Title: You Made My Daisy

Summary: Dimitri owns a flower shop and Rose comes storming in one day, slaps fifty bucks on the counter and says "How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in flower?" Inspired by the tumblr post by .com (/) post (/) 145668425096 Remove the brackets

Notes: Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I last wrote any VA fanfiction, so I hope you enjoy this! Huge thanks to little_angry_kitten18 and SopranoStewart for all the help and support as I got back into writing again!

This fic is set in the VA world but is a Flowershop AU. So Lissa is Queen, Rose is her Guardian, Dimitri is a Dhampir but not a Guardian. Rose and Lissa are 22, Dimitri is 29.

"The rose is the flower and handmaiden of love – the lily, her fair associate, is the emblem of beauty and purity." – Dorothea Dix

"No. Absolutely not."

"She means with all respect your Highness-"

"I will not tolerate this at all, it is absolutely absurd-"

"Ava, please-"

Ava Drozdov was like a dog with a bone, a disrespectful, stupid one. It had been months since Lissa had been crowned Queen, and she still hadn't accepted that she, with all her 'wordly wisdom and years of experience' had failed as a candidate for the monarchy, compared to 'the barely-legal runaway princess'. Instead, she focused her anger into making petty complaints and trying to stir up trouble through minor issues that she hoped would make Lissa look bad.

She had long since passed from meddling into downright irritating and troublesome, but Lissa kept placating her and granting her audiences, despite my protests and requests for Lissa to just give her a verbal smack down and eject her from Court.

'It's a game, Rose. You need to learn the finer arts of subtlety and how to play. If I send her from Court it lends credence to her claims, and undermines my authority. By playing along, but not bowing to her demands, it shows I'm a fair ruler and that I stand by my principles, that everyone has a voice.'

Well Ava Drozdov was certainly using her voice now, she was shouting loudly enough to probably be heard all the way across the palace. Despite Lissa's serene expression I could see the tension in her jaw and shoulders and did my best to try and keep her calm.

"The time has come for an end to your fanciful notions, the other royals will not stand for this, Ms Dragomir-"

"Lady Drozdov-"

"Ava-"

Lissa was pissed, and I could feel the anger overwhelming her, so I carefully siphoned away the excess through our bond. The darkness I'd absorbed from Lissa put me on edge, and I was struggling to keep my temper in check as Lissa continued to endure Ava's verbal abuse. Finally, Lissa seemed to sense that Ava had gone too far, both in her disrespect towards Lissa and for me to tolerate without overstepping my boundaries, and cut her off.

"Enough." Lissa's voice was sharp, authoritative, and cut through Ava's strident tones and the appalled whispers of her friends, who were shocked by the disrespectful way she'd addressed Lissa, their Queen. "Your concerns have been heard and noted, Lady Drozdov, and I will take them under consideration. Any further outbursts will not be tolerated."

I waited until Drozdov and her minions left, and the rest of the Royal Guard had retired to the outer waiting room before I approached Lissa.

"Breathe, Liss. Don't give Drozdov the satisfaction of dying before you've completed your inaugural year of being Queen."

Lissa scowled, before huffing and rolling her eyes. "She just gets under my skin! It's like she knows when I'm in a good mood and deliberately ruins my day with her incessant complaints and whining. And I can't just tell her to get a grip and leave."

I grinned. "That's what you have me for, Liss. I can say the things you can't."

That made Lissa laugh. "I've had more than a few complaints about you, Rose. Trust me, Hans hates my guts because I refuse to punish you for all of your outbursts."

I snickered. "Hans just moans because he has to keep up appearances. I'm the best Guardian you have, he wouldn't dare remove me."

Lissa snorted. "That's true. But still, don't push your luck. I don't want to lose you. Now, what should I do about Lady Drozdov? I need to put a stop to her somehow."

"For starters you can pull rank and call her Ava, not Lady Drozdov."

"Rose."

"I know, I know. You have to 'play the game'. Give me a couple of days to think of something good."

It took three days until I came up with the perfect idea.

