What Mr. Flores Heard
Prev - Pintroverts Week Day 3: Free Choice - [ AO3 ]
Rated G - one mild swear word, teensy innuendo - WC: 1367 ---
"Oh my goodness!!!" Patton's squeal was at least two octaves higher than his usual voice. "Look at those pretty flowers!"
Roman leaned over Patton to peer through the back window of Nico’s car. "Oh, great Persephone's Posies! Those flowers are potted perfection!"
"Hey, Nico—" Thomas began.
Nico flicked the turn signal and checked his mirror and his blindspot—”He signaled to turn in a parking lot, Meus, did you see?"—and then pulled into a spot.
"I see them, Thomas. Those carnations would look lovely out on your patio." Nico set the parking brake, then moved the gear shift into park.
Logan tugged at Janus' sleeve, pointing and smiling like he’d found a fresh jar of Crofters. "Our Nico's a very safe driver, yes.” Janus’ human side flushed slightly as he watched Nico’s careful movements. “I am impressed."
Everyone piled out of the car and stood around Nico's bright red CR-V. "Do you have your keys? Don't forget to lock it! Car prowlers count on dumb drivers who think this is such a safe neighborhood and leave their cars unprotected. Or someone could sneak in and hide in the back seat, waiting for you and—”
chirp-chirp
Virgil's spiral was interrupted by the sound of Nico's car alarm engaging. Nico smiled at Thomas and held out his arm. "Ready?"
Roman and Patton ran straight for the rows and rows of red and yellow and pink blossoms. Roman stood in the center of the display and sighed, closing his eyes and tilting his head to the heavens. “It’s like being in a peaceful meadow, surrounded by nature’s beauty. And then—” He opened his eyes and looked out toward Nico as he approached the flower flats. “And then your very own Prince Charming arrives.”
Giggling, Patton walked a few steps ahead of Thomas and Nico as they explored the display, pointing to flowers in lemon yellow, a bright fuchsia, and a deep, deep red that even rivaled Roman’s sash. The large U-boat cart Nico pushed was soon filled.
“Shall we head inside?” Nico laughed.
Blushing, Thomas nodded. “We might need to find another one of those carts, huh?”
“Garden tools, Thomas.” Logan muttered. “Your current tools are in a terrible state of disrepair.”
“And you are in desperate need of proper gardening gloves,” Janus added, examining his own yellow-clad fingers. “You can’t keep using your old batter’s gloves from the college softball team.”
Nico and Thomas stopped in front of several wooden pallets laden with twenty-pound bags of potting soil. “Do you ever wonder if organic soil tastes better than traditional?” Remus asked, poking at a bag with a sharp nail.
Logan tilted his head, examining the labels on two different products. “There is likely more of a chemical aftertaste to the traditional soils whereas the organic likely tastes more like a mixture of manure and fish carcasses.”
“You coulda just said it tastes like shit, Lo.”
“Language, Kiddo!”
“Whatever you say, Cap!”
“Ohhhhh!” Patton suddenly gasped, jaw falling open and pointing with both hands to a row of carved pots dotted with stones in every shade of the rainbow. “Look, look, look! Janus, look at the yellow and black planter… that would look great in your room! You could put your succulents in it and—” Patton interrupted himself to dance in front of a large circular pot encrusted in bright red faceted faux gemstones. “Roman! Look at this one, Roman! Roman, look!”
“Oh, what about one of those?” Thomas nudged Nico toward the planters.
“Hm, those are beautiful.” Nico tilted his head and reached in his pocket for a small measuring tape as Thomas grinned.
“Is—is that a metric measuring tape?” Logan asked breathlessly.
“Prepared for anything, as usual!" Thomas laughed.
“It’s what makes me so lovable!” joked Nico, bending over to measure the true depth of the planters.
Patton sighed, resting his chin in his hand as he leaned on the side of the cart. “Oh, does it ever!”
Thomas crouched down next to him, taking one end of the tape to capture the width of the long planter.
“Remus, he’s using the metric side!” Logan grabbed Remus’ arm with both hands, watching Nico measure the planter with wide eyes. “He’s using the metric side!”
Thomas and Patton said together, “Well I guess that explains why I love you so much!”
