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Now, she didn't mean to doze off while manning the counter, but admittedly, her shift as of currently is extremely boring. Who would be out and about getting flowers while it was raining out?
The storm had started after she had arrived, and closing times aren't until at least 8 PM, so here she is, stuck manning the counter of a store with no one walking outside at all. If Mime had caught her dozing off then it wasn't like her boss would really mind, she might get scolded a bit but otherwise it was fine– not like it mattered all that much because she's suddenly startled awake by the bell above the door loudly jingling with the sound of swears and the heavy onslaught of rain upon the sidewalk outside accompanying it, a large drenched figure stumbling inside hissing and mumbling things under their breath as they took their glasses off and failed to find a dry patch of clothing to wipe the raindrops off of them with, peeling their jacket from their body and grimacing at the state of their clothing. A puddle forms at their feet from all the water that was dripping out of their clothes, and finally, they turn around and notice Couriway standing at the counter and watching, making direct eye contact as the silence between them spans out long enough to start to become a touch awkward.
"Can I help you?" Be a good employee, Couriway, she reminds herself. Her customer service voice comes easily– maybe a bit too easy for the job that she works, but she's experienced too much at a job that was supposed to be easy and peaceful on the sanity. Her words seem to shock the other person out of their trance, pushing their hair out of their eyes as they shuffle in place, eyeing the water at their feet.
"Sorry– sorry for the mess, I'll clean it up when I don't drip more water everywhere– er, well– I'll just stand here– can I stay until the rain stops?" They sputter over their words, gesturing at the ground and then to the outside where the rain doesn't seem to look anywhere close to stopping, still coming down heavy as ever, and it really wouldn't hurt to keep them around for the rest of her mind numbing shift. Their glasses sit on the bridge of their nose, brown eyes obscured by raindrops slowly drying on them that are sure to leave a stain.
"Don't worry about the mess, it's fine." Realistically, it's not but Couriway can exempt this… er, guy? from it all due to their current state of being. She looks over the person one more time before realizing oh, that's not a guy at all. If the goofy looking lesbian flag belt didn't say enough, there's carabiners hanging off the loops in their pants, a lovely seal and a cat-head shaped one, keys and lanyards tangled up together, a creeper head and warden keychain from Minecraft hanging there too, and almost comically, it feels like her vision fills with stars that surround the other girl. "Do you want me to clean your glasses for you..?" Her voice breaks a bit at the end, unsure if the stranger would allow her to handle something so fragile and needed, and if the squinting from the other person wasn't enough of a sign to show how badly they needed the their glasses, the way they almost trip over air walking towards the counter to pass them to Couriway is enough.
"Please?" Their voice warbles, and it tugs at her heartstrings. Now that they're closer she can see the wet ears that are pinned against their drenched curls, and it's a miracle how she didn't notice the mass of wet fur that was a tail dragging behind them on the ground, and it looks so weighted down by water that she wonders how much big it would be when it was fluffed out and dry. Well, she really shouldn't be wondering about that at all, actually. Carefully, she wipes the droplets of rain and the water stains from the lenses with her own cleaning cloth for her glasses, handing them back over and turning away from the blinding smile of appreciation that she gets, the wings on the side of her head extending out and blocking the sight from view, peeking out from under and between her own feathers to see the other stepping away, shouldering their jacket off of themselves.
"Can I have your name?" She feels shy while she asks for something as simple as a name, and they blink at her before realizing that words would have to be said, leaning awkwardly on the counter with their elbow, looking like they were gonna leap out of their clothes if they had to stay in them for any longer.
"You can call me Fein." It's confusing for a moment, processing the name and wondering if she was hearing it right, especially when they don't seem to find anything wrong with what they just said, head tilted at Couriway, ears flicking when she looks at them with a confused expression, waiting for her response.
"Like the word 'fine'? spelt the same way??"
"No– no, sorry, sorry. Feinberg, f-e-i-n-b-e-r-g. Like that, sorry for the confusion– OH, and er, what about you?" It's so, so endearing how much she stumbles over his words, pausing every now and then and pulling at their sleeve or the bottom of their shirt, stretching out the soaked fabric.
"Feinberg," she tries the name out, letters rolling off her tongue easy as ever, like all the syllables of the name were perfectly fit for her own lips to shape themselves around to pronounce. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Feinberg. I'm Couriway." She smiles, and it's not her customer service smile that she always puts on, she smiles, like actually smiles with her teeth, and it's happily returned all the same by Feinberg, her eyes crinkling up with how far his returning smile reaches his eyes. Though, the smile fractures and breaks immediately as he backs up with a handful of whispered apologies, and it takes a moment for Couriway to realize that her new acquaintance is stripping in front of her.
He pulls off the t-shirt layered over the long sleeve bodysuit underneath, completely soaked through with water as she ensures that it isn't crumpled up while she was trying to dry it, holding the graphic tee that is disgustingly damp outstretched in front of herself and grimacing at it, and Couriway covers her eyes with her head wings before she could be caught staring at the way the soaked fabric hugs her frame so well, almost entirely see-through from how thin it was, and god she cannot be caught staring like a creep while on the clock.
"The one time I decide to dress nice when I go out it starts storming, isn't that just fucked up?" Her voice rumbles with a hint of amusement but also is filled with annoyance, looking over in her direction, and now that she's properly in front of Couriway, only now does she realize just how massive the other girl is. She has a good amount of inches over Couriway in height, and although she can't prove it right now, she's sure that if she were to stand behind Feinberg, she would just disappear entirely behind him. It makes her a bit woozy thinking about it, like wow what a beauty this other girl was, gracing Couriway with her presence.
