``champagne supernova (franklin)

[mel]

Louis's mobile lips kicked up into a smile as he navigated the mall. This time, he took the turns and passages easily. It was hard to forget the way to the Book Nook, because now he knew what wait inside.
Lazing around, killing time had bored Louis near to tears. By the time he'd finally left to meet with Franklin, he had tried on three different outfits, taken a shower and even attempted some paperwork at his father's old mahogany desk. That plan had died nearly as soon at he set it into motion, so really, all he'd done in the past couple of hours was pace.
He couldn't quite place why he was excited. It wasn't like he was in love or anything. More than that, Frankie's type was usually the last on his optimal choice list. But for some befuddling reason, the lithe man just clung to Louis's cerebral cortex and had adamantly refused to leave Louis's mind.

Either way, he didn't give his feelings much thought. For Louis, this was pretty normal. He tended to get that little period of fascination that simply melted into boredom. Franklin wasn't disillusioned; he knew what he was getting, and he'd still say yes.
A first, however, was that Louis actually hoped they could remain friends after their fling. Besides being immensely attracted to the lithe book store clerk, he had truly enjoyed the small connection they'd shared that afternoon.

Confident in his snug dark wash jeans, simple white vee neck and leather jacket, he oozed a kind of unbidden appeal. As he made the last turn, he spotted the Book Nook. Grinning, he walked up and glanced around. Frankie was nowhere in sight.
Glancing down at his watch, he realized he was a minute or two early. Shrugging to himself, he planted himself outside the small shop door. Standing there with his hair carefully moused, his leather jacket and biker boots, he looked a little reminiscent of Danny Zuko.

You know, except for the hair gel and cigarette.

[franklinjones]

Franklin was a bundle of nerves and excitement. The aftermath of his encounter with Louis had left him quite jittery to the point where his co-worker let him off early so he’d stop bouncing around and distracting everyone. Of course, he only had half an hour left in his shift, anyways, but that was enough time for him to go back to his apartment and change, at the very least. He wasn’t sure how nice he was supposed to look for this kind of date (was it a date?), but he didn’t want to be wearing the same clothes he wore to work, that was for sure. Not that he knew why he was being such a girl about this situation. There was no excuse. This “date” might only lead to sex, which he wasn’t all that concerned about. Sex was nice, but one night stands? He wasn’t falling head over heels for them. Hardly his style.

But there he was, returning to The Book Nook in blue jeans, a white button-up dress shirt with the sleeves partially rolled up, and a black tie. He enjoyed ties. That accessory was sort of for his own benefit. Something for him to fumble with if he got too nervous.

He had been sitting in his car, smoking a cigarette, for only three minutes when he saw Louis standing out front. Perhaps a bit too quickly, he noted silently, he got out of his car, locked it up, pocketed his keys and made his way over to the boy. ”Hey,” he greeted, albeit a tad lamely. It was then that he remembered the half burning cigarette in his hand, the ashes satisfyingly falling onto his forearm. Sick habit. Nervous habit. Burning himself. He rarely noticed he was doing it anymore. Could be a potential turn off. Shit.

Cue awkward grin.

”I hope you don’d mind that I, uhm, smoke,” he chuckled nervously, ”Nasty habit, I know.” For sure. There was no doubt about it. He fought the urge to take a drag, although he desperately wanted to. Instead, he started to ramble. ”Did you know that lighters were first used in the sixteenth century? You wouldn’t think so, but they were. Like, not the real lighters we have today. They were converted flintlock pistols that used gunpowder. During the first World War, soldiers used wasted cartridges and glowing wooden blocks as an improvised type of lighter, yeah. Because they were afraid that the spark or flare of a match would alert sharp shooters to their positions.” Frankie was full of entirely useless facts. He’d spent his entire childhood reading books and talking to really intelligent people from all around the world. He also had the remarkable ability to retain information. Because of this, Franklin just… knew things. About everything. It was mostly useless knowledge that he was ready to ramble on about at a moment’s notice. He could go on for hours, but luckily, he also possessed the quality of self-control.

