( open ) dog days are over,

[franklinjones]

Franklin’s job wasn’t glamorous, and it certainly wouldn’t pay the bills if he didn’t have a healthy trust fund already built up in the bank. Nevertheless, it was small and charming- something he always looked for. He’d spent the better part of his life traveling around the world and he always sought out the less popular of places. When he was old enough to go out on his own, the first thing he always did when he got somewhere new was explore the area. He’d walk around for hours while his parents were busy with work and scoped out the places he’d want to spend the majority of his time. Small book stores, libraries, cafes, bars- anywhere where he could sit and chat with the locals, make friends, get stories. He loved to listen to people talk about their lives. It was like he had a mental library of events that happened to other people, and he just wanted to keep gathering information- he was a man who liked to know things, that was for sure.

He had even gotten a couple of temporary jobs while on location for a few months. Not because he needed it, but because he wanted it- sometimes, a place was just too charming to pass up (either that or it had a cute employee he wanted to enjoy the company of as much as possible) and he decided to work there for the duration of the time he was around. He was like a walking map when it came to knowing places around the world. He loved every minute of it.

Frankie knew that he probably should be looking for more of a permanent job now that he was settling down in one spot. But he didn’t want to settle down- he was having a lot of trouble coming to terms with the fact that he was actually living in one area now. He also didn’t want to leave such a charming little book store. Sure, it was just tucked away in the mall and sure, there was a good chance it would go out of business, but if it did, he wanted to see it out through the end. Book stores left and right were closing due to books now being downloadable for a fraction of the cost, which was disappointing. In his opinion, there was nothing better than holding a book in his hands. He’d spent a lot of his childhood reading and he couldn’t imagine actual books- physical books- becoming obsolete. The majority of his possessions included books. It was unbelievable.

The shop was dead and Franklin was busy shelving books that had come in on a new shipment just that morning. It was lucky that they weren’t busy, considering it normally took him all day to finish- he liked to take the time to scan over the books to see what they were about, occasionally adding one to the list of books he wanted to buy. As he was shelving some new biographies, he picked up a copy of a book by one of his all time favorite directors (aside from his father, of course) and the corners of his lips quipped up into a grin as he began to read the back cover, chewing absentmindedly on his bottom lip.

This was going to take forever.

[mel]

Louis almost never visited the Capeside mall, so as he wandered through the long, airy corridors, jam-packed with people, he couldn't help but feel faintly lost. He looked at the small slip of paper his mother had left him with. It had the names of a few books and a store on it.
Sighing, he tucked it back into his pocket and continued walking. He'd have to stumble onto the damn store eventually.

You may wonder what the president to the Dawes Corporation was doing, wandering lost around the mall. Well, it's because his mother asked. And as hard as Louis tried, he had a soft spot for that woman and bent to her will more easily than silly putty.
This past week she hadn't been feeling too well, which made him even more susceptible to her requests. Even if he should've just sent an aid to do the errand for him, here he was, stumbling over his feet in search of some store called the Book Nook.
Darn you Book Nook, he thought spitefully.

After twenty minutes, he finally located the shop. It was quaint and easy to miss. In fact, he'd probably passed it three or four times before noticing it.
Louis stepped inside and inhaled the familiar sent of new books. His mother's room smelt just like this. He'd forgotten the joys of literature. When he was young, his parents took turns reading classics to him. Their theatrical readings and acting out of some passages were the cure for just about everything. He smiled lightly at the memory of his father pretending to be Ahab while his mother rolled around on the floor, pretending to be a stuck whale.
He hadn't even noticed that throughout his reverie, he'd begun walking down one of the aisles until he plum bumped into someone. Slightly jarred, he snapped back to reality and automatically said, "I'm so sorry,".
He was cut a little short by the boy he'd bumped into. Louis was bisexual, but he'd always thought himself more of the female persuasion. The man he'd bumped into had him thinking something a little different, all of a sudden. Glancing the man over, he noticed a nametag. An employee? "Maybe... could you help me out with something?" He asked, drawing the piece of paper with his mother's book requests out of his pocket.

count; 392
tag; frankie
notes; i jizzed.

