#thepossumwrites

The Conservatory of Flowers is buzzing with activity around them. Somehow he’d successfully convinced Rocky and Adrian to come along with him today, even though both of them really aren’t flower enthusiasts. He’s not particularly either, but the Corpse Flower is in bloom today and he’s been wanting to see if for years. He would have gone by himself, if he had too, but he’s not great in big crowds and the pharmacy apparently couldn’t refill his medication for another week. It was his own fault really, getting down to the last couple pills before putting in the request, but such is life. He’ll manage, especially with Rocky and Adrian at his side. 

“Why do you want to see the stinky flower, again?” Rocky signs to him, his brown skinned fingers taking on the shapes in a teasing manner. Ryland is very well versed in Rocky’s body language by now. They’d met freshman year of college, roomed together in the same dilapidated freshman dorm, making quite a pair with Rocky’s 5’4” stature next to his 6’ height. Rocky was an engineering major, Ryland was a molecular biology major. What transpired was such a series of experiments and construction that by the end of the four years they’d been able to patent a couple different new pieces of medical equipment, which paid for his PHD and the ring Rocky used to propose to Adrian with. 

Adrian was in one of Rocky’s elective classes, specifically his ‘Introduction to Cultural Anthropology’ class. Neither of them are really sure how Rocky was able to pull Adrian, the most attractive person in his classes by far with their blue dyed hair and tall, plus size frame, especially getting their number within the first couple times sitting next to them in class, but Ryland came to the conclusion that Adrian must just like weird guys. They’re wedding is in a couple months, and he does have a date, a guy he’s been kind of seeing. He’s not really sure about him right now, but he thinks there’s potential there. Mark is sweet enough. 

“Because, Rock,” he signs back, speaking out loud at the same time since Rocky is able to hear him, “It’s really cool and it only blooms one every like, three to seven years I think.”

Rocky pauses a moment to push a couple of his dreads back to the side of his face, the blue stainless steel trinkets woven into it clinking softly. He shifts the AAC device he has slung over one shoulder farther back on his hip, “Okay? Still stinky.”

Adrian digs in their bag and hands Rocky a bungee hair tie, “Leave him alone, yagi, let him be excited about his stinky plant.”

Ryland sighs heavily, turning away from his two friends. Maybe it would have been easier to just come alone. Then he wouldn’t have to listen to the teasing all day. They’ve barely made it inside the Conservatory and already his nerves are fried. There’s people all around them, most likely here to see the flower, but it’s been a while since he’s been in a room with this many adults. He tugs a fidget out of his pocket - one of his favorite ones, it’s a star with a little wheel in the middle -  and works the wheel around and around with his fingers, trying to calm himself down. He can do this, he can do this. 

They start to make their way through the dome, pausing to look at the different plants. He likes the aquatic ones, the water looks so peaceful with the little koi swimming underneath. Unfortunately, he hesitates a little too long, because someone has sideled up next to him without him realizing it.

“Hey there, do you have any questions?” a middling baritone voice asks next to him, causing him to jump slightly. 

He drops the fidget, letting out a soft fudge as it bounces on the ground, bending down to pick it up. 

“Oh, I’m sorry!” The voice says, also apparently bending down at the same time to get it. He sees a big hand come into his line of sight, and before he realizes the hand closes around his just as he gets a hold of the fidget. He looks up quickly, too startled to pull it back just yet, and looks directly into a pair of the most gorgeous brown eyes he’s ever seen. Before he can stop himself his eyes roam over the rest of the man’s face. Shoulder length black hair pulled back in a low bun, trimmed beard on his soft jawline, a scar running from the bottom of his left earlobe to the corner of his pink lips. His almond eyes are wide as they stare at him back. He must be Korean, like Adrian. The only coherent thought right now that Ryland has is this is genuinely the most attractive man he’s ever seen before. 

He feels the man let go of his hand, which brings him back to his body. Ryland quickly stands, shoving the fidget back into his pocket with an embarrassed flush, “So sorry, cheese and crackers.”

The man’s lips curl up in a smile at that, “No, I’m sorry I scared you.”

Ryland’s eyes quickly roam over the rest of him, taking in the name tag that says ‘Simon F. | Expert’. He’s wearing a dark green button up with little colorful flowers all over it, Ryland remembers seeing it in a pride collection somewhere recently. The man is also missing his left arm starting just above the elbow, a dark green wrap protecting it from the elements. When he’s done checking the guy out, he looks back at his face, seeing the man staring back with an amused smile.

“Oh! Uh, sorry, my manners, where did they go??? My name is Ryland, Ryland Grace. I’m um, here for the stinky flower!!” He wants to die. He wants to throw himself into the little river in front of them and become Ophelia. 

Simon laughs softly, “Simon, I’m the botany expert on staff today. It’s nice to meet you Ryland Ryland Grace.”

