Chapter Text
Brent pulled up to the curb in his old beater pickup. A quick look to his right showed the storefront his Ma described. He parked then made his way to the door of the shop, admiring the flowers and decorations in the window. A bell chimed somewhere when he walked inside, it's clear sound announcing his presence.
A voice called out from somewhere in the back, "Just a minute!". It sounded younger than he had assumed, based upon what his Ma had told him, but he pushed the thought away and began browsing the shop interior.
Flowers and plants of every conceivable color and shape lined the walls, filled the rows of tables, and even hung from the ceiling in places, their thin branches draping their way to the floor. The plants even covered a small counter in the back, and vines wrapped their way around the curtained doorway. Mage lights twinkled, filling the space with a soft, almost ethereal light.. Brent breathed deep, filling his nose with the floral, earthy scent of the shop. It smelled amazing, in that unique way only flower shops can.
A low murmur of voices drew Brent’s attention to a doorway in the left wall covered by a thin, colorful curtain, nearly overgrown by plants.‘Must be the tea shop Ma mentioned.’ Brent figured. He started down an isle, only to be immediately stopped by a meow at his feet. Looking down, he found a pair of yellow eyes looking curiously up at him. ‘Aw cute.’ He bent over a little and offered his hand to the black cat for sniffs. Cloth rustling caused him to look up in time to see a hooded figure emerging from the back room at a fast gait.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry for the wait! How may I help you today? Are you looking for anything in particular?" The voice sounded young, but that was about the only clue Brent had. He couldn't see anything but darkness under the hood, and long sleeves, gloves, and blue jeans concealed anything else. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Brent did notice that the jeans complemented the individual’s figure rather nicely. The shopkeeper shuffled their feet awkwardly, and Brent realized he had been staring. His face felt hot as he tore his eyes away and stuttered.
"I am here to pick up an order for Mrs. Donovan?” The proprietor clapped their hands together.
"Oh, Tyra? Yes, of course, I have her order ready! Let me go get it for you!" They quickly turned around and scurried into the back room.
He blew out a quick breath and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Stupid, Ma would've hit me for being so rude.’ A few moments passed before they reappeared with a medium size box filled with different types of flowers and set it on the countertop. Brent made his way over as the proprietor seemed to be going through a mental checklist, nodding to themself. They looked up at Brent as he reached the counter, and he knew, even if he couldn't see it, that they were smiling brightly.
"Yep! Everything is there! Did Tyra need anything else?"
"No, my Ma didn't mention anything."
They gasped, "Are you Brent?" At his surprised look, they laughed. "Tyra talks about you a lot." His face reddened. "You work at Orrig’s Automotive?"
Brent relaxed a little bit, ‘Oh, good, nothing embarrassing… I hope.’ "Yeah, I work there as a mechanic. Orrig is a great guy. What about you? I'm guessing you run this shop?" He asked as he gestured generally at the room.
"Yep! This shop is run by me, and the other side by my partner Margot, though technically they are one combined shop. I grow plants for most of her tea. Her scones are also very popular! If you haven't had one, you definitely should."
He chuckled, "I'll be sure to try one sometime, though if they are the ones Ma brings home, then I agree, they are very good." He could sense them smiling. "Oh, here's your payment. Ma told me how much it would be."
"Ah, yes, thank you so much! I hope she enjoys the flowers!"
He hefted the box into his arms and nodded to them. "She always does. Thank you for your help today Mx...?"
"Oh! Oh gosh, did I not introduce myself? I'm so sorry!" Their words tumble over each other in their haste, and they clear their throat, "It's Thistle, Miss Thistle Hym. I'm so so-" but he had adjusted the box to one arm and was waving her off with the other.
"It's okay, if anything I should apologize for staring, Ma would've hit me, if she saw that."
Thistle relaxed slightly and giggled. "Trust me, you are not the first to stare, and I can totally see your Mom doing that!"
Brent felt his face grew warm again and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Yeah, I promise she raised me polite, but I just @#$% it up sometimes."
Thistle waved her hands around frantically. "No, no you are fine. I accept your apology, it's okay. Besides, your Mom talks about you all the time, whenever she is here. She was telling me all about your apprenticeship and how proud she was of you."
Now Brent's face is definitely hot, and he can't look at Thistle. "Yeah, she was really happy that I was able to get this job. I... messed up a lot as a teen and, I... made stupid decisions, but I have been doing better. Doing honest work. Ma never stopped believing in me." He looked back to find Thistle listening attentively and stumbled over his words, "Sorry. You're probably busy and I-" but now Thistle was waving his words away.
"No, I don't mind listening, and I'm not busy either. It's been a rather slow day. Thank you for sharing, it's nice to finally put a face to the name."
"Ah, you're welcome, and I guess thank you for listening." There was a brief awkward pause as both of them floundered for something to say, but Brent broke the silence first. "Well I, I guess I should probably get going, need to give these to my Ma." He gestured to the box of flowers with his free hand.
"Yes, yes of course, here, let me get the door." She moved around him, despite his half formed protests and opened the door for him.
"Thanks. Well, I guess I'll see you around?" He made his way out the door.
"Of course. It was nice meeting you, Brent. Hope you have a good day!"
"You too!" He called, and she nodded and shut the door behind him. It took a few moments to load the box into the passenger seat, and then get in behind the wheel. Once he did, he just paused, and... took a moment. To process.
Brent knew he wasn't the smartest tool in the shed, but he was far from dumb. But even he was banging his head against the metaphorical wall. His mother had, not subtly, set him up. And he hadn't seen it. He walked in there with practically no clue and probably @#$%ed it up. But no, maybe not, Thistle hadn't brushed him off. Had actually thanked him. ‘She could just be being nice,’ the cynical part of his mind whispered.
He groaned and put his head into his hands. All those hints his Ma had dropped, mentioning the shop and it's cute proprietor, his mind was taunting him with them now. Could've been cool or even just more polite but nooo, now he was just the rude dumb idiot, probably no different from any of the other customers she gets.
He dropped his hands with a small growl of frustration and started the truck. He pulled into traffic, heading to Ma's place on autopilot, grumbling to himself the whole way. By the time he got there, he had come to a few conclusions.
One, he was a dense idiot, but that was nothing new. He got out of the truck and retrieved the box. Two, given how Thistle had been nice despite his idiocy, meant that either a) His Ma had talked him up, or b) She was just a really nice person. Or both. Both is good. He walked up the steps and unlocked the front door. And finally, three, he thought as he set the box down on the kitchen counter, he definitely needed to find an excuse to visit the shop again.