[franklinjones]

Once Franklin was satisfied with scanning said book, he closed it and found its proper location on the shelf in front of him. He reached up, pushing it into position, and just as he succeeded a force collided with his left side. He jumped, taking a step back to look at the source of the incident. Tugging down on his shirt to readjust it, a slow smile spread across his face as he saw the boy standing beside him. ”Oh, don’t worry about it,” he responded casually, shrugging a shoulder, ”I suppose I have the dreadful habit of accidentally standing in areas where people wish to walk.” Chuckling, he shoved his hands in his pockets and used his foot to nudge the open box of unshelved books out of the way- he didn’t want the customer to trip, after all.

Since Frankie had moved all around the world and spent his time with a wide variety of people, he found his accent to be very versatile. He’d always had a knack for them- if you listened to someone speak enough, especially when a kid, there was the tendency to pick up on their habits. It was for this reason that he mostly chose his accent without even thinking about it. Lately, his words had been laced with a London twinge, and today was no exception.

As the boy pulled out the list, he unpocketed one of his hands to take the piece of paper, mulling over it. ”Hm,” he mused, mentally mapping out the store. ”I believe we have most of this,” he said after a second, flashing the other a smile before setting off down another aisle, silently thanking God that all of these were the same genre. It made things ten times simpler for him. He plucked a few of the books off the shelves, piling them in one arm. ”You have good taste in literature,” he commented, ”I’ve read a couple of these myself. They were wonderfully written.”

Once he was satisfied that he had located every book on the list that they had in stock, he returned and held them out. ”Unfortunately, there is one book on there that we don’t carry. I apologize for that- ironically, it’s the most well known out of the lot of them. Not sure why we don’t have it. But no matter, I suppose. Do you need it straight away? If not, we could always order it for you. And by that, I mean, have you pay for the book and we purchase it on Amazon and cover the shipping cost.” Franklin chuckled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. ”It’s certainly up to you, of course. If you don’t wish to wait, I’d be happy to give you a list of stores around the area that may carry a copy.” In all honesty, he wasn’t really supposed to be directing people to other places of business, but he didn’t see what it mattered. He was a natural people pleaser and he didn’t like the idea of a customer leaving disappointed. It wasn’t like they received any credit or money for books ordered over the internet, so it was practically like directing them to another store anyways- at least, that was how he viewed it.

[mel]

Despite his original condemning of the Book Nook and it's elusive ways, he found himself liking the store now that he was inside. It didn't seem especially eccentric, but he wouldn't label it normal, either. It didn't look to carry a lot of teen novels or magazines. Instead, from what Louis could see, the shelves were lined with classics, unknown authors and biographies of people he'd never heard of. A home for outcasts, almost. Forgotten greats were nestled in every shelf.
Bumping into the boy-- his name was Franklin, according to his nametag-- had been a rough awakening. Louis often zoned out as a product of his microscopic attention span, but he'd nary found himself bumping into anyone.

Franklin, it seemed, didn't hail from the states. Either that, or he was a remarkable actor, Louis thought with a private smile. He'd lived in Europe for half the year every year up until his mid teens. He could recognize a fake accent miles away, and this one was damned realistic. Louis couldn't imagine a reason why he'd fake one, so he assumed it must be real. "It's hardly your fault," Louis said, chuckling. "I got a little sidetracked."
Louis happily followed the clerk around the store like a little puppy, scanning the aisles for titles he recognized. He wasn't a big reader, but he was thinking of making a few purchases for himself. Maybe it was time for him to get back into reading.

"Yeah..." Really, he didn't have a clue about any of the books on the list. That didn't do much for his ego. Unfortunately, he was a horrible liar, and justly couldn't take credit for his mother's interests. "Well, actually, I'm shopping for my mother," The admission was a little embarrassing seeing as he was a twenty-something year old man. Gosh, it probably sounded like he lived in his parents basement! "She's staying with me and isn't feeling very good, so I'm running a few errands for her." And now he was rambling. Super cool.

