Archive of Our Own ^beta

Reynold sighed as he mumbled to himself, "looks like today will just be another uneventful day at work.." Occupied with sweeping the floor of the tattoo parlor and the music that was currently playing in his ears, he failed to notice the bell jingle by the door. It wasn't until he heard a familiar voice say his name that he decided to look up.

"Hey Reynold! How are you doing?"

He turned around to face the azalea-haired woman walking towards the counter and waving at him. It was his younger sister Penelope. "Oh hey Penelope!” He continued speaking as he took his headphones off and cast his broom aside, “I'm doing good, the parlor isn't too busy today so I was just doing some cleaning in the meantime." Reynold glanced down and noticed the bouquet of flowers in her hands and asked, "what have you got there?”

"Oh these? These are some white lilies I bought from the new flower shop that opened nearby recently. Have you gotten the chance to go visit it yet?"

"No I haven't, the parlor has been quite busy the past few weeks since we've been all booked out so it honestly slipped my mind and I didn’t have the chance to drop by and take a look.” He let out a quiet sigh before continuing on with what he was saying, “I only have one client booked for later today so it's not very busy. It seems like we’ll be entering a slow season soon which is going to be kind of rough but, you know how it is.”

"Ah right, I think you had mentioned that before." As she set down her flowers on the parlor’s counter she turned her gaze away as she continued speaking, "I hope it doesn't get too rough for you here, I know how much you love doing what you do. But, I do still think you should give the shop a visit. I think their interior design and decor is really nice. The place has a very large selection of flowers available." Penelope glanced back up from her bouquet and looked at Reynold with a playful smirk as she said with a giggle, "And, I think the owner is totally your type~ He's a total prince in my opinion, courteous, sweet and he's very kind."

At Penelope's comment, Reynold turned his back to her and put his headphones back on. He quickly picked up the broom he had set down earlier and started to sweep at a spot he already finished cleaning earlier. Penelope crossed her arms and tilted her head as she teasingly said, “Oh, so you’re choosing to ignore me now? Come on brother I’m being serious, I think the owner is definitely your type and you haven’t had a real relationship in years, why don’t you at least try to give it a chance?” He hadn't turned his music back on yet so he had heard what Penelope said very clearly and a faint pink tinge appeared across his face. Reynold thought for a moment, maybe his sister could be right. Reynold had always been a total hopeless romantic at heart but he'd always struggled with anything related to the subject of love, more specifically his own feelings. Reynold could feel his face slowly get increasingly warmer as he continued to get lost deeper within his own thoughts and got more embarrassed. Penelope quietly snickered at her brother, “Aww, you don’t even know what he looks like and yet you’re already blushing, aren’t you curious about your future boyfriend?~” She teased. Reynold had set the broom aside again and turned back around to face Penelope with an attempt at a serious expression, but that wasn’t very effective and it just made him look even more flustered.

“Will you just cut it out already?” He hissed. His face was still flushed. “You know how I get with relationships and love in general..” His voice trailed off as he diverted his glance from her.

Penelope never got tired of teasing her brother since she found it extremely funny how easily you could make him flustered and get him riled up but she decided to give it a rest. For now at least. “Alright alright I’ll stop with the teasing, but you actually should go and give the place a look, who knows maybe you and the owner there will hit it off and become friends?”

“But what about the parlor?” Reynold asked. As much as Reynold wanted to go, he didn’t just want to leave his tattoo parlor unsupervised and empty.

“It's not like you have any clients right now anyway so you might as well drop by the shop. It's like you said, right? Your client won't be here until later today so I can just watch over the parlor in the meanwhile since I'm free, but don't be gone for too long! Don’t get too distracted by your boyfriend~" she says with a teasing expression.

"Yeah yeah I won't, I’ll be back soon.” Reynold chose to ignore the last part of what Penelope had said and grabbed some of his things before he headed out. As he walked towards the door he was stopped by Penelope who was grabbing onto his shirt sleeve, “Hey hey wait, shouldn't you get the owner a welcoming gift or something? I know they opened around a week ago but I'm sure he'd still really appreciate it. Plus this is your first time meeting one another and you know first impressions leave a lasting impact.”

Reynold thought about it for a moment before agreeing with his sister, “I guess it could seem a little rude to not get the owner a welcoming gift.. In that case I’d also better visit the bakery to get them something." He continued to walk towards the door and as he stepped outside the parlor Penelope yelled out to him, “hold on, if you're going to the bakery could you pick me up some dessert as well? I would ask for melon sherbet but I know that bakery doesn't sell any so I don't really mind whatever I just want something sweet.”

