[C][AU] Hokey Cokey

Sometimes Fleck hated his job at the library. Dealing with people being rude or incompetent, or worse, trying to be helpful by putting their books back in the wrong fucking place, all made Fleck gear up to want to punch someone.

But sometimes he loved his job.

Right now, holding tiny hands in his big paws, and belting out "WOAH THE HOKEY COKEY" as the twelve kids linked together in a daisychain of excitement pelted towards each other then darted back, Fleck certainly couldn't hate his job.

Who could hate such enthusiastic beaming faces?

This crush he has had on the librarian was, in all honesty, getting a little out of hand. Especially when his daydreams tended to gear toward wedding bells and the sound of giggling children and all the surgery domestic goodness. It wasn't too hard to imagine when he saw the man - Fleck, according to his name tag - dancing and singing with children.

The scene was a crime and the crime was cuteness.

Catching himself staring far too intently, he ducked his head back down to reread the blurb on the YA book in his hands.

Fleck noticed the now-familiar blond head ducking in embarrassment.

A little smile curled his lips as he belted out another round of lyrics. The kids were shrieking their own lyrics, cackling and giggling and tumbling over each other as they ran back and forth.

"Knees bent, arms stretched, rah rah rah!"

Fleck heaved a dramatically deep sigh of exhaustion after the final round of clapping, slumping in the story-teller's chair. "I've definitely got my wriggles out. You guys too?"

A big round of shakes and affirmations followed, then they all settled down on the floor around the big chair Fleck was settled in.

"Are we ready to find out what todays book is?"

Yes, was apparently the verdict, if his ringing ears were to go by.

"Well then, who's going to tell me what our theme is? Raquelle!" He pressed his finger to his lips comically. She was the only one that had been there on Monday, so she knew the weeks theme already.

The called-out girl giggled and hid her hands, which had been previously held high to answer the question, in her crossed legs, grinning sheepishly.

"Okay, everyone call out your answers.... now!"

There were a few different answers, but the vast majority answered Dr Seuss. All the posters and decorations in the area were a big tell.

"Yes! Well done, Dr Seuss! All right then, are we all sitting comfortably?" Yesses were called out.

Fleck reached out for the book he'd picked out for today and held it up for the kids to see.

Green Eggs and Ham

Without even opening the book, he started the jaunty rhyming that Dr Seuss was known for.

"Oh I frequently think every now and then
Of the glorious fruit of the noble hen
Eggs, eggs, E double-G S Eggs
My knowledge of eggs is tremendously wide
I've eaten them boiled, I've eaten them fried
Poached and shirred and devilled and scrambled
Omelettes scmomellets, cobbled and frambled
Ive eaten them beaten and swizzled and swuzzled
Frizzled, cadizzled, bamboozled and fuzzled
I know every way that an egg can be guzzled

And thinking of eggs reminds me of Sam
Who's favourite dish is..."

He waved one hand in front of the book and, alongside him, the kids belted out the title 'Green Eggs and Ham.'

Fleck opened the book and settled it down on his knee.

In a voice that wasn't his own, Fleck began to read.

"I am Sam. Sam I am..."

Dick's lips kicked up when he Fleck began to rhyme.

Okay, he was staring far too intently again. So much so that a parent looked over and gave him an odd look.

Face burning, he turned and browsed another shelf, half interested.

He wasn't going to leave. There was a purpose to his visits to the library other than to stare dreamily at the librarian. But it certainly made his reading speed a lot quicker and his visits much longer.

Besides, today's that day. The day he was going to ask him out.

No cold feet this time.

No fretting that he was going to be turned down, or be made a fool out of, or encounter the very strong possibility that Fleck was straight. If that was the case, then so be it. He would just accept fate and realise he was going to live alone forever surrounded by cats.

"I do so like green eggs and ham," he said in the raspy voice he'd adopted for the second character.

"Thank you
Thank you
Sam I am!"

