Ah, of course. Business is business! I can't keep you from your clients forever.
[Gepard has to get back to his clients and make that bread, as the kids say. Can't keep somebody waiting for their appointment, that's just bad customer service. And speaking of customer service...]
Let's just say the first one is on the house. But I expect you to come back another time and get something else!
[Let him just tie that bouquet up with a ribbon to keep it all together-- a pretty emerald green color, because he likes it-- and slip one of his business cards in there. Rosemary for Remembrance, like that line from Hamlet.]
[He's 3/4ths of his way to grabbing his wallet, and then Gepard freezes like a deer in headlights, and he stares, and his mouth slightly opens, and he thinks he's blushing again- why is he blushing again, why does it feel like every single time he knows what he's doing Sampo just knocks him back on his ass and he's left floundering. Sampo's a florist, for goodness sake.]
I-
[The flowers? Beautiful. The rose, also beautiful - one's destined for his shop, the other for his bedroom.]
That's very kind, thank you. [What the heck.]
I'll be sure to come back again.
[A sheepish smile, a wave, a glance at his phone - it's that time, he's late, probably - and Gepard pleasantly smells the flowers because it's either that or screaming a little scream (both at whatever's happening here as well as the time), and he leaves just walk, walk, walking out the door, heading towards his shop, fuck fuck fuck.
[Sampo sticks one hand in his pocket and waves Gepard out the door with the other. He's, like... seventy percent sure that he'll come back again. Maybe seventy-five. It just depends on whether he's the kind of guy who keeps his promises, or if he'll be too weirded out by Sampo being overly friendly.]
[Well. If all else fails, Sampo still has his number.]
[After he's gone, Sampo's tempted to start texting him, maybe send him a gif or a meme or something, but he should probably let the guy process everything for a minute. Texting him now would totally be coming on too strong, and you can't overplay your hand, right?]
[Play it cool, Koski. Go sort some flowers or something.]
[He waits two days before he sends a text. It should be considered a truly remarkable example of self-restraint on his part. What he sends is this--]
[He's tempted to text the florist back almost immediately, and then Gepard decides no, that would be weird and needy, and then all thoughts of texting are obliterated from his mind when his client shows up and Gepard realizes he forgot about references.
...but he's got a lovely bouquet and it's fine.
...the rose ends up in his apartment, in a vase, right on his dresser.
...this means nothing.
And time goes on and he forgets about the passage of time, and then he gets a gif which startles a noise out of him, and someone asks, "Gep, are you okay over there?
I'm fine. My apologies.
[And then he starts furiously typing and stops typing and then starts typing again, and stops typing, and then backspaces a bunch, and then there's silence for a moment.]
WAS that what I looked like?
[Also, that's a lot of emotes around Sampo's name, when did that happen...he'll keep them. For now.]
[Oh! Look at that, a text in return. Sampo hadn't expected to get one so quickly, if he even got one at all. It's a nice surprise, though.]
A little bit! Don't people give you gifts very often?
[Honestly, with a face like that? Gepard should be getting gifts left, right, and center. He's the kind of good-looking who should never have to pay for his own drinks because someone else will buy them for him. Should never have to buy his own dinners because he's too pretty to pay.]
[Sampo has enough cash to pay for dinners, for drinks, but he's also too old for sugar babies. Though Gepard is gainfully employed, so he wouldn't quite be a sugar baby, right? Even if Sampo did decide to buy him things just because he's pretty?]
[He could definitely get him a lot of flowers. Maybe he should get him more flowers? Drop them off at his parlor as a surprise? No, no, that's getting way ahead of himself, he can't just start dropping presents off at Gepard's doorstep before they've even gone on the first date. That's definitely a second date kind of thing.]
[...he knows he should be getting ready for his next client, but Gepard settles in a couch. He can allow himself a few minutes of whatever-this-is. (He knows what this is, but denial makes things easier.)
So, there he is, snuggling on his couch, acting like he's a boy who has nothing better to do than to text a florist he only met once. (Had it been only once?)]
Food, if anything. Sometimes my clients like to bring me snacks?
Ah, so I have competition! How do my bouquets stack up to snacks? You can't eat them, but they're pretty, and that has to count for something.
[It's only been a few days, so Gepard probably doesn't need any more bouquets, but that doesn't mean that Sampo couldn't give him one... a tattoo parlor could have more than one bouquet in it. Or Gepard could take it home and liven up his apartment with it.]
I got some gladiolus in. They're pretty spectacular!
