Flowers and Chocolates
Part 9: Leon & Francis
Leon was getting way too used to this.
The door to his apartment was unlocked. Not surprising, as it seemed like he came home to an unlocked door more often than not nowadays. And the scent of chocolate was wafting out into the hallway.
Honestly, you would think he'd be safe today. It was Valentine's Day, after all.
But no, that would be too much to ask for…
And the worst part? He was starting to get to the point where he didn't mind coming home to someone else in his apartment… Which was one of the many signs that showed that this town was starting to drive him completely insane.
He sighed at that thought as he cautiously repositioned in his arms the box that he'd carried with him from the car. The box that had led to his complete mortification, let it henceforth be remembered. His grandmother was honestly the most evil woman he had ever met…
He then pushed the door open, allowing more of the delicious scent to leak out into the hallway. Something very chocolatey was being made in his apartment and it smelled absolutely fantastic.
Which meant that he was actually a little surprised when he walked into the room and found Francis not in the kitchen. Instead he found him sprawled out across the couch, lying on his stomach with his feet up on the armrest, watching as some woman on the television slapped a man right across the face.
He glanced up, though, when Leon opened the door and immediately grinned brightly. "Bonjour, cher! I was starting to worry that you weren't going to get here before I left!"
"Why are you here, Francis?" Leon really didn't know why he even bothered asking anymore. Force of habit, probably.
And the boy's grin only widened at the question as he sat up, motioning for Leon to sit beside him. "Why, I came to congratulate you on your beautiful concert. I never knew that you had such a lovely singing voice."
He'd known this was coming. There was no way he was ever going to live this down. "Shut up. I only did it because I needed to get this box from Grandmother."
And he probably shouldn't have said that, as Francis seemed to suddenly notice the box for the first time. And immediately perked up. "And what's in this 'box', cher? Anything interesting?"
Nosy. Everybody in this town was incredibly nosy. "No."
Of course that would only fuel Francis's curiousity. He tilted his head to the side slightly and stared at him with much-too-innocent eyes. And then changed the subject too quickly, "You are going out with someone tonight, oui?"
"No." And Francis had not been the first person to ask him that today. His grandmother had gone on for what seemed like forever about all of these lovely single ladies…and men…that she knew and could introduce him to. "I'm staying in today…"
"So dull, cher." He sighed and then lay back on the couch again, glancing toward the television. Where the same man and woman were now making out… Because that made sense.
"Well, what about you?" Leon set the box down now, pushing it against the wall with his foot before he walked over and sat down on the couch, pushing Francis's legs out of the way. "I'd expected you to be off with somebody."
"I will. I decided to come visit you first." And then he lifted his legs up and threw them across Leon's lap, sending a smirk in response to the other man's glare and attempt to push them away, which he resisted rather determinedly. "I have a date with a rather lovely lady from school at seven. We're going to a fantastic little Greek restaurant I found a few weeks ago, then out for some dancing. I'll drop her off at home around ten or so and then I'm meeting with Erik…" He grinned. "Very attractive. We'll probably go out for more dancing, some drinks, then rent a hotel room somewhere…"
Leon had finally managed to push the legs off. Not that it would probably help much, since Francis was obnoxiously stubborn about things like this. "You're too young to drink."
Completely unrepentant look. "Technically."
"And you do realise I'm a police officer and you really shouldn't be telling me about this?"
"Oui."
…You know, this kid was one of the most frustrating human beings that Leon had ever met. And he dealt with criminals as part of his job.
"That still leaves me an hour before I have to leave, though, cher~" And that tone was definitely flirting. Leon had gotten rather good at telling when Francis was flirting with him. Since it happened so often. "There's so much that we could do in an hour, oui~?"
"No."
And Francis pouted at that. Like a little kid that'd just been told that he couldn't have his dessert until after dinner or something like that. "You're no fun."
"I try not to be."
And Francis leaned his back against the arm rest again, throwing his legs across Leon's lap. Again. "And after I just made you homemade chocolate-covered cherries. You'd think I'd get some sort of reward. You won't even let me know what's in the box."
At least that was safer ground. And homemade chocolate-covered cherries sounded delicious. "I told you, it's nothing interesting."
"Of course it's something interesting, otherwise you would tell me, oui?"
Not necessarily… Leon sighed and then pushed the legs off again, this time getting off of the couch—conceding the victory to his personal home-invader—and wandering over to the box. "It's just stuff for tonight."
And Francis perked up at that again, sitting upright and watching as he picked it up and carried it over to the kitchen table. "I thought you said you weren't doing anything tonight."
"I said I wasn't going anywhere tonight. I actually have someone coming over…"
"Oui?" And now he sounded incredibly interested. "And who is that?"
And Leon was about to answer—how he was going to answer, he wasn't entirely sure—when the doorbell suddenly rang.
Shit. He'd hoped she wouldn't turn up early… At least not until he'd gotten rid of Francis.
Who had jumped up from the couch and was now halfway to the door. And had it open before Leon could protest. And of course he greeted the person with an overly happy-sounding, "Bonjour!"
And probably terrified the poor woman standing in front of his door… And if not her, then he definitely scared the little girl held in her arms.
"Francis!"
A/N: Okay, ending there because this is dragging on too long. Even though it's totally not finished…
;P Bleh. This chappy sucked. I'm sorry. I've been having a really crappy last couple of weeks and crappy weeks make my writing crappy.
Why is there a woman at Leon's door? Why does she have a small child? Will Francis ever succeed in getting Leon to actually do something with him? (Probably not. ;P) What is in the mysterious box? Possibly tune in next time. Or not, depends if I want to finish this up/you guys want to know what happens.