Too busy thinking about how unfairly handsome Feinberg is, she nearly forgets to stutter out a response to the question that had been asked, being watched patiently as she takes notice to the suddenly extremely interesting bouquet of flowers nearby rather than staring at Feinberg's body in the black skin-tight suit. "Well– that is pretty fucked I will say, but you do still look pretty good– uhm, under all the wet clothes– you're still beautiful, y'know…" She turns away when she sees Feinberg's expression light up at the slip of her tongue, hiding the flush on her cheeks while Feinberg too looks away, but Couriway sees the edges of his small smile on her face, and just the slightest bit of pink on his cheeks that could just be blamed as a small flush from the cold. "But you'll dry out faster now at least, right? Are you cold?" She diverts from her poor attempt at complimenting the other girl, but it doesn't seem like it had reached his ears or she's just ignoring it for both of their sakes, but she still beams at Couriway anyway, poking at some flowers before she replies, and in the small amount of time they've known each other, Couriway feels absolutely whipped. Realistically, she shouldn't be falling for a customer like this, and it wasn't even like Feinberg was a customer, it was pure chance that they had met, a lucky thing that the flower store had been the closest thing to shelter for the other girl to escape the rain with.
"Nah, not cold at all, you've been lovely company to warm me up with," and Couriway really tries not to let her jaw drop when he raises his arms above her head and stretches, keeping it tightly clamped shut. "Do you own this place? Why are you alone?" Feinberg– maybe she should just call her Fein at this point because although her name is exponentially nice to say in all its entirety– leans over the counter, peering towards the back room that really has nothing but things to put bouquets together after the person had picked their chosen contents out.
Gently, she nudges the other back with a finger on her forehead, the other girl going easily, smiling all the way and leaning back, arms crossed, and the sound of everything hooked onto her pant loops jingle happily as he moves. "No, I have a boss but she isn't around really– not today at least, I'm the only one that could cover today's shift and I didn't really mind but it's just really boring, I'm glad you chose to run into here of all places."
"Didn't seem like all that bad of a place– can I mop up the mess of water I dragged in? I don't want to make you do anything that I caused myself." He's so nice that it makes Couriway's heart ache in her chest, nodding quietly and holding up a hand before she went behind the employees only supplies closet door, handing the broom over to Fein, the tips of their fingers touching before the other girl took it from Couri and started cleaning the wet footprints he had tracked in, and she feels get heart rush from the small brush of skin against skin, and she wonders how much longer she has with someone like Fein.
Her back is visible through the dark fabric, and it's not like he's muscular either– she's massive regardless, her shoulders wide and plenty of fat on her bones. She's beautiful, is what Couriway wants to tell her, but it's word's she keeps to herself because she's sure that this is just a fleeting crush, just eye candy that she's driving herself crazy over.
Time passes, and she finds herself filling the silence by talking about flowers and their meanings or specific customers that had left a long lasting impression on her during her time working here, and Fein listens with indicators that show that she isn't just ignoring Couri with her silence, he just prefers to listen to what she had to say after asking his few questions. Fein eventually finishes, handing back over the mop, but she doesn't stop with his questions. Every now and then, he gets distracted by something simple, but she focuses again after a bit, eyes always gravitating towards a bouquet of flowers on display nearby that Couri eventually asks about.
"Would you want that arrangement of flowers?" Her tone of voice is weirdly customer service-like even when she doesn't mean it, and somehow Fein looks surprised at the fact that he had been caught staring as if it wasn't the most obvious thing ever. "They're on display for a reason, it's eye-catching right? I'm really proud of it myself." She puffs her chest out, feeling silly after she does it, wilting a bit upon herself before she sees the small twinkle of amusement in Fein's eyes.
"I'd be happy to buy something to pay for the hospitality you've given me, today is a slow day after all." Fein carefully traces the edge of a rose petal as he speaks, poking at the buds and tracing the leaves of a stem, fingers twitching as she pulls away and closes it into a fist, looking like he was wanting to rip a couple loose petals out of the hold that the stem had on them. "What do they mean? Separately– or just their overall meaning if– if you aren't sure?" He stops herself, pursing her lips, and making a pained expression at her words. "Which– I'm sure you do know because you work here– sorry, sorry."
She laughs a bit– she doesn't know why, maybe nervousness or something else? Nervousness for sure, she has to wipe the sweat off the palms of her hands before she places them on the counter, but the laugh isn't tight like it should be from that feeling, it's lighter, and she honestly doesn't know why. Maybe it's because of Feinberg or something, who knows for sure.
"The bouquet is just for like… it's a unique type I just put together on the fly," she has to take a second to remember all the exact flowers that were bunched together, feeling Fein's eyes focus on her as she speaks. "It's for new beginnings. Not in the romantic way– well maybe if you're restarting your relationship, but I didn't have something romantic in mind when I put it together. Making new friends is fun, but it's not like you'll be giving a new friend some flowers without there being something romantic behind it so I don't assume that many will get it for the meaning but rather just how it looks, but it's fine, it was nice to do anyway even if people won't really care about it."
"Can you tell me the meaning of each of them? I'm sure all of it is sweet regardless if people don't care. I mean– if I got flowers I'd want to know what they meant too, y'know? Feels wrong not to do the research about them when they could meant a lot of things that I might not mean to imply with them or something." He rests his head on his arms as she rambles, leaning down with her chin on her crossed arms ontop of the counter, eyes staying on Couri the entire time as she speaks– bashfully looking away for a couple seconds before looking back– and she preens and feels her heart flutter under all of the attention just purely directed at her and her only. She doesn't know the last time someone had been so interested in something that was related to her job that many found extremely boring at a glance and didn't really care all that much about what they flowers meant and only how they looked, but this attention is extremely welcome with how Fein really does seem interested and isn't doing this out of politeness.
