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"You brought me cherry pie?" Face flushed with excitement, Apollo Helios Torres runs to greet his boyfriend at the door of his art studio. He eyes the stuff in Eujae's hands and scowls in confusion as he recognizes the bouquet of purple flowers that the taller man is holding.
With a chuckle, Eujae leans in to place a quick kiss on his lover's forehead. "You look too eager, baby. Here, as promised," he says before giving Poll the bunch of flowers.
"Why these?" the male twin asks, accepting the bouquet despite his puzzlement. He examines the clumps of blue, star-shaped flowers blooming from each of the stems that are sticking out. Surrounding them is a flat cluster of a different type of flowers with small, pinkish-purple petals.
He knows the name of the first type only because they look exactly like the flowers from the webtoon that he has been reading for a while. They are called hyacinths.
On the other hand, Poll has no idea what kind of flowers the second ones are. He might have seen them before; he might not have. Either way, he has never been interested in learning their individual names.
"I just realized I've never given you flowers, even when we started dating, so I decided to bring you some today."
The male twin gives his boyfriend a quizzical stare. "Oh, I don't mind though. You always buy me food and often bring me to places with lots of flowers anyway."
"That's one way to look at it, huh?" A grin blossoms across Eujae's lips. He gestures to the bouquet. As if reading his boyfriend's earlier thoughts, he tells him, "The small purple flowers are called cherry pies."
Poll's eyes widen at the information. "Oh... I thought..." He returns his gaze to the bundle in his hands, his nose catching a sweet aroma with a nutty hint, like almonds coated in vanilla. No wonder they are called that; they indeed smell like freshly baked fruit pies.
"But I can't eat them," he mutters with a small pout. He sticks his lips even more and glowers when Eujae snickers.
"Don't laugh at me," Poll whines, "It's because you didn't clarify in your text what kind of cherry pies you were gonna bring, so I thought it was food. I know! Maybe you did that on purpose 'cause you wanna make fun of me again."
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I'm just teasing you, Apollo. I did bring you some chocolate-covered mini pies. They're on the coffee table in your living room." Eujae winks and ruffles his smaller boyfriend's hair.
Excitement resurfaces within Poll. He beams. "Really?"
"Really, my cute little bean," Eujae confirms, pinching Poll's nose. He drapes his arm over his lover's shoulder and guides him to the living area as though he were the owner of the house and not the other way around. "Are Auntie Amy and Tem not home?"
"They're out, shopping."
The two young men sit down on the sofa, and Poll puts the bouquet on the coffee table. Staring at the purple flowers once again, he asks, "So you were just teasing me when you said these flowers are called cherry pies?"
"No, that's what they're really called," Eujae answers as he opens the red gable box. He takes out a mini pie the size of a cupcake and hands it to Poll. "Although they're also known by another name."
As soon as he has the piece of pastry in his fingers, Poll takes a big bite of it, his action earning an amused smirk from his boyfriend.
"What name?" the male twin asks in between chewing, not really interested in the flower since he's busy savoring the sweet flavor in his mouth.
"Heliotrope. These flowers are said to always turn in the sun's direction."
Poll pauses from eating, the answer finally getting his full attention. Fixing his lover with a curious stare, he wonders out loud, "Helio..."
"Right." Eujae reaches for Poll's face and brushes his thumb against the corner of the latter's lips. "From the Greek word 'Helios', the sun. Like your name."
Warmth rises inside Poll's chest before the hot sensation spreads across his neck and face as he figures Eujae specifically chose the heliotrope flowers because they relate to his name. He has always thought he has grown too used to his lover's sweet talks, but here he is, still managing to surprise him every time.
Poll gingerly takes another bite of the pie and turns his head away from Eujae to hopefully hide his blush. Glancing at the bouquet, he asks quietly, "How about the other flowers? They're called hyacinths, right?"
"Right. They're named after a prince of Sparta in Greek mythology. Hyacinth was one of the god Apollo's lovers."
"I didn't know that, even though I was named after that god," Poll mumbles, staring at the half-eaten pie in his hand.
"Apollo was known to have a couple of lovers, women and men alike. Some say that Hyacinth was his favorite male lover." Eujae cups both sides of Poll's cheeks to make him look at his eyes again. "But this Apollo I know, my Apollo, has ever had a crush and been in love only with me."
"That's—" Before Poll can object, his boyfriend cuts him off with a short kiss on the mouth.
Pulling away, Eujae continues, "Greek mythology and names aside, one of the reasons I wanted to give you these flowers instead of the classic red roses was because these two both represent devotion. In the language of flowers, blue hyacinth means loyalty and sincerity, while heliotrope symbolizes eternal love. It's to reiterate what I told you before that we'll forever be with each other."
"Always a smooth talker," Poll remarks in an attempt to mask his bashfulness.
Eujae grins. "But it's a part of what you love about me?"
Accepting that he could not argue anymore, Apollo nods before pecking Eujae's lips and proceeding to finish the pie.
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