#they don’t have a regular piercer is the only problem she only comes down once a month

[cetoddle-archive]

am NOT ! looking forward to tmrw :(

[atlafan]

Lake House Tattoo - One Shot

a/n: so my birthday is in a couple of days, and I think a lot of you know I write about piercings a lot, but don’t have any major ones of my own...or at least I didn’t UNTIL TODAY! Finally got my belly button pierced yall! I wanted my nose done, but it’s not safe to do so yet, so I got the next best thing. Anyways...the guy that took care of me was really nice, and made me want to write a little piercer!Harry fic. Hope you enjoy! 

Warnings: FLUFF!

Words: 2.3K

Y/N was a simple woman. She worked a 9-5, regular old office job, and she liked it enough. She had a great group of friends, and a relatively normal family. There wasn’t too much to complain about. She was well past her wild college days, but as her twenty-fifth birthday was approaching, she wanted to do something that she felt was a little out there for herself.

A lot of her friends had different types of piercings. She only had her ears pierced. She had two sets in her lobes, and a simple stud in her cartilage. But her friends has some of the cooler ones, some had their noses pierced, and others had their belly buttons done. Bingo. A belly button piercing would be perfect. It was the little bit of defiance she was looking for, but it was also discrete. Maybe for any other person it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but it was something her mother was adamant about not allowing her to have as she was growing up, which was annoying because it seemed like everyone had it.

“Will you please come with me? I’ll need someone to hold my hand…” She asked her best friend, Maggie.

“Of course! But I promise, it won’t hurt that much. Where are you getting it done?”

“Lake House Tattoo, the piercer came really recommended from some friends at work. I wish I could have my nose pierced, but it’s frowned upon.” She sighs. “And another ear piercing isn’t outrageous enough.”

“Plus it’s discrete like you wanted. Are you going to tell your mom?” She giggles.

“Maybe some night if I get drunk enough and work up the courage. I’m about to be twenty-five, I’m an adult, I don’t live at home, she can’t say anything.”

//

A couple of days before her birthday, Y/N and Maggie drive out to the tattoo shop. It was on the top of a hill on the coast. The piercer, Harry Styles, came recommended by just about everyone she spoke to, so it was worth the almost hour long drive. Plus, it was a beautiful day out so the girls didn’t mind.

They both walk in, and step up to the counter. There were a couple of people sitting behind the desk. One of them had sleeves on both of his arms and those really large gages. His hair was buzzed short and bleached blond. The other man behind the counter had brown hair with soft curls. It was pulled back by a red bandana and a small clip. His left arm had a ton of tattoos, and his right only had a few. He had a small hoop in his left nostril, and that was all Y/N could see for piercings.

“Hello, I have an appointment at two…I’m Y/N.”

“Ah, the belly button, right?” The man with the bandana says. “I’m Harry, you’ll be with me.” He smiles and then squints at Maggie. “Are you getting anything done?”

“Um…no.” She says.

“Alright, you’ll have to out here, I don’t allow more than one person in the room.”

“But she-“

“Sorry, thems the rules.” He says as he stands up to place some papers on the counter. “Need your license and for you to sign some things.”

Y/N swallows and hands him her license and then signs the forms. She slides the papers over to him and he puts them in a folder. He hands her back her license and comes around from the counter.

“I’ll be right out here when you get back.” Maggie gives her a reassuring smile.

“Ready?” Harry asks.

“Yeah.” Y/N says nervously. She knew it wasn’t going to be that bad, but she didn’t do well with needles, and she knew she was going to be a little bit exposed to a stranger so her nerves were shot.

She follows him down the hall to a staircase, and up they go.

“So, a little birthday present to yourself, huh?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s nice, hope I can add the special experience.” He smiles and gestures for her to head into the private room. It was small so she understood now why Maggie couldn’t join.

“Alright, sweetheart.” He says to her softly. He must be able to tell she was nervous. “I’m gonna take really good care of you, okay? I like my customers to be happy.” He goes into a closet and pulls out a container of different piercings. “Pick your favorite.” He pulls on some gloves. “Just make sure to look, not touch.”

Y/N nods and peers into the container.

“I like this one, the darker clear jewel.” She points to it.

“Ah, so the electric pink isn’t your thing?” He jokes and grabs the piercings she wants. She laughs nervously as he sterilizes it. “So…” He looks her up and down. “You’re not going to want to wear anything high waisted for a while, and you can’t go swimming either.”

“Okay.” She looks down at herself, now feeling stupid for wearing a tucked in short sleeve shirt with high waisted shorts. “I’ll be able to wear these low, it’s no problem.”

“It’s a popular trend right now.”

“They’re just flattering.” She laughs nervously again and he smiles. She watches as he puts something on a q-tip and he looks at her.

“Are you wearing a bra with that?”

“Um…yes?” She had to be blushing by now.

“Could you just tuck your shirt up in it?”

“Oh! Sure.”

She pulls her shirt up and does what he says, and then she lowers her shorts a little. He moves to stand in front of her and then he dips down to his knees, swabbing whatever is on the q-tip in and around her belly button. Y/N was sweating. She knew he must do this a million times a day, but it certainly wasn’t every day Y/N had a cute guy get on his knees in front of her.

“Just cleaning you up, sweetheart.” He must have notice her flinch when the q-tip hit her. “There we go.” He smiles up at her and stands to her feet again.

He sets the bed down so it doesn’t look like a chair anymore for her to lay on.

“Okay, hop on up and lay down for me.”

She nods and does as he says.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m excited, but I’m really nervous.”

“Nothing to be nervous about, sweetheart. Like I said, I’m gonna take really good care of you.”

Y/N was screaming internally. She wanted to tell him to keep calling her pet names. For whatever reason it was relaxing her. His was voice was also deep and he had a nice British accent, so it was all just very soothing.

“I’m just going to squeeze here for a second to get the area ready.” He pinches down right at the top her belly button.

She flinches involuntarily when he first touches her. Y/N’s stomach was sensitive, it always had been. She takes a deep breath once he’s done. She looks away when she sees him grab the needle.

“Alright, now you’re going to feel the needle.” He says as he presses it through her.

She gasps, biting her bottom lip and pinching her eyes closed. It was over before she knew it, but shit she hated needles.

“Dis great sweetheart, all done. Just need to crew the top of the jewel on and clean it up.” He smiles at her.

“Thanks.” She lets out a breath.

She flinched every time he touched her stomach. He gets the top of the jewel on and cleans the area up. He explains how long it’ll take to heal, and since it was summer it was fine to go in the water, and he touches her lower stomach at about where she could go up to.

“Just don’t be in there along, especially if it’s a lake.”

“Yeah, stagnant water is pretty gross.” She giggles.

“Exactly! No baths either, just as gross. If you’re in the shower it’s okay to get it wet, just don’t let it get beat under the water, yeah?”

“Okay.” She smiles up at him.

“I’m just going to put my hand on your shoulder so I can lift this back up, and I just want you to sit a moment.”

She nods and her eyes flutter closed a moment as his hand reaches her shoulder, and she slowly sits up. She feels the pinch of the jewel as she does so and winces. She can see it in the mirror before her and she smiles.

“Like it so far? You’ll be able to see it closer in a moment.”

“Yeah! Thank you so much.”

“Oh, my pleasure.” He grabs his card and hands it to her. “Okay, now for the aftercare, this is really important.” He goes into the closet and grabs a can of saltwater spray. “You’ll want to get some little paper cups and q-tips, first thing in the morning and before you go to bed you’ll clean it out. Then a few times a day just spritz it with the spray. The less you touch it the better. These heal from the outside in, so it actually takes six months to a year for it to heal altogether, and then you can change the jewel all you want. You’ve got my card, so please, call me anytime if you have questions. The only stupid question you could have is the one you don’t ask.” She giggles at that and he smiles. “Take my hand, I’ll help you hop down.”

