'I work part-time in a flower shop and you keep asking me about what this flower means in flower language and I honestly don't know so you end up giving me a lesson' AU
Kaneki watered the row of flowers in the window absentmindedly, longing to get back to his reading. He'd just gone to the library the last weekend, and found some riveting little collections of short stories. This job would hopefully benefit him in the end, though, contributing to his college classes. Until then…
He looked up as he finished the last pot, meeting the eyes of a blonde- that looked about his age- window shopping. He grinned and waved, and Kaneki, not sure how to respond, waved back with his free hand. The blonde laughed, though he couldn't hear it through the glass, and crossed the short distance to the door. The little overhead bell chimed as he entered, and Kaneki suppressed a groan. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a flower enthusiast, or an enthusiast period. He just worked here part-time, and not by choice.
"Welcome." Kaneki offered instead, plastering a small smile over his lips out of habit.
"Thanks. Say, do you think you could help me?" he said, walking slowly along the wall, back to Kaneki. He brushed his fingers along the soft petals of one type of flower, finally looking over his shoulder.
"Ah, I actually won't be much help-" Kaneki tried, but the customer wouldn't have it.
"It won't take long, and then you can get back to work, I swear! I just need a flower that means, like… get well or something. One of my friends caught this bug, and- oh, what's this one mean?" The blonde paused right in the middle of his explaination- who does that…?- to gently pick up a bouquet of white flowers. They looked almost like cups, curling over at the lip. He looked at Kaneki expectantly, but then his hand darted to another bouquet.
The bouquet was composed of two plants, one an agglomeration of soft-looking pink petals, almost like a rose, and what seemed to be puffs of tiny white flowers at the end of long, green stems. The blonde set the white flowers down, opting to closely inspect to new boquet.
"Hmm. I liked the Calla Lillies, but would… uh, the Peonies and Queen Anne's Lace be better? I guess whichever one would be good to give to a friend, who's sick." The stranger was quiet, thoughtful, as Kaneki fidgeted with his apron. His brown eyes lifted from the flowers to Kaneki's eyes, and he forced his mouth to move.
"I… don't know. I don't really study flowers. This is just a part time j-job." Kaneki said, and the stranger looked crestfallen. Oh no.
"Shame." The stranger fell silent once again, taking one last sniff of the plants in his hand before placing them back in their spot. Then his eyes widened, and he laughed. Kaneki stared at him, curious. The blonde started to laugh even harder to Kaneki's bewilderment, nearly doubling over.
"My friend is allergic to flowers, oh my God." He finally wheezed. "Thank you, though. Have a nice day!" He said, taking his leave, his smile blinding. Kaneki couldn't get the stranger out of his mind for the rest of the day.
The next day, Kankei was taking inventory. He found himself mulling over the names of the flowers, wondering about their significance. He was near the back of the store when the bell announced a customer.
"Welcome!" Kaneki called, and returned to his work. The rapid footsteps stole his attention, however, and honestly, what did he expect.
"The Calla Lily. Magnificence, beauty. Great for weddings, 'cause white represents purity. Bonus. Peonies. Bashfulness, compassion. The Lace, complexity and delicacy. And for the record, Hydrangeas and Pansies would've been great suggestions yesterday." The blonde stranger said, glaring down Kaneki. His face lifted once his little speech was over. Honestly, though, was naevity towards the meanings of certain flowers that big of an offense? Before he could utter a thank you, even though he didn't really want to, the blonde sped out with a happy little smile on his face. Bastard.
"Hey, Ken," he heard the next day, and he looked up from his book in shock before he realized that his name was literally on his clothes, "Do you know what roses mean?" Kaneki glared for a minute, and the stranger raised his eyebrows.
"Um, love and whatever. Right?" He tried, eyes falling back to the pages.
"Aha, that's what a novice flower-person such as you would say- and slacking on the job, I am absolutely appalled at you, Ken- but the red rose means love. The other colors can represent something totally different! For example, if I gave my boyfriend or girlfriend a yellow rose, they would probably get offended. Do you know why?"
Kaneki pushed down his annoyance at the jab, the bubbly voice practically in his ear, and the overall friendliness of this person. and suppressed a surprised jolt at the man's openness. He just wanted to read his book and make some cash. But he hazarded a guess anyhow.
Kaneki raised his eyes and looked the blonde up and down. He was in a brightly colored jacket, halfway zipped up over some graphic tee, and jeans. He nearly scoffed in distaste at the jacket, which hurt his eyes to behold. "Because yellow is an awful color?"
The blonde looked at his predominantly yellow jacket and pouted. "It means friendship, meanie." Kaneki chuckled and the stranger shook his head, prepared to storm off and hopefully out of the store. "I'm Hide, by the way. Asshole." Hide stuck his tongue out before he left, looking too much like a five-year old for Kaneki to take. He was struck by fits of laughter every time he looked at a rose the rest of his shift.
