"W-what?" the blonde-haired owner of the flowershop gasped. "B-but… I thought we'll be receiving a new batch of baby's breaths and buttercups today? It was even ordered a month ago, and duly paid, too."
By Aether, the twin and business partner of the flowershop's owner, no less. He'd already ordered said batch of flowers to complete the request of a customer's wedding gift last month, and tomorrow's the agreed upon pick-up date.
"I'm terribly sorry, Miss Lumine, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we are unable to deliver them today. If you need some other types of flowers right now, we'll deliver a different batch right a—"
"Please, I'm sure you have an extra batch of those two types ready for us right now. No other suppliers have the same quality of flowers you have. And, that's 'Mrs.', too."
The pleas of the owner were to no avail. The supplier's representative still brought up the excuse of 'unforseen circumstances' without a clear explanation. In the end, Lumine just decided to defer the arrival of her order until next week, rather than to swap with another type or to cancel it. Aether had to go through this and that just to be able to slice up a good deal with the supplier; she wouldn't want her dear brother's efforts to be wasted.
Still, how could she explain to her customer who'd been waiting for a month? They specified the baby's breath and buttercups as the pièce de résistance of their request. Otherwise…
"Calm down, Lumine, calm down. Arly did say that things like these'll happen when running a business," she mumbled as she fiddled with the red cross-shaped amulet of her choker, gifted by her fiancée, Arlecchino.
Sadly, she's not really used to this sort of instance, this being the first time an order had been deferred due to 'unforeseen circumstances'. It should be a learning experience for her, though.
"It won't get any worse," the owner told herself, as a hopeful smile crept on her face. "I'll just explain why those two kinds aren't there. They'll understand."
And that was when things slowly started getting worse.
Unbeknownst to the flowershop owner, the customer on their motorbike came to pick up their order a day early.
"O-oh, Sir Chaoxi, good day. What brings you here?"
"Change of plans, sadly. Do you have my order ready?"
Lumine nervously fiddled with her amulet. "About that…"
She explained the lack of baby's breath and buttercup situation to him in a civil and dignified tone. Expecting a response of the same tone, the owner got lambasted for a good five minutes of bad service and unkept promises before giving back the customer's refund.
Just… what did I do to deserve this? Lumine thought to herself as she held back her tears in front of her customer.
"You're lucky that it wasn't agreed on paper. Otherwise, I'll have this shop closed. Good day to you, too," he scoffed as he stormed away from the flowershop, slamming the door as he left.
Lumine gasped as she caught a falling pot, from the force of the slam, on time.
"How rude…" she whispered as she wiped some tears that escaped her eyes. "I guess those're what they call Karen's and Terry's."
Returning the pot back to its spot, she gazed at the dark purple petunias it contained; that got her thinking of someone dear to her. "What'd you do, Arly? Maybe show them a piece of your mind, or your hands?" She chuckled at her imagination.
Suddenly, oncoming screeching of tires and jarring gunshot-like sounds reached her ears, jolting her. Right after that, numerous items breaking and snapping could be heard from outside. Curious and alert, she stepped out of her shop.
"No!" she cried out.
Lo, right in front of her shop, a complete mess; her display of flowers and flower pots were thrashed by a car that seemed to have already sped away. The metal stands that even held the said items for display were bent beyond recognition. Some bystanders in the area could be heard murmuring amongst themselves.
As she tearfully prepared her broom and dustpan, a few bystanders assisted her in cleaning up and arranging the mess the car made, even sending her a picture of the car's plate number that thrashed the front of her shop.
Thanking some of the bystanders before going back to their daily business, the flowershop owner decided to close her shop for the day. Just as she was going to call her fiancée to pick her up, someone else rang her up — her dear brother.
"Oh, Aether. On your way back to the shop?" she said, trying her best to hide her sniffles in between.
"Um, y'see, about that…" Her twin explained his situation.
Shocked, the owner dropped her phone when her twin finished explaining.
"Alright, looking good!" Tartaglia, one of the two tattoo artists in Arlecchino's tattoo shop, commented as he finished a customer's tattoo. "That should mark you two as destined for each other," he joked.
