A/N: Here's your chapter 5. I had a small bit of writers block with this - hence why it took me two days to update - but I think I'm okay now. I've got a good plan of where I'm going but I can't tell you how many chapters it's going to be. Please bear with me! And review!
Disclaimer: Saw a video today of Noel telling the press that the credit crunch wasn't affecting him. If I was affiliated with the Boosh, I don't think it would be bothering me either. As it is, the crunch might be killing me soon.
Howard was seething by the time Vince and Lilly re-entered the shop. He had been trying to work out of plan of action since they'd left but he couldn't think of anything that wouldn't just make him look jealous of Vince. Then again, he was jealous, so it would be the truth.
Of course he was jealous. He'd always been jealous of Vince. Everything came easily for Vince. Style, girls, socializing, he was even a better salesman than Howard. Hanging around Vince had made life seem rather hopeless. There wasn't anything that Howard could do that Vince couldn't do better.
Lilly and Vince entered the shop giggling and rosy cheeked. Lilly was nearly doubled over laughing at Vince's 'turtle' impression and Vince seemed pretty pleased with himself.
"Thanks for the tour, Vince. It was great! I didn't know there were so many historical points in Dalston." Lilly was trying to recover from her laughing fit while showing her gratitude so her words came out in gasps.
"Oh, I made most of that up, really. But the tour would have been rubbish if I hadn't. There isn't anything interesting in Dalston!" Vince plopped down in the chair next to the door and raised a hand in greeting to Howard – who was grinding his teeth behind the counter – "Alright, Howard?"
Lilly, still grinning, turned to Howard, "Hey, Howard! Busy day?"
Howard decided that his best course of action was to play it cool. Then again, when had Howard Moon been known for playing it cool?
"Yes, in fact. I had loads of stock taking to do and then I had to dust off the jazz records and then I had to reorganize Stationary Village as some kid came in here and moved it all about. Then…" He trailed off when he realized that Vince and Lilly were giving him a look that can only be described as bemused.
Vince got up and took Lilly's hand, breaking the awkward silence that had settled over the room, "Come on, I'll show you the flat! Do you like Gary Numan? I've got a great collection!"
Lilly let herself be pulled towards the stairs by an overexcited Vince. She kept her eyes on Howard, though, and he watched her get dragged away. She tried to convey her apologies through the gaze but didn't think she got it quite right. All in all, it was a bit of a mess.
When Howard had finally calmed down, closed up shop, and walked up the stairs and into the flat, he found Vince and Lilly sitting cross legged on the floor looking at their video collection and talking about Titanic.
"It may not be completely factual, but it's still one of the best historically based movies ever made."
"And that boat is genius!"
Howard glanced over the couch at the pair. Honestly, he was glad they were getting on but he could feel his chances with Lilly fading.
"Vince? You haven't changed the order of the videos again, have you? I had them in alphabetical order." Howard went into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich, knowing that Vince had messed with the videos and ruined his system, again.
"Hey Howard! I didn't know you liked foreign films!" Lilly called from the floor, holding up Howard's copy of Jurgen Haabermaaster's newest film.
"That isn't just a film, sir! That is a work of art!" Howard came out of the kitchen and took the box out of Lilly's hand, looking down at Jurgen's pensive face.
Vince rolled his eyes and tried to hide his giggles behind his hand.
Lilly cast an annoyed glance at Vince and then looked back up to Howard, "I haven't seen that one, but I've seen some of his other work. The Doctor and the Pencil was great!"
Vince immediately stopped giggling. She liked Jurgen Haabermaaster? He thought Howard was the only person in Dalston who liked that rubbish!
Howard placed the film gently back in it's place among the others before sitting down on the couch to have a bit of a gush about the Dutch filmmaker, "I think The Doctor and the Pencil is his best work to date."
Lilly turned her back on Vince to face Howard, beaming in excitement, "I know! I mean, the way he conveys emotion through those characters. It practically tears you apart."
Vince tuned them out shortly after this. Sure, he had thought Lilly was a bit of a bore last night when he'd seen her at the Velvet Onion but she had proven herself to be fun this afternoon on their walk. Suddenly, she was acting like she actually liked the things that Howard liked! She was just being nice, surely.
Vince – deciding he definitely wasn't interested in wherever this conversation was leading – stood up, "I'd better start getting ready to go out tonight." He moved towards his bedroom and then turned back, "Hey, Lilly! You should come out with me and my mate Leroy tonight! It's going to be genius!"
Lilly looked up at Vince apprehensively, "Oh, Vince, I'm not much into that sort of thing. I don't fit in well at those places."
Vince laughed, "You'll be with us, silly! You don't need to fit in. I'm your ticket into the cool crowd."
Howard watched Lilly carefully, trying to figure out what she was going to say. She hadn't stopped surprising him since he met her. One minute, she was laughing with Vince and then the next she was discussing foreign films with him. She was amazing and Howard was sufficiently smitten with her. He knew he became attached to people too easily and that he tended to act on his feelings too suddenly, scaring the other person away and putting him in a cycle of hope and depression. He was hopeful that an ordeal like that wouldn't happen this time, he just didn't know why.
Howard still had a hundred questions he wanted to ask Lilly but an appropriate time hadn't come up. Maybe, if he could get her to stay with him instead of going out with Vince, they could talk. He tried turn on his persuasiveness.
Howard interrupted before Lilly had a chance to answer, "Actually, I was planning on staying in and listening to some jazz. If you're interested, you can join me instead. That is, if you'd rather not go out with Vince and Leroy."
Vince shot Howard the most withering glare he could manage – which was surprisingly intense for the appropriately nicknamed 'Sunshine Kid'.
Howard looked to Lilly hopefully but he tried to hide it behind a mask of coolness that he knew Vince would have had no trouble holding.
Lilly looked at them both and an epic realization dawned on her: Not only was she coming between both of them, but neither of them were taking her seriously anymore either – if they had to begin with.
