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he was not prepared for the question. it had a simple answer, more or less, but it hesitated at his lips because he wasn’t sure if it was strange or not.[break][break]

”uh…” under the table, his fingers fidgeted. why did he feel like he was lying?
”no, actually.”[break][break]

there had been other things, more like addictions. rocket. crime. violence. being good for something to his wounded father. being good for anything at all.[break][break]

”it’s always been you.”

his antsy fidgeting doesn't escape her notice and so she doesn't respond right away, mulling over the answer long enough to sort out her thoughts. he doesn't really have a reason to lie to her and she's known him the past eight years. his...pining hasn't exactly been subtle. 

she just refused to accept it for what it was. even now, it's hard to wrap her head around.

i think, in my heart, it's always been you too, but for some reason she still can't say the words. she still can't bring herself to say it. hell, it's barely been twenty-four hours since they've started...whatever this is. 

she reminds herself that they can't just pick up where they left off. 

"you were always the romantic," she says softly. her pizza's cooled off enough that she can bring it to her mouth without threat of scorching her tongue. she does so now, eyes lighting up as nostalgia and greasy, delicious pizza hits her taste buds. 

"i'm sorry...about lance showing up today."

boruta maher

☉

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was he a romantic? he had never thought of himself that way. he’d just thought of himself as lonely. dumb, even, for being unable to move on. stuck.[break][break]

but he could not change it about himself. now, he was glad he hadn’t been able to. the wait had been worth it.[break][break]

the pizza had cooled enough to eat, he noted, as she dug in. perhaps shockingly, he didn’t touch it just yet. his eyes were on her as she apologized. why?[break][break]

”nah, don’t be. sorry for bein’ there at the wrong time.” he paused, smile creeping up at one corner again. ”still glad you decided to take me home.” if she hadn’t, he might’ve ended up sleeping in someone’s front yard.[break][break]

he took a slice of the best pizza in town, stomach growling ravenously. it tasted like old days and high school.
[break][break]

no, he wouldn't have ended up sleeping in someone's front yard. he would have ended up with a broken neck or with hypothermia or something just as bad, given that he thought it would be a great idea to fly back to rustboro on the back of his aerodactyl.

"you and ollie morales were a mess." she blinks. "but you weren't there at the wrong time. i - " her gaze darts to the flowers, grimace hidden around a nibble of pizza. 

"i texted him. probably could have handled the breakup better." a scrunch of her nose. "but he crossed a line and it, well, wasn't going to work out. clearly."

boruta maher

☉

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he probably would have died. she had casually saved his life, and surely it was not the first time.[break][break]

news that lance was who she’d been texting drew a smirk he could not hide. she was looking at the flowers, too, probably thinking about how lance never got her any.[break][break]

he agreed whole-heartedly that he had absolutely not been there at the wrong time, although it would be rude to say so. it was fate that had placed him in that living room with a too-small towel, just as destiny had vomited on his shirt the night prior. never mind the text. texts knew no such divine power. barely a nudge to the universe. lance had arrived because he had been meant to see.[break][break]

bo took another bite of pizza, keeping most of his thoughts to himself.[break][break]

”so… that means you’re back on the market then, right?”[break]

it's nice to talk to someone about it. to talk it through in any capacity, even if, oddly enough, it's bo that's on the receiving end. but is it really so odd? when all this time, he's the company she's wanted? he's the first person that comes to mind when she just needs to talk?

well, sometimes it's ollie morales, but that's because he's a reliable friend and he's not as intimately tied to the situation. 

his question is said while she has another bite of pizza in her mouth so it hides the smile that would surely give her away. instead, she takes her time chewing, going hmmmm and pondering. 

"no, actually. there's someone else. i just need to make sure he's okay, y'know, starting something so soon after my breakup." she sighs dramatically. "or maybe i should wait? so he doesn't think i'm just rebounding?"

boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","icon"]

the length of her pondering drove up his anxiety. his smile didn’t fall, but there was no hiding in his eyes the cloud of worry that began to creep through the sunshine.[break][break]

please be fucking with me.[break][break]

his gaze narrowed a little as he tried to decide which it was. there was a moment of chewing, staring, and trying his best to read her.[break][break]

finally, he dared to hint, ”maybe he doesn’t care if it’s a rebound… but he really hopes it isn’t.”[break][break]

it could be cute, or entirely the wrong to say. it was like him to take the chance, and so despite wavering confidence, he went with his gut.[break][break]

”just a guess.”[break]

it really shouldn't be this easy. he really shouldn't be this dense. for crying out loud, she already told him she wants to kiss him later. she swallows down her bite of pizza-ly heaven and grins up at him like an idiot. 

