Dried and Dying Roses (BWWM)

Fifty Four: Ambrosial

"Would things be easier if there was a right way? Honey, there is no right way."- Hozier, Someone New

"Iss, those flowers are fucking ugly. And they smell like ass. Get these,"

As he proposed this, a package of half wilted lilies was shoved into her face.

Isaline only smirked at Adrian's exasperated, putting the deep orange, and quite pungent Crown Imperial in her hands down with the rest of its kind. She had been entertaining herself for the last hour by picking out plants and supplies of questionable sources with questionable scents and names, and watching Adrian's face transform from bored, to disgusted and borderline nauseas, to just completely fed up, knowing he would do nothing but try to sway he decision in whatever it was she had picked up. He could only do that, because he knew that while the two of them were on better terms, he was still walking on eggshells with his pregnant mate.

"Fine," She murmured, pressing a hand to the side of her belly as she winced, "What about roses?"

She really, really wanted roses.

Adrian seemed to think for a moment, staring at her blankly before shaking his head in negative, "You're going to take care of them for a little while, then let them die on purpose to feed your little obsession."

"So?"

"So...fine. Get them, but some other flowers too, so we don't have a garden full of dead flowers. I'll keep buying and drying out roses for you so that you don't have to waste so much of your own time doing so, okay?"

"You're so sweet to me," Isa cooed with a smile, pecking his cheek before letting Adrian lead her away from the flowers that were popular for landscaping, but not their scent, content that someone was feeding her obsession as Adrian had said.

His large hand was burning against the small of her back, as he led her down the various aisles, looking at different flowers before changing to supplies they would need. Isaline was inspecting some purple, waxy-leafed flowers that she didn't recognize the name of when a sales associate that she had briefly acknowledged stood up from where he had been tidying up some shelves about ten feet away; dusting the dirt on his hands onto the khaki shorts he was wearing as he spoke, "Do you need any help?"

"No,"

"Yes, please,"

Adrian and Isaline both looked at each other, the same frown mirroring onto the other's face as the two silver gazes locked. Isa shook her head at Adrian when he began to open his mouth in protest. His jaws snapped together with an audible click as he gave up the fight before he could even lose.

"We're getting started on our garden and pond, but right now, we're focusing on flowers and plans, so we're open to any suggestions you may have."

The man ran a hand over his brown hair, which was cut close to his scalp, then scratched at his beard as he thought before he spun in a slow circle, taking in the varieties of flowers. He finally spoke about a minute later.

"Before we get to the flowers do you know what type of mulch of fertilizer you're using? A lot of people forget to grab those while they are here as well."

Isa shook her head, a deep frown etched onto her face, not having thought about that at all, but Adrian actually apparently had thought about it, and answered the associate, whose name was Derek; his gaze didn't leave Isaline as he answered, "Cedar chips. Red."

"Very nice choice," Derek crowed, grinning at Isa as if she had answered.

She let out a loud sigh of relief as the weight of the decision Isaline hadn't been prepared to make disappeared.