Oh, fuck it.

He turned his head away and brought the cigarette up to his lips, taking a drag. When he looked back at Louis, he nodded his head and flashed him a charming smile. ”You look nice.”

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[mel]

Louis's naturally attractive face attracted a few of the passerby's eyes, but none stopped to speak to him. Normally, this would leave him feeling a little lonely, but surprisingly, all he felt presently was anticipation. Over the past few hours, he'd been subconsciously thinking of ways to make the date-- er, outing-- more... romantic. It was a different approach for Louis, as he was a firm believer in no long term anything, but that didn't mean this thing with Frankie had to last a grand total of one night.
Look at him! Louis laughed lightly at himself. He'd only spent about an hour chatting with Franklin in total and here he was, actually considering breaking his own cardinal rule. No relationships.
Unfortunately, rules, even his own, were difficult to follow. He made up his mind to just follow the night and see where this thing went when Frankie stepped out of his car.
The thinner man approached, and Louis was surprised to see a cigarette in hand. It lent somewhat to the hipster vibe he'd gotten from Frankie to begin with. Though he wasn't a smoker himself, the smell had never really bothered him. What did bother him was that Frankie was letting the ashes, which were probably a good deal hotter than should be comfortable, fall on to his arm. And he seemed to not even really notice. Shaking it out of his head, Louis decided he'd just been imagining it. After Frankie drew the cigarette away from his forearm, Louis wasn't so sure of himself, but figured there was no way that good, kind Frankie would do something so... dark. It just didn't fit him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Louis's eyes shot upward from Frankie's possibly burned arm to catch his gaze. "Huh? Oh, no," In a habitual gesture, Louis waved a hand, almost as if shooing a pesky fly away. "I don't mind. Just don't ask me to do one, kay?" He laughed, hoping to keep the atmosphere light. It felt oddly tense, but Louis wasn't perturbed by that.
It surprised him when Franklin went off like a small, adorable jumping bean, vomiting information about ancient lighters and pistols and whatever else he was jabbering about. It made him smile, because he could tell by the slightly breathy quality Frankie's voice had meant that he was nervous. Not that he had a reason to be. "Did you know the speed of light is 299,792,458 meters a second? That's 186,282 miles a minute." Louis had rambled off the numbers like he was simply reading off a grocery list, then offered up a shrug, "I like numbers." Frankie had no reason to feel nervous around him. If he spewed information out whenever he was nervous, Louis would just feed him some different information back. Besides, Louis liked random, impertinent information. After all, he worked in real estate-- if he didn't like trivia, why in God's name would he know conversion factors for the speed of light?

Louis smiled, and motioned his head to get them to start walking. "Thanks," He said quietly as they moved away fromt he book store, "I could say the same for you," And he most definitely was. The two couldn't look more different; Louis with his dark jeans, black leather and modern, snug vee neck. Franklin dressed casually with his jeans and white button up, his perfectly composed tie laying over his long, thin chest. In a way, it really looked Danny Zuko, badass, dark, and Sandy Olsen, prim and conservative.
Weaving around the parking lot took a few minutes, but eventually they arrived at Louis's Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. It was a vibrant red, the interior all butter soft, tan leather. It definitely wasn't a car he was afraid to show off. "Your chariot awaits," He said, unlocked the door for Franklin and holding the door for him.

(notes; sorry if there was a any goddmodding there. just wanted to move it along. )

[franklinjones]

Franklin offered a relieved smile when Louis said he didn’t mind that he smoked. That was good. He wanted Louis to like him, desperately, but smoking was a difficult habit to break. Wasn’t something that he could just up and do. If he were in an actual long-term relationship and he were asked to quit, that would be another story. He wasn’t going to put cigarettes over someone he really loved. But for a date that he wasn’t sure where things were going to take them? Well, he didn’t really see why he’d have to stop it. It was just comforting to know that if things did progress, his smoking wouldn’t be a problem. ”Oh, don’t worry about it. I’d never force it upon you. It’s a terrible habit. You shouldn’t smoke.” He grinned, ironically, and shifted his weight to the other foot. Frankie was entirely aware that smoking wasn’t good. He would never get anyone into it on purpose, but he wouldn’t preach against it entirely because he didn’t want to be a hypocrite. It was… Well, ironic, but what could he do?