Ava had continued to complain and make a nuisance of herself, being even more of a pain in the ass than usual and making snide comments whenever she was in earshot of Lissa, which meant she was in earshot of me, and I was starting to lose control of the fragile hold I had over my temper. Lissa was starting to show the strain of being polite and professional in the face of constant disrespect, her advisors were useless, and if I absorbed any more spirit darkness I was going to lose control.

Lissa was taking some private time to decompress and step away from her royal duties which coincided with my day off and so and we were walking through Court, observing the residents in an informal setting and doing a little window shopping.

"Liss."

"Huh?" She was drooling over several different assortments of chocolates.

"Liss, I found it. The perfect way to shut Drozdov up."

I grinned and stared at the shopfront.

"Really, Rose?" Lissa's tone was disbelieving, and my smile grew wider as I grabbed her arm and dragged her across the grounds into the tiny shop, the two of us followed by the on-duty members of the Royal Guard.

Lissa's four far guards took position outside the shop and her two near guards followed us inside. The shop looked small from the outside, and was even smaller in actuality, especially with four people inside of it. Despite its small size it was clean, with bright white walls, and it was filled to the brim with flowers. I expected a shop like this to be run by a little, old Moroi lady, and felt my eyebrows reach my hairline when a Dhampir man emerged from behind the counter; a polite smile on his face as he welcomed us, then seemed to realize who we were and bowed deeply in Lissa's direction.

"Your Highness. How may I help you?"

Lissa seemed at a loss for words and I didn't blame her. It was rare to see dhampirs in any job outside of being Guardians, most women would only leave to have children. But it was even more rare for male dhampirs to choose a different career path, it was practically unheard of.

This man was not only not a guardian, he was gorgeous. He was tall, over six feet tall, which was odd for a dhampir, with classically handsome features – a chiseled jaw, deep brown eyes and full lips, and his hair was shoulder length, pulled back into a neat ponytail at the base of his neck. From what I could see he was in shape, his biceps straining slightly at the arms of his black t-shirt, and the chest was filled out nicely.

"Rose." Lissa poked me in the side and I jerked out of my stupor, staring at the Adonis in front of me and discreetly wiping at my mouth in case I'd started drooling.

His gaze flicked over to me curiously, and then he focused on Lissa again, obviously expecting that she was the one who wanted to purchase something.

Remembering why I'd dragged Lissa into the shop in the first place I pulled fifty dollars out of my wallet and slammed it onto the counter.

"How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in flowers?"

The man blinked in surprise at my question, glanced at Lissa who was staring at me like I'd grown two heads, and then looked back at me.

"Is this a serious request?"

I slammed down another fifty. "Dead serious."

The Dhampir stared at me for another few seconds, then nodded and got to work, moving quickly yet somehow keeping a respectful distance from Lissa despite the small space and efficiently grabbing different flowers from the various pots.

"Geraniums and gardenias- no, foxgloves. Carnations, carnations… where are they?..." He crouched down to move a few pots aside and I took the opportunity to ogle his ass. It was muscular, tight, just the way I liked it.

"Rose!" Lissa's scandalized whisper caught my attention and I grinned at the thoughts she was deliberately projecting to catch my attention. Stop staring at his bottom, Rose!

I snickered, even in our minds Lissa tried to be modest.

Since she couldn't hear my thoughts in return I tilted my head to the side so she could see my face and stuck my tongue out before I went right back to ogling.

Rose!

"Shush, Liss. Don't distract the nice man from his work."

"It's Dimitri." The Dhampir had found what he was searching for and stood up, smiling politely when we both turned to stare at him. "My name, it's Dimitri. Dimitri Belikov."

"I'm Rose, nice to meet you. So, have you got everything you need to make my 'fuck you' bouquet?"

"Rose!" Lissa's scandalized squawk made me laugh.

"Calm down, Liss. This will shut Ava Drozdov up, and if she really gets upset you can blame it on me." She huffed, and I turned back to Dimitri. "So, Dimitri. Can you make my bouquet?"

He looked amused but nodded seriously. "Yes, Rose. If you wish you can wait while I make it, or you can come back and collect it if you want it at a later date?"

"No, no, I'm happy to wait. I want to watch you make the masterpiece and savor every second."

Inside my mind Lissa rolled her eyes. "How long will it take, Mr Belikov?"

"Thirty minutes, Your Majesty."

