May 15th, 2014

AUTHOR: jojoandpicnic97

May 15th, 2014

Gifts that allowed you to give other people Gifts were rare. Francis had that Gift and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He would grant people a Gift, usually dealing with love, and they would thank him with all the kindness in their hearts. Unless, of course, this person's name is Arthur Kirkland (Gifted with short-temperment and his family's large eyebrows – curses, really). Then again, Francis hadn't expected Arthur to thank him after he Gifted him with unruly, horribly messy hair. But that's what he got for dying Francis' beautiful tresses blue!

Still, after years and years of trying to develop a semi-friendly relationship, they did. To celebrate Arthur calling him his friend for the first time, Francis granted his emotionally constipated friend with the Gift of true love. Francis had promised Arthur that he would find his soulmate and Arthur had been too stunned to say anything for a long while.

They had both been fifteen then. Now, at the nice age of twenty-five, Arthur's temperment was wearing thin once more.

"Stop setting me up on dates!"

"I'm only trying to help, mon ami."

"Well, stop trying to help, then!"

"Arthur, I-"

"You know what you Gifted me with, it'll happen, you can't take it back, but it's not like you can speed it up either. I'm fine, Francis, I can wait."

The Frenchman's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh, really," he purred. "Even with your-"

"Don't say it, frog."

Francis relented and let his friend march out of their shared flat to cool off. And then, later in the day when his friend Antonio (Gifted romanticism and the family trait of sexy curly hair) let him go after sharing all of his relationship woes via text, Francis realized Arthur had yet to return. He had been gone for hours. The fight had not been particularly bad – they had had worse – and yet Francis had yet to hear the door open and the kettle be put on the stove.

And then, Francis did hear the door open and the kettle be put on. He walked the few short feet to the kitchen to witness a truly surprising scene. Arthur was standing before the stove, staring down at the (empty) kettle sitting on the turned on stove (but there was nothing boiling; how does one forget water?), with a large, dopey, out-of-character smile spread out upon his face (even though he had forgotten to put water in the kettle and it would never go off and he would never get his tea).

Francis walked closer and his friend didn't even move. Standing a few inches away, Francis put a hand out to wave in front of Arthur's face. "Hello? Anyone home?"

The dopey part of the smile dropped and Arthur snatched the hand away from his face. "Quiet, I'm in a good mood."

"Any reason for that?" he asked gingerly; Francis really didn't want to set off Arthur's Gift. Especially when he was in such a good mood.

Arthur's cheeks brightened with blood and dopey part of the smile came back. He relayed a tale about bumping into a humanoid ray of sunshine and how this ray of sunshine had the Gift of making anyone and everyone smile and how just glancing at Alfred's – Francis assumed this was the name of aforementioned sunshine – own bright and beauteous smile made even a rock smile back at him. Arthur went on to explain how he had helped Alfred find his brother who had disappeared – literally as he had been Gifted with invisibility – because the two had had a quarrel and how Alfred had flirted with Arthur the whole time. He had also asked the Briton out on a date.

By the end, Francis was fighting back a dopey smile of his own. He left Arthur standing at the (now turned off) stove with the empty kettle on it, loving his Gift. Arthur may not have put two and two together, but Francis knew that his friend would be smiling every day for the rest of his life from now on.