"i think you're right. and here's the thing... i think lance was the rebound this whole time. because i don't think i ever really got over this other guy."

she balls up a napkin getting some of the cheese grease off of her hands.

"do you think...he'd be okay taking it slow?"

boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","icon"]

of course lance had been a rebound. she had better taste than that. and maybe he was that dense–or just anxious. it was a cruel game she may or may not have been playing, but he was on the edge of his seat, eating it up with high hopes. give him anything.[break][break]

maybe it was the heat of an old brick oven pizza joint late into spring, but he felt himself start to sweat a little. he still managed to maintain a smile; however, the struggle in his eyes would reveal he had no idea what to say. she had won whatever this was.[break][break]

”yes?” he guessed finally.[break][break]

gods, what a terrible rebound he'd been. sure, he was attractive (though, for a few months, her attraction to him had inexplicably plummeted), and she'd enjoyed the nice dates. the flowers. but looking back on it now, it all felt so...shallow. 

and here she is, looking at pools of sunlight that are so profoundly hopeful, she can't stop the big smile from spreading over her lips. 

"i already told you i want to kiss you again tonight, doofus. you think i would have suggested the slice if i didn't want this to be a date?"

she turns her head. the only thing holding her unruly bang behind her ear are the wrapped flower stems tucked there. she nods towards the flowers. 

"there's something i...well, the flowers you got me. bo, this one," she says, reaching, laughing now because it's all so ridiculously silly, "this flower means infidelity."

boruta maher

☉

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phew.[break][break]

he shrugged, ”i dunno. i thought potentially you had someone else lined up and i was just staying on the side. i’ll be honest with you, will, i’ll take what i can get.” when it came to her, at least. he was joking, but also he wasn’t.[break][break]

when she explained the meaning of the flower, he gawked in disbelief. ”no…” was he a tool of the universe to make her feel guilty? it didn’t seem to be working, and he was glad, because he could not suppress his amusement either.[break][break]

”what do you mean it means infidelity?” he chuckled and pointed to another flower. ”what does that one mean, then?” and the rest of them.[break][break]

of course the flowers would have complicated meanings. he had thought they simply meant you’re pretty and i love you.[break][break]

his gold eyes shifted to the stems behind her ear and he nodded towards them, hoping to be clever. ”and what about those?”[break][break]

"someone else?" she echoes, laughter taking on a bit of an edge, especially as she eyes the taunting purple flowers to the side. she believes him - that he'd take what he can get and she reaches a hand up to touch the dried stems in her hair. PENELOPE LIVY's voice is a gnat in her ear. 

he points to the nasturtium and her flip-flopping feelings finally settle on one side. she bursts out laughing, giggles hidden behind her fingers as he points and points and the definitions are popping up in her head and she's kind of crying too, because it's just so ridiculous. 

a sigh. 

"a long time ago, it was custom in places like galar and kalos for suitors to exchange flowers. most of them have romantic meanings, but bouquets were also sent to friends, business partners, even...enemies. you would have made an old kalosian man very angry with his wife if he found this.

"separately," she goes on, "they all mean their own thing, but together, they tell a story."

she grabs the bundle and picks through it, drawing up one of the hyacinth stems at the back. "these have a few different meanings, but with the others you've picked, it means, mm, a game. or like you're doing something for sport." she chuckles. "lilac isn't so bad. the joy of youth. i give these to roman when he's not being a little shit. but paired with sweet pea, it - bo, it means a fling. blissful pleasures and goodbyes, all topped off with a ring of gorgeous orange nasturtium.

"which means conquest."

she plucks the flowers from her hair; her unruly bang comes along with it. these, she's delicate with as she reaches across the table and tucks them behind bo's ear. the flowers she'd wrapped together when he first started coming around, the flowers she's worn around him for years. 

"white clover," she whispers, "for think of me. and coriander, for hidden worth." her cheeks tinge pink. 

"sometimes lust."

boruta maher

☉

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for sport. he gave a snort of laughter, tickled by the perfect foolishness of his selection. pretty colors were as deep as it got for him. perhaps he should have consulted a professional, instead of just buying whatever–but she was still smiling, so maybe he’d still done alright.[break][break]

halfway through storytime, he shook his head and began to dig into his pizza again, though his eyes were still on her. the game had been won. he could eat at ease, no longer sitting at the edge of his seat.[break][break]

”i’m a dumbass,” he eventually confessed.[break][break]

when she got to explaining the stems and he noticed the blush on her face, his pizza was set down once again attentively.[break][break]

”lust, huh? interesting choice.” he gazed at her, grin playful as ever when his shoe tapped lightly against hers beneath the table, but his eyes were all longing. he let just a moment of silence fall between them, before assuring her, ”i think of you all the time, just fyi.”[break][break]

a smirk curled, teasing. ”guess it must be the clovers.”[break][break]