She does so and slowly gets off the chair. She blinks a few times, but she’s alright.

“Lightheaded at all? That can happen afterwards.” He gives her hand a squeeze.

“I think I’m okay.”

He nods and lets go of her hand. She steps closer to the mirror so she can inspect her new piercing, and she beams at herself.

“It looks so good, thank you so much. I’m so happy with it. I’ve wanted this for a long time, and it feels great to have it done.”

“I’m so glad you like it. I like when my customers are happy. Come back and see me anytime.”

“I will.”

He leads her back down the stairs with her to ring her up.

“Do you live around here?” He asks as he gets the order together on the computer.

“About an hour away, why?”

“Well, that’s the only aftercare spray I trust and they sell it locally here.” He gets up and grabs a couple of more cans for her. “Take these on the house.” He winks at her. “But promise to come back for more when you run out.”

“I promise.” She smiles and puts them in her bag with the other can. “Thank you.”

“That’s be sixty altogether.” He slides her the receipt. “Gotta fill that out before I run your card, sweetheart.”

She leaves him a twenty dollar tip and gives him his card. He smiles big when he sees the tip and runs the card. She takes it back and puts it in her wallet.

“All set, Y/N?” Maggie asks, coming up to her. “I was just looking around at the shop.” She points towards the room where people could buy piercings and studs.

“Yeah, take a look.” She lifts her shirt slightly so her friend could see.

“It’s so cute! Love the jewel you chose.”

“Thanks.” Y/N looks at Harry. “Well, if I ever need anything else pierced, I’ll certainly be back. This was a great experience.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I also do tattoos if you feel like being especially brave.” He smirks.

“Definitely won’t be coming in for that, but another piercing for sure.”

“Fair enough. Remember, if you have questions, my number’s on the card.”

“Thanks, I’ll definitely reach out if I need to.”

He nods and watches her leave. She hands Maggie her keys, not feeling up to driving.

“Oh god.” She says as she sits down. “Definitely going to take some getting used to.”

“It’s an adjustment for sure. So, was he as short with you upstairs as he was when we first walked in?”

“Not at all! He was super nice, he kept calling me sweetheart. Oh my god, Maggie…”

“What?” She chuckles.

“I got so nervous, before we got started he, like, knelt in front of me to clean me up…”

“Oh, that’s hot.”

“I wasn’t expecting it at all. I know it’s just part of the job so it’s no big deal on his end, but-“

“How often does a guy get on his knees?”

“Exactly! It was…intimate. He made me feel really comfortable. I nearly lost it when he started talking about aftercare.”

“You’ve read one too many erotic novels, Y/N.” She laughs. “He seemed pretty adamant about you calling him, maybe you should find an excuse.”

“He did ask if I lived around here…but that was just to make sure I had plenty of the cleaning spray. He gave me two extra cans for free.”

“You should ask him if you’re cleaning it right, like, explain to him what you’re doing, and then just see where the conversation goes.”

“It’s probably just the shop number…” She looks down at the card and her eyes grow wide. “Oh my god…he wrote in pen and put his cell number on it!” Her and Maggie squeal. “Okay���maybe I’ll call him. He’s really cute.”

“Plus…it’s kind of hot that he works at a tattoo place.”

“Super hot, I don’t know what it is about it. I wouldn’t mind hearing him call me sweetheart again. I wonder how often he does that.”

“Guess you won’t know until you call him.”

“I guess so.” She smiles and bites her bottom lip as she looks out the window. Best start to a birthday ever.

[dhwty-writes]

Day 1 - Tattoo Artist/Flower Shop AU

Whooo, it’s @writersmonth again! I have been waiting a whole year for this because last year it was amazing! I actually hoped to do some work up front - and failed spectacularily. The only thing I acutally managed was this 10k monstrosity (and I love it)!

Anyways, all the prompts are about my original work, so if you’re interested in the specifics just ask! But you should unterstand the AU’s just fine and for the canon works I’ll provide some additional info.

Just enjoy reading!

"Looks like we've got new neighbours," Saryan stated as she leaned against the counter.

"Looks like," Aidiya replied without looking up from the phoenix she was sketching in her notebook, a favour Irian was calling in.

"Have you seen them already?" she asked and started shuffling the neatly stacked business cards in front of her.

"No," Aidiya answered, trying to focus on her sketch before clasping her hand tightly over her best friend's. "Stop that," she said exasperated.

Saryan pouted. "You're no fun," she complained but complied and started restacking the cards. "You must've seen them! You've been here all day!"

"I've been working", she sighed, "Unlike someone else." Saryan started drumming her fingertips on the counter-top. Finally, Diya stopped and closed her sketchbook. No use trying if she couldn't concentrate. No use concentrating when her best friend demanded her attention. "Why do you even want to know so badly? It's a flower shop."

"Exactly!" Saryan beamed. "It's a flower shop. Which means it's surely run by a woman who is reasonably hot." She blinked a few times expectantly. "So?"

"So?" Aidiya replied dumbfounded.

"So, have you seen a reasonably hot woman carrying boxes into that flower shop?"

She chewed on her lip as if she was genuinely thinking about it, then she answered: "Not sure actually. Come to think about it, I don't think I've seen a reasonably hot person in my life."

Saryan groaned, burying her head in the crooks of her arms. "You're no fun", Aidiya caught the muffled words.

"Really?" A lopsided grin appeared on her face. "Because I think I am hilarious!" She pushed to stand. "Anyways, get moving. It's your next appointment is in five minutes and I don't see any preparations."

Saryan straightened and saluted her mockingly with a "Yes, ma'am" before vanishing into her room where Diya soon heard the satisfying noise of ink cartridges getting like up and the calming buzz of a tattoo gun only interrupted by the occasional yelp of the newbie getting inked for the first time.

The afternoon passed in a flurry of greeting customers, ushering young girls and their mothers to Boru and Roban for their first piercing embracing regulars as well as a dragon scaling a calf and a branch of cherry blossoms on a shoulder, she got to ink herself.

By the time the sun set the familiar buzz of exhaustion a lack of meds clouded her mind but she welcomed it for once. It stood no chance compared to the satisfaction.

She was sat in the backroom with Boru, Roban and Saryan, the shop closed early, wolfing down Chinese take-out and complaining about the annoying customers of the day when the bell rang. Roban arched an eyebrow but before he could get up Aidiya was already out of the room, the 'sorry-we're-closed-and-no-we-don't-take-walk-ins', speech on the tip of her tongue.

But when she opened the front door, she could do nothing but stare perplexed. The woman and the man - boy, rather - in front of her were not their typical walk-in customers. They customers were not white, middle-aged and female, with a haircut that already beckoned for the manager. They did, however, hold an oversized flower bouquet.

The woman nudged the boy in the side who started talking: "Umm... Hi. We- we're new here. My mother and I. So, we... umm."

"We thought we'd bring you a gift," the woman - his mother - cut in. "Like a reverse housewarming gift. We're from-"

"The flower shop!" Saryan chirped cheerfully. When Aidiya turned around she saw her three co-worker-best-friends crowded behind her in the small door frame of the backroom, ogling the newcomers. Saryan, ever energetic flurried past her and practically ripped the poor boy the bouquet out of the hands. "Hi! I'm Saryan." She presented the woman with her outstretched hand.

