WHO: Sirius Black and Sarissa WHAT: And he’s back… WHEN: Today WHERE: The flower shop WARNINGS: TBD STATUS: Closed/Completed Gdoc
Sirius was many things, but when he said he was going to be somewhere, he was going to be there. Especially when it had to do with girls. So a few days after he’d been in before, he showed up at the flowershop again. He was dressed simply, knowing that he looked good in pretty much anything and everything he chose to wear. He was just hot. He couldn’t help that.
He was happy to see that Sarissa was working, but he just wandered around for a little while, looking at the different arrangements, and cards, and teddy bears and such.
Finally, after what he hoped was an agonizingly long wait, he approached the front.
“So...I’m looking for a bouquet of flowers for a beautiful lady.”
***
Sarissa had been mildly disappointed, but not at all surprised, when he hadn't come back the next day as she'd asked him to. She got hit on a lot, especially since turning fully Fae, but few men followed through.
When Sirius came back a few days later with a cocky grin and a twinkle in his eye, however, she realized what he was doing: playing a game; making her wait; building anticipation. She was okay with that. It made it more fun.
“What's the message you want to give her?” It was the same question she'd asked him the first time. As if she didn't know who those flowers might be for. If he could play games, so could she.
***
“See, that’s exactly it,” he replied, leaning against the counter. “I don’t want to make a clear message. I want to make her wonder. I want to make her think about it when she sees the flowers. Does he? Doesn’t he? I guess I want flowers that will be more a...puzzle than a message.”
He winked at her.
“Can you do that?”
***
So he really wanted a game.
Well, Sarissa didn't have a whole lot of other things to do, and her project with Kaleb didn't take a lot out of her day.
She reached behind her to present him with a cactus in a three inch pot.
“Flowering cactus,” she suggested. “It's pretty, it's prickly, and it's not going to wilt and die in a few days, which means she'll be looking at it for much longer and wondering for that much longer. If she keeps it.”
***
He blinked, unable to keep from grinning. She was good. Really good. He liked that in a woman.
“And if you added a little teddy bear to it, what would that say?”
***
“Trying too hard,” Sarissa replied promptly, and she smiled pleasantly. She was enjoying this. “Would you like me to ring it up for you?”
***
“Yes,” he said, leaning closer to her.
“I’m wondering what I should put on the card, though. Maybe I should invite her out to dinner? Maybe I should make some sort of cactus pun.”
***
“Oh, cactus pun.” Sarissa looked impressed. “Puns always add something special to any sort of gift.”
She set her elbow on the counter, bringing herself closer to him, and rested her chin on her palm. “Why don’t you dictate the note to me?”
***
Sirius thought for a moment, trying to come up with the perfect pun.
“How about…” He paused, tapping his finger on his chin.
“Join me for dinner. No doubt it can never be as succulent as you, but I can promise you’ll enjoy every moment. Six o’clock sharp.”
***
Sarissa laughed and straightened. “Nice.”
She went and added the teddy bear to the order. “Do you need a return note, or will a verbal response suffice?”
***
Sirius pondered the question for a while, making little ‘hmmm’ noises as he did. He was going to drag this out as long as he could.
“I think I’ll need a written return note. You know, so she can’t back out of her answer.”
***
Sarissa waited patiently. She was good at that, having worked on it for several hundred years. One had to have a lot of patience when related to Mab and Maeve.
When he finally responded, she grinned. “I’d make a pointed remark that you might be doing it wrong if you need a written note to hold her to it,” she told him. “But very well.”
She quickly tore off a piece of blank receipt paper and wrote her answer in elegantly flowing handwriting: 6 o’clock sharp? I won’t be a prick. See you then..
***
Sirius read the note and laughed outright, his eyes twinkling with delight. This was fun. He needed fun. It had been in short supply in his life lately.
“Perfect,” he said with a toothy grin, and pulled out his wallet to pay for the cactus. “You’re very helpful at this, you know.”
***
“Please be sure to say so to my boss,” Sarissa said lightly, although she really didn't need a raise or even praise from her boss. She didn't need this job at all. It was just a thing to pass the time so she didn't get too bored.
“So where am I meeting you?”
***
“How about I pick you up at your apartment? At six?”
He grabbed her pen from the counter and held out his hand. “What’s your apartment number?”
Sarissa hesitated only briefly. She usually didn’t like telling people where she lived, mostly so her mother’s enemies couldn’t find her, but here it was hard to hide. If any enemies wanted to find her, they’d do so easily enough.
So she plucked the pen from his hand and took his outstretched hand. Her fingers were soft and warm on his skin. “There,” she said, writing down her apartment number. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”