Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Flowers and Ashes ❯ Chapter 1

Flowers and Ashes

Ken is a flower boy working in an unforgiving partially industrial city. Daisuke is a chimney sweep working in the same area. One night, out of the blue, he decides to whisk the poor boy onto an adventure… starting with two words... "Marry me!"

Pairing: Daiken. No Kensuke for me. Daiken. And maybe ebilOCxKen…

NOTES: Slightly crossed with Final Fantasy 7. Only some area descriptions and the general "take over the world" themes…

Rated: PG-13.

Warnings: violence, yaoi… poverty 9.9; … that's about it ^^;;

Chapter One:

The cobblestone streets had an interesting way of irritating his feet. Ken sighed. He wasn't making much money today… and the flowers he held delicately in his hands had started to wither slightly, drooping under the darkness of night. With only three bronze coins in his front pocket he wouldn't be able to eat, much less pay for the other things necessary past the night. Determined to stay out till dawn, the young boy perched himself on a large barrel in a corner of the large cities square.

There were many people in dark outfits, some outlined by the lamps and shops' doors wide open, allowing their light to filter onto the streets. He sighed again, the lamps were being lit by the ones responsible for them, and the people in suits and bowler like hats strode by like shadows, for he couldn't even make out most of their faces. There were few women among them; all were at home cooking, or putting their children to sleep…

He was hungry, too. Tired and stiff from wandering around the city all day holding out flowers to people, offering to sell the nicely taken care of plants for three coppers each. Barely enough to feel sitting, never forgotten in his pocket. One silver is equal to twelve bronze. One bronze is worth about eight coppers… The cheapest things in the city were normally ten to twenty copper, or one silver and two bronzes, depending on what you wanted.

All Ken wanted though was food… and a chance to sleep on something other then the hard stones of an alleyway behind a nice lil' Inn.

Ahh, dreams~ Well, first things first, he decided, walking into a quaint shop on the corner of the street, brushing off his off-white apron and stomping his muddy brown boots on the welcome mat.

"Ah, Ken, how are you today?" the shop owner looked up, smiling slightly at the young boy from under his gray and white mustache. Ken forced a smile onto his face, although it wasn't that hard.

"I'm fine, sir."

"That's good… saa, what can I do for you today?"

"About the same thing as every night, sir." The old man laughed, a jolly sound and he patted his thighs when he was done.

"'f course. I'm sure you're the reason I stay in business," Ken laughed softly.

"Surely not, sir. I don't have enough money to keep myself in business!" they both shared a laugh at that, smiling. The man pulled out a small box and two items from within it.

"Sorry, sir; just one please." Ken said, smiling apologetically from in front of the glass counter.

"Hou? Are you coming up short tonight, Ken? I could let you have this second one for free-" The boy shook his head.

"You need the money yourself, please don't worry about me like that." Defeated, the old man placed one of the bars on the counter, and started pressing buttons on the rickety old cash register in front of him.

"That will be three bronzes'," Ken pulled out the appropriate coins, regretting the tiny amount of weight disappearing from its comfortable spot over his stomach. The other dropped them into the hollow spot for bronzes and handed Ken the six inch long pastry-bar. Ken smiled once more to the older male, bowing his head before walking out of the store, boots thumping deeply on the hardwood floor.

Back on his barrel in the corner of the block Ken unwrapped the thin piece of bread and jelly and took a small bite - he didn't want to finish it quickly. Usually he'd gulp down the first one and slowly munch the second, savoring it. Minutes passed and he was about three inches into the tasty treat. Ken reached up and pulled off his hat, setting the triangle and circle decorated brown and red overly large piece onto his lap and, holding the bar in his teeth, tied it with a loose strap to his apron. The flowers he had set back onto his lap. Three were missing, he noted, sighing.

He started thinking about the day…about the streets he'd walked, the people he saw. He had a regular customer on the other side of the city whom he visited every other day. He was sure it was out of pity but the boy always bought a flower from him when he came by. The blue haired boy smiled slightly at the thought. There were still some warm people in this industrialized city.

`Perhaps I will go to see him tomorrow,' Ken though to himself. `I need the money… no bronzes, and only one silver coin for the greatest of emergencies…' things were not looking good; the place where he was staying wouldn't even allow him onto their property without a payment of one copper every four hours. He stopped having the money for that long ago, and was running up a debt taller then he was standing.

`I know he prefers the marigolds I grow, so I will bring more of those and hope he will buy more then one.' He would not try to persuade his half-friend however, if the boy only wanted one flower - or none even - Ken would not push it. The golden haired boy was too kind to him as it were. After the decision was made he allowed his mind to wander, mulling over everything from his flowers, the newest style of clothing, to what he thought the ocean would feel like, brushing against his ankles as the sun soaked into his pale skin.

Ken hadn't realized he been so unaware of his surroundings until someone roughly grabbed his hand from below. Started, Ken dropped what was left of his crumbly dinner, and made a wild snatch for it. Looking down he was about to demand what the offender was thinking, when he saw who it was.

A boy… about his age too. He had ash and dust and grime smudged on his cheeks and above his eyes, below the thick goggles holding his hat - which resembled a small pillowcase - on and his hair back. His dark eyes were staring at him with determination, and before Ken could really figure out who he was looking at, the other opened his mouth, and with a loud, brash voice said…

"Marry me!"

~~~***~~~

!!??!!??

***~~~***

End chapter one. That was more of a prologue though >_>…or maybe not. 3 pages. Please review it^-^.