[fanfic] Digimon Adventure 02: Breath of Roses

[higuchimon]

Title: Breath of Roses
Pairing: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken
Word Count: 2,091||Status: One-shot
Genre: Romance||Rated: G
Notes: This takes place post defeat of Belial Vamdemon & ignores the 02 epilogue.
Challenge: 2014 Advent Calendar Challenge, day #3; Diversity Writing Challenge, section E3: oneshot with no dividers; Pairing Diversity Challenge, prompt #21, roses; One Ship Boot Camp, prompt #41, celebration
Summary: Daisuke wants to find just the right gift for Ken, which is harder than it seems, especially when one has a time limit.

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It couldn't be roses. Roses were so common. Everyone bought roses when something special happened. Daisuke wanted to be different. He wanted to get Ken something that really showed that he thought about his boyfriend, something that showed he cared about him.

But no matter how much he wandered around the flower shop, he couldn't see anything else here that really and truly called to him in the way that those beautiful roses did. The aroma put him in mind of the scent of Ken's hair, even though Ken very definitely didn't use rose-scented shampoo. But he thought about Ken anyway.

Daisuke wasn't certain if he should count that, since there were few times in his day when Ken didn't cross his mind somehow anyway.

Almost against his will he came to look at the roses again. There weren't just red ones or white ones there, not at all. That would've made it so much easier for him to decide. But, no, they had to give him options.

Red roses. White roses. Yellow roses. Pink and orange and lavender and even green. Who in the world came up with green roses? This wasn't the Digital World, where he would've accepted green roses, or purple roses, or even striped roses as a matter of course.

Each of the different colors had a small plaque next to them denoting their particular meanings. Daisuke had to admit that lavender roses did come pretty close to what he thought about Ken, but not quite actually there. He read the meaning over again, considering.

Love at first sight. Enchantment. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He'd still had it bad for Hikari back then. Regal majesty and splendor. Even without being the Kaiser, Ken still held himself with a rare dignity that had only grown as he'd begun to heal from the events of the past. That one certainly rang true.

And they did match his eyes.

But they still weren't entirely, one hundred percent, without a doubt perfect, and Daisuke didn't want to do less than his best for Ken. He didn't like doing less than his best for anyone, but Ken was a special case on so many different levels.

He'd screwed up before, trying to do his best for Ken and for others. He didn't want to do it again. Even though if he did, Ken would just smile at him in that warm way he had and never say a word about it.

What in the world had he ever done to deserve someone like Ken in his life? Not just as a friend, but as the person he loved the most, who he dared to think loved him back?

“Daisuke?” V-mon tugged at his hand. The faithful Digimon had put up with his fretting and worries for what had to be half an hour now, after three days of even more fretting over what to do now that the acceptance letter had arrived. “Daisuke, are you going to get something for Ken or not?”

“Of course I am!” Daisuke wasn't certain if he should be offended by the question or not. Then he drooped as the realization crashed in on him all over again. “I just don't know what.” And that was the biggest sticking point ever.

V-mon sighed and shook his head. “Well, could you decide soon? I'm getting hungry.”

Daisuke winced; his own stomach told him clearly that it was more than past time to get something to eat. But he couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. This was the third flower shop he'd been in today, looking for the mysterious and elusive perfect flower, and he didn't want to go looking for a fourth.

He glanced back at the roses and fidgeted. It might have to be one of them. He still couldn't decide. Why didn't they teach this kind of thing in school? How to pick the perfect flower for someone you love and do it without feeling like the world's biggest idiot. He would've paid money for that kind of class.

“Which ones do you think Ken would like, V-mon?” Daisuke wasn't above asking for help, especially not from his partner.

V-mon looked at them all, and if someone could've looked more confused than Daisuke about all of this, then the blue Digimon was certainly the one doing it. “I think he'd like any of them. They're all really pretty.”

“I know.” Daisuke sighed. Why did this have to be so difficult? Why couldn't he just waltz in, select the perfect bouquet, and waltz on out, ready to give it to Ken before tonight's party even started?

He really had to hurry, too. They only had about three hours until everyone would start turning up, all ready to offer congratulations and pats on the back and advice for the wonderful world of the college-bound. He wanted to give these to Ken before all of that started, so they would have a few special moments to themselves.

They might not have that many more, once the new college year began. There was so much that needed to be decided here, such as whether or not they could still share the apartment. The very thought of not being able to come home and share some quality time with Ken sent chills down Daisuke's spine. For all that they'd lived together little more than a year, he'd gotten used to being around him almost all of the time.

He brushed off the fears; he was pretty good at that kind of thing. He needed to make up his mind and then go on home, instead of lurking here being worried constantly. He was the Child of Courage, not the Child of Cannot Make Up His Mind.

Roses. So much as they were kind of cliché and some people might've even said not the kind of flower one could or should give to someone like Ken, Daisuke made up his mind.

