I'm so sorry this took so long!! I've been procrastinating, but I got sick so I ended up doing some writing after that. Hope you enjoy anyway!

Shouto stared at the florist's.

Now, he realized, that was also an apothecary, according to the fading gold cursive on the ever creaky sign. He stood in the shadows again, ignoring and ignored by the people passing by and the random customers who came and went.

He didn't know why he kept coming back. Fuyumi was right. Their father would catch him eventually. His body ached at the thought.

The prince sighed, crossing his arms under his cloak. The frost bit at him, as it grew ever colder. He glanced down at the cobblestone road, just to get the green out of his vision for a second.

Instead, he noticed a dark flower at his feet, growing from dark vines that curling over the stones. He stared, dumbfounded, at the little plant. Nothing like that should be alive this late in the year. Maybe it had blown over from the flower store.

He looked up at the apothecary again and noticed a pair of green eyes in the window. The freckled face turned pink, the same shade as the roses in the window, and the man looked away.

Shouto pulled his hood further over his head and knelt down. He picked up the flower, a dark blue and somehow the same shade as his cloak. Something about it hummed in his head.

Magic.

He glanced back at the store through the passing people's legs, a muted rainbow of winter wear. The prince held the bloom carefully in his hand, twisting the stem and observing it carefully.

It was probably just a coincidence. He surely hadn't been looking at him.

"I thought you might be too shy to come inside."

Shouto jerked backwards, stumbling against the wall behind him and staring at the red shoes in front of him. He calmed his roaring heartbeat for a second, slowly daringly to look up. He was met with the man with the green hair. His heart started pounding in chest again and his breath became cloudier.

"Sorry, I thought you heard me walk up." He said shyly. He held out his hand, calloused and scarred. Shouto stared at the runes on his skin.

The prince took it, finally, dumbly, still holding the flower protectively in his cloak. The green-haired man was taller than him by a small amount and much broader.

"Did you want to come in?" He asked. Shouto stared at his chest instead of his eyes. A moment later, the man added. "I've noticed you standing out here the last few days." More like two weeks.

He didn't know why he kept coming back.

"Okay." He said before he realized it. He didn't know why he said that.

The taller man beamed at him, bright enough that Shouto suddenly felt hot under his dark cloak. His face felt warm and he forced his hands to remain at his sides. The flower was tucked into his pocket. He started to walk back across the street and the prince hesitated in the shadows.

The man paused halfway there, glancing back with those green, green eyes. Shouto took one last breath before he followed him. The street behind him didn't even care.

The prince wasn't sure what he was expecting inside. It was just as green, plants grew everywhere, making homes in pots and cracks in the walls. It was warmer inside, somehow. Perhaps more magic. He stole another glance at his runes, etched delicately up his muscular arms and further underneath his rolled up sleeves. Shouto wondered where they ended.

There were shelves lining the wall behind a counter, decorated with little glass bottles. Each one was filled with leaves or powders. There were dried plants hanging from hooks and labels in scribbled handwriting. The smell of herbs and spices and flowers floated in the air. On the counter, there were little brown pots of plants and glass jars full of crystals or glowing bugs.

It was messy, cluttered in a way Shouto had never really seen before. Somehow, it seemed better than the castle in every way.

"Was there something specific you were looking for?" The man asked, walking behind the counter. Shouto lingered in the middle of the store. The wooden floor creaked pitifully when either of them moved.

Shouto didn't have an answer. He didn't want to say no, he wasn't looking for anything. He had simply been stunned, distracted, by the plants and the flowers and the man, and that's why he had been watching the shop for so long. So instead he said. "You have runes."

The man raised his dark green eyebrows, then glanced at his hands. "I do. Most people just think they're just tattoos." Then he shrugged, a fond smile on his face. "Except the kids. They always seem to figure it out." He looked up at Shouto. "Do you have them too?" Something in his eyes sparkled at the idea.

"No." Shouto lied, rubbing his wrists. "You know they're outlawed here, right?"

"Magic is outlawed?" He asked incredulously.

Shouto nodded. "M- The king. He doesn't allow the creation of runes." Except for the kings own family it seemed. He ignored the phantom pains and squinted at one of the shelves, reading the labels curiously.

"Oh." The man hummed. Then he shrugged. "Well I was born with mine. They were passed down from my father." He explained.

Shouto looked back at him in shock. He was born with runes? That sounded unbelievable, but that would explain how they were so perfect. People born with runes were rare. Even the creation of them was dangerous nowadays, few people risked it anymore. The only people he knew who had true runes were royalty, like his father or his siblings. Or himself.

The idea that someone like this, a backstreet florist nobody, had true runes. It was strange. Shouto forced his surprise down and the man spoke again. "You won't turn me in, right? To the king or whoever doesn't like magic."

He should, probably, but if he did, he'd have to explain how he met him in the first place. "No." The prince said finally and the man smiled at him.

"Good. I don't know very much about this kingdom, yet. Everyone is very quiet here, especially when I ask about the royal family." He sighed. Shouto glanced back at the shelves behind him. An overflowing pot of leaves sat on the edge of one.

"Where are you from, if not here?" It was rare anyone moved to Endeavor, of all places. There were plenty of nicer kingdoms around, like Uravity or Ingenium.

Anywhere was better than here.

"I've been lots of places. Wherever the rent is cheap and the people are welcoming, I guess. They're quiet here, but they seem to tolerate me." He shrugged, clearly avoiding the question. Shouto pretended to not notice.

"You do magic for them?"

