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

[agentjack]

Jack glances over when Riley begins to tell his story, and there's more too it than Jack maybe expects at first. Though somehow everything makes a little more sense to him, that this flower shop isn't something Riley has just done forever. It's something he became after what sounds like a fairly traumatic life experience. Somehow that fits a little easier into Jack's head. "You picked the right hobby, and it probably helps people are willing to pay you," he says in response gesturing at the arrangement to his left.

Of course, Jack doesn't have any hobbies unless lying and shooting guns counts, and he isn't sure they do. Or it's not a hobby he can exactly open a cutesy little shop on a Boardwalk with probably. "So. Who is Ryan? Is that you're husband?" he asks because he caught the name and the fact that Riley moved here with someone to open this business.

Jack just naturally assumes they are close. He also in the next breath thinks he might be asking too many questions. Because he's also already preparing to figure out where Riley moved here from, how he picked this place, and why. The need to question, to gather information is a hardwiring he sometimes forgets to turn off. "I don't mean to pry," he quickly says.

[toliveagain]

"Yeah, believe it or not, the money is a very nice thing," Riley replies with a laugh, though he does shift a little awkwardly on his feet when he says it. The truth is, if he were very to get caught between a rock and a hard place, if the flower shop had ended up being a massive failure, his parents would have been there to bail him out. He knows he's spoiled in that way, though he's always done his best to work hard and earn what comes to him.

It's just always a little uncomfortable to talk about who his parents are, considering his father's company had been fairly well known. He's always hated the thought of people accusing him of having a free ride through life; or worse, people using for what he's got in his bank account. So far, nobody in Siren Cove seems to blink and for that, he's grateful to be so far removed from the city.

The question of Ryan being his husband shakes him from his thought, and Riley nearly gags. "Oh, god, no," he says, emphatically shaking his head. "And don't worry, you're not prying, he's just-- Ryan's my brother in every way except the blood relation. Very much not husband material, at least not for me."

[agentjack]

"Oh---" Jack's eyebrows raise sharply in surprise. He wants to meet this Ryan person just from the way Riley speaks about him. He is obviously important, like a brother, and he finds himself curious. "I just assumed from what you said. It's...nice that he would move here to help you."

Ryan must have a good deal of loyalty to Riley to do something like that.

"I don't have siblings," he tells him just because. He could have easily made some up. Riley would never know the difference. Sometimes it's easier that way, when he tells people complete lies. He is much better with those. "Do you have real brothers?" he asks looking at him.

[toliveagain]

"Yeah," he agrees, expression softening as he glances over at Ryan with a crooked but fond smile. "Yeah, it's nice of him. We met when were just kids, we grew up together." Riley pauses, not entirely convinced that the shop is the best place for a conversation like this (and not because he's uncomfortable telling it, but he doesn't want Jack to feel uncomfortable); but the door isn't too far away so if Jack feels like he needs to make a quick exit, Riley will understand.

"Our parents dumped us," Riley explains, trying to keep his tone light. He knows pity when he hears it, and he'd rather not here it from the new friends he's making here. "When I was eight, I was adopted, Ryan was in and out of foster homes, but my parents more or less adopted him, too. So if I do have real brothers, I definitely don't know it."

[agentjack]

"Oh. I'm sorry---" Jack thinks you're supposed to say things like that when you hear about foster homes and adoption, but it isn't really out of pity. It's more that Jack wants to say the correct things. He wants to appear normal because he knows that he's not. He doesn't remember growing up, and he easily could have a similar story but if he does he doesn't know it.

"Was that difficult?" he asks once he realizes that he isn't actually sure. "It seems like it might be."

[toliveagain]

"I mean, it's not something really sits well, you know?" Riley rolls his eyes at himself, letting out a cross between a laugh and a sigh as he rubs at the back of his neck. He's had this conversation with people numerous times and though he's had practice masking just how bitter he can still be, he knows it sometimes shows through.

"My parents, they're amazing. They're my real parents, as far as I'm concerned, nothing could change that. But it kind of just makes you wonder, why didn't my biological parents want me? There could be a lot of good reasons, it might just not have been practical for them to have a kid at the time they had me, and I've talked this out, I understand that. But the truth is, a part of why I'm here is to get answers."

He leaves out the part that outs him as a witch because while this town seems to be full of magical people, Riley isn't quite ready to actually include himself in that yet.

"My birth parents were from here and if I can find them... Well, I don't know. I'm not sure what I'm actually expecting. I guess that's why I haven't tried very hard yet."

[agentjack]

Jack isn't expecting the detail about Riley's parents. He should have though. No one would just move here to this weird little town without some ulterior motive. Hell, he has an ulterior motive for being here so he should've suspected in the end. He thinks he has gotten distracted by the fact that Riley is kind of friendly, and he invited Jack here and it had seemed like it could be apart from everything else.

