Hinahoho had thought it would be a boring day at the shop that morning, but he was wrong about this. Oh so wrong.
He'd thought it would be the slowest day of the week as he sketched on a stray piece of paper and regretted his life decisions. This concept of boredom was swept away when soon after the shop opened, someone came barging in, throwing the door open dramatically and charging to the counter and slamming their hand down loudly.
He blinked down confusedly and took in what he could of the person, mostly just a poof of blue hair and the back of her half shirt and skorts. "Um…can I help you with something?" He asked to the panting woman as she leaned against counter for support.
She snapped her head up then, an intense expression on her face. "I NEED A BOUQUET THAT PASSIVE AGGRESSIVELY SAYS FUCK YOU!"
"Um….what?" Hina asked in befuddlement, actually taking a step back as something about this was rather intimidating.
As though to further trouble him, the woman burst out laughing, cocking her head back and laughing so hard she nearly choked before finally composing herself and smiling good naturedly. "Oh geez….leave it to me to make a dramatic entrance" She sighed then, fixing her now riled hair and smoothing out the wrinkles in her clothes. "Anyway my name's Rurumu, and my boss' birthday is today….so I wanted to know if I could make a bouquet full of negative meanings to low key express my subtle burning hatred for her?"
Hinahoho blinked a moment before regaining his composure. This Rurumu woman was certainly peculiar, but she seemed better than she was like three seconds before so that was an improvement at least. "Oh yeah sure….let me just….get my cheat sheet."
"Cheat sheet?" Rurumu asked curiously, cocking her head to one side.
Hinahoho nodded as he made his way to the nearby desk drawer and retrieved the sheet of paper he'd written up for himself. "Yeah…I'm just working here for the summer so I'm not used to the flower meanings just yet….so my mom was nice enough to make me a chart for the different meanings….oh my name's Hinahoho by the way…now let's see…."
"Oh Hinahoho's a lovely name…so how did you land a job at a flower shop, Hina? Oh..can I call you that or would you prefer another nickname?" She asked, smiling a bit awkwardly.
Hinahoho just shrugged again. "You can call me whatever…and it's a family business…how much are you willing to spend on this?"
"Oh….okay….whatever it is then…..oh….um….something small will do so….this much maybe?" She said thoughtfully, placing her money on the counter.
"Alright….for a 'fuck you' bouquet you'll need some geraniums, foxgloves, meadowsweets, yellow carnations, and orange lilies…that's all the flowers with negative meanings on here…let's see what it looks like shall we?"
Going to collect a few of each type of flower, he beckoned for Rurumu to follow him. She did, and he noticed that she would stop occasionally and smell some of the flowers, it was kind of cute the way she tried to make it look like she was stopping for some other reason such as adjusting her skorts or straightening the tags on each shelf.
"So…why do you hate your boss so much anyway?" He asked curiously as he collected the flowers for her bouquet.
Rurumu let out a chuckle and averted her gaze a bit. "That is a long story….a lot of them actually…but basically she tried to accuse me of embezzling money to cover for her friend but I proved my innocence and she almost lost her job…ever since then she's been trying to make my life miserable….it's great." Her voice was somehow both factual sounding and heavily sarcastic, and Hina found himself musing about how smooth her voice sounded in general. She was the kind of person who's voice was soothing, and he had the sinking feeling that she could have been rambling about literally anything and still be enchanting.
"Wow…that's awful…where do you work?" Hina asked as he began arranging the flowers in the bouquet, fussing with it a bit to get it just the way he wanted it since he wasn't in any rush to get rid of his friend just yet.
"Just a clothing store in the mall…" Rurumu said flatly. "It's not much but it pays and I needed a summer job to save up for graduation."
"Oh I see…seems like a bit of a waste buying this for your boss then though doesn't it?" Why was he suddenly concerned at the thought of her wasting her money? He was supposed to be selling flowers, not talking customers out of buying them. What was the matter with him?
"I guess…but I can afford to be petty once in awhile can't I? Why…are you worried about me?" She asked, a playful smirk making her way to her face.
Hinahoho grinned, an idea coming to him. "Well…it just so happens we have a discount for that….you know what they say….a petty act a year….fills you with cheer? I dunno…I was trying to sound cool…" What? Was? He? Saying?
Rurumu giggled then. "If you insist on a discount I won't argue…but it's not a big deal really…"
He shook his head and led her back to the front of the store. "I insist….consider it a thank you for making today…interesting….to say the least."
Blushing then, Rurumu nodded. "I can come back again later then…heck…I could make all your days…interesting…" She said silkily, leaning over the counter with a lopsided grin plastered on her face.
Hinahoho swallowed the lump in his throat, suddenly breathless. "Are you….flirting with me?" He asked lamely.
Blushing harder, Rurumu straightened again, tugging at her hair. "Maybe a little…sorry."
Hinahoho shook his head. "I..it's alright…but before you go…I have something for you…" He disappeared for a moment, coming back with a single red rose that had a piece of paper tied to the stem.
Looking down at it, a grin made its way to her face. On the paper was written his name, phone number, and a single line that read: "Call me and tell me how things went with your boss, and more importantly, may all your days be…interesting. Thanks -Hinahoho."
"Thank you so much, I'll be sure to call…thanks for everything." She thanked brightly before blowing a little kiss and leaving him alone in the flower shop once again, pondering over the thought that his life just might have changed completely that fateful day.