“I'd like a dozen red roses, please.” The most traditional and heartfelt of all the roses, he felt. Simple and to the point: I love you. No matter what else happened in their lives, Daisuke wanted Ken to know that more than anything else.

“Would you like a vase or a bouquet?” The clerk asked, even as he started to gather up Daisuke's order.

“Just a bouquet, please.” Daisuke fidgeted, peeking out the window in the hopes of not seeing anyone that he knew. It would be enough that he had to go all the way home on the train with these things. He wasn't ashamed by any means, but he didn't want to start up a conversation about why he was taking home twelve red roses. That was kind of personal.

He was halfway down to the train station before he realized something else and buried his face in his one free hand. “Great. Just great.”

“Daisuke?” V-mon peered up at him, clearly as confused as he'd been before. “What's wrong?”

“Look.” He prodded one of the stems with a finger, hissing and pulling away as a sudden streak of blood appeared there. “I didn't get the thorns taken off.” He'd thought they did that automatically, but apparently he was wrong about that.

“What's wrong with that?” V-mon tilted his head a little. “They're not going to hurt him, are they?”

Daisuke sucked on his finger for a moment before he answered. “Not really. Ken's a tough guy. But I still should've done it.” He should've guessed something like this would turn up. Every time he tried, he screwed up somewhere along the line. At least it was only the thorns on the rose. Ken could be allergic to flowers.

Thankfully he wasn't. At least not to any that Daisuke knew about. But he wouldn't have been surprised if an allergy developed out of thin air, just so he would screw up trying to do something.

He could feel people looking at him as he and V-mon settled into their seats. For once, he was reasonably certain it was for what he was carrying and not his partner. More and more people had Digimon partners these days, so seeing them wasn't that unusual anymore. In fact, he could see two other people with their partners there.

Yeah, people were staring because of the roses. He held them close and checked his D-Terminal for messages with his free hand. He had quite a few, most of which were variations on 'I'll be at the party'. Some of them came from the far corners of the world, but they would all be there nevertheless. Being able to use the Digital World for travel purposes was great. It wasn't something they did on a regular basis, but when something important came up, it could be extremely useful.

That would probably also help if they ended up having to move apart due to the college acceptance. That still threw him for a loop. Of all the ways he would've imagined possibly not seeing Ken again for a few years, except for odd vacations and trips to the Digital World, this hadn't been it. He couldn't say he'd ever sat down and thought about how that might happen, either.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that if it hadn't been for V-mon poking him just in the nick of time, he might've missed his stop. Which wasn't too bad; the next three were close enough to the apartment that he could have walked anyway, but this one was the closest. And the less time he had to walk with these roses with people giving him strange looks, the better.

The apartment was as ready for a party that would have guests from around the world – both worlds – as it could possibly be. He and Ken had spent hours earlier getting everything set up before going off to do 'personal things'. Neither of them had told the other what those personal things were, but Daisuke knew very well Ken would be trying to get something for him, just as he'd spent most of the time since then looking for the perfect set of roses.

He ran his hands gently over the ones that he had, breathing in the aroma. It did remind him so much of Ken. Even the petals brought up memories, of the way Ken's skin felt against him, and the aroma reminded him not just of Ken's hair but of the sweet fragrance of his breath.

He didn't want to call Ken a rose, but if a rose had been given human form, Daisuke wouldn't have been surprised at all to find that said rose reminded him a great deal of Ken.

They still had some time until the first guests started to arrive, so Daisuke quickly showered and changed into something more suitable for a party, as opposed to running around flower shops and panicking in. Just as he finished getting himself sorted out, the door unlocked and a familiar voice spoke as he entered.

“Are you certain he'll like these, Wormmon? I'm not sure if they're him or not.”

“Of course he will, Ken-chan,” Wormmon replied, and Daisuke moved out of the hallway just in time to see Ken and Wormmon entering the living room.

He hurried right over to where he'd left the bouquet of roses and picked them up, turning to Ken. Before he finished turning, he'd already started on the speech he'd rehearsed to himself in the shower.

“Ken, I know neither of us expected this to happen, and I'm still glad that it did. I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens or how far apart we are, for no matter how long it is, I love you.” By the time he reached 'I love you', he faced Ken head-on and held out the bouquet. He couldn't help but be proud of himself, as he'd said it all without getting a single word wrong.

Then he saw what Ken held out to him and started to laugh, a weak, helpless, completely confused and yet thoroughly enjoyable laugh.

“I love you, too, Daisuke,” Ken said, a soft smile on his lips as he held onto the bouquet of orange roses. “And if you don't behave yourself while you're off at college, I'm going to be very upset with you.” But from that smile, Daisuke thought he could live with Ken being upset. Especially if it came with kisses like the one Ken placed ever so gently on his lips.

The End

Note: Orange roses signify passion and energy and are second only to red roses as messengers of passion in romance.