Glass Tulips
グラスチュリップ
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Takehito Koyasu © or Project Weiß ©. The fanfiction belongs to me.
Warning: Yaoi. Trust me, if you flame despite these warnings… well, I can only say that you're retarded.
Plot Cockroach: Ah, yet another piece inspired by the beautiful web material! This time it's a glass tulip motif, isn't it lovely? Weiß decides to refurnish the shop according to the weather on one late, summery spring day. A lone pink tulip in a single crystal vase reminds Ken of one prettier than the rest in his eyes…
Pairing: Ken x Ran, Yohji x Omi
Note: The characters look like that from the manga. I love Holland Tulips. I'd never have any tulips other than those grown there or at homes… Yeah, I'm hard to please. XD
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"Irises! Let's use irises!"
"I'd prefer those antique orchids," Yohji stretched and yawned. The weather was getting warmer and warmer, nearing summer. Weiß had decided to 'revamp', or so Omi had put it, their flower shop, according to their seasonal custom of creating an atmosphere to 'increase traffic' to their premises. So Yohji, Ken and Aya didn't know exactly what Omi meant by that, but he did sound so inspired that they just had to give in.
"Oh, yeah, as antique as you are, for sure," Ken laughed good-naturedly. "Yo, old fart, don't just lie there doing nothing! You've gotta help us out too, remember?"
"Hey, hey! C'mon KenKen!" Yohji protested, upset at the notion of getting up and moving things around. "We're off for three days, remember?"
"We're off for three days to cultivate an idea and redecorate the shop," the redhead spoke up suddenly. It shocked Ken so much that the brunet tripped over his own feet and landed, butt first, on the floor. Yohji snickered.
"So, Princess," the playboy dragged his words out playfully; "Have you cultivated any ideas yet?"
"If you meant decorating the shop with your mangled body parts, then yes, I have one in consideration," Aya replied coolly. The playboy inched back desperately. At that Ken and Omi burst out laughing. It was good to see Yohji being threatened into submission.
"Other than that, Aya-kun, do you have any other ideas?"
Aya paused for a moment. "…I was thinking of tulips."
"Tulips?" Yohji goggled at him.
"Are a great idea!" Ken blurted out. He then blushed and grinned, scratching his head. "Um, I mean, it is! It's lively, and really nice to look at!"
"…Thank you," Aya nodded, turning slightly pink. Hurriedly, he made his way to the stairs connecting to their rooms above. "I'm going up to get some things ready…"
Aya disappeared from sight. As he did, Yohji leaned forward and nudged Ken, waggling his eyebrows. "I think… you'd prefer looking at the Princess here, huh? Eh, KenKen? You ecchi little boy you. Heh, heh, heh!"
"You're awful, Yohji-kun," Omi chuckled as he passed by. "Ken-kun just has good taste, don't you, Ken-kun?"
"Omi!"
"Heh, heh! The bishounen learns fast," Yohji folded his arms. Ken stared at him.
"And you're proud of that?"
"Oh, please! You give me too little credit [1]," the playboy smirked. "Omi's not as innocent as you think he is… hey, man, we're killers. None of us are innocent."
Ken sighed. "You needn't have reminded me, you know…"
"I guess not," Yohji shrugged. "Sorry."
"S'kay," Ken brushed it off lightly. "So, are we gonna use tulips or what?"
"Well, it's a good idea, but shipping them from Holland costs a bomb," Omi pointed out. "I remember last week, when we shipped in just a basket." The boy shuddered. Ken shook his head as well.
"Hey, at least we sold them all," Yohji noted. "Well, except for one."
A single pink tulip sat at their counter, in a slender crystalline vase, reflecting the summery spring light. On its own, it proved its strength, being both beautiful and hardly, and alone it had withstood the rampaging schoolgirls, and refrained itself from being purchased. Alone, it stood, looking complete as it was. Ken flushed slightly. It clearly reminded him of a certain someone…
"Flowers just don't last forever, Ken-kun," Omi interrupted his thoughts, obviously misinterpreting Ken's faraway look.
"I know they don't," he sighed once more. Aya wouldn't last forever either. When they were done, where would that leave them? Aya would probably go somewhere far, far away, and he'd also probably forget them… what they did together. Though Weiß was a family, the redhead had remained so distant…
"Hey, sweet, sweet love lasts forever," Yohji grinned lecherously. "Eh, bishounen?"
"Yohji-kun!"
"Just what have you two done together?" Ken lifted a brow at them. Omi turned a shade redder.
"Nothing!"
"We made sweet, sweet love last night, baby," the brunet waggled his eyebrows, smirking. "And we tried three different positions ---"
"Stop!" Ken yelled. "You're making me sick!"
"You're repulsed by the idea of gay people?" Yohji was surprised.
"No, just the idea of anyone making out with you," Ken made a face that purely reflected disgust. "Eww!"
"I so totally agree, Ken-kun," Omi laughed as he skipped off to the phone to make an order. "So, do we call the importers again, or do you want to try a different approach this time?"
"…Say, Omi," Ken suggested. "What about using those crystal tulips instead?"
Omi jumped in his seat. "BRILLIANT! Ken-kun! You're a genius! We could use those for decoration and sell them as well, and all those left over can be used again and again after cleaning them up you're so smart where did you get that idea from?"
"It just struck me," Ken replied modestly, glancing at the pristine vase on the counter. "Anyway, Ever Smile's selling those. They have pink, blue and yellow, as well as those striped ones, so let's just settle for the warm colors. What do you think?"
Omi nodded. "Good idea, Ken-kun!"
"Yeah, really good… can they be used as toys---"
"Yohji-kun!" Omi threw a magazine from the counter at the brunet's head, knocking him out-cold. "Ken-kun! Do you think you could tell Aya-kun this while I make a call?"
"Sure," Ken replied easily, making his way to the stairs. "Oh, and Omi, is it really true that you and Yohji are an item?"
"Yes, but… well, we just haven't done anything yet," the boy smiled. "Don't worry, Ken-kun! Yohji-kun's always kidding around. He doesn't mean what he says, and truly, all he wants is just plain affection."
"Like a big baby, meaning," Ken laughed. He made his way up the stairs to the rooms, moving to the one next to his, namely, Aya's. It was a small place, but Ken liked it there. It made him feel better to know that Aya was sleeping every night right next door, and that nothing would make him go away, for now. As long as he could hear the redhead's deep breathing, Ken felt relaxed. He knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Ken!" he hollered. "I just need to tell you something."
"Go on…" there was a sound of the shuffling of papers. The redhead seemed rather busy. Without thinking, Ken pushed the door open and peeked in quietly. What he saw surprised him.
Aya's room was a mess, documents scattered all over the place, frames and glasses on the floor as well as a few personal items strewn on his bed. The redhead looked up helplessly as he spied Ken coming into his bedroom. The brunet stared at the mess for a few moments more before breaking into a grin.
"Heh, and I thought I was the only messy one."
"You still are," Aya turned away to stack the papers up on his bedside table. "I was just hunting for something."
"Need a hand?"
"It's okay…" Aya trailed off, bending over to search under his bed. He looked really alluring that way, unsuspecting, alone and vulnerable to attacks… Ken smacked himself. What was he thinking?
"So… anyway, we're importing those crystal tulips from Ever Smile," Ken tried to steer his thoughts away from their course. "Omi thinks that's fine, and that we should let you know. They're a lot more durable and certainly cheaper than shipping in those tulips from Holland…"
The redhead looked up. "It's a good suggestion."
"Thanks," Ken blushed. "Um, we're sticking to warm colors this season."
Aya didn't say anything. He just faintly smiled and then turned back to resume his hunt. Curious, Ken spoke up. "So… what are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for a tub of ribbons," the redhead explained quietly; suddenly shy. "They're my sister's, but I don't think she'd mind if I used them now."
"A sister?" Ken sat up. "Cool! So, where is she? You guys meet up often?"
"We do…" Aya's smile faltered. "She's in a coma."
"Oh…" Ken was silent. It was all too hard. Aya was always alone, no part of their family… when his only family was much too far away, and yet so near, to even give him comfort when he needed it. Ken somehow felt sorry and pained; his own family was alive, and Omi never knew his parents either… and Yohji had lost a lover, but it seemed to be all. The three of them were a family now. So… where did that leave Aya?
"But I'm sure she'll wake up someday," the redhead said.
"Yeah! And then you can buy her new ribbons! Then she won't be so mad at you!" Ken laughed chokingly. "Her name's Aya, right?"
"You're a smart one," Aya smiled, this time true, and it reached his heart. Ken scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, and people told me I was a muscle-bound jock," the brunet chuckled. He felt in heaven, here, the redhead was revealing himself more easily than he'd ever imagined. Perhaps it was magic in the air. "I suppose it wouldn't be right for me to call you Aya anymore, huh?"
"Well, you should," Aya played with his hands, looking down at them, and how white they were against the light blue of his bed sheets. "Because I've lost my name."
"But you haven't lost yourself," Ken understood it all too well. A part of him knew that Aya would remain the boy he once was, before all this happened… whatever that had happened to him. In his hearts of hearts, he saw a caring brother who looked out for them, even standing up to odds whenever Weiß was in danger.
Ken clambered over the redhead on the bed, pecking him slightly on his forehead and working down to those petal soft lips that were just as inviting as the summer air itself. Their leader didn't resist, smiling faintly, allowing the magic to last while it could. An enchanted spell in the breeze, or perhaps a dream woven from broken hearts brought together again, he didn't know.
It just… felt right.
Below, a brunet was sitting by the counter and making orders through the telephone. The window was open, sunlight streaming from the gap as well as through the transparent glass and falling upon a lone tulip, pink, and complete all on its own, in a crystalline vase.
~*~*~ End ~*~*~
Note: Ended it okay, hopefully! I know, it was so ecchi on Yohji's part! Horrible old man na no da! Heh, heh!
Gossary: [1] taken from Zapp Braddigan, Futurama. That guy's just… ^^;;;