Hide visited no less than three times a week for the next month, each occasion accompanied with another educational lesson on the connotations of one of the flowers. Kaneki became surprisingly more and more tolerant of Hide's antics as time wore on, and soon began to enjoy learning a little about his job. He found himself almost rushing to get to work in the afternoons, caring for the plants with vigor and gusto, anxiously awaiting the other. Soon, their small talk evolved into real talk, and the topic drifted from flowers, to work, to school, and to life in general. However, he did feel a bit stung about the occasional insult Hide managed to get in, and planned a rebuttal of sorts.
The next time Hide came into the shop, Kaneki was prepared. He didn't bother with the traditional greeting, instead handing the blonde a single flower upon his arrival. It was beautiful- Kaneki had to admit that now he was actually looking at the plants that he worked with, he could appreciate them much more- and had only cost him a bit out of his paycheck. Almost fiery, the orange-red petals seemed to glow and the bright yellow center popped against them. Hide looked at him, smile threatening to compromise his poker face.
"The Cosmos. It means order and harmony, which you could use some of, I think." Kaneki stated, smiling impishly. Hide laughed loudly, though Kaneki couldn't imagine him ever doing anything quietly. Hide spun away from him quickly and scanned the nearby plethora of flowers. He cackled and ran over to pluck one of the purple ones out of their holders, Lisianthus. The oval petals spun out and up from the small bulbs in the center, and Hide presented it to him proudly. He took it it spun it around, examining the almost blue-lavender appraisingly.
"An outgoing nature, and a bit of appreciation. How do you like them apples?" Hide chirped, and Kaneki burst out laughing again.
"Did you really just say that, oh my god." Kaneki said quietly, and Hide snorted and put his hands over his face, mindful of the Cosmo in his grasp.
"Oh my god, I did. Do me a favor and kill me, Ken. Use me as fertilizer for these beautiful flowers." Hide groaned dramatically, peeking one eye out from between his fingers.
"Don't tempt me." Kaneki warned, and then sighed. "I have to get back to work. My boss caught me with my book again, I can't afford another slip up."
"Aha, what did I tell you? At least you might be able to persuade him for a promotion, now that you know all about the flora."
"No." Kaneki said, flatly, and Hide almost giggled. Kaneki smiled as their eyes met, each holding their respective flowers. Kaneki tilted his head, and his smile slipped. He held up the Lisianthus. "You have to pay for this."
"Aw, no, can't you do a friend a favor?"
"No."
"Homies help homies!"
"No."
"It's yours, maybe you should buy it."
"Hide, you gave it to me. I'm not paying for a gift, dummy."
"Then.. what if I trade you something for it?"
"Unless it's cash, no deal. It's like, two dollars." Kaneki was about to place it back on the shelf behind Hide and get back to work, when Hide darted forward and pressed his lips against Kaneki's cheek. His face flushed, and Hide pulled back as quickly as he came. He looked worriedly at Kaneki, he needed to react, say something, but all he could do was shakily touch the spot where Hide had kissed him. Or… he could…
Without a word- please don't take this the wrong way- he slipped hurriedly down the aisle to the front of the store, where they kept the roses. He struggled to remember his lesson on which color meant what. Yellow was friendship, red was love…
"K-Ken? I'm sorry, hey, I should have asked first." Hide's voice was getting closer, and he didn't have the flower to tell Hide what he couldn't say out loud.
And then it hit him. Flowers, their importance, the meaning, everything. As he gazed up the wall to where the bigger bouquets of the more expressive flowers were held, he couldn't help but envision lovers, friends, family, all expressing themselves using these beautiful, perfect methods of communication. His heart hammered as Kaneki finally settled on the rose he wanted, nearly grinning at its applicability as Hide's sneakers squeaked right behind him.
"Ken, are you-" He shut up as Kaneki presented him with the flower, petals spiraling from yellow up into red. It was almost golden, in fact, and Kaneki chuckled softly at its resemblance to Hide's hair. Hide furrowed his eyebrows. He must've not known this one, at he was surprised that the blonde couldn't figure it out.
"I'll pay for both, Hide. Take the rose, and I'll see you later." Kaneki all but forced his friend out of the store, the Cosmos and the rose clutched tightly in his hand. Kaneki did muster up the courage to quickly peck the other on the cheek though, and fleetingly thought that the look on Hide's face made up for the past month of teasing.
And later that night, finishing up the novel that he'd barely had time for (he was too busy Googling flowers and looking into starting a garden- like, an actual garden), when his phone buzzed. Kaneki's lips curled up into a pleased smile.