"Ehehu," the woman replied shaking it. "That's my son, Goran." The similarities were uncanny. While Goran's bronze shoulders under his tank top were broad and packed with muscle hers were slim. Still, they were almost of a height, which meant freakishly tall for Aidiya, yet rather normal for everyone else. They had the same face, though. The same almond-shaped dark eyes and straight nose, the same high cheekbones, even the same sleek black hair that tumbled to their shoulders.

Saryan beamed. "Pleased to meet you." She slung an arm around Aidiyas neck, pulling her into a choke-hold. "That's my best friend, Aidiya. She runs the business. And the two idiots behind us are Roban and Boru. Our piercer and newbie."

With an elbow to her stomach Aidiya managed to break free and straightened herself. "Right," she said, now taking the flowers, "Thank you. That's really thoughtful."

"Well, we're not really in short supply," Goran mumbled and Aidiyas eyebrows shot up. It took him a second to realise what he had just said but then he quickly looked away.

She chuckled. "I guess you're not."

"Well, anyways," his mother jumped in, "We don't want to intrude any longer. We just wanted to come over with the flowers and to invite you to our opening. It's this Friday at 3 pm. I guess you'll be busy but maybe you'll want to hop by."

"We'll come," Saryan promised before Aidiya had even opened her mouth.

"Great!" Ehehu replied. "See you there!"

A weak "See you" echoed after them as they crossed the street where a van stood waiting before Aidiya closed the door again.

As soon as it fell shut a mean punch hit her in the shoulder. "You told me," Saryan whined, "that there was no hot woman over there!"

"I told you, I have never seen a hot person in my life," she corrected her, "And I really did not see her. Besides she's like... three times your age."

She gasped as if the comment had offended her instead of the new neighbour. "She is not! She's twice my age max." She wiggled with her eyebrows. "Also, let me introduce you to the wonderful concept of a MILF-"

Before she could say anything else, she clamped her hand over her mouth. "Nope!" she declared loudly. "Not having it!"

"Well the boy's a snack," Roban chimed in from the door frame.

Aidiya wrinkled her nose. "Is he? Wouldn't have noticed. I-" With a shriek she pulled her hand back. "Saryan! That's disgusting! What are you, five?!" She yelled, staring in disbelief at her best friend who had just licked her hand.

"You wouldn't let me talk. So anyways. The cutie. The cutie boy. Not your type?"

Aidiya groaned. "No. He is not my type. No-one is my type. Do you even understand what 'asexual' means?"

Saryan opened her mouth, undoubtedly to say something incredible clever but Roban beat her to it: "Anyways I'm calling dibs. There's no way that a guy working in a flower shop is straight." He turned towards the backroom. "And we are so going on Friday."

Aidiya groaned internally. She knew she was fighting a lost battle.

 ~*~

 Aidiya sat at her desk sketching to calm down. The day had been more than stressful which might or might not have been related to the meds she had forgotten at home. 'Simply great,' she thought grumpily, 'Did not concentrate to pack my meds that help me concentrate.'

So, when Saryan draped herself across the table with absolutely no regard for pencils, sketchbooks and personal space, she was naturally grumpy. "What," she asked quickly rescuing her book, "do you want?"

She gasped in mocking offence. "I am your best friend! Can't I just come and talk to you for the fun of it?"

Aidiya raised one sceptical eyebrow.

"Right." She hopped of the desk. "Seeing right through me as usual." She picked a stray hair of her shirt. "I want you to come shopping with me."

She wrinkled her nose. She knew exactly how that was going to go, namely her stuck in the lingerie department for hours on end with a half-hearted promise of visiting the dress section after and then whoops the store is closing, I guess we'll go next time. They never went next time. "Not a chance."

"Not that kind of shopping," she added quickly. "I want to buy a housewarming gift. For our new neighbours!"

"Are you still trying to seduce her?"

"Still?" She laughed. "Diya-Darling, I haven't even started. But no. I just thought we should return the gesture. Seeing as they brought us flowers even though it's them who's moving here."

"They just brought us something from their shop."

"Well, I told her to give them a free tattoo," Roban chimed in from the doorway, "or piercing, whatever they like. The notion was not appreciated."

"They own a flower shop", Aidiya and Saryan said simultaneously and Roban raised his hands in silent defence.

"Great!" Saryan chirped. "So, you agree with us!"

Aidiya groaned. "Are you ganging up on me? Seriously?"

"Well, we wouldn't have to if you just got your ass moving," Roban said entirely unhelpfully.

"I know," she answered with false enthusiasm. "Why don't you two pick out something nice? Seeing as I am not going at all..."

She hadn't even completed her sentence and was already interrupted by Saryan's shriek: "You what?!"

Aidiya shook her head. She had thought about it. It was not that she was antisocial or didn't want to go to a party. It was just that she knew exactly how this was going to go.

Sure, the pair had seemed friendly enough and not at all appalled to see three of them inked head to toe with Boru still decidedly lacking. And she honestly did not think that Ehehu and Goran were decidedly against tattoos and piercings. Otherwise they wouldn't have come over. No, it was not the owners that were the problem.

It was the customers that Aidiya definitely had no desire whatsoever to meet. Because honestly, what was the standard clientele for a flower shop? She was willing to bet a lot of money that the entire opening would be chock full with after-hour-walk-in-customers with a haircut that demanded to see the manager. It was August, hot as fuck outside and there was no way she would wear anything more than a crop top and hot pants. Which meant that her tattoos would be at full display. Which meant that she would be ogled by a store full of judgemental Karens for hours. No, that she could do without.

Saryan snorted. "Like hell you aren't!"

"I've really got no desire to be ogled at for hours on end by stuck up white people."

That issued an unbelieving laugh from Roban. "Really. You're scared of a few side-glances?"

"I am not scared", she tried to defend herself even though she knew it was a lost cause. "I just don't want to-"

"Want what?" Saryan grinned. "Meet new people?"

"Be a good neighbour?" Roban helped entirely unhelpful.

"Have fun?" Saryan tried again. "We know you don't!"

With a groan Aidiya got up and grabbed her bike keys. "Where are we going?" she admitted defeat.

 ~*~

 Friday rolled around more quickly than Aidiya had hoped or wanted. They had gone shopping and between endless bickering - "We can't buy them a plant, they're a flower shop!" - and pulling Saryan out of the lingerie department - "I just wanna take a quick look!" - they had finally settled on locally manufactured chocolate - "Everyone likes chocolate, right? Let's go home."

So now Aidiya was crammed into the unbearably hot bathroom with Saryan and suffered through her best friend doing her make-up while picking at the loose threads of her shorts.

"Stop fidgeting," Saryan ordered sharply, "Or I'm gonna mess up your eyeliner. Besides, you look fine!"

"I'm not worried-"

"You are! Now stop talking."

Aidiya obeyed dutifully and closed her eyes again to let her best friend continue to tinker with it. When she was finally satisfied, she leaned back and whistled. "Damn, girl, you look hot. Always forget about that."

She shot her a genuine smile. "Thanks."

Winking Saryan turned to the mirror to take care of her own make-up. "I'm sure Goran will think so, too," she said quietly concentrating on drawing a straight line with the eyeliner.

She laughed. "And I know that I don't care." She tried to squeeze past her towards the door. "Besides, Roban called dips."

"I sure as hell did!" they heard him muffled through the closed door making even Saryan in her concentration chuckle.

"Now move, it's stuffy as hell in here." She slapped her butt weakly, making Saryan wriggle it before she finally moved out of the way.

