Work Text:
Frank liked to sit in the Starbucks on Park street and watch the marker lines swirl and cross over his tattoos.
Sometimes there were words and numbers; appointments that the other person was trying to remember, or story ideas that never made sense to Frank. But usually they were doodles. Whoever was drawing them was obviously an artist, and they were talented. Certainly they were busy, since Frank always had hands stained with paint and ink now, even though he never painted anything in his life.
He sat in the Starbucks on Park street that afternoon and watched his hands turn blue and green with paint splotches. The other person started blending blue and yellow together on their wrist to make a lighter green, and Frank grinned as the paint dripped down to his elbow.
They must be at home, he thought. They never got this enthusiastic during the work week, it was usually ink and markers then. But on the weekends, they would paint.
Frank wanted to see the canvas, to know what the person was thinking of as they painted. If they listened to music or had a movie playing in the background. He wanted to watch their face as they painted. If they bit their lip or furrowed their brow in concentration.
He sighed and took a sip of his coffee. There wasn't really any reason for him to stay out, since the other person was obviously at home. They weren't coming for coffee any time soon.
Once, just once in the eight months since he had connected to the other person, Frank had gotten a clue.
Starbucks on Park w/ Mikey 2pm.
Frank had been asleep when the other person had scrawled that reminder on their own forearm. By the time Frank had seen it, 2pm had come and gone.
Since then, he had started getting his coffee at that Starbucks instead of the little shop in his neighborhood. He hoped one day he might spot someone with arms covered in doodles and fingers stained with paint.
Frank wished it worked both ways. He wished he could just write Meet me on his arm and set up a time and place. But it only worked one way, and he just had to wait and hope he could get another clue.
He downed the rest of his coffee and headed home.