Snap
Disclaimer: No.
Summary: A collection of short one-shots based almost solely upon requests. Multiple characters, pairings, and alternate universes.
AN: So this is a series of short fics that I like to write at work when I'm bored out of my skull. They'll contain multiple characters, multiple pairings, and in fact you're more than welcome to make a request yourself. Whether it's in a PM, a review, or an ask on tumblr (sword-and-stars), I really don't mind! I'll post them as I write them.
Bloom
Estelle and Yuri—flowers.
Estelle's seen him from the window of the shop at least twenty times before she ever gets the chance to talk to him. She's behind the counter and there's a storm raging outside and she's trying desperately to not to think about how long it's likely to last and the fact that she doesn't have an umbrella with her and that her apartment has a leak that the complex has yet to come and fix (much to Rita's fury and Judith's irrepressible calm) and being bored out of her mind when she catches sight of him.
She sees him regularly—sometimes riding a motor scooter and sometimes walking a dog but he never comes in. He always looks rather focused on what he's doing and often carries boxes or bags in his arms or in the basket of his scooter and Estelle doesn't know why he interests her so much. He does, though, and she's nearly ruined many a macchiato by watching him pass by instead of timing the espresso.
Thunder cracks and the power goes out completely, and Estelle jerks a little, the mug in her hand nearly tumbling out of her grasp. The shop's empty except for an older gentleman in a thick jacket who gets up almost immediately and hurries out, leaving Estelle alone in a darkened coffee shop and no generator.
She resists the urge to swear and glances to the window, only to go entirely still.
Outside in the darkened street there's an even darker shape leaning up against the window, and Estelle rather regrets her choice of reading material last night because her brain jumps almost immediately to the thought that he might be a prowler or something equally shady. She can't get a good look and she creeps over to the door, gripping a canister of coffee behind her back.
If he is a prowler, she might have a chance of knocking him out with five pounds of unground beans. If she's lucky.
Estelle silently opens the door a crack and peers out. The possible prowler doesn't notice her with the storm but the large, dark bundle of fur at his side does, lifting its head and growling. The stranger turns to look at her and Estelle skitters backwards and nearly slams the door on her own fingers. Of course, she ends up forgetting the coffee in her hands entirely until it's clattering to the ground useless and she's being loomed over by—
Wait, she knows this guy. Well, she doesn't know him but this is the guy she sees all the time on his scooter and that's the dog he's always got with him, and he couldn't be any wetter if he jumped in a pool instead. Estelle stares up at him, wide-eyed, and water drips off of his hair and into her face.
"Uh, crap. Sorry." The man backs away, right out from under the overhang and without thinking twice, Estelle darts out of the store to grab his arm and pull him back.
"Wait! Do you…do you want to come inside and dry off? It's dangerous outside. Not that we have any power or anything but I can get you a towel and—and there's still coffee that's hot and—" Estelle's rambling a little bit now and the man looks like he's about to protest but before he can, a flash of lightning lights up the sky and not a second later a crack of thunder follows, and the dog at his side presses up against his knees. Estelle follows his gaze. "Your dog can come inside too," she offers. Her manager would have a fit if she knew but her manager's not here and Estelle's going to make her own rules as long as she's in charge.
This changes her stranger's mind and he lets her pull him inside. He looks even wetter inside the dry, if dark, coffee shop and Estelle bustles into the back to come out with an armful of towels.
"Here, use these," she says and kneels down to drape another over the dog, who moves away. "Oh."
"Don't worry about it, Repede's not too into strangers," the man says, "Don't take it personally. May I?" Estelle nods and gives him the towel. "Thanks."
"Oh, it's no problem," she replies, glancing around. "It's just me, anyway." Which kind of really sucked, actually. The stranger raises an eyebrow. "I mean—what kind of crazy person would be out in this kind of—oh, oops, not that I think you're crazy or anything, it's just-uh…I'm going to stop talking now, okay?" Estelle can feel her cheeks heating up in mortification but the stranger stares at her for exactly five seconds before throwing his head back and laughing outright. Estelle flushes deeper and wrings her hands.
Laughter's a good thing, though? At least it means he's not offended.
"I'm Estelle," she says when he's got his breath back and hopes that he'll tell her his name, because she wants to be able to think of him as someone other than the interesting and more than moderately attractive guy who rides a scooter around town and occasionally makes Estelle ruin coffee.
"Yuri," he answers her and wrings out his hair with a towel. "Yuri Lowell."
Estelle smiles and takes a closer look at him. Yuri's tall and skinny with long dark hair and sharp grey eyes, and he's not carrying anything today—
Until she catches sight of the box still outside. It's cardboard and soaking wet and crumpled on one side.