Louis accepted the armful of books with a grin. "Awesome," He took the list back, finding the one they didn't carry. It was one his mother had been wanting to read for some time. "Hm," Louis frowned, his brows knitting together. He could always order it online; it'd be here by tomorrow if he did it from home.
...Or apparently, he could get it today. "Doesn't that go against some policy? You know, since you'd technically be helping your competitor?" Louis couldn't imagine the Nook was sailing along just fine in the financial area. With books becoming more and more of a digital phenomena, and classics growing less and less prevalent, the store was hardly booming. In fact, looking around, he realized he was the only customer currently. "Tell you what," He started, juggling the books around in his hands, "I think I'll do a little browsing of my own and get back to you with an answer." Really, he'd already decided to order the book through the store. That way, the Nook would get a little extra cash and he'd have an excuse to come back around. Holding out his empty hand, he added, "I'm Louis, by the way."

count; 537
tag; frankie
notes; aw lou already is crushing. adorable and awkward little rich boy. socute.

[franklinjones]

Although Louis may have found shopping for his mother to be a less than attractive activity, Franklin wouldn’t agree. He had always been close to his parents. They were busy and he was always running errands for them on his own accord- anything from going off to the book store to getting dinner. It gave him something to do, anyways. He was a people pleaser, and therefore had a hard time not wanting to help someone out, no matter if it was a family or a complete stranger. Plus, there was something about this boy helping out his mother that seemed… Strangely attractive to Frankie. He was a loud and proud bisexual (although he’d more likely label it ‘pansexual’ than anything else) but he had long since stopped deciding to assume the sexuality of those who caught his eye. There were, perhaps, a lot of missed opportunities that stemmed from that but it was more appealing than the idea of assuming wrong and making a friend angry. Back when he was always off traveling with his parents, it didn’t matter so much. He knew that whatever happened between himself and another person wouldn’t be relevant once they moved on to a new location, so he let loose. Since settling down in one place, however... He’d learned to reel it in a bit, particularly in the romance department.

”Ah, I’m sorry your mother isn’t feeling very well,” he frowned, offering the boy a sympathetic look. ”I’m sorry I couldn’t find everything for her. But it’s nice that you’re doing this. I hope she gets better.” Franklin made a mental note to call his mother later- he was probably too close to his parents, but growing up they had been his only real steady friends. Being so laid back, he hadn’t really had much in the way of rebellious teenage years and what he did have, they weren’t too concerned about. There weren’t many fights. It had been, well… Peaceful.

He couldn’t resist a chuckle when the customer asked if he was even allowed to show him where he could get products that they didn’t carry in stock. ”Perhaps,” he grinned, running his fingers through his hair, ”But we’re also told to make sure the customer’s happy. Plus, there’s nothing more attractive on a person than a good smile. Can’t blame me for trying to coax it out.” Franklin scratched the side of his nose absentmindedly while the boy spoke of his plan. He didn’t really understand why the other wasn’t just asking for a list of places that would surely have it, but he wouldn’t press the issue- to each their own. Perhaps he had other errands to run, anyways, and didn’t want to get Frankie in trouble for helping out the competition. Nothing wrong with that. ”Sure. Browse away.”

Reaching forward to take this Louis’ hand, Franklin shook it. ”It’s lovely to meet you, Louis. I’m Franklin. Franklin Jones. Although feel free to call me Frankie- everyone else seems to have caught onto that nickname.” A light chuckle escaped his lips, his free hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.

[mel]

The longer Louis stood in the store, the longer he wanted to stay. And not just to hang around the cute clerk.
The was a type of attraction he felt the the place itself. It was so different than what he was used to; nightclub, his sprawling, cliffside mansion. It was tiny, unassuming; like a small child. Louis always thought he had a weakness for kids. What with their chubby cheeks and their cute little hands... Well, okay, the Book Nook wasn't a cherub, but it was still cute, all the same.

Louis shrugged, accepting Franklin's apology. "Again, it's not like it's your fault." Mary Ann Dawes got sick only once a year. Around the time of his father's death. What worried Louis was that his father died six years ago in June. That had been a couple months ago. She'd gotten over her week long stint in bed, and she was fine. In six years she hadn't gotten sick except for that one week every year. Suddenly now, she was in bed with a fever and a throbbing head. Besides hating that his mother was troubled by something so obnoxious as a head cold, he worried it was more than that. Came with being a loving son, he supposed. "She's a tough lady. With the help of Jane Austen and some Ibuprofen, she'll be okay."

