Flowers and Baloney
"Your brother seems interesting." Belle started. He had barely realized she had spoken at first, Belle looked completely entranced by that book in her hands as she sat on the couch.
Killian was currently sitting at the living room table, trying to get a bit of work done before class as it started tomorrow. He'd been absolutely dreading this conversation.
"Liam means well." He said shyly, feeling his face flush, rubbing the back of his neck. "He isn't really that much of a flirt; he does it just to embarrass me." Killian said quickly. "I hope your friend wasn't uncomfortable."
He hears Belle snicker under her breath. "Are you kidding, Ruby loves the attention. I swear she thrives off it. She couldn't stop talking about my 'hot roommate' and his brother all day long." Belle explained. "I finally kicked her out of here when she started talking about-"
Now it was Belle who was blushing. Killian didn't need to think very hard to figure out what type of innuendoes Ruby had been making to make Belle flush. "How did you meet her, you two don't seem very much alike." He said carefully.
"High school. We got paired up together freshman year for a project, inseparable since." She explained. "It was Ruby, Anna and I actually." She said. Killian detected a hint of nostalgia in her voice. "Anna was who I actually was supposed to room with." She explained.
Killian raised a brow, curious as to what had happened, he was glad he got the room of course, but curious as to what put Belle in this situation.
"May I ask what happened?" He said.
"Her older sister had a nervous breakdown; Anna decided to go to college closer to her to take some of the stress off Elsa's shoulders." He nodded in understanding.
"Bond of siblings is strong." He agreed. "I'd do that in a heartbeat for Liam."
The conversation died briefly, only the sound of his scribbling, and the turning of the pages in Belle's book could be heard.
"Was it hard?" She asked suddenly. "Being separated from your brother for so long?" He blinked in confusion. Belle turned around in her seat to face him. "Navy right? Or the marines?"
"Navy." He assured her. "How did you know?"
Belle shrugged. "I'm a reader, I read people. He's well built, tanner, much tanner than you, you look at him like you haven't seen him in forever, and don't want to let him go, and he mentioned you being a pirate, I figured it meant he likes water." She explained.
That sounded impressive.
"Plus Liam mentioned it to me when you got home from the grocery store. Assured me that he'd be out of our hair soon because he had to go back to base." She teased.
He chuckled.
"People always assume that because I read a lot, I'm some kind of Sherlock Holmes." She explains. "So is it hard?"
Killian is tempted to lie but doesn't.
"Very." He says in a quiet voice. "But he didn't have enough money to go to school and he wanted to make something of himself. I'm very proud of him." He admits. "Even when he embarrasses me by flirting with my roommate."
Belle grins. "I couldn't imagine doing that, it would kill my mother, you'll meet her eventually, she comes down here a lot to visit." She explains.
Killian only nods.
"How often do your parents visit? I'm trying to convince my mom that twice a month is a little excessive." She says with a smile.
"They don't." He says in a too tight voice. Belle's grin falls, but she seems to know enough not to question him. "But Liam comes whenever he can; he thinks he can make it for Thanksgiving, but not Christmas." He says sadly, changing the subject. "So we usually do both at once"
Belle chuckles. "Sounds like fun."
The conversation drops again and Killian looks around for an idea as to how to start it up again, he finds talking to Belle is so effortless, just as it had been when they first met.
"What do you do for the holidays?" He asks. Her smile returns.
"My father usually fills the house with flowers for my mother, 12 bouquets of Christmas they call it. And then we do the traditional stuff, Christmas Tree, Eggnog, presents, party the whole thing. Most of the town comes over." She explains.
It sounds nice, but he's too distracted by the amount of flowers Belle's father keeps in their home.
"12?!"
"My father runs a flower shop." She explains; there's bitterness in her voice he can't quite place. "He actually didn't want me to go to college."
There it is.
"He wanted me to stay and learn how to run the place, grow the flowers; cut them, everything." She says with a sigh.
"I can see why you'd be opposed to the idea. I worked in a flower shop in high school." He says. "I think I know more about arranging flowers than I should." He admits. Killian doesn't admit it often, but that had been one of his favorite odd jobs he'd taken around that time.
"I hate flowers." She says suddenly and passionately.
He raises a brow at her. "Seriously Belle? You cannot hate flowers, why I understand not wanting to give up higher learning for a flower shop you can't just-"
"I can and I do. Flowers give me allergies." She explains. "I don't mind them being around, but I hate being given them, all they do is sit there and die." She said dramatically.
"Well it's not exactly the flowers but the pollen in the air that reacts-" She glares at him.
"Flowers." She says stubbornly. He can't help but chuckle at the look of her. "It's not funny." She snapped.
"It is a little. You act like you are personally insulted by flowers." He observed. "Like they are out to get you!"
She huffed and turned back around, arms crossed. "Come on, everyone has things they can't stand." She reminds him defensively.
He nods, she has a point there. He looks back at her, seeing Belle look at him expectantly through the corner of her eye.
"Come on Killian, you already know about my hatred of flowers, it's only fair." She presses, back to facing him, book abandoned (not completely, when Belle had placed her book mark in the book and placed it on the table he'll never know.).
He can't help but lean back, and fold his arms behind his head.
"I don't now lass, I only confide my inner most feeling to my friends, not just any ol' acquaintance." He teases, parroting her word from earlier back to him.
Belle turns, folding her arms over the back of the couch, leveling a glare at him. Killian thinks Belle could be quite fierce when she wants to be. He's helpless to cave under her gaze.
"Fine fine." He surrenders. "Baloney." He utters bitterly. "I bloody hate the stuff."
He waits a moment, only one before Belle rolls back into the couch laughing hysterically.
"It's not funny!" He retorts. "What even is baloney? It's disgusting."
Belle is still laughing. He rolls his eyes. "Go ahead and laugh, I'm used to it." He responded.
"There must be a story behind it." She concluded. "And it sounds like a story I'd kill to hear." She admits.
"Aye, you're right, but it's a story I cannot be sober to share." He assures her. He glances towards the kitchen, rising and moving towards it.
"Woah, not in the mood to drink right now." Belle says quickly, looking as if he'd groan a second head.
"Neither am I." He replies. "I was just going to make a cup of tea, would you like a cup?" He asks. She nods thankfully.
"So I'm guessing you're not a coffee drinker?" She asks. He shrugs.
"Not really." He occasionally buys a cup on the bad days at Starbucks, but he prefers tea when in the comfort of his own home.
"Thank god, Ruby always used to leave her coffee grinds everywhere." She insisted. "You have no idea how annoying it was to clean up every single morning." He snickered in agreement.
"My ex-Roommate's girlfriend used to do the same thing." He assured her. "I'm pretty sure she thought they got magically cleaned up before she got back from work every day."
It takes a few minutes before he drops the tea bags into their respective cups, and brings it over to Belle. She takes it happily into her grip, smiling brightly.
"You know Killian, I was skeptical about rooming with you at first, but I think we're going to get along just fine."
I'm glad last chapter was well received.
The setting up is officially done. From here on in there may be a mix of mini arcs, and random one shots of situations I'm putting Belle and Killian in. I'm always welcome to new situations, so leave them in a review if you think of one!
Don't forget to review!
~Luna
