Dandelion Kinda Romance

20250918

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

Michael was previously seen here.

“Um, Judy, I got you…” Michael produced what he’d been hiding behind his back in a motion which was probably meant to be a sweep, and could have passed for one if it wasn’t so self-conscious.
A single red rose.
“Aw, thanks.” Jude accepted it and planted a smooch on his cheek. Then, as tactfully as she could, said “Has my sister been having a go at you again?”
Michael winced and rubbed his face, his blush visible even through his beard. He mumbled “Guess this isn’t something I could think of on my own, huh?”
“N-Not like that!” Jude said hastily, shooting him a contrite look. “It’s just… this really isn’t your style. So…”
“Yeah. Um.” Michael shifted from foot to foot. “She asked me about what we did for Valentines, and was… unimpressed-”
“I really enjoyed our date!”
“I told her that, and she insisted you had to have just been polite about it…”
Jude huffed and rolled her eyes, causing Michael to perk up with vindication. “So she insisted you get me something romantic.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, roses are alright.” Jude slotted it into the hallway vase, where it didn’t look particularly out of place. “But if Georgie starts hassling you again, tell her to call me direct, alright? She only corners you because she knows you’re a sweetheart and won’t tell her to piss off and mind her own business.”
“Reckon she wouldn’t take that from me if I did try it.”
“Noooo.” Jude pulled a face at the thought. “So just send her to me.”
“Right.” Michael gave her a hug, which she happily leant into.
“And I loved our date.” Jude said firmly. “Georgie might have hated it, but she wasn’t the one you were taking out, so who cares?”
“Mm.” Michael’s soft huff tickled her scalp. “She went ‘you took her for a drive in your pokey little car?’ and looked at me, like… I felt like such an idiot.”
“Ugh. She knows I love listening to the rain.” Jude grumbled. “And that I love singing in the car. So of course I enjoyed pootling around in your snug quiet car, in the rain yet dry, belting out all our favourite songs together. No crush, no queues, we could pull over wherever there was a good view and hold hands… Sooo much better than the cinema or whatever.”
Michael smiled into her hair, reassured. “She made digs about me taking you to the carvery, too.”
“What? It’s our favourite place! Loads of meat for you, lashings of scrumptious roasties for me. She does know they do vegetarian stuff, right?”
“I told her, but…”
“Oh my god.” Jude turned her head so she wasn’t snorting into his shirt. “If I was squeamish about just seeing cooked meat, I wouldn’t be dating a carnivore! Honestly.”
She squeezed him tight and told him “If I wanted a red roses kinda guy, I’d have asked one out. I’m much more of a fresh-picked dandelion bracelet gal. I can’t imagine the sort of man Georgie goes for being happy to ramble through a woodland with me all day. And I bet they’d be embarrassed if they took me to dinner and I only wanted to eat roasties, but went on to scoff an ungodly amount of them.”
“An ungodly amount?” Michael repeated bemusedly, in the tone of a man who thought ten percent of his bodyweight in beef was a perfectly reasonable dinner. Bless him.
“Uh-huh.” Jude brushed a hand down his arm. “And then, when I have stuffed myself into an unladylike carb stupor, no way Prince Charming is going to be able to carry me upstairs and tuck me in. Plus, if I was on a date with him I’d have to wash off makeup and stuff. Ugh.”
She stretched up on tiptoes to smile into his eyes, and he responded with that wholehearted dopey grin which always made her heart melt. “You do romance just fine in your own way, Micky. In our way. Ok?”
“Yeah. Ok.” He smooched her forehead, all that skittish anxious energy successfully dissipated. Good.
“See,” Jude mused shrewdly, “if I was a suspicious sort of younger sister I might accuse Georgie of negging you because I mentioned that every time you stay over, I wake up to a spotless kitchen.”
“Huh?” Michael looked confused. “I mean, I wake up earlier than you, and you always make us a really good dinner, so…”
“Uh-huh.” Jude twined her fingers into his with a soft smile. “And since you found out I hate shopping, every time you come over you ask if I need anything.”
“…And I thought I was being slick.” Michael muttered sheepishly.
“Oh, you were, hotshot.” Jude said earnestly. “I was impressed.”
Michael blushed and murmured “I mean, you found out I hate vacuuming and not only did you not laugh, you got me Roombie, so…”
“Aren’t they fab??” Jude said cheerfully. “Best labour-saving device. Anyway.”
She gently tugged him down the hall. “You still up for helping in the garden?”
Michael grinned. “Hey, you had me at ‘I need you to dig a really big hole’.”
“Awesome! While you do that I’ll get the potatoes ready to plant…”

Prompt was “In a world full of roses, be a…”