Louis grinned at the remark and said, "Well, I'm flattered that you find me attractive," There was a good chance that Franklin had just been referring to customer's in general, but he couldn't resist shamelessly flirting. He'd back off if he's comment bother the other man, but it wasn't like he was a confirmed heterosexual. Who knew, Louis had stumbled upon more than one seemingly straight homos before. Maybe he'd get lucky. "I'll smile constantly if it makes you happy." With that, he grinned a cheesy, toothy smile. His chin was tilted up and the corners of his eyes with crinkled with enjoyment. It didn't take a lot to make Louis Dawes a happy man.

After they'd traded a firm handshake and parted, Louis took his time perusing. As he looked through the titles more thoroughly, he was surprised to spot a good few he recognized from his childhood. His dad had loved Ernest Hemingway, but his mother had always had a thing for the more romantic stylings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the half and hour or so it took Louis to fully scan the store, however, he found himself drawn to neither author. Instead, he repeatedly found himself drifting back to the poetry section.
Louis wasn't a big fan of lyrical rhymes, or so he'd thought. He was about a musical as a rock, and the act of just sitting around and listening to someone sing had always bored him. But still, he found himself enthralled by some of the passages in these books. By the time he was done searching, he had a handsome pile of his own to add to his mother's stack.

Bringing them up to the register, he dropped the heavy stack on the counter and rang the small bell nearby. "I believe I have enough to tide me over until next Christmas." He said, loudly enough to span the shop, but not loud enough to be considered shouting. Hopefully Frankie was still around somewhere, and he hadn't ducked out while Louis had been appraising titles.

count; 569
tag; frankie
notes; i figure lou's currently at the stage where frankie's a new toy, or a shiny thing he's interested in. lou's mind works in simple, simple ways.

[franklinjones]

Franklin offered him a soft chuckle, nodding his head. ”Jane Austen and Ibuprofen- sounds a lot like my own mother,” he commented- it was true. His mother was a fierce woman. She very rarely missed a shoot day due to illness and even when her husband warned her to stay back at the hotel and rest, she was always the first one up and ready. She never let anything keep her down and she raised her son to do the same. He never thought himself to be nearly the quality of a person that she was, but he certainly strived to be, that was for sure.

Louis’ next comment took Frankie by surprise, but after a moment’s consideration, he realized that it was in a good way. That probably wasn’t something a heterosexual would say, which meant that he was being flirted with. That was something he’d never have a problem with, especially when it was someone so cute. Laughing quietly, he reached up to tap the bottom of the other’s chin gently with his finger. ”Nothing would make me happier.”

After parting ways, Frankie wasn’t actually sure how long the other boy had remained in the shop. Terry- the other guy working today- was at the counter, and didn’t have a habit of making conversation with the customers. For all he knew, Louis had checked out a long time ago, or even decided he didn’t want to make the purchases here and put everything else back before going elsewhere. It had, after all, been a good half an hour of silence. About twenty minutes in, Terry had announced he was going to lunch, leaving Frankie all alone, shelving books.

It was… A bit too silent. And he really wanted a cigarette.

The bell jolted him to attention as he was shelving travel books, and he poked his head out to see that Louis had, indeed, collected a lot more books. Franklin grinned, glad for the opportunity to interact with someone again, and strolled out to the counter. ”Well, if it isn’t Mr. Gorgeous Smile,” he greeted again, coming up beside him instead of going straight behind the counter. ”Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Silently, he picked through the pile of books, giving the occasional nod of approval. ”Well, what do ya know. Turns out you have a great taste in literature, too.”

When Frankie flirted, he flirted hard. He was a charmer by nature so often times even when he wasn’t flirting, that’s how it came off- so when it was intentional, well, he worked every angle he could. He found no harm in it. He didn’t think of himself as a disgusting guy, not by any means, and while he probably wasn’t the most attractive, he certainly did alright. When he thought the comments were unwelcome, he always backed off, but otherwise? He supposed that it was nice to give people compliments every so often. It was why he did what he did.

Circling around to the register, he scanned the books one by one, setting them off to the side as he did. Upon finishing, he grabbed a couple of bags and started to stuff them. ”That’ll be… forty-six dollars and eighty-nine cents,” he said, grinning a little. ”It’s always unfortunate when books become the object of economic inflation, doesn’t it? Everything’s so expensive these days.”

