Contrast
“That,” Schuldig remarked, “is the ugliest flower arrangement I’ve ever seen.”
Yohji barely looked up from where he was trimming some of the worse thorns off the roses he was putting in a vase. “What did you say?” he asked. “Was it ‘oh, right, Yohji asked me not to come to the shop when the others might be working, so I’d better leave’?”
“Orange and purple?” Schuldig continued, with no remorse. “I mean, seriously? Orange. Purple.”
“Lavender, not purple.”
“Purple is purple, and that’s still ugly.”
Yohji looked up at him in some exasperation. “This from the man who wears a bright green bandana in his bright orange hair.”
Schuldig shrugged. “I like to stand out.”
“Boy, thanks for telling me that; I would never have guessed.”
“So if you’re all zen at the art of flower arranging, why the orange and purple?”
Yohji sighed. “Orange roses represent passion and excitement in a relationship. Lavender is – ”
“Purple,” Schuldig corrected.
“Lavender roses,” Yohji said between gritted teeth, “symbolize enchantment, and can be used to represent love at first sight.”
Schuldig thought about this. “So, those ass-ugly flowers are for me?” he asked, smirking. “Yo-chan, you shouldn’t have.”
Yohji ignored this comment with the ease of long practice. “As for the colors, I know that they don’t match,” he said, “but the customer specifically requested them, so I’m doing my best to put in a few neutral flowers to offset how horribly they clash. Now that I have explained something that was really none of your business in the first place, will you go away? Ken’s back in the greenhouse and he’ll have a hissy if he catches you in here.”
“They always have fits, but secretly they’re used to me. They just freak out due to general principles.”
“Right. It was general principles that had Ran’s katana at your throat last time – ”
Schuldig grimaced. “Well. He’s a special case. A special nutcase.”
“Would it be terribly immature of me to say it takes one to know one?”
“Mm. Terribly.”
Yohji handed him one of the lavender roses. “Here. This one’s wilting. You should keep it; it matches your outfit.”
Schuldig smirked. “Enchantment, huh?”
“Yeah. God knows I’ve never figured out any other reason why I put up with you.”
“Yo-chan, I’m hurt.”
Yohji opened his mouth to say something like ‘no, hurt is what you’re going to be in about three seconds, since I can hear Omi-kun coming from the house – ’ but apparently Schuldig could hear it too, because he winked and strolled out of the shop without another word, tucking the flower into his bandana as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Or a jot of fashion sense.
Yohji hoped that the thorns poked him.