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“How do I passive aggressively say fuck you in a bouquet?”
Will paused, his hand frozen in the act of flipping the page of his magazine. The stranger was breathing heavily, his eyes dark and wild, and he was leaning heavily on the doorway he had just burst through.
“Well,” Will spoke carefully, lowering his magazine. “I do have some orange lilies in the back.”
The stranger shook his head with bewilderment. “What?”
Will stood, already preparing the paper and ribbon for a bouquet. “Orange lilies signify passionate hatred. Close enough?”
The stranger grinned, low and dangerous. “Perfect. I’ll take em.”
Will, caught between the intense desire to either question the other boy or laugh, simply nodded, prepared the flowers, and watched him leave with only a bit of regret for not doing either.
The next week was slow, as in flower business there weren’t many entertaining emergencies other than the usual oh god I forgot his/her birthday and they are going to kill me extremely slowly/painfully please oh gods help me.
Will had just waved out one of his usual customers, an older gentlemen whose wife had a fondness for sunflowers, when the bell over the door clashed violently, and suddenly a man - the angry stranger from a week before, Will remembered - was standing in front of the counter, looking far too relaxed. He shot Will a grin, running a hand through his wild hair, and spoke with an easy grace.
“How do I say, you’re an awesome history tutor, really, honestly you are, but due to awkward circumstances I’ve decided it’s best we just go our separate ways?”
Will cocked his head to the side, considering. “Welcome to Petal to the Metal flower shop.” He greeted, mostly to be polite but also to give him a moment to think. “Actually…yellow roses have been known to be called the break up flower, that could apply?”
He nodded happily. “Include a card too. Write, To Annabeth, Sorry I was in love with your boyfriend. With not-love, Nico.”
Will snorted out a laugh, his pen hovering over the standard card. “For real?” He tried to stifle his laughter, but the giggles erupted anyways.
The stranger - Nico? - only shrugged and leaned against the counter with a lazy grin. “It happens.”
“If you say so.” Will simply agreed, scrawling out the message in his neatest handwriting. Still not very impressive, and he probably should have gotten Katie or Calypso to write it out, but it would have to do. He fetched the roses, a pre-made bouquet he had made that earlier that rainy morning, and returned to the front.
“Is that all?” Will questioned, clipping that note on and turning to the register.
“They’re nice.” Nico remarked instead, ignoring Will’s question. Will pushed away the bubble of pride growing in his chest, instead giving him a loose shrug.
“We here at Petal to the Metal flowers sell only the edgiest, coolest flowers around.” Will told him, his voice dull as he pounded out the order into the ancient register.
Nico snorted a laugh, handing over a sleek black credit card. “Do you enjoy roses?” He asked after a moment, looking calculating.
Will resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose. It was, as Katie would lecture, bad form. “They’re not my favorite.” He finally settled on, feeling a bit proud he hadn’t defaulted to one of his other favorite adjectives, such as overpriced or ugly.
Nico stared at him, “They’re a bit overrated.” He agreed, staring at Will a bit too much for his comfort. Will turned, mostly to get out of Nico’s sight but also to grab his receipt.
“Have a punk rock day.” Will ended, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Why Katie had decided a metal rock themed flower shop was a good idea, he would never, ever understand.
Nico chuckled, saluting him weakly before turning, and Will had to honest to gods resist full on gawking at the back of his skin tight jeans.
Will pulled the thick textbook out from under the counter, briefly wondering if there even was a flower significance section for subsequent trouble, but knowing he was about to find out.
“Mitchell will love them.” Will reassured the other man, Katie’s brother-in-law if he was correct, and he spared another comforting grin. “First dates are awkward, but these flowers are beautiful, trust me.”
Connor gave him another nervous smile, taking the flowers carefully as if there was more to them then steam and petal. “Thanks Will, I owe you one.”
Will waved him off, praying that Mitchell wouldn’t suddenly develop an allergy or any other factor that could keep the flowers from being the special gift they were suppose to be.
“That was nice.” A voice broke the silence and wow, of course, Nico was peeling himself off the wall he must have been leaning against. When he had even entered the shop, Will couldn’t have said, and he was surprised to note how much he didn’t even mind that the other boy had snuck up on him.
Will beamed a bit, ignoring the happiness pounding in his chest, “What unique flower meaning request do you have for me today?”
“I’ve been reading up.” Will added at last second, grinning. “I have to admit, you’ve kept me on my toes these past few weeks.”
“Have I?” Nico questioned with his own grin. “Have I kept anything else up these past few weeks?”
Will choked on a laugh, and it was nice how often he was able to make Will do that. “Just -” Will cut himself off with another laugh, “Just, what do you need?”