[/justify][/size]

[mel]

Laughing quietly, he glanced down at the list once more, still torn between thoughts on his new found friend and his mother. Maybe he could make her wild rice soup when they got home. After all, Louis was the family cook. Ever since he was little, he'd always wanted to be around food. Be it baking, grilling, seasoning-- Louis simply loved it. If he hadn't taken on his father's company, he imagined he might have made a career out of it. Dream on, he thought with a sad sigh.

"Personally, it takes a little more than Emma and some pills to make me feel better." Louis grimaced. "I'm one of those needy sick people." His mother coddled him whenever he was ill, because it was such a rare occurrence. Louis Dawes? Sick? Unheard of. His sheer happiness seemed to power through even the worst of things.

As off-guard as Louis's comment might have caught Frankie, Louis imagined his surprise was even more visible. Though he'd kept an open mind to Frankie's sexuality, he hadn't actually expected him to swing that way. "I'll keep that in mind." Louis murmured, the tips of his mouth turning upward.
As they spoke, Louis allowed his eyes to wander. When Frankie shifted, Louis's eyes followed the flow of his shoulders, or the swing of his hips. Being just slightly taller, Louis was able to look down into Frankie's face and sneak a surreptitious glance past every now and then. Whatta ninja.

Though Louis didn't see any other employees as he wandered around, he realized there must be two people working. A elderly woman had entered the store at some point to purchase a book and she'd been helped and checked out all while Frankie had remained shelving books.
Not that Louis was keeping tabs or anything.
...Okay, well, maybe just a little bit. That was probably why it took him a little longer than one expect to make his choices.

As Louis absently tapped an abstract beat out on the tabletop, he laughed. "Gorgeous?" He said as Frankie began sifting through his book pile, "No way, I don't know about that." Pausing, he added,"I'll take dazzling, or breath-taking though."
Louis twisted, tugged and stretched the rubber band that had been around his wrist as he waited for Frankie to finish up. Admittedly, he was a little anxious as the other man analyzed the titles, but his worries were for naught. Once again, Louis found himself smiling cheekily, "Well, thank you." He rubbed the back out his neck in a habitual, casual way, "I suppose I inherited more from my mom than her ravishing good looks, eh?"

Louis was glad this erroneous trip to the book store had ended up being a sort of blessing in disguise. He'd probably not have met Frankie if he'd had someone else do it, and if he'd done that, he'd have not made a new friend. Or more. But that was yet to really be decided. He liked the rapport he'd established with Frankie, though, and he was delighted with the thought of just seeing where it could go.
Not that he'd expect much more than a fling. Unfortunately, Louis wasn't much of the staying type. But hey, he'd been lucky all day so far-- maybe he'd get just a little more of that magical fortune and discover that Frankie was the exact same way.

"Not a problem," Louis said, pulling out his wallet and pulling out his credit card. He gave it to Frankie with out so much as a second thought. Fifty bucks? That was nothing for Louis. "Oh, hey, could you maybe put that book that was on my mom's list on there too? I'd like to order it." Louis flicked open his cell phone and shot his mother a text. He was such a momma's boy. "By the way. I was just sort of wondering," Louis shrugged, as if his question was completely innocent and casual. "When do you get off?" Frankie had dropped sufficient evidence that if he wasn't gay, he was at least bisexual. And that was plenty enough to get the rich boy to make his move.

count; 697
tag; frankie
notes; i actually looked it up. Clark Mallon is three inches taller than Andrew Garfield. I don't know why, but i just imagined AG was taller than CM.

[franklinjones]

Franklin grinned, cocking an eyebrow as Louis questioned his choice of adjectives and began suggesting new ones. “Dazzling and breath-taking? Is that what we’re going for?” He chuckled, then paused, pretending like he was inspecting the other. “I feel like either of those would be fitting, yes.” Winking, he tapped the cigarette package in his pocket to ensure that it was still there. For awhile, smoking hadn’t been for the actual nicotine. He was mostly addicted to the burning sensation when he put the cigarette out against his skin. It was a nasty habit and quite, well… Sick, but something he couldn’t help. Pain gave him something else to focus on. It was a stress reliever. He wasn’t sure if it was up there with cutting, but he wasn’t going to take any time to step back and think it over. Of course, as with any smoker, he’d slowly gotten hooked on the actual nicotine portion of it as well. Double whammy, double difficult to get off of. He knew it was a bad habit for him but he had very little intention to stop now.

