"For lunch? Not very long. But if I get my paperwork done I would be able to get out of here at a reasonable time for once." Arthur told him. If they were going to have a serious relationship, if that's what this is, then he wanted to start working more normal hours. He's never had any reason to care about how many hours he worked and normally spend more time here than at home. He would want that to change if he had the proper reason to.

Francis chided himself for thinking of totally unreasonable things to do in the rest of Arthur's break. Sure there was a closet, but...he shook his head. Keep focused! His friends always did tell him that his active imagination would be his downfall because only embarrassing things every showed up in his daydreams. "Are you perhaps inviting me to do something with you later?" Francis asked with a blink. And there his imagination was off again. It did surprise him though. Was their relationship deepening after all? And Antonio made fun of him for saying he fell in love.

Arthur blush deepened slightly at Francis's words. "I-If you'd want to. We could do dinner or go see a show or something." He stuttered out after a moment. Though it would be hard to get tickets to see a proper show on such sort notice. He'd be willing to sit through some movie if he had to. Not his first choice in things to do, but it will do. "My treat." He added. A part of him was hoping the Frenchman would say yes but another part of him was embarrassed by him asking and was hoping for a no. He kept his eyes on the table, cheeks still blushing, as he waited for an answer.

"I wouldn't mind going to a show with you or we could perhaps..." Francis paused and couldn't quite bring himself to complete his thought. "Never mind." He very nearly invited Arthur back to his own place for a drink and movie, or whatever and more. Definitely more. But he choked at the last second, on some innate level not wanting to get in too deep with someone so quick. It was one thing to fall in love and another to share his address. "Since it's your treat, I can't say no can I?" he asked with a chuckle. One of these days, he was going to tell Arthur just how cute he thought he was with his blushing to no end.

"Great! Uh... I-I mean....." Arthur stuttered, not meaning to sound so eager about it. That made him feel a bit pathetic to be so eager about spending time with someone he's only known a few days. It made him feel like he was setting himself up for heartbreak, for surely Francis wouldn't want to stick around once he got to truly know him. They never did. Though he was curious about what the Frenchman was going to suggest, he wasn't going to ask. He would have said if he wanted to share. "S-So.. I'll call you when I get off work then.."

"I look forward to it," Francis said with a smile. He recovered quickly from his near mistake and send Arthur didn't call him out on it, it was almost like the slip didn't happen. He didn't think deeply about it; he just pushed Arthur ever so slightly away out of instinct, like he did so many things to do with love. When he looked down at his still half eaten and now cool food, he could only poke it with distaste. "I should just pack my things and leave you to your work then perhaps? After all, I'll get to see you later."

"Yeah. That's right." Arthur said. He looked down at his own food and noticed there was just a tiny portion of it left compared to what Francis had left. ".. Thanks for the food." he added. It was nice to have something other than takeout for lunch for once. He made a mental note to go online and see if there were any tickets left for any good shows left . If not, he'd check for movies. Surely there would be something worth watching, right? He stood and stretched. "I'll escort you out." He told him.

Francis stood to start packing away his left over food. "Thank you," he murmured. Before they had a chance to leave the room, he leaned forward to place a quick kiss on the other man's lips. "I had a great time eating with you today." And he always felt a warm glow when that food was appreciated. If he person could live off compliments alone, he would be the sort of person to do it. He let Arthur escort him out and said another quick good bye before he found himself alone outside in the sunshine again.

Arthur felt himself blush again at the kiss. He mentally slapped himself. Never before has he ever blushed so much. He led the way out in a bit of a daze. He was glad the blush was gone by the time they ran into people. He knew some people would tease him about it and others would mock him for it. And he wasn't in the mood to deal with that. He was having a good day and he wouldn't let anybody bring him down. He muttered a quick bye before going back to his desk.

Francis drove home and the first thing he did was throw himself onto his bed with a noise that could only be described as happiness. 'Guess who's still in love?' he texted Antonio. Half a minute later, he got his reply.

'Me?'

Francis frowned at his phone. 'You suck at this game. Don't mock me anymore because I think he really likes me back.' He didn't bother waiting to see what Antonio would say back before he headed to his art studio. Though he usually painted landscapes, he moved the half finished paper of the Eiffel tower at sunrise and started a new painting, this one of a certain blonde cop. And his painting would stay hidden here for no one else's eyes because the idea was simply too embarrassing.

Arthur got back to work on his files, but he was distracted. He knew he shouldn't let Francis get to close to him. But he hasn't felt this good in years. He couldn't even imagine how much it would hurt if this went wrong. The only way to prevent himself from feeling to much pain was to keep him at a distance. Even if doing that was hard.

During his break he searched for shows, but like he thought they were all sold out. So instead he searched for movies. There were a couple that sounded like they would be worth watching, so he would ask for Francis's opinion about one of those.