“Yeah don’t worry I got it!” Reynold shut the door to the parlor as he started walking towards the bakery nearby, his tattoo parlor was located in a pretty walkable city so getting to places on foot wasn't such a big deal. It felt nice to feel the cool breeze of the wind brush against his skin and soon he arrived at the bakery. As Reynold walked into the bakery he was immediately hit with the smell of vanilla and freshly baked goods. He browsed over the different pastries and desserts that were available as he soon came to the realization that he didn't know what the other man would like, or if he had any allergies for that fact. “Agh I wonder what he’d like..” He muttered under his breath. Reynold browsed for a little while longer before he decided on some macarons for the man. Reynold bought Penelope a small box of assorted cupcakes and he had also bought himself some cookies before leaving the store. “I hope he likes macarons..”

Before Reynold knew it he’d already arrived at the flower shop and was now standing outside the shop’s door pacing nervously. “God why am I so anxious all of a sudden, I'm not normally like this. Seems like Penelope got to me.” He peered into the store through the windows. Penelope was not kidding about the place looking nice, this place looked beautiful even from the outside. Reynold finally mustered up the courage to enter the shop and as Reynold walked inside, he was hit with a strong smell of multiple different flowers all at once. The shop’s interior was clean and newly polished, no one was standing at the counter so Reynold continued to look around a bit. Multiple different arrangements of flowers lined the walls but those flowers were incomparable to the beauty of the man before him. His gaze was instantly captured once it landed on him for he was the most beautiful man Reynold had ever seen. Penelope wasn't joking when she said he was his type, Reynold was sure this was love at first sight. This man was truly stunning, Reynold felt honored to even be able to witness such a natural beauty. Reynold felt like he had this sort of serene aura surrounding him. His features were soft and kind. Hair as white and soft as snow and deep purple eyes that rivaled amethysts. There were no words that Reynold could use to perfectly describe this man and if he tried he just might short circuit.

The man had been so focused on putting together a flower arrangement that he hadn’t even noticed Reynold’s presence until Reynold decided to break the silence. “H-hello,” Reynold awkwardly said. The man turned around to face Reynold. He gave him a sweet smile before he spoke, “Hello! Do you need help with anything?” He smelled faintly of lavender. Reynold blushed, oh god this man’s voice was like heaven to his ears. Not to even mention his smile, it was so warm and soft Reynold thought he was melting from it. He hoped the other didn't notice the blush on his face.

“ah, uhm nothing in particular, I just wanted to come by to congratulate you on the opening of the flower shop. My name is Reynold and I actually own the tattoo parlor nearby so I just wanted to drop by and welcome you.” Reynold pulls out the box of macarons he bought and hands them to the other. “I bought you these macarons as a welcoming gift, I didn't know what you'd like or if you had any allergies so I hope it's an okay gift..” Reynold's voice slowly trailed off as he mentally scolded himself. Why was he rambling in front of this extremely beautiful man?? Was he trying to embarrass himself??

“That was so kind and thoughtful of you to do, Reynold, you really didn't have to but I appreciate it greatly nonetheless. I actually really love macarons so thank you very much for this.” He said with a soft smile. “My name is Winter by the way, and I'm the owner of this flower shop as you probably know.”

Winter.. what a lovely name for such a lovely man, Reynold thought.

“Oh and since I’m already here would you mind getting me a bouquet of flowers? I don’t mind any really so you can choose whatever you'd like for me.”

Winter smiled, “Of course, just let me finish this arrangement up and I’ll get started on finding you a bouquet!” Reynold watched as Winter continued to work on the flower arrangement he was previously working on when Reynold walked in. Winter had a focused expression on his face showing that he was putting full concentration into his work. Reynold thought his expression was cute. Reynold was more focused on Winter than the flowers… but that’s besides the point. There was a comfortable silence in the room but Reynold sought to break it, he wanted to get to know Winter better anyways right?

“So, what’s being a florist like?” This sudden question broke Winter from his concentration and he turned his gaze towards the other.

“Well it’s actually quite a physically demanding job which most people don’t realize. I usually have to stand on my feet all day so I don’t get many chances to sit down and relax. My hours are also quite long and it can get really stressful at times but I’m passionate about what I do and I love working with flowers so it’s alright.” Winter faintly blushed for a second before speaking once more, “Ah, I’m sorry for rambling about my job. I didn’t mean to go off on a tangent and you probably don’t care to hear about all the details of it anyways.” He said awkwardly.

