flufftober day 3 — favorite scent
rating: general audiences || pairing: casey stephens/florian sarasti || word count: 1398 || florian belongs to @the-universe-in-our-mind || @flufftober
For a while, all their dates happen at night—because it’s much easier for a vampire to hold his boyfriend’s hand in the streets without the sun to burn him into a fine crisp. It fits Florian’s lifestyle and Casey’s schedule… until it doesn’t. Balancing work and school with their nightly dates quickly begins to affect Casey’s sleep schedule, until he nearly passes out behind the bar of the Hunter’s Moon.
So Florian finds a way to compromise. With some guilt, he considers breaking into a store to snatch some clothes from the racks, before Izzy stops him and offers to lend him a few accessories to better protect his skin. It takes a bit of work, a lot of squirming into clothes just a little too tight and some awkward arranging until he can trust Isabelle’s word that he doesn’t look as ridiculous as he feels: sun hat hanging from his head, scarf wrapped around his lower face, sunglasses on his nose, gloves on his hands and thick layers of clothes concealing the rest of his body, he feels more like a scarecrow than anything remotely close to a human, let alone a vampire.
But such is the price to pay to hang out with his boyfriend without causing either of them harm. It takes two more days before Casey’s next day off, two days during which Florian tries to calm his nerves and convince himself that his partner will appreciate the gesture and, of course, that he won’t die the moment he steps outside his house. Lea laughs at him, of course, but just enough to be comforting rather than frustrating.
It’s a bit past noon when he knocks at Casey’s door, disguised into this abomination of fashion. His boyfriend opens the door and, after a long second of silence, cocks his head to the side, confused.
“Hi?”
“Hey,” Florian greets back with an awkward wave, and he winces when Casey’s eyes widen ridiculously.
“... Babe?” At his answering nod, the man gapes, looking him up and down before a small smile finds its way onto his lips. He looks so good when he smiles, it almost makes up for the embarrassment Florian feels. Almost. “What are you doing here? It’s too early for you to be out.”
Florian shrugs, which causes the scarf to slip from his shoulder. He quickly fixes it, grumbling the entire time.
“I thought I’d come and surprise you,” he explains, and gestures vaguely to his outfit at Casey’s confusion. “The sun can’t get through this many layers. I’m safe. We can hang out–”
The rest of his sentence is cut short by two hands grabbing a hold of his sleeves and pulling him into a crushing embrace that would have forced the air from his lungs had he needed to breathe at all. He wraps his arms around the other’s waist and hugs him back, burying his nose in the crook of Casey’s neck; his scent is intoxicating, even through all this fabric separating them.
Casey pulls back after a few seconds, cheeks flushed and smiling from one ear to the other.
“We can hang out,” he repeats, giddiness apparent in the waver of his voice. Florian nods and Casey immediately disappears into the apartment, running into his bedroom and coming out only a minute later completely dressed. His hair is even combed in place. He steps into his shoes and reaches out to grab Florian’s gloved hand. “Come on, I’m ready to go!”
Before Florian can really say anything, Casey pulls him away from the door so he can lock it and drags him down the hallway and towards the stairs. It’s endearing, the way he gets so excited whenever they get to spend time together, and Florian missed it when they had to stop seeing each other the past few days. It feels good to know he’s loved so much, that his presence alone is enough to light up Casey’s day.
They walk hand in hand in the streets, something they did a lot before, but today is different. Today, the sun shines brightly and, mixed with the fear of burning alive, Florian feels trepidation at the fact that he’s fine, that he’s walking around in the middle of the day. He does get a few weird looks here and there—because this sort of outfit isn’t practical, especially in this weather, and he truly does look ridiculous—, but he doesn’t care, not when he can feel the warmth of Casey’s hands in his own and gets to see his smile whenever the latter turns around to look at him, almost running into obstacles in his way by doing so.
It’s a few minutes into their walk that Casey slows to a stop in front of a store. It’s a small shop, located at the corner of the street, overshadowed by the crowded stores next to it, its banner easy to miss, yet Casey seems to have been walking towards it with a sense of purpose. He turns to Florian once more and squeezes his hand slightly.
“It’s a candle store,” he says, as if he needs to explain himself. He looks a little uncomfortable, like he expects Florian to mock him for his interests in candles. As if Florian would ever do that in a thousand years. “They make them by hand and– and they smell really good–”
“Let’s go in,” Florian interrupts gently, smiling at Casey’s surprise, then at the obvious buzz of excitement emanating from him.
As soon as they push the door open, Florian is hit with a wall of scent that immediately has his head spinning. It’s no secret that vampires have more developed senses, in particular taste and smell, and the presence of so many candles in one place is enough to make him dizzy in a matter of seconds.
He pushes through it, walks closer to Casey as his boyfriend leads him from one isle to the other, until he finds his scent among all the others. It’s subtle, compared to the overwhelming amount of aromas filling the air, but it’s there, and Florian hangs onto it like a lifeline.
“Here, try this one,” Casey says enthusiastically as he shoves a candle under Florian’s nose. “It smells like pumpkin cinnamon swirls.”
And it does. When Florian focuses on it, he can almost smell the warmth of the oven, the dim lights in the kitchen, the sway of Casey’s hips as he mixes the batter in a large pink bowl. The smell itself is too artificial for him to enjoy, but the memories it brings back are enough to pull a smile from him, hidden by the fabric of his scarf.
“It smells great,” he agrees. Casey lights up and Florian points to another candle. “What about this one?”
Casey picks it up and brings it to his nose; his nostrils flare as he breathes in the scent, then he hums contentedly, handing the candle to his partner.
“Sugar cookies,” he affirms without looking at the label. Florian doesn’t need to look either to know it’s the truth. “My favourite.”
“Hmm.” Following in Casey’s steps, Florian takes in the smell of dough and sugar and sprinkles, allows images of Casey’s silly apron covered in flour to fill his mind. He somehow always manages to get some in his hair and face, too, no matter how careful he is. It’s frankly adorable. “We should get it.”
“Yeah,” Casey agrees, cradling the candle between his hands like it’s worth more than the price scribbled on its label. He looks up with a bright grin. “I’ve been wanting to bring you here for so long. I’m… I’m really happy, Florian.”
And isn’t that the sweetest thing in the world, knowing his boyfriend has been wanting to take him to his favourite spot for a while, to think that there’s so many other places they’ll be able to go to together. With a glance to the store’s windows to make sure no sun is coming through, Florian tucks the scarf beneath his chin and presses a chaste kiss to Casey’s cheek.
“So am I,” he hums calmly, fangs catching onto his bottom lip when he smiles. “You make me happy.”
The blush that finds its way across Casey’s cheekbones is cute enough for Florian to nuzzle his cheek playfully, taking in his own favourite scent as he does so.