In the parlour the air wasn't much better, Aidiya had to admit, nor was the humid air coming in through the open door. That's just how it was in mid-summer. Thankfully most people were sensible and didn't get a tattoo in that time, knowing it meant long clothes and no impromptu trips to the lake for at least a month so they didn't have to stay that long for most days.

Actually, though she wouldn't admit it out loud, she was quite glad that the opening party gave them an excuse to close early that day. She'd just go over, say a few nice words and then she'd be on her way home with her bike. If Saryan insisted on staying any longer she could take the bus home.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Boru asked with a timid smile. He had been very impressionable at first, admitting that he had long admired them from afar, basically stalking her Instagram up to the point that he knew some of her designs than she did. In the end the little celebrity crush had subsided quickly and with a recommendation of Irian and Eloa, her own tutors, she had been basically forced to give him the job. Now she was glad she had. Their parlour was expanding rapidly, all thanks to Irian, who had directed her girlfriend Kalia to their studio. With her platform as international model they were now overrun with jobs and it was good to have a third tattoo artist on board.

She pulled a grimace. "Just wondering how fast I can get out of that shitshow."

"Why so pessimistic? I'm sure it will go just swimmingly."

She shrugged. "Just not my cup of tea."

Before Boru could say anything else Saryan burst out of the bathroom. "Alright!" she announced stuffing her make-up bag into her bigger bag. "Let's go!"

Roban marched out of his room, manufactured chocolate in hand. Before Aidiya could even react, the package was thrust into her hands unceremoniously and Saryan and Roban linked arms with her so she could not escape. "Why me?" she whined as she was escorted across the street.

"Because it's your shop and the gift comes from the shop. So quit whining and get cheerful," Saryan ordered.

And while she grumbled until they had reached the other side of the street she was smiling brightly once they entered.

The first thing she noticed was that there were already way too many people crammed into the tiny space that was the flower shop. The second thing was that thankfully there was air-conditioning humming. She made a mental note to invest into one as soon as possible. Then she was noticed by Goran.

He was talking to two boys roughly in their age wearing outfits expensive enough to pay for one full sleeve at least. She shot him a hesitant smile he acknowledged with a nod of his head before her attention was forced to Saryan.

"Ehehu, hi!" she said loudly and waved over-exaggeratedly before tearing lose and vanishing in pursuit of their new neighbour. Roban stayed with her for the better part of a minute before vanishing too with a half-hearted excuse that they had lost Boru at the food buffet leaving her completely deserted in the strange environment.

She stared down at the chocolate slowly melting in her hands and sighed. 'Fuck.' Unsure what else to do she started venturing closer to the flowers maybe in search of inspiration for a new tattoo. She had wanted an under-boob for quite some time. Just as she was pondering how a lion with a flower wreath would look a voice behind her startled her: "Found anything you like?"

She whipped around and found herself face to face with Goran - or rather face to chest. "Oh." She laughed a little. "Not sure yet. I don't really have green fingers."

He blinked with both eyes and smiled, too. "Luckily most of our plants are already cut. If you put them in a vase with a bit of water and there's not a lot that can go wrong." He shrugged. "Well, they'll die after a week or so but they're supposed to."

She smiled, too. "In that case I think I prefer them inked on my skin. That way they won't wither."

"At least not until you do," he shot back.

Aidiya raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

Seemingly it took him a minute to realise what he had just said and he visibly paled. "Shit!" he cursed under his breath. "I'm sorry, that came out totally wrong! I didn't want to-"

"Oh, I think it came out just right." She snorted, barely stifling her laughter. "You're hilarious," she added after a moment. "And I don't get offended that easily."

As if on cue the two boys from before stumbled closer, one of them wrapping an arm around Goran's neck. "Hey Go-Go," he slurred, obviously having one or the other glass of champagne too much, "You left us all alone back there."

Goran visibly tensed. "Piss off, Eliot," he hissed, "I'm trying to have a conversation."

"I see," Eliot said giving Aidiya a once-over and wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Who invited the freaks over?"

She saw Goran’s face dropping, scrambling for words, but Aidiya was quicker.

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Better a freak than an asshole. At least I chose this instead of being born like that."

"I wasn't-" he spluttered but she didn't even let him finish: "Oh, really? Then what? Did a ten-year-old insult you fashion sense?" She did a very similar once-over before settling on his face again. "Not that I can blame them. Did you raid your grandpa's closet or did you actually spend money for this?"

The three boys in front of her gaped at her with open mouths. Suddenly she realised that most of the people in the store were staring at her and a blush crept up her cheeks. "Sorry for ruining the party," she mumbled and pressed the chocolate into Goran's hands. "This is for you and your mum."

With that she hurried up and fled the scene.

 ~*~

 It was early in the morning - way too early than could be healthy for any human being. Still Aidiya was already sat at the counter sketching away, waiting for Roban and ready to deflect any walk-in customers. But even for them it seemed to be too early.

The door opened with a jingle of the bell. Roban was late. Without looking up from her sketch she said: "Sorry for ruining your chances with the hot guy."

"Hey, I just- Wait, what?" answered a voice that belonged decidedly not to Roban.

She looked up in horror to see Goran standing in the frame, hand still on the door looking every bit as shocked as she did. "Oh," Aidiya said eloquently. "What are you doing here?" She would very much like to slap herself now. That was not at all how you started an apology.

"I'm, uh-" He looked around and started gesticulating wildly.

She raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"

He wrinkled his nose and honestly, that was not fair. No guy this size had any right to be this adorable. "Can we talk?"

"Uhm," she looked around but there was no-one there to come to her help. "Aren't we already talking?"

"Yeah, sure!" he said quickly his eyes wide. "I just- I wanted to apologise and you left so quickly yesterday I didn't have the time!"

She held a hand up. "No, actually, let me stop you right there. I am sorry I caused such a scene. And that on your opening day." She winced. "It was kind of a reflex. I'm allergic to arseholes." Realising what she just said she pressed her hands over her mouth. "Oh shit," she whispered, "listen, I'm so sorry, they're probably your friends and-"

"Nah, it's alright." Goran waved his hand with a lopsided grin. "You're right. They're total douches and I don't even know why I invited them in the first place. Oh wait. I didn't. They invited themselves and then proceeded to insult my new neighbours. If you ask me, they deserved to be kicked in the balls."

She blinked dumbfounded. "What?" she managed after a while.

A sigh passed his lips and he ruffled his hair. "I'm sorry, Aidiya. I'm sorry they offended you while I stood at the side-lines watching. Not cool."

"Oh," she said as her brain began to process his words. "Oh," she said again and giggled while pushing her hair out of her eyes. "So, you came here to apologise?"

"That's what I just said, isn't-"

"And I hoped no-one saw me entering because I thought you hated me."

He stared at her for a moment. Then he blinked with both eyes before grinning widely. "So, I guess, we're even then?"

"We are," she agreed and held out her hand for him to shake it.

"So," Goran said then leaning on the counter. " Now that that's settled. Who were you expecting when I came in? What hot guy are we talking about?"

"Oh," she said and chuckled, "ohohohh, no way. I'm not betraying my friends like that. We're not friends yet. It's more like... a truce!"

"Friends, huh?" He looked around. "Saryan, then?"

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself: "Pffft, she hasn't got a straight bone in her body," she snorted.

"Roban?" he teased further and Aidiya winced visibly. "Hah! I knew it! What hot guy?"

She rolled her eyes and fixed him with a piercing stare.

"Me?" He seemed genuinely surprised as he pointed at his own chest. "Oh, I'm flattered!" His smile widened and Aidiya was relieved that it seemed to be a good kind of surprise at least.

Still she groaned and buried her face in her arms. "He's going to skin me alive..."

