@caffeinated-moogle asked me how Flower and Azure met. This isn't that but it did get me thinking about how their second meeting would go after the first not ending well. It does provide context on their first meeting. I don't like writing combat so I tend to write a lot of slice-of-life stuff, following their off hours or pre/post dungeon delve stuff.
(Flower uses any pronouns. This time Flower uses they/them)
“Excuse me.” Azure tried to make his voice loud enough to be heard over the down-pouring rain without startling the impressively short viera before him. The gesture was met with silence. Either he wasn’t heard or he’d been ignored. Their last conversation had ended awkwardly. He cleared his throat and tried again, taking a step forward into the downpour.
“Hm?” A pink tipped ear turned his direction before its owner followed suit. “Oh. It’s you.” The aspiring florist turned adventurer stepped back to frown upward.There were carnations and roses in their hair, donned in the same pink and purple robe as last time.
He was struck with the sudden impression of a dwarf rabbit angry at a bee that had just stung its nose. “Flower right?” He unhooked the axe and leaned it against the nearby column when he caught them eyeing the weapon on his back like it made them nervous.
“Yes.” A hand creaked around the leather of their umbrella’s handle in a moment of hesitation before lifting it as high as they could to accommodate the taller viera.
There was another pause before he joined beneath the cover, taking the umbrella and slanting it to cover more of Flower. “So…”
“We don’t have to talk about it.” They said returning to scanning the crowd for the rest of their assigned squad.
“I think we should.”
“Alright. Which part would you like to talk about?” Their voice was even, almost nonchalant. “How you killed a bunch of people because… money? Or the part where I failed my own bounty because the young lady I was trying to find was executed by their leader when you flushed them out of hiding?”
“That’s how bounties work, sometimes people die. You could have been one of them.” Azure responded, matching the matter of fact tone.
“I was trying to be taken back to their camp so I could search with less lethal means. My life is not worth another’s let alone, what- was it five?”
“Four. You were being naive. They were dragging you away from the road so they’d have plenty of time for your cause of death to rot away.”
They crossed their arms with an annoyed huff. “Guess we’ll never know.”
“No, I think we do.”
“If I thought I was in danger, I would have blinded them and left.” They suppressed a frown as someone running by splashed mud on their feet and legs..
“I know, I saw the incident a few days ago. Which is the issue.” He quirked a brow, “You were making no move to defend yourself. How’s that guy doing, by the way? Still on forced leave?”
“No,” They shrugged, “he was released the next day and I got a warning.”
“Seems harsh.”
“Mhm.”
The two fell into awkward silence until an orange haired miqo’te with the subtlety of a cannonball burst between them. “Oh! I see you found her!” There was a flicker of confusion, perhaps a surprised twitch of Azure’s ears.
“Flower seemed to prefer masculine yesterday?”
The seeker grinned like a cat with a mouse and laughed. “You must be new around here. She’s Flower. They’re also the son of Mintea Flower Farm and so on.”
“Ah.” He nodded.
“Yeah, you just kinda pick something and stick with it.” He flung an arm around Azure’s shoulders, and took the umbrella, forcing the two to huddle close together or else get drenched.
“So should I-”
Flower interrupted, “I choose what fits me best day to day but let people have their own assumptions so long as they stay respectful.”
“Fair enough. I shall defer to your preference.”
“I prefer you defer to your own but I’ll thank you for the intentions you had.”
There was another moment of awkward silence again interrupted by the loud man between them. “All sorted now? Good! I’m Red. I see you’re the big axeie-axe sort!” He gave a hearty slap to Azure’s back as he stood straight, “You one of them warrior sorts I’ve been hearing about?” He didn’t wait for an answer, turning to Flower, “And I’m already familiar with the focus end of that crook you carry with you.”
“It’s called a staff.”
“Yeah but that sounds kinda dirty, doesn’t it?” Mischief like a fox that had just learned to walk flashed across his face, “Every bit as bad as wand! No? Blade?” Red tossed the umbrella under the nearby awning and finger gunned at them.
Flower fumbled with their hood as they rushed to the awning, “You and your silly pranks!”
“Yeah but you two were being too serious.” He jumped into a puddle. “We need to concentrate on not dying, not whatever you two were fighting about.”
“We weren’t fighting.” The two said in unison, earning a chuckle from Red.
“Sure, sure. So is there a fourth?” He grinned at them. From this distance the black tips of his ears and white streaks in his hair made him look quite vulpine. His differently colored eyes, one silvery blue and the other gold only strengthened the illusion.
“Oh! I made it!” A disheveled woman hurried towards them as if she’d only just been told where to meet. She tripped over her own feet and caught herself on the arm Red shot out. “Yarrow!” he greeted warmly. “I thought you’d retired?”
“I had but Mother Mounne sent a messenger saying your caster got poached by another party last night. I was the only one free to come so last-er, the only one free to help. It’s supposed to be an easy scout and map but she said our support were.. seen… arguing in the-. Oh, Hello!” She waved awkwardly, only just noticing Red was not the only one present and she was talking about said support in front of them.
“Flower I know but you are?”
“Azure Olivier. I’m a warrior.”
“I’m Yarrow Ammi,” She offered a blue-grey hand and a smile, as the pointed tips of her ears brought on a pinkish hue as if to admit something embarrassing.
“Like the plant.” He shook the offered hand. “Right?”
“Right! I’ve recently taken up training with a bard.”
“Red Rafflesia!” the miqo’te gestured grandly, “Ninja! And don’t ask about the name. It’s a long story best told over a few drinks.”Azure couldn’t help but wonder at the inconsistency of such a boisterous man training for something that required stealth.
“I believe all of you already know me from one encounter or another but I’m Flower Mintea. I’ll be your healer.”
“Healer?” The dark leporine man tilted his head, unamused with the ambiguous descriptor.
“I’ve trained with the Scholars and the White mages. I am carrying my staff today so I will be using mostly white mage magicks.”
“Alright,” Red clapped his hands, rubbing them together excitedly, “What’s the assignment? Yarrow mentioned simple survey and map?”
“I thought this was an old mine that something keeps dragging merchants into?” Azure asked as he hooked his axe back into its harness.
“It’s both.” The duskwight woman chimed in, “They’re wanting to reopen it so they’re sending us to find out what the man-eater is, maybe kill it, and map any collapsed tunnels on the way.”
“Oh! Simple scan and kill! Good stuff good stuff.” Red gave a small wave, “I’ll go get the wagon sorted. Flower and Azure, why don’t you two go pick up more potions. And No more fighting.” He winked
“We weren’t fighting!” They denied, again in unison.
“Sure, sure. Off with you two. Make sure to get any lingering animosity ironed out, right.”
Azure sighed quietly, turning back to Flower as they walked past the main aetheryte. “I am sorry she died,” he said softly. “And for overstepping. But when they said they would ‘do you like the last guy,’ I saw what they did to said last guy.” At Flower’s puzzled expression, Azure stumbled over his words. This was going to sound crazy.
“Sometimes I can see other people’s memories. I don’t have control over it, and I don’t know when it’s going to hit, but I watched his memory of the last adventurer and those threats weren’t empty.” He crossed his arms, eyes falling but then he met the healer’s gaze again. “You weren’t going to make it to their hideout, Flower.”
Flower clutched their staff to their chest. They were familiar with the echo. They'd experienced the glimpses it provided first hand. "I suppose it's my turn to say 'fair enough' then... and thank you. For not letting me die."
Azure nodded, the silence they fell into far from awkward this time.
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