"No. Not really. I sell medicines and plants and simple things, but I can't just go around and fix everything for them." Something told Shouto that the man wished he could do just that. He probably kept to himself to keep out of the king's eye. No one would care about a little apothecary like this.

Shouto gave him a short hum, looking up at the rows of plants by the windows with mild interest. "You've asked a lot about me, what about you?" The man questioned.

"What about me?" The prince echoed, amused.

There was something about this easy conversation that was nice. Nothing like the stiff words with his father, or the worried whispers of his sister.

"Well, why have you been standing across the street for the last few weeks, if you clearly didn't want to buy anything?" So he did notice every time then. Maybe he was more observant than Shouto had assumed.

Shouto shrugged, turning back toward the counter and the man. He wasn't lying at least. He didn't know why he came back each time, but now he was thinking it had less to do with the shop itself, and more about what was hiding inside.

The man was leaning on the counter, a small smile on his face. It felt like the one tugging at Shouto's lips. "At least tell your name then."

Shouto blinked at him, suddenly reminded of his hood hiding his face and the fact that he didn't know this man's name either, even though they had been talking for quite a bit by now. "My name?" He echoed.

He laughed softly at Shouto. A sunny, short, wonderful sound. His ears craved it.

"If you want to. I'll tell you mine, even though you didn't ask."

His name.

Shouto debated on saying no, or maybe lying. But the man already claimed he wasn't from here, said he didn't know the royal family.

So like a fool, he gave it to him.

"Shouto."

He smiled wider. "Hi, Shouto. My name is Izuku."

The prince's heart skipped again and he looked down at the creaky floor to avoid the other man. His face felt hot, especially when he felt those glittery, golden green eyes on him.

"Will you show me your face now?" Shouto jumped, turning to see the man- Izuku, standing closer to him now. He was big and broad, but he held himself shyly, like he was asking permission to be here. To stand next to him.

Maybe he was.

Shouto's hand went up to his hood and he hesitated. "I don't think you want to see it."

"Why?" Izuku looked puzzled. Shouto felt like one.

"My face is-" He paused, thinking of angry, stormy eyes and hushed gasps. "scary."

Ugly.

An atrocity.

An abomination.

Izuku raised his eyebrows, then his face softened. "I highly doubt that."

"You don't know."

"I don't. And I never will, unless you show me." Izuku shrugged. "It's not like I'm going to throw you out, Shouto." His name in that gentle tone sounded so foreign.

He could be lying. Maybe he didn't know the royal family's names, but he would recognize him anyway. Maybe he would just throw him out anyway. He had been lied to before. Besides, he didn't know Izuku.

He didn't know him, but something about him made him trust him. Something about him seemed real, happy.

Shouto stared firmly at the floor as he reached up, grabbing the edges of his hood and pulling it down. He heard a soft gasp and frowned. He didn't dare to look up at the other man, imagining everything he was looking at.

The mismatched eyes.

The tangle of his unnaturally colored hair, twisted into some bun.

The scar, dripping down his left cheek and the side of his neck. It went even further, thankfully hidden by his clothes.

"Why would I think you're scary?" Izuku asked eventually, sounding confused. Shouto glanced up at him, surprised, but the green-haired man only looked puzzled.

"I-" The prince hesitated, blinking up at him.

Never had he had someone ask him, of all people. Usually they would ask his brothers or his sister what happened or maybe they wouldn't say anything to anyone at all, but just stare. Whisper to their friends behind his back.

But Izuku wasn't staring at him like that. He was simply looking at him, like he was something normal. Something worth looking at.

"I don't why anyone would say you're scary. You're not." Izuku continued when he couldn't. "I think you're beautiful." Shouto felt his heart stop and his skin heat. The other man's eyes widen as realized what he said.

The flowers hanging from the ceiling bloomed above Izuku's head as he stuttered his way through an explanation. His freckles were fading into his blush. Izuku waved his hands around quickly.

Shouto barely heard him.

He thought he was pretty. The idea of someone, anyone, finding him even remotely attractive was unheard of. It was crazy. Shouto was pretty sure he was summoning frost, something cold was creeping up his skin.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang out in the store and both men jolted. Shouto grabbed his hood and threw it over his head before he looked at the newcomer. It was a young woman, dark hair tied up in a ponytail. She raised her eyebrows at them.

Izuku hugged his red face. "Hi, Lady Yaoyorozu." He mumbled.

"Sorry, am I interrupting? I can come back later." She asked with an amused smile.

Shouto shook his head. "It's fine, I was just leaving."

"W-Wait-" He ignored Izuku, moving past the woman and out the door. He stared at the grey stones, the strangers' conversations loud in his ears. His face still felt hot and his flower felt heavy in his pocket.

Shouto was halfway down the street when he heard a crackling behind him, and a hand tugged on his cloak. He whirled around, coming face to face with Izuku. He swore he saw lightning glowing around the man, but it faded in the blink of an eye, making him unsure. Maybe those runes did more than just grow flowers.

"Why'd you run off?" He asked, seeming almost hurt. Shouto pressed his lips into a line. His cheeks were still a faint pink and Shouto was acutely aware of the people around them.

The prince shrugged, glaring at the cobblestone street.

"I meant it, you know."

"What?"

Izuku blushed harder. "When I called you beautiful. You are."

Shouto stiffened.

"Come back, to the shop." Izuku asked gently.

He wanted to say no. He should have said no.

"Another day."

Izuku looked a little discouraged, but smiled at him anyway. He held out his hand, runes glowing a soft green. Shouto's eyes widened as a flower bloomed with scarlet and ivory petals. Shouto hesitantly took it. His icy fingers brushed against Izuku's.

His touch was electric.