"Are you sure he'll not rather puncture you with a thousand needles?"

Aidiya looked up to see a teasing grin on his face. Slowly a smile spread on hers, too. "I expect you to hold a speech at my funeral."

He laughed and for a moment their banter felt so genuine that she wondered if this really only was their third interaction and not their thousandth. Then the sound of a sputtering engine outside broke the silence.

"I guess that's my cue, then," Goran said and moved towards the door. "Tell Roban I said hi," he said with a wink and left.

A few moments later a sweaty Roban threw the door open again, damp hair clinging to his forehead from being trapped under his helmet and panting for surely entirely different reasons. "What on earth was that?" he demanded to know.

Aidiya made an effort to show off her most innocent face. "Goran told me he says hi. Why?"

"He asked me for my number! What did you do?" He discarded his helmet on the chair next to the door and lunged to chase after her. "Aidiya Inkhar, what did you do?!"

 ~*~

 "Sooooo..." Aidiya kicked off her swivel chair to roll closer to Roban. She leaned onto the table and rested her chair on her laced fingers. "How's the dating going?"

"Aidiya, I'm trying to work," Roban whined and tried to shoo her off but she would not give up that easily.

"No, seriously." She followed him rolling after him. "You've been chatting for the last month or so. When will you go out?"

"When's the wedding?" Saryan shouted from the other room.

Aidiya made a vague 'See?' gesture while Roban rolled his eyes. "Probably never," he answered. "He told me very gently that he was not interested in me."

"What?!" She pushed to her feet. "Why?!"

"I don't know, ask him! Probably straight."

"Hm," she made wrinkling her nose.

"Don't give her ideas!" the faint voice of Saryan called and Roban paled.

"Oh, no, you wouldn't! We're friends, Aidiya, don't do this to me!"

"Of course!" she said quickly and held up her hands as if that would prove her innocence. "I would never do anything to lessen your chances with the hot guy. In fact, I would only further them." She smiled brightly and Roban groaned.

Grinning Aidiya kicked her swivel chair back to her own table. "I love you, too, Roban. And I will get a date for you!"

 ~*~

 It was her turn to close up the shop, again. And it was late. She wanted nothing more than go home and sleep. But when she stumbled outside, she saw that there was still light in the flower shop on the other side of the road.

Curiously she drew nearer and knocked at the door. She almost wanted to leave when a very tired looking Goran opened the door. "Oh," he said, barely stifling a yawn. "Can I help you?"

"No!" she said quickly. "I just wondered why there was still light on and wanted to check in. Just making sure, you know."

"Right." He nodded.

"So,...," she said after a few moments of silence. "Why are you still here?"

"Gotta finish some arrangements for a wedding tomorrow. I'm almost finished, though."

"Right!" She bit her lip, unsure what to do next.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked suddenly. "If you've got no other plans, that is. Would make the whole endeavour a lot less boring."

"Sure!" she said quickly and stepped inside. The flower shop looked almost like she remembered with the exception that the bouquets on display had changed. Well, it was another season, she supposed. To her surprised he led her to the back room, where an impressive array of bouquets was already lined up and oldies rock droned softly from a Bluetooth speaker. The table in the middle with the chipped blue paint was littered with freshly cut flowers, scissors and wire besides a lot of other stuff Aidiya couldn't even begin to name.

Goran made a bit of space on the counter so that she could settle on it more or less comfortably. "I really like AC/DC," she said to break the awkward silence.

A smile danced around his lips as he went back to work. "It's Led Zeppelin."

She blushed and only silence followed. He hummed softly while he bound up the flowers and she watched, not much else there to do.

"Alright," he said, turning around. "That's the last one. Will you now tell me why you're really here?"

"What?" she squeaked.

"You turn up on my doorstep in the middle of the night and then you continue to stare at me like I've grown a new set of eyes or something. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. "I'm just trying to figure out whether you're straight or blind for rejecting my friend."

"Hm," he made and smiled, leaning against the table which creaked loudly under his weight. "And what if I tell you I'm neither?"

"Then I'd be at a total loss."

He looked at his shoe tips, the faintest hint of a blush creeping up his neck. "I'm not interested in him, because I'm interested in someone else."

"Oh!" Now she felt very stupid. "I'm sorry for being so nosy."

"It's alright," he said quickly. "You weren't."

Well. That didn't make it any more awkward in the slightest. "Can I offer you a ride home, at least? I've got a spare helmet in the shop."

"Sure. That'd be nice," he said with a wide grin. While he closed up the shop, she went to get the helmet and they met behind the tattoo parlour in front of her bike.

"It's, uh, pretty?" he said questioningly startling a laugh out of her.

"Thanks! Quite an unusual compliment." She went on to pull the additional foot rests out. "Your first ride on a bike?"

He nodded and scratched his head. A dead giveaway that he was nervous as hell.

"Don't worry. Just hold onto me. And don't fidget!" she instructed him while she got on the bike and instructed him where to put his feet and hands. "Ready?" she asked starting the engine. She could feel him nod against her. "Just tell me where to go."

They only got lost twice on the way home, which Aidiya counted as a success. When they finally stopped in front of a modern apartment building, he was trembling when he got off. But he was good at hiding it. "Thanks!" he said as he handed her the helmet. "That was actually fun!"

She lifted her visor and smiled. "Any time."

She expected him to wave and go inside, instead he was writhing his hands and looking anywhere but her. "Do you- uhm, do you maybe want to get a coffee, sometime?"

She grinned even wider. "Sure. Just come by the parlour tomorrow and we'll settle for a date."

With that his face lit up and that sight alone was worth it all. He waved, just as she had thought and vanished in the building.

The door and the visor fell shut as Aidiya's brain finally processed what had just happened. "Shit!"

 ~*~

 "So, just let me get this straight. The guy that I called dibs on won't go out with me not because he is straight but because he has the hots for you?!"

Aidiya winced. Roban sounded actually offended. "I'm sorry!"

"Oh, no, you don't get out of this that easily."

"What do you want, that I call off the date?"

He laughed. "Oh no!" Aidiya opened her eyes warily. Roban looked positively gleeful. "No, not at all. Please go, this whole thing is hilarious."

She groaned and threw her head back. "Well, joke's on you because I won't go. I know this kind of guys and I had my fair share of them."

"Oh, come on!" Saryan sat down beside her putting her head in her lap. "At least one of us should get some action with the sculpted gods that moved in next door."

"Yeah, and that won't be me." She sighed and threaded her fingers through her hair by habit. "Honestly, your ignorance is bordering on offence."

"It's just coffee, though, right?" Boru piped up from where he was standing in the doorway. "I mean, it can be just coffee. Maybe we're all misinterpreting this whole situation and he just wants to spend some quality time with you."

Diya huffed, still not fully convinced.

"Look, what's the worst possible outcome in this?" Roban asked crossing his arms. "Either you get to spend a chill afternoon with a chill-"

"-and hot," Saryan interrupted him.

"-and hot," he admitted, "guy. Or he tries to make a move on you and you tell him no."

"And if he's an arse about it we'll just... egg his house or something," Saryan proposed. "You know where he lives after all."

The thought put a smile on Aidiya's face.

"There's always that option," Roban agreed. "Though I don't think that'll be necessary. He's a nice guy."

Aidiya and Saryan groaned simultaneously and rolled their eyes. "Yeah, we all know what those are like," her best friend muttered.

Before anyone could answer that the bell over the door chimed and they all sprang apart trying to look positively busy and very normal. Goran stared at them with bewilderment. "Um... am I interrupting something?" he asked warily. "I could come back later."

