Title: Killarmus grandis
Author: general nothing
Prompt #13: "Don't touch that." prompt in a box lj
Word Count: 837
Genre: General/Friendship (and my obligatory bit o' angst)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Not much. Fictionalized plant names and a rapid descent into angst-dom.
Fandom: Tin Man
Pairing/Character: Jeb/OC pre-romance
Summary: "I'm looking for some flowers," Jeb says. He immediately blushes when he realizes what he says and where he says it.
Timeline: Post-miniseries
Author's Note: Yay! Not!Porn fic! And it's Jeb!Fic! Also, not beta-ed. Special thanks to Rebecca for the Killarmus grandis. Thanks bb!
"Don't touch that."
The voice is soft and next to his ear, but it had been silent just a moment earlier, so the sudden intrusion into the quiet makes Jeb Cain flinch and jerk his hand back from the plant he was reaching towards.
"Excuse me?" he says, feeling his heart in his throat and turns toward the owner of the voice. The girl is pretty, deep red hair and bright green eyes. She's shorter than Jeb by at least a head and small all around. Jeb's eyes trail down her body before he can stop himself and a blush rises in his cheeks when he sees that she's noticed his inspection.
"I said not to touch that," she says, pointing to the plant behind Jeb. "It's a Killarmus grandis. It can incapacitate a grown man in less than a minute if they're exposed to the venom."
"How is one exposed to the venom?" Jeb asks, moving away from the plant. "And why would you have a plant like that in a flower shop?"
"It shoots darts," the girl says, grabbing the base of the pot the plant is in and carrying it to the back. "It's one of my brother's experiments," she calls from over her shoulder. "He must have left it out by accident."
Jeb can't see her anymore, but he hears her voice from the storeroom. He wanders around the rest of the store as she continues to talk. "Sorry about that. Carter is always coming up with some new plant and then leaving it out in the open." She comes back out into the shop sans the Killarmus and wipes her hands on her apron.
"That doesn't seem very safe," he says fingering the petals on some plant that he doesn't know the name of.
"Oh, Killarmus won't kill you. It just knocks you out," she says, winding her way through the store to find him. "He's developing it for the smell," she says as she wanders up to him.
"I'm sorry?" Jeb asks, his eyebrows rising in question.
"Do you know the flowers that used to grow in the Papay fields?" she asks him and she notices that she's almost too close to him.
"The bright yellow poisonous ones?" he wonders.
"Exactly. This smells like them without the whole dying if you touch it part," she says.
"But, it still knocks you out though, right?" Jeb asks.
"It's a work in progress," she says with a laugh. "Anyway, how can I help you?"
"I'm looking for some flowers," Jeb says. He immediately blushes when he realizes what he says and where he says it. The girl just smiles a pretty smile and looks around.
"I think I can do that," she says with a laugh. "But first, I need to know what they're for."
Jeb looks at his feet at this because he didn't exactly want to reveal personal information to a perfect stranger and he's kind of embarrassed a little, though he knows he shouldn't be.
He stutters out his answer without making eye contact. "It's uh - They're for my mother."
"That's sweet," the girl says, trying to catch Jeb's eye again. "What're they for? Birthday, anniversary?" she guesses.
"Um…" he doesn't know how to say it so he just blurts it out. "They're for her grave."
The smile that hand been on her face since the moment Jeb stepped into her shop drops with his admission and a soft apology falls from her lips.
"That's easy then," she says a moment later, dipping her head under his to catch his eye. At his confused look, she continues. "What was her favorite flower?"
A half-smile adorns Jeb's face as he remembers. After a moment he answers, "Daisies."
The girl nods and heads to a different section of the store, Jeb following silently. He watches as she picks a bouquet of the best looking flowers and ties them together. He reaches into his pocket for payment, but a hand on his arm stops him.
"Don't worry about it," she says softly. "It's on the house."
Jeb stares at her for a moment, both of their hands on the single bouquet. After a few quiet moments he snaps out of it and blinks.
"Thank you," he says and moves toward the door. "It means a lot."
"Don't worry about it," the girl says with a shrug. "Just say 'Hi' to your mother."
Jeb smiles again and this time it stretches across his face. He's almost out the door at this point, but something makes him stop. The girl has already turned back into the shop, but stops when he calls out to her.
"What's your name?" he asks and he's disappointed to hear an eagerness in his voice that wasn't there before.
She just smiles at him and quietly laughs before answering. "Linsey," she says and then turns back into the back of the shop.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss Linsey," Jeb says to an empty shop before he walks out of the door and into the streets of Central City.