awkward boy {THEO}

[Alistair Ainsworthy]

Alistair had only started this job a couple of days ago and he was still having the difficulty to actually grasp that making awkward jokes towards someone who was buying 50 Shades of Grey was not funny. Especially when you suggested they were buying it for a kick start in their relationship. No, it wasn't funny at all.

As the rather sour old woman stormed out of the shop, slamming the door behind her with a loud noise, he muttered a string of curse words beneath his breath before he looked up at the next customer. "Hello!" he said cheerfully before the awkward silence washed over him. Usually, people were a lot more cheerful in the Muggle world. "Right... I'm guessing you want me to ring up this book? Right..." With a blush rising high in his cheeks, he took the book from the sullen looking girl before he rang it up, smiling awkwardly at her.

Wincing yet again as another customer left the shop looking as though somebody had murdered their mother, he passed Theo with an embarrassed look. "I'm not so good with, uh... with the people. Not really good at all. They tend to find me to awkward. Because I make really dreadful jokes that really aren't funny. And I am rambling again. Sorry. Shit. I mean, not shit, I mean... oh fudge. You're going to fire me now, aren't you?"

[Theodore Broussard]

Being the longest-standing and most reliable employee (which, frankly, wasn't saying all that much at Flourish and Blotts), Theo was generally given the task of mentoring new employees. He wasn't fantastic at the whole teaching thing, but he got the job done - most of the time it was just showing them the ropes as far as the cash register and filing systems were concerned, and letting them figure anything else out through trial and error. The most recent recruit, though, was making Theo start to rethink his approach - the young man seemed to be having a rather high percentage of error in his trials.

It was day three, and Alistair was struggling just as much as he was on day one. Just a few hours in, he'd already managed to send two customers storming off in a huff. He was a nice enough guy, really, he was just trying too hard - and it was actually rather cute, although Theo was quick to push that particular thought from his mind. If nothing else, it was incredibly entertaining. It was all Theo could do not to start laughing as a sullen young girl stalked off, leaving Alistair watching her with a slightly pained expression.

He flashed the young man a reassuring smile as he walked by, catching the embarrassment written all over his face. "I can tell," he couldn't help responding as Alistair explained that he wasn't good with people. Thankfully, though, the jibe went mostly unnoticed as the young man continued to talk, starting to ramble a bit and ending awkwardly.

Theo chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I'm not going to fire you," he replied with a smile. "For one thing, it's not in my power. I'm not actually your boss or anything. For another, I wouldn't fire you even if I was. Honestly, Alistair, it's your third day - I think you deserve slightly more of a chance than that." He chuckled again, leaning back against the bookshelf behind him. "You just have to stop trying so hard. Some people don't want to be talked to, and that's okay. Just try to be friendly, yet mild." He was vaguely surprised to hear the words coming out of his mouth - actual instruction for once. A slightly satisfied smile crossed his lips - he considered that a personal improvement.

[Alistair Ainsworthy]

At Theo's somewhat comforting smile, Alistair reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, looking honestly a bit frustrated with himself. "I don't mean to, I promise. It's just - well, it's kind of like Hogwarts, isn't it? People like you unless you're terribly awkward and horrible at talking. They just ignore you if you don't bother opening your mouth... I'm not very good at the whole people, talking to them, thing. At my last job I honestly just stuck to back, sorting out the books - massive error on their part, by the way. They sorted it all alphabetically instead of genre then alphabetically. It was mad! Chaos, I tell you. Absolute chaos."

He wasn't sure if talking about your old job at your new job was exactly proper form. It probably wasn't, but he was nervous and rambling helped to try placate himself. He let out a small huff of relief as Theo reassured him that he wasn't going to be fired. He sent him a small, grateful smile. "You're - that's nice. To know I'm not fired. Yet." He shuffled awkwardly on the spot, blush travelling to his cheeks. "I can do that. Right. Mildly friendly. I don't really get that though - mildly friendly. If you're going to be friendly then why do it half-arsed? Half... half-bummed, I mean. Why do it half-bummed? That's an odd sentence, right there. I suggest never saying that one to anyone. It makes things really awkward. So does pointing out the awkwardness... right."