His grin brightened considerably when Louis spouted off numbers. He did know that, actually- common knowledge for him. But he didn’t want to say that out loud. He was just happy that his little quirk wasn’t a turn-off. ”Numbers are fascinating. It’s so hard to fathom the speed of light, isn’t it? It’s very… Very… Hard to believe. But it’s so wonderful, don’t you think? Wonderful. Unbelievable. It gets me all… Giddy.” Letting off a laugh, he rocked back onto his heels for a second, beaming. Some of his word choices weren’t the manliest, nor was how excited he got over tiny things, but he didn’t care. Not really. He was pretty sure that most people hid some of their quirks initially, to try and get people to like them, but Frankie had a different viewpoint. He’d much rather get things out in the open right off the bat than let things come out in time and be left behind because they made him less attractive. It worked pretty well for him thus far, he thought. Hopefully Louis would at least be able to make it through the night.

Giving a sheepish nod of his head as Louis returned the compliment, he took a final drag of his cigarette before dropping it onto the ground, putting it out with the bottom of his shoe. Usually he put them out on his arm, but he didn’t really want to be all that freaky. Okay, some things were okay to hide. Franklin followed him out to the car, hands shoved in his pockets, and took a moment to admire the vehicle. Cocking an eyebrow, he stepped back a second. He had facts about cars, sure, but he normally needed to be told what kind of car it was first- he didn’t know a whole lot about telling them apart. What he could tell, however, was that this car was not cheap. There was no way. He thought a moment about how nonchalantly Louis had handed over his credit card earlier. Fifty dollars wasn’t much to Franklin, either. His parents were very well off and had no problems supporting him, although he did pretty well on his own. Still… This was quite the car. Louis must come from a pretty wealthy family.

”Nice,” he complimented, then, smiling. ”And thank you very much.” He climbed into the car, fastening his seatbelt, glad for the temporary distraction from his nerves about what was to come.

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[mel]

A small portion of Louis was still distracted by what he had thought were burns on Frankie's arms, but he forced himself to drop it. It wasn't like he was emotionally invested in Frankie-- no way! Nah... It was human to concern for people. Nothing special about this specific boy.
Laughing in his light, jovial manner, Louis nodded. "Smoking's definitely not for me. Love me some good drink," He gestured vaguely as they began walking, "But I can't take a drag of one of those things with out almost coughing up a lung." Sure enough, if he practiced and tried, he'd get the swing of smoking. Unfortunately, Louis wasn't patient. If he didn't like it right then, he wasn't going to sit around an wait for it to get better.
The boy lived on the concept of instant gratification, literally.

Louis nodded, sincerely in agreement. "I know! I was always obsessed with the idea of measuring something you can't touch, or see move." He glanced up at the stars, sighing lightly. "I mean, I know the science to how it works... But why... I don't know. Man, I could spend hours trying to find out." Of course, after he found out, he'd promptly forget about it. Mysteries drove Louis mad, but once he had answers, the questions no longer provoked him. It was just sort of how his life was.
He found it refreshing that Frankie didn't mince words. There was no manly synonym for giddy-- why even bother looking for one? It was just a word, and Franklin Jones had embraced that meaning, even if it ended up seeming a little emasculating. Louis appreciated straight-forwardness, though. He was the sort of guy who wasn't about to jump through any hoops. You say what you mean-- the concept seemed so simple to him.

Louis noticed Franklin admiring the car, and beamed a little. "Like it, huh?" The leather-clad man already knew the answer to that. The Scaglietti was his date car-- always impressed company, rich, poor, or anywhere in between. "Bought her about a year ago." One of his pricier investments, but his favorite. He'd bought it as a surrogate birthday present from his passed father. Stepping into the driver's side of the car, he settled into his seat and laid his hand on the shift. After moving it into drive, he peeled out of the parking lot.
Whatever he'd had on last was playing relatively loudly in the speakers, so he turned it down a little. After his ears stopped wringing, he recognized Mumford & Sons. "Sorry about that," He chuckled uneasily over The Cave. "I sometimes get absorbed in the music and turn it up really loud."

