Say hello now to some more characters from Flowers! You'll discover that Flowers has always had quite the large cast because for some reason I used to think stories needed 20+ characters and plots to be any good. Well, and I've always had a bad habit of getting too invested in side characters.
Sadly, from what I can recall from Flowers - it's been a little while since I've really worked on it in depth - there's only one or two pairings that are any kind of functional and healthy and Mikel and Max are not one of them. No matter what these drabbles might try and convince you. They are also a duo that eventually falls more to the wayside as one of the less interesting dynamics within the Flowers canon. So it's interesting to see pieces written for them at all before Terry inevitably steals the show, as is his tendency.
Also, younger me didn't quite have a grasp on sexuality or gender identity yet and while I considered scrubbing this to make it a bit more palatable, I felt like that would be dishonest and would kind of ruin the point of this whole project anyway. So, I've left it as is, for better or worse.
"Yo, Mikel! Get your lazy butt out of bed, we don't have time for this!" Snapped the voice of an extremely irritated blonde, who was definitely not a morning person.
The brunette sniffed, unhappy about being woken up, he was also not anything close to a morning person, which made mornings in the small apartment just peachy.
"Get up, man, I don't have time for this," the blonde was nearly snarling at this point, chocolate-brown eyes narrowing in annoyance at her roommate's snail pace, resisting the urge to shake him awake, knowing the response she would get.
Mikel finally raised a hand, shooting off a couple of quick sign in acknowledgement as he sluggishly rolled to his side, his free hand brushing through his scruffy brown hair.
The woman with wheat blonde hair stood in front of him, scowl deeply embedded on her face and hands on her hips. The brunette sighed deeply, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, but not moving any further, 'I'm up Shana, promise,' he signed quickly, rising to his feet in one swift motion, giving the woman a silly grin.
She huffed back at him, rolling her eyes, "Honestly, Mikel, I don't think I have ever seen anyone less elegant in the morning than you are," she said, shuffling herself out of the room to finish her own preparations for the day.
Mikel snorted, sticking his tongue out at her back before wiping at a dried streak of drool on his cheek, it wasn't his fault that he slept really well at night. He stretched his back out as he walked towards his door, pleased at the popping sounds that came from it and the muscles that relaxed soon after. He did the same with his neck, and fingers before he got to the bathroom door, a shower sounding great right then.
Something hit the back of his head as he tried to close the bathroom door behind him, "Idiot, the door bell's ringing! Go get it, I'm half-naked here!" Shana shouted from the other room and only then did Mikel notice that the door bell was, indeed, ringing.
Frowning at the rainbow slipper he passed as he walked out to the hall, he really had to get Shana to stop throwing things at him, he moved quicker than he had been before, manners from long ago ingrained in him to not let people at the door wait longer than needed. Not that he was moving too much faster, but it was definitely faster than he had been before.
He did manage to get to the door before the person had to ring the bell again, which he was proud of, and he opened it, a tired smile plastered on his lips.
Until he saw who was standing there and his cheeks took on a deep red color, the blush hot on his skin.
'Hey... Max...' Mikel moved his hand slowly, not only out of habit for the man, but also from the shock and embarrassment he was still feeling. His free hand moved over his hair of its own free will, attempting to make Mikel somewhat presentable in front of the person whose opinion mattered to him more than anything.
Max, though, was speechless, not that Mikel could blame him, at all, like Shana said, he was not the most attractive person in the morning.
Then Max grinned, placing a soft hand on the other's cheek, "You're adorable."
He smiled as his date for the evening walked gracefully from the small club, the perfect image of a woman, though there was a man's body hiding beneath his dress.
"Hello," he said, offering his arm to his lovely date.
Who gave a small smile, giving a small wave in greeting, looping his arm through the one that was being offered to him.
"I hope you don't mind, the car is on another block," he spoke with hesitancy, unsure of how his partner for the night would feel about that.
He got a shrug in response, that little smile never leaving the smaller man's lips.
"So... how are you... Mika? Is that right?" He asked, looking at the little brunette man, watching for a sign of offense at a forgotten name.
Mika, though, nodded and his grin grew brighter, not many people in his line of work bothered to learn your name very often, it sure was a different feeling. Remembering the actual question in that sentence, the scruffy haired brunette gave a quick thumbs up, before gesturing to the other, hoping that he understood what he was implying.
The man ran a hand through his strawberry blonde hair, nerves obvious by the tension in his stride, "Good to know, I'm not doing to bad myself." He said, releasing Mika's arm as they finally arrived at the spot the car, and driver, had been left. He opened the door for the other, allowing him to get in first before following, "My names Max, by the way," his voice held none of the confidence that Mika expected of an up-and-coming business man, though, considering their situation, that wasn't much of a surprise.
Mika, out his excitement, couldn't stop his fingers from moving of their own accord, 'Nice to meet you, Max!' He signed quickly, not surprised when Max stared at him questioningly for a few seconds.
"Sign language... okay," he sighed, looking like he was in deep thought for a moment before continuing, "I know a couple of words and the basic alphabet, but you'll have to go easy on me." The statement said with a mischievous grin that finally showed a confident business man in his own element.
Not that Mika minded at all, most of the people he ended up with didn't care much for trying to talk to him, he liked the feeling. He couldn't stop his brown eyes from widening in happiness and sparkling with excitement, 'Really? Cool! How'd you learn? Why?' He asked, muscles in his finger almost twitching under the pressure of the slow movements, when all they wanted to do was fire off questions as quick as he could.
Max took a second to process the, still considerably quick, letters before responding, "My secretary has a deaf cousin, sometimes she shows me some things when we have nothing better to do." He laughed, Mika chuckling with him, the only sound he could make anymore that wasn't screaming or crying.
They talked a while longer, neither of them realizing when the car began to move, or when it stopped twenty minutes later at the entrance to a five-star hotel.
A valet opened the door, Max getting out first and offering his hand to the other, a soft smile on his lips, as if they were sharing something that was only theirs.
Which, no matter how ridiculous, Mika couldn't stop himself from believing. No matter how much he knew that he had to, he didn't want to leave the personal bubble that they had created.
He didn't want to remember that it was all just work.