"Oh, shoot, your things…"
"Don't worry about it," Yuri tells her, "It's ruined anyway. Wait, what are you—stop that, you don't need to…" Estelle doesn't pay his protests any mind and ducks out into the cold and wet to grab the box, struggling to hold on to it. There's a rip and the next thing she knows, a ceramic pot is falling out through the bottom, breaking into pieces, and showering the floor with soil and flowers. "…that's why I left it outside. Damnit."
Estelle goes very still.
"…oh," she whispers, "I-I'm sorry."
Yuri sighs a little.
"Really, don't worry about it. The rain got it first."
Nevertheless, Estelle's already in the back to fetch a broom and dustpan and by the time she gets back, there's a neat pile of ceramic stacked up next to the dirt, which she kneels down to clean up.
"Something for you?" she asks as she sweeps, separating the plants from the dirt as she goes.
"Nah, it was an order for someone," Yuri says, "I work in a flower shop."
That she wouldn't have expected, he doesn't seem the type. If Estelle were to make a guess, she'd have said he would have been in a band, or maybe would have been a student like her, or maybe work in a record store…really, pretty much anything other than a flower shop. He's watching her like he expects judgment to come raining down at any second, though, and Estelle flashes him a smile.
"That's neat. It sounds like a fun job." More fun than making coffee, but that's mostly the day talking rather than her real feelings about it. Estelle usually quite likes it, likes talking to the customers and likes making coffee even though no one lets her near the sandwiches. She doesn't like it much when she's the only one here and the power goes out, though.
"It's okay."
Yuri shifts on the balls of his feet and Estelle beckons for him to take a seat, if only to make him more comfortable.
"Sit, sit. Let me get you a coffee, okay? We might not have power but it should still be hot…or do you prefer tear?" Tea will be infinitely more difficult but she can find a way. Luckily, Yuri nods.
"Coffee sounds awesome, actually."
"Good!" Estelle grabs one of the big cups and fills it with the last of the pot that's still steaming. "Milk, sugar? Flavor?" Might as well, if the power's out for much longer she'll have to throw out all the dairy anyway.
"Plain is fine."
Estelle brings him the coffee and then scoops up the flowers. Even unpotted it seems kind of sad to waste them. So after a bit of debate she kneels down and scoops them up, roots and roots and all, and pops them into one of the frappuccino cups. Yuri raises a skeptical brow at her.
"You can just toss them," he tells her.
"Oh, I couldn't!" Estelle shakes her head vehemently back and forth, "They're way too pretty. And a little rain never hurt anyone." She doesn't know what kind of flowers they are but they're pretty, all bright yellow and pink even though the rain's left some of the petals thin and drooping. "Hopefully this weather will calm down soon. You and Repede are welcome to stay until it does." Again, if her manager has a problem with it, Estelle will remind her that she's called exactly four times with no answer and has exactly no one to help her. She's certainly not going to throw anyone out into this gale, no matter who they happen to be, human or animal.
"Appreciated. I'm fine but Repede doesn't like water too much; it kinda freaks him out."
Estelle would like nothing more than to reach out and pet said dog but she's pretty sure it won't go well so she smiles at him instead before turning her gaze back to Yuri.
"He's very handsome," she says, "And polite." She wishes she had something to offer Repede as well but a lot of the pastries have chocolate or other things that she knows are bad for dogs. Maybe he could have a biscotti? How unhealthy are croissants for dogs?
Yuri entire demeanor, polite but distant, softens and relaxes at her words and, with an empty shop and a single unexpected customer, Estelle feels comfortable enough to pull out a second chair and sit down across the table from him, propping her chin up in her hands.
Yuri Lowell is twenty-one and has been working at Arrivederci for about a year and dropped out of the police academy a month ago, something his roommate has yet to forgive him for. Yuri Lowell got Repede when he was a tiny puppy when he was wandering the streets on a day not unlike today. Yuri Lowell likes the color red and hates mushrooms and likes to travel but hates airplanes, and once spent four days on a bus to avoid flying. Yuri Lowell doesn't have any siblings but his roommate might as well be his brother for as much as they fight and as long as they've been best friends.
Yuri Lowell is more interesting now that Estelle's finally met him than he was when he was a complete mystery and she drinks in his words like she does the ones in her books.
And eventually the weather calms and the reverie breaks and Estelle has to actually try to get the power back on, and Yuri slips out of the shop with a backwards wave and a goodbye to leave Estelle as alone as she started. The warmth he brought with him stays behind until she leaves and follows her home, where Rita asks why she can't stop smiling and Estelle can't really answer.
The next day, she sees Yuri on his scooter and doesn't ruin anyone anyone's coffee but she does wave to him and he waves back as he drives by. The flowers she dropped stay in the back in their cup of water where she can look at them for about three days before they wilt and she has to throw them out.
The day after, a customer brings in something that's been left on the threshold—
A cluster of pink and yellow flowers that she can't identify, wrapped in tissue and tied with a ribbon.
AN2: Thank you very much for reading!