Lance would never be able to get any tattoos, he thought they just wouldn't suit him. Though, across the street, a new tattoo parlor had opened up and boy did he love how those tattoos looked on the new owner. He looked to be around Lance's age, with dark, purple eyes, distinctly Asian features and an incredibly stupid mullet.
Lance sighed to himself as he turned away from the flower shop's window and went to the back to finish the bouquet he had been arranging. The order was due in about 18 minutes and he wasn't exactly sure which flowers to use.
According to the customer on a scale of 1-10 she fucked up on about a level 7 with her girlfriend. So far, he decided on white tulips and pink carnations. Sighing again he looked around his shop.
The walls where a mixture of pastel purples and light blues that had faded over the years, with a few rows of religious idols, incenses and some scented extracts. He never understood why his mother started selling them, but people bought them so he had no reason to ditch the trend.
He groaned and finally settled on finishing the bouquet with some snapdragons and a red and white rose in the middle. Its not like many people ever bothered with the actual meaning of the flowers anyway as long as it got the job done. He set the finished bouquet in the refrigerator waiting for it to be picked up.
When the bell chimed he looked over at the distressed girl. If he didn't know better he would say she had probably killed a man with her car.
"I called about a bouquet, I said it was level 7. My girlfriend is absoulutely pissed at me, its her birthday and we had dinner plans two hours ago and I completely forgot" she stumbled as she reached out for the bouquet Lance at fetched from the back.
"Oooh, yeah you're definitely gonna need these man, I have something that might earn you a few extra brownie points if you wanna butter her up in compliments" he suggested as he tying a ribbon around the bouquet.
"You know what, I'll take it" with that he went to get one of the preserved flower crown he occasionally made and brought it back for her, this one being made with a few different colored roses.
Lance reached out and handed her the the box holding said crown, he could see the slight relief on the girl's face as she quietly muttered "I'm so glad my girlfriend is a hipster right now" Lance tried to hold in his laughter as he finished charging her for the stuff.
As soon as she ran out he let out his laughter. Relationships definitely had their ups and downs. He silently prayed for her.
Now If only he could get himself to talk to the guy across the street, he thought blandly to himself.
He glanced at the clock and decided he'd start cleaning up and checking inventory, he had an hour left until closing time and there was no way he was missing tonight's episodes of Sin Senos Sí Hay Paraíso and La Esclava Blanca.
Once he was done with inventory he began bringing in the flowers he had on display outside. He turned around to glance over at the Red Lion Tattoo Parlor again in hopes of catching a glimpse of a certain mullet head only to see said mullet walking towards the shop. Lance turned back around, the guy was probably just heading home or something. No need to be creepy.
"Uh, sorry to bother you but are you still open?" He asked, Lance took a moment to observe the sleeves on his arms. One of them being tied with what he believed to be Japanese culture. A grey dragon with red cherry blossom petals going around his forearm. The dragon was fierce and seemed to have an all knowing gaze. He wasn't sure how but he thought it was staring into his soul.
After a moment of silence Lance finally replied.
"Yeah, still have a couple minutes until closing, um, my names Lance, what can I get you uh..." He cut off, for once Lance decided against insulting the hot guy he was interested in. Oh how much he's matured over the years.
"Keith, my name's Keith, I just want a couple of flowers for my apartment. A friend of mine thinks they'll liven up my "depressingly empty" apartment" he replied sheepishly.
Lance couldn't help but left out a small laugh. Keith glared at him and a small pout made its way onto his lips. He certainly didn't enjoy Lance's reaction.
"I have a couple of cacti and some potted plants." Lance said smiling at Keith, cheeks slightly flushed. He turned around and brought in the last remaining pots and beckoned for Keith to follow.
"So mullet man, do you have any idea what kind of flowers or plants you want in your 'depressingly empty' apartment" Lance said freely
"Mullet man?"
There goes your maturity Lance. Fuck, evade, abort mission.
"If you want something for a table or counter that's low maintenance, I recommend rainbow hedgehog cacti or a Gymnocalycium" Lance said as he continued to ramble on about the different plants Keith could take home.
Keith couldn't help but stare at Lance, he wasn't sure how radiant one man could be just rambling on about plants. He had met many different kinds of people in his life but he never met someone who seemed to glisten like Lance did. He actually found himself enjoying listening. Maybe the ink was finally getting to him.
As Lance and Keith were leaving the shop Lance risked a glance at Keith again and started thinking to himself, what better chance to ask him out then now? How was he gonna royally screw this up? Should he really try asking him out at all?
Ugh, he hated this.
Fuck it.
"So, Keith, are you busy this weekend, if you're not would you like to hang out with me and some pals of mine?" Lance internally cringed. Hunk and Pidge were gonna love this.
Keith looked at Lance in surprise. He wasn't expecting to be invited to hang out with flower boy, let alone him and his friends. Maybe a change of pace would be good for him.
"Sure, I close shop early on Sundays if that's cool"
"That's perfect! I'm not open on most Sundays"
"Most Sundays?" Keith asked, confused by the weird schedule.
"Mamá would open shop for some holidays, like Father's Day or Easter Sunday, I just run with it now." Lance replied
Keith nodded in understanding.
"Can I have your number, so I can let you know where we're gonna meet up" Lance said quickly, flushing a deep red.
Get it together pendejo you're not in middle school anymore, he thought to himself.
"Sure, here give me your phone" Keith took the unlocked phone and added his contact info unaware of Lance's inner war.
"Great, good, awesome, I'll see you on Sunday then, gotta go, te veo Keith" He said as he ran off, hating himself for running off like and leaving Keith standing there a bit dumbfounded.
He actually managed to -technically- ask him out. Score one for adult Lance.
He stopped once he was out of sight and texted Keith real quick so he would also have his number. He looked at the time and screamed
"PUÑETA I'M GONNA MISS SIN SENOS SÍ HAY PARASÍO" He bolted down the streets hoping he would make it to his apartment on time.
He couldn't wait for Sunday.
