(Yo, it’s been almost two months. That’s crazy. Hope your winters have been wonderful thus far!)
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[~Ryota~]
In the west, the sun set over rolling hills of the most vibrant green I’d seen this year. The sky had been impressively clear that day, but I spent the majority of my time sheltered beneath the tinted glass roof of my shop. February had already snuck up on me, and for a florist, the first few weeks were practically a living hell.
Well, I may be exaggerating, but you get the point.
I yawned into my fist, front teeth grazing the skin of my knuckle, as a young man approached the register, a half dozen salmon roses clenched in his quivering fist.
“Is this everything?” I asked, reaching for the flowers.
He nodded once, stiffly, then thrust the flowers toward my face. Not sure how, but I managed to avoid getting a thorn in the eye. Ignoring his weird behavior, I input the cost, then began to wrap the modest bouquet.
Before laying the flowers down on the counter, I leaned forward and said, “Do you want a card in here?”
For a moment, he stood still, dumbstruck, before vigorously shaking his head back and forth. “N-no thank you.”
“Aight,” I said, pressing a button on the register. “It’ll be $12.” He dug through his pockets and retrieved a wrinkled bill.
After I gave him his receipt, he bobbed his head and darted out the door. I yawned again, glancing out the window toward the sunset. Darkness would set in soon, and as it was a Saturday, I’d have the next day off. Owning a business was rewarding and all, but six-day work weeks were killer on my back.
I stretched my neck, inhaling deeply.
“R-Ryota… sir?”
The meek voice which had suddenly come from behind me startled me so badly I jumped a solid foot in the air and cried out. As I clutched at my chest, I turned around, only to find the cause of my terror was a pitiful creature I’d recently caught trying to eat my precious flowers.
“Nai,” I said, gritting my teeth, “what the hell, bro.”
He didn’t respond, opened his mouth once as if he were about to speak, then closed his lips tightly.
“You didn’t have to sneak up on me,” I continued. “There’s a door for a reason.”
“I came back… l-like I… Like I said I would,” he said, avoiding my eyes. He held his stomach, cheeks red as fire, and when I looked closer, I could tell he was shaking, if only a little. Arceus, I forgot I had to be gentle with this one.
I untied the bow of my apron and began to remove it. “Guess you did. Does that mean you want the tour of the town now?” I paused, remembering my promise. “A-and dinner afterward, of course.”
His lips curled up ever so slightly. “If… if you’d like to, sir, then… then I’d like that, too.” He paused, teeth peeking out from behind his lips. “Th-thank you.”
My fingers played with a button on my vest as they struggled to fit it through its corresponding hole. “Sure thing. At this time of day, there shouldn’t be too many people out. Let’s go. I’ll warn you though: it’s a bit of a walk,” I said, turning on him with a threatening glare, but upon meeting his eyes, round with innocence and pure enthusiasm, I faltered, “but I’m not… gonna carry you if you can’t handle it.”
Once more, his cheeks flushed. “I… I can walk, sir.” He fidgeted. “Where should we go first?”
“Well,” I said, “we won’t go on a long tour. The island’s pretty small, and there’s not much to see. We can check out the shops, a beach or two… I’ll show you where town hall’s at, and then—”I bit my tongue. “—then, uh, we can go to dinner, if that works for you.” I’d had to physically stop myself from mentioning the hill I climb on cloudless nights to stargaze. It’d almost slipped out.
This isn’t a date, Ryota, pull yourself together. Arceus, you’re acting ridiculous.
“I like the beach!” Nai said, looking up through his eyelashes. “I-I like to go fishing at the beach, but it’ll be nice going with a… with a friend.”
“I’ve never gone fishing. Never learned.”
At that moment, he lit up. “Well, I could… I could teach you! It’s really fun.”
“Teach me some other time, alright?” I said, scratching my scalp. “I-in return for the tour. Fair payment. Yeah.” Arceus, he must really love fishing…
I locked the doors to my shop, pocketing the key and standing, feet firmly planted, on the long, narrow path which stretched across the vast expanse of open fields and farmland.
“Um, Ryota, sir?” he spoke, softly, hesitantly. “Would it be… okay if I… If I got a d-dessert at dinner?”
I turned away. Cute! “I-I guess it depends on how well you behave during the tour.”
“I-I’ll be good!” he promised. “The b-best even!”
I couldn’t help but smile, but I quickly covered it with a hand and a forced cough. “Yeah, you better be. But don’t worry about it too much. I’ll be lenient this time. Just follow me, and you’ll be fine.”
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(Roughly an hour later)
Night had fallen, the sky filled with dazzling pinpoints of luminous gas burning eons away. Silence followed us, save for our footsteps upon the gravel and—
Nai’s growling stomach.
I paused. He nearly ran into my back.
“U-um,” he started, “would it be okay if… we got dinner soon?”
I looked back at him, at his cheeks, pale in the moonlight but faintly pink like blooming azaleas, and felt my own cheeks grow hot. I cleared my throat. “Sure. We’ve basically covered the entire town. Like I said, it’s small. Dinner sounds good.” His lips cracked into a grin. “There’s a nice diner up the road. And,” I paused, leaning down, “I’ll definitely get you dessert. My treat.”
For a moment, I was pleased by how suave the comment had come across.
Then Nai’s smile grew bigger, his eyes sparkling like the heavens, and he squealed, “Th-thank you!”
My face burned.
By the time we reached the diner, Nai was bouncing with excitement. I held the door for him, approached the hostess, and requested a booth for two, preferably in the back.
The menus we received were large and filled with delicacies. “Pick whatever you want,” I said. “I’ll order for you.”
At this, he grew pale. He stared at one spot on the menu, then poked a random item. “W-water? And… and… f-fish?”
“Don’t you eat fish all the time?” I asked. “Don’t you want to—” I rested my chin in my hand. “—try something new?”
“I d-don’t know…” he said. His voice shook. I wasn’t sure why, but I fell under the impression he couldn’t quite read the menu. That, or he was just an idiot.
I sighed. “Alright, how about this. I’ll get my usual, and you can get the same thing. If you don’t like it—well, first of all, you’ll have poor taste—but if you don’t like it, I’ll get you some of the gross fish you’re so fond of. Okay?”
He laid the menu flat on the table and nodded. “I-I would like that.”
Though his timidity vaguely bothered me, I couldn’t help but appreciate the effortless charm he possessed. Snap out of it, Ryota.
I waved over the waitress. “Two orders of chicken fingers and fries. And two waters,” I said, handing her the menus.
Once she left, there came a dense silence that fell over our table. It sank into my lungs and weighed heavily on my shoulders. My heart beat steadily, slowly, as if sending out its pulse through a pool of tar.
“So,” I said after a few minutes, “do you come to town often?”
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Aaaaaaand I’ll stop there because this is over 4 pages long and I don’t want to get into my habit of writing 20+ page posts again. Huge shoutout to ChiPolVee for RPing with me oh my goodness gracious. Also apologies for 1) taking so dang long to write this oh my gosh I’m so sorry and 2) once again not including like anyONE specific because I’m a terrible person basically.
This is the first thing I’ve written of my own volition in like two months, so sorry if I’m rusty at all. Hope to see more posts soon!
(Also, sorry Chi-chan, but I’ll leave the second half of the post to you ;D)
