"Well, here I am," thought Arthur to himself. After asking for a table for two, he sat waiting for his date. Honestly, the twins could be so demanding sometimes. Not that Arthur didn't want to find a date, he had just been awfully busy lately. On the contrary, he was actually excited at the prospect of going on a real date finally. He just wouldn't have chosen a blind date.
Ordering a cup of tea and a glass of water for the as of yet unknown individual, Arthur gazed at the menu, running his hands over the smooth, laminated pages. At least the twins had allowed him to choose the place, allowing Arthur to be a gentleman as he thought appropriate. Alfred had suggested a date searching for UFOs and Matthew had wondered if they shouldn't go to watch a hockey game instead, complaining that UFOs didn't exist. Those two would make for very interesting young men when they grew up, Arthur thought, smiling slightly to himself. He traced the edges of his cup of tea, allowing it to warm his fingertips and calm his fears. Hopefully the evening wouldn't be as awkward once this mystery person arrived.
He glanced up from his cup of tea, and noticed a very colorful individual flow through the entrance of the restaurant with an air of graceful superiority. The...Arthur believed it was a man...glided up to the hostess, kissed her hand causing the lady to blush, and they began to engage her in conversation. Arthur tilted his head as he noticed the individual was none other than his childhood….friend, Francis.
Well, well, well. Sitting back in his chair, Arthur folded his hands in his lap, refraining from crossing his arms and allowed himself to study his old acquaintance before Francis noticed he was there. The Frenchman was dressed more effeminately than he had during their childhood. Currently, he was sporting tight black dress pants, a scarlet flowing top with long sleeves and a gossamer white scarf. He also seemed to be wearing some sort of boot with a small heel. On any other male, Arthur might have found it a bit odd, but he knew Francis. He shivered slightly as he remembered the time Francis had tried to cut his hair when they were children. Arthur's hair actually turned out fairly decent, but the bastard had given him a flower crown. Originally, Arthur actually thought it was cute, until the other kids had started making fun of him.
Arthur was still staring when he noticed that the hostess Francis had been chatting with was pointing in Arthur's direction. Francis turned and it suddenly occurred to Arthur that this was his blind date.
It took all of Arthur's self-restraint to keep from rolling his eyes, his jaws clenched imperceptibly. There was no way the twins could have possibly known about their history, but that excuse didn't stop the situation from being utterly frustrating. The Frenchman raised an eyebrow at Arthur before sauntering over to the table. He actually pulled off his otherwise bizarre wardrobe fairly well, given the way the shirt flowed and matched his gait added to his wavy hair which was long enough to make the outfit seem perfectly natural.
"I never expected to see you here, Mon Cher," derision dripping from his voice as he crossed his arms and leaned on one leg. A small smirk touched the corner of his lips. Arthur gripped his hands in his lap, squeezing them hard enough to feel his knuckles grind together.
"That makes two of us. I don't usually do blind dates, for obvious reasons, but I couldn't say 'no' this time." Arthur replied, keeping his clenched hands hidden in his lap. It took a great deal of effort to prevent his face from betraying any emotion other than disdain. He had yet to break eye contact after first realizing Francis was his company.
"And why couldn't you refuse, out of curiosity?" Francis asked as he uncrossed his arms and put one hand on his hip. It was probably going to be difficult to convince this man to stay, especially considering Arthur wasn't sure he wanted Francis to stay in the first place. But, he supposed it was worth a try. He couldn't very well go home now and completely disappoint the twins without an attempt at being civil.
Arthur looked down at his tea, "The two kids I sponsor at the adoption agency are desperate for me to find a significant other, going so far as to set up a blind date all on their own." Thinking of those two brothers now caused a smile to begin tugging at the edges of his mouth, even despite the presence of his slightly irritated company. Again, Arthur focused on the warmth emanating from the cup, rolling his hands across the smooth porcelain.
At that Francis finally sat down in the chair opposite Arthur, "Ah, I suppose you mean Matthieu and his brother. What was his name?"
"Alfred." Arthur didn't look up, choosing instead to continue focusing on his teacup.
"Ah yes, Alfred. He barged into my classroom once when the other kids had been teasing Matthieu after I put flowers in his hair."
"Wha…you subjected little Mattie to that torture too!" Arthur leaned forward, furrowing his eyebrows finally redirecting his attention towards Francis. How dare the stupid frog. If he was going to have to be a gentleman towards this man, Arthur wasn't sure he could accomplish that feat.
"Oh please," Francis waved a hand dismissively, "Matthieu was the one to suggest it. I even tried to warn him that the other kids might tease him. I did fail to mention that it was you I was referring to from past experiences though. If I had, maybe we wouldn't be here." Francis' smirk never left his face.
Arthur sat back in his chair and sighed, feeling the tight ball that had form in his chest lessen. "Well, you tried I guess. At least Matthieu has his brother to stand up for him. Heaven knows Alfred won't tolerate anyone even suggesting his brother is less than perfect," he said, ignoring the insult thrown at him.
"Yes, and he handled being teased better than you did."
"I know, I'm actually really sorry for that."
"Oh, an apology nearly 20 years later. I've been waiting with baited breath. To this day, I still have to check my cup of tea for frogs if someone else makes it."
