Teufelsschloßes - Chapter 1
Omi sighed. Ken was supposed to be back by now, but the soccer idiot was nowhere to be seen. Youji had already gone out clubbing, and Aya hadn’t said where he’d gone, when he’d left a couple hours earlier. So Omi was stuck closing by himself. It was getting colder, and so they’d been having shorter hours with the limited light, but they’d done well enough.
“Oh, you’re already closed?” an older voice asked sadly, as Omi lifted another container of flowers to go into the trailer.
Omi started slightly. He must’ve been too annoyed with Ken to notice. Mentally, he berated himself, as he smiled at the man. “I’m putting stuff away, but I can still help you, if you need anything. What can I get for you, sir?”
The man smiled. “Such kindness in today’s youth. It is refreshing to see. Warms my heart.” He took an unsteady step towards Omi.
“Oh, let me get you something to sit on!” Omi quickly found an empty bucket, and turned it upside down next to the man, so that he could sit down. “What are you doing out so late?”
“I had heard of your little shop here, and I wanted to see it for myself. I am planning on having company soon, and I would like to have an arrangement to greet them with.”
Omi smiled. “We can do arrangements. Let me go get a pad, so I can write down the details.” He trotted inside the trailer to find the pad and a writing implement.
The man watched the boy go. He was so kind, truly, and practically shone like the sun.
Omi returned in a few moments later. “Do you have any flowers in particular that you’d like?”
“I do, actually.” The man smiled at him again. “I was hoping you could do something with daffodil, begonia, quince, and harebell. And perhaps some bay leaf as an accent?”
Omi took down all of the flowers in his notes, puzzling to himself on the combination. While it would look nice, it certainly wasn’t something he’d pick for a welcoming arrangement. “Is this all?”
The man shook his head. “No, I almost forgot the most important part. The center should be a single red rosebud, as dark as you can. And freesia. There must be freesia.”
Omi froze at that last flower, then shook his head. This was just an innocent old man. There was no way he could know the meanings of the flowers he’d chosen, nor that freesia was Omi’s personal flower in the code Weiß used to convey messages they could not send openly. He smiled at the man. “I can have this ready in a few days. Would you like us to have it delivered, or will you come to pick it up?”
If the man noticed his strange behavior, he let it pass. “I can pick it up. When can you have it ready?”
Omi cataloged what they had in stock. He’d have to go to one of their suppliers to get the quince, but the others they had. “Can you give me two days? I’d have it tomorrow, but I’d have to drop the quince.”
“Three days is fine. The quince is very important. Oh, and be sure to leave the thorns on the rosebud. I find things much more attractive when they are dangerous.”
Omi nodded, still finding the man’s order strange. “What name should I put this under, sir?”
The man seemed to think for a moment. “Dorin. Dorin Aconite.” A nod as Omi wrote that on the order. It didn’t surprise him that the man was gaijin, although his Japanese was flawless. He thought about asking where the man was from, when his question was answered. “Romania.” At Omi’s startled look, he continued. “It was written all over your face.”
“Your total will be-” Omi didn’t get to finish, as the man waved him off.
“It does not matter. I will pay it when I pick it up.” The man stood up, not showing the weakness he’d shown earlier. “I look forward to seeing you again, young man, two days hence.” He walked away, in the direction of the residential area nearest to the park, and Omi just watched him go.
“Oi, Omi!” His friend’s voice snapped him back to reality. “What’s going on? It’s way past sunset, and the flowers aren’t put away yet.”
“Way past? What are you talking about, Ken-kun?” But Omi looked around, and he saw that it had gotten much darker than he’d thought, while he’d talked to the old man. “Nevermind,” he told him, “just help me get everything inside. I’d be done by now, if you hadn’t have been late!”
“Sorry, sorry, we lost track of time. Not that I was the only one, it seems.” Ken playfully jabbed Omi with his elbow, but stopped joking when he saw that the younger Weiß wasn’t in a playful mood. “Omi, what’s wrong?”
The boy shook his head. “It’s nothing. You were late, and I was talking with this kind old man…” Omi trailed off. Surely, the man had just left, right?
“Hah. You were spaced out, and staring at nothing.” Ken shook his head, but picked up the next container of flowers to go in.
Omi looked out the direction the man had gone, and then followed Ken inside with the last of the flowers. “I have to make a supply run tomorrow,” he told Ken, “for an order.”
“You got an order?”
“Yeah…” Omi didn’t tell Ken what the flowers were, or what the man had wanted them for. After all, the man couldn’t have known… right?
[The flowers have the following meanings:
Daffodil - Respect; Deceit
Begonia - Beware
Quince - Temptation
Harebell - Submission and Grief
Bay Leaf - I change but in death
Rosebud - Innocence*
*It is of note that the color specified, a dark crimson, means “mourning” in a bloomed rose
Freesia - Omi’s image flower, but it also conveys innocence and trust
Also, the word ‘gaijin’ means ‘foreigner.’ So Omi’s noting that he’s not Japanese.]