you belong among the wildflowers

[toliveagain]

It's been a little over a week since the grand opening of Thistle Do Nicely, and Riley has been pleasantly surprised by how well the reception to the shop has been. They'd found a prime location, halfway between the boardwalk and a bakery and bookshop, so while they've already gotten customers ordering future arrangements for things like anniversaries and birthdays, they also get people in to pick up the occasional stray flower here and there, just to give to someone special. He's already thinking he and Ryan should eventually consider setting up a small flower kiosk out on the boardwalk itself, though it's still a little too hot for that. Maybe more into autumn, when people are looking for bursts of color to brighten the darker days.

As for today, it's slower than it's been since they opened and while in some ways that's a little disappointing, it also comes as a little bit of a relief because it means he can concentrate on other things. Ordering more inventory, for one, which may or may not include a Keurig machine because having to walk to Quill every time he needs another caffeine fix (which is considerably often) is already starting to get old.

Glancing over his shoulder to see Ryan attending to a customer who seems much more interested in learning about his likes and dislikes than the different kinds of carnations they offer, Riley smirks to himself before turning his attention to his phone. Shooting off a text to the contacts he's made in town so far, he tucks his phone back in his pocket and wanders outside with a watering can to take care of the flowers they've set up for display outside. It's a beautiful day out, Riley observes, and he can only hope that someone else will come along soon to make it even better.



[Feel free to use this post to meet Riley AND Ryan! If you don't specify in your tag or in the subject line, we'll just assume we have permission to tag your character separately :) Everyone come say hi to the qt flower shop boyzzzz~~~!]

Comments

[meowhistory]

Lena had a very legitimate reason to never buy her mother flowers: she was allergic to the most of them. Only anemones and - she checks the name on her phone - Digitalis purpurea 'Gloxiniiflora' were safe. Good thing she had pictures to go with that one.

Taking a deep breath before pushing her collar up, she steps inside.

"Hello! Excuse me?"

[toliveagain]

Riley's just checking his phone to see if he's received any texts from the people he's met in Siren Cove so far, all of whom have been invited to come see the shop, when he hears someone call from the front of the store. Ryan's still helping another customer so Riley tucks his phone in his back pocket, puts on a bright smile, and steps out from behind the register to greet the woman who's just come in.

"Hi, yes, how can I help you?"

[meowhistory]

"Hi!" Now someone's coming to her, Lena doesn't need another excuse to linger near the exit. "I just had a quick question? Do you have anemones and slash or Digitalis purpurea 'Gloxiniiflora' and I really hope I'm pronouncing that correctly? My mother only knows the Russian name of that one, and I don't think I would have gotten very far with that."

[toliveagain]

Riley grins at her attempt to pronounce the scientific name of the flower, impressed that she'd made the effort to say it at all because earlier, someone had just shoved a photo from on his phone in Riley's face and asked for "that one." This is a refreshing change.

"You're pronouncing it well enough but you might find it easier to just call it a foxglove. And yes, we do have that, if you'll follow me over here. These are for your mom or did she just inspire you to pick some up for yourself?"

[ontheblink]

Ryan's not normally an awkward guy. He can hold his own, and he's learned to affect confidence, even if it's not always there. He doesn't have an issue with flirting, usually, but in all honesty he's usually more of the wingman. Still, Ryan knows how to talk to a pretty girl, and this is definitely not that. So far, the elderly woman in front of him has asked him about everything from his favourite colour to his favourite childhood memory, and Ryan is close to tearing his hair out. He can't say no to a nice old lady, but he's also nearing the end of his rope. If she isn't going to buy the damn carnations soon, he might lose his mind.

Out of the corner of his eye he can spot Riley ordering a coffee machine when he's supposed to be ordering stock, and he's not even surprised. The Quill coffee had been excellent, but too far away and too expensive for the amount of caffeine the two of them ingest in a day. He definitely spots the smirk, and Ryan decides enough is enough.

"You know, my friend over there, Riley?" he points him out, immediately sees Riley's look of warning and powers on anyway. "That stamp collection you were telling me about, he'd love to hear it too. Never met anyone who loves a good stamp more than this guy. Really." He's already steering her gently by the elbow over to Riley, beaming.