"Thank you. Rose, I'm going to continue with my shopping and I'll meet you after. And bear in mind, if this backfires I will hold you responsible as it's your idea."

Dimitri looked worried at her words but I grinned, knowing her stern tone was just for show.

"And I will wholeheartedly accept all of the blame so long as I get to see the expression on Drozdov's face when she understands what the bouquet means."

"You don't even know that she'll understand the meaning! She might just think I'm caving to her demands!"

"Nah, Liss, she's not that stupid. And if she is, one of her little minions will figure it out and tell her the truth. Trust me, this will put her in her place and teach her some respect."

"I'll take your word for it, Guardian Hathaway." With a cheeky smirk, she motioned to the rest of her Guard, and they followed her out of the shop.

Behave yourself. Her parting words rang in my mind, and I chuckled to myself. I did not have a reputation for behaving myself, unless I was on duty. I was intrigued by the idea of a male Dhampir who wasn't a Guardian, and I wanted to know more.

"So, Dimitri, what's going to go into this beautiful bouquet?"

I'd done my best to wait, but had lost my patience after a couple of minutes. As much as I loved guarding Lissa and I'd achieved my dream of being her near-Guardian, it was difficult to stand motionless and silent for hours at a time when she was in meetings or sleeping and it required all of my concentration and self-control, so on my days off I had to be active and burn off all my pent-up energy.

Dimitri seemed content to work in silence, but I wanted to pry and find out a little more.

"I heard you mention geraniums and gardenias."

He nodded. "Yes, but I'm not going to include gardenias, they'd change the message of the arrangement. It's going to be an assortment of five different blooms. It will be a striking bouquet, and for anyone who understands flower meanings, it'll get your point across quite clearly."

"As someone who doesn't understand flower meanings and usually resorts to violence to solve all of her problems, what are the meanings?"

A hint of a smile pulled at the edge of Dimitri's mouth, before his expression smoothed out again and he began to point out the different blooms as he spoke. "Geraniums symbolize stupidity. Foxgloves represent insincerity and meadowsweet is for uselessness. Then the yellow carnations mean 'you have disappointed me' and to round it out, the orange lilies symbolize hatred." He carefully pointed out each bloom, and then started to assemble them into the beginnings of a bouquet. "All together it makes for a beautifully striking assortment that also makes your meaning quite clear. It's almost poetic in its meaning." That ghost of a smile showed again as he added, "And as it's so eye catching it'll grab everyone's attention. Those who understand flower meanings will think mockingly of Lady Drozdov, and those who don't understand will think highly of the Queen for being so gracious to someone who openly disparages her."

His meaning sank in and my smirk matched his. "So no matter which way it's interpreted, I'll achieve my goal?"

His returning smile was sharp and conspiratorial, "Exactly."

Dimitri seemed content to work in silence and every time I tried to start a conversation or pry for information a customer would come in to collect or place an order. He'd asked if I was in a rush or if I'd be able to wait so he could complete his other orders and finish putting mine together properly, and since I had no real plans for the rest of the day I'd told him to take his time. He'd brought out a chair for me to sit on while I waited and it was soothing watching him create bouquets or pull out ones he'd already made from the storage room in between playing candy crush on my phone. There was a surprising beauty in the way he made his creations. Despite the small size of the shop it was very popular, and I wondered why I'd never noticed it before. Probably because I hadn't dated for months and it wasn't part of my job to order or maintain the flower arrangements for Lissa's rooms.

I messaged Lissa to let her know I wouldn't be finished in time and would meet her later. Some Moroi were picking up smaller posies that were clearly for personal use while others I recognized as staff from around Court were collecting larger bunches for the various waiting rooms and halls. I wanted to know how Dimitri had gotten into this line of work, and it was clear he wasn't going to just volunteer the information so I'd have to try my best to be subtle.

Dimitri was humming a little tune as he worked, and I dragged my chair out of the corner I'd been sitting in and over to the countertop before I perched myself on the edge of the seat, "I didn't realize you worked in the shop where the staff ordered the arrangements for court."

Dimitri stopped humming and looked up at me curiously. "It's a relatively recent contract. Queen Tatiana used to prefer Marcella Badica's shop, but she fell out of favor and I seized the opportunity."

