A beaming smile was his reply to Edmund as he took his seat. He watched the man look around but let his eyes wander over the small things that crowded most of the surfaces. He reached out to pick one up but froze and put his hand neatly back on his lap, he didn't want them to assume he was going to take something, even if he just wanted to look at it. And he sort of wanted the sister to like him, it would make it easier for him to remain in the older brother's life if he wanted him there.

He looked from the stuff back to the girl, as her silence was making him more nervous. "Ah, is this stuff yours? It's quite a collection. You have an eye for pretty things." He said quietly wanting to get on her good side but it was clearly failing. Luckily for the awkward silence, Edmund returned with the baton.

Francis laughed as he gently held it and looked it over. "Wow! Never thought I'd get to actually hold one of these things. This is amazing." He gave the man a little bow and laughed. "I'm very impressed. This is incredible. You should always keep it as a sign of your victory." He gave a small clenched fist pump before handing over the man's prize. "It's even better seeing it in life than just hearing about it. Thank you so much for letting me see it!'

Either Edmund did not notice how unusually quiet his sister, or he didn't care.  Regardless of the reason, his head tilted back in a laugh at Francis' praise.

"Of course, of course.  I... I suppose it is a nice thing to have, even if I can't do anything with it.  Maybe I could hang it up like - like a painting.  Is that silly?"

It sounded silly.  Edmund laughed again, sitting down at the table.  Had Francis said something before?  Something about - a collection?  He glanced around, searching for a clue, and found it in the shells on the desk.

"Oh, yes, yes, those are Mable's..." he said.  "She really likes the beach, as you can see.  I dunno why, but to each their own."

It was so nice to have Francis in the hotel room.  It usually felt so stifling in here, even with the window open, but Edmund was now realizing it was really just... loneliness.  Of course, he always had his sister, but when didn't he?

"Mable, Mable, why don't you show my friend your shells?  Tell him about them?"

Still, Mable was quiet for a moment, even when she was spoken to directly.  She seemed to hesitate before getting up and moving to the desk, picking up something and putting it on the table in front of Francis.

"Tell him about it," Edmund prompted again.  Mable seemed to clench her teeth.

"Its a rock," she said, "I dunno.  It's just a rock."  She shrugged, staring blankly at Francis' face.  "You can keep it, if you want.  I don't like it very much, so I won't miss it."

Francis nodded and shrugged still brightly looking. "Of course, it could be on display to look at, or keep it hidden as a secret." He winked knowingly.

Then, the mood between the two hit. He watched them interact and felt bad as Edmund tried to get Mable to talk about her collection to him. He was quiet for a moment trying to offer the girl an apologetic look. He grabbed the other man's hand delicately. "It's alright. I haven't earned it." He said to her and then looked towards his friend. "You're right, to each their own." He could also understand how he didn't care since he hated the beach. He was now curious why the sister loved the beach but he hated it. He wanted to ask so much, but it wasn't the moment.

"I don't want to interrupt Mable. You were reading, right?" He noticed it was a bible and bit his lip to remain quiet. "It is really nice to meet you. But..." He looked back to his friend and didn't want to ruin their friendship but he was starting to feel unsettled. So.. "You know what. Why don't you show me where I can dry off? Isn't there like a wash room with towels? I think we could both use it." He said hopeful that there was one and he could get Edmund alone.

A frown appeared on Edmund's face, for the first time realizing something was wrong with his sister, but it was gone the moment touched his hand.  He blinked and then nodded, glancing over Mable's head to a door on the wall opposite.

"A wash room, yeah, over there.  I suppose we are pretty soaked."  On any other day, such a fact would be accompanies by a truly sour mood from the boy, but right now there was no trace of such a thing.  Edmund stood, still holding Francis' hand, and lead him away from the table.

The wash room was half the width of the hotel room, but just as long.  There was a sink, a proper and modern toilet, and a small small tub at the far end.  Edmund made a small flourish to the room.

"Two towels coming... right up," he murmured, dropping the other's hand.  Shelved beside the sink was where they were stored and easily retrieved.  "There you go.  Ah, d'you need me to step out while you..?"

Francis was so relieved. He went with him into the small room and looked around. What he was going to do would be difficult, but he still had a pleasant buzz from drinking and there was always a chance Edmund wouldn't like him later anyway.

"Nope, you're wet too." With that, he sent up a leg to kick the door shut as he drew the younger man close. He wrapped a towel around to help dry Edmund's hair and he looked into his eyes. "I want to talk to you alone.. If it's alright." There wasn't enough time given for an answer, if he refused he could push Francis away easily. There was no need to resist or fight such a situation.

"I am your friend, and I support you." He said, his voice low and almost spoken directly in his ear as he used drying as an excuse to be close to him. "I am worried your sister has the wrong impression of me. Since.. we both came here drunk. So, you don't need to force her to talk to me. I am curious.. about things between you. So, maybe in time, you can tell me. If you want. " He clarified and looked into the other's face. "But don't be bothered by her or me that it's .. weird between us. I don't blame her. But I really appreciate you trying so hard. I came here for you though, so I am alright just focusing on talking to you. But if you also want me to go, we can meet up again. You know where to find me. Right?" He said. He wanted him to know he was there for him and he liked him still. He was just worried about this weird mood when they were in the other room.