The output, as per request, was a pair of scales with butterflies hovering around, with stylistic embers around the image. Not a bad design for a rookie, Arlecchino thought as she faced her shop's tattoo artist, smiling.
The customers, a lawyer and a mortician, seemed to enjoy the rookie's artistic skill. After paying, and tipping the orange-haired tattoo artist, the two left the shop, just in time for lunch break.
Seeing those two customers, however, reminded Arlecchino of when she'd courted her fiancée, Lumine — her Starshine, a long while back. While it was her first time seeing the two, the air around those two just reminded her of Lumine and herself, in some way.
Opposite in outward nature and disposition, yet attracted to each other as if the two were the poles of a magnet.
Fiddling the lavender-colored amulet of her necklace, the tattoo shop owner smiled at the memories they made.
"A remarkable design, rookie. Just as expected," Arlecchino said as she hung the sign 'Lunchbreak' over the door and closed the curtains.
"Hey, you know that I've been doing this for years now," Tartaglia retorted.
"Says the guy who just signed up three months ago," the other of the two tattoo artists, Columbina, responded.
The owner chuckled. "Anyone who hasn't worked under me for years is still a rookie. Is that clear," she faced Tartaglia, "rookie?"
"Oh, asking for another fisticuff, boss?" the rookie responded, cracking his knuckles while smiling. "I still have to redeem myself after all those losses."
A normal exchange between the two, having known each other long before Arlecchino set up her business. Be it as it may, their 'exchanges' would end in her favor most of the time.
"By adding another 'L' to your lengthy list? You might want to reconsider, Tartaglia, but alright," the boss of the two artists replied, cracking her own knuckles. "That is what you want."
"How about you two eat up," Columbina intruded, raising two fragrant plastic bags between their faces, "before tearing each others' faces out?"
"Alright, alright." Tartaglia shrugged and grabbed one of the two bags, heading to his table.
"You should know better, rookie." Arlecchino followed suit and headed to her own.
"Quite lively today, Tartaglia, hm?" She retreated to her table, humming as she went.
While eating, Columbina decided to turn on the TV and watch the movie premiering at the three's usual TV channel to pass the time.
Suddenly, the movie was interrupted by a news flash: a traffic accident just minutes ago. The worst part was that the two victims who got caught in it were familiar faces. They were admitted to a nearby hospital a little later, too.
The three simultaneously felt deep worry and concern.
"Pizdets, that's Aether and Scaramouche!" Tartaglia yelled and stood up. Meanwhile, Columbina was speechless.
Arlecchino's thoughts, however, quickly turned to her Starshine.
"Columbina. Tartaglia." The two immediately turned to their boss. "We're closing the shop now. You two, head to the hospital, ASAP. Am I clear?"
Tartaglia immediately agreed, but Columbina asked, "What about you, Chino?"
Arlecchino nervously fiddled with her amulet, but kept a straight face. "I have to see Lumine first."
Columbina frowned at first, but quickly agreed. "Okay, I understand."
Closing the store, Tartaglia and Columbina rode on the former's motorcycle, while Arlecchino hastily started her car.
"Hey, Boss," Tartaglia called as he stopped beside Arlecchino's window. "Tell Lumine we said 'hi'." Columbina nodded at her afterwards.
"I will, now go."
The two departed as Arlecchino ordered, with her following suit. As she neared her flowershop, she got a call from her Starshine.
"Arly… Please come here…" she said in between sniffles, poignant sadness all over her voice.
This was not a good sign.
"Don't worry, Starshine. I'm already here," Arlecchino responded with the softest tone she could muster at that time.
Leaving her car, Arlecchino noticed tire marks scribbled in front of the shop and disfigured metal bars put to the side. Those beautiful flowers that once stood out in display were now gone. The shop was closed, too.
"Dammit, they must've thrashed her store before those two!"
Cursing quietly, she made her way to the flowershop through the back entrance. There, she saw her Starshine.
Sobbing quietly on the counter.
It wasn't the first time Arlecchino's ever seen her like this, but today felt different from the rest. Approaching her slowly, Arlecchino whispered,
"Starshine?"
"A… Arly?"