“Just Ryland is fine,” he says weakly, already thinking about how he can get Simon to laugh again, “Do you, uh, do you come here often?”

“Yeah . . . I kinda work here, so I need to.” Simon gives him a half quirked smile, eyes crinkling in amusement.

Fudging heck why did he say that?? He was trying to reach for something charming to say, to maybe flirt with the guy a little, mainly to get to know him, but he comes up with the most generic line possible??? At his place of work??? He needs to think of something else to say, some way of salvaging this. He knows he’s a disaster when it comes to talking with new people, which is why he generally just doesn’t unless they’re introduced to him first.  

“So do you have any questions?” Simon asks again, inclining his head towards Ryland. 

Oh he has many questions. Is Simon single? Would he like to exchange phone numbers? How would he feel about a date? Being Ryland’s boyfriend? Before he can ask a normal question about like, the plants around them and stuff, his phone rings in his pocket. 

“Oh geez, forgot to turn my ringer off,” He gives a nervous laugh, pulling out the phone to silence it. He sees Mark’s name on the screen though, and he instantly remembers he’s kinda been going on dates with someone else, “I gotta take this, but I’ll be back?”

Simon just nods, smiling warmly at him, “I’ll be around, come find me when you’re done.”

Giving Simon one last look and smile, Ryland swipes the answer button and heads into a less crowded section of the Conservatory, sinking down into a bench.

“Hey Mark, how are-”

“Yeah I don’t know, I think I’m going to just break up with him or whatever.” Mark’s voice is muffled, like the phone is in his pocket. 

The breath is punched out of Ryland’s lungs as he hears that, pressing the phone close to his ear so he can try and hear more of the conversation. He doesn’t hear what the other person is saying, but he does hear Mark’s half laugh.

“Mhhm, the dates have been fun and everything, and he’s cute, but like, I think he wants to marry and shit, get serious. He asked me to his best friend's wedding and that’s cool and all, but I don’t really know the best friend you know? Besides, the other guy I’m seeing, you know, Teddy? He wants to go on a hiking trip that weekend and I’d much rather do that. I’m not ready to settle down or be monogamous.”

Ryland hangs up the phone then, just enough in his mind to not chuck it at the wall. He’s not able to catch his breath, not really, and it’s starting to make him feel a little dizzy. Tears are clouding his eyes and he shoves his glasses up into his hair, burying his heels against his eyes, willing the tears to stop. He was so stupid. How didn’t he see it? Mark was nice, sure, but he was so non-committal about everything. Ryland was just so desperate for someone to see him in a romantic light he was taking anything he could get, like the loser he was. His breathing is still rapid, like hummingbird wings. The tears aren’t stopping and all he can hear is the rush of blood and Mark’s words, how he was seeing another guy while going on dates with Ryland and not telling him, how he didn’t want to settle down with Ryland. Ryland knew they weren’t officially dating, and he would have been okay if Mark had been up front about his going on dates with other people, but to just not tell him? Ryland should stop this spiral and go find Adrian and Rocky, or just get up and walk out of here and back home. But he can’t get himself to do anything other than sit on this fudging bench and cry. 

“Ryland? Hey Ryland, you okay?” He hears distantly, a voice he half way recognizes. It’s low and soothing, right in front of him. He can feel their body heat, smell the tea-tree shampoo they use, the soothing scent of something floral, clean. “Ryland? Is it okay if I touch you?”

He wants nothing more than to be touched, to be loved, to be comforted. He somehow manages a nod, still not looking up, the heels of his hands pressing so hard he starts to see stars. Then a gentle hand is pulling his left arm down, and then moving over and pulling the right one down. He feels cloth being pressed into his hand and he uses it to wipe his eyes. When he opens them he sees it’s a hankie, clean save for the wet spots of his tears. He looks past it and sees Simon kneeling in front of him, his lips curved into a comforting smile.

“There you are,” Simon smiles, hand resting on Ryland’s left knee, “You okay?”

Ryland sighs and shakes his head, “No, but it’s fine.”

“Wanna talk about it?” He asks, his thumb rubbing small circles on his kneecap. That little point of touch is so comforting, so soothing, he wants to find out what a hug from the man would feel like. It would probably be so warm, cocooned in between his broad shoulders. 

“Uh, I mean it’s really nothing, the guy I was seeing just butt dialed me when he was talking with someone. He was saying he’s going to break things off with me because he doesn’t want to settle down and he was already seeing another guy.” Ryland shrugs, staring down at Simon’s hand. 

“Well he’s stupid.” He says it so firmly, so resout, that it draws a little gasp from Ryland.

Ryland looks up, the way Simon is looking at him is so soft, so warm, but firm, like he can see straight through Ryland’s soul and knows the thing he says next to be true, “Anyone who decides to let a pretty thing like you go is stupid.”