He looked nervous but made a playful smile. "Of course if you want to just spend time in this little room with me and we keep trying ourselves off until it gets weird, I'm ok with that too.." He said with a small laugh.

Not a noise was made as Edmund was pulled close to his friend, but the surprise was evident on his face when he looked up and met Francis' eyes.  But - he didn't mind it much at all, especially not when Francis out the towel over his head and dried his hair for him.  For him!  How was such a simple action capable of making Edmund's face so hot?

"What?" he couldn't help but ask with a quiet, confused laugh.  Francis was so - close to him, and he wanted to ask about Mable?  Were things weird between the two of them?

"No, Francis, she's fine, don't worry about her.  You made a great - a great first impression, I think Mable is just shy."  There was another towel in his hands, and Edmund didn't quite know what to do with it.  After a moment, he unfolded it and used it to tat Francis' shoulders and chest.

"Is this not already weird?"  It felt a little weird, doing this, all of this, but it also felt... fun.  Like peeing on the church had been.  And Francis' hands were so gentle with his hair, Edmund couldn't help but lean against him.  He felt so fuzzy and happy.

Francis was being gentle as he dried the other's hair, it was thick and long enough he could spend his time focusing on that and staring into his face as he spoke. They were so close, it was hard to not notice. There was no way to dry it perfectly, not without a comb at last, but it was slowly working it's way.

"Ah, we came in soaking wet and a little drunk. It wasn't a great first impression." He said honestly but his smile didn't fade. "And it's alright. An imperfect first impression can always go up. I rarely make a good first impression." It had been different with Edmund, they were already friends. His hair was already almost dry but he kept working on it, just to keep the motion going. He stared into his eyes and smiled. "You know I'm alright, so hopefully she will too. So it's okay." When the other started to dry him off, he leaned towards him to make it easier and it felt nice to be touched and it wasn't for someone else's dirty needs or his own dirtier desire for positive attention, even if it made him feel dirtier afterwards.

He laughed softly, "We are two men moving our hands over each other to dry them in a very small room. It could get very very weird." His voice dropped just a little because it would be weirder to be over heard. He looked from the door then back as the other man lean to his touch. He slowed his hands as to not disturb him so much as he was aware of the warmth between them. Slowly he lowered the towel and bit back a few comments that welled up. He wanted to suggest undressing to dry easier but that would definitely be too much, or would it? "Do you want me to remove my shirt? It would be easier for you to dry me off." He offered with that usual uncertain chuckle.

Undressing was probably a bad idea.  But what part of this night, excluding Francis, hadn't been?

It took a moment, but Edmund nodded his assent to Francis' question.  He took half a step back and hugged the towel to his chest before realizing he should take off his own shirt too.

Edmund felt ridiculous.  He shook his head with a laugh, but set the towel aside to pull his shirt up anyway.  If Francis was doing it, he should to, shouldn't he?  Even if he was thin enough to see ribs, freckles and scars in equal measure all along his skin, who cared?  The time to be insecure about that was not right now, not when he was happy and drunk and in a small bathroom with his friend who's company he enjoyed so much.

There was no disagreement with him, Edmund even agreed to undressing! Francis wondered how far he could make him agree, just the small part of his mind who loved to push things. But not now, and he wouldn't do this to his friend. He tugged off the oversized shirt and couldn't help look over the other man. They were both scrawny in frame and scarred though from very different sources. He wasn't meaning to stare but it was hard to look away.

He grabbed his towel again and moved over the other's shoulders and towards his arms and chest. His hands slowed but he didn't notice. His eyes met the green ones and he grinned a little. "It is definitely getting weirder. But then I am weird regardless what I do. Thank you for putting up with me." He looked down where his hands brought the towel to the man's sides along his ribs. "You're very handsome." He said, more complimenting than flirting, wasn't it?

Edmund couldn't say a thing to Francis about his staring.  It would have been hypocritical if he did.  The other's body was so long and thin, and it wasn't so dissimilar from Edmund's own.  It made him feel - good.  Less out of place than he usually did.

Though they were still two drunk men, drying each other off, and like Francis said, that was already weird.  But at least they were weird together.  Isn't that what friendship is about?

"You're lovely to put up with, so I don't mind."  Francis was so gentle on his skin, too.  It sent a shiver up Edmund's spine, and another one immediately afterwards at the compliment.

"I'm just..." he wanted to refute, but found he didn't want to.  Francis said he was handsome, and even if Edmund didn't believe it, who was he to disagree with his friend?  In the end, he just shrugged, staring up at the other's face with an easy smile.

Like Francis had done to him a moment before, Edmund lifted his towel over his friends' head and started to dry his hair.  It was different, doing so to someone who didn't have as much hair as he was used to, but that just made the task easier.  Edmund didn't think he could handle anything very complicated, not when Francis' eyes were so blue and his face was so close.  It was really very distracting.