"Marcella is a pompous ass, but I'm surprised she fell out of Tatiana's favor. Before Tatiana died Marcella never missed an opportunity to boast that they were cousins."

Dimitri smiled, "Third cousins twice removed. And just between the two of us, that was part of the reason she fell out of favor. Queen Tatiana grew tired of her attitude and Lady Badica using her name as a stepping stool."

"Ohhh, I hadn't heard that gossip. Lissa's been holding out on me."

"Queen Vasilisa probably doesn't know. This was five years ago, so before she came to Court. And Queen Tatiana didn't make an announcement, she was more understated than that. I only found out because one of my friends was her near-Guardian at the time and overheard a conversation, and he let me know so I could try and bid for the contract. When a Monarch dies or abdicates a lot of the traditions and settings get carried over, unless the incoming Monarch specifically requests they be changed. So for services like this; flower arrangements, decorators, caterers, even clothing and jewelry designers, there's a stock portfolio of providers and they only get changed if the Monarch has a preference for someone else. When Queen Tatiana died and Queen Vasilisa took the throne she didn't specify someone else should be awarded the contract or that she disapproved of the service I was providing, so I got to keep the contract."

"Wait a second- you said you bid for and got to keep the contract?"

Dimitri nodded.

"So you own this shop? You don't just work here?"

Now his smile was proud. "Yes, I started the business seven years ago."

"How on Earth did that happen?" I didn't mean to be so blunt, but the entire story was so bizarre to me. I was expecting to hear a similar story to Ambrose, that Dimitri did this as a part time way of making money and keeping busy when he wasn't... accompanying Royal Moroi women, but from the sounds of things this was full time and his only job. "Sorry, that was rude of me. I just wasn't expecting to find out you were the owner."

"You thought I did this in my free time, perhaps that I did a similar line of work as Ambrose?"

"You know Ambrose?"

"Everyone knows Ambrose," Dimitri laughed. "I'm sure you know it's rare for dhampirs to do anything other than be Guardians or live in a commune, and even rarer for men. So, no need to apologize."

"But how did you get into this line of work, if you don't mind me asking? Did you do what Ambrose does and one of the Moroi took a shine to you and set you up?"

"Христос, no!"

"Then how did it happen?"

"I was always interested in flowers, it was a hobby of mine to make arrangements and see what I could come up with. But that's all it was, a hobby, since I was a Guardian. I was top of my class with high scores, good grades, the works, and I was lucky to be assigned to Court when I graduated from St Basil's. I worked hard and saved my wages, apart from sending money back to my family I didn't have much use for it since as guardians we have free room and board."

He paused, and I prodded him a bit. "You were a guardian? What made you stop? You realized the pay was crappy and you'd make more money arranging flowers than you do when risking your life?"

"My charge was killed, and it really shook me up, and I couldn't go back to guarding," Dimitri's voice was soft, sad, and the smile dropped from my face.

"I'm- I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me-"

"It's okay. I wasn't on duty when it happened. He was my best friend, and we moved to Court together, that's why I was assigned here. I worked hard, and he always pushed me not to be so hard on myself, to take breaks, and do what I enjoyed. Have a 'work-life balance' he called it. So I went home to visit my family and while I was away he went on a trip with his other Guardians, and they were attacked, and he died." Dimitri swallowed thickly, and I didn't know what to say. I couldn't imagine losing Lissa, my best friend… even if it wasn't my fault the guilt would eat me alive. There were no words that could soothe that sort of pain, so I squeezed his hand, offering what comfort I could.

"Ivan was my charge, my friend, we were like family. He didn't care about traditions or what other people would think, and left me some money in his will, so I decided to do something good with it. I used it as the down payment to buy this building, and used my savings to buy my stock. And I created Dimka's Flowers in his memory, doing what makes me happy."

I patted his hand, and Dimitri blinked, straightening up with an abashed expression. "I'm sorry, that was unprofessional of me. I don't normally talk about such a sensitive subject."

"You don't need to apologize. I'm the one that brought it up. I'm sorry for pushing your boundaries, Lissa is always telling me not to overstep."