"No, definitely not!" Saryan answered far too quickly with a smile that was much too wide. "Come on, Boru, we really should look at that horse of yours."

Aidiya knew that was total bullshit. There was no horse sketch at all to be looked at and while she suspected that Goran knew that already it was Roban who completely ruined the illusion: "Right! I should... clean my... needles!" he exclaimed and vanished behind the curtain of the next room that offered nervous teens a semblance of privacy when they got their ears pierced to feel edgy.

Goran watched him go with a frown. "I thought his needles were single-use."

Aidiya sighed and shook her head. "Just ignore him. He's an idiot anyways." She smiled and put on her customer voice: "And how may I help you?"

He blinked a few times, seemingly taken aback. "I- uh- um- coffee," he stammered.

"I'm sorry, due to health regulations we do not offer beverages. I can point you to a nice place, though."

His expression grew even more confused. "No! I meant- We said- Do you want to get a coffee me?"

Diya snickered quietly. "I know, Goran. I was just teasing."

Relief seemed to flood over him as his shoulders relaxed.

"The offer still stands, though. Do you know any nice places or would you like some pointers?" She looked him up and down wondering how such an imposing person could look so innocent.

He smiled. "I guess I'll follow the recommendation of a local."

"A surprise, then," she said with a wink. "Believe me, you are in capable hands. When are you free?"

"Saturday, 3 pm?" he asked with a timid smile. "Don't have plans for the whole day."

"Pick you up at 3, then."

He laughed quietly and leaned on the counter. "Are you going to tell me now to wear something pretty?" he asked a bit quieter than before.

She bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm sure you look dashing whatever you're wearing."

"A surprise, then," he echoed her words and turned to the door. "See you on Saturday."

"See you," she muttered but the door had already closed behind him.

It took only a moment for her friends to reappear: "Phew. Girl's got it hard, huh?" Roban asked and she could hear the insufferable grin in his voice.

"Nah, she's alright. That poor boy, though," she heard Saryan sigh. "Went straight into cardiac arrest."

Only then she awakened from her state of shock. "What do you mean?"

Saryan was grinning now, too. "Aidiya Inkhar was flirting. I thought I'd never see the day."

"I was?" she asked confused.

Her best friend rolled her eyes. "Would you like some pointers?" she quoted. "Gosh, Aidiya!"

"I mean, the whole clothes thing at the end?" Roban joined her. "Can you get more obvious?"

"Believe me, you are in capable hands." Saryan fanned herself and feigned unconsciousness. "So freaking hot." Cracking one eye open she asked: "Marry me, please?"

"She winked!" Roban added. "For god's sake, she winked! And she doesn't realise she's flirting?"

"A hopeless case..." Boru called from the other room.

Aidiya stared at all of them angrily and raised both her middle fingers. "I don't have enough of those..."

The three of them burst out laughing and she was tempted to throw something at them. "I hate all of you."

 ~*~

 She was leaning against her bike enjoying the last warm sunrays of early October debating her own stupidity. It wasn't really that she was nervous. She was not feeling anxious before her coffee... getting - not date! - with Goran. It was just that it was six minutes past three and she had been waiting for the better part of twenty minutes and maybe she was feeling a little fluttery in her stomach after spending two hours in her bedroom with Saryan trying to pick out a fitting outfit - really, you should think that an easy task after both of them spending so much time in the closet - and letting her do her hair and make-up which had been completely ruined by her make-up and now-

the door opened. Goran stepped outside blinking against the autumn sun.

"I was right," she called as a greeting, stuffing her sunglasses into the pocket of her leather jacket. "You do look dashing."

Goran laughed at that and spun in a circle, showing off the plain dark jeans and the Led Zeppelin shirt he was wearing beneath a simple button up. "As do you."

She looked down at her own attire, not so different from his except that her black jeans were ripped showing off her tats and she wore a grey shirt proclaiming 'I don't give a fuck' in purple letters. Looking up he was a lot nearer than anticipated and she nearly tipped over her motorcycle. She grinned to override her nervousness. "Especially the AC/DC shirt," she joked and handed him the spare helmet.

The ride to the café wasn't too long yet it long enough to calm down. "This is one of my favourite places around here," she explained as she took her helmet off and held the door open for him.

"I think I get why," he answered as he stepped inside. It wasn't a large place. Quite the contrary, honestly, with mismatched couches placed around more coffee tables the shop should reasonably be able to hold. Yet already upon entering it smelt deliciously of freshly roasted coffee and the barista behind the counter smiled as she waved hello. "You're a regular, then?"

"Addict is more accurate," she confessed. "Tekan," she nodded in the direction of the barista, "moved here with his parents from Italy. There's nothing quite like it."

They took their time settling down and ridding Aidiya ridding herself of her leather jacket while she explained the menu to him. She ordered a cappuccino and bombolone as always and watched with delight as Goran ordered the same.

Thereafter their conversation moved to other topics: where Goran was from (a tiny isle off the coast, you wouldn't know it), where Aidiya was from (the south-west), why she opened her tattoo parlour (because she hated the company her family ran and wanted to have fun), why he worked with his mom (because he'd like his own flower shop one day), how she had met Saryan and Roban, how he had met Eliot and S'ikan, what it took to become a tattoo artist.

Before they even knew it, they had drained their second cup of coffee and talked their throats raw. With a satisfied smile on her lips Aidiya leaned back in her seat. "So, you're not straight, huh?"

"Nope. Bi and out and proud." He grinned widely mirroring her pose. "You're ace?" he asked pointing to her shirt.

"Yup."

"Cool."

From there on their conversation continued with other topics, covering their favourite bands and books and shows as well as the weirdest facts they had stored away in their brains. When the sun set, they paid their bill (well, Aidiya paid) and she gave him a ride home.

She was already halfway on her way back home when she remembered that it had supposed to have been a date.

 ~*~

 "What do you mean, nothing happened?!"

Aidiya held her phone a bit farther from her ear. "Stop screaming," she ordered Roban, "I heard the same shit already from Saryan."

Said best friend of hers snatched the phone out of her hands and set it to speaker. "Right?! So weird!"

"Tell me exactly what happened!" Roban's tinny voice yelled from the phone. "Every. Single. Detail!"

And so Aidiya did. Again. Not like she had explained all of that the Saryan already who kindly supplied the details Aidiya left out.

When she was done a few moments of silence followed. Then: "Weird."

"Right?!," Saryan screeched again.

"I mean, literally half of that is so cheesy that it would put every romcom to shame. You can't tell me he wasn't flirting with you."

"Maybe he changed his mind," Saryan supplied helpfully.

"Maybe," Roban admitted, lost in thoughts.

Aidiya sighed and let her head fall back. "I should be relieved," she muttered, "the last thing I need right now is a boyfriend." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I am relieved."

"No, you're not," both of them said simultaneously.

"No," she admitted. "I'm not." A long pause followed. "Mostly, I am just confused."

 ~*~

 When Aidiya came to the parlour the next Monday a slip of paper with a hastily scribbled phone number waited for her on the counter, signed with a single 'G'. "He wanted to give it to you himself," was all the explanation Roban offered with a shrug.

Aidiya tried to talk to him that evening when she closed up but there was no light burning in the flower shop. So, she saved the number in her phone and texted him when she got home.

They went out a few times after that but all the banter that felt like flirting had vanished and turned into exactly that - friendly banter that flitted over sharp tongues just like with all of their other friends.

Soon after Saryan and Roban and Goran joined them, eradicating any trace of awkward togetherness. Instead he was just absorbed into their group of friends and by the time New Year’s Eve rolled around and they were all crammed into Aidiya and Saryan's tiny two-room flat she almost couldn't imagine what it would be like without him.

