Ventus had the most boring job at the flower shop; being the cashier. Day in and day out, from after school to closing, Ven sat on a lumpy stool to watch next to no one come in. There was more of a commotion in the shop around spring- since they offered gardening supplies to help offset how little people randomly bought bouquets and arrangements for their loved ones. Not that Ven should be complaining- it was, in a way, easy money. He even had time to get his homework done in the first hour or so too.
Not that Skuld couldn't find something for him to do. Especially if he dared to utter that he was bored. However, just a low sigh would have made Skuld suggest he do something else if she heard him. That's happened before, and it was in the process of almost happening again. Ven sat at the front counter while Skuld sat at a wooden table behind him. The table in question was for finished arrangements that were scheduled to be picked up in person by the customer. Sometimes they used it as an extra table to make arrangements when the ones in the backroom were set to be cleaned off. Today, Skuld was making it her base of operations while she went through current, old, and new orders while also doing a bit of budgeting as well.
If her occasional grunts of agitation were any indication, the backlog had been much longer than what she had anticipated.
"Ephemer," Skuld loudly declared, giving only the briefest of glances toward the backroom, "I'm gonna have to cancel your weekly order of flowers to Anora. We're going to need those spares for a bigger arrangement this week."
"Naw," Ephemer whined from the back room, "How will my wife know that I love and cherish her?"
Ven watched as Skuld let out a hard sigh, setting down her pen so she could rub her temples. In a voice that was understandably exhausted, Skuld groaned, "Ephemer…!"
That was when the young man actually came to the doorway bordering the main shop and the backroom. His face was rather serious as he looked back at his old partner in crime.
"I was joking, Skuld." he told her- his voice no less serious. "It was a joke."
"Uh huh," Skuld mused as she reached for a piece of floral wire next to her. She bent it into a triangle shape as she told Ephemer, "Get back to work you lovestruck slacker."
Before he could give a retort, Skuld tossed the bent wire in his direction. Ephemer let out a yelp of surprise before ducking back into his workspace.
"Rude!" he shouted from the backroom, leading Skuld to let out a rather amused laughter. She needed to let out that laugh- Ven could tell just by the way she sighed after recollecting herself.
After that distraction, the main shop got so eerily quiet that Ven's ears almost starting to ring. The hours went by as Skuld made corrections to orders and did whatever else she did. Time passed by so slowly, that Ven was surprised when Brain hit the counter on his way out.
"Whelp, time for me bounce." he announced, giving Skuld and Ventus a nod.
"Have a good night." Skuld replied with a little wave. "Remember that time sheets are due this week."
"Already did mine." the smooth talking young man affirmed. "But before I go, I gotta warn you two- the Queen of Sheba will be gracing you with her presence today after she gets done at work. She'll tell you the details once she gets here."
Ven's heart suddenly leaped into his throat. "Sabrina?" he asked, almost automatically. Skuld, on the other hand, groaned.
"And here I was thinking about finishing up for the day too." she said. Skuld placed two fingers at the bridge of her nose as she thought things over. "We're overstaffed as it is right now. Ephemer will be off the clock in another thirty minutes- and he has to go because I promised him as much when he stayed late yesterday. Which means you'll be manning the store on your own, Ven. Do you think you could help her out without the rest of us?"
"M-me?" he stammered. He even pointed to himself as if he had no idea of his own presence in the room.
"It'll be fine." Brain nodded. "She likes you."
The young man's head whipped to his older peer. "Really?"
"Just take her order and we'll fill it later." Skuld added on. "Shouldn't be any different than any other customer."
"Should." Brain teased with a tip of his fedora. He then choose to make that the mark of his leave, failing to even warn Ven when exactly Sabrina would be coming around. Even if Ventus told Skuld he could do it, and that odd glare she gave him didn't inspire confidence, a part of him wondered even if he could handle Sabrina alone.
The waiting for her to come in became nearly unbearable. Skuld left not soon after Brain, and Ephemer left on time and wished Ven the best of luck. He just hoped she was in a good mood. Normal Sabrina was a handful because of her natural pessimism and sass. But angry Sabrina? Ven shuddered. No man alive knew how to calm Sabrina down when she was mad. He had been so lost in worrying about Sabrina's mood, and the boredom of nothing going on, that he almost fell asleep. He didn't even quite register that the little bell above the flower shop's door jingled before he saw Sabrina angrily stomping her way to the main counter.
"How do you say 'fuck you' in a bouquet?" Sabrina demanded, her voice almost a bit too loud, as she slammed her hands onto the counter. It startled Ven for a moment- definitely waking him up from his half sleep.
"I, uh..." he stammered as he tried to get his brain in gear. The pure rage in Sabrina's chocolate brown eyes filled Ven with both awe and great fear. His mind was blank, but he still managed to say one word, "Poppies."
That immediately made Sabrina raise an eyebrow. "Poppies?" she repeated, her voice well laced with skepticism.
"Poppies." Ven said once more, nodding his head almost a bit too fast. "Their seeds can be extracted to make drugs- opium. And, um, you're not allowed to grow them by seed in certain regions, and, uh..." The teen was about five seconds away from slapping himself. He was too stupefied by Sabrina's presence that he didn't even bother to voice the most obvious question on the table. "Why do you want a… uh, 'fuck you' bouquet anyway?"