She gives Fein a massive smile as a thank you for indulging her, and Fein smiles back– a casual reassuring lift of the corner of her lips that calms Couri's nerves as she reaches out to touch and gently grab each flower as she talked about them. "I have a lot of flowers that just mean stuff along the lines of happiness and joy and the sorts, notably: yellow or orange daisies, orchids, and the classic rose– there's so many colors of roses and they all mean so much, and yellow roses have many meanings but it's just the context they're use in– they can also mean betrayal and a broken heart, but they also mean undying love and apology too, isn't that cool? I framed them with a couple yellow and white spider lilies, and a bud of pink tulips in the middle– it's very bright and vibrant, I'm sure people will just get them as a gift for their loved ones to put on display, but I still had fun putting the meaning of it together and making it look pretty." Her ramble eventually comes to a slow stop, and she remembers that she's had a single audience member paying attention to her the entire time– meeting Fein's adoring eyes and immediately breaking eye-contact because the bright cyan might be way too much for her.
"That was awesome!!!" Fein chirps, sitting straight up so suddenly that it makes Couri jump backwards in surprise at the pure unfiltered enthusiasum that was carried through his tone. "I enjoyed that like, a lot. But question, did you also add something minty to it? I smelled something cold when I took a whiff– smells beautifully by the way! It's an impressive skill to have to be able to make something that looks pretty and smells good– you don't know how many flower bouquets I've smelled in my time and kept them as far as possible away from me because they had horrible odor mixed together." Weirdly, she's hit with a mix of two polar opposite emotions that she doesn't quite know how to process. She's flattered by the words about her flower arrangement skills, but what does she mean when he talks about the amount of flower bouquets he's smelled? How many people have given her flowers?? Would it matter if Couri were to give her flowers or would he be tired of them?? Would he want something other than some basic flowers??? What could she do??
She shakes all the stray thoughts from her brain– now is not the time to be thinking about things like this about someone who she just met. "Yea, there's some spearmint tangled in there too, it represents warmth of feeling people might get around their friends– but how could you tell? Doesn't everything else overpower it?"
At that, Fein perks up, proudly displaying her tail (that's now fluffed out after air drying– actually, all her hair is dried now too and no longer sticking to his face, and it's all fluffed out) and pointing to her ears that were hidden in the curls of her hair. "It's a cat thing! It's usually just way more annoying than being a good thing that people make it out to be, but it's useful sometimes if I wanna see how much longer I can put off eating something that I really don't wanna but no one else will eat it and I can't.. waste it, so there's that. But being able to detect each flower smell from others is nice too! I'm glad I found such a wonderful place like this." His smile is blinding, and Couri returns the grin with one of her own, and before she could really bask in the feeling that she gets from all of this, she notices the sun shine through the window at the storefront, the tilt of her lips disappearing when she realizes the thunderstorm that had kept Fein trapped here is gone.
All too soon, the other girl notices the clear weather too, and Couri feels the way her heart aches painfully when she knows that their short time together will end faster than she would want personally herself, but Feinberg has no reason to stay around now that the rain is over.
"Oh, rainstorm is finally over… I better get going now huh?" There's a light somber look on her face when he looks at Couri, blinking slowly. "Could I take this bouquet of flowers? I might as well give you something in return as a thanks for keeping me company here– I'd feel bad leaving without getting anything to remember this place by, y'know?" She gestures towards the flowers that they had just been talking about, and something settles in Couri knowing that at least Fein would have something from her to remember her by. Would he treasure this bouquet of flowers because it actually was one put together with thought and smelled good too unlike the ones she's always given? Couri, selfishly, sure hopes so.
"Yea– yea, no of course! I'll wrap it up for you real quick, gimme a second." As swift as she can with the most care she's ever put into her job, she carefully wraps the flowers in the plastic meant for it, tying the best bow that she could with the pink satin ribbon material that they had to use to make it all pretty– shit, she forgot the card–
"How much do I owe you?" Fein is already fingering through the pockets of his wallet to hand Couri the money, and she has to stutter out her answer while passing the card over to her on the counter, offering a pen for him to use and relishing in the brief brush of their fingers.
"Uh– just thirty-seven dollars, please– and here's a card for it if you have someone in mind you want to give it to." She doesn't particularly want to know if there was going to be someone to receive these flowers, but it's an offer that they still always give and usually people do have someone in mind when they do buy flowers because why get some for yourself? It wouldn't mean anything to get a bouquet just to display it, just some cheap flowers at some grocery store could do well enough for displaying purposes. Of course, something is written on the card– she ignores it and takes the payment given, frowning at all of the change leftover, hearing the bell above the door chime and seeing the Fein's figure retreat from beyond the door– her tail disappearing behind the turn around the corner and she has half the thought to rush after him to give her the change before she sees the card that had been left on the counter.
Did he not have anything that she wanted to write down for whoever may receive the bouquet? She really tries to not be bitter at the idea that something made by her own two hands would be given to someone who she will probably never know about, but it still does leave a bitter taste on her tongue regardless. Flipping the card over reveals text written on it, and all the words are slanted and squished together like the person was trying to minimize the time required for each second– optimizing physically writing things down is something that Couri could see Feinberg doing. She wishes she could ask about it.
It reads: "thanks sm for the company today, pls keep the change as appreciation for putting up with me :D," and after that, there's just the word "hope" with the words beside it extremely scribbled out, preventing her from reading all that had been initially written.
Without another thought, she tucks the card away intothe pocket of her shirt, close to her heart, and it's all that she thinks about through the rest of her shift until she goes home.
She checks the weather before she goes to sleep, and it's all clear skies this week.
She complains about the heat once, then mentions her hopes for rain again, and Mime scolds her for attempting to manifest a rainstorm again when they have a shipment of flowers in the morning to deal with.
And maybe Couriway dreams about flowers and a certain someone in her sleep, but that's just for her to know about.