He all but moved in with them, often just showing up with one or the other after the closing shift for a movie or two or three and soon it felt only natural to have a blanket and a pillow of the couch and a third toothbrush in their bathroom or too large clothes occupying the dark corners of their closets or waking up to Goran humming along to Led Zeppelin while he made breakfast.

Aidiya still called them AC/DC at every opportunity.

That, however, was the only trace left of those two early meetings of them. Aidiya was glad for it. Really, she was. All that friendly behaviour made it easier to suppress the fluttering feeling that appeared in her belly whenever she saw him until she didn't even remember if it had been there in the first place.

 ~*~

 It was a nice warm evening in early spring and Aidiya was only going to finish that one sketch, then she'd go home, really. But she had to finish it, because else-

A loud thumping noise broke her concentration followed by muffled swearing.

She rolled her eyes. Oh, how she hated after-hour walk-in customers. "We're closed!" she called.

"Even for me?"

Now it was Aidiya swearing as she bolted for the door to open it for Goran. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a frown. It wasn't that late, honestly, that wasn't the problem. But normally Goran sent her a text these days before coming to visit and if just to know on which door he should knock.

He grinned and held up a bottle of vodka and a bag that hopefully held something to mix it with. "Get drunk with me?"

And well, Aidiya was a simple woman nearing her thirtieth birthday. How could she say no to such a proposal when it was so sweetly made? As only answer she went back inside to fetch some glasses and a knife for the cucumber leaving it to Goran to lock the door again.

When she returned, he had already settled on the couch reserved for waiting customers and arranged his assortment of drinks and snacks, gladly accepting the tableware she offered.

"So...," she began while she was clearing up her desk. "Any reason why we're getting drunk?"

"Ask me again after two of those," he answered and handed her one of the cups while making grabby hands at her sketchbook. "Gimme," he whined like some toddler.

With a roll of her eyes she handed it over. "I honestly don't get why you're so obsessed with our sketches."

"Not all of them!" he tried to defend himself while quickly flicking over the sketches he already knew. "Only yours."

She settled down comfortably next to him. "Question still stands."

"They're beautiful!" He took a deep gulp from his cup and pointed at the page he had opened. "I mean, look at that! I've got no idea how to do that!"

"They're half-finished." She smiled as she looked at thee lion she had drawn after that opening party. It had long since been transferred to her skin. "And it's just practice. I mean, I've got no idea how you make the flowers stick together while they are hanging down or something."

He huffed and laughed, continuing to flip through the sketchbook.

"I'm not describing it well, am I?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Well, anyway." She drank a mouthful of her drink, too. "If you're impressed with that you should see the finished tats. Those are masterpieces."

He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Show me, then."

Adiya wrinkled her nose and toasted him. "Two more and we're talking."

"Fair," he admitted and stood up to leave the sketchbook in a safe distance. From there their conversation shifted to easier topics. Mostly, they were complaining: About customers and roommates and mothers with the occasional debate over the newest show on Netflix thrown in and before she knew it, she held her third cup in her hands.

"Remind me," she was concentrating hard to talk clearly. "Why are we getting drunk again?"

"My dad's an arsehole," he grumbled leaning back.

"Shit happens. How did you notice?"

"Wants me to return home. Finish university or some bullshit. He screamed at my mum first, then she cried and I took the phone. Then he screamed at me, too."

"Hm. What did you do then?"

"Told him to go fuck himself. Bought booze. Came here."

She nodded slowly, not sure how to answer that.

With a groan he sat up and looked at her expectantly. "So?" he asked.

For a moment she pondered to feign ignorance. Suddenly she felt much too sober for this whole endeavour. "Hm?"

"Your tattoos. You promised me masterpieces."

"Right... So, that was my first one." She held out her arm and showed off two shapes vaguely resembling Simba from the Lion King. "Courtesy of Irian, my aunt Warkuya paid and got the same one."

He smiled tracing the lines with his fingers. "Why?"

Aidiya blushed worrying her lip between her teeth. Well, she had promised, hadn't she? "She called me her little cub when I was little. So..."

"The Lion King."

"Obviously."

He continued looking at the many shapes on her arm until his gaze snapped up. "Wait. Did you say Irian? As in Irian Iuan, Kalia Au'eli's girlfriend."

"Wife, actually," she said unimpressed. "I learned to ink in her parlour, Saryan too. And I did the sun on Kalia's back."

"You're kidding."

She shrugged. "A year ago, maybe. Look it up. It's on my Instagram and hers. So, do you want to know more about my tats or not?"

He quickly closed his mouth and nodded.

"That's the first I designed myself." She pointed to a chain around her wrist with a broken link. "Was pretty depressed back then. Still proud of it though. Eloa Tuanar did it."

"Am I allowed to ask?"

She winced only a little. "I told my family I wanted to be a tattoo artist. They kicked me out."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's for the better." She shrugged out of her jacket and showed off her other forearm with a broken sword covered in vines. "That's the first Saryan designed. Didn't ink it though. We added the plants later. You know? Because I'm a plant ace?"

He grinned and nodded. She went through most of her tattoos - at least those she didn't have to lower her trousers for. They might be friends but they were not quite there yet. The longer they talked the emptier the bottle grew.

"Ah," she said with a lopsided smile, struggling a bit to stay upright. "Wanna see the newest one?"

"Sure."

Without thinking about it she pulled her shirt over her head to show off her under-boob: the lion head surrounded by grasses and flowers.

With satisfaction she watched as his jaw dropped. He raised his hand as if he wanted to touch it but thankfully, he lowered it again.

"Told you, it's a masterpiece. Irian's again. She's simply the best."

He smiled fondly, his alcohol-induced mind struggling to focus on her. "Little cub, huh?"

She laughed and pulled her shirt back on. "All grown up now," she answered draining her drink.

After that they sat together in comfortable silence for a bit.

"Rum's empty...," Goran slurred finally and yawned.

Aidiya nodded. She was about to puke anyways. "Let's go home?"

Together they managed to call a taxi and actually not vomit inside even though it was a close call for Goran. Then they only had to stumble up four flights of stairs and get the key inside the keyhole - admittedly the most difficult task of the evening.

Once inside Aidiya found herself still holding onto Goran's waist as they stumbled towards her room. Normally, he would leave her there and go to sleep on the couch. Today he didn't. Today she didn't care. It was nice, not sleeping alone. Nice and warm and dangerous.

 ~*~

 When Aidiya woke she was far too warm and her head was pounding like a bass drum. "Fuck," she murmured and tried to kick the blanket off.

"Ow," the blanket answered.

Suddenly, she was wide awake. She found herself pressed firmly against another body, held in place by two arms wrapped around her waist. Their legs were tangled with the blanket and her face was settled on his chest and ew- she had drooled on Goran's shirt.

'Wait a fucking minute-' She slowly raised her eyes to stare in horror at Goran who seemed to be sleeping soundly. Something in her chest that she had kept under lock and key for quite some time flared up again like wildfire. Aidiya decided that that was an appropriate moment to start panicking.

'Fuck,' she thought while she frantically tried to disentangle heir two bodies without waking him. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.' She had decided to just let that go after that unsuccessful first date-that-hadn't-been-a-date. Her friends had let it go and Goran certainly hadn't brought it up again. And she had been doing so well. And now this. The fact that they both were wearing most of their clothes was only a small solace.

The panic in her chest didn't subside even when she had finally managed to get out of bed and tiptoe to the door without so much of a reaction as a tired grunt from Goran while he turned over. She grabbed a fresh change of clothes and slipped out of the room.

