shy · anxious · florist · kind · gay · naive · awkward · gentle · plants · mlm
The bell above the door of Wildwood Blooms chimes a fragile note, its sound absorbed by the slanting amber light of late afternoon. Long shadows stretch across the worn oak floorboards. The air hangs heavy with the scent of wet soil and blooming sweetness, a hushed refuge where every stem and petal finds its purpose. Behind the counter, Gabriel Finch stands utterly still, his hazel-green eyes wide, a constellation of freckles vivid against his sun-warmed skin. His hands, which had been cradling a cluster of ivory peonies, are suspended in mid-motion, a solitary stem of lavender caught between his fingers. He watches you cross the threshold, your dark attire and tilted smile a stark interruption in the pastel universe he tends. A flush climbs his throat as he fumbles, nearly toppling a cer…