[There's maybe a minute or so of a break while Sampo goes and gathers up some of the new gladiolus flowers, gathering up a bunch of them in his arms of various colors. Then he takes a selfie with them and sends that over, because if he's going to send a picture to Cute Blond, he might as well include his face in it. The flowers and leaves frame his face out pretty nice, too.]
[His response is to send a screenshot of Sampo's contact info, now with that selfie for a photo, still with the ridiculous number of emotes attached to it.]
Excuse you I used just the right amount of emotes!! It's not my fault that you aren't hip with current trends.
[That was probably the least cool thing that he's ever typed, but he did it ironically so it comes back around to being cool again. That's how things work, trust him.]
You know, you need to send me a picture now, so I can have one for your contact info. It's not fair otherwise.
[After an appropriate amount of time, Gepard sends two things.
First, a Gepard da Vinci, a work of art done in a few minutes. And the second is a selfie.
The selfie is of him looking faintly embarrassed, unconsciously so, because- well. He's not good at taking selfies of himself. But it's fine. He can send a selfie of himself to his...
Buddy. His eager buddy.]
If the drawing isn't enough, here's a selfie.
My client is here so I won't be responding for a while. Sorry.
[He doesn't have a client (yet) this is a lie, but it's a white lie so it's okay.]
[How's he supposed to choose which one to use as Gepard's picture in his phone? The little Gepard da Vinci is adorable, a cute little caricature of Gepard himself, but the selfie is equally cute. He looks faintly sheepish in the picture, as though he isn't aware of the fact that he's handsome in any light.]
[Is he not aware of the fact that he's handsome? No, no, that would be ridiculous. Hot people know that they're hot.]
[Sampo's left on read for about a half hour, and during that time Gepard draws and sketches, and doodles, and draws a bunch of eyes not for any reason - it's to give his fingers something to do as he ignores the fact he sent Sampo a selfie, and then he very determinedly tries to ignore that. Trying really hard to ignore it!
...he ends up with a page full of eyes, which looks either unfortunately creepy or fortunately artistic depending on one's perspective.]
[Sampo replies about ten minutes after Gepard sends his text— he does sometimes have to do work, even when he has pretty blonds texting him.]
that’s a lot of eyes
[If he didn’t know that Gepard’s an artist and thus would draw random body parts as part of the general practice of his craft, he might think that was pretty weird.]
Have you been doing the same kind of tattoos lately? Oh have you been getting a bunch of those cybersigilism tattoos??? It’s been blowing up on TikTok lately. Kids these days!
Personally, I don't like them very much, but that's just me! I think they look like those tribal tattoos that people got thirty years ago but with the middle not filled in.
[Trends go in cycles, they say. So maybe even in the world of tattoos, if you wait long enough, tribal will be back in style in one form or another.]
Not that you shouldn't give the customer what they want, but, well. We all know how well tribal tattoos aged! [Horribly.] You sound like you need some inspiration.
Don't worry about it! It'll be fun, and you can get some creative juices flowing or whatever your process is. Meet me here at like, I dunno, five-ish?
[Beep boop an address gets sent over to Gepard's phone. Now you are presented with a choice, Cute Blonde-- do you actually show up? Mull that one over for the next few hours or so.]
[If he does decide to show, the address that Sampo sent him is actually for a little coffee shop that's right across the street from the Belobog Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Surely that's just a coincidence.]
[He mulls it over and, almost at the last minute, he gets on a bus and heads on over.
The bus gets stuck in traffic, the bus is slow, the bus takes so much time that Gepard nearly gets off and walks back home no matter how long it might take - almost, but he's so far and the address so close. He tries to ignore the people on the bus. He tries to ignore the smell, or the fact he has no idea what it is he's doing.
He arrives at the address at 5:17, a bit out of breath because he didn't quite run, but he definitely hurried, fishing out his phone because he's sure that he left Sampo hanging for a moment too long and Sampo left, probably pissed off at him for wasting his time.]
[When the clock hits five and Gepard isn't there, Sampo doesn't think much of it. Who ever arrives exactly on time, right? Especially with bus schedules how they are, showing up five minutes late is basically the same as being on time. Besides, he'd said five-ish, not exactly at five. Five after, that's nothing to worry about. Ten after, maybe Gepard's just running a bit late. Fifteen and no text, and he's starting to wonder if he's really been stood up.]
[He'd decided to give Gepard until twenty after-- maybe half-past if he's really feeling a little pathetic-- before calling it. Any later than that and it's just sad, you're just that guy who won't admit that he'd been stood up. Thankfully, Sampo is spared this sad fate when Gepard does, in fact, show up, seventeen minutes late.]
