“Oh, of course,” Lou said with a charming smile. “His name is Bean, and he’s really sweet. He won’t bite.”
Lou proceeded to set down his coffee cup and hold up the pup. Bean made an excited yip and began wagging his tail yet again. The jingling of his collar was much more audible as the pup wiggled in excitement.
Jay reached down to pet Bean, his attention switching to Lou for a moment. "Alright." he kept petting the puppy, smiling happily. He looked at Bean, and made little kissy noises, praising him. "Who's a good little puppy, who's a good boy? Who's a good, cute little puppy?" he asked, smiling.
“Aw,” Lou said with a smirk. “He seems to really like you.”
The puppy replied in excited yips, licking the man’s hands— his tail still going crazy.
“I’m Louis, by the way,” the man said, holding out his own hand as he set the puppy back on his lap. “Nice to meet you.”
Jay smiled a little bit at that, and nodded. "I'm Jay. Nice to meet you too." he had bags under his eyes, and he looked exhausted but excited as he took another sip of coffee, bouncing a little bit on his heels.
“Jay? I like that name,” he replied. “You seem a bit tired. I’ve seen it before— let me guess… jet-lag?”
He stroked the puppy in his lap, the terrier’s curly fur bouncing back up every time Lou patted it down. Bean had calmed down a bit and turned his attention back to the coffee. As Louis conversed with the new man, Bean took a few laps of the latte. Lou was clearly aware of this and didn’t bother to stop him.
Jay smiled lightly. "Thanks. And yes, jet lag. Who knew that plane trips were so exhausting?" He laughed a little, taking a sip of his coffee again. He watched Bean for a moment, one eyebrow lifting a little as the puppy lapped at the coffee.
“Huh, cool,” Lou replied. “So, where are you from? Why are you here?”
The man laughed slightly, slowing himself down.
“I’m sorry,” he said, stopping himself. “I’m an inquisitive person.”
He stroked Bean, cocking his head at Jay with a pleasant sheepish smile.
"America. I'm here with my class." He replied with an easy smile. "And don't worry about the questions, it's fine." He sat down in a chair to be more comfortable, taking another swallow of his drink.
“Well, welcome to France,” Lou nodded. “If you need a tour guide, I’d be glad to oblige. Bean and I grew up in this city— I can sure take you on an adventure.”
Lou resisted the urge to wink but held a smile anyway.
Jay wondered if Lou was aware of the double meaning in his words. "That would be…great, actually." He said with a grin. "Otherwise I'll probably get lost." He laughed a little, shaking his head slightly.
“Alrighty, then,” Lou snickered in response. “Sounds good.”
He picked up Bean’s leash, setting the terrier pup down and grabbing his coffee.
“Well,” he began, rising from his chair. “Shall we?”
Jay got up, holding his coffee in one hand. "Yeah. Thank you." He said with a light smile. He took another drink of the coffee.
Lou slid out onto the sidewalk, motioning for Jay to follow. As their footsteps echoed on the quieter streets, faint traffic was audible from the distant roads. Bean trotted happily beside the two as Louis slipped the bright red leash through an adjacent belt loop. It was surprising the pup even needed a leash— he was by the man’s side every second.
Lou held out his hands, gesturing to the unique architecture of nearby buildings. He explained to Jay how he had grown up in a small house just outside Paris on the countryside, and how beautiful it was. He went off happily about how elegant the building structures were in the city. Anyone listening would clearly be able to tell how passionate Lou was about different cultures and their architectural style.
After a while, Lou stopped himself.
“So sorry,” he said with a conscious laugh. “I’m geeking out.”
His hand slid up to the back of his neck and he sighed, fixing his glasses with the other.
Jay smiled. "No, it's fine. It's…it's cool, actually. It's fun to learn about other places. Especially from the point of view of someone actually from here." He grinned over at Lou and Bean.
“Well, then consider us personal guides,” he said, returning the smile. “Say, I’m the one answering all the questions. What about you?”
Lou turned down another street, the morning sun shining down on them both. He briefly read a couple signs, then continued to walk.
“Where in America are you from? What brings your class to France?”
"We're from the West Coast. Oregon, actually. I'm here because one of my classes is French. The language, I mean. And I've been taking it for years. Our class had a contest, and the 30 students with the highest scores got to go on this trip. We'll be here for like…a month or so." He explained with a smile.
“That’s amazing,” Lou exclaimed delightfully. “You must know it well, then?”
Lou lead Jay down a set of stairs, continuing on until they reached a large canal. Lou stepped onto the bridge, moving toward the side as to let cars pass. He leaned up against the railing, crossing his legs and holding Bean in his arms. Ships passed beneath them, and a great deal of the city could be seen. It was a nice, crisp morning, and Louis breathed in the cold air.
“French is my first language, though I spent a good deal of my life speaking English,” he explained. “I’ll spare you the complication of dialect, so as long as you can understand me through my accent— you’re golden.”