Clearing his throat, he broke away from his rambling and averted his eyes to his lovely new shoes instead. He knew he was probably making a horrible impression at the moment... and he did like this job, he did, he just preferred not having to actually talk to anybody. Especially to his co-worker who seemed to be so much cooler and aloof then he did. He'd bet his left arm that other guy was much more popular than himself in Hogwarts - he was probably the guy who played Quidditch and always had a girl hanging off his arm.

[Theodore Broussard]

Theo frowned slightly at Alistair's frustrated expression, unsure what else to do. He nodded as the young man spoke, though he didn't really know what he meant about Hogwarts - he'd always been a popular guy, but all of that was a lie, anyhow. He probably knew less about actual life at Hogwarts than a Beauxbatons student like his father. He winced slightly as Alistair mentioned the organization at his last job. "Ooh, ouch," he muttered, shaking his head. "That had to be a nightmare."

Theo chuckled in response to his uncertain addition of the word "yet", shaking his head. "Don't have so much faith," he said sarcastically, a teasing grin playing across his lips. He watched as Alistair tried to make sense of the whole "mildly friendly" suggestion, fighting the urge to bust out laughing when he corrected his curse. Why was it so difficult to stop the word cute being associated with him?

"Honestly, you aren't going to be fired for swearing," he said, unable to hold back his snicker. "But you'll get used to it. The talking to people bit. I mean, most people aren't ready to be completely friendly with someone they don't know. So you go halfway, because you're there to help people, but you hold back so as not to scare people off. And if all else fails..." he paused, grinning. "We can always just hide you in the back room and make you do paperwork."

[Alistair Ainsworthy]

"It was a nightmare," Alistair confirmed with a horrified, still disbelieving shake of his head. To him, books deserved the same care as people did and unfortunately, this books hadn't gotten much care at all.

A small sheepish grin crossed his lip and he let out a small laugh, "Oh, I won't. You have no idea how much faith I can have a times." As a grin appeared on Theo's face himself, he felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment for some reason. It was bizarre, making someone so much more... cooler than him smile, but he found he liked it. Theo looked even more attractive - hot, he corrected himself - when he smiled.

"But isn't that, like, misappropriate work conducting behaviour? Swearing in front of your, uh... Theo. I mean, not my Theo. I mean, just a co-worker. A co-worker is all I mean. Promise. I know you're not mine. I, uh... sorry," he apologised, looking absolutely mortified with himself. "Well, that's stupid. People should always be friendly to one another. And paperwork would be like some sweet relief. I'd love to do paperwork. I love paper, actually. It's fantastic. Awesome, awesome idea. Props to the guy who invented paper. He's fantastic."

[Theodore Broussard]

"I never thought I would say what I am about to say about this place," Theo began, shaking his head. "But at least the place you're working in now is a bit more sane." At this he chuckled, because Flourish and Blotts was one of the most insane places he'd ever been - especially for a bookshop. But if nothing else, the organization was at least decent.

Theo tried to ignore how adorable the sheepish little grin was on Alistair's lips. "Well, that's good to know," he replied, laughing quietly again. He was a little confused by the young man's blush, but he decided not to make anything of it - he knew from experience that calling attention to that sort of thing just made the entire situation worse. It was better to just go along wondering what you did to embarrass the other person, if anything, or what might've gone through their head. Although sometimes that second train of thought got a bit dangerous.

Theo raised one eyebrow incredulously as Alistair spoke again, blinking in surprise as he rambled to cover up saying... His Theo? Was that honestly what he'd said? Yes, indeed it was. Theo had absolutely no idea how to respond to that one, even and perhaps especially once it was corrected (because the correction itself was suspiciously awkward, despite the fact that - given his general experience - no guy this cute was likely to even be bisexual), and was extremely grateful when he moved on to the topic of friendliness, paperwork, and paper itself.

Okay, so the paper was a bit of a stretch. But it was something he could latch on to. "Well, people will do what they will do," he concluded unhelpfully. "But maybe we can just. Have you do some filing for a while. Y'know, take a break. Get used to the shop more before we send you back out into the flames of customer service." He snickered at the end of that, but it sounded a little forced - his mind was still reeling.