Sabrina stood a bit straighter, her hands forming into fists. "I'm getting laid off." she grumbled.
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be." she quickly shot at him. She looked away for a moment to mumble, "Boss was an asshole anyway."
"So why are you…?"
Sabrina looked back at Ven- her eyes shining with a fierce determination. "His birthday is next week, and I want to piss him off one more time- think you can help me?"
All Ventus could gave her at this point was a slow nod. In the back of his mind, he was almost grateful that -while she didn't say she liked him directly- it was clear that she had some genuine regard toward him. Otherwise she'd be making him dig his own grave; literally.
"We'd need to have other flowers than just poppies though." he then said to her. He quickly looked around for a scrap piece of paper so he could -badly- sketch out the arrangement for her. "The poppies can decorate the lower portion of the arrangement, but we'd need something as a focal point. Something tall that can create a semi or quarter circle in the back."
"Like lavender?"
Ven blinked before looking back up at her. "Lavender?"
Sabrina shrugged. "Gotta know it came from me, right?"
"Right." the young man agreed- his face flushing a bit. "Lavender could do. It might be hard to find stalks tall enough, though. But we'd still need something… something that would make a statement. What about..."
"A rose." the two of them said at the same time. Both seemed a bit off guard by their equal thought, leading them to just stare at each other.
"Black roses represent death sometimes." Ven suddenly said, his voice just a pitch too high as he tried to look away from Sabrina. "We can even have the thorns in tact to really make a, uh, a statement. You know?"
"Sounds good." Sabrina nodded. She looked down at Ven's arrangement sketch- his generic looking poppies and poor lavender scribbles left much to be desired. "Do you take the rose thorns off by hand, or do you buy them in bulk like that?"
"A bit a both." the teen told her. He took a step back or two from the counter to give her some space. "We try to get precut roses because Strelitzia keeps finding new ways to hurt herself, apparently..."
Sabrina looked up at him. "But?"
"Lauriam tries to keep some flowers growing year round in the greenhouse. Depending on the color, I might be able to cut one right off the bush for you."
"Black roses aren't natural, are they?"
"Not exactly. The closest are really just super red ones. Sometimes a dark purple too. Even then, we sometimes use dye to make them look a bit darker."
"Does Lauriam have any that dark?"
"I'm not sure offhand. But I can show you what he has."
"Are you allowed to do that?" Sabrina asked, folding her arms as she gave him a neat raise of his eyebrow.
Ven looked everywhere but at her as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "No, not really." he admitted. "But it would only be for a moment. It shouldn't hurt anything."
"Then lead the way."
A jolt shot through Ventus for a moment. With a shaking hand, he gestured for her to follow him to the backroom. From there, they could use a side door into the greenhouse. It was with a hyper awareness that he noted that Sabrina strolled rather close to him.
This wasn't a bad thing, not really. Sabrina was Brain's sister- almost a part of the Dandelion crew herself. She could be in the backrooms and the greenhouse if she had staff permission. Besides, Ephemer's wife and kid were allowed back this way sometimes. Usually because Ephemer couldn't keep his hands off his wife for more than a minute, but still. Ven would be lying if he said he hadn't considered doing it before too. Not with Ephemer's wife, of course, but with…
"You always forget how naturally smooth real flowers are." Sabrina sighed. Ven took a look back at her to notice that the tip of her finger was gently grazing some tiger lilies. For a moment, he found himself jealous of a stupid flower.
"Lauriam's rose bushes are this way, Sabrina." Ventus said. It brought her attention back to him and allowed the two of them to continue their venture.
Their check on the rose bushes didn't take long. Sabrina only gave the black rose bush a nod before deciding that they would do for the task. The duo walked back to the main shop in silence- the rest of the arrangement made in near silence.
"The flowers will be delivered on your boss's birthday, right to his office." Ven told her once everything was settled. He bit his lip for a moment before hazarding to ask, "Since you're not going to be working for awhile, are you going to be visiting the shop more? To visit Brain or whatever."
"Dunno." Sabrina huffed. She looked up at him before asking, "What times are you usually here for?"
A faint blush appeared on Ven's cheeks as he scratched the tip of his nose a bit. "Pretty much every day after school. We're not opened on the weekends, you know. It really makes stuff boring."
Sabrina gave a thoughtful hum. "Maybe I'll visit." she decided as she picked up her receipt. "After homework's done."
"Right." Ven dimly agreed. Sabrina gave him one last inquisitive stare before she started to leave. After she left, the teen let out a soft sigh as he rested his hand in his head. He could have gone to sleep right then and there had he not remembered that he needed to get home soon. As he got the store ready for closing, he wondered what the odds were that Sabrina could start working at Dandelion's as well. But the thought immediately left as he shut the lights off for the night. Sabrina deciding to join their crew was just as ridiculous as asking her not to wear purple.
But, as it crossed Ven's mind when he saw Terra's truck pull into the parking lot, it wasn't entire impossible either...