Nico dropped the tape with a clatter and it skid and wobbled its way across the floor. “I’m sorry, what?”
Thomas froze. “I….”
“Don’t say a word, just zip it right now, Sanders! Stop talking now!” Virgil growled in his Tempest voice.
“Uh…” Thomas stuttered.
Remus shook Thomas’ shoulders, “Go ahead… if he drops the back seat in the CR-V, you’ll have”—he nudged Logan—”Hey, Sexy Nerd, how much cargo space is in the back of a 2017 CR-V?”
“With the seats down,” Logan furrowed his brow, calculating. “I would estimate approximately 1.85 meters long or 2.14 cubic meters in volume.”
“I uh,”
“Oh, Remus,” Roman scoffed. “Must you debase true love this way? Thomas’ love is worth more than a quickie in a parking lot.” He rolled his eyes at his brother. “This is about true love…”
“I think, um…”
Remus pulled off his tongue and waggled it at Roman before quickly growing a new one. “You’re so limited, Ro Bro! You can have both!” He sidled up to Thomas, bumping his shoulder, “C’mon Thommykins,” Remus waggled his eyebrows at Thomas. “There’s plenty of room….”
“What?” Thomas finished at last, staring at Nico with saucer-sized eyes.
Nico focused his attention on Thomas and attempted to tune out the cacophony of voices that had exploded around them. “You just said—”
Janus and Thomas blurted out together, each frantically shaking their heads. “I know what I said. I mean, I didn’t say that. What? No. I didn’t say anything. I mean—”
Nico sat back on his heels and smiled at Thomas. “I’d say the shovels are on aisle 10 but I think you’re digging that hole for yourself just fine without one.”
Thomas opened his mouth to protest. “I….”
“I would dig a thousand holes with a thousand shovels if it meant spending one more second on this earth staring into the breathtaking beauty of your eyes.” Roman dropped to one knee, one hand on his heart and the other reached toward Nico. “Your eyes are the rich color of melted chocolate, or the warm, soft, glow of polished wood, or the buttery soft cover of an antique drawing journal, or a perfect Pantone 732…”
“Would you believe I’m already blind drunk and don’t know what I’m saying?”
Pointedly checking his watch, Nico shook his head. “Blind drunk at 11:15 in the morning?”
Janus shrugged.
Nico plucked a red carnation from one of the flats of annuals they’d picked up from the display outside the Garden Center. He smiled and leaned in to tuck the flower behind Thomas’ ear, then cupped his face with both hands and pressed a soft kiss against his lips.
“That’s what I would have done if you’d said you loved me.” He pulled back, staring into the stunned actor's eyes. “Are you sure that isn’t what you meant to say?”
“W—well, maybe—” Thomas’ voice cracked and he cleared his throat before nodding. “Yeah. Yeah that would've been….”
“Awww… so sweet!”
“Ooo… So hot!”
“Royally romantic…”
“Fantastic!”
“Terrifying.”
“Incredible. I mean, actually incredible. I know he’s some sort of a writer, but I know a lie when I hear one and—”
“Nice,” Thomas whispered.
“Well, Mr. Sanders?”
“Oh, y—you want me to—to say it?”
Nico smiled softly, brushing his fingers over the flush spreading across Thomas’ face. "Only if it's true," he whispered.
Cheeks as bright as the flower in his hair, he took a deep breath and held Nico’s hand close to his chest. “Nico,” he bowed his head slightly, “Mr. Flores… .”
“We love you,” the Sides whispered.
“I love you,” Thomas said.
“‘Dude, shut up, that is awesomesauce!’” Nico bit his lips, fighting a grin. He started to stand, finally exploding in laughter when Thomas pulled him back down into his arms and they both fell over.
“I knew it!” Janus shouted, tears pricking his eyes. He turned and stormed off. He hadn’t gotten far when Patton grabbed him by the shoulders and marched him back to re-join the group.
“Really? Fifteen and a half times wasn’t enough for you to get that reference, Jannie?”
Wrapping his arms around Nico’s shoulders, Thomas’ laugh broke through his feigned stern expression. “Excuse me?”
Nico kissed him again, a bubble of shared laughter tickling their lips. “Of course I love you, too, Tommy.
“All of you.”
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@pintrovertsweek2021