The blush is back in full force, and suddenly he’s a stuttering mess, “Oh! Uh, well, I don’t know about pretty, I mean I think I’m probably cute or something? Not handsome so much as like, I get compared to like, a puppy. A golden retriever to be exact, though I think in terms of animals I’m more like a fox, they’re my favorite animal anyways, foxes. They’re really cool. Did you know foxes are trying to domesticate themselves?? I looked into it a little bit ago because I think it would be cool to have a pet fox and-”

“Can I take you on a date?” Simon interrupts him, his eyes shining with something like fondness. Somehow Simon is able to stop the spiraling once again, bring him to the present and in this moment where the most attractive man he’s ever met is actually asking him out for real and not as a joke or a pity thing. 

He’s nodding before his mouth is able to remember how to speak, nodding so hard his glasses slip from his head and down to his nose. He pushes them up the bridge of his nose as Simon laughs softly, “Yeah! Yeah I would really, really like that.”

Simon’s smile is almost blinding, he’s never seen anything more beautiful. 

Ryland opens his phone and navigates to a new contact, handing it over to Simon eagerly, “Here, can I have your number? So we can figure out date stuff?”

“You free tonight by chance?” Simon asks as he takes the phone, plugging in his number and handing it back. Simon Fisher is his full name. Ryland adds a little pink flower to the end of it before texting him with his full name as well.

“I am, actually, yeah.” Ryland smiles, watching as Simon gets his text and saves his number as well. He wants to see if Simon adds a little emoji next to his name, but he doesn’t pry. Some people don’t do stuff like that, which is okay. He’s happy with the little flower he used.

“There’s a really nice, quiet place a little outside of downtown, I could pick you up around 7? Or we could meet there, whatever you’re most comfortable with.” Simon looks really happy, and Ryland really appreciates the options.

“You can pick me up, if you want. More time for us to get to know each other.” He responds, blushing a little at his own forwardness. He’s not normally like that, in fact he’s never let someone drive him around that wasn’t Rocky, Adrian, or Colt, but something about Simon just makes him trust him. 

“That sounds great to me.” Simon stands him from his kneeling position then, dusting off the knees of his jeans, “Want me to take you to see your stinky flower? She’s fully bloomed.”

He nods, standing and stretching slightly. He realizes he’s still holding the hankie and offers it back to Simon who shakes his head, “Nah, keep it, wanna make sure you don’t forget about me.”

“There’s very genuinely no way I could forget about you,” Ryland laughs softly, but he does tuck the hankie into his pocket alongside his keys. 

He notices Adrian and Rocky then watching from a little ways away. Rocky has the biggest shit eating grin on his face while Adrian is giving him a warm smile. He knows he’s already in for more teasing, but that’s okay. If he comes away from all of this with the chance at a relationship with Simon, it will literally all be worth it. 

The two of them walk up to his friends, and Ryland immediately introduces them, “Simon, these are my best friends Rocky and Adrian. Rocky and Adrian, this is Simon. He works here and he’s gonna take me to the corpse flower if you want to tag along.”

Rocky starts to sign something to him, something that starts with “Simon’s probably a better name to mo-” But Adrian cuts him off by bringing his hands down quickly.  

Once again Ryland’s face heats up, the blush creeping up the side of his neck and over taking the mask of his face. Thankfully Adrian smiles at Simon and says, “It’s very nice to meet you, Simon. Thank you for helping out Ryland.”

Simon smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Glad to be able to help honestly, I’ve had my fair share of panic attacks.”

“Simon give Grace phone number, question?” a robotic voice asks. Rocky has his tablet in his hands and he’s typing furiously, “Simon is Grace type.” 

“Okay, time to go see the flower!!” Ryland says quickly, taking Simon by the hand on instinct and tugging him away from Rocky, whose shoulders are shaking hard, the noise coming from his restricted vocal chords his laughter. 

When they get to the flower it’s incredible. Like Simon said, it’s fully in bloom now, the maroon of the inside beautiful against the lighter green outside. It’s exactly what Ryland was hoping it would be. It smells absolutely horrendous. He can’t stop smiling. 

Simon squeezes his hand, he hadn’t realised Ryland had still been holding it, but he doesn’t make a move to let go even when he does, “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“She is,” Ryland agrees, “Definitely exceeds expectations.”

Adrian and Rocky walk up next to them, taking in the flower too. They sign to each other, lazy conversation drifting towards the wedding. Ryland wonders if Simon understands ASL as well. If not, he’d like to teach him. If this goes where he hopes, of course. 

Simon leans over to him, his whispered voice soft in his ear, “So . . . I’m your type?"

Ryland laughs softly, staring at the corpse flower still, feeling Simon’s breath on his neck, the warmth of him, the callouses on his hand, “Oh yeah, exactly my type. Hope that’s okay.”