Zelda smiled proudly up at the sign hanging above her new florist shop. Zelda's Floral Emporium. Sure it wasn't much and definitely wasn't in the best part of town but it was hers. She would be officially opening for her first day of business at eight o'clock. With her proud smile still on her lips she moved to the front door located at the end of the shopping center and dug the keys from her purse.

Loud rock music and the roar of a powerful engine made Zelda glance behind her nervously. A big black muscle car idled for a moment beside her small hybrid before the driver behind the tinted windows killed the engine. The door opened with a creak and she watched as a man with deep blue spiked hair in a black short sleeve shirt climbed out. His eyes were glued to the phone in his hand and Zelda couldn't help but stare in shock at his arms. They were completely covered in tattoos, every single one detailed beyond belief even at her distance from him.

She watched as he went up to the door of the shop next to hers and for the first time Zelda realized her flower shop was next door to a tattoo parlor. The man looked up from his phone and Zelda blushed as they made eye contact. He gave her a small grin, the two piercings under his lower lip gleaming in the morning light.

"You the new renter?" he asked in a deep voice and she nodded numbly. "The name's Ike, I'm the owner of Ike's Ink."

"Zelda," she introduced herself warily, "owner of Zelda's Floral Emporium."

"Florist huh?" he asked and she managed a nod. "Awesome." He stuck his key in his door and turned it. "See ya around."

"Yeah," she responded absently, her mind flailing for more to say even as he went inside.

XxX

"I'm next door to a tattoo parlor!" Zelda screeched into her phone as she prepared to open.

"So?" her best friend asked dryly.

"So? So Link the owner drives this massive old muscle car, he's covered in tattoos and piercings, he-"

"Sounds cute," Link interjected and she scoffed. "You're blowing this way out of proportion Zelda, not everyone was raised like you with the whole traditional values of the homeland thing."

"I'm not blowing anything out of proportion," she seethed as she stalked to the front and unlocked the door. "I mean, who in their right mind says 'hey let's go get flowers from that place next to the tattoo shop!' I mean..." she trailed off as she noticed Ike approaching her door. "Oh goddesses he's coming in! I'll call you back." She dropped her phone into the front pocket of her apron just as Ike pushed the door open.

"Morning," he greeted.

"Good morning," she replied stiffly and blushed as his eyes ran down her body before going around the shop.

"I thought I'd be your first customer," he explained as he walked farther in, Zelda forcing her frozen brain to stop staring at him.

"Flowers for your girlfriend?" she took a stab in the dark as she moved behind the counter.

"No, no girlfriend. My mom's birthday is coming up, thought I'd put in the order before time slips away from me."

"Oh," Zelda nodded and bit her lower lip. "Did you have a flower in mind?"

"I really don't know shit about flowers," he admitted and Zelda blushed at his crude language. "She used to have a beautiful backyard full of different ones when I was growing up. Now she's in her apartment and can't grow any," he leaned against the counter and Zelda found her eyes drawn to the tattoos coating his skin. "Anything you recommend?" he asked and she blinked, unable to look away from the snarling blue cat on his forearm.

"Uh," she supplied helpfully and he chuckled.

"You don't have any tattoos, do you?" he asked and she shook her head.

"How many do you have?" she asked as she finally managed to look away from his arms.

"Two full sleeves, a few on my back, some on my chest... here," he rolled up the short sleeves and held out his arms. Zelda stared in shock at the ridiculous amount of ink, stunned as he twisted them several different ways to show off more than her brain could process.

"Don't they hurt?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Like a bitch in sensitive areas. You can get the area numbed but I prefer to deal with the pain."

"Why?" she asked in horror and he shrugged.

"Gotta earn 'em."

"I could never," she shuddered and he grinned.

"I bet you're tougher than you think," he added a wink and then snapped his fingers. "Here," he pulled the collar of his shirt down and Zelda found herself looking at a light blue hydrangea, "Mom loves these, grew more of them than anything else."

"Hydrangeas," Zelda supplied and he nodded.

"Yeah that's them!" He let go of his shirt and rolled down his sleeves, Zelda noticing a sword tattooed on his left arm with a date inked on the hilt. "Think you can hook me up with some?"

"Yes I can... Do you want any other flowers in the bouquet?"

"Like I said I'm bad with flowers," he ran a hand through his spiky hair. "Can you put together something and I'll pay for it? I trust your opinion far more than mine."

"Of course, what's the price range?"

"Don't go over eighty, I'm taking her to dinner for her birthday too."

"Aw," Zelda couldn't help the noise that slipped past her lips and he thankfully just shrugged.

"She went through hell raising me after Dad died... I definitely owe her," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. "I gotta get back, I've got an appointment I'm already a few minutes late for so..." he trailed off as he grabbed a pen from the cup on the counter and scribbled down a number on the back. "Here's my cell, call me or text me for whatever." He held out the card and Zelda took it carefully.

"Someone's getting a tattoo at eight in the morning?" she asked incredulously and he shook his head.

"Removal."

"Isn't that more painful?" she asked and he shrugged.

