Anthology
Doey Week 2013

Day I: Flowers

Duncan was not the sort of man prone to random acts of affection and frivolity; indeed, he was more inclined to denounce all such things with a certain amount disgust and vehemence that would put to rest any doubt someone might have about his stance on these sorts of things, or his temperament and reputation perhaps being lame.

Which was why Zoey was so surprised when, for no particular reason, upon answering her door one fine spring morning, she found Duncan standing there with one arm behind his back, looking decidedly nervous and uncomfortable. She blinked at him in confusion. "Duncan?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

The question was barely out of her mouth before Zoey felt something being pressed into her hands. She looked down and found herself holding, of all things, a bouquet of tulips.

"I read a list about it somewhere, once," Duncan told her, "about this 'language of flowers' thing." He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't know what half the stuff on that list were, but I figured, hey, tulips are pretty recognizable, right? Roses are more expensive, and I think tulips suit you better anyway."

Zoey brought the bouquet closer to her face and breathed deeply. "Oh, Duncan," she said, "they're so pretty!"

He coughed awkwardly into his fist. "Uh, the pink ones mean caring, and the white ones are for forgiveness. Violet is for faithfulness." And then he blushed, from the back of his neck and across his face, and then all the way up to the pierced tips of his ears. "And red is a declaration of love, apparently. Yellow means 'hopelessly in love'." And then he finally met her gaze. "So, uh. Guess I'll see you around, then." Then he turned quickly on his heel and left — Zoey thought she'd never seen him move quite so fast before.

"Thanks, Duncan!" she called after him, smiling to herself as she closed the door and sat down on the couch. And then she realized something — Duncan had said love, hadn't he?

Oh. Now it was Zoey's turn to blush.

Not my original plan for this, but. I just wanted to do something for at least day numero uno of Doey week, since I don't know if I'll be able to do the other days. So, there we go. The symbolism of flowers is one of my favorite things ever, though. Seriously.