Frank had an amused smile playing on his face at Jim talking to his dogs, ever before he heard the subject of conversation. He caught from 'regression' onwards and stopped a little way from King, reaching to the sleeve of his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his eyes. Running in island-heat was like running on coals sometimes, so it didn't make much difference.
"I have no stamp but I do have approval," he commented by way of greeting. "Scary adult emotions, eugh." He gave a fully body shiver.
"Hey, Frank," Lennox said cheerfully, tipping his head back to look at the other man. "My solution to the scary adult emotions is to walk around in our underwear. Wanna give it a try?"
Probably not the best way to start a conversation, but there were a few people on the island Lennox hadn't yet seen in their underwear and Frank was one he was sure he'd like to see in his underwear.
By now, Frank probably shouldn't be surprised at how often Lennox managed to surprise him but there he was, alarmed eyes widening briefly even as he fought back a laugh.
He rubbed his mouth for a moment then rested his hands on his waist, eyebrow quirking in an unspoken challenge. "How do you know I'm wearing any?"
"Hey, good one," Lennox said with a bright laugh, slapping his thigh in amusement. "I didn't expect that of you, but I gotta say, I appreciate it, man."
Tipping his head to the side, his grin grew wider and he lifted his eyebrows at Frank. "So... are you?"
Frank lost the fight with the laugh, almost tripping over his words in his insistence that he was wearing some. The very idea of exercise without underwear was a little scary. "God, yes. Running and I was--" He pointed back the way he had come, then down at his shorts, the important words coming through. "Been jogging. That would, ouch, that would hurt, right? I, I went properly equipped, yeah." He gave another small laugh, a touch of embarrassment to it, before he gave Lennox a quizzical look. "I have the strangest conversations with you."
Nodding along, Lennox listened to what Frank was saying, then burst into another grin at his last statement. "Only because I'm trying to expand your horizons, baby. Who else would say this sort of shit to you and make you really think about it? Isn't wearing only your underwear the ultimate 'I don't give a fuck' to the world? It's regression, like I said."
"I don't give a fuck," Frank repeated, trying out the words, the sentiment, on his tongue. "Huh. I guess you're right. But uh," he glanced down at his feet as he moved over to Lennox, then up rose his head along with a hand. It hovered near the joint between Jim's lips, waiting for some kind of permission to take it. "Baby steps?" Pot first, underwear later.
Lennox's eyebrows shot up and he sat up again, offering the joint to Frank. "Are you sure, man?" he asked curiously, because he wasn't against sharing at all, but he didn't want to pressure Frank into doing anything either. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"Yeah," Frank insisted, lowering himself to the ground next to Lennox before taking the proffered joint. "I used to do this in college." Granted, that had been a long time ago but still. "How hard can it be to do it again?" he asked, not really expecting an answer as he brought the joint to his lips and inhaled a little too zealously. The subsequent coughing fit, head practically between his bent up legs, was inevitable. "...That's strong," he wheezed, first-hand smoke clearly not the way to ease into it.
Lennox grinned and patted Frank's back, looking sympathetic. "It's the best weed you can get on the island," he said proudly. "And the longest running, too." He'd been growing it practically since his first month there.
"You okay?" he asked, still patting Frank's back lightly.
"You can tell," Frank agreed, voice still scratchy. He coughed a couple more times into the crook of his arm, then cleared his throat, tone gravelly and a bit sheepish. "I'm a little rusty..." Another second with the joint between his lips and he passed it back to Lennox, repressing the coughing reflex 'til he breathed out long and slow. "Brings back memories."
"Good memories or bad memories?" Lennox asked with a gentle smile, taking the joint back from Frank. It wasn't quite the regular wide grin he was used to flashing at people, but being around Frank was different. He didn't always feel the need to be that guy who was always the life of the party.