[Alistair Ainsworthy]

"Oh, no, Flourish and Blotts is magnificent! The atmosphere is just... terrific. And I love the vast collection of books and the fact that you guys still use a stepladder to get books sometimes because using magic to get them down is a bit of a trouble if it's an old book. I love it. I'm going to sound completely insane but, uh, it's got that smell about it. The old, dusty but loved book place smell which I adore. It's like one of those real old libraries not like those all technology, computer libraries you find in the Muggle world. But an actual library," Alistair gushed, grinning as though he were a little boy on Christmas day about to tear into his presents. Books were his absolute favourite thing in the world.

Alistair pointedly didn't look Theo in the eyes once he noticed the totally judgemental eyebrow quirk up, blush threatening to set his cheeks aflame. Why did he always have to stuff these things up? Why did he always have to make a complete and utter arse of himself in front of anybody who was cute? Grimacing to himself, he glanced down at his yellow rubber ducky tie and started fiddling with it, nervously. He was a total bonehead sometimes. He really needed to learn to stop rambling and over-sharing. It was a bad habit of his in uncomfortable situations.

A little sigh of relief escaped him when Theo was polite enough not to comment on the whole 'my Theo' incident that had just occurred only moments before. Thank God. "Filing's great. I, uh... I'm really good at organising stuff. It was on my resume. A recommendable skill, as my mum calls it and she's a pretty wise woman, she is. She's great. A grand woman." He finally gathered the nerve to look back up at Theo's laugh. He was probably laughing at him. It wouldn't be surprising.

[Theodore Broussard]

OOC: SDLKFJSL OH MY GOODNESS I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THIS. I basically just suck. I've been busy, and I've been avoiding the forums because my muse has been a little dead > . < Sorrryyyy.

---

Theo let out a snort of laughter - he wasn't completely sure whether Alistair was being serious or just sucking up to cover his performance of the past couple days, but it was amusing either way. "Well, it's good to hear somebody feels that way," he replied, still trying to avoid thinking about how adorable his gushy rambling was. "I know what you mean about the smell of the place, that's probably my favorite part. I guess it's not so bad as I say it is sometimes. I dunno. Sometimes you get kind of tunnel vision, you know? And you only think about the bratty little kids who come in and rearrange the books, or the old women who patronize you and shout because they can't hear themselves." He chuckled a little at himself, shaking his head.

Theo watched as Alistair blushed and fiddled with his tie, finding it more and more difficult to deny how cute the young man was. He also noticed the sigh of relief, however, when Theo didn't mention any of these things - and while it wasn't a surprise, it was definitely a good thing to hear. This was probably the most he'd talked to any coworker at one time, and he was still mildly afraid he was going to completely mess it up. Somehow, once he left Hogwarts, he had zero confidence when he wasn't under the guise of Marcel.

"It is a recommendable skill!" Theo assured him. He met Alistair's eyes with a smile when he looked up, but found himself breaking the eye contact nervously to look towards the back room. "Well, like I said. I'm sure that can be arranged. I mean, some people just don't do well with the PR side of things. So, I mean. If you wanted to work behind the scenes you could."

[Alistair Ainsworthy]

Alistair jumped at the snort of laughter, completely taken by surprise and he turned a particularly unattractive shade of red, obviously embarrassed again. "It just... it smells like home. I mean, my house doesn't smell like this - or my apartment. But the place I grew up in, my mum always spritzed the place up with her perfume and air freshners and it was home, I guess, but it wasn't really that homey. Just because there were always photographs coming it to take pictures of her extensive wardrobe or trying to capture the real essence of 'Annabel Ainsworth, renowned singer and songwriter.'" Realising he was rambling about stuff he sincerely doubted that Theo cared about, he grimaced and focused his attention on what Theo was saying. "It's... I don't know. This bookshop, it's homey. It feels like I belong here... and god, I sound like a total madman, don't I?"

Only just belatedly realising this, Alistair noticed he talked an awful lot about his mother. Something people generally didn't want to hear. Especially attractive people like... 'Don't go there, Alistair. Don't even go there.' He cleared his throat, returning the smile with one of his own, dimples clearly showing. Theo had really handsome eyes, the kind that just told you they were actually a window to the soul. "Great! Good. I, uh, thank you. For being such a great... well, great fellow employee. If that's what I call you. So... how long have you worked here?"