Nico grinned. “Im thinking…how about something like, you’re a really amazing sister, and I will love you forever, but you and Frank really need to quiet it down when it comes to your nighttime activities.”
This time Will didn’t even bother try to quiet down his laughter, only choking on his rough giggles for a long moment.
“Really?” Will asked, giving the other boy a look full of good humor.
Nico crossed his arms, looking playfully defensive. “You don’t know my life, sunshine.”
Will laughed, this time for an entirely different reason. “Sunshine? That’s my name now?”
Nico stunk his nose in the air, clicking his tongue. Even like this, Will could see how easy it would be fall for him.
“Well, it seems someone so rudely forget to introduce himself, so I had to go off with what I had.”
Will raised his eyebrows, “It’s Will, actually. And for your flowers…” He thought for a long moment. “The closest flower I can think of that is maybe the maidenhair fern? It stands for discretion.” Will shrugged, but he was smiling. “Close enough?”
Nico was smiling right back at him, and Will tried not to beam excitedly like he really, really wanted to. “Close enough.” He agreed, pulling his wallet out. “Although, as I’m sure you’ll agree, this one might be best occupied with a card as well.”
“Good call.”
“Will!” Katie sung out loudly, despite the fact that their entire shop was smaller than Will’s apartment, which wasn’t exactly luxurious. “We have a customer asking for you!”
Will plucked off his dirty gloves, rubbing the dirt off his jeans. They only have to pack the soil every once in awhile, but Will had always enjoyed it. He briefly entertained the idea of who it could be - his mother, stopping in to say hello, or Connor, maybe, to let him know how his date with Mitchell went, or perhaps, most impossible of all -
Nico grinned at him before behind the counter, and at his side Katie was very pointedly Not Looking At Him, which he knew meant she was almost vibrating with the temptation to simply pull him in the back and interrogate him.
“I can handle this.” He gave her his best charming smile, almost wanting to push her in the direction when she hesitated.
She shot him a look that promised him don’t worry, I’ll be getting answers later and dunked in the back room.
“What can I get for you today?” Will laid out a few papers, ready for whatever the other boy had planned for him today.
Nico, looking particularly good today if Will says so himself, only smiled, but it wasn’t suggestive or dangerous or anything, but instead it was soft, and highlighted by the slight blush on his cheeks.
“How do I say….you’re a really amazing person and incredibly funny and I have a huge enormous crush on you and I’m actually really hoping you’ll go out to coffee with me?”
Will’s lips parted, a bit in surprise but mostly in attraction. “Um. That’s a tough one.” He struggled to think, his cheeks reddening. “Well. Um. With a situation like that, well, um, the traditional red roses seem fit I guess. With the, uh, love and all.”
Nico leaned forward, his elbows on the counter. “I do believe that you once mentioned your dislike for roses. What else could I go with?”
Will swallowed, and wow, was it hot in here? That had to be bad for the flowers right? He should talk to Katie about that.
“Um. My favorite flowers are lilacs?” He tried again, clearing his throat.
“Spectacular.” Nico answered, leaning in. “Do I need to get a card or do you think that point will get across?”
Will stood, mostly for the fact he could more easily hide his nervous, shaking hands. “Oh, um, I think you’ll be fine. Point wise.”
Nico grinned, suggestively. “You think my point is fine?”
Will groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Shut up.” He sighed, embarrassment and blushing cheeks somehow emerging itself through the words.
Will finally looked up, and his voice was a tad stronger now. “If you’re not going to be getting a discount on your flowers from now on or anything.”
“Of course not. That would be preposterous.” Nico agreed, his voice cheerful.
Will bit his lip. “And…coffee sounds great, honestly.”
“Great.” He grinned, scribbling his number on the back of a receipt. He held it out Will, pulling it away last second to stare seriously into Will’s eyes. “I fully expect a banquet of your most meaningful flowers.” He told him, handing the paper over with a spark of humor in his gaze.
“Without a doubt.” Will finally settled on. “I…Have a punk rock day.”
Nico grinned back at him, something like dangerous and excitement dancing in his eyes. “Without a doubt.” He repeated back, pushing himself off the counter.
Will could almost feel Katie’s eyes cutting into his back, and he almost wanted to sigh. “I’ll text you,”
“Don’t forget to gift yourself some flowers.” Nico pointed at him, a strict look in his eyes. “I know my account is on file, and I fully expect it to be slightly lower by the time I get home.”
Will blushed, an act that was becoming more and more common around the other boy. He waved to Nico as he left, and he couldn’t help clenching the small scrap of paper to his chest.
His hands itched to flip through the ancient textbook, and this time he didn’t resist.
After all, it seemed he had the responsibility of bring the most meaningful flowers ever, and he was never one to disappoint.
(He would eventually settle on a bundle of soft colored primroses, which Nico would absolutely fall in love with).