Kurt hummed softly to himself, smiling as he flipped the sign on the door to his florist shop to ‘Open'. He sighed as he breathed in the smell of his new, fall flowers- roses, lilies, marigolds. There was no other business he wanted to be in.

Of course, running a new floral shop with no help was…exhausting. It was only a week into him opening his shop and, by the end of the day, he felt like he didn't want to speak to, or even see, another human for the rest of the week. And it was only Monday.

He locked up his shop and turned to walk towards his apartment, hoping he'd make it home before dark. A chill was beginning to stir in the wind as the sun started to make its journey down from the sky. Kurt knew before long that making it home before dark would be out of the question- as well as making it home before the cold. Because, before long, the cold is all there would be.

Not that he had a problem with that. Kurt loved the cold weather. He loved watching the leaves change colors. Loved sipping hot chocolate or coffee on his window seat as he watched the drizzle splatter against his window. Loved wrapping himself up in scarves, sweaters, and pea coats, and wearing his boots that fit snug against his calves. And, he had to admit, fall was also a great time for business, before the cold winter months would hit and ice the plants that weren't kept indoors.

For now he was snug with just one sweater on, hands finding the pockets on the front of it as he weaved through the crowds of people that were making their way home or to whatever other business they had to take care of. As he passed by a tattoo parlor, a few designs caught his eye. Raising his eyebrows, he backed up slightly to look them over again- poppies in deep red, roses in soft pink, and sunflowers in bright yellow. The flowers were woven together so carefully it made Kurt think of the hours he put into creating bouquets and arrangements for his customers.

He wondered briefly to himself who had drawn the designs. Was it merely a sample found online? A piece brought in by a customer? Or had one of the artists drawn these works?

Kurt took up walking home again, wishing that he could draw as well as whomever had drawn those flower pieces.

--

“Blaine! There you are my man.”

Blaine was greeted by a grin and a clap on the back from the taller, broader man, whose torso and arms were nearly covered in ink.

“Hey Tony. Didn't know you'd been missing me so much,” Blaine teased with a smile, lounging back in the armchair in the longue area of the parlor.

“What can I say, it's been a slow day,” Tony said with a shrug, brushing his hand over his bald head, which was slowly beginning to fill up with tattoos.

“Mondays are like that sometimes. People are busy planning for the new week and all,” Blaine said, waving his hand dismissively.

“Yeah yeah, give them legit excuses,” Tony said with a chuckle, glancing up as he heard the bell over the door ring.

Blaine smiled at the two girls that walked in. They couldn't have been much older than 18. They talked quietly with each other until one turned her attention to Blaine and Tony, saying, “Um hi, we both want to get tattoos?”

“Well you've come to the right place, huh?” Tony said with a laugh, playfully smacking Blaine's arm as he stood. “What can we do for you girls?”

“Well, we both want to get our first tattoo together,” the other girl said, pushing her long, brown hair back.

“Ah, newbies,” Tony murmured with a grin, taking pieces of paper from each of the girls- a four leaf clover and a shooting star. Blaine walked over, taking the star from him.

“Well girls, let us get these on a transfer and get everything set up, then you can head over to our chairs alright?” Blaine said with a smile, watching the girls nod and step away to talk to each other and look at the various designs on the walls.

“Typical girls,” Tony said with a shake of his head and a chuckle as he headed to the design room to get the designs drawn up on transfer paper, with Blaine following suit.

And when the girls walked out later, satisfied (but still complaining about the pain), Blaine remembered why he loved his job so much- he got to turn people into canvases.