((OOC: Same on my part. So sorry for the belated reply!!))

[Theodore Broussard]

OOC: PFFT. Wanna talk about a LATE REPLY. We're both to blame on this one, haha xD Glad to be back at it, though

---

Theo bit his lip for a second as Alistair blushed thoroughly, realizing that he hadn't been joking at all and that maybe laughing wasn't the best response. He wiped the concern off his face quickly, though, figuring that wouldn't help anything, and instead put on an understanding smile. He nodded enthusiastically when he said the place smelled like home, and did his best not to laugh again as he rambled on. This seemed to be a pattern with Alistair, and it really was adorable - or, well. Amusing. Yes, that was the word, amusing.

He blinked in surprise, however, when he mentioned his mother - he knew the young man's last name, but he'd never made the connection before. "Wait... Your mother is Annabel Ainsworth?" he asked before he was able to think better of it. Not many people in the wizarding world knew her, but Theo spent enough of his nights around Muggles that he'd heard a lot of her music and actually become a bit of a fan. "But you don't sound like a madman!" he assured him quickly after that, not really sure where else to go with everything he'd said.

Theo chuckled at the last part about what Alistair could call him, he couldn't help it. "Fellow employee, coworker... Either way works," he responded lightly. "I think you could even call me a friend if you wanted to," he added with a smile he didn't really mean to be charming but that came out that way anyway. "I've been here for about..." he hesitated, thinking about it, then his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Goodness. I've been working here nine years, ever since I graduated from Hogwarts. It doesn't feel like anywhere near that long ago."

[Alistair Ainsworthy]

((OOC: haha, it's fineeee! don't worry about it! xD))

"Yeah, wait... you know her? I didn't realise that - oh. Most people in this world don't know who she is. They're more interested in The Fifth Horseman and stuff. Not, uh... not Muggle music," Alistair explained, cringing inwardly. He really hoped this didn't change the way Theodore treated him - he hated when people found out about his mum and all of a sudden it was a big deal and they treated him differently... like they were scared to talk in case somehow his mum found out or something like that. "I - okay, cool. Not a madman. That's reassuring. Thanks. Awesome." He flashed him a somewhat more at ease smile, relaxing a little.

"Friend?" he repeated, a bit of unintended awe in his voice. He barely knew the guy so it was surprising he was offering to be friends. Actual friends. "That's, uh... friends. Friends is cool." He bit down on his bottom lip at Theo's charming smile, avoiding eye contact. Mainly because he knew if he did make contact, he'd be as red as a tomato right about now. Again. "Nine years? That's... that's a long time. Wow. I only graduated Hogwarts about four years ago. So that makes you, what, twenty-six?"

[Theodore Broussard]

Theo laughed quietly, the smile that crossed his lips looking for the first time a little sheepish. "Well, yes. I mean. I may have... Heard a song or two," he admitted. "There's... I spend... Well. I don't spend all my time in a wizard shop, you know," he said, trying to pull himself out of his bout of self-consciousness with a joke. "It must be nice for you, though, you being a wizard and her not being as famous in the wizarding world. I think it'd be hard... But you probably don't want to talk about that, do you?" Theo shook his head - he was really digging himself into a fantastic whole.

"But yes," he continued, feeling himself relax subconsciously as Alistair did. "Not a madman. At least not as far as I can tell. And I like to think I'm a fair judge of character." He could help the grin that spread across his face when the young man repeated that word, friend. Something about the way he said it was just... Well, it brought a smile to his face. "Yes. Friends is most certainly cool," he agreed with a light chuckle.

Theo groaned in response to Alistair's comment about his age, but the grin was still on his face. "Sweet Merlin, you're right. It does make me twenty-six. I feel so old now!" He shook his head again. "Four years. So then you'd be 21?" He hesitated, surprised at the remark that had just gone through his head and thankful he'd been able to suppress it - something about being glad he didn't seem like a pedophile or anything after learning that. Shaking his head a third time, this time mostly to clear it, he added, "Well, at least you have five more years than I do to make an attempt at doing something with your life."