The artificial light from the underside of the plate streamed through the gaps of the church roof, illuminating a sizeable plot of flowers near where the altar would have been, had the place still been in use.

Aerith tended to these flowers every day, happy to be in their presence. It was the other presence she wasn't so keen on. Lanky legs hung over the top of a disused pew, their owner just lazily watching her while reading a magazine at the same time.

She peered over to see the cover of what he was reading. It appeared to be something about bikes, something to do with mechanics in any case. Reno was actually one of the least annoying Turks in her view. He didn't ask her any questions, no accusations. The first few times he had half-heartedly asked if she would come voluntarily to help Shinra out but he soon learnt that the answer was never going to be yes.

He'd just rock up, give her a two fingered salute and take a seat. She'd ask him to leave her alone multiple times, but he'd just shrugged and said that he was here on orders, so she'd have to pick it up with Tseng. Aerith soon realised from their short conversations that he probably didn't know why Shinra wanted her. He'd all but admitted he didn't understand why he was sitting here with her when there was other work to do.

"What're your flowers tellin' ya today, princess?"

She snapped her head up to look over to him, distracted from her thoughts, and then back to her flowers. "I'm not sure," she cupped one of the flower heads in her hand, "I think they are just happy to be watered."

Rising from her crouching position, she went to refill the watering can. Reno had risen from his perch, and he seemed to be admiring the flowers in front of him.

"What's this one called?"

"They're yellow lillies" A grunt came as a reply. He seemed lost in thought for a little while before he looked to her again.

"Are they good gifts?"

Stopping in her tracks as she reached the tap, she turned to him, a little confused.

"Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders and put his hands in his pockets, slouching slightly, looking down at the flowers. "Reckon you could make a bunch up for me?"

"Of lillies?" she asked, still not sure where the conversation was going. He nodded in reply. At that, she continued "It'll cost you"

He chuckled at that and nodded, "Yea, yea. How much?" She wasn't sure if he was being serious but there was only one way to find out.

"150 gil"

He looked up at her, she had expected him to be annoyed, but when she met his gaze, he was chuckling.

"You drive a hard bargain, princess. Lucky for you, it's worth it…" He reached inside his jacket to a hidden pocket.

"I probably wouldn't give lillies either," she noted. At his confused face, she continued, "The language of flowers…."

Reno just looked at her, deadpan. She rolled her eyes and let out a laugh.

"You really don't know? Lillies are usually given at funerals."

"Ah, yea, that's not the vibe I'm wantin' to give off"

"What did you want to say?"

"Hmmm…" he looked thoughtful, "Thanks for scraping me offa the tarmac with a side of 'if you're single, I'm up for it'. Reckon you can get flowers to say that?" A trademark smirk graced his face.

Of course, it would be a woman. Aerith had a feeling it was going to be something like that. This was a first though – Reno would never usually ask for anything and she didn't have him pegged as the romantic type. Maybe this was the one. Or maybe he was just trying out a different tact this time.

"Roses, hydrangeas," she bent to fill the watering can, "That's what you want". She filled the can up until it was almost overflowing and hauled it back to the flower bed.

"Cool" he resumed his place on the pew until Aerith was finished tending the plants. She then suddenly sprung up to stride out of the church. He was following her within a few seconds, discarding his magazine amongst the pews.

"Hey, where're you goin'?"

"The roses are at home – hope you don't mind walking." She strode through the damaged buildings back towards the slums. Reno followed, although now more on guard as Turks weren't exactly welcomed around here. He had his hand hovering over his magrod at all times.

She was ever popular on the way, as usual, kids calling her name from a distance to wave as she passed by. They usually kept a little bit of a distance when they saw either him or Rude with her, but it didn't deter them entirely.

By the time Aerith has led them to her home, he stayed put in the garden rather than follow her into the house. Elmyra, Aerith's mother, hated Shinra's fascination with her daughter, quite understandably too, Reno though. Best not to prod or agitate the issue. He put his hands in his pockets while she went in and fetched her basket. He hoped he'd be able to swing by Ava's house after his shift with the flowers. Hopefully she would like them… hopefully it'd get him a date. The sound of the front door swinging open brought him back to the situation at hand.

"Right, let's get picking then!"

Before he could answer, he felt himself be pulled down the path to the mound on the other side of the stream. Petals of pink and cream flashed by him. He decided he'd try and pick out one himself – "Motherfu…" he jerked his hand back into his other one.

"Careful, they have thorns!"

"Found that out already", he waved his left hand in front of her to make a point. She just giggled.

Within a few minutes she seemed to have everything she needed as she gently held the bundle of flowers together at the stems – careful of the thorns – and tied them together with a pink ribbon. She wrapped them up a bit further with hessian.

"The hessian will hopefully stop you from pricking yourself on the thorns again", she explained, finishing the bow with a flourish before handing them to Reno.

"Huh, thanks, they don't look half bad"

She rolled her eyes, "Would you say that to any other florist?"

"I'd just get one of the office assistants to order them for me instead"

"How personal, anyway, I hope she appreciates them!" She turned to walk back to the house. Reno stayed back, still weary of her mother. As soon as the door closed behind her, he walked back up to the mound. Had to finish his shift and make sure she didn't 'escape'… for some reason.

The minute his shift finished, he got up, dusted himself off and made for the train station through the slums, flowers in hand.