"Good morning, sleepyheads," Saryan greeted without looking up from her phone. "How's the bed, Goran?"

"Shhhh!" Aidiya said wide-eyed and quickly started changing. "He's still asleep," she whispered.

"Oh." Saryan looked up, interest and mischief glinting in her eyes. "Well, how's the hottie?"

"Will you keep quiet?" Aidiya hissed and made her way over to the kitchen to get some coffee. She was in desperate need for one, although she'd preferred something stronger. "Nothing happened..."

Saryan raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean 'nothing happened'? It can't be 'nothing happened'. I was ready to collect my money!"

"For fuck's sake, Saryan, nothing happened and nothing will ever- Were you betting on this, you absolute menace?"

She pointedly looked down on her phone. "Ooops."

"Well, it doesn't matter. Just pass me the betting pool because no-one is gonna win anything."

"Aidiya, you don't have to keep pretending-"

"Ughhh." She slammed her cup down on the counter. "Damn right, Saryan. I don't have to keep pretending because nothing happened and I don't want anything to happen so nothing is ever going to happen." She watched with at least a little satisfaction how Saryan's eyes grew wider and wider with every word. "We were drunk and could barely open the door so whatever was between us last night was a mistake and is never going to happen again. Got that?"

"Got that," Goran's quiet voice said from behind her.

'Fuck,' she thought, not daring to turn around.

"Uh, do you want breakfast?" Saryan offered.

"No, uh- I'll be going now," Goran answered.

The door closed behind him, the sound footsteps on the stairs quickly fading. When she couldn't hear them anymore, she turned around to Saryan. Her heart was still beating in her chest, head dizzy from more than just the alcohol, oh so much more. "Fuck," she whispered softly.

 ~*~

 "I fucked up," Aidiya sniffled, hugging the pillow closer to her chest, "I fucked up so bad. I don't even know why I said all of this, I didn't mean any of it! And now he hates me!"

"Now that's maybe a bit harsh, don't you think?" Roban tried to soothe her and patted her arm gently. "It can't be that bad."

"You didn't hear what I said!" she sobbed.

"She's got a point, you know," Saryan said quietly.

Aidiya looked up at her and her lower lip started wobbling again, tears filling her eyes. "This is the worst day of my life!" She buried her face in the pillow.

She hurt a sound that sounded suspiciously like Roban hitting Saryan and Boru murmuring: "Way to go, Saryan."

"Alright," Roban tried again. "So, what we need is a plan for you to apologise and confess your eternal love."

"But he hates me!"

"Yeah, that's why we'll start with an apology," Boru said with a sigh.

"Besides," Roban added, "you were hungover and probably still drunk, he'll hardly hold you responsible for your actions."

"Nah, he won't," Saryan said, "you maybe broke his heart but he's too much in love with you to really hate you. Strongly dislike maybe, but hate? Never."

"You are not helping," Roban grumbled.

"But how?" Aidiya whined.

Saryan raised her hands in defeat. "I don't know, for fuck's sake, alright? You know him best of us, what does he like?"

"Coffee," she sniffled. "And flowers."

"We never would've guessed," her best friend mumbled and Roban quickly clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Callas are his favourite. And cornflowers. And he likes it when bouquets do the swoopy thing."

"You're not describing it very well," Boru offered.

"I know!" She let her head thumped back against the couch. "He used to say that all the time."

"I think we can work with that," Roban interrupted her self-pity. "Now, for the plan-"

 ~*~

 They didn't get a lot more done that day, mostly attributed to the fault that Aidiya was feeling terribly hungover and that Goran didn't work in the shop that day. She could always just drive by his house but they unanimously agreed that she was in no way capable of driving any vehicle in her current state.

The next morning Aidiya woke early, though she didn't feel much better than the previous day. The whole affair had left a sour taste in her mouth and truth be told she dreaded the moment she had to see Goran again and apologise for... well, a lot.

Still she drove to the tattoo parlour, stopping for coffee on the way and then braced herself. With one deep breath she stepped into the flower shop. Goran was there as well as Ehehu - not that she needed the encounter to be any more awkward. Still, she smiled.

"Hello," she said and placed the coffee on the counter. "I'm here to pick up a bouquet."

Goran was stone-faced and stared at her as if she'd just grown a second head. "Excuse me?"

"I'd like to pick up a bouquet," she repeated. "I ordered it yesterday and was told I could pick it up today."

"Of course, sweetie," Ehehu said with a large grin as she poked Goran in the side. "I'll get it for you." She vanished in the back, leaving the two of them to their uncomfortable silence and when she returned, she just thrust the flowers into Goran's hands before leaving again.

"Can I get you anything else?" Goran asked monotonously, his autopilot evidently kicking in.

She chewed on her lip before asking: "Do you have apology cards?"

He sighed and let the bouquet fall on the counter. "Alright, Aidiya," he said exasperatedly, "what the hell?"

"I am trying to apologise for my behaviour," she said quietly. Awkwardly she pushed the coffee forward. "Look, it says 'sorry'. It even has a pouty face."

He scowled and eyed the coffee warily. Then, finally, he took it and took a sip. "Thanks." That she took as an improvement.

"I'm saying sorry, too," she said quietly, "You weren't meant to hear all of that-"

"Yeah, I guessed as much."

She winced. "It's just stupid, I lashed out at Saryan because she keeps telling me that we're perfect at each other and fuck, I'm rambling again-" A bright blush crept up her face. "-but anyways, I'm just tired of it and it makes everything just so much more complicated because it's-"

"-not what you want, I know," he interrupted her. "Look, Aidiya, I'm sorry, too. If I'd known that being around me mad you so uncomfortable, I'd never-"

"But it doesn't!" she said quickly. The blush on her cheeks burned even hotter. "Quite the opposite, actually. And that's just the problem. It- all of this was going so well and then I fucked up because I got my stupid feelings in the way."

He blinked stupidly. "Come again?"

"And I get that you don't feel the same so I am really sorry for ruining all of this and-"

"Why on earth would you think that?" When she looked up, he seemed genuinely offended. "What- why?" Now that was just pure agony spreading through his features.

"Well, um- when we went for coffee, I thought... I thought it'd be a date and then nothing happened and- well, I thought you weren't interest."

"Well, shit," he whispered, a stunned look on his face. He stayed like that for a few moments before laughing frantically. "Well, that's just my luck, huh?"

"Goran, I don't understand."

An agonised look passed over his face. "Aidiya, I'm in love with you! And I thought I'd ruined it!"

"...what...?" she said eloquently.

"Pretty much since I first laid eyes on you and I thought we'd manage but I couldn't and now-"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on! Go back and say that again!"

"I'm in love with- wha- wait, why are you crying?"

"You idiot!" she sniffled and punched him in the shoulder. "You beautiful, huge fucking idiot! I can't believe you. I can't believe us! We could have had this conversation months ago and spared us-" She gestured at their general surroundings. "-all of this!"

He smiled awkwardly. "I guess."

She shook her head. "Ridiculous." Then she gripped his shirt and pulled him forward into a short kiss. "Good that that's settled now."

"Y-yeah," he stammered.

"Are you quite done, now?" Aidiya heard Ehehu's voice from behind Goran. But when she leaned over to look, she saw that she had a smile on her face. "Take the day off and get the hell out of my shop. You two seem to need it."

Aidiya smiled brightly, too, and took Goran's hand. "We will. Come with me?"

"Where are we going?" he asked but followed her anyways.

She just shrugged. "A surprise?"

"A surprise, then," he agreed.