Dimitri gave me a soft smile, and gently squeezed my hand before he started to work again. "She sounds like a good friend."

"Yeah, she is."

"How did you come up with the name? Dimka's Flowers. I don't see the correlation between Dimka and Ivan. Is Dimka your wife? Girlfriend? Mother?" There wasn't a ring on his finger, but it was best to cover all your bases and not assume.

"Dimka is my nickname, it reminds me of Ivan. It's Russian."

"Russian is weird."

Dimitri laughed loudly, "So is English."

"Touché, comrade."

"Comrade?"

"Ya, my Russian friend,"

Dimitri's nose wrinkled at my poor imitation of a Russian accent. "It's pronounced da."

"And how do I say 'go fuck yourself'?"

Dimitri laughed, "I'm not teaching you that. I do not think the Queen would approve."

"Oh come on, comrade, she won't find out. I promise!"

"No, Rose," He was grinning now, and I grinned back, happy I'd been able to relieve the somber atmosphere that had been brought on by our earlier conversation. "I have a feeling you have more than enough bad influences and bad language without me adding to your vocabulary."

"But think how good it would be if I could give Drozdov the bouquet and drop a little 'fuck you' in Russian right before I walked out the door. She might be so shocked by the flowers that she'll think it's a compliment."

"Lady Drozdov is also Russian. She would know exactly what you said."

"Even better!"

"The answer is no, Roza."

"Roza?"

I didn't think it was possible, but Dimitri blushed slightly. "It was a slip of the tongue. It's your name in Russian."

"Oh. Roza. I like it. If I let you call me Roza will you teach me-"

"No."

"Spoilsport."

"Okay, comrade, so you own this shop. It's just you that works here, and you do all the flowers yourself? You don't have an army of Oompa Loompas hidden away in the back?"

Dimitri chuckled as he finished wrapping up my bouquet and tied it off with a red ribbon. "Just me."

"How do you do it? I've seen the arrangements around Court, there are tons of them. How do you do that all by yourself?"

Dimitri looked smug, "Planning. Lots and lots of planning. They collect twice a week, so as long as my supplier doesn't let me down, I can plan and prepare, work a couple of late nights if I need to and have everything set up with time to spare in case there's an emergency. And for the big events, I hire some of the college students to help me out, or I ask Hans if he knows any young dhampirs who need to make some extra money but don't want to do any extra shifts."

"I still don't understand how you got started. I know you said you had the start-up money from Ivan, and you won the bid after Marcella lost her contract, but you didn't get the bid the day you opened for business."

"No, I didn't," Dimitri carefully placed my flowers into a bag, and then began tying it securely. "The two years before I won the bid were tough. I barely scraped by, most months I was lucky if I broke even. The quiet moments at the start gave me time to practice and perfect what I was doing, learn from my mistakes with no one watching. Most Moroi didn't trust me, a male dhampir who'd stopped doing his job, stopped doing what he was supposed to do, to open a flower shop or to provide a good service. And most dhampirs, most guardians, don't have need for flower bouquets. Hans helped me out a lot, he placed some small orders from me, spread word about my business where he could, and slowly people started to take notice. Truthfully, winning the bid from Tatiana was a miracle, if I hadn't I probably would have gone out of business within a year." He finished fiddling with the bag and showed off the bouquet with a flourish. "All done, what do you think?"

I eyed it critically, and then shrugged. "It looks good to me, but flowers are not my strong suit. So long as it gets the message across I think it's perfect."

"It'll get the message across and more, so long as you don't mess with the positioning. Even the color of the bow and the wrapping ties into it. Do you want a note card to go with it?"

"Absolutely. I have the perfect message to go with it."

I scribbled into the little card Dimitri handed me and grinned wickedly at what I'd written before I tucked it in the ribbon.

This should shut Drozdov up for good.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Sixty-five dollars, plus tax."

I pushed over the two fifty dollar notes I'd slammed onto the counter earlier and hopped down off of my chair before I carefully picked up the bouquet. "Keep the change, this is worth every penny."

Dimitri gave me a small smile as he cashed out and handed me the receipt before he came round the counter and escorted me to the door.

"Well Dimitri, thanks for letting me keep you company and talk your ear off all afternoon. Our conversation was enlightening, to say the least."

