You Dropped This

[François Laffont]

Franck was chasing after a guy. That needed some explaining. No, he was not shopping for a new boyfriend. He was not running after that guy to get something back from him either or because he wanted to teach him a lesson. It all started in the gym, or the locker room to be exact.

Franck went to the gym to train. Others were already there so he headed for the pool instead, empty at that moment. He was still trying to get a balanced routine between classes, studies, work, training sessions, working out and his social life. It wasn’t easy and forced him to cramp some of these in any spot he could find. Right now, for example. He was not working this evening and knowing his father would not be home until a couple more hours, he thought it would be a good time to work out. At least this time he would be able to take a shower later, unlike some other time.

Like said before, it was in the locker room that it started. Once he was done, he saw someone else there. When there was a crowd of guys, he didn’t mind too much. There was just too many of them to really pay attention. But with only one or two, it was a little embarrassing. You heard everything and Franck was able to feel whatever emotion came from them. He preferred to put some distance, pretend they were not there. Focus on dressing up and getting out of here with everything.

The other boy probably meant to do that too. Except Franck found something lying on the floor. A set of keys. Whoever it belonged to would be really sad when they’d look for them and couldn’t find them anywhere. And since there had been another boy around, he figured it was his keyset. So Franck dashed out of the locker room. He heard him go not that long ago, he couldn’t be too far. There, there was someone leaving the gym. It had to be him.

And so, Franck was chasing after a guy. “Hey, wait,” he said, wishing he knew his name and could just say it. Would have been a lot easier. He held the boy’s shoulder to make him stop and then extended his hand with the keys in it. “Are they yours?” He should understand what Franck meant to say, despite the French accent. It was not like it was all that bad anymore.

TAG: @chase

[Deleted]

A few hours earlier, Chase had frowned at a sudden thought. He was slipping. How long had it been since he'd done any of his gymnastics exercises? At least a week, probably more. He couldn't do that. Sure, he was in college and his work was keeping him busy, but if he ever wanted to do something with gymnastics he couldn't afford to not practice. Since he had a few free hours, he made his way to the gym soon after.

The workout was great. Chase was in his real body only, needing to focus on what he was doing so he didn't break an ankle again. Or give himself any other injury. The gym was mostly empty, and he kept to himself, not wanting any interruptions. After a couple of hours, he did some cool-down stretches and headed for the locker room. He ached, but knew it would pay off. He just needed to practice more.

There was someone else in the locker room. Chase left him alone, changing quickly and trying not to draw any attention to himself. He did slip the other boy a few glances though. The guy looked familiar, but he was pretty sure they'd never talked. He'd probably have remembered that. The guy was gorgeous...

He shoved the thoughts out of his head pretty quickly, hoping the other wasn't a telepath. That would be awkward. Chase reached into his bag to put his clothes away and frowned. Where were his keys? He didn't see them by his feet or on the bench. Maybe he'd left them in the gym? Grabbing his bag, he left the locker room and failed to notice that his keys had been under his bag.

They weren't in the gym. At this point, Chase was starting to panic just a little. The ring had his room key, his car key, his house key... He knew his parents wouldn't kill him, but he really didn't want to get a whole new set of keys. And he didn't have any spares. He was headed for lost and found, thinking about where he could have left them, when a hand grabbed his shoulders. He froze.

Chase turned his head to see who had grabbed him and saw the guy from the locker room. 'Well crap', he thought, 'maybe he is a telepath'. Then he saw that the guy was holding out his keys, and relief washed through him. "Oh. Yeah, thanks." he said, taking the keys. "Where did I leave them? Probably somewhere stupid..." Chase trailed off, looking a little awkward after that last part. He did wonder how the guy knew they were his keys, but at least he had them back.

TAG: François Laffont

[François Laffont]

Franck might not be a telepath but his power was enough to make the boy blush had he known. Still, a spike of desire meant nothing to Franck. It was so easy to create. The guy might have been thinking of his girlfriend for all he knew. It would make sense he’d be attracted then. Franck started to understand it was best not to base all of his opinions on the feelings he got from people. At least not until he also had a conversation with the person.

He didn’t intend to have one this time but circumstances pushed him to go after the guy. The keys might have been lying there since before he walked in the locker room and belong to someone else but there was also a high chance they were his. If so, he’d be glad to have them back and if not Franck would simply bring them to the lost and found.

He didn't mean to startle the guy and expected even less to get this feeling of panic out of him but it still happened and had Franck startle as well. Relief came out however when he saw the keys and it had Franck smile. Everything was fine in the end and they really were his apparently. Not only that but he didn’t check to see if they really were, making Franck believe he was looking for them. It must have explained the panic then. He was relieved too. At least he was not the cause of that. “They were in the locker room. They must have dropped off your bag when you left,” he explained. Stupid, he wouldn’t say that. No doubt the guy was glad to have found them back however.

[Deleted]

The guy's smile made him relax, and Chase grinned back. It was really nice of him to return the key. He could have just left them there. The'd have ended up in lost and found eventually. Well, hopefully they would have. They could have just gotten lost. Chase was grateful.

His grin turned into a sheepish nod. That made sense. Of course, he'd looked everywhere for his keys except on his bag and under it. A smile grew on his face again soon after that though. "Well, thank you," he said, grateful. He liked being able to get into his room and everything else the keys were for. It was much more convenient than not being able to get into them. Since he didn't have a roommate yet, there would be nobody to feed Jimmy, and all of his stuff would be locked in there too.

And hey, since they were talking already, he might as well introduce himself.

"I'm Chase," said Chase. "Who're you? I don't think I've seen you before." He didn't usually strike up conversations like this, but the guy seemed nice. And he had gone out of his way to return his keys. People didn't normally do that for strangers.

[François Laffont]

Had it been something less important, like gloves or a hat... no, Franck still would have chased after this guy to see if it belonged to him and return it. But it certainly would not have been as important to bring it back. Keys, however... And the guy was grateful of his gesture. Not suspicious Franck might have stolen them or anything like that, just grateful. Franck could sense it and it only resulted in his smile to grow a bit wider.

“Don’t mention it,” Franck assured him when he thanked him. It was nothing. He just knew he would have liked, had he been in the boy’s situation, that someone did the same Franck did to him. Especially since he wouldn’t be in the dorm where he could get a staff to open him had he lost his keys, he’d be in front of a house and would have to wait for a while until his father returned, if not trying to break in through a window while hoping no neighbour would notice and call the police.

The guy introduced him as Chase and Franck saw some irony in that. He also found it like an odd way to meet new people but it was happening and Franck was not about to ignore him. “My name’s François but everyone here just calls me Franck. I’ve been here for a while now but maybe we just never had a chance to properly meet?” He had no idea if this guy had been to Bellefonte for years like it was his case. Even then, this school was rather big. Even for a social butterfly like Franck it was impossible to know everyone.