"You came here to find your parents," he says in the end, nodding like he understands. "I can imagine most people would be curious about themselves, about where they came from, but at least you knew where to begin. I don't think everyone gets that." He doesn't realize it but he is talking about himself. He is incredibly good at finding answers but has never sought answers about his own past. Something like that would be...he isn't certain but he thinks it would be dangerous.

He wants to tell Riley that the records in the library---for such a small town---are very thorough. He knows because he's read many volumes of them. It would be the place he'd start and Jack is very good at finding answers.

[toliveagain]

"No, not everyone gets that," Riley agrees, glancing again at Ryan.

There have been moments of tension between them over the years, of course there'd been; but most of the time, they'd been over the subject of Riley having been the one to be officially adopted and Ryan just coming along for the ride. That's not how Riley sees it and it's certainly not how his parents see it, but he's tried to understand where Ryan is coming from. It hadn't been easy for his best friend, bouncing in and out of foster homes until the Waldens had basically taken him in without the legality of calling him their son, so Riley tries to be sensitive to that. It's just that every so often, he ends up doing a poorer job of it than he might like.

"I should probably just cut to the chase and look up their records," he continues with a sigh, and he's not entirely sure why he's discussing this with Jack because it's kind of a heavy topic for a chat in a flower shop; but Jack hasn't complained and at least for that, Riley's grateful. "But maybe not today and not only because I'm at work." He pauses then, shifting on his feet. "Speaking of which, maybe we could go grab a drink or something when I'm done. If you're free I mean, I wouldn't want to keep you from fire station duty and rescuing kittens from trees or anything cute like that."

[agentjack]

"It's not just kittens in trees," Jack says with a smile, relieved that Riley didn't look too uncomfortable with the line of questions about his background. He wondered if Riley coming back to Siren Cove meant his family was part of the magical element in town. It's easy to suspect something like that. Normal people, humans were greatly outnumbered is what Jack's come to learn so chances were Riley could be a witch or something.

He's not mentioned it though, and Jack isn't ready to ask him. Riley has been friendly with him so far. He doesn't want to mess that up. It might be good to have a friend, or maybe not friend since Jack is not exactly honest, but something close to it.

"I'd like that though. The drink, I mean. I just moved here and don't know many people. I'd say on most nights I'm free," he assures him with a nod. He was usually researching or exploring the town at night or checking in with the agency, but again, he lied.

[toliveagain]

"So sometimes puppies, too?" Riley teases, trying his best not to bounce on his feet over the fact that he'd gotten that ridiculously good smile out of Jack. It suits him, the smile, Riley thinks he should wear it more often. "Riddle me this, how do the puppies even get in the tree? Have you considered using all available manpower to safeguard all trees in the area to save yourselves some time?"

In truth, he doesn't find it all too difficult to imagine Jack as a fireman. Those broad shoulders and strong arms don't just appear on a person, there's something unnatural about them in the sense that it's unnatural that any one person could possibly look like... Jack. Overall, Riley decides, it's just unfair to the rest of a town population that isn't even lacking in good-looking people.

"You mean you don't give your number to all the random people who bump into you in coffee shops? I have to admit, I now feel pretty honored." If he isn't careful, Riley knows he'll just end up making himself look like an idiot. He's taken his flirting to an extreme before, to the point that he's pissed off boyfriends and girlfriends, both his and others', but he doesn't want to alienate Jack when they seem to be getting along well so far. Besides, he's in the same boat and could use all the friends he can get.

"Anyway, good. You and me, drinks. It's a plan, I don't exactly have a bunch going on during my nights myself. We can keep each other entertained."

[agentjack]

"I'll bring it up at the next firefighter meeting. Do something with the trees. It's a good idea," Jack says smiling once more. He must be doing something right here. Riley seems to like him. It's not that he isn't good at talking to people. He has to be good at that. Otherwise, he suspects he would freak people out, asking all his questions, and generally skulking about town. He isn't use to people kind of just straight away hitting off with him. He normally has to guess a little more about who people want him to be. Riley appears very laid-back so it's easier to carry this on.

He shrugs his shoulder chuckling just a little. "No, I don't usually do that. So I guess it is something," he says. To be honest, he might not even come to this shop if he hadn't talked himself into it and Riley hadn't been so friendly with the offer. And now that he knows a little more about him and why he's here in town, Jack isn't disapointed that he came. He is actually looking forward to a drink with the guy if it does happen. There are worst things about this surveillance gig than spending an evening with Riley who is nice, friendly, and good-looking. Jack's definitely done worse.

"I think we can manage that," he agrees.