Oh, so he could blush like that? Francis hadn't been paying attention to the little details like that when they were together before and now he soaked up the sight. How...cute. Though he doubted the other man would appreciate being told so. "Alas. I would love to help you with your problem but it seems it's not destined to be so!" he exclaimed dramatically. He hadn't yet finished the last flourish with his hand when the waitress hurried over, carrying a tray laden with cups.

"Here you are sirs. I'm sorry about the wait," she said with a smile. "Please have a nice day!" After smiling at Francis, she sent a little wink to Arthur before hurrying away. Francis noticed and couldn't help but wonder what that was about.

Arthur couldn't help but roll his eyes and Francis's exclamation. That was something he had sorta been expecting him to say. He turned his attention to the waitress when she came over. It wasn't to long of a wait, so he wasn't sure why she was apologizing. Its only been a couple of minutes. Though it did feel like longer. His eyes went to his cup so he didn't notice that the waitress had winked at him. He was focused on his drink. He picked it up and took a small sip, immediately enjoying the flavor.

Glancing back at the waitress, Francis decided she'd definitely gotten some kind of thought about them, though he couldn't be sure what. Not that he cared though. He was with Arthur now and nothing would get in the way. "Is your tea good?" he asked as he took a sip of his own drink. The taste of sweet milk and coffee warmed his tongue, making him remember home and cafes like something out of a fairytale.

"Yes. Its delicious." Arthur answered, taking another sip. It felt good to just sit and drink tea again. What also felt good was that Francis hadn't started staring at the waitress again. That was nice. Maybe this date would go well after all. "Is your drink any good?" he asked. He wanted to check to see how much time he would have to enjoy being here before having to go back to work, but he didn't want to seem like he was eager to leave. So, he ignored the urge to check.

Francis nodded with a hum of appreciation. "It's just like the drinks I used to get at a place near home. It's funny how it's little things like that you miss. Not the language or festivals you used to go to, but the coffee and the labor unions striking in front of the bus station. Why would a person miss that?" But he did and the taste of nostalgia loosened his tongue enough to speak so freely of it. Certainly an American would never understand these strange things he missed, but Arthur also wasn't native to this country. He might understand.

"I understand. Not about the labor union strikes. But everything else." Arthur told him. Why would anybody miss strikes? That didn't make any sense. This talk about this was making him miss home. Not that he didn't already. But it was easy to push aside the homesickness when he was focused on work. Maybe that was why he was working so much? He wasn't sure. But he couldn't avoid it now. All he could do was take another sip of his tea.

Francis chuckled. "Well, I don't understand it well either. Maybe it's just a French thing. It's strange to see not even a hint of it here in America. In England, they would go on strike from time to time. Sure in Canada too, but here? Non. Am I simply strange?" he wondered aloud. "I'm sorry, you must be bored listening to me reminisce like this. It seems I'm not a good date at all today." The thought made him sigh. As experienced as he was, he still managed to step all over himself when with the person he most liked.

"No. I don't mind. Sometimes its good to reminisce." Arthur told him. "Americans wouldn't understand. The only time they ever leave their country is for vacations. Not for extended stays like we are. And you're not being a bad date. You're fine." It really was nice to talk to someone about home. Nobody here understood. Not that he would talk about it with anybody here.

Francis smile came a little easier, a little more natural. At least Arthur appreciated this conversation. "It's because Americans are always in a hurry! There was this American couple that I grew up next to. Even though they'd been in France for years, they were always so American! You could tell." He shook his head, just remembering the way they always seemed to be doing things, though they were nice people. A French person would not run around so much though. "What do you miss most about home? Ah..." he exclaimed as something else came to mind. "You never did say where in England you were from."

"I was born and raised in London." Arthur told him. He had to think about the question. What did he miss most about home. A lot of things really. "I think one of the things I miss most is playing football with my brothers. We used to every weekend when we were young. But as we got older, the games became fewer. It was one of the ways we would bond."

"Oh? You have brothers?" Francis asked, instantly perking up. "I always thought it must be wonderful, but I don't have any siblings myself. It would be grand to have a little brother to guide though!" he exclaimed. "Although I wouldn't play football with them. Nothing wrong with a good game, but I prefer to watch." He could be as competitive as the next person, but he didn't enjoy getting sweaty. "It's sad you've drifted apart from your brothers. It must be tough."

"I have three older brothers. They always used to mess with me. But were also the first to jump to my defense if someone was bullying me. Despite the way they acted though, we were close. But, life changes as you get older and people move away and get jobs and have a life away from family. Back home, we would all try to get together at least once a week for dinner." Arthur told him, a small smile on his face from remembrance.

Francis smiled at Arthur's description. It was exactly how he imagined siblings should be and it made him feel a little sad that he'd never know what that felt like. "Are you brothers still back in England?" he asked, though his smile held a hint of hardness. "I admit, I'm a little jealous." The quiet tone of his voice said just how serious he was, strange as that might be. Francis grew up spoiled though. Spoiled and alone. He knew it showed in the way he acted too, for better or for worse.

"Oh no. They all live in different countries. Though still in the UK. So they can go home a lot easier than I can." Arthur said. That was one of the reasons that they stopped being close. And the fact that they still treated him like he was a baby even though he's been taking care of himself for years. "Jealous about what? Having brothers?" he asked.

