The Best Rose of All Roses

[Lucia Orbon]

Lucia had been delivering roses on Valentine's Day for a few years now and she really enjoyed doing it so she was glad to sign up for the event again. She really enjoyed the look on people's faces as they received their roses and then opened the notes that came with them and seeing their faces light up with recognition. But this year, Lucia had gotten a little nosy and figured a little peek at the notes wouldn't hurt anyone. That's why when it came time to start the deliveries, Lucy was eager to deliver this one first since it was the best rose of the bunch. When she'd first read it, it made her melt with how sweet it was, so now she wanted to see how the recipient would react as well.

Lucy went over to the Ravenclaw table and cleared her throat as she looked around for the recipient. He was vaguely familiar to her, as a prefect and Quidditch player he was known around the castle, but with everyone occupied eating with their heads bowed, she couldn't really pick him out of the crowd easily. So Lucy cleared her throat and asked, "Excuse me, is Flavio Morales here?"
​

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio found himself in the great hall yet again after he walked down from the library, realizing that the sandwich he ate earlier wasn't enough to keep him from feeling hungry during the day. He also still needed to be given the red rose he assumed November had sent him, and thought it would be easier for a rose delivery person to find him at the Ravenclaw table rather than anywhere else in the castle. After arriving to the table and sitting down, he placed his book with the three other roses he had received next to his plate, and began to get to work trying to decide on what kind of food he wanted. When he heard someone call his name out, he looked up to see an unfamiliar girl, and raised his hand to show his presence and wave her over, wondering if this would finally be the moment he received a rose from November or if he still needed to wait and the girl needed help with something instead. He couldn't think of any other reason someone would call his attention on valentines day.​

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[Lucia Orbon]

Lucia grinned excitedly as the boy Flavio was thankfully here and she rushed over to him. "Hi!" she said, a little uncharacteristically brash, and mentally told herself to calm down. "I've got a rose for you," she announced, pulling out her basket full of roses since his was her first to deliver. She pulled out one of the red roses from the bunch, making sure she got his and not someone else's. She noticed he had quite a few roses already but she hoped he would like this one best, especially since it was red which was usually a declaration of love. Then she noticed one of his pile already had red and then Lucia began to rethink the entire thing. What if this boy had several admirers and cute, sweet notes like the one she had peeked into were normal to him and nothing special? It would certain take the romance out of it all if that were certainly the case, so she watched his reaction carefully to see if he would be phased by something like this. "Here you go," she said, a little more subdued, her smile still bright but not quite reaching her eyes this time. "I hope you like it!" she added, a little more cheery this time.
​

Spoiler: Note

Flavio,
my favorite thing about you is your smell
you smell like
earth
herbs
gardens
a little more
human than the rest of us

nothing is safer
than the sound of you
reading out loud to me

Happy Valentine's Day my love,
November A. (poems by rapi kaur, milk and honey)

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Flavio smiled when the girl approached him, announcing she had a rose, but his face lit up entirely when she pulled a red one from her basket. There was no way this wasn't November's rose, the one he had been waiting for all day. He accepted the flower and quickly unfolded the note not wanting to wait a second longer to read it. The words on the parchment caused butterflies to flutter in his stomach, and his cheeks to turn pink because it was one of the sweetest things he had ever read. The note he sent November with her red rose paled in comparison as he was not as eloquent with words in a creative sense as he was with words used academically but he had tried to get his feelings across to his girlfriend. If anything November's note motivated him to write something more poetic next year to show his love for her. Smiling still, Flavio placed the flower and the note down next to the other ones he had been sent, then looked back to the girl that delivered it. "I like it a lot. Thank you for delivering it." He said, truly appreciative that this girl managed to deliver the rose to him in time because it had absolutely made his day.​

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