And so the cravings kept coming.

But for this Louis fellow, he was willing to push them off until he had a moment alone. No use in ditching a customer (a cute one at that) for a bit of satisfaction. That would be silly. Finding another opening for banter, he smirked. “What, there’s a woman at home just like you? You’ll have to introduce me.” Okay, so not great banter, but banter. He was still trying to get into the groove.

Pressing his lips together, Franklin nodded and shifted over to the computer to look up how much it would cost to order in the book. “Not a problem,” he said distantly, punching it into the register. “Just an extra ten dollars more, hopefully that’s not an issue. If you want to leave me your phone number, I’d be happy to give you a call when it comes in.” Smirking up at Louis as he swiped the credit card through, he handed the piece of plastic back then set off following the prompts of the register until finally the receipt printed. It would be nice to have this guy’s number, of course. Franklin had picked up the flirting vibe from him and while that was all fine and dandy, he was always a fan of following through on said banter.

Frankie was almost in an awkward transition when it came to relationships. For years, he hadn’t had to worry about long lasting things. He’d always had an ideal view when it came to romance, and that involved living happily ever after, but with his constant travel, that was an impossible thing. Now that he was in one place, he was restless. He just wanted to move around… Everywhere. But he felt like if he ever did find someone to be in a relationship with, he would want it to last. He’d had a few flings and one night stands in the past but they never seemed to be as much fun, not for him. So that made things difficult and confusing on his end. Quite so.

The question came as Frankie was bagging the books, and he paused, glancing up curiously. Oh, okay. That had definitely been a flirting vibe. “’Bout two hours,” he beamed cheekily, “Although it’s a bit slow, so I wouldn’t be surprised if my co-worker let me leave a bit early. Why? What do you have in mind?” Fun things, he suspected. Hoped. Score.

ooc. sorry, this is shitty. i'm sleepy and i don't feel well, but i wanted to write it.[/size][/justify]

[mel]

His stab at some playful humor had been a success; Frankie had laughed and accepted the metaphorical ball of conversation. With new possession came new choices for Louis. The longer he spoke to this Frankie, the more sure he was that they played for the same team.
And the more interested that made him.
He watched Frankie as they conversed; the other man was not conventionally attractive or really all that unique looking. A bit on the thin side, really, a just a little below eye level for Louis. Not the usual guy Louis went for; he was more for the taller, type. Maybe it was his kind, dopey demeanor, but he usually played the "girl" in a same-sex relationship. Not that he'd ever where make-up or anything. He just had a penchant for guys his size or bigger. Frankie, however, was all the more attractive for his differences. Besides, Louis was happy with the chemistry they were making here.

Louis chortled a playful response, "Even if there were some woman," His blue-gray eyes sought out Frankie's, "My interests seem to be occupied by someone new." Okay, maybe it wasn't so much playful as suggestive, but his point was across. Subtlety was never Lou's strong suit.

Again, Louis barely even blinked at the charge. He would've been happy to hand a crisp hundred dollar bill and walk out, but that might just make him look a bit too flashy. Not that flashy was always a bad thing. Still. "No problem," Louis said with a shrug, taking his credit card back and slipping it into his wallet. He rattled off his number, hoping that Frankie might pocket a copy for himself. Flirting in a bookstore was all good and well, but he'd like the opportunity to really set a mood. If all went well, who knew, Lou might even cook dinner.

Tapping his chin, Louis gave a guttural grunt in response. "Two hours? Damn," That was more than he cared to invest in. That made him unhappy, because he really wanted to pursue this sweet little thing and see where it took him-- where it took them.
He grinned at Frankie's next words. He could compromise. As long as he wasn't lolling around for two hours. After glancing at his watch, he said, "It's what, four o'clock?" Louis though that was what his watch said, but the glance he threw it was a little too swift to be sure. "Tell you what. You tell me a time, and I'll be back here later. And then you and can go out, grab some drinks and talk about literature," Tossing Frankie a devil-may-care smile, he added, "or something else." He threw in a wink. Yeah, it was corny, but it was part of his charm. If Frankie thought it was lame, then he was fishing in the wrong pond. "So what'll it be? You in?"

count; 482
tag; frankie
notes; no worries! i would never have noticed. you on a sick day is still better than me regularly. :>

[franklinjones]

Franklin’s mind was beginning to go into over drive. Just a bit.