Jay grinned, leaning on the railing. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not perfectly fluent, but I'd like to think that I speak it pretty well." He chuckled softly, looking over at Lou. "And alright. I can understand you, so don't worry about that."
“Good, good,” the man said with a nod. “You’d be the only one.”
The meaning in his words were meant to go either way. Truth was, Lou liked this guy. He seemed… different. Within about the first couple minutes of their meeting, Lou decided that he was a good person. Maybe… just maybe Lou could travel with him.
The man pushed the thought out of his mind.
Not right now, he thought. But, perhaps, later.
Lou glanced up at Jay, the smile on his face seeming almost permanent. Before Jay could notice the look, Louis adverted his gaze, again looking out at the water.
(This is my first mention of the time-travel situation, btw. You mentioned you would want it to be caused by the Frenchman, so I can take it upon myself to initiate it. Your choice, though :)
"I mean, so long as you meant your accent when speaking English. I can make no guarantees about French. Like I said, I'm not perfectly fluent yet, and I totally might fuck up and make the mistake of saying I have a boner instead of that I'm excited. So." He chuckled, running a hand through his hair with a smile.
(Yeah yeah, that's fine! I honestly didn't have a preference of how you did it, so that's perfect! :) )
“Good point,” Lou chuckled, his eyes twinkling. “Yet, still, either phase is a compliment.”
The man held his puppy tighter. Outside, yeah, he may have seemed smooth or flirty, but in reality… his heart was beating way too fast and he had no clue what he was doing.
Jack chuckled a little. "Mm. Alright." He replied with a smile, looking out at the water below from the bridge they stood on. "Thanks for giving me this tour, by the way."
“No problem.” Lou set down Bean, brushing his hair aside. “Didn’t really have anything else planned for the day. You seemed interesting. Why not?”
He shook his head, laughing to himself slightly. “Anyway, where are you lot staying? I might know a few good… bars, shops, joints around there. Plus, don’t wanna have us stray too far from where you need to be.”
He chuckled softly, and nodded. "We're staying at…oh, god, give me a minute." he pulled out his phone to check. "This one." he showed Lou a picture, then put his phone away, running a hand through his hair.
“Huh, that one? Some reason, the name evades me,” he mumbled. “But I still know where it is— we’re a pretty good deals away. Here, follow me.”
Lou pushed himself from the railing, giving a brief glance over at Jay to make sure he was behind. He continued down the bridge, just deftly noticing the ships still passing below.
The sort of square they were in now housed street performers and roadside artisans. People were dancing to the tune of a nearby jazz band with a small guitar case filled with donations. Tables were scattered across the pavement, decorated with a large amount of products. Lou stopped at a nearby booth for a moment, just briefly looking over a couple leather bracelets.
“This place is bumpin like this most of the time,” he informed Jay. “Especially at night. They get out some big lights and have a sort of music festival. It’s a great time.”
Jay nodded a little bit, following Lou. He smiled a little at the description, nodding again. "Huh. Sounds pretty cool. I doubt I can make it tonight, I think I'm gonna crash as soon as I get back to the hotel. But maybe some night, I'll come here, yeah?"
“Well, of course. It’s a must-see,” Lou replied. “But yeah, I get it, jet-lag sucks.”
He looked up at Jay, noticing that he was extremely tired.
“I’ll get you back to your hotel, then, eh?”
Louis pried his eyes from the booths and made his way down a nearby street in the break of two buildings. After walking for about another ten minutes, Lou stopped at the front of a hotel. It was smaller than most but still had the flair of a nice-quality place.
“Here you are, sir,” Lou said, awkwardly standing before the door.
Lou had no clue what to do now. Once Jay was gone, he’d probably never see him again, despite knowing where he was staying. And even if he did, would Jay want to keep in touch? Would he want to be friends?
Lou shook the thoughts from his head and picked up Bean, happily ruffling the pup’s fur.
Jay smiled a little as they approached the hotel. "Thanks. Hey, can i get your number? so we can keep in touch?" he looked at Lou curiously. "I mean…we don't have to if you don't want to, it's just…you seem like a fun person and I'd love to stay in touch." he bit his lip a little.
Lou’s heart raced and he was unable to keep himself from smiling.
“Of course!” he took out his phone, unlocking it and going to his contacts. “Here, put in your number and I’ll maybe text you tonight if you want to go out?”
Lou trailed off that last sentence, not fully realizing what he had just said. His eyes widened slightly and he glanced down at Bean. The dog just licked at his face.
Lou sighed, handing the phone over with a nervous smile.
Jay laughed a little. "I already told you, I think I'll be a bit too tired to go anywhere tonight, but maybe tomorrow?" he put his number into Lou's phone. "Just, uhm. Don't text too much, I get charged for each time my phone has to check in with a cell tower because of an incoming message. Unless I'm on wifi, and then everything's fine." he grinned.