Today is busier than before, and it's for good reason! It's the start of pride month and many lovely people are getting flowers for their significant other, and Couriway has her hands full with it all. Truly, she does love this time of month where people are able to display their love without shame, and the flags in the front of the store are welcoming too she's sure. Later, she might attend a parade with friends if she can wrap the shift up fast enough (it's not like Mime would mind all that much if she wanted to leave early, they would understand and let her go), but she's already got the paint on her face and the spirit in her to push through this day with Fulham. Between customers, she keeps an eye out for someone specific, standing on her tippy-toes and attempting to spot caramel curls with pointed ears to pair with, but she doesn't see those signature features anywhere at all in the masses of people much to her disappointment. Maybe her disappointment is obvious because Fulham pokes her side more than once during their shift together to get her attention or make her perk up again back into her customer service facade.
"What's been up with you today? You're acting weird." When it's less busy, Fulham springs the question on her while her eyes are stuck on the door, waiting for someone who might not actually ever come back again after yesterday. "You've been staring at the door every chance that you got, are you expecting someone? Oh! Oh my god do you have a date?? Are you waiting for a special someone to come pick you up?" Seriously, her love life is not this pathetic that her entire day hinges on hoping for someone random that she just saw yesterday stepping through the door to meet her to share just a couple words before they leave again– Fulham has really been spending too much time around Poundy she swears–
"No, there's– what? No! No– I don't have a date–"
"Unfortunately?"
"Yes, unfortunately– that's not the point!" She whacks Fulham with her fully extended wing when they start snickering behind their hand, frowning at her. "I'm not waiting or expecting someone specific to walk through the door and sweep me off my feet, I'm just distracted, okay? It's not like flowers are all that interesting when people don't really care about anything but appearances, so all there is to this is leading them towards pretty arrangements and putting together what they want… it's still a job regardless at the end of the day." Couri rests her head on her arms while she nudges some fallen petals around the counter, standing straight up again when the ever so familiar bell above the door rings, her greeting at the tip of her tongue and mouth open to speak before her mind puts the pieces together and registers the person walking in.
It's Feinberg.
The words die on her tongue as she stares, unbeliving. He looks almost the same as he did yesterday, lesbian belt still in the loops of her jeans, but her t-shirt reads "I LET FEMMES TOP ME" which catches Couriway extremely off guard, jaw dropping after she reads the words, spotting the painted flags upon Fein's face and feeling her heart almost beat out of her chest at the lesbian flag as if the belt and shirt wasn't enough of a confirmation of her identity.
"WhAt–" Her voice cracks, and she coughs to clear it while Fein approaches the counter, covering the blush on her face with her elbow. "What– what are you wearing??"
"Not even a hi? Sorry– it was way hotter than I thought so I took my shirt off and– well, happy pride, y'know? I'm with my friends for the pride parade but I wandered off and ended up here so… how's your day been?" He barely gives Couriway any time to respond (not like she's responding very quickly– it feels like her mind has malfunctioned and shut down upon itself at the sight of Feinberg wearing a shirt like that) before she suddenly seems to gain awareness, bunching the text of the shirt up in her hands, glancing over at Fulham after noticing that they were also there. "Is this violating any of the store rules? Would you rather I leave? Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work day– just wanted to say hi–"
"NO!" She accidentally shouts it out rather than saying it normally, startling everyone in the store before they look away again, gathering herself again before she does something she doesn't mean to do again. "I mean– no, no, you're fine. And, yes, happy pride! Uh– no shame in showing what you like– there's probably people wearing and showing off way worse, right?" Her voice cracks at the end, and she glances at Fulham out the corner of her eye who looks away, sparing her the embarassment of being watched by a coworker while she spoke with her mini-crush.
"Yea, one of my friends are those type of people– no use having any shame when you have 3 partners who you're loud and proud about showing off, huh?" Feinberg must've seen the unhidable face of surprise she made at the mention of three other partners, because he waves a hand, dismissing the topic before it could be properly brought up. "Happy pride to them and all, they're quite happy about the arrangement– lucky 'nd all, but yea some people are luckier than others. But anyway, has your shift been good? I asked but I think you glossed over replying– if you didn't wanna tell me then that's fine too–"
"No, sorry– your uh– your shirt just took me really off guard, it's not everyday someone will walk into a flower store of all places and wear that, y'know… Uhm, today's been eventful– a lot of people coming for flowers for their partners and for all that makes it way busier than how it usually would be unless it was some specific event." God, she feels so disgustingly awkward talking like this now that the store isn't completely empty like it had been yesterday, eyes darting off to glance at customers to see if they needed something or if they wanted to check-out, but it seems like Fulham has it under control for now.
Like yesterday, Fein glances over at the bouquets on display and notices the pride arrangements that Couriway had carefully put together this exact morning, pride itself blooming in Couri's heart when she had looked at the final product after hours of mulling over symbolism and how to get them perfect, keeping scents in mind too just… just because.
"Holy shit… these are fucking gorgeous…" Fein breathes in awe, gravitating towards the one full of flowers with colors that made up the lesbian flag, pinching a petal between her fingers and running her thumb over it, delicate with his touch unlike plenty of people who left flower petals everywhere when they swung their bouquets with too much force behind them that it shook petals loose. "Do these have meaning too? Or are they meant to be the colors only?" The interest evident in Fein's voice calms Couri's nerves, a flutter in her chest knowing that yes, these questions weren't just him being nice to Couri, it's her being actually interested in all of Couri's job and wanting to listen and learn more about what else she did.
"Some are just their colors, but major ones do have meaning to them if I could get it to look nice and fit together," she steps out from behind the counter, walking over to the display and feeling Fein's presence behind her, soft footsteps trailing after her. She spots their shadows out the corner of her eye, noticing the major height difference between them and inhaling sharply in the softest manner that she could. "I put a lot of care into these ones," she holds the bud of an unopen lily from the lesbian arrangement gently between her fingers, moving to an open one and spreading the petals with her fingers, exposing the stamen and brushing against the pollen with the tip of her finger.