Louis was a reckless driver and he knew it, but he tried to tone it down with Franie sitting shotgun. Last thing he needed was his date being scared off by his Fast & Furious moves.
After about fifteen minutes, they pulled into the parking lot of the bar. "Here we are," Louis said, parking along the street. The bar wasn't anything fancy, but it wasn't grungy or ghetto either. It served a good clientele, and it was a nice place for dates. Plus, all the waiters knew and liked Louis. Perks all around? He thought so.

[franklinjones]

Franklin chuckled, nodding his head ever so slightly. ”I’m a pretty big wine fan. It may not be all that manly but it’s certainly delicious.” Shrugging a shoulder, he leaned back. He had never been a big drinker; he had seen many people go to waste at the hand of alcohol. Of course, even as a younger boy, he’d been exposed to wine and champagne. His parents, always dragging him around to awards shows and premier parties and parties at the homes of other important people, never stopped him from swiping a more sophisticated kind of alcoholic beverage to keep him occupied. He’d had his first taste at twelve and knew how to pace himself. He’d never been drunk more than once (an accident), never had to deal with hangovers. He knew his limit. He liked to have a full grasp on his actions, and too much alcohol would make him lose grip. He didn’t want to have to deal with those types of consequences. He supposed another reason why he preferred smoking to drinking was the way both were represented in the type of films he viewed. Lung cancer and other adverse affects of cigarettes weren’t often addressed, whereas he’d watched many fictional characters suffer at the hands of alcoholism. Bad hangovers, terrorizing parties, abuse. It was something Franklin had taken in and knew he didn’t want to be like those antagonists. Of course, he knew that it was, after all, fiction. Many people could drink on a weekly basis (and often times did) and be fine. But he was a paranoid man and didn’t want to risk it. He’d deal with the consequences of smoking when he got to that point. ”It took me a fair while to get used to smoking, too,” he nodded with a smile, deciding against adding why he kept trying in the first place, ”But I hardly think about it now. Probably not the best thing ever, eh?” A breathless chuckle, a shake of the head. Keep brushing it off like it’s nothing. Like always.

Ecstatic that Louis seemed to share his fascination with the intangible, he beamed. ”Sometimes, if I want to figure something out, I’ll take a few days off of work and just hold myself up at my apartment and in the library. I love reading books and trying to figure things out. I love… I love the trying to answer questions that no one has ever been able to answer before. I’ve never done it, of course. Solved some big mystery. But the idea of it is so bloody exciting, isn’t it? Fascinating. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to discover something- even a piece of information- that could change the world.” Franklin was a nerd. There was no getting around that. But at least he was proud of his intelligence. He’d never gone to college but he’d read enough books in his lifetime to make up for that fact, he felt like. Reading was his favorite thing to do, as well as playing the cello. Two things he’d never give up. Two things that didn’t really earn him ‘cool’ points. Oh well.

He nodded in agreement about liking the car, grinning widely when Mumford & Sons came blasting from the speakers as the vehicle turned on. ”I love that song,” he said, almost excitedly, looking up at Louis. ”One of my favorite bands.” Frank enjoyed their mellow sound. This boy was shaping up to be quite the incredible person, sharing in his interests and tastes. This was going to be a good night.

Upon arriving, Franklin got out of the car and grinned. ”Great choice,” he complimented, having never actually been there before. Yes. A good night indeed.

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[mel]

Somehow it didn't surprise him that wine was Franklin's choice of alcohol. It was a conservative, elegant sort of drink. It went with the kind, alluring sort of package Frankie presented. Louis's raucous and childish attitude went well with his fondness of the most common alcoholic beverage; beer. Though it was more refined to drink brandy or whiskey, there was something about a classic tap beer that just left Louis feeling delighted. "I like white wine," Louis said, his wealthier roots showing, "Red tends to leave my head aching." There was something about talking about wine that automatically made Louis feel like he had to be polite. Probably from years of attending wine-tasters with his family.