When his shift finally ended, he headed home to change. There was no way he was wearing his uniform on a date again if he could help it. While he was changing, he called the Frenchman.

Francis had just finished laying down a block outline on top of his watercolor wash when his phone went off in the other room. After a quick rinse of his brush, he hurried to his phone, still remolded his brushes to their proper state on his smock. He ignored the five messages from Antonio and one from a girl he couldn't remember for the life of him. "Hi there!" he answered with a far more chipper tone than a man of his age should have rights to use. With his phone tucked in the crook of his shoulder, he headed back to his studio.

"Hey. I'm off work now." Arthur told him when he answered. "What are you up to?" He asked. He finished changing and headed into the other room, absently picking up things on the flood and straightening things out. He never noticed just how messy his apartment had become. He normally kept it much cleaner than this. But on the other hand, he hasn't been home very often recently. At least, not long enough to clean it.

"Just cleaning up a bit," Francis answered. "Nothing too important." Since the painting had been of Arthur, he didn't feel much desire to explain his day to him. He wouldn't even say he'd been painting in case the other asked what and he would need to lie. The painting did feel important to him though. "Did you find anything suitable for us to do?"

"All the shows were sold out. But there were some movies that might be interesting, if you were interested. Or we could go do something else entirely." Arthur told him, sitting down on the couch once everything was picked up. What they did didn't really matter. This was New York after all. Plenty to do. So they didn't have to specifically watch some show/movie.

"A movie sounds wonderful. A pity they don't show adult movies in theaters because I could think of some wonderful things to do while watching that with you," Francis said with a laugh, mostly teasing, mostly just saying things without thinking them through. He'd just spend an entire day thinking about the other man though. His thoughts were bound to jump out his mouth at some point.

Arthur instantly blushed by his words. "T-That is highly inappropriate!" He stuttered, completely appalled by the suggestion. He wasn't sure if Francis was joking when he said that or not. It was hard to tell over the phone. "So.. Do you want to meet at the move theater or get something to eat first?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

Francis chuckled, appreciating Arthur's reaction. He might have been a little serious, but mostly he just enjoyed hearing the other man stutter like that. "Perhaps, but you have to admit that it would be fun." He shook his head but let the conversation drift to other topics. He didn't want to tease Arthur too much. "I think it would be wonderful to watch the movie first and then walk under the stars and eat something." Or as many stars as one could find in this city. The neon lights were the city's fake starts and on some nights, they could be just as beautiful.

"That sounds great. I'll meet you at the theater then." Arthur said. He waited for Francis to confirm that before he hung up. He stood and put his phone in his pocket. He pulled on his shoes and grabbed his wallet and keys. After checking how much money he had on him he left, locking the door behind him before heading outside. He was lucky enough to catch a taxi just outside and got a ride to the theater. He paid the driver and got out and waited for the other to arrive.

Still smiling because of the other man, Francis put his phone in his pocket and spent a quick second to check his hair before heading out the door. Even if he made himself beautiful earlier, it never hurt to touch up, especially if about to go on a date. He hummed to the old ballad music playing in his car all the way there. "Long time no see," he called when he spotted Arthur in front of the theater.

Arthur couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard what Francis said. "You saw me a few hours ago." he told him. Though he was glad when the other showed up. Despite their conversation before, there was a part of him that hadn't expected him to. He was glad the other proved that part of him wrong. He was sure that everything was going to go fine tonight. "So, what type of movie would you prefer? Romance, comedy, horror?" he asked.

"Oh any of those three would be fine," Francis said with a wave of one hand. Horror and romance meant cuddling, but comedy always left him with a good feeling inside, though Americans had a funny definition of humor sometimes. What he would do for a good foreign film! "I'm curious as to what type of movie you prefer."

Arthur had to think about that. He liked most types of movies, though he wasn't personally a huge fan of romance ones. At least, not American made ones. They were way to cheesy. He turned and looked at the choices. "Let's watch... This one." he said, pointing at one of the horror movies. Those were normally at the very least interesting if they weren't scary.

Francis found himself hoping dearly that Arthur was the sort to scare when he saw the movie he picked. He chuckled to himself as he imagined the other man jumping in terror and asking to be held. Francis, of course, would be more than willing to oblige. Yes, this could turn into a wonderful date before the night ended. After they got the tickets, he held the door open for Arthur and led the way to the right screen.

Arthur paid for their tickets and followed Francis inside to the correct place. "Are you going to want any snacks or would you rather wait for dinner?" he asked. He himself had no intention of eating anything here. He wasn't really big on eating unhealthy snacks like what was sold here and he was sure Francis was probably the same. But if the other wanted something, they could get it.