"Did you know white lilies represent sapphic love? Perfect for this bouquet, right?" She turns her head and looks at Fein for his response, mild surprise taking over her features before it melts into a pleased one at the sight of the flush on the others face, sure to match Couri's blush too. "And so do purple violets– specifically love between two women and just lesbian love– those had to be in this even if it doesn't actually color match the actual flag, it still works for the meaning. These smaller white ones are hard to miss but they're diphylleia's," Couri holds a tiny white flower in the palm of her hand, showing it to Fein before returning it gently to sit between the white lilies. "They symbolize the idea of showing your true self to someone, clarity and honesty with them too, thought it would go well because being transparent with yourself and others is part of pride too, even if some can't." Her eyes stay stuck to the flowers as she speaks, but she can tell Feinberg is moving around as she explains the meaning, a hand drifting towards the plastic and brushing against one of the outer flowers, almost bumping into Couri's knuckles but diverting at the last second.
"These," she nudges a flower apart from the others (not that it blended in all that much, these ones just love showing off and standing out) and holds it between her fingers to prevent any of the others from blocking it before she continues talking, "are Hibiscus flowers. They mean delicate beauty because they are delicate and beautiful, right?"
"Yeah, you are beautiful…" With the soft tone of voice, Couri assumes that Fein is talking to the flowers with how the sentence was said, but when she looks up, she finds that Feinberg had been staring directly at her rather than the flowers in her hands, and it doesn't seem like he had expected her to look up because she looks away immediately when they make eye contact, face practically as red as a tomato as Couri's heart thunders in her chest. It feels like a cheesy romance cliché just happened, and she never expected it to actually work and not feel stupid and cringe. She coughs and continues on with the remaining flowers in the bouquet, and Feinberg seems thankful that they could move on from the slip of tongue (which probably didn't really mean anything because why would it mean anything??).
"Ahem, uh, there's some lavender in this just for being queer in some shape or manner, I thought it might clash with the smells a lot but I think it's fine? Oh, and here's some orange orchid's too! For pride and boldness, no shame in being who you are, right?" She gestures at the paint on her face and well, the shirt that Fein wears that he seems to… well, hold pride in, and she gets a laugh from that, a stupid cheesy ass smile gracing her face from the noise, feeling her wings fluff out behind her because of the way Fein's giggle seems to echo in her head, the sweetest most perfect sound to ever grace her ears. "And finally, pink spider lilies for feminine love, beauty, and passion. I put a lot of care into this because… well, it's what I identify with, y'know? It felt like an honor to be able to create something to represent all of us and everyone else, I'll never live in shame for just loving someone… I'm glad there's so many people who are loud and proud about who they are." Couri rubs forming tears from her eyes with the heel of her palm, shakily exhaling. Something with talking about pride and all of that always manages to get her emotional, and Fein smiles reassuringly at her, an unsure hand patting her shoulder and she chuckles, grabbing the (larger) hand on her shoulder and intertwining their fingers briefly before letting go.
"I agree with that," Fein speaks as they return to the counter with the assortment of flowers, Couri already grabbing a ribbon that was the lesbian flag to wrap the entire thing with. "Thank you for all of that… knowing the meaning behind something as pretty as this is… I dunno but I really do appreciate you just telling me the symbolism behind every single flower, it's nice hearing you talk." She offers a card that Fein quietly pushes back after writing something small on it, hiding her blush from the words behind her head-wings, watching as the same exact amount as yesterday being placed on the counter as Fein thanks her with the bouquet snug in her arms, and the dopey smile on her face must be a sickening sight to behold as she watches the other girl leave, snapping out of it when Fulham elbows her in the stomach to remind her that she infact is still currently at work and not in a dream of some sorts.
She should've been expecting this after Fein left, and she really only has a few seconds before she's about to get interrogated for absolutely everything that she's ever felt towards her mini-yet-not-so-mini crush.
"SO!" Fulham starts with a grin far too big to mean anything good, and Couri groans, bracing herself for the flood of questions that were about to get launched at her.
"How long have you known her?"
"A day! That's it!! I met her only yesterday.."
"What's her name?"
"Feinberg. Her name is Feinberg, f-e-i-n-b-e-r-g, not Fein-b-u-r-g, but people call him Fein too."
"What do you think of her?"
"I think she's nice. A sweetheart, maybe."
"Do you have a crush on her?"
"I like to think that we're friends first and foremost... but, yes.. possibly."
"Well, are you gonna do something about the crush?"
"I… I wanna get to know her better first. Then, maybe we can do something from there– if he does return the feelings which I think is really unlikely–" She gets cut off when Fulham grabs her shoulders, roughly jostling her and shutting her up while she tries to break free, focusing again when they stop shaking her around like a ragdoll.
"Did you see the way that he was looking at you?? You're crazy to think that she might not return your feelings– that girl is infatuated with you, whipped even. I'll be pissed if she doesn't ask you out with flowers after listening so intently to you ramble about them for like, 20 minutes."
"I was talking for 20 minutes–?!"
"Not the point! He was listening and clinging onto every single word of yours, I felt sick just watching you– he called you beautiful! Did you not listen??" Like, maybe Fulham has a point but she just can't go out and assume all these random things about someone that she barely knows– maybe Feinberg already has a partner and that's why she visits flower stores in the first place to get bouquets for! "And she wrote you something on the card! Oh god, please tell me it's her number." She pushes Fulham away, looking at the card and feeling her heart throb at the words. In the same handwriting as yesterday, it reads: "thanks for cheering me up even if u didnt know it. appreciate ur facts lots. lo" with once again, the last couple words scribbled out, but at least this time she can make out two of the letters!
She spends the rest of her shift wondering if Feinberg will come back tomorrow and stay around even if Couriway won't be there since it was her day off.
"She didn't come into the store, by the way." The sentence is abrupt, and it catches Couri off guard while she's peeling a tangerine, nail punchering the soft flesh of a wedge and spraying juice all over her face. She hisses with annoyance as she wipes up the droplets and licks it off her fingers, returning her attention to Fulham after.