“No, it’s okay, I like listening to you talk. I think it’s cute.” Upon hearing Reynold’s words Winter faintly blushed and he averted his gaze from the other man as he let out a quiet thank you. Seeing Winter’s cute reaction only made Reynold get more embarrassed as to what he’d said. Reynold began to mentally berate himself. Why did he say that last part?? Was he trying to make things awkward??

“I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable, I kind of just said it unknowingly..”

“It’s quite alright really, I didn’t mind.” Winter’s gaze was fixed back onto the arrangement he was working on and he soon finished it. “There, now I can start working on yours.” Winter left the room to grab what Reynold assumed was needed for his bouquet and during this time Reynold was thinking of things he could talk to Winter about that wouldn’t be too awkward. Winter returned shortly with some white flowers and other things and began to work on Reynold’s bouquet.

“What kind of flowers did you end up picking for me?” Reynold asked with an interested expression.

Winter’s face slightly lowered with a faint blush visible on his cheeks, “These flowers are called gardenias, I thought you might like them.”

“Well you were right I do like them, they’re so pretty.” Reynold said with a soft smile. Winter smiled back with a smile just as soft as he spoke, “I’m glad you like them.” He continued to work on Reynold’s bouquet as the two of them bantered and spoke with one another. The subjects of which they spoke of were mostly just random but the two enjoyed each other's company nonetheless as a comfortable air surrounded them. Reynold admired the man as he worked, the way the sun hit his face made Winter’s eyes reflect a galaxy of stars. He jokingly wondered if he could spot a constellation or two.

“You know, my younger sister Penelope actually came by just earlier. I don’t know if you remember her but she has long wavy reddish pink hair and turquoise colored eyes.”

“Ah yes I do know Miss Penelope, in fact I’ve known her for quite a long time. We met briefly back when we were in highschool but we never got too close because we were just acquaintances. She’s dropped by my shop a few times already and we occasionally chat while she’s here.”

Penelope has known this beautiful man for this long and never bothered to bring him up?? You know what scratch that, Reynold went to the same highschool as this man and never once saw him?? This had to have been a joke played on him by the universe, but at least Reynold has the opportunity to get to know him now.

“Ah I see, she didn’t tell me you guys have known each other for so long. I would’ve loved to have known you since then too..”

“Same here, I’ve never really had any close friends but I’m just kind of surprised we never once saw each other despite going to the same school, funny how the universe works knowing where we are now.” Winter said with a slight laugh.

“Hey, at least we’re here together now!” Reynold said with a silly smile while placing a hand on Winter’s shoulder.

Winter soon finished Reynold’s bouquet and as Winter handed Reynold the bouquet, their hand’s grazed one another’s and they both looked up, making direct eye contact. They looked away from each other’s gaze awkwardly but the feel of the other’s hands were already ingrained in both of their minds. His hands are so soft, Reynold thought, he wondered what it’d feel like to hold them.

“I hope you come by sometime soon again Reynold, I really enjoyed talking to you. Your company was really nice and I would love to get to know you better if that’s okay with you.” Winter said with a shy expression.

Reynold flushed, “I’d love to get to know you more too, talking with you was really enjoyable but I have to get going now or Penelope just might kill me for leaving my parlor for so long. Bye Winter, I’ll see you soon!”

Reynold grabbed his things and headed for the door and as he looked back he saw Winter smiling and waving to him, god this beautiful man was going to be the death of him. His very existence captivated him and drew him in, Reynold was truly enraptured by him.

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Winter was finishing up Reynold's bouquet as he began to speak, "you know, I noticed you come by quite often." He quickly corrected himself by saying, "Oh! not that I mind of course, but I was wondering if you were having any difficulties taking care of your flowers?" He said awkwardly.

"No, no, that's not it. I am taking care of them, I just like having the smell of fresh flowers in the parlor, that's all!" Reynold awkwardly sputtered out. It was technically true, he did like having the smell of fresh flowers at the parlor but it also gave him an excuse to drop by the flower shop more often and see Winter.

As Winter carefully placed the bouquet into Reynold’s hands he smiled and said, "Ah well that's good, I hope you have a good rest of your day Reynold!"

Reynold felt his face slightly flush as he spoke, "you too Winter."