[toliveagain]

The old woman's on him before Riley can even blink, and he gives his best friend a death glare Ryan's seen many times before then quickly shifts his expression into a much sweeter one as he slouches down to get closer to the woman's eye level. "He's right, I love stamp collections. Wouldn't you know it, my Gamma Agnes used to collect them, too?"

"My name is Agnes!" the woman exclaims, the slender fingers of one of her frail hands reaching out wrap around his wrist, and Riley is more than a little surprised by how unexpectedly strong that grip is.

"Oh, that's nice," he coos, looking up at Ryan as his jaw tightens. "Buddy, isn't that so nice? Remember what else Gamma loved, she loved daisies. I'm thinking that's what we should go for today, Agnes, what do you say?" Agnes nods but before she can say anything more, Riley is walking her back toward Ryan and patting her gently on the back. "Ryan's the very best at picking out daisies, I promise, you're in very good hands with this di-- delightful guy right here."

[ontheblink]

The way Riley can shift facial expressions so quickly never ceases to amaze, and Ryan stifles a grin behind his hand. Gamma Agnes is absolute, total 100% bullshit, Ryan knows very well, and he wonders for a minute whether Riley knew the woman's name was the same or whether it was just an incredibly lucky guess. He's still trying not to laugh when suddenly Agnes is turned around and heading back towards him, and Ryan resists the urge to swear in front of a lady who he's sure must be a hundred years old.

"I definitely don't remember your Gamma loving daisies," he retorts, but Agnes is already nodding enthusiastically. "And I know everything about carnations and nothing about daisies, I'm a one trick pony." Ryan presses his lips into a tight smile, concentrates as best as he can with Agnes staring into his fucking soul like he knows just which daisies to pick, and sends a tight fuck you directly at Riley's head. This one is a practiced move, more distinct than most of the other things he manages to send Riley's way, and it's not really a surprise, given everything.

[toliveagain]

By the time Agnes (and who'd have thought that'd really be her name, it'd just been the first elderly woman name he'd pulled out of his ass) is out the door with an armful of fresh daisies, Riley is already on his best friend with several punches to the arm, not light enough to be playful but also not hard enough to be exceptionally painful. "You're such a little shit," Riley tells him, biting back a laugh.

Rolling his eyes and brushing his fingers through his hair as he steps away. "Nice with that lovely message you projected into my head, by the way. Why can't it ever be like, rainbows or puppies or something equally enjoyable?"

[asharpertongue]

The name was what drew Lara in. Anyone who could make her laugh out loud with a pun like that deserved her business.

The shop smelled divine, flowers mixing with the coffee smell coming from the little machine in the corner and she smiled as she looked around.

Picking out a few sprays, she looked around for someone to help her.

[toliveagain]

The first thing he thinks when he sees the customer wandering around the store is that she's pretty. No, not sure pretty, the woman is gorgeous, the kind of gorgeous that's classic Hollywood and what he would have imagined to be unachievable and yet, that's what she is.

But Riley is a professional and nobody in this town has come in here to be ogled, so he puts on a friendly smile and walks over to her with his hands in his pockets. "Hi, there, thanks for stopping in today, I'm Riley. Anything in particular I can help you find? We've pretty much still got the whole gambit, since we're only a little over a week in with the incoming business. Kind of just decided to get a bit of everything before narrowing it down to the more popular stuff so if you're looking for something rare, now's a good time to grab it."

[asharpertongue]

Lara laughed a little at the spiel and gave Riley a smile. "That sounds like a good plan." She said, and smiled ruefully at the amount of flowers. She held up the delicate sprays in her hands. "I'm not sure how much of these you'd sell on a daily basis, but I'm glad they're here. I like rare and interesting."

[toliveagain]

"I'm also a fan of rare and interesting," Riley answers with a mildly flirtatious smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Ryan giving him a death glare, which Riley has gotten very good at ignoring over the years so he turns his full attention back to his customer. "Admittedly, this has always been more of a hobby for us so we're still working on getting on top of the actual business part of it."

He realizes he's just outed himself and Ryan as amateurs but hell, it's the truth.

[ontheblink]

It's taken Ryan about 84 years, but he's finally free of Agnes's death grip. He feels a little guilty that he tried so desperately to be rid of her when she ended up buying practically every daisy in the damn shop, but he's also pretty sure his arm is going to bruise, which helps him feel better about it. When she's finally gone, he looks up and sees a much prettier face entering the shop, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

"Hey," he starts, going over to inspect which items she's picked out. She has good taste, and Ryan can appreciate a lady with good taste. "Do you need a hand?"