Staring at the cigarette, Louis bluntly said, "It'll kill you in a while and it'll make you smell bad." He shrugged nonchalantly, "So yeah, quitting would probably be smart." Most probably would've found his words offensive, but he was grinning and hadn't honestly thought that telling Frankie that he was going to stink was an insult. It took a moment for that little piece of information to register. "Good thing is, you don't have to worry right now," He covered, still smiling. Louis found that, when in doubt, smile. People usually took a smile and interpreted it into whatever they wanted to hear, and that had gotten Louis out of more than one or two scrapes. Though he'd rather not have to use it here, he wasn't about to start bumbling over, trying to apologize. Best to just keep going forward.

The thought of Franklin tucked away in a small, Beauty and the Beast-esque library was impossibly easy to conjure up. The thought made Louis smile even wider than he'd been originally. "I wish I had that perseverance," Louis knew, and had long since accepted, that he was an impatient man, "I can't sit still long enough to answer someone else's questions. I can loll about for hours in order to answer my own, but I could never really truly dedicate myself to some mystery that no one had solved." Unbidden, thoughts of his company came to mind, and his elation was momentarily tempered. Maybe if he was more like Franklin, he could actually sit down and do his job right.

Discovering that Franklin appreciated the same music as Louis did was one of those moments that Louis felt had been premeditated by someone with a little more power than himself. A little something called Fate. What if, all this time of playing around, Louis had really just been looking for a guy like Franklin? Or, even more, looking for Franklin himself? The young millionaire had never before met a man who he felt so at ease with, so indescribably attracted to, and so in tune with. they liked the similar thing, could discuss topics they might not have agreed on, and...
In a brief moment of sanity, Louis realized he'd only know Franklin for one day. Gettin' ahead of yourself, Lou. One step at a time, now. Shaking himself of his frenetic train of thought, he focused on the conversation. "Really? They haven't seemed to make a big hit in Capeside yet, so I'm surprised any one else knows them." He grinned and glanced at Frankie as he absent-mindedly swerved through traffic. "You wouldn't happen to know The Great Lake Swimmers, would you? Or Fleet Foxes?" It was going to be a good night; Louis could tell.

After arriving at the bar and hearing Frankie's tone of approval, Louis couldn't wipe a dopey grin off his face. He led his date into the bar, which was dimly lit and furnished cozily with mostly only wood and leather. It was a recall to older European taverns, the kind that possessed a sort of photographic sort of beauty. Not floral or pretty, but evocative all the same.
The bartender spotted Louis and waved, and Louis motioned his head to go to the bar. As they sat, he told the bartender, "I'll have the usual, and get my friend whatever he wants."

[franklinjones]

Franklin cocked an eyebrow in surprise at how bluntly Louis seemed to comment on his smoking habits, and he was glad he’d already put it out with no intention to light up again until he was back home. The boy’s words weren’t far off, of course, just a little bit surprising. And he might have taken offense to them if he really thought whatever was going down between them would last more than a short amount of time. Of course, he was more of a ‘live now’ sort than a ‘live long’ kind of guy, so the whole ‘killing’ part he didn’t mind, but the smelling, he supposed, was a bit obnoxious. He never smoked inside his own apartment in fear of the smell embedding itself into the upholstery of the furniture (and in fear of setting the fire alarm off), and he always washed his clothes religiously to make sure the smell didn’t settle in. But he supposed he couldn’t really account for all the times in between. He felt a little self conscious, now, but tried his best to remind himself that this was just for fun, and there was no need to take anything seriously. On the off chance this went beyond a fling or one night stand, he could worry about his smoking habits later. ”Fair enough,” he chuckled, smiling slightly in spite of everything.

His Itunes was full of a lot of obscure songs and artists, although he didn’t always recall what they were. Often times things came up on shuffle that he never remembered hearing before in his life. So it took him a second to think when Louis named the two seemingly ‘rare’ artists, and he tilted his head up, contemplating. ”I think I may have heard a few from The Great Lake Swimmers,” he decided after a moment, nodding his head, ”Although I cannot recall anything specific from Fleet Foxes. I’ll have to go look them up when I go home, per your recommendation.” He smiled, making a mental note to look up a few songs (or see if any were tucked away in his collection).

Tucking his fingers into his back pockets, Frankie took it upon himself to look around the bar with a bright grin on his face. He had never been there before. It was pretty- very picturesque, which was exactly his kind of scene. The type of place he could see himself coming to on a regular basis and having a drink and reading in. His attention was snatched by the bartender, and he sat himself on the stool, shooting off the name of a drink he enjoyed. After looking around again, he finally turned back to Louis. ”I take it you come here often? How’d you find the place?”

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[mel]

When it came to music, Louis liked to think he was something of an expert. Though he'd played few instruments in his time, his tastes were decently eclectic and like quite an odd medley of artists that most people would never place together. For example, one could look at his iPod and frin Sigur Ross sitting right below Jay-Z. He simply liked all kinds of music, and he was glad for it now. "I love 'em," He said, sort of like a young child gushing over his favorite toy, "I got them somewhere in here," The CD was probably hidden away beneath Louis's seat. That's where lost things always turned up, "Just in case, I'll try to get it to you before we leave. I think you'll like the sound."

As they entered the bar, Louis had to slow to greet some familiar, friendlier patrons. He'd been coming to bar since near childhood, so he knew the regulars well.

"Yeah, I do," He said in response to Frankie's first question. "The bartender is an old friend of the family." Of his father's, he meant, "I used to come here all the time when I was a kid. We'd stop in after closing, and the misses would always have treats for me." The bartender's wife had always adored Louis. She spoiled him worse than his own mother.
Though he briefly paused to wonder where she was, he let go off the though when their drinks arrived. The bartender had speared two gummy bears and placed them in his sidecar. The sight always made Louis smile, but it was his favorite drink there. Something about alcohol covered candy made him happy. "Voila," He picked up his drink, "I present to you the most wonderful alcoholic beverages this side of the Atlantic."

(notes: i'm sooo sorry it's super short!)

[franklinjones]

Franklin loved music. He’d been playing the cello since he was a young kid- having an instrument like that was a good companion to have for someone who was always being moved around from location to location. He’d also become a fan of the piano, but he couldn’t take that with him, so he wasn’t as well versed with that instrument. But he was in love with his cello, there was no doubt about it. It was one of the few constants he’d had growing up. He didn’t have long term friends, and he’d been forced to say ‘goodbye’ more often than he’d like to admit. But music, that was everywhere. No matter what country he was living in at the time, or how many people he’d found to associate himself with for the duration of his stay, he’d always have his cello. It was a comforting thought, it really was. For a kid who didn’t have much of a constant, he’d really latched onto it. It was more of a friend for him than anything else, something to break out whenever he was lonely. ”Yeah, sure. I’d like that. I’m sure they’re great,” he grinned in reference to being loaned the CD. And plus, that would give him a reason to see Louis again, at least one last time. Which would be good as long as the night didn’t go bad. But it seemed to be going well thus far, save for the whole… Cigarette ordeal.

He could look past that.

Grinning, he eyed Louis for a second, taking in the look in his eyes when he spoke of the place. He’d always wanted to have that one place in his life that he was a regular at, maybe even somewhere where people had known him as a child. He’d missed out on that, but seeing other people regard something so special was… Lovely. And Franklin thought that Louis looked just that more handsome. He took hold of his beverage, looking at it for a second before taking a sip. ”That is good,” he said, before glancing up and gesturing to the gummy bears with a teasing look in his eyes. ”That’s not fair. I want some.”


ooc. it's alright, just remember that the minimum word count is 350 in the future! however, if we're both finding trouble keeping post length up, we can probably move this to a fast play board. lemme know. /nod

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[mel]

There was very little Louis imagined he didn't know about Capeside. He was a native and a man of good taste; he knew where to be, when to be there, and how to arrive. Things didn't happen with out his knowing, and he took pride in his connections.
Still, to him, Frankie was foreign. Different. He hadn't grown up in Capeside, and his record was all over the place. There was something attractive, if a little mysterious about not knowing someone's every secret. At least in Louis's world. Most people weren't so snoopy as him.

Proud of a the shared music taste, Louis settled ona shuffle of music he hoped Frankie enjoyed. It was a lot of light R&B, some jazzy blues and some intricate orchestral pieces featuring the viola and occasionally the cello or bass. "I wish I could play an instrument," Louis said with a frown, "My mind's just not geared for it, though, you know?" No, Louis Dawes's mind was tailor made for math and science. He hated that. How simple those lame subjects came to him. They made him a perfect businessman, but as a person who hated those subjects, it just made him feel lame. He couldn't even enjoy his talents. "I'd trade anything to be able to sit behind a cello or a bass and just make music. I can tell you the noble gas form of any element on the periodic table, but can I tell you the difference between an eighth note and a sixteenth note? Hell no."

Louis kept a careful eye on Frankie as they circulated around the bar and then found their seats. The man seemed happy, which was a relief to Louis. Normally he didn't worry about his date's opinions-- he just assumed they were happy-- but he found himself worried about Frankie's thoughts and ideas. The boy was more than Louis's average date, and he was okay with admitting that.
Grinning, he picked up the toothpick and pulled off a gummy bear. Then, taking Frankie's long-fingered hand in his, he place the gummy bear in the center of his palm. "There. Now we each get one."
Sitting for a minute, Louis contented in drinking and just enjoying the other's man company. It wasn't until after a moment he realized Frankie might feel awkward with the silence. "So... Besides awesome music taste, what else do you like? Any hobbies? Profound interests? Deeply buried secrets?" He added the last with a dazzling smile. Even when flustered, he managed to be charming.

(notes: if you want to move it, it's fine by me, but i should be back on track for posting normally. the past few weeks have been kind of crazy, and i'm in the final stretch, so i'll be back up to being obnoxious and really active soon. xD)

[franklinjones]

Franklin eyed him curiously when he spoke about playing an instrument, a sort of silly grin on his face. He really liked Louis. Okay, well, he didn’t exactly know him, but what he knew, he liked. He was getting the impression that this guy was pretty restless, and that almost presented a challenge of sorts to him. A challenge to get his attention. ”I could try and teach you how to play the cello,” he offered, ”I mean… It might bore you. But a lesson or two, y’know? If you wanted.” He was keen on the idea of extending their time together past tonight. Maybe he wouldn’t get a relationship but that wouldn’t stop him from throwing out opportunities to see him later on. Draw the experience out for as long as possible.

Grinning, he let the gummy bear sit on his flattened palm for a second, looking up at Louis. ”Thanks,” he murmured, popping it into his mouth. ”Did you know that the candy was invented in 1920, in Germany? By that Haribo company. Gummy worms weren’t invented until 1981, by Trolli.” So full of useless information, but it was great for making conversation. Or at least, he was convinced it was- it probably just bored Louis/others he surrounded himself with. He hoped it didn’t, but sometimes he had the tendency to ramble on about an irrelevant subject. ”Gummy bears are one of the few candies that inspired a television show. They’re just so cute, so it makes sense.”

Frankie found himself moving in a little closer, if only so his arm could brush against Louis’, before he continued speaking. ”Reading. I love to read. Travel, too. I also love film. But of course I do, what with my parents being in the business and everything. I also really like talking to strangers.” Here, he paused to laugh a little. ”I never really grasped onto the whole ‘stranger danger’ concept. I like to talk to anyone who’ll talk to me. I think people are fascinating.” When he was a kid on set, he’d always talk to the other crew members and actors for hours at a time. He liked to listen to their interesting stories. Where they’d been, who they’d met, how they got to where they were today. When he was old enough to start wandering out on his own, this fascination applied to... Everyone. He loved to ask questions more than answer them. So, looking up at Louis, he tacked on, ”Tell me about yourself, now. I wanna know you.”

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