"What does that have to do with me? Maybe he didn't want any flowers that day specifically, she always comes in whenever I see her." It's been a bit since she met Feinberg that rainy day weekends ago, and with every meeting, she finds herself talking through the meaning of each and every flower that they had for offer, always a fact during each shift that she saw Feinberg at just to watch him leave with another arrangement of flowers in her hands. She remembers last monday the other girl had asked about how to take care of flowers properly because she didn't want her flowers to die faster than they were supposed to, warning Couriway about the fact that she had whatever the opposite of a green thumb was, and he had left after a couple hours of listening to all the tricks that Couri knew to ensure that the flowers wouldn't die in less than a week.
"No, I mean that every time you aren't there in the store, she just doesn't come in." She frowns at Fulham as they talk, disbelieving but hearing them out as she spoke, eyebrow raised in suspicion as they continue. "At first I saw him check if you were there– hell, he even walked in the first day you weren't on shift and looked around like she needed something before leaving after I asked. Every time you aren't there then he doesn't come in or even show up, I think at this rate she's memorized your entire work schedule to center her week around it, when are you going to ask her out??"
Ignoring that last part, she replies while she peels off the stringy bits on the skin of her slices, careful not to puncture the skin. After getting a job centered around delicate flowers, she seems to be careful with a lot more things than she normally would be. "I think you're crazy and it's all a coincidence. Maybe she has work on days that I have off and that's why he doesn't show up, ever think of that?"
"Okay, let's make a bet."
Couri looks up from her snack, casting a doubtful look at the hand extended towards her to take in a handshake.
"Come to work on a day that you usually aren't here and let's see if she shows up or not. If he doesn't, then you have to ask him out next time you see her." She narrows her eyes at the bet, but it would be an easy 30… it almost feels like a scam, but if Fulham is so confident in his belief, then it wouldn't hurt to take a couple bucks from them– it would probably be used in a bar in a day or two so it wouldn't matter anyway.
"Fine, if she does then you owe me 30." She shakes on it, seeing the self-assured grin on their face break into one of disgust from her sticky hands, yanking their hand away as Couri giggles from her reaction.
She isn't supposed to come in tomorrow, but 30 bucks is 30 bucks, so she'll have to ask if Mime wants another day off which… would probably be a good thing for their boss.
So, Feinberg isn't here.
And it's practically the end of the day.
And Fulham won't stop looking at her with a smug grin on their face that Couri really really really wants to wipe right off.
Maybe she could weasel her way out of this? "Maybe he's just busy today–" She starts, but Fulham sees directly through her words, reading her like a fucking book.
"Nope! A bet is a bet! You have to ask her out tomorrow and you can't back out of it!" She groans at the words, hiding her face in her hands. They seem way too happy about managing to corner Couri into something like this, but maybe she needed this little nudge to get a move on with whatever was happening between them. Maybe asking for flower facts was Fein's way of flirting with her or something? She doesn't know!! She doesn't know at all!! What is she supposed to do!!
Maybe she's too stressed out for no reason– Fein is as chill as a person gets, but what if that's the only side that she's seen of him so far? Maybe she should as her out so that she could learn more about him– that's a good idea, maybe Fulham is doing a good thing for her all along, slightly pressuring her along to actually act on this crush rather than dragging it out painfully– not that it's painful, she really does just enjoy existing and talking about whatever with Fein even if the topics they talked about weren't related to flowers anymore.
Great, now she's going to spend the rest of her night working out how exactly to ask Fein out without sounding really bad and fucking it all up. Fulham really owes her something after this– or maybe it's the other way around because maybe this is what will finally get her into a relationship at long last?
Like Fulham predicted, Feinberg appears the next day in her usual outfit, graphic t-shirt with something Minecraft related on it (today it's a warden, but last time she saw him it had plenty of flowers and bees all over it) and her lesbian flag belt with his carbiners and keychains all attached, dangling off her hip. She perks up at the sight of Couri at the counter, coming over with a barely hidden pep in her step, and maybe Fulham isn't wrong about the fact that maybe, possibly, her feelings are actually returned.
All her thoughts around her carefully constructed plan disappears the moment Fein's arms rest on the counter, the ever so familiar charming grin shining at her, and truly, she's sure that just seeing Fein happy would feed her for days to come. His ears flick, twitching from the gentle currents from the AC above them, tail swaying behind her at a faster pace than it normally would.
Couri giggles, getting a wide smile from Fein in return, and the urge to kiss her had existed since the first day they met each other, but it feels so much more magnified now that they've grown closer. She wants to kiss Fein while she's smiling so that she could taste the joy from the ever so infectious grin and swallow the silly clipped giggles that escaped her every time he laughed, the sound ending early due to lack of air but the shaking of her body being a telltale sign of how she wasn't done laughing just yet. She wonders how soft or rough her lips were– she's never seen Feinberg use chapstick or any sort but maybe she does it when Couri isn't around her to see it, she wouldn't ever know. Would they slot together perfectly like two sides of a puzzle piece? or would they bump noses and accidentally bonk their glasses together? She wants to know so terribly badly, but it can't just be sudden… it has to build up to the moment.
"What type of bouquet are you looking for today?" She's dropped the customer service kind of tone she usually used long ago, and what piques her interest is that for some reason, Fein looks a bit nervous today– embarrassed, even.
She wonders why.
"I know that I usually pick something that you've made every time I'm here, but this time I want to arrange something… myself. But– but I'd also want your input too because I value your thoughts a lot." He stumbles over his words, and Couri really does wonder what happened for her to be this anxious, fingers picking at her nails just to keep them busy and Couri reaches out and takes his hands into hers without thinking, visually seeing Fein's shoulders lose the tense line in them, melting at her touch.
"What's the occasion for this?" She cocks her head, curious to know about things about his life from beyond these walls of her workplace.
Fein takes a slow inhale before her practically spitting out her next sentence.
"I want to ask someone out."
Oh.