Frank rolled his head to give Lennox a look, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Oh, good memories. Stoned memories." And he found himself elaborating, which wasn't something he'd usually do in most company. But sometimes it felt good to reminisce out loud when he was with someone he knew wouldn't judge him. "I uh, I actually had my first kiss when I, a kiss with a guy, I mean." He pulled his knees up to his chest and folded his arms across the top. "When I uh... He was kind of like me now, but completely new to pot, had a hard time with it but was eager to learn. I was okay with it and I liked him and so I uh, I pulled the second-hand smoke trick." The corner of Frank's lips quirked up at the memory but he lowered his eyes from Lennox's for the rest of the story, probably out of habit by now.
"It was actually pretty awkward," he laughed, "but funny. Fun. Blew the smoke into his mouth and kissed him pretty easy after that. By the time we'd finished he could smoke it on his own."
As Frank spoke, Lennox found himself watching, a grin turning up the corners of his mouth. It was almost like watching him teach, the way he told stories, and Lennox didn't know why, but he liked it. It was kind of attractive in a strange sort of way.
"Y'know, I've never done that," he said, although he was lying. He'd done it with Chris a few times and he'd pulled that same trick on more girls than he could count. "Wanna show me how?" he asked, only half-teasing, then nudged Frank gently with his elbow. If it wasn't okay, if it was too much, he was sure that that gentle nudge would give Frank a way out. A way to assume it was just a joke.
That was probably the single most unbelievable thing Frank had heard in his entire life, that Lennox had never done it before. So he felt fairly safe in rocking to the side to return the nudge with a bump of his own and giving his friend an incredulous look.
"Oh, I believe you." The "not" was silent. "If you were wearing pants there'd be flames all over the place by now." It came out in good jest and Frank shook his head slightly in amusement, a huff of laughter escaping a second later as he settled down. His gaze fell to the ground between his knees and his shoulders rose and fell again like he'd taken a deep breath. When he'd told Lennox there wasn't a line to step over between them he'd meant it, so when he reached for the joint, he took it without waiting for permission this time and concentrated on dragging slowly from it. His lungs filled with smoke at the same measured pace, allowing him to hold it without choking just long enough to crank his head to the side and lean into Lennox again, lining up their mouths.
It wasn't exactly what Lennox had expected as their first kiss, but he barely gave Frank a chance to exhale the smoke before he lifted his hand, curling it around the back of his neck and crushed their mouths together. He'd been waiting to do this and waiting to do this and suddenly, he was tired of waiting. He wanted to kiss Frank, he liked Frank and there wasn't a single good reason to not kiss him.
"I have no stamp but I do have approval," he commented by way of greeting. "Scary adult emotions, eugh." He gave a fully body shiver.
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Probably not the best way to start a conversation, but there were a few people on the island Lennox hadn't yet seen in their underwear and Frank was one he was sure he'd like to see in his underwear.
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He rubbed his mouth for a moment then rested his hands on his waist, eyebrow quirking in an unspoken challenge. "How do you know I'm wearing any?"
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Tipping his head to the side, his grin grew wider and he lifted his eyebrows at Frank. "So... are you?"
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"You okay?" he asked, still patting Frank's back lightly.
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"It was actually pretty awkward," he laughed, "but funny. Fun. Blew the smoke into his mouth and kissed him pretty easy after that. By the time we'd finished he could smoke it on his own."
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"Y'know, I've never done that," he said, although he was lying. He'd done it with Chris a few times and he'd pulled that same trick on more girls than he could count. "Wanna show me how?" he asked, only half-teasing, then nudged Frank gently with his elbow. If it wasn't okay, if it was too much, he was sure that that gentle nudge would give Frank a way out. A way to assume it was just a joke.
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"Oh, I believe you." The "not" was silent. "If you were wearing pants there'd be flames all over the place by now." It came out in good jest and Frank shook his head slightly in amusement, a huff of laughter escaping a second later as he settled down. His gaze fell to the ground between his knees and his shoulders rose and fell again like he'd taken a deep breath. When he'd told Lennox there wasn't a line to step over between them he'd meant it, so when he reached for the joint, he took it without waiting for permission this time and concentrated on dragging slowly from it. His lungs filled with smoke at the same measured pace, allowing him to hold it without choking just long enough to crank his head to the side and lean into Lennox again, lining up their mouths.
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