Flowershop

Chapter Fourteen

Tapping his fingers on the counter, Kiku looked at the clock. It was almost closing time. Barely anyone showed up today, and the day just dragged on. Alfred didn't show up. He took a Lindor chocolate out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth, not even remembering or caring where he got it from. He jumped as the chocolate crumpled right as it entered his mouth, leaving melted chocolate all over his lips and chin. He hastily cleaned it up, cursing the hazy heat. He stood there, waiting for anyone to come in, but he remained alone. In another hour or so a plain bald man came in, not even purchasing anything. He waited in the muggy atmosphere, waiting for his shift to be over. He could be somewhere with air conditioning.

His foot tapped unpleasantly, for he barely had any time left in the shop. He stood there, practically dead. The door opened, and Kiku didn't even bother looking over. "Hullo..." He greeted dully, not paying any mind to the person. "Hey Kiku!" Alfred greeted back, leaning in for a kiss.

Kiku looked Alfred up and down, taking in his appearance. He looked like he was in a hurry; His shirt was buttoned improperly, his hair was more disheveled than usual. He had a backpack as well. Kiku looked up at him questioningly, confused. Alfred looked back at him, then directed his attention to his watch. "My parents aren't expecting me home for a couple of days," he said absentmindely, fiddling with his watch. He pulled at and broke a couple stray strings on his shirt here and there. Kiku felt his eyebrows furrow. "Uh, where are you staying...?" He slowly questioned, not exactly wanting to know.
"Well, at your place, duh, where else?"
Kiku mentally groaned and sighed. He had been lazy the past week, so his apartment wasn't exactly in perfect condition. He restrained rubbing the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes and sighing instead. "O..Okay, just let me lock up first.." He answered miserably, walking around Alfred and getting his stuff together.

"Please try to ignore the mess," Kiku asked, opening the door for Alfred. In reality, it wasn't all that messy. Especially in Alfred's eyes. He walked straight through, stepping over the threshold, casual as if this was his home. Like the mess was his mess. Kiku ran a hand through his hair, a little tired at the moment. He got up, catching the attention of the American. "I'm going to go take a shower, just...watch tv or something," He offered, tossing the remote to Alfred. As he heard the water turn on, Alfred got up, examining the place. He had very few pictures up, and they were just of his family. No individual pictures, but family pictures. In one of them, there were especially a lot of people. Alfred snorted as he saw Kiku had discreetly blocked out one of the women's face with a flower. From her body, Alfred could tell she was older, perhaps an aunt. Alfred looked around, seeing his sibling's faces in them. They didn't look alike at all, and he noticed Kiku had a surly expression on in most of them. He looked bored, or anxious even. Alfred didn't exactly understand why, his family seemed like nice people, but he didn't want to pry, so he didn't let the thought go any further.

He looked around, not really seeing this "mess" Kiku was talking about. There were a few emptied water bottles on the table, unfolded blankets. With a shrug, he picked up and threw away the empty water bottles, drinking the ones that weren't finished. He threw away any stray wrappers, folded blankets that were on the couch. He sat down finally after about fifteen minutes, surprised that Kiku was not yet finished with his shower. He tried to watch tv, but nothing caught his attention, and he kept spacing out.

Kiku walked out with his pajamas on, hair damp. He sat next to Alfred with his legs crossed. "You can go take a shower now, but be careful, the floor's a little wet," He said, taking the remote. Alfred got up, actually being cautious like Kiku warned him. He was right, there was little blobs of water, presumably from Kiku's feet. Alfred giggled slightly, seeing how they were so much smaller than his own.

Kiku almost drifted off, but something snapped his attention back to reality. The place was cleaner than when they arrived. Folded blankets, the water bottles were gone... Did Alfred do this?! Kiku wondered, shifting his position. Wow, so he can clean, Kiku said, leaning back, allowing a smile creep onto his face. He grabbed a blanket Alfred folded neatly, and draped it over himself, warming up quickly.