Hey, there you are! [Gepard looks a little harried, like he'd been rushing to get here. Slightly out of breath, a little color on his cheeks, it's not a bad look for him.] Want to get some coffee or something real quick? I already got tickets.
[Another reason why he really hoped Gepard wouldn't stand him up. He was able to get the tickets for the conservatory half off through various... means, some of which he's fairly certain Gepard wouldn't approve of. So what Gepard doesn't know about won't make him side-eye his new acquaintance-slash-friend! Easiest way to do it.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[Gepard has to get back to his clients and make that bread, as the kids say. Can't keep somebody waiting for their appointment, that's just bad customer service. And speaking of customer service...]
Let's just say the first one is on the house. But I expect you to come back another time and get something else!
[Let him just tie that bouquet up with a ribbon to keep it all together-- a pretty emerald green color, because he likes it-- and slip one of his business cards in there. Rosemary for Remembrance, like that line from Hamlet.]
There you go. Don't be a stranger!
no subject
I-
[The flowers? Beautiful. The rose, also beautiful - one's destined for his shop, the other for his bedroom.]
That's very kind, thank you. [What the heck.]
I'll be sure to come back again.
[A sheepish smile, a wave, a glance at his phone - it's that time, he's late, probably - and Gepard pleasantly smells the flowers because it's either that or screaming a little scream (both at whatever's happening here as well as the time), and he leaves just walk, walk, walking out the door, heading towards his shop, fuck fuck fuck.
What just happened, just-
What just happened. Much to process.]
no subject
[Well. If all else fails, Sampo still has his number.]
[After he's gone, Sampo's tempted to start texting him, maybe send him a gif or a meme or something, but he should probably let the guy process everything for a minute. Texting him now would totally be coming on too strong, and you can't overplay your hand, right?]
[Play it cool, Koski. Go sort some flowers or something.]
[He waits two days before he sends a text. It should be considered a truly remarkable example of self-restraint on his part. What he sends is this--]
this u?
no subject
...but he's got a lovely bouquet and it's fine.
...the rose ends up in his apartment, in a vase, right on his dresser.
...this means nothing.
And time goes on and he forgets about the passage of time, and then he gets a gif which startles a noise out of him, and someone asks, "Gep, are you okay over there?
I'm fine. My apologies.
[And then he starts furiously typing and stops typing and then starts typing again, and stops typing, and then backspaces a bunch, and then there's silence for a moment.]
WAS that what I looked like?
[Also, that's a lot of emotes around Sampo's name, when did that happen...he'll keep them. For now.]
I guess I see why you gave me the bouquet.
no subject
A little bit! Don't people give you gifts very often?
[Honestly, with a face like that? Gepard should be getting gifts left, right, and center. He's the kind of good-looking who should never have to pay for his own drinks because someone else will buy them for him. Should never have to buy his own dinners because he's too pretty to pay.]
[Sampo has enough cash to pay for dinners, for drinks, but he's also too old for sugar babies. Though Gepard is gainfully employed, so he wouldn't quite be a sugar baby, right? Even if Sampo did decide to buy him things just because he's pretty?]
[He could definitely get him a lot of flowers. Maybe he should get him more flowers? Drop them off at his parlor as a surprise? No, no, that's getting way ahead of himself, he can't just start dropping presents off at Gepard's doorstep before they've even gone on the first date. That's definitely a second date kind of thing.]
no subject
[...he knows he should be getting ready for his next client, but Gepard settles in a couch. He can allow himself a few minutes of whatever-this-is. (He knows what this is, but denial makes things easier.)
So, there he is, snuggling on his couch, acting like he's a boy who has nothing better to do than to text a florist he only met once. (Had it been only once?)]
Food, if anything. Sometimes my clients like to bring me snacks?
[Does that count?]
no subject
[It's only been a few days, so Gepard probably doesn't need any more bouquets, but that doesn't mean that Sampo couldn't give him one... a tattoo parlor could have more than one bouquet in it. Or Gepard could take it home and liven up his apartment with it.]
I got some gladiolus in. They're pretty spectacular!
no subject
[He...thinks. At least.]
Can I see them?
no subject
[There's maybe a minute or so of a break while Sampo goes and gathers up some of the new gladiolus flowers, gathering up a bunch of them in his arms of various colors. Then he takes a selfie with them and sends that over, because if he's going to send a picture to Cute Blond, he might as well include his face in it. The flowers and leaves frame his face out pretty nice, too.]