He closed the book with a resounding snap and grinned down at the kids. "Well, how was that? Did I win today?"

Cheers greeted him.

"All right, awesome! Who wants to add the star to the calendar, then!"

Me! Me! Me!

Fleck picked out a shy little two year old who'd been trying to join in, but found herself shying away. She beamed at him as Fleck unstuck two big gold star stickers from a sheet. He stuck one on her dress then carefully handed her the other and pointed to where she should stick it on the calendar he always had with him on these things.

The children decided whether he had done a good job on the story that week or not, and either awarded him a star sticker on the day, or saddled him with the big red sticker of shame.

Today he had clearly won. Dr Seuss always got them.

Parents started drawing their children away, some thanking Fleck, and some not.

Soon he was left alone to clean up the mess of the story corner, and all his themed decorations.

Okay. Fleck was free.

Dick shook his head, frowning. Thinking like that made him sound like he was going to pounce the man rather than ask him out.

... But was asking someone out while they were working a good idea? He would hate it if someone did that to him while he was working with nowhere to escape. It wasn't going to put him in a positive light.

No, no. He's committed. He announced over the breakfast table that he was finally going to ask Fleck out. He couldn't back down now. He will just be polite and back away as soon as Fleck doesn't show interest. He won't be an asshole.

Without the safety of the shelves obscuring him any more, he shuffled on the spot, standing where the parents previously stood.

Okay, it was probably more weird standing and staring than actually going up and talking to him.

He can do this. Just a couple more steps and all he had to do was simply speak to the man. Say hi. Introduce himself. Ask him if he wanted to go for coffee sometime. Easy peasy.

He took a deep breath and moved forward.

"Hey there."

From the get-go, he internally cringed at how weird and forced he sounded. Fantastic. Great start. A red star for him.

Fleck looked up at the greeting and grinned.

Oh, so he was finally going to talk to him? Fleck had been waiting for this for almost three weeks now.

He'd joked over the breakfast table that today was the day that this mysterious guy was going to actually talk to him.

Looks like he was right today. Wow.

"Hey."

And immediately he internally cringed. Hey? Really? Wow, way to be creative there, Fleck. Gold fucking star for you right there.

"So..."

Dick's heart slammed against his rib cage and his hands that clutched the book he planned to check out were sweaty. Nice. Attractive.

At least the rest of himself looked okay, he hoped. He had preened in front of the mirror for ages earlier, ensuring that his outfit fitted well and his hair was framing his face nicely. He triple checked with Giacinto to ensure he looked fine.

"So, um..."

God, Fleck was even more handsome up close.

"I was, um..."

Okay, nope nope. Abort abort. He can't do this. Fleck was doing far too many things to his heart already and they barely got past "hey".

"Where's the bathroom?"

Well, the stuttering was cute.

And made him feel better. At least he wasn't the only one that was feeling a little nervous.

He was glad Dick had decided to make the first move now. Chai had been trying tog et him to make the first move, and he'd been awkwardly sidestepping the hints and not so subtle demands from his sister.

But he could report back now that the first move had been made. This was not a drill, the first move had been made.

And Dick was going to ask him out and it'd be fantastic.

...Or he was going to ask where the bathroom was.

He hoped his deflated feelings weren't showing.

Though the initial stab of disappointment was overruled by an amused sort of realisation. Nerves had won out and Dick had aborted mission. He knew where the bathroom was. THey'd bumped into each other last week. He knew.

His lips kicked up slightly. "Just round the corner." He tilted his chin towards the hall the bathroom was in.

He hoped Dick wouldn't just walk away, though.

"Thanks."

Okay. He should move. Go the bathroom he just asked for instead of lingering, not too sure where he should look. That face was so wonderful to gaze at that is was blinding.

He should speak more. At least open up a conversation since he was too much of a baby to ask him out. Get something out of this.

He licked his top lip and offered Fleck a pinched smile before he darted to the bathroom.

