Your Ivy Grows and Now I'm Covered in You

"ew... that is so sappy, i might vomit"
rating: general audiences

Mai was not a woman who liked romance. This is why she figured she made a terrible girlfriend. Granted, Isis was not much better at romance. Neither of them grew up with parents to model a relationship after and so they were in a position of having to play it by ear. This meant that Mai was often in a position of trying to figure out how to balance herself. The instinct to push away was overwhelming at times. It was something she was still trying to fight. She wanted this to work out with Isis. She really did.

It’s why she felt bad when Isis presented her with flowers simply because she’d been thinking of Mai and Mai’s knee jerk reaction was, “Ew, that is so sappy, I might vomit.” Her gaze caught how Isis immediately looked away and regret settled into her stomach. “Sorry,” Mai said as she carefully took the bouquet, noting the roses and forget-me-nots that took up prominence. “I just… Don’t really like flowers.”

Isis’s eyes narrowed and Mai felt almost scrutinized by the action. She was certain that Isis was not judging her, merely trying to figure her out. And yet Mai couldn’t help but subscribe certain feelings to actions Isis made without bothering to ask. She knew she shouldn’t and yet she still did. “Why don’t you like flowers?”

Mai pulled out one of the bright pink roses, examining it. It seemed that Isis had gone out of her way to make sure each bloom was perfect with no bruises on them. Mai felt even worse for her reaction. “Flowers wilt and die,” Mai said as she put it back in place. She was well aware that by the end of the month, she’d have to throw away the bouquet because it was dead. “It’s a spectacular waste of money.”

“Strange. Normally it’s me who is overthinking the future,” Isis said as she sat down next to Mai, her hand covering Mai’s. Mai was struck by the contrast between the color of their hands yet again. Isis was now looking straight forward and Mai was grateful for that. She didn’t want Isis to see the pink flush coloring her cheek. “Is that all there is to it? Or is there more?”

“Uh,” Mai said, wishing that Isis wasn’t so perceptive. Another reason to dislike flowers was because of all the men who thought they could win her affections with something that would simply wind up as waste in the ocean. Flowers overflowed her room when she was working on that cruise ship. None of the men ever cared that it made her uncomfortable when they flirted with her while she was working and unable to give a hard no. “It’s just… ostentatious. I’ve never really been a floral kinda gal.”

Still, she snapped off the bud of one of the white roses from the stem and placed it behind Isis’s ear. Mai had a small smug grin of satisfaction when she noted that Isis had a light flush appearing across her face. “Noted,” Isis said as she leaned forward to quickly press a kiss to Mai’s cheek. For a brief second, Mai thought that maybe Isis would stop trying to get her those just because gifts. “Next time, I’ll just get you a nice watch."