What do you think?
no subject
Did you really have to use that many emotes?
no subject
[That was probably the least cool thing that he's ever typed, but he did it ironically so it comes back around to being cool again. That's how things work, trust him.]
You know, you need to send me a picture now, so I can have one for your contact info. It's not fair otherwise.
no subject
[Also, very camera shy, so.]
no subject
[You're an artist, Gepard, surely you can whip up a cute little doodle of yourself to send to your new friend, right?]
no subject
First, a Gepard da Vinci, a work of art done in a few minutes. And the second is a selfie.
The selfie is of him looking faintly embarrassed, unconsciously so, because- well. He's not good at taking selfies of himself. But it's fine. He can send a selfie of himself to his...
Buddy. His eager buddy.]
If the drawing isn't enough, here's a selfie.
My client is here so I won't be responding for a while. Sorry.
[He doesn't have a client (yet) this is a lie, but it's a white lie so it's okay.]
no subject
[How's he supposed to choose which one to use as Gepard's picture in his phone? The little Gepard da Vinci is adorable, a cute little caricature of Gepard himself, but the selfie is equally cute. He looks faintly sheepish in the picture, as though he isn't aware of the fact that he's handsome in any light.]
[Is he not aware of the fact that he's handsome? No, no, that would be ridiculous. Hot people know that they're hot.]
Don't worry about it! Go make that bread.
no subject
...he ends up with a page full of eyes, which looks either unfortunately creepy or fortunately artistic depending on one's perspective.]
I think I'm in a rut.
[And sure, Sampo can see the page of eyes.]
no subject
that’s a lot of eyes
[If he didn’t know that Gepard’s an artist and thus would draw random body parts as part of the general practice of his craft, he might think that was pretty weird.]
Have you been doing the same kind of tattoos lately? Oh have you been getting a bunch of those cybersigilism tattoos??? It’s been blowing up on TikTok lately. Kids these days!
no subject
[And he can take that as he will.]
I thought I'd add to my flash sheets, but, as it turns out, I don't have any ideas of what to draw.
I know the tattoos you're talking about and I thought I'd start there, but as you can see I didn't really go anywhere with this.
no subject
[Trends go in cycles, they say. So maybe even in the world of tattoos, if you wait long enough, tribal will be back in style in one form or another.]
Not that you shouldn't give the customer what they want, but, well. We all know how well tribal tattoos aged! [Horribly.] You sound like you need some inspiration.
no subject
I could use some inspiration.
no subject
[It's not a date. Really! It's just a friendly dude helping out another dude with his problem. Totally dudebro things. Nothing to see here.]
no subject
[Wow, it sounds like Sampo's doing a lot for him. Wow. He's going to give Sampo an out.]
I wouldn't want you to to go out of your way if it's too much trouble.
no subject
[Beep boop an address gets sent over to Gepard's phone. Now you are presented with a choice, Cute Blonde-- do you actually show up? Mull that one over for the next few hours or so.]
[If he does decide to show, the address that Sampo sent him is actually for a little coffee shop that's right across the street from the Belobog Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Surely that's just a coincidence.]
no subject
The bus gets stuck in traffic, the bus is slow, the bus takes so much time that Gepard nearly gets off and walks back home no matter how long it might take - almost, but he's so far and the address so close. He tries to ignore the people on the bus. He tries to ignore the smell, or the fact he has no idea what it is he's doing.
He arrives at the address at 5:17, a bit out of breath because he didn't quite run, but he definitely hurried, fishing out his phone because he's sure that he left Sampo hanging for a moment too long and Sampo left, probably pissed off at him for wasting his time.]
no subject
[He'd decided to give Gepard until twenty after-- maybe half-past if he's really feeling a little pathetic-- before calling it. Any later than that and it's just sad, you're just that guy who won't admit that he'd been stood up. Thankfully, Sampo is spared this sad fate when Gepard does, in fact, show up, seventeen minutes late.]
Hey, there you are! [Gepard looks a little harried, like he'd been rushing to get here. Slightly out of breath, a little color on his cheeks, it's not a bad look for him.] Want to get some coffee or something real quick? I already got tickets.
[Another reason why he really hoped Gepard wouldn't stand him up. He was able to get the tickets for the conservatory half off through various... means, some of which he's fairly certain Gepard wouldn't approve of. So what Gepard doesn't know about won't make him side-eye his new acquaintance-slash-friend! Easiest way to do it.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)