Kia sat in an open area near the greenhouse and lit another cigarette. There were already a dozen butts crumpled in the ashtray next to him. He didn't know when it had happened, but Ran was gone. Just when he'd thought he'd broken the last bit of ice and had been about to hear the words he'd managed to pull from every other person he'd pushed
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Curious eyes played across the suffering young man as Chloe drew closer, his original intent momentarily forgotten. The flowers would have let him know if something was amiss. This seemed slightly more pressing at the moment.
He seemed familiar. Kia. That was his name...though the details of their meeting were still a little fuzzy in his head. Still, he would have offered his services, such as they were, to anyone he thought in need of them, stranger or otherwise.
"...penny for your thoughts."
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"...I suppose that means someone else will have to visit the flowers in his absence, then."
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The last remark made him raise an eyebrow. "Are you a florist too?" Kia knew more, but he'd act like he was just familiar with the cover story despite the scars he'd seen.
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"Gardener and florist, both. I rather enjoy their company," he remarked with a faint chuckle, his attention turning to the flowers that surrounded them.
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"At home, I'm in the army. I don't know too much about flowers." And yet the specific roses he'd found for himself said that those words weren't completely true. Ran had confused him into researching them, since there seemed to be any sort of room a person could ask for here in this hotel.
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"I see...that doesn't surprise me, actually," he murmured, placing a finger to his chin in thought. "Words seem to fail him when his feelings are at their strongest. He fears them, fears being hurt by investing himself too deeply. There's also that doubt in his mind that I can't seem for the life of me to rid him of, that he deserves to try to be happy."
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"Dealing with that doubt is frustrating, but I still like him." Okay, it was more than "like", but Kia had had a hard enough time saying that to Ran himself.
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One hand extended to rest lightly on Kia's shoulder, a flux of reassurance resounding through the physical contact, before he drew back again. "I hope you two manage to find what you seek when he returns."
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His smile grew when Chloe touched him, though he didn't know why, and he nodded. "Thanks. You seem like a good friend if you're encouraging me." Not if he returns, but when. Kia could try for that optimism.
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"Still, to see him in those stolen, unguarded moments of peace are reward enough for having to deal with him the rest of the time, no?"
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Kia nodded and ached again, though not in a bad way, when he pictured Ran relaxed next to him in those moments where he seemed the warmest and most alive.
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