"Thank you for showing an interest and for your custom, I hope you get the results you're looking for." Dimitri held the door open for me so I didn't have to try and juggle the bouquet and risk crushing any of the flowers.

"I'm sure it will." I smiled down at it in satisfaction and bumped my shoulder against Dimitri's chest as I stepped out into the street. "Have a good night, Dimitri."

"You too, Rose. Stay out of trouble."

I rolled my eyes. "Now you sound like Lissa."

Dimitri's laughter followed me up the street before he called out, "Oh, and Rose?"

"Yes?" I turned back to find him still in the doorway, watching me walk away.

"Let me know how it goes. Feedback is essential."

"Will do, comrade."

"Lady Drozdov, Guardian Hathaway is here to see you."

I rolled my eyes as murmured whispers echoed out into the hallway where I was waiting. The amount of pomp and fuss I had to go through just to see her in the flesh, it was as if she was the Queen. Then again, Ava Drozdov was bitter about the fact that she hadn't passed the monarch tests, and this probably soothed her ego.

"She may enter!"

I barely held back the eye roll as Ava's voice called out, and one of her staff waved me into the room.

"Lady Drozdov, how pleasant to see you."

"Guardian Hathaway. For what reason are you in my home?"

I felt my eye twitch from the effort of holding back another eye roll at her pretentious tone.

"I bring a… gift from Her Royal Highness Queen Vasilisa. She gave me authority to commission this bouquet and note. I do hope you like it."

Ava hadn't said anything, but her expression betrayed how pleased she was. However, the shocked gasp behind me showed that at least one of her staff understood the meaning of the bouquet and I swallowed down my grin, keeping my expression neutral as I removed the bouquet from the bag and placed it down on the table Ava gestured towards, taking care to make sure the card was still attached and it was presented the way Dimitri had instructed. Once I'd done so and taken a few steps back Ava stood and moved forwards, cooing and murmuring over the beauty of the arrangement.

"Yes, well, it's good to see that Queen Vasilisa is learning her place and the way things are run around here. That will be all."

And then she waved her hand, dismissing me from the room and turning to one of her friends. She was so consumed in her thoughts that she'd won, had somehow proved her point over Lissa, she missed the dark smile that spread over my face as I turned, a smile that grew wider as I saw the shocked expressions on two of her staff members, and the knowing, amused grin of Marta Drozdov, who'd been watching silently by the door. Ava's victory would be short lived, as Marta nodded in approval at me, and stepped forwards as I exited the room.

"Oh Ava…" Her singsong voice called out and since no one else was in the hallway, I stopped a few steps away from the door and listened.

"It means what?!"

The outraged sound of Ava Drozdov's scream as Marta told her the true meaning of the bouquet made me laugh all the way back to Dimitri's shop.

I got there just as he was locking up, and he seemed surprised to see me back so soon, but the surprise soon gave way to a matching grin as he took in my expression.

"One hundred dollars well spent?"

"The best."

He chuckled, and then pointed at one of the upper windows. "My flat is just above. If you'd like, you could come up for a drink and tell me the whole story?"

"Why, Dimitri, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Well, I wouldn't really call this date material. More a continuance. But… if you want to, and you still like me by the end of the evening, we could go on a proper date?"

The cute blush was back, and growing stronger from a dusting of pink across his cheeks to a flush of red down his neck, and I tucked my arm in his. "I'd like that."

He led me to a side door and unlocked it, offering me to go up the stairs first.

"And maybe, if it goes well, you can teach me how to say fuck-"

"No, Roza." Dimitri's laugh drowned out my protests and I grinned to myself, happiness building in my chest.

"By the way Rose, I've been wondering. What did you write in the notecard?"

We'd reached the top of the stairs and I smirked as he passed me to unlock the door to his home.

"Oh no, comrade. That's privileged information. But I'll trade you for it."

Dear Lady Drozdov,

Your input is always appreciated,

Kind regards,

The Queen

End notes:

Rose's message was inspired by the email etiquette memes where 'kind regards' stands for 'fuck you'.

Христос = Christ

I hope you enjoyed this! Feedback is always appreciated, so please let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading,

Nicia