That's why she's so nervous.
"Well, I don't have much experience but I don't think flowers are the way if.. you're asking someone out. Unless they.. I don't know–" She doesn't know what she expected– without even trying, Fein is pretty desirable and charming– something about the nerdy aspects paired with the fact that she's a really adorable butch means that there were probably a lot of people who did want her… and of course she would also return someone's feelings eventually.
"I think… No, I know she would enjoy the flowers." The certainty in Feinberg's tone tells her enough about how dedicated he is to this person, and for her job and their friendship, Couri ignores how she feels her heart cracking into little pieces in her chest. "I wanna make it perfect for her because– because that's what she deserves."
"You really love her, huh?" Couri whispers, hoping her hurt isn't evident in her tone or face, hoping that her words don't seem forced.
"I think she deserves the world." Fein replies, sweeping his thumb over Couri's knuckles, making her close her eyes and will away the tremble in her voice.
"Then let's get the girl of your dreams something she deserves." She steps out from behind the counter with her head lowered, standing in front of the collection of flowers that they had, waiting for what Fein was going to pick out. So much for planning to confess today– is this her fault? surely it's not. If Feinberg planned to ask.. her out now, then he probably had been interested in them for a bit now. What if she never had a chance in the first place? Maybe she should've tried regardless before today, it would've been easier getting it all out of the way without all this additional stuff inbetween.. ugh, she needs to focus.
"What would you pick out if you were hypothetically asking someone out too?" And if Couriway didn't know any better, she would assume that Feinberg was trying to kill her at this very exact moment.
"Uh, to ensure that it's bright and vibrant like the bouquet should be I'd do coreopsis for love at first sight, gorse for endearing affection, purple hydrangea's for the desire to deeply understand someone, and red chrysanthemum." She lists off what she knows, primarily ones of her favorite color and the final one just to add one more color to the bunch.
"What does the last one symbolize?"
"I love you." Couri answers, and she realizes what she said a bit too late because Feinberg–
"I love you too."
–isn't repulsed by her words.
"That– uh, I meant that the flower means, that. Not– uhm–" She stammers, and her face must be on fire at the moment, covering her flushed cheeks with her wings and god she wishes that she could just disappear right now so she didn't have to deal with this shame from her misspoken words.
Feinberg blinks at her once before for reasons that she doesn't know, his ears droop down, and something shrivels up inside Couriway at the sight of how hurt and sad she looks from her pseudo-rejection. Did Feinberg really mean that?? Or was it just a random slip of tongue or instinct to reply and return the sentiment?
"Sorry– it's good, I'll take it. I'm sure she'll like it... I'm sure she'll like it lots." There's a soft purr resonating from Feinberg when he speaks, almost like she's reassuring herself along with Couriway too, and Couri can't help the envy for whoever this so desired person was, seeing that this absolute softie of a person would be theirs forever. How unfair.
"Cool, cool. I'll– I'll wrap these up for you, the card is over there for whatever you want to write." She gestures over to the counter, moving away so she didn't read anything that was written, wrapping up the flowers that she picked out for Feinberg, loosening her grip when the paper crinkles loudly in complaint from her sudden tight grip. Maybe she's jealous, but it's not her fault.
"Good luck." Couri offers quietly, passing the flowers over and mourning the brief brush of fingers when she hands it over. She really should get over this crush soon, it's just a small crush after all– nothing more than that.
"Thank you. I'll need it." The smile of pure graditude that Feinberg gives her just makes it all so much worse, god she loves this girl so much, she doesn't know if she'll ever get over it at all if Feinberg keeps coming back for more bouquets to give to this other person that she probably won't ever know herself.
She looks at him curiously when she doesn't go bounding out of the store to find this person, heart thudding loudly in her ears when Fein moves towards her again, bouquet between her hands, looking like she was constipated. She opens her mouth to question before the flowers are thrusted into her hands, startling the ever loving shit out of her, Fein's face cherry red when Couri catches a glimpse of her behind the flowers before he sprints out of the store, the bell above the door echoing quietly as Couri tries to process exactly what just happened.
Shakily, she checks the note partially buried between flowers.
"i can't flirt but maybe flowers will do the trick, let's go out together sometime soon?" She reads, and the smile that forms on her face from the words makes her cheeks ache, a laugh bubbling out of her from relief and something more. What did she have to worry about? All along, Fein was talking about her and he was right– she does love it lots. In fact, she loves it more because of the person that it's from.
With warm cheeks and a smile that hurts, she saves the number on the card and her heart is racing in her chest from it all, what a turn of events really– the girl that she loves also loves her back. and he wants to go out at some point and to go on a date to get to know each other better and become actually something real!!! What a dream come true…
fein <3
couri!: it's a yes, for sure
fein <3: ohmygod
fein <3: srry im like. so happy right now
couri!: so am i!
fein <3: i was gonna confess to you but i like
fein <3: just couldnt do it with you staring at me
fein <3: ur just rly pretty and i just couldtn get the words out
fein <3: and my hands were getting rly sweaty and gross i was so fucking nervous
couri!: …i was gonna confess today too
fein <3: really??
couri!: i made a bet with my coworker that u werent gonna show up yesterday
fein <3: u dont have work on those days
couri!: yea and i went in that day cuz i wanted 30 bucks
fein <3: and i didnt show up.
couri!: and you didnt show up.
couri!: and a bet is a bet so i was gonna confess
couri!: because i really do love you. is that too early to say?
fein <3: i dont think it is
couri!: then do u want to be my gf? on our date soon, or do u want this to be an in person thing
fein <3: im happy with it thru text because i dont think i could handle u asking me that irl
fein <3: sry if u prefer the latter im just
fein <3: rly shy 😭
couri!: no i get it its ok! where would u want to meet and when?
fein <3: thoughts on the park? i wanna listen to u talk more about flowers if u dont mind, mayb we could go back to my place after and play minecraft?
fein <3: if u want 2 ofc i dont wanna pressure u
couri!: i dont think theres anything else in the world that id to do want more
couri!: the creeper head and warden keychains rly sold it for me when i saw u for the first time
fein <3: i think we r a match made in heaven.
fein <3: tmrw then? 3 pm?
couri!: works for me! cant wait to see you :3
fein <3: likewise :3
Couriway feels sick with excitement.
