Author: KatiKat
Warning: AU
Rating: PG
Pairings: 1+2
Archives: KatiKat and Friends
Disclaimer: Not mine, you can check! No money made here. It's all just for fun :)
Notes: I really don't like this fic. Don't know why. I had this idea but it didn't turn up as I wanted. But since it's finished and I bothered my beta with it already, I decided to post it after all. As usually my thank you goes to my wonderful beta DMx04!
Different: The Florist and the Lawyer
The door to the small florist shop opened with a tinkling sound. The newcomer, one Duo Maxwell, lawyer and partner in the Maxwell&Maxwell agency, looked up at the small bell that was still swinging from side to side over his head. The heart of the bell was shaped into the form of a small dragon. He smiled. Cute.
Duo looked around. The shop was just as small on the inside as it looked like from the outside. Every inch was covered in flowers - blue, red, white, orange, yellow and green, lots of green. It looked like the small place was drowning in colors.
He moved carefully through the fragile pieces of nature's life, until he reached the wide hardwood counter. He smiled, seeing the small paper origami animals strewn over the surface.
"Hello?" he called. No one answered. He shrugged and kept looking around. Quatre, his best friend, recommended this shop to him. And Quatre was always right. He didn't mind waiting a little bit. He was in no hurry after all.
His eyes moved up, and he stood mesmerized by what he saw. There over his head paper dragons hung. It was obvious that they were hand made. It took someone a lot of time and love to build and paint them. They were beautiful.
Duo tore his gaze from the paper dragons just in time to see a young man appear from the back of the shop, arms full of red roses with long stems. The man paused, obviously surprised that there was someone in the shop. They just stood there and stared at each other for a long time.
Duo liked what he saw. The florist was of Japanese origin, which explained the paper dragons and the origami. He was a couple of inches shorter than Duo, had messy brown hair which fell into his beautiful blue eyes and very kissable pouty lips. He smiled as the Japanese man blinked. Duo knew that his look might cause some surprise by people. You don't see a man with such a long braid and violet eyes every day after all. He smiled.
"Hi," he greeted the florist.
"Hello and welcome to Paper Dragon," came the answer. The florist went to the counter and carefully laid down the roses. "What can I do for you?"
Polite but not meeting my eyes, Duo noticed. "I need some flowers, maybe a bouquet of some sort."
"And what sort of flowers would you like?"
"What would you recommend?" Duo asked and picked up an origami giraffe. The florist followed his customer's hand with his gaze, so Duo made sure not to damage the paper animal.
"That depends on the occasion."
"Well, it's actually for an anniversary. 5th anniversary to be exact."
The florist nodded and pondered his request. "Would you like something exotic?"
Duo thought about it for a while. He tried to imagine Hilde with something exotic but failed. She was pretty but more in the puppy dog way. She was more cute than beautiful. No, he decided. Hilde definitely wasn't the exotic type. "No, I don't think so." His eyes fell on the Japanese man's hands. He watched him pick rose after rose and check the stems before sorting it in two different groups. The florist had wonderful hands; slim, with long fingers. "What about red roses?" he asked absentmindedly.
"Yes, roses are always a good choice," the other man agreed with him. "How many do you want?"
"A dozen."
The Japanese man nodded again, and started to put together a bouquet for him. Duo watched the florist's sure moves, then moved his gaze up to his face. He was beautiful, Duo would even say fascinating. "What's your name?" Duo asked suddenly without thinking about it.
The florist blinked and looked directly at him for the first time since he came in. "Heero Yuy," he answered.
"Heero," Duo let the name roll on his tongue. "It's beautiful."
The florist blushed and returned to his work. Finally the bouquet was done and Heero offered Duo a small card. "For best wishes," he explained.
Duo took the card. It had a beautifully drawn little dragon on the foreside. He opened it and took the pen Heero handed him. For a moment he pondered what he should write. Maybe something funny? Or maybe something deep? Finally, he shrugged and decided for something short and simple. 'Best wishes! Love, Duo' he wrote and when he handed the pen back to its owner, he noticed that Heero looked away quickly, obviously having read the card secretly. Duo blinked with surprise. Did Heero look disappointed? Well well well. He grinned to himself.
He thanked Heero, paid with his credit card, then took the beautiful bouquet - Quatre had been right with his recommendation, again - and went to the door. Hand on the handle, he turned around to catch Heero watching his retreating back and look away quickly. He grinned again.
"I will stop by again, Heero," he called back. Heero blinked at him in surprise. Then Duo was gone.
~*~
Two days later...
The door opened with the tinkling of a bell again. Heero looked down where he was watering the plants hanging from the ceiling, while standing on a small ladder. He looked startled when he spotted Duo standing in the door.
"Didn't think I would come back?" the braided man asked with a smile.
The florist shrugged and finished pouring the water from his can. He then started to climb down the ladder. Duo walked over and took the can from him, so that he could do it more safely. Heero blinked at him again and Duo grinned.
"By the way, I'm Duo Maxwell," he introduced himself, offering the florist his right hand. Heero took it slowly, gingerly, as if it would bite and Duo found himself marveling at the warmth of Heero's hand and how perfectly it fit in his.
When Heero finally pulled away and put away the ladder, he followed him back to the counter. He put the can down on it and waited for the florist to return from the back of the shop.
When Heero reappeared again, Duo greeted him with a small paper angel he pulled out of his pocket. He bought a book and learned how to do origami. He did this one especially for Heero. The other man looked startled once again, but took the fragile paper creature automatically.
"Will you go out with me?" Duo asked all of a sudden, startling the florist who was still looking at the angel, obviously not understanding why was Duo giving him this.
"Excuse me?" Heero asked, surprised.
Duo leaned against the counter. "I asked if you would go out with me," he repeated. He saw something flash through Heero's eyes before it disappeared again.
"Wouldn't your girlfriend be a little upset?" Heero asked putting the angel on the counter carefully.
Now it was time for Duo to blink in surprise. "My who?"
Heero waved his arm. "Your girlfriend. The one for whom you bought the roses."
Duo grinned. "Oh, you mean Hilde?" He laughed. "Well, since she is in Hawaii right now, celebrating her anniversary with her husband who happens to be my brother, I don't think she would mind."
Heero blushed, realizing his misinterpretation. "Oh."
"So," Duo said and picked up the paper angel, offering it back to Heero. "Will you go out with me then?"
Heero was looking down at the angel, not meeting his eyes. "You mean like a date?" the Japanese man asked quietly.
Duo nodded. "Yeah. Like a date. Movie and popcorn or dinner with candles. Something like that. It's your call."
Heero wasn't saying anything for the longest of moments and Duo started to fear that he misinterpreted the signals Heero was sending out the last time he was here. When the silence was starting to get uncomfortable, he thought about taking back what he asked just a couple of minutes ago, turning it into a joke or something. Then Heero finally spoke.
"I would like that," he whispered and met Duo's eyes straight ahead as if he wanted to make sure that it was no joke, that Duo was really sincere. Duo smiled at him reassuringly and tried to project all the sincerity he could.
"That's wonderful," the braided man said. "Tomorrow? 6 pm? I will pick you up when you close your shop, okay?"
The florist nodded, and Duo noticed the light in his eyes. It made Duo incredibly happy, like nothing else in the world. It was an all encompassing feeling that made him feel 10 feet tall and he couldn't help but keep grinning like an idiot. Seeing the small smile that grazed Heero's lips made him feel even better. Somehow he felt like he won the lottery, as if he was on the search for a holy grail his whole life, and now he found him.
And with time, he understood that he really did.
OWARI
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