For the JATP ask, how about Julie and Luke with Dahlia??
Thank you so much for the ask! Here’s part 2 of this. It took a sudden turn... oh well...
Luke materialized on the beach, next to Julie. She tore her eyes away from the horizon and smiled at him. The setting sun colored her skin golden and painted a halo around her curly hair. There was a song just there, waiting for Luke to grasp it and weave the sunset into lyrics. But he had more important matters at hand.
He presented Julie with the bouquet, sending her a tentative smile. This was a whole new territory for them both, but he was pretty sure when a guy gave a girl flowers, she’s supposed to be happy. Julie frowned at him instead. The smile disappeared from her face, replaced by confusion.
‘Why dahlias?’ she asked slowly.
‘I… um…’ Luke suddenly wasn’t so sure, why he’d thought that was a good choice. ‘I thought you liked them?’
Julie took the dahlias from him and twirled them in her hands. The mood turned wistful.
‘I do like dahlias,’ she finally admitted, her voice distant and small. ‘But it’s more of a way to feel a connection to my mom.’
The girl nodded, still staring at the flowers.
‘Oh.’ Ooooh. It suddenly became painfully clear why there were so many dahlias and dahlia-related patterns in Molinas’ house.
Luke suppressed the urge to groan. ‘What a fail,’ he winced.
Now Julie looked at him. ‘Why? Oh, no! I mean- ‘ she stammered, ‘I like dahlias, I really do. Thank you for-’
‘Julie, stop.’ Luke put a hand on her shoulder. ‘I get it. I should have thought of it earlier. My mom likes dahlias as well, I just didn’t think- ,’ he trailed off. At least he earned a small smile for his humiliation.
Julie nudged him in the ribs. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
‘Worry? Me? Nah!’ Luke puffed, happy with the attention. ‘We’ll pick a new flower!’ he decided. ‘What’s your favorite? I’m gonna poof to a garden right now and bring the lady a flower worthy of her.’
His antics finally elicited a pearly chuckle out of her.
‘How about a rose?’ Luke offered and Julie’s smile withdrew in an instant.
‘What have I done now?’ he asked.
She grimaced, shaking her head. ‘It’s not your fault, but I’m starting to develop a mild paranoia about your connection to my mom,’ she confessed.
He frowned. ‘Because of dahlias or roses?’
‘Both,’ Julie sighed. ‘My mom’s name was Rose.’
The realization hit him like a freight train full of streetdogs. ‘W-what?’ he choked. Had he been alive, he’d become white as a ghost, alas that was a default option for him.
‘My mom’s name was Rose,’ she repeated. ‘What is it? Now you’re seriously freaking me out.’
‘I think… the night we died…’ he drawled. ‘I think I met your mother then.’
😬😬😬 Sorry, but it sort of happened? Feel free to ask for Part 3 😉
A big thank you to @goblin-alchemist for bouncing ideas with me. I mean dahlias are cute, but there must be a deeper meaning to them, than just a pretty flower. They never appeared in romantic context, on the contrary (like in Pattersons’ house on Luke’s bday).
Send me an ask with one of these prompts and a character or a pair (JATP only), and see what drabble comes out of it.