[asharpertongue]

"I was just looking but I think I'm over-whelmed by choice." Lara admitted, smiling as Agnes sneered at her on the way out of the store, arms full of daisys and nothing else. "I see someone was easy to please at least." Lara said, tilting her head at the retreating old lady.

[silent_key]

The people in this town are unfairly attractive.

Having lived just outside of Siren Cove for most of his life, Adam would have thought he'd be aware of such a thing. At the very least, he would have thought working with models for eight years would make him immune somehow, but he isn't, and he finds himself trying to subtly flick glances at nearly everyone he passes by.

A familiar face is actually welcome at this point, even if said familiar face is awfully attractive as well. At least with Riley, Adam's gotten past the urge to simply stare.

"This is yours?" he asks, approaching Riley as he waters the flowers outside. His pain level is low today and he's moving with ease, the pressure garments restrictive, but not in a way that's particularly bothering him at all.

[toliveagain]

Adam looks a hell of a lot better today than he had the first time they'd met, and Riley smiles when he sees him because between the two of them, he imagines they've already lived a lifetime of rough days. Sometimes it's just nice to savor the good ones.

"It is," he says in lieu of greeting, gesturing widely at the storefront with a proud smile. It'd taken some time to set things up and they'd hit a brief snag with the lease but eventually, they'd managed to work everything out. Now that they're open, business has going more smoothly than he could have hoped. "Well, mine and my friend's. That guy over there, the idiot with the dark hair? That's Ryan."

He rolls his eyes fondly as he catches a scowl from his best friend then turns back to Adam. "Things been going good for you?"

[silent_key]

"Unpacking boxes is a pain in the ass and I hear the matriarch has her powers back again, so I should probably go make my introductions at some point, but besides that, yeah," he answers, matching Riley's grin as he pushes a hand through his hair. Unpacking at this point is quite literally the only thing he's done and he glances around the store, his smile making it clear he's impressed.

Adam's never thought about what he'd do if he wasn't modelling. It wasn't something he'd ever needed to consider before the car accident and while he'd liked photography well enough, that had mostly been an acceptable hobby for him to take up so that he looked more interesting than he actually was. It's a tough pill to swallow, realizes he doesn't have that many interests or aspirations, but that's what Siren Cove is supposed to be about.

"Why flowers?" he asks, looking back at Riley.

[agentjack]

Jack can't remember ever visiting a flower shop before today, but he had given his contact information to a man he'd met in Quill a couple weeks ago, and so here he is. Sometimes you meet people and nothing ever comes from it, but Riley had been true to his word and sent Jack an invitation to come check out his new business. Jack decides after a couple days of debate to accept, mostly because the invitation seems frivolous to him. His free time from work should be used investigating leads and checking out the town, not in a place called Thistle Do Nicely.

But he finds himself at the front of the shop one day after work. It had been easy enough to find the shop, but he checks out the front of the store to make sure he's in the correct place. Entering, he looks around the store for the Riley, and thinks once he's inside that maybe he'd made a mistake in coming here.

Riley had invited him, but he didn't know the man. That's why he doesn't really move from the doorway until he decides whether or not to stay.

[toliveagain]

After about thirty seconds of watching Jack stand awkwardly in the doorway of the shop from the security camera in the back room, Riley takes pity on the guy and walks out to greet him. He'd texted Jack the address to the shop when it'd opened up, though he'd been unsure his new friend from Quill would ever end up stopping by at all but if he's honest, Riley's glad to see him. Not only because Jack is offensively handsome.

"You made it!" Riley says, grinning as he approaches Jack and claps a hand down on the guy's shoulder. "I was worried you'd started to think 'come visit my flower shop' was actually code for 'come to my sex dungeon' or something, but I promise, I left the sex dungeon at home today. Today, it's just you and me and the flowers. Oh, and Ryan, I guess."