In just a matter of seconds, the sobbing flowershop owner leapt towards her soon-to-be wife, bawling out and staining her clothes wet, the latter hugging her tighter and softly patting her back.
"I'm such a wreck… Arly… I'm so sorry…"
"Shh… It's alright, Starshine. I'm here for you. Just let it all out."
A few minutes passed, and Lumine seemed to calm down just a little bit. It didn't seem like the best time to ask how her day was, considering more pressing matters were at hand.
"Shall we head to the hospital now?" Arlecchino softly suggested. "I saw the news over TV."
Lumine slowly nodded her head, still buried in Arlecchino's dark blue clothes.
Fortunately, and by some miraculous intervention, Aether and Scaramouche only sustained minor injuries, but had to remain confined for the night. Tartaglia and Columbina volunteered to stay with them overnight in the ward, telling Arlecchino and Lumine to rest.
It turns out that the one responsible for both the damages in Lumine's shop and the recent traffic accident was the same person. Apparently, they were apprehended a few hours later, and the same lawyer whom Arlecchino had as their customer dealt with their prosecution. The perpetrator was obliged to pay for the damages incurred and the hospital bills, while facing a lengthy jail time.
On their way back home, Arlecchino noticed Lumine to calm down a little better. With the latter's hand over the former's hand on the gearstick, Arlecchino felt that her Starshine still had some clouds looming over, albeit less than earlier.
Arlecchino still felt the need to break the tense silence a bit.
"Had a rough day back at the shop, Starshine?"
Lumine softly hummed in agreement, but her hand gripped Arlecchino's a little tighter. From that alone, Arlecchino knew that those clouds would take a little longer to clear before Lumine started to shine once more.
"It's okay. You don't have to talk about it right now. I'll wait for you to rest back home."
"I'm sorry, Arly…"
"Don't be. I know you did great today, managing the store alone even with that insanity. You don't have to be so hard on yourself, so please be kinder to yourself, alright, Starshine?"
Lumine hummed in agreement once more, but this one felt a little brighter now.
Arriving back at their home, Arlecchino felt that the sun of her life had the clouds slowly dissipating. Lumine was smiling a little more clearly, too.
Arlecchino whipped up a sumptuous dinner for the both of them, and that was when Lumine told her about the series of unfortunate events back at the flowershop today, along her dear brother and Scaramouche's accident.
Lumine slowly started tearing up again narrating those events, but Arlecchino quickly comforted her, adding words of encouragement and business advice along the way.
Arlecchino even mumbled about 'dealing' with that awful customer when she'd see his face, commenting that those who dared dim the light of her life would see their light dimmed, maybe permanently — the last comment which Arlecchino very quietly mumbled.
"Well, once we're able to find enough funds and capital, I'll be sure to find a spot where we both can run our shops beside each other. I'll make sure to teach those scumbags a lesson if they ever try anything on us," Arlecchino added. "So, don't you worry, Starshine."
"You're the best, Arly," Lumine replied with the radiant smile that Arlecchino had been waiting for.
After resting a bit more and showering before bed, they had one last conversation before turning to their slumber.
"Arly?"
"Yes, Starshine?"
"Thank you. Thank you so much. I really don't know where I'd be if you never came to my life."
Lumine inched closer to Arlecchino's hug, feeling her chest rhythmically rise and sink with every breath.
"It's my pleasure, and likewise, thank you for being the light of my dim life, Starshine."
Arlecchino hugged Lumine tighter, being able to pick up more of the wonderful flowery aroma her blonde hair offered.
The two were at bliss after a long day, and their much needed rest was at hand. They couldn't ask for anything better that night.
"I love you, Arly."
"I love you too, Starshine."
Yes, KnaveLumi is my 2nd best ship, but nothing beats YanTao, and no one can tell me otherwise. :3 Still, those two are kinda neck-and-neck and all the way up there above all ships ehe~
Thank you once more amefurin_ for showing me the path to KnaveLumi and allowing me to make my very first non-YanTao Genshin Fic based off your work. I'm honored to have made this fic for you, as well as add one more to the growing yet sacred KnaveLumi archives.
Artist (Twitter):
amefurin_