"I see, that's not so bad," Francis said. The whole of UK was pretty much one country anyway as far as he was concerned, though they all had their own way of talking. He would give them that. In the end, he preferred the English accent above all the others. Nodding his head, he answered Arthur's second question. "Yes, and the fond way you talk of them. Unfortunately, my family is high class and high strung. Maybe that's why I never went back home." He stifled a laugh. His mother would certainly have a conniption if she heard him say that.

Arthur was silent, not knowing what to say to that. He sipped his tea slowly, only setting the cup down when it was empty. He knew he probably needed to get back to work. But, he wasn't really ready to. He was enjoying talking to Francis, without the possibility of getting drunk. He checked his watch and noticed he would need to leave within the next couple of minutes before his break was over. "I'm sure your family has some good qualities." he finally said.

Francis offered a brief smile over the top of his mug. This hardly sounded like first date material, but for some reason, he felt comfortable sharing things about himself with Arthur and the other man seemed to think so too. It was strange. He didn't feel the need to hold the other man at arm's length like he often did, despite getting so close to so many people. "Oh, they do. They're my family so of course I love them. But doesn't a person always long for the opposite of what they have?" he asked. He noticed the way Arthur glanced at his watch, and though he understood it, he didn't say anything. He didn't want to admit this date would have to end.

"That is very true. When I was young I would often imagine what it would be like to be an only child. Normally when my brothers are messing with me. They would literally sit on me if I was bugging them to much." Arthur let out a small laugh at that. "But then they'd turn around and protect me from a bully on the playground. It was things like that that let me know they cared. And that's why I never really minded having brothers. I know they will always be there for me and I wouldn't trade them for anything."

"Sit on you?" Francis exclaimed with a laugh. He would pay to see that. They sounded like interesting brothers indeed. "My parents taught me how to survive the high society and could be quite strict at times. I had no time one to share that stressful burden with, but when the day was done, we would always have dinner together, just the three of us, and no one could be less happy." Would the table feel less cozy with more people at it? The thought only occurred to him as an adult.

"That sounds nice.." Arthur told him. He looked at his watch again. He really needed to get back to work. He stood and pulled out his wallet. "I hate to cut this short, but I need to be going." he told him.

Meanwhile, across town. Two brothers sat in an apartment. "Please Mattie? You really need to get out more and relax. All you do is study nowadays." Alfred pleaded with his brother.

"I don't want to go to a club. I need to study. Because I, unlike you, actually care about getting my degree." Matthew countered. He knew he was most likely going to give in to his brother. It was hard to say no when he started using his 'puppy dog stare.' No matter how much he didn't want to go. When Alfred stared with 'the stare' Matthew tried to resist, but was unable to. He sighed. "Fine... We'll go to the club tonight. Now can I finish my homework?" he asked.

"Yep!" Alfred exclaimed. He patted his brother on the back before leaving him alone.

Of course Francis knew this would come. He stood to say his goodbyes to the other man. "I understand." He paused, almost hesitating. "Can we do this again?" A second date. He needed to know it would happen and he didn't want to wait until next week, tense with not knowing.

"Yes." Arthur immediately said. He blushed brightly at how eager that sounded and coughed slightly. "I-I mean. Yeah.. We can do this again sometime." He looked anywhere but at Francis, pulling out some money for his drink.

Meanwhile, across the city, a young Italian was sitting in his room at the home he shared with his brother and grandfather. He pulled out his cellphone. He scrolled through his contacts and clicked on and began typing a message. It said: "Oi... Tomato Bastard... I'm bored..." and send the message.

An immediate smile flashed over Francis' face. "Thank you," he said before leaning over to kiss Arthur on the cheek. "Call me!" He slipped away, waving one last time and telling the other man to have a nice day. Because this one certainly had been.

Antonio had just gotten out of the shower and still hummed along with the music playing from his radio when his phone let out an even louder melody. Antonio's smile jumped to all new levels as he ran for his phone. Since he used different ringtones for all his friends, he knew immediately who sent the message. "Aww..." he whined as he read the short line of text. Lovi had been thinking of him! 'That's so cute! :D' he typed back.

Arthur watched him go, his face still red. He stood there for another minute before heading back to work in a great mood. He was happy this hadn't been a complete waste of his time. Sure, he blushed more than he would have liked. But luckily that disappeared before he returned to the station. He went back to his desk and got to work.

Lovino looked at his phone when he heard it go off. He glared slightly at the message. He wasn't cute! He typed back 'How is me being bored cute, you bastard?' All he wanted was to spend time with his boyfriend before he had to head to work. Is that to much to ask? But then again, Antonio wasn't allowed in the house. Grandpa didn't approve of him, always referring to him as 'that damned punk' whenever he had to talk about him. But who cared what that old man thought anyways. He wasn't here at the moment and wouldn't know if the Spaniard came over.

Antonio flopped himself onto his bed, still wet and naked, but he could care less. Kicking his legs back and forth, he continuing humming a melody to his phone. 'Because u want to talk to me. I want to talk to u too!' he texted back with a giant grin. Lovino might not have seen it, but all Antonio saw when looking at him was cute. It didn't matter what everyone else said, like he was insane for dating someone who didn't appreciate his kindness, because he knew Lovi did. Just in his own way.