Fantastic. That was a major flop.

Atleast they exchanged words?

Well fuck.

That certainly didn't happen the way he had hoped, or the way he had fantasised. Both were very different, and neither was what happened there.

"See you Saturday?" he called out to Dick hopefully as he darted away.

He hoped he'd see him at his next reading.

"See you next Saturday."

Dick almost combusted when he heard that. But he held it in until he was home and could dance around the kitchen a little in excitement, the phrase rotating in his head.

Sure, he failed to ask him out but it was most definitely that start of something. Maybe he could build a friendship first before asking him out? Get to know him a little more and figure out whether he was straight or not. At least that would ease one anxiety about asking him for a date if it turned out he wasn't.

Next Saturday came and went. He ended up giving the book back through the return box, unable to face Fleck. The prospect of having to acknowledge him instead of gazing from afar was too much.

Another Saturday passed.

Then another.

What he had forgotten, a little bit before his first contact with Fleck, was that he had volunteered at his university to hold a workshop at the library. On a Saturday.

He had little choice but to face him.

He kept with the other volunteering students, setting up the different stations. Yet his focus strayed from the task on hand and more trying to pick out Fleck from the maze of books.

"Dick!" The library manager called out, bustling down the aisle towards the volunteer.

"How do you fancy doing something other than replacing books?" The plump woman gave a hopeful smile. "One of our employees just called in sick and another one really needs a partner today. It'd be a great help if you'd help him out."

Dick smiled at the library manager.

Was it Fleck he needed to work with? Oh God, he didn't know how he was going to handle that since their first meeting. Or maybe Fleck was the sick one. If he was, he hoped he was okay.

He wasn't too sure which possibility he wanted to be true more.

No, that was a lie. He most definitely wanted to work with Fleck. It would just be painful trying not to clam up, word vomit or make an absolute idiot out of himself. Or somehow manage to do all three.

"Sure. What do you need me to do?"

She clapped, expression full of relief.

"You're a lifesaver. Come on." She began bustling away, expecting Dick to follow, leading him right to the kids section.

"One of our boys, he's great with the kids, never mind the way he looks or the fact that he's..." She trailed off, giving Dick a pointed look of disapproval. "Anyway, he had a big plan for today, bless him, but it relied on three people."

She pushed open the door to the kids section. "Fleck! I found you your frog!"

Fleck, sporting a very attractive bright green hat with long ear covers that ended at his waist in mitts, looked up in interest, hopeful relief etched on his face. "Rosa, you're a fucking star."

He hopped away from the two chairs now set up for story time to wrap her in a hug and plant a big kiss on her cheek. "Hey, I'm-" He paused mid-greeting, cheeks heating up when he realised just who he was talking to. "Fleck," he finished lamely, then cleared his throat. "I'm Fleck."

Good with kids despite the way he looks? Okay, that was definitely Fleck. Even though he had a face sculpted by the Greeks, he wasn't completely blinded by his more alternative look. Not that he minded. At all.

He followed Rosa, trying not to overthink how it was going to go and listen to her.

Never mind that he's...?

That he's what?

But he didn't have time to dwell as was confronted with looking at his crush wearing the most ridiculous hat. Despite it, he would still be one-hundred percent down to kiss him if he asked.

Dick forced himself to smile rather than chew on his lip nervously.

"Hey," he cleared his throat, "I'm Dick." He waved his hand before quickly dropped it back down to his side, conscious of how weird that may have been.

"I wondered when I was gonna get your name." He grinned, white teeth on show. "Nice to meet you, Dick. C'mon, I'll show you what we're doing."

He gestured for Dick to follow him back to the storytellers chairs.

"Thanks, Rosa. Lifesaver!"

"And don't you forget it, boy."

Ah, Rosa. "Okay, so this week's theme has been animals. We did zebra on Monday, elephants on Wednesday and today we're on frogs."