He was, overall, starting to analyze the situation. His analysis of things weren’t necessarily conventional. It was probably cliché and not a healthy method at all, but he grew up thinking in terms of movies. After all, his life was movies. But the real world couldn’t always be molded into movie plots, and although he hadn’t had to deal with anything ridiculously big yet, he was going to be disappointed at some point. Unprepared. He wasn’t really ready to deal with the real world, although he didn’t like to admit it. He had to learn, and he was going to learn it the hard way. This might turn out to be a lesson all in itself.

Assessing Louis’ demeanor, Frankie realized that the boy’s intentions didn’t appear to be all that pure. His flirtation was getting slightly more… Aggressive, and something told him he wasn’t all that much interested in a relationship. On one hand, that meant sex. That was always a plus. On the other… Frankie was genuinely enjoying where their conversation took them. It saddened him a bit to think that it might all turn out to be a ploy for sexual intercourse. Dinner would have been one thing, but drinks? That didn’t seem like the most romantic of offers.

In his head, he figured that things could go a couple of different ways. In the movies… Well. In the movies, things would be simple. They’d go out to drinks. If they didn’t fall for each other right off the bat, then one round of sex would turn into an almost consistent thing until they just… Tripped into a relationship. But this wasn’t the movies, was it? No. It wasn’t. He had to keep that in mind. Not the movies. Not a movie. Real life. People got genuinely hurt in real life. Not a movie.

… Well, it could be a movie.

Hiding the fact that he was starting to feel a bit awkward, Franklin copied down the phone number and made a decision. If drinks lead to sex, and sex lead to nothing else… That was how things were. He was just going to go with the flow. What would a night of fun hurt? Nothing, that’s what. Certainly. Making note of the number in the system, he waiting for the receipt to print then put it in the bag along with the books, pushing it across the counter towards Louis, simultaneously considering his question. Hm.

”Let’s see…” murmured Franklin in thought, taking a moment to turn around and glance at the schedule behind him. ”Another employee is coming in at five. There’s not much need for three of us to be here, I suppose… Does five thirty sound alright? To be safe, in case he’s late. I can either, uh, meet you here or elsewhere, depending. I don’t want you to have to go out of your way.” Smiling, he backed up to the counter behind him and hoisted himself up, crossing his ankles.

[/justify][/size]

[mel]

Louis watched as Franklin worked, and thought, and worked and thought some more. Their conversation wasn't overly upbeat or active, but there was something that was just... there. Not in a bad way. More like in a, Louis's-tummy-tingles-and-he-can't-figure-out-why way.

Though it was true he fancied flings over relationships, it didn't mean he avoided of the prospect. He naturally got bored quickly. Seeking out flings over love just made life easier for him; no sad break-ups, no vengeful, heartbroken exes... Yeah, he'd take a fling over tears any day.
He couldn't pin it, but he had a very bad feeling Frankie wasn't quite wired the same way. Perhaps not clingy, but he could almost tell from the mere, subtle facial cues that Frankie displayed that Louis's suggestion wasn't wholly pleasing. Still, he'd agreed to go on the date, so maybe Louis was just overanalyzing.

Maybe it was Louis, but Frankie seemed a little nervous.
Then he started talking.
...Nah, definitely not just Louis.
The thinner man rambled unnecessarily, but instead of finding that annoying like he might normally, Louis found it endearing. Every small part of Frankie contributed to the whole; almost nothing about him really seemed to detract. For some reason, anything that Frankie did that Louis would normally dislike automatically became likable. Not that he did all that much that Louis normally wouldn't like, but still.
Grinning, Louis picked up the plastic bag from the counter top and then placed his hands in his pockets. The bag rested easily against his thigh. "How about this," Louis started casually, "I'll swing by here at five forty-five. And if you aren't out," Louis pretended to look like he was occupied with thinking, which he wasn't. As if he ever did. "Well, you have my number." Tossing him a wink, the millionaire turned on his heel and exited the store.

A different man might have worried about his exit being too cliche, too brusque, but not Louis. He felt a need for a little drama, a little control. He wasn't sure why, but he instinctively believed Franklin Jones would appreciate the bad boy exit.

count; 352
tag; frankie
notes; new thread, or should we just fast forward this one?