"Well, if it's any consolation, I still have nightmares when I get my hair done by a French barber."
"Let's not talk about the past, shall we?" The thought of Arthur having nightmares from a simple hair cut seemed to please Francis slightly, but he was kind enough to change the topic back to Matthew though. "It's a shame the twins had to be in separate classrooms. Matthieu will not stop talking about his big brother. Although I have enjoyed Matthieu as a student. He's very bright and kind to the other children."
Arthur smiled slightly at the compliment directed at the two boys. At least, Francis liked them. And it partially explained how the two boys had set up this date. Arthur's eyebrows furrowed again as he tried in vain to figure out the rest of the blind date puzzle.
"How did Matthew convince you to come anyway? An 8 year old child telling you to go on a blind date?"
Francis crossed his legs and draped one arm over the back of his chair, still smirking, but it was not directed at Arthur like it had been at first. Francis looked down at the table as he started explaining, "He overheard me complaining to a fellow teacher about how difficult it was to find a decent boyfriend. A few days later, he drew me a picture and wrote nothing more than the time and date with the promise of meeting one of the best men Matthieu had ever known. Obviously he hasn't met very many people." The faint scent of cologne reached Arthur nose as he inhaled deeply.
"What was the picture?" Arthur found himself leaning lightly on the table feeling the supportive firmness beneath his arm, eager to hear more about the two kids that had captured his heart, even if it cost him a bit of his pride in the process.
"It was a picture of me sitting at a table with a question mark in the opposite chair and a large stack of pancakes in the middle. I still don't understand why he wanted it to be a surprise though."
Arthur scoffed, partly at the pancakes which were so very like Matthew, and partly at having to explain why they wanted it to be a surprise.
"It's my birthday present from them. They were dead set on it being a surprise. Alfred accidentally let it slip that they were going to get me a date, although I may have bribed him with a Twinkie. Matthew actually cried and wouldn't let him say with who though. I ended up having to explain what a blind date was in order to get Matthew to calm down."
It was Francis' turn to snort, "Little rascals. Tell me, why did they want to get you a date for your birthday? Why not just glued macaroni on paper, surely you're not so great to deserve more than that?"
"Well, they're living in a foster home at the moment, waiting to be adopted. I went to the agency to try and arrange for them to be placed in my care, but the agency wasn't going to let me adopt them without a significant other, although I am very lucky that they accepted gay couples at all. Currently, I'm just giving money to their foster parents to help them afford everything they need, but I try to visit when I can." Arthur explained, again ignoring yet another abrasive comment.
Francis' eyes finally softened and his smirk turned into a genuine smile, "Be careful not to poison them with your frog tea."
Arthur allowed himself to roll his eyes, but laughed softly despite the constant bashing. It was almost fun to be honest. And truth be told, he really was a terrible cook. Even the twins hated it. "Actually, I had planned on hiring a maid or someone to do the cooking. Otherwise Alfred would spend every day at fast food restaurants to avoid my cooking."
"I'm sure you can figure out how to make something they like. If not, they can always come to the restaurant where I work part time. It's a bit of a hobby more than for the extra pay, although it does help. It's that little Italian restaurant the "Pasta Angelo".
"Angle haired pasta?"
Francis snorted again, "Close. The young man that runs it, well, let's just say he likes pasta a little too much. It actually means 'Pasta Angle'."
"Well, it does sound nice. I once tried to make them alfredo and it didn't end very well. Maybe if they tried it at a real restaurant, they would stop having night mares about an alfredo monster."
Francis decided to stay for dinner, despite being originally dismayed to find that Arthur was his date at first, although he had claimed he was staying because he wasn't going to pass up a free meal when Arthur offered to pay. It surprised Arthur how easy it had been to talk to the figment of his erroneous past. He was glad for the opportunity to make amends for how he had acted as a child. Back then, he hadn't understood the importance of being a gentleman. Whether or not Francis believed he had changed or was actually sorry, Arthur did not know, but he had at least gotten a chance to say his piece. They shared their meal and managed to be mostly civil human beings towards each other. Arthur paid the tab and they both rose to leave.
"It wasn't an awful evening, Francis." Arthur bowed slightly as he ushered the Frenchman through the door. He couldn't help but glance towards Francis' back as he glided out of the building.
"I saw that," derision yet again laced amidst the slight accent.
Arthur stood up straight, giving Francis his best innocent expression. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I saw you looking at my ass as you held the door for me." Francis raised an eyebrow as he stopped to face him. Arthur's heart skipped a beat at being called out. He'd never been caught before.
Arthur leaned in towards Francis, noticing him shiver slightly as Arthur breathed into his ear, "Why else do you think men hold the door for their girlfriends if not to admire them from behind?"
As he leaned back, he saw Francis' lip twitch upward and his eyes narrow just slightly before adding, "Really though, you look excellent tonight. I couldn't resist. Please allow me to indulge myself just a tiny bit."
"Oh, alright." Francis rolled his eyes, but a full smile had found its way onto his face.
As they parted ways for the evening, Arthur felt his chest swell and the muscles in his face refused to allow his customary scowl as he reflected on the dinner with the man he had once tormented for a bad haircut.