Fleck held up another frog hat, this one slightly less ugly than the one on his own head. "Mandatory uniform," he informed, with something dangerously close to a smirk on his lips.

Dick's nose wrinkled just slightly as his eyes dropped down to the hat.

Second time having a conversation with Fleck and he was going to wear a ridiculous hat. Even normal hats didn't suit him, let alone frog ones. Fantastic.

But he couldn't say no. Not to Fleck. He had to be a frog.

"Okay."

Dick took the hat from Fleck and gingerly placed it on top of his head. He looked around, scratching at his chest. A new set of nerves settled in his stomach when it finally dawned on him that he wasn't going to be just dealing with Fleck.

Fleck grinned and adjusted Dick's hat by the earflaps a little until he was happy with how it sat atop the blond head. "Perfect."

Did he love that blush coming up on Dick's cheeks? Yeah, he did. More than he'd admit out loud.

"Okay, so we're reading I Dont Want To Be A Frog. You'll be the one with glasses." He flipped open the book sat on his chair to a random page to show him the two frogs in the story. "Basically just act ten thousand percent done with everything I say."

He let the book fall shut and shifted it aside as he sat down on his chair, gesturing for Dick to do the same with the other chair, which also sported a copy of the book.

"We're just doing a load of frog jumps for the wriggles. Get those kids sitting comfortably and get my workout in." His nose wrinkled a little with the force of his grin, and the light caught the piercing in his nose. "You don't have to do them with us. You can just sit and watch."

That was good. He wasn't too sure if he could jump around like a frog. Partly because that sounded embarrassing, mostly because it was far too much cardio then he was willing to do in front of Fleck. His face was too pink as it was. He didn't want to risk being red-faced, panting and sweaty from just from a few frog jumps.

"I think I can do that."

Think was a keyword. Not to be dramatic, but he wanted to swoon with everything that Fleck said.

Sat down in the second chair and he flicked through the book. Like most children's books it was repetitive, filled with cute illustrations, and had moral thrown in there; be happy with who you are.

"So," he started, "when do the kids get here?"

"Most of them are already here."

They were pretty much ready to open the doors to the kids. Fleck readjusted his froggy hat then stood again.

"Ready?" he asked, striding towards the door.

He tossed it open with a flourish. "I pronounce it story time!"

He stepped aside to avoid being crushed by an army of small children.

Already?!

He wanted to at least go over the book a couple of times before reading it out loud to a group of kids who can be surprisingly brutal when it came to their honest opinions.

Dick followed Fleck out and got a luke-warm reception. A few curious looks and a couple of loud, "Are you reading to us too?"

A girl with a thick plait hair darted through the crowd of children to get to Fleck first.

"Fleck! Fleck! Look, I drawn this!"

She held up a crumpled piece of paper with a large figure taking up the most of it. Some animals were placed around it. The easiest to recognise was that zebra with large stripes.

"It's you!"

Fleck dropped to one knee so he could get a look at the drawing without the girl having to stretch up to show him.

"Look at that! That's really good!"

He clapped a congratulatory hand on her shoulder then drew himself up to his feet again.

"Are we going to put it on the board?"

After a while he'd managed to blag a nice big display board in the kids area, where he could put up pictures and crafts that the kids had made.

Dick watched on as the little girl bounced on the balls of her feet and beamed at Fleck with pride.

"Yes!"

When a woman says that her ovaries are exploding, he felt like he was experiencing the same thing. Or at least something similar. His balls are exploding would probably be the more correct term, but it didn't quite have to same warm and fluffy connotations.

Fleck grinned and the two of them headed over to the board. Fleck stretched up to the very top of the board, his tight black shirt riding up to show off a stretch of tanned skin at his lower back.

He kept the pins way up high so only adults, namely himself, could get to them.

Then he took directions from the little girl on exactly where to place the drawing.

He stepped back when it was pinned in place to admire the board. "What do we think? Pretty good?"