All the butterflies in her stomach have killed her appetite, but she still manages to eat something for breakfast and lunch, all of her thoughts full of repeating images of Feinberg, and she has to pinch herself more than once to test if she's dreaming or not.
Like this is real? This is really happening? She's going on a date with Feinberg? The girl of her absolute dreams???
They spoke the rest of the day and late into the night, and she hasn't stayed up past her usual bed time in a long while, but that had been thrown completely out of the window when they had started a call, and getting to hear Fein's voice constantly through the day was a gift that she couldn't appreciate more. She's checked thrice over to make sure that she looks good in her outfit, not wanting to be too over the top with it but also still look good in it. She opted for a skirt and a cream long-sleeve with a vest button-up over top, which was just her usual outfit but with a little bit more care in making sure there weren't any creases or wrinkles in the fabric, ensuring that she looked properly presentable for their date.
God, she can't believe that she can actually call it that.
While she's leaving her home, she wonders if today will be the day she gets to taste Fein's laughter right from the source, wondering how she sweet she might taste. She looks around for him when she arrives at the sparsely occupied park, grinning when she spots familiar ears flicking above a bush, a coo almost escaping her at the adorable sight. Maybe Fein would let her touch them one day if she was lucky. Couri steps out from behind the overgrowth, seeing Fein look around and perk up, tail wagging as she smiles so brightly at Couri it stabs her in the chest with a sudden bout of cuteness aggression. It's the same outfit type as always, but there's bunnies on her shirt this time and she feels herself fall so much more in love with him.
"Hi," Fein greets her quietly with a small wave, her other hand hiding something behind her, but the sight of colorful petals peeking out give it away on what it could be, but Couri ignores it for now.
"Hello to you too," she returns the smile given to her, stepping closer as Fein presents the gift hidden (poorly) behind her back, surprising her with an ever so familiar bouquet of flowers.
"Is this from pride month? You remembered the arrangement?" She asks softly in awe as she accepts it, checking for diphylleia's which are also there, partially hidden like she had arranged it to be when she had made it.
"I remember everything that you told me about them as clear as day, I think that was the exact moment that I fell in love with you." He bashfully rubs the back of her neck as she speaks, carefully avoiding eye contact but also missing how Couri quietly steps closer, rising up onto her tippy-toes and pressing a light kiss against his cheek, jumping back in surprise when vibrations tickle her lips, eyes wide from the mere feeling of Fein purring from something as little as a kiss.
"Sorry– sorry! Was that too much?" She steps back, but Fein steps forward to prevent space from appearing between them, gently headbutting her with a purr rumbling through her voice as she speaks, making it wobble which makes Couri laugh a bit at how silly it sounds.
"I just didn't expect it– do you want me to not purr–? I've had people say it's kinda weird–"
"Please don't stop. I'd do anything to keep hearing you purr. It's the cutest thing ever." Couri holds Fein's face between her hands, feeling how the purrs start up again and how they start strong with each breath before waning just to grow in frequency again.
They sit down somewhere together, a bit hidden from the public eye as they stay away from main walking paths. Fein leans against her, practically nuzzling one of her head wings while she's purring, and it's a bit ticklish which sparks giggles from her, chest aching when she hears the purrs become louder as a result of her laughter. Couri thinks about turning her head to kiss her while she's this close, and realisitically, nothing stops her from doing so.
So she does, and it catches Fein extremely by surprise. Fein squeaks against her mouth, freezing for a couple awkward seconds for long enough that Couri debates pulling away and apologizing before Fein returns it with so much enthusiasm she gets pushed back a bit from the force of it all, her hands coming up and looping a finger through one of the carbiners on her belt loops to tug her ever so slightly closer, face wings flaring out and blocking both of their faces from sight. She chuckles breathlessly when they pull away, big'ol eyes staring directly at her with so much love and adoration in them that she feels shy under all the attention. There's faint thumping from behind Fein, and curiously, she peeks over Fein's shoulder, heart melting at the sight of his tail thumping against the bench behind her, wagging happily while all of her attention was completely honed onto Couri's entire existence.
"I love you. I'm so glad you're my girlfriend." She whispers just for Fein's ears to hear, taking note of how his hands awkwardly hover near her waist– unsure if he could touch or not– and grabbing them by the wrists and placing them on her, feeling at ease from the grounding touch.
"I love you too. I'm really glad I got caught in that rainstorm all those weeks ago or else I wouldn't have ever met you. I'm glad you're my girlfriend too." Fein presses closer as if they could get any closer, squishing against her and purring while she wraps him in her wings, basking in the gentle breeze during the summer heat.
"How have your flowers been?" She remembers all of those bouquets that Fein always bought, head leaning back against Fein's chest, ear pressed directly against the source of Fein's purring, feeling where it was strongest.
"Uhm, they could be doing better, but they've survived a lot longer than I expected.. so I think I've been doing pretty good with them actually!" Fein fumbles for her phone, pulling up her photos and showing a handful of images of flowers in vases that were either still healthy or partially wilted, paining her a bit to see it.
Still, she appreciates that he tried her very best.
The bouquet given to her has the classic red roses, but there's mallow's and rosemary's, and it really does seem like Feinberg did research for it all.
She presses a kiss against Fein's jawline, settling back against him while they watch the sunset together, eventually getting up to go back to Fein's home, Couri making herself comfy after not too long, laid back in the comforter surrounded by plushies that she fawns over while Fein watches from her desk.
Flirting with flowers did work after all, even if they weren't even flirting with them all that much.