"I've heard it is but I've never had one removed so I honestly couldn't tell you. Her new beau doesn't like her ex's name on the back of her neck so... yeah," he chuckled and shook his head. "See you later Zelda!" he called as he turned to the door and she watched him walk out silently.

XxX

Ike rolled his eyes as he locked the door for the night, honestly happy to have a slow day that let them leave early. Corrin beside him wasn't shutting up about his hot date, hadn't shut up about it all day, and he was getting a little irritated by it. "Seriously Corrin no offense," he turned to him, "but I don't care."

"Hey at least I'm trying," he fired back. "When's the last time you even went out on a date? Or," he spoke over the protest forming on Ike's lips, "even had a hookup? Come on man I know you aren't oblivious to every woman that hits on you."

"Yeah well," Ike leaned against the wall of windows in front of his darkened shop and pulled his phone from his pocket, "I'm picky."

"Too picky," Corrin grumbled and Ike flipped him off as he scowled at the screen. "What's with the scowl?"

"I gave her," he nodded towards Zelda's shop, "my number and-"

"You gave the new renter your number?" Corrin laughed. "Look at that shop Ike, look at her! A girl like that isn't going to want to talk to a tattooed and pierced weirdo like you."

"Nah man," Ike gave him a grin, "every girl loves a bad boy at some point."

"Yeah, until they realize that the whole bad boy thing is only skin deep with you softy," he told Ike as he walked to his motorcycle parked next to Ike's car. As the engine roared to life Ike rolled his eyes and put his phone back in his pocket. He pushed off from the wall and looked into Zelda's shop from the windows, a smile coming to his lips as she glanced his way before returning her eyes to her customer. He moved to the door and pushed it open.

"Hey," he greeted as he walked in and the customer, an older woman in her Sunday best, gasped in horror.

"Ike is the owner of the tattoo parlor next door," Zelda explained quickly and sent him a dirty look that just made him raise an eyebrow. "Now the colors for the wedding... she's set on silver and such a vibrant pink?"

"That's my daughter," the woman sighed heavily and Ike snorted as he walked over to a cooler filled with various flowers. "Marrying the man of her dreams, getting her dream wedding... it has to be exactly right." He idly eavesdropped on Zelda's conversation as they finished up, silently impressed by how Zelda handled the woman. When the lady turned to leave she gave Ike a dirty look before exiting the store.

"She's friendly," he told Zelda sarcastically. She smiled at him, a smile he almost wanted to call shy, before she leaned her elbows on the counter.

"I'm surprised you're closed before me," she said and he shrugged as he casually walked over to her.

"Slow day," he said as he mirrored her and leaned with his elbows on the counter across from her. Up close he could see the vibrancy of her cerulean eyes, see the glimmer of mischief hidden beneath such a calm exterior. He liked it. "How was your first day?"

"Busy," she said with a little nod. "I've got more to do over the next week than I thought I would. Oh! You never told me when you needed your mom's flowers."

"Next Thursday. I'm glad your first day went well, most shops have a rough opening week."

"Did yours?"

"My shop? No we had a crazy first week actually," he admitted as he felt her eyes stray down to his arms. "I worked at another place for a little over a year before opening over here and built up a good reputation. When I opened, my customers followed."

"Speaking of customers," Zelda winced and he chuckled.

"Is this the part where you tell me not to come in here and scare everyone off?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and she bit her lips together. "Do I scare you?" he asked curiously and she looked down. "Zelda," he reached out and placed his hand lightly on top of hers.

"You're honestly the first person I've seen with so many tattoos," she blushed as she looked at their hands. Ike pulled her hand and placed it against his forearm. She tensed and looked up at his eyes. He gave her a reassuring grin and a wink.

"See? They don't feel different, do they?" She shook her head as her fingers lightly traced a few marks. "Me and my ink are nothing to be scared of," he whispered as her fingertips trailed up his arm to his bicep. Like she came out of a trance she pulled her hand back quickly and moved both her arms closer to her body.

"They're interesting, I'll say that. My family would be against even a small one."

"My mom yelled at me when I turned eighteen and got these," he turned his wrists to the light to reveal chain links tattooed there, "but I won her over with the flower." Ike's phone dinged in his pocket and he pulled it out. He read over the message from his front end lady and responded quickly, happy it was a minor problem.

"I should probably start closing up," she said hesitantly and he nodded.

"Yeah I need to get going but uh," he slid his phone back into his pocket and swallowed. "If you wanna text me about more than the flowers, I'm cool with that." He watched a small blush crawl up her cheeks and silently admitted he liked doing that.

"What else would I text you about?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Whatever you want," he responded and turned to the door. "Later Zelda."

"Bye Ike."

XXX

Yes this is another story from yours truly and no I don't care. Thanks for reading the first chapter and as a side note I'm going to be taking down and rewriting some of my old unfinished fics soon. So if there's one you like and I haven't added anything to it in awhile and poof it's gone, don't panic. Anyway, thanks for reading and lemme know what you think! Much love, Leigh