Will thought he would hate the location of his new tattoo shop. After all, it was right next to the floweriest, brightest, tackiest floral shop is the literal world. It didn't even smell that nice - the only scented plants there were the roses that always seemed to be out of stock in every color but a sickening shade of pink. He made a silent vow with himself to always go around the back when he went to get his morning coffee so he would never see the shop owner. But most of all, the mysterious letters he found on his doorstep every morning confused him the most.
Those letters were always short, and oftentimes always in elegant handwriting. Additionally, they always came in a yellowed envelope accompanied by a single rose of various colors. Judging by what was written on them, Will suspected a starstruck lover who had the wrong address.
For the first two or three months, Will never saw the flower shop owner. He assumed that it would be either a loony old lady or an angry old man. Or maybe something else. Whatever the case, the owners of flower shops never seemed to be very agreeable. Or so he thought. Everything changed on a particularly dreary day when he had been exhausted by an all-nighter because of a large group of drunk teens that wanted matching tattoos proclaiming, "you have the mental ability of an ant's buttfart" on their backs. He had wound up accidentally crossing the front of the store, and on the way, bumped into the owner.
"Hey watch where you - oh, sorry, I wasn't, ah, looking where I was going. I - I'm so sorry, I just -" Will wearily looked up into the startled, startling brown eyes of a pale, black-haired man.
"Oh, -" Will began. He could feel his cheeks heating up - shit this guy is hot. "It's alright, I was really tired, I - it's alright, ah, sir…"
The two stared awkwardly at each other for a long minute, until the other man quietly muttered, "I'll be getting back to work now," and shuffled back into the shop. Will could hear clanging and indistinct cursing as he stood, a little dumbstruck, on the sidewalk. Blinking, he shook his head, and went on his way.
A little while later, Will headed back to his shop to open up. As he went, he hummed a tune to himself, and walked with a slight spring in his step. The coffee had woken him up, rejuvenated him, and the morning felt quite like a hazy dream. He crossed back behind the brightly colored store, and back to his own shop to find the daily expected letter accompanied by a black rose.
As usual, he peeled off the tape and opened the thing to read the elegant handwriting inside.
Your hair,
The sun shines, and brightens my day
Your eyes,
The sky spreads its wings, and flies for my heart
You,
My love
You bring me life
He stared down at it, sighed, and folded it back up. Another cheesy poem. What did he expect? And how in the world had the sender somehow gotten a black rose? After a long minute of staring at the flower, Will shook his head, and headed back inside.
He took the note with him.
That evening, Will thought he'd had enough. And, wasn't it a little cruel to let this poor lover write on and on to someone that had never even seen them?
He should probably write back.
So, he did. He picked up a pen, and turned the note around. A moments' thought, and Will found his words.
Hello.
Who are you?
Alright, sure, it may be a little forefront, and perhaps kind of rude, but it was blunt, and that was how Will liked it. Anyhow, the sender could easily write a note back, and Will would answer any questions he had to offer.
He never expected the next question.
I am the night, black as death, dark as coal.
You wouldn't love me
But I love you
And, really, I should be asking that.
Who are you?
What.
Ahhhhh ok well so hello all I've finally risen up from the dead. I'm sorry, I know it's been awhile, I'm apologizing to nobody, but that's ok. School is kicking my sorry ass right now, so I'm pretty sure I'll die before coming back. Again.
Yeah, so, anyways. This is just a quick thing inspired by a tumblr post that I really needed to see (I couldn't find it for the life of me I swear to god), so here it is. Quick note: it won't be like this for every chapter. I'll probably end up just making it a collection of letters back and forth from Nico to Will until the end, where it'll end up like this again. I think.
Yeah ok see you guys in like two months.