[agentjack]

Jack is surprised by Riley's enthusiastic greeting. No one is ever that happy to see Jack frankly. He is the type that's just sort of...there. It works for him. Not standing out. But Riley at least looks glad he's shown up, and he manages a somewhat confused smile when he walks up to pat him on the shoulder. He's never really had a friend. Nearly all the people knows he works with at the Agency and those he doesn't work with, are people under investigation. He's never given relationships much thought.

"It's nice. Much too bright to be a dungeon," he observes with a nod. "It was nice of you to invite me. I didn't think you would..."

[davin]

Davin is on his lunch break when he gets the text from Riley, and he swings by Quill to get three iced coffees to go. They've accepted Edan's presence at Quill, because he's perfectly behaved and looks so cute in his little harness. His fox is like a service animal, but so much more important.

He thinks people just don't really question it too much, because it's obvious that Edan belongs at Davin's side, even to humans and sirens. This fox is a part of Davin and maybe eventually he'll be able to leave Edan at home, but right now they're still forging a bond. And he's just a baby, after all.

Edan isn't exactly pleased with his harness, but he trots along dutifully, sniffing at everything with his tail fluffed out behind him. When they get to the flower shop, Davin pushes the door open and holds up the coffee tray with a bright grin.

"I come bearin' coffee for the new owners," Davin says, setting the tray on the counter. Edan follows him in and sits at his feet, reaching up with his back foot to scratch at his ear before looking around. He sniffs at a bouquet sitting low on a display stand, and then lets out a tiny sneeze, shaking his head and then resting his chin on Davin's foot.

[toliveagain]

There's a flash of excitement that Riley tries to put to rest when Davin walks through the door, mostly because the guy is very much not available and anyway, he's not looking for anything in particular when he's still just trying to settle into being in a new town and starting up a new business. Even so, they've exchanged what Riley (and Ryan, for the record) has decided are considerably flirty texts so he figures he really can't help that he'd be pleased to see his friend. His very handsome, very Irish friend. He'd had a few of those in New York but is it even really possible to tire of handsome Irish men? He doubts it.

"You didn't have to to do that," Riley says, though he's already reaching for one of the coffees with a grin. He ends up stopping mid-sip because he realizes then what he hadn't even processed when Davin had walked through the door: there's a fox. In a harness. In the store. Either that, or it's a really unusual hybrid dog breed.

"Okay, so that's not something you see every day. Davin, is that-- You're keeping a fox as a pet? Is that a thing that's allowed, do people do that regularly in this town?"

[davin]

"I wanted to," Davin says with a smile, leaning in close. "Besides, ya promised me a forest. Least I could do is bring ya coffee."

Riley looks surprised to see the fox, which is fair. Davin expected this. He jumped through all the hoops to register Edan as a familiar with the city, and came up with a cover story. He can't exactly tell everyone that Edan is a baby familiar, unfortunately.

"Kinda, kinda, an' no," Davin says with a laugh, reaching down to scoop Edan's tiny furry body up in his arms. "This is Edan. He's an orphaned kit, an' I'm rehabilitatin' him. He's a very special fox."

Edan lets out a raspy little yip and squirms around to look up at Riley, ears perked up as his tail flicks back and forth.

[ontheblink]

Ryan has yet to meet Riley's Handsome Irish, and he's been named, but he has heard Riley talk about him practically non stop, and seen some interesting text messages exchanged back and forth. There are no secrets between Riley and Ryan, and he guesses that must be weird for any prospective romantic partners, but text message privacy is just not a thing that exists with them. So, when Davin walks into the flower shop, Ryan has to resist the urge to roll his eyes and smirk.

It's easy enough, as it turns out, because walking in behind Davin is an honest to god fox, and Ryan is too bewildered to think about anything else. "That's an interesting dog," he says slowly, barely registering that he's being handed a coffee. When it clicks, he looks down at his hand and startles. "Oh, hey, that's coffee, thanks. Riley's withdrawal symptoms were starting to kick in."

[davin]

"Not a dog, though that woulda made things easier," Davin says with a chuckle. A canine familiar would have been easier to explain away, but Davin loves Edan just as he is. Besides, it sort of makes sense. "Edan is an orphaned fox, an' I'm raisin' him. I hope it's okay that he's in here. I'm s'posed t'be gettin' him one o' those little service animal vests, I think."

Davin grins when Ryan takes the coffee and then reaches out to shake his hand. "Ya must be Ryan. I'm Davin. It's great t'meet ya."