"Brilliant!" Exclaimed a young Francis to no one in particular, seeing as he was alone in his room. But he had just had the most amazing of ideas and was quite proud of himself for thinking of it. Quickly throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he stood up and put on his best tunic. He grabbed his purse as he headed out the door (No they were NOT only for girls!) and began walking in the direction of town. He had heard of a new shop to the area, and he was sure that something in that shop would solve his dilemma.
The young French boy stood before a large black door in the side of a building, in an alleyway. The store had no name from what he could tell, just a sign above the entrance with a half-lidded eye painted onto it. Francis swallowed hard. He would be lying if he told anyone that he still held the same amount of confidence he had when he had left his home earlier in the day. But at this point there was no turning back, for him at least. 'I have to do this.' He thought as he reached for the door handle. 'This might be the only thing that works...'
As he entered through the large door he was a little surprised by what he saw. Although truth be told he had no idea what to expect in the first place. Inside it wasn't dimly lit, but it wasn't bright either. Almost all of the walls were lined with books from floor to ceiling with the exception of the one in the far back, which had a display case filled with various bottles and jars. On the display tables that were arranged throughout the show room were all manner of different things. Some he recognized, most he didn't, and nearly all of the labels were in a language he didn't recognize. Behind the counter to the left of the door sat a boy with short blonde hair. He was older than Francis, though not much taller. His cloak was gray and from his hair hung what looked like an upside gold down cross.
"Can I help you, young man?" He asked, standing up from his seat. He spoke in a steady monotone voice, but with a clear accent. 'Some kind of Scandinavian.' Francis though to himself.
"Um, oui." He began to feel a bit nervous. "My name is Francis and I'm looking for something that will make someone..." He trailed off, now realizing how strange or pathetic he would sound for asking for what he was looking for.
"Yes?" The person behind the counter asked. "That will make someone what?" Francis glanced around the store as if someone were listening and would pop up and laugh at him the moment he spoke again. "To, um..." He finally screwed up all of his courage and pushed his pride aside. "I need something to make someone fall in love with me."
Francis saw the Scandinavian man's lip curve up into a small smile when he opened his eyes, which he must have scrunched close along with his fists when he had finally spit out what he was there for.
"Ah, I see. Well Francis, my name is Lukas. I think I may be able to help you with that." He motioned for Francis to follow him as he came out from behind the counter. Francis did so and was lead through the tables to the back, to the display case. Lukas turned to face him.
"What's their name, the person you want to love you?"
"His name is Arthur." The French boy replied as he stared into the case at the many different colored bottles.
"What's he like?"
"Huh?" that pulled Francis back from his thoughts. "Oh, um, he's British and a few years younger than me. He has big green eyes, bigger eyebrows, and sandy blonde hair. It's choppy looking, but he once grew it out and he looked just like a little bunny, oh, and he blushes all the time. He's just so cute..." He began to let his thoughts ramble as he talked, that was until, "But he doesn't love you." It wasn't really a question, more like a statement. Francis faltered for a moment. "Ah, non, he doesn't." How it pained him to admit it. "We're friends, but we argue all the time, he has a bit of a temper. I don't mind though, I like him a lot, I love him. But every time I tell him that or hold him or call him cute he tries to get away or he tells me off." He hung his head, why didn't his amour love him back?
"Is that it?" Francis looked back up at Lukas and nodded, what more could there be? The man smiled a bit once more as he reached into the display and pulled out a small bottle that was light purple in color. "I know the boy you're talking about, he came in here a couple of days ago." They walked back to the front of the store and Francis paid for what Lukas had said was a love potion. "Two drops into any drink should do for a boy his size, and you should be the only people in the room for it to work properly. It should only take a few minuets to kick in."
"Merci." Francis said as he headed for the door. Grinning cheerfully he said good-bye and exited the shop. "Good luck." He heard as he let the door shut behind him.
~O~
"What's the catch frog?" Arthur asked skeptically as a plate of food was place in front of him.
"Mon cher, do I have to have a reason to simply fix you dinner?"
"Yes." Arthur replied bluntly, digging into the food nonetheless. Francis smiled.
"Would you like some tea, lapin?" Arthur nodded.
"But don't call me a rabbit in that stupid language."
"Can I call you a rabbit in your own language?"
"No! Just don't call be a bloody rabbit!" the taller boy chuckled a bit and the shorter boys face grew a light shade of red. "Just make me some tea already." the young Britt grumbled.
'That's it,' Thought the French boy, 'I can't wait any longer! He had mixed two drops of the love potion into Arthur's tea and had waited for him to finish every last drop (Which takes forever!) and had then went to do the dishes, waiting another ten minuets just to be safe. 'He has to love me know.' He thought as he sat down next to the little boy who was seated on the floor in front of the hearth, reading a book on magic. He quickly swiped the book out of his hands and sweeped him into his lap. "Je t'aime Arthur~" He waited for his sweet reply.
"Ugh, get off of me you sodding frog!" The young boy blushed madly as he struggled to squirm free. That didn't seem right. He tried again.
"Arthur, Je t'aime. Don't you love me too?"
"I said let go! Don't say or ask such stupid things Francis!" Reluctantly the long-haired boy complied and released him. Arthur scooted away with a huff, pick up is book and continued to read (Or cover his red cheeks), not even noticing the shocked and sad look on his French companions face.
~O~
The next day Francis returned to the shop he had bought the potion from. He wanted to know what had happened, why his Angleterre still didn't love him. At the very least he wanted his money back. As he entered into the show room he saw Lukas among the many tables with a pencil and clip board in hand. 'Taking inventory' He assumed. The Norwegian man (Arthur had told him his nationality when he had nonchalantly asked about the store.) looked up from his work and saw the boy. "Francis," he called, "How did it go?"
"It didn't." He pouted as he walked over to the man. "I don't know what happened, I did everything right! Two drops, I waited till he drank it all and then waited some more. I even made sure we were alone! But he still doesn't love me..." He told Lukas how Arthur had rejected him when he hugged him and how he had said what he was saying was stupid.
"Did he blush?" The Norwegian asked as they stood at the counter. "Of course he did, he always blushes!" Francis was exasperated. "Why didn't it work?!" Lukas gave him a small smile. 'What's he so happy about?' the French boy thought to himself.
"I think you gave me a defective love potion." Lukas continued to smile.
"None of our products are defective." He said flatly. "The only one reason it wouldn't work..." He began, but paused to put the clip board below the counter. 'Come on, spit it out!'
"...Is if you give it to someone that already loves you."
Thank you FrUkMintBunny for the inspiration!
