei is holding the lily, "Their scent is plenty enough to remind me of him."
Compassion surges in Mydei's chest and squeezes his heart as he understands where the longing and sorrowful expression overtaking Phainon's face each time he smells a lily comes from. The urge to wrap his hands around Phainon overwhelms him and the unexplained familiarity he feels for him soars, filling his entire being.
"But who…"
"When I was little, my parents took me on a trip to Castrum Kremnos. When we visited the market, I lost sight of them. It was so crowded and I was so small back then… I was so small back then, and I started panicking in the middle of the crowd, until I was gifted a lily."
Something shifts inside of Mydei with what he thought was a long forgotten memory resurfacing. His heart picks up and skips a beat, because it makes sense now, he sees it, remembers it-
"It was given to me by a boy my age…" Phainon's eyes crinkle as he reminisces.
A child, three apples tall, fat tears rolling down big baby cheeks and white hair bouncing with the shaking of his sobbing frame. Sympathy surging in Mydei at the sight, the sudden urge to console the boy not far away from him, quell his tears, promise him a better tomorrow. Him plucking a lily from a nearby bouquet before walking towards the crying boy-
"He had a fiery look on his face, blond and red locks, red tattoos on his skin despite his age…"
Everything clicks into place.
The sense of deja vu on the day he met Phainon, the reoccurring presence of a boy in his recent dreams, the pull he feels whenever Phainon is around as if they've met before and were destined to find each other again…
"Back then, this boy… Did he tell you his name?" Mydei asks in a fraying voice, bracing himself for the answer. The shop around him has faded entirely, world narrowed to Phainon only whom he thought he barely knew.
"He didn't, if only I had asked…" Phainon laments, "How foolish of me to hope to find him again without even knowing his name."
A shaky breath escapes Mydei's lips, now certain of the conclusion he has reached.
Phainon… Has been looking for him for years, with hardly nothing to work with, unable to rely on his sight nor his name to find him. Clinging to a flower's scent that reminded him of Mydei, hoping, aching, waiting for their reunion.
"You won't have to look for him anymore." Mydei can barely hear himself, heart thudding louder than his quiet voice.
He gazes deep into Phainon's eyes - this mesmerizing gaze he has grow to adore and now wishes to cherish, "It was me, Phainon. I am this boy you speak of."
Phainon's breath hitches, disbelief and hope flashing on his face. His hands fly upward in Mydei's direction, a tentative and unsure movement. This time, Mydei gives in the urge, letting go of the lily to join Phainon on his side of the counter and grab the shaking hands searching for his.
Phainon's hands are shaking but immediately squeeze the blond's with the intensity of a man catching a breath for the first time in his life.
"It was you…?" His voice breaks as tears of relief spill from his astriferous blue eyes.
"Yes, it was me, it is me, Phainon," Mydei whispers as he guides Phainon's hands to his own cheeks. Elegant hands unfurl to cradle his face, and this touch alone is enough to convey the depth of Phainon's devotion - it is the gentlest of touch, and Mydei tears up.
Their foreheads collide when Phainon leans down, shaken breaths falling on each other's teary yet happy faces. Gravity pulls their bodies closer, beating hearts finding one another, and everything feels right at last.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to find you." Phainon murmurs with a kiss that manages to catch one of Mydei's tears and his bared soul at once.
"I'm sorry I made you wait for so long."