Different: The Florist and the Lawyer
by KatiKat
The door to the small florist shop opened with a tinkling sound. The newcomer,
one Duo Maxwell, lawyer and partner in the Maxwell&Maxwell agency, looked
up at the small bell that was still swinging from side to side over his head.
The heart of the bell was shaped into the form of a small dragon. He smiled.
Cute.
Duo looked around. The shop was just as small on the inside as it looked like from
the outside. Every inch was covered in flowers - blue, red, white, orange,
yellow and green, lots of green. It looked like the small place was drowning in
colors.
He moved carefully through the fragile pieces of nature's life, until he reached
the wide hardwood counter. He smiled, seeing the small paper origami animals
strewn over the surface.
"Hello?" he called. No one answered. He shrugged and kept looking
around. Quatre, his best friend, recommended this shop to him. And Quatre was
always right. He didnīt mind waiting a little bit. He was in no hurry after
all.
His eyes moved up, and he stood mesmerized by what he saw. There over his head
paper dragons hung. It was obvious that they were hand made. It took someone a
lot of time and love to build and paint them. They were beautiful.
Duo tore his gaze from the paper dragons just in time to see a young man appear
from the back of the shop, arms full of red roses with long stems. The man
paused, obviously surprised that there was someone in the shop. They just stood
there and stared at each other for a long time.
Duo liked what he saw. The florist was of Japanese origin which explained the paper
dragons and the origami. He was a couple of inches shorter than Duo, had messy
brown hair which fell into his beautiful blue eyes and very kissable pouty
lips. He smiled as the Japanese man blinked. Duo knew that his look might cause
some surprise by people. You donīt see a man with such a long braid and violet
eyes every day after all. He smiled.
"Hi," he greeted the florist.
"Hello and welcome to Paper Dragon," came the answer. The florist
went to the counter and carefully laid down the roses. "What can I do for
you?"
Polite but not meeting my eyes, Duo noticed. "I need some flowers, maybe a
bouquet of some sort."
"And what sort of flowers would you like?"
"What would you recommend?" Duo asked and picked up an origami
giraffe. The florist followed his customer's hand with his gaze, so Duo made
sure not to damage the paper animal.
"That depends on the occasion."
"Well, itīs actually for an anniversary. 5th anniversary to be
exact."
The florist nodded and pondered his request. "Would you like something exotic?"
Duo thought about it for a while. He tried to imagine Hilde with something exotic
but failed. She was pretty but more in the puppy dog way. She was more cute
than beautiful. No, he decided. Hilde deffinitely wasnīt the exotic type.
"No, I donīt think so." His eyes fell on the Japanese manīs hands. He
watched him pick rose after rose and check the stems before sorting it in two
different groups. The florist had wonderful hands; slim, with long fingers.
"What about red roses?" he asked absentmindly.
"Yes, roses are always a good choice," the other man agreed with him.
"How many do you want?"
"A dozen."
The Japanese man nodded again, and started to put together a bouquet for him. Duo
watched the floristīs sure moves, then moved his gaze up to his face. He was
beautiful, Duo would even say fascinating. "Whatīs your name?" Duo
asked suddenly without thinking about it.
The florist blinked and looked directly at him
for the first time since he came in. "Heero Yuy," he answered.
"Heero," Duo let the name roll on his tongue. "Itīs
beautiful."
The florist blushed and returned to his work. Finally the buquet was done and Heero
offered Duo a small card. "For best wishes," he explained.
Duo took the card. It had a beautifully drawn little dragon on the foreside. He
opened it and took the pen Heero handed him. For a moment he pondered what he
should write. Maybe something funny? Or maybe something deep? Finally, he
shrugged and decided for something short and simple. īBest
wishes! Love, Duoī he wrote and when he handed the pen back to its owner, he noticed
that Heero looked away quickly, obviously having read the card secretly. Duo
blinked with surprise. Did Heero look disappointed? Well well well. He grinned
to himself.
He thanked Heero, paid with his credit card, then took the beautiful bouquet -
Quatre had been right with his recommendation, again - and went to the door.
Hand on the handle, he turned around to catch Heero watching his retreating
back and look away quickly. He grinned again.
"I will stop by again, Heero," he called back. Heero blinked at him
in surprise. Then Duo was gone.
*-*-*-*-*
Two days later...
The door opened with the tinkling of a bell again. Heero looked down where he was
watering the plants hanging from the ceiling, while standing on a small ladder.
He looked startled when he spotted Duo standing in the door.
"Didnīt think I would come back?" the braided man asked with a smile.
The florist shrugged and finished pouring the water from his can. He then started
to climb down the ladder. Duo walked over and took the can from him, so that he
could do it more safely. Heero blinked at him again and Duo grinned.
"By the way, Iīm Duo Maxwell," he introduced himself, offering the
florist his right hand. Heero took it slowly, gingerly, as if it would bite and
Duo found himself marveling at the warmth of Heeroīs hand and how perfectly it
fit in his.
When Heero finally pulled away and put away the ladder, he followed him back to
the counter. He put the can down on it and waited for the florist to return
from the back of the shop.
When Heero reappeared again, Duo greeted him with a small paper angel he pulled
out of his pocket. He bought a book and learned how to do origami. He did this
one especially for Heero. The other man looked startled once again, but took
the fragile paper creature automatically.
"Will you go out with me?" Duo asked all of a sudden, startling the
florist who was still looking at the angel, obviously not understanding why was
Duo giving him this.
"Excuse me?" Heero asked, surprised.
Duo leaned against the counter. "I asked if you would go out with
me," he repeated. He saw something flash through Heeroīs eyes before it
disappeared again.
"Wouldnīt your girlfriend be a little upset?" Heero asked putting the
angel on the counter carefully.
Now it was time for Duo to blink in surprise. "My who?"
Heero waved his arm. "Your girlfriend. The one for whom you bought the
roses."
Duo grinned. "Oh, you mean Hilde?" He laughed. "Well, since she
is in Hawaii right now, celebrating her anniversary with her husband who
happens to be my brother, I donīt think she would mind."
Heero blushed, realizing his misinterpretation. "Oh."
"So," Duo said and picked up the paper angel, offering it back to
Heero. "Will you go out with me then?"
Heero was looking down at the angel, not meeting his eyes. "You mean like
a date?" the Japanese man asked quietly.
Duo nodded. "Yeah. Like a date. Movie and popcorn or dinner with candles. Something
like that. Itīs your call."
Heero wasnīt saying anything for the longest of moments and Duo started to fear
that he misinterpreted the signals Heero was sending out the last time he was
here. When the silence was starting to get uncomfortable, he thought about
taking back what he asked just a couple of minutes ago, turning it into a joke
or something. Then Heero finally spoke.
"I would like that," he whispered and met Duoīs eyes straight ahead
as if he wanted to make sure that it was no joke, that Duo was really sincere.
Duo smiled at him reassuringly and tried to project all the sincerity he could.
"Thatīs wonderful," the braided man said. "Tomorrow? 6 pm? I
will pick you up when you close your shop, okay?"
The florist nodded, and Duo noticed the light in his eyes. It made Duo incredibly
happy, like nothing else in the world. It was an all encompassing feeling
that made him feel 10 feet tall and he couldnīt help but keep grinning like an
idiot. Seeing the small smile that grazed Heeroīs lips made him feel even
better. Somehow he felt like he won the lottery, as if he was on